Daily Old Testament and Early Christian Writings: 1 Samuel 25, Proverbs 28-29 and Augustine's Confessions 30

1 Samuel 25 – Samuel dies and all Israel mourns his passing. 

David, still in the wilderness of Paran, sends 10 young men of his to a rich man, Nabal, who lives in Carmel.  He and his men have been providing protection to Nabal’s flocks and shepherds for a while. Nabal was “surly and mean,” but his wife, Abigail, was “clever and beautiful” (25:3). The men ask Nabal to provide food for David and his men.  Nabal says, “Who is David? Who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants today who are breaking away from their masters” (25:10).

A Jerusalem Bible note says that the shearing of sheep was a festive occasion on which the sheep owner was expected to display generosity.  David takes advantage to demand a sum that nomads typically levied on nearby villages in return for ‘protection’—abstaining from pillage and keeping other marauders away.  This was called the ‘law of brotherhood’. That’s why David’s messengers address Nabal as brother in 25:6.

When David hears of Nabal’s lack of generosity, he goes after him with 400 men. 200 are left to watch their baggage. One of Nabal’s men tells Abigail of her husband’s rebuff to David and of the generally good service his men have given them.  So Abigail takes 200 loaves and some wine, five sheep and other food and loads it on donkeys to give to David and his men.  She meets David and begs him to disregard the insult her husband has offered. 

She addresses him as one who has knowledge of the promises the Lord has made concerning him and says, “When the Lord has done to my lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning you, and has appointed you prince over Israel, my lord shall have no cause of grief, or pangs of conscience, for having shed blood without cause or for having saved himself” (25:30-31).

        

David thanks God for having sent Abigail out to him, for having “kept [him] from bloodguilt and from avenging myself by my own hand!” (25:34) He accepts her offering and sends her off in peace.  The next morning, when Abigail tells Nabal of what she did, “his heart died within him; he became like a stone” (25:37). Ten days later, he dies.

When David hears of it, he sends and woos Abigail, to make her his wife.  She accepts.  David also marries Ahinoam of Jezreel during this time.  His wife Michal, back with her father, has been given to Palti, son of Laish.

Proverbs 28 – Selections:

“When there is moral rot within a nation, its government topples easily. But wise and knowledgeable leaders bring stability” (28:2).

“He who conceals his faults will not prosper, he who confesses and renounces them will find mercy.” (28:13)

“In the end, people appreciate honest criticism far more than flattery” (28:23).

Proverbs 29 – Selections:

“The king who judges the poor with equity sees his throne set firm for ever.” (29:14)

Augustine (354-439)

Confessions

30 - These were the customs in the midst of which I, unhappy boy, was cast, and on that arena it was that I was more fearful of perpetrating a barbarism than, having done so, of envying those who had not. These things I declare and confess unto you, my God, for which I was applauded by them whom I then thought it my whole duty to please, for I did not perceive the gulf of infamy wherein I was cast away from your eyes. For in your eyes what was more infamous than I was already, displeasing even those like myself, deceiving with innumerable lies both tutor, and masters, and parents, from love of play, a desire to see frivolous spectacles, and a stage-stuck restlessness, to imitate them? Pilferings I committed from my parents' cellar and table, either enslaved by gluttony, or that I might have something to give to boys who sold me their play, who, though they sold it, liked it as well as I In this play, likewise, I often sought dishonest victories, I myself being conquered by the vain desire of pre-eminence. And what could I so little endure, or, if I detected it, censured I so violently, as the very things I did to others, and, when myself detected I was censured, preferred rather to quarrel than to yield? Is this the innocence of childhood? Nay, Lord, nay, Lord; I entreat your mercy, O my God. For these same sins, as we grow older, are transferred from governors and masters, from nuts, and balls, and sparrows, to magistrates and kings, to gold, and lands, and slaves, just as the rod is succeeded by more severe chastisements. It was, then, the stature of childhood that you, O our King, approved of as an emblem of humility when you said: "Of such is the kingdom of heaven."

Daily Old Testament and Early Christian Writings: 1 Samuel 21-22, Proverbs 25 and Augustine's Confessions 28

1 Samuel 21 – David goes to Nob, to the high priest Ahimelech.  He pretends the king has sent him on a secret mission, that no one must know where he is or what he is doing.  He asks Ahimelech for bread, but the priest says he has none—only “holy bread.”  He can give it to David and the men who are with him if they “have kept themselves from women” (21:4). David assures him that they have, so the priest gives them the holy bread—“Bread of the Presence”—which is removed each evening. Fresh bread is placed there in its place.

