2 Kings 1-5

The focus shifts away from the kings to the prophets as 2 Kings opens. Elisha is the faithful follower and heir apparent to Elijah. He travels with him wherever he goes--"I will not leave you," he promises. And he keeps that promise until Elijah is taken up to heaven in a whirlwind, riding in a flaming chariot drawn by flaming horses. Elisha takes up Elijah's mantle--literally and figuratively. 

Although I believe that Elisha is ultimately a less significant prophet than Elijah, Elisha's actions nonetheless echo and prefigure those of Moses and Jesus, respectively, in many ways. He divides the river so that he may cross it on dry land; he provides water for the people when they are thirsty; he appears to turn a body of water to blood; he multiplies oil (instead of wine) into many jars and a small number of loaves (instead of loaves and fish) into enough for a hundred men to eat; he brings someone back from the dead (as both Elijah and Jesus did); he cures a leper. 

This last is an especially moving story. Naaman, the army commander of the king of Aram was highly respected and esteemed. But he had leprosy. A little girl is the one who suggests that Naaman go to Elisha. When Naaman presents himself, Elisha does not see him in person, but instead sends a message to Naaman instructing him to bathe seven times in the waters of the Jordan. Naaman is angry that Elisha did not deign to meet him in person, and leaves, intending to ignore the instruction. But Naaman's servants prevail on him to follow Elisha's direction, and Elisha is cured. Indeed, "his flesh became again like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean." When Naaman returned to Elisha to accept a thanksgiving offering, Elisha would not accept it. Elisha, instead, tells him (as Jesus often did) to "go in peace."

The cure of Naaman speaks to me about God's work in our lives, about the power of the sacraments--mysteries that we believe, whose power we witness, but that we don't "see" in the traditional sense. Baptism and Reconciliation wash us clean, as Naaman was washed clean. As adults we can somehow "feel" the renewing power of Reconciliation, yet we cannot point to the how or the where of it.

Joshua 1-4

According to the introduction in my New Catholic translation, the Book of Joshua is "a prophecy of the spiritual conquest of the world through the Church under the leadership of Jesus, the Messiah." This reinforces my own tendency so far to understand the Old Testament through the prism of Jesus and the New Testament. Early in this book, the Lord repeats multiple times these words of encouragement: Be firm and steadfast. The Catholic Church is at a crucial juncture. The Throne of St. Peter is empty. And this has not happened in the usual way. Rather, BXVI has left the office by resignation, not death. During Lent. And while we trust in the Holy Spirit, there are many of us who are nonetheless unsettled by it all. We need to be reminded to be firm and steadfast. And why should we be? The Lord explains to Joshua why:

I command you: be firm and steadfast! Do not fear nor be dismayed, for the Lord, your God, is with you wherever you go.

I am unsettled in certain aspects of my own life. I am afraid and dismayed. These words come to me at a propitious time. I need to be firm and steadfast, because God is with me wherever I go. 

This section of Joshua has the story of the "harlot" Rahab, who protects the spies sent by Joshua. To repay her, those spies promise that she and her family will come to no harm when the Israelites cross the Jordan to make war on its inhabitants. At their direction, she hangs a scarlet cord in her window, so the invaders will know which family to spare. The red cord echoes the blood painted over the doors of the Israelites in Egypt to signal to the angel of death to pass over their house during the final, awful plague brought on by Pharaoh's intransigence. Led by Joshua, the Israelites follow the ark to the Jordan, where the river is parted for them--echoing the crossing of the Red Sea out of slavery. 

The Israelites pass through the water in safety to escape slavery, and again to reach the promised land. I am reminded of how we are saved from the slavery of sin and death through the waters of baptism. 

Numbers 10-12

A discontented people set out from the base of Sinai into the desert, following the pillar of fire by which the Lord guides them. Moses, whom the Lord calls "the meekest man on the face of the earth," despairs of the grumbling and complaining of the Israelites. He laments to God:

Was it I who conceived all this people? Or was it I who gave them birth, that you tell me to carry them at my bosom, like a foster father carrying an infant to the land you have promised under oath to their fathers? 

I cannot help but wonder if St. Joseph ever had a moment when he said something like this to God. Perhaps when the infant Jesus cried and cried during the night, and Joseph walked the floor with him, trying to comfort him. I am drawn to Joseph as a father, thinking about all the joys and frustrations and pain of being a father, and wondering how Joseph handled them. I often wish the Bible had more to say about this man.

Meanwhile, back in the desert, Moses is so moved and overwhelmed by distress from the complaining Israelites, that the Lord lightens his burden by taking some of the spirit that is on Moses and bestowing it on 70 elders.  Actually, 70 plus two more who were not at the gathering when this transfer took place. Upon receiving the spirit, the 72 begin to prophesy. Clearly, a foreshadowing of Pentecost, and the number 72 matches the number of disciples cited in the New Testament.  Moses is moved to say later, to a jealous Aaron and Miriam:

Would that all the people of the Lord were prophets! Would that the Lord might bestow his spirit on them all!

Of course, the Lord has done so. He has bestowed His spirit on all of His people in baptism. We are all called to holiness, to meekness, to be part of a community of believers and journeyers on the path to the promised land.