        

It happens that one Doeg, chief of Saul’s shepherds, is there when David comes. He will later play a role in uncovering David’s whereabouts to Saul, so he is mentioned here in passing.

        

David tells Ahimelech he left so quickly on the king’s errand that he brought no sword; he asks Ahimelech if he has one. The only one there is Goliath’s sword, which has been kept there, wrapped in a cloth.  So David takes it and leaves—to go to King Achish of Gath [a Philistine city-state], where he pretends to be mad. “He scratched marks on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle run down his beard” (21:13). King Achish is the Philistine king – or one of two Philistine kings that ruled at this time – and remember that David killed the Philistine warrior Goliath and is carrying his sword when he goes to the king, fleeing from Saul. He plays insane so he won’t be recognized and killed.

1 Samuel 22 – David escapes to a cave in Adullam [lying half-way between Gath and Bethlehem] , where his family comes down to him along with others who are debtors or discontented in some way.  He becomes “captain” of a rogue band of 400 men.  He asks the king of Moab [East of the Dead Sea] to let his parents stay with him for a while to keep them safe.  After a while, a prophet (Gad) tells David he should leave this safe place, this “stronghold” and go to Judah, into the forest of Hereth.

        

Meanwhile Saul, very paranoid—maybe not unreasonably so—about the collusion between David and his own son, berates his servants for not warning him about Jonathan’s closeness to David, for not feeling sorry for him.  Doeg, then, the one who had been in Nob with the priest Ahimelech, reveals to Saul that he saw David there, saw Ahimelech give him Goliath’s sword, etc. Saul then sends for the priest and all his “father’s house” to inquire why he helped David.  Ahimelech thinks David is the most faithful of all to Saul.  He does not know he is Saul’s enemy.  Saul tells his servants to kill Ahimelech and all his family, but they “[will] not raise their hand to attack the priests of the Lord” (22:17). But Doeg, the Edomite, does.  He kills 85 of the priestly household that day, and then puts the whole city of Nob to the sword—men, women and children as well as animals. 

Only one son of the priestly family escapes—Abiathar.  He goes to David and tells him what has happened. David responds that he knew that Doeg would tell Saul and that he feels himself responsible for the deaths of all of them (22:22). David invites Abiathar to stay with him.

Proverbs 25 – A second collection attributed to Solomon but transcribed by King Hezekiah – they focus on those seeds of wisdom that help a king to rule well:

“No one can comprehend the height of heaven, the depth of the earth, or all that goes on in the king’s mind. Remove the impurities from silver, and the sterling will be ready for the silversmith. Remove the wicked from the king’s court, and his reign will be made secure by justice” (25:3-5).

“Don’t demand an audience with the king or push for a place among the great. It’s better to wait for an invitation to the head table than to be sent away in public disgrace” (25:6-7). These verses are used by Christ in his parable in Luke 14:7 – claim no honors – better to be asked to come closer to the king.

“When arguing with your neighbor, don’t betray another person’s secret. Others may accuse you of gossip, and you will never regain your good reputation” (25:9-10).

“Clouds and gusts and yet no rain, such is the man whose promises are princely but never kept” (25:14).

“With patience a judge may be cajoled: a soft tongue breaks bones” (25:15).

“Telling lies about other is as harmful as hitting them with an ex, wounding them with a sword, or shooting them with a sharp arrow” (25:18).

“If your enemies are hungry, give them water to drink. You will heap burning coals of shame on their heads, and the Lord will reward you” (25:21-22).

“A person without self-control is like a city with broken-down walls” (25:28).

Augustine (354-439)

Confessions

28 - But what matter of surprise is it that I was thus carried towards vanity, and went forth from you, O my God, when men were proposed to me to imitate, who, should they in relating any acts of theirs— not in themselves evil— be guilty of a barbarism or solecism, when censured for it became confounded; but when they made a full and ornate oration, in well-chosen words, concerning their own licentiousness, and were applauded for it, they boasted? You see this, O Lord, and keepest silence, "long-suffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth," as you are. Will you keep silence forever? And even now you draw out of this vast deep the soul that seeks you and thirsts after your delights, whose "heart said unto you," I have sought your face, "Your face, Lord, will I seek." For I was far from your face, through my darkened [Romans 1:21] affections. For it is not by our feet, nor by change of place, that we either turn from you or return to you. Or, indeed, did that younger son look out for horses, or chariots, or ships, or fly away with visible wings, or journey by the motion of his limbs, that he might, in a far country, prodigally waste all that you gave him when he set out? A kind Father when you gave, and kinder still when he returned destitute! [Luke 15:11-32] So, then, in wanton, that is to say, in darkened affections, lies distance from your face.

We are all of us able to identify with that “prodigal son” Augustine makes reference to in this paragraph. We all to some extent take the blessed inheritance we are meant to have and waste it on silly and self-serving trinkets: worldly goals, vanities, shallow ideas, ambitions and human rewards. And it is when we honestly measure the emptiness of these things against the profound purposefulness we want our lives to have in the end that we find ourselves on the road home, fretting about how our Father will receive us.

Daily Old Testament and Early Christian Writings: 1 Samuel 16, Proverbs 17-18 and Augustine's Confessions 23

1 Samuel 16 – Samuel is then told to go out and go to Bethlehem to anoint a new king.  Samuel worries that Saul will be a danger to him, but he goes.  He offers sacrifice there and has Jesse’s sons brought before him one at a time—Eliab, Abinadab, Shammah and four others.  They are all fine men, but “The Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart” (16:7).

The youngest son is David; he is out “keeping the sheep” (16:11). He is sent for.  He is “ruddy, and had beautiful eyes, and was handsome.  The Lord said, ‘Rise and anoint him; for this is the one.’ . . .and the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward” (16:12-13).

Apparently David appeals to both the standard of the people AND the standard of the Lord, for he is both handsome, talented and filled with the spirit.  The passages here are filled with a certain inner contradiction.  We hear God saying here that he does not go back on what he decides embedded in a story about how he does change his mind about the anointing of Saul for the kingship. And this is embedded in an even deeper contradiction about whether or not the mere having of a king is or is not something offensive to God.  How to resolve these tensions? They really are only resolved over time as the redemptive work of God goes forward.  Then the ideal of obedience rather than sacrifice finds its proper referent.  The ideal of kingship finds its worthy subject—in Christ.  And the real qualities God favors emerge in David and in the people he unites.

        

As for Saul, the spirit of the Lord abandons him and an evil spirit comes in its place to torment him.  Because he is tormented, his people send for someone who can calm him by playing the lyre.  David is the one who is called for.  He comes “loaded with bread, a skin of wine, and a kid . . . Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armor-bearer” (16:20-21).

Proverbs 17 – The proverbs I liked:

“Better a dry crust eaten in peace than a house filled with feasting—and conflict” (17:1).

“Fire tests the purity of silver and gold, but the Lord tests the heart” (17:3)

“Grandchildren are the crowning glory of the aged; parents are the pride of their children” (17:6).

“Love prospers when a fault is forgiven, but dwelling on it separates close friends” (17:9)

“A truly wise person uses few words; a person with understanding is even-tempered. Even fools are thought wise than they deep silent; with their mouths shut, they seem intelligent” (17:27-28).

Proverbs 18 – Today’s best:

“Fools have no interest in understanding; they only want to air their own opinions” (18:2)

“Wise words are like deep waters; wisdom flows from the wise like a bubbling brook” (18:4).

“The human spirit can endure a sick body, but who can bear a crushed spirit?” (18:14).

“Giving a gift can open doors; it gives access to important people” (18:16). I don’t include this because I like it. I include it here because there was a similar saying in the preceding chapter – it doesn’t seem like something you’d want to promote though it undoubtedly has ALWAYS been true. Seems like you’d want to focus on the distortion of judgment such gifts brings to the system of governance or the civil order of things.

“An offended friend is harder to win back than a fortified city. Arguments separate friends like a gate locked with bars” (18:19).

Augustine (354-439)

Confessions

23 - But why, then, did I dislike Greek learning which was full of like tales? For Homer also was skilled in inventing similar stories, and is most sweetly vain, yet was he disagreeable to me as a boy. I believe Virgil, indeed, would be the same to Grecian children, if compelled to learn him, as I was Homer. The difficulty, in truth, the difficulty of learning a foreign language mingled as it were with gall all the sweetness of those fabulous Grecian stories. For not a single word of it did I understand, and to make me do so, they vehemently urged me with cruel threatenings and punishments. There was a time also when (as an infant) I knew no Latin; but this I acquired without any fear or tormenting, by merely taking notice, amid the blandishments of my nurses, the jests of those who smiled on me, and the sportiveness of those who toyed with me. I learned all this, indeed, without being urged by any pressure of punishment, for my own heart urged me to bring forth its own conceptions, which I could not do unless by learning words, not of those who taught me, but of those who talked to me; into whose ears, also, I brought forth whatever I discerned. From this it is sufficiently clear that a free curiosity has more influence in our learning these things than a necessity full of fear. But this last restrains the overflowings of that freedom, through your laws, O God—your laws, from the ferule of the schoolmaster to the trials of the martyr, being effective to mingle for us a salutary bitter, calling us back to yourself from the pernicious delights which allure us from you.

Again it is sometimes difficult to make out what is being said exactly, for the complexity of Augustine’s thinking is mixed with the difficulty of the translator’s choice of words – words I am not familiar with like “ferule” and “salutary.” It seems like he is reflecting on the way fear distorts the free curiosity that is good in the learning process, but then he seems to say too that the “delights” we have in certain things we’re asked to learn pull us AWAY from God.

I see the process as complex but then the “order of God” in the universe is complex. We find our way through the fears, false joys, and true leadings to a place where we can discern what has been helpful and what has not in the search for a connection with our creator and the good “He” wants us to find in His truth, His love and His presence.

Daily Bible Reading: Ezekiel 34-36 and Revelation 4-5

Ezekiel 34  – Ezekiel prophesies against the shepherds [leaders spiritual and temporal] of Israel’s people who “feed themselves” instead of feeding their flocks. They have failed to make the weak stronger; they have not cared for the sick or wounded sheep. So they have scattered and have become prey for wild animals. The shepherds will be called to account, but also the Lord will not rely on them any more. He says, “I am going to look after my flock myself and keep all of it in view . . . I myself will show them where to rest . . .I shall look for the lost one, bring back the stray, bandage the wounded and make the weak strong. I shall watch over the fat and healthy. I shall be a true shepherd to them” (34:11-16).

           

As for his sheep, the Lord shall judge between them. This is the language Jesus is drawing on when he speaks of separating the sheep from the goats in Matthew 25. And then it goes on to say, “I mean to raise up one shepherd, my servant David, and to put him in charge of them and he will pasture them; he will pasture them and be their shepherd. I, Yahweh, will be their God, and my servant David shall be their ruler” (34:23). Remember that Ezekiel is prophesying in the 6^th c. BC, long after David’s time.

This has to be some of the most important Old Testament language in terms of understanding the mission of Jesus and the significance his disciples saw in his presence among them. David was long gone from Israel’s history, but the promise made by God to David’s “House” in 2 Samuel 7 is invoked here as a reminder that the Messiah would be of this same House.

Ezekiel 35 – This prophesy against the mountains of Seir or Edom precedes a similar oracle concerning the mountains of Israel, mountains that Edom tried to take over along with all of Palestine after 587. The Lord will devastate Edom for things they have done and said about Israel, for slandering Yahweh and rejoicing when Israel was reduced to ashes.

Ezekiel 36 – This oracle is to the mountains of Israel and according to the footnote was likely issued after 587. In this moment of complete desolation Yahweh affirms his eternal commitment to his people. He says to the mountains of Israel that they will again grow trees and branches that bear fruit for God’s people who will one day return to their lands. God will multiply the population living on the mountains and will raise the cities up once again. He will make them even more prosperous than they were before.

People of the House of Israel defiled the land with their conduct (killing babies, worshipping idols) and they have offended God by their conduct in captivity as well, but He will bring them back and cleanse them:

            I shall give you a new heart,

            and put a new spirit in you;

            I shall remove the heart of stone from your bodies

            and give you a heart of flesh instead.

            I shall put my spirit in you

            and make you keep my laws,

            and sincerely respect my observances.

            You will live in the land, which I gave your ancestors;

            You shall be my people,

            And I will be your God (36:24-28).

Revelation 4 – A series of prophetic visions follow here: He has a vision of the door of heaven opening and a voice like a trumpet saying, “’Come up here: I will show you what is to come in the future.’” He sees “the One” seated on a throne in heaven” (4:3). It is not an anthropomorphic vision but one of gems and sparkling rainbows and such.

The central throne is surrounded by 24 thrones for the 24 elders who sit in white robes. There are seven flaming lamps between God and the circle of elders. They represent the seven “spirits of God” or angels of his presence.

Before the throne, there are also four creatures with many eyes – a lion (majesty), a bull (strength), a man (wisdom) and an eagle (flight) – each of which has six wings. And there is a sea of glass that looks like crystal between the prophet and the central image.

The note says that from the time of Irenaeus, the four creatures have been seen as representing the gospel writers. The image in Ezekiel is similar in some ways but also unique. There are no wheels here by each animal and the animals in Ezekiel are “of human form” with only four wings – two touching the wings of the next “animal” and two covering it. The vision in Ezekiel 10 is also quite different though some similarities can be found.

The four never stopped singing “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God, the Almighty; he was, he is and his is to come’” (4:8), and the twenty-four elders honor the Lord for “He” “made all the universe and it was only by [His] will that everything was made and exists’” (4:11).

Revelation 5 – There is a scroll in God’s right hand written on front and back and sealed with seven seals that cannot be opened by anyone – there is no one worthy. This makes John cry, but an elder reassures him that the “Lion of the tribe of Judah has triumphed” and will be able to open them (5:5).

The Lamb before the throne has seven horns (strength) and seven eyes (omniscience). Everyone is prostrate before him. “You were sacrificed with your blood. You bought men for God of every race, language, people and nation and made them a line of kings and priests, to serve our God and to rule the world”(5:9). Everything that lives praises him.

Daily Bible Reading: Sirach [Ecclesiasticus] 46-47 and Acts 23:1-10

Sirach 46 – Celebrating Joshua, Moses’ successor and one “mighty in war” (46:1).  “He himself waged the wars of the Lord” (46:3). This is not translated as “holy war” and the note to this line says the words really say that the Lord handed enemies over to him [Joshua]. Joshua’s name means Yahweh saves and the Greek for the name is Jesus. Interesting! The text says he “deserved his name” because he “was a great savior of the Chosen People (46:2). He was said to have stopped the sun in its place to keep the day longer.

Then comes Caleb who, with Joshua “did devoted service . . .by opposing the whole community” (46:7). He prevented the people from rebelling. Only he and Joshua were “brought into their inheritance” (46:8), into the land “where milk and honey flow” (46:9).

The Judges are celebrated next. They were men who responded to God’s call and “never turned their backs on the Lord” (46:11).  “May their bones flower again from the tomb” (46:12).

Samuel is next. He was “the beloved of his Lord; prophet of the Lord, he instituted the kingdom, and anointed rulers over his people” (46:13). Even after his death, “he lifted up his voice from the earth in prophecy, to blot out the wickedness of the people” (46:20).

Sirach 47 – Nathan is the next great man, and then David. His victory against Goliath, his addition of music to worship and his many victories over the enemies his people are celebrated. In return the Lord “took away his sins, and exalted his horn forever; he gave him a royal covenant, and a glorious throne in Israel” (47:11).

Solomon was his wise son. He “reigned in a time of peace and God gave him peace all round so that he could raise a house to his name and prepare an everlasting sanctuary” (47:13).  He was loved for the peace he brought. He brought much wealth in and gave his body over to women; he “became [a] slave to [his] appetites” (47:19), profaning his honor, and bringing wrath on his descendants (47:20). The kingdom was split but the Lord did not abandon the “line”.

Rehoboam, “stupidest member of the nation” (47:23) followed, and the people rebelled. Then Jeroboam “made Israel sin” to excess, finally resulting in their being exiled.

Acts 23:1-10 – Ananias, the High Priest, orders him struck [also against the Law in dealing with a Roman citizen]. The Sanhedrin is part Sadducee, part Pharisee. He tells of his Pharisee roots and tells them it “is for our hope in the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial” (23:6). Sadducees did not believe in angels, in the resurrection of the dead or in the retribution of God in the afterlife. The Pharisees do, though, and Paul gets them to support him.