Daily Old Testament: Zechariah 6-8 and My Own Article on "What DId I Say?" (Part 5)

Zechariah 6 – The eighth vision is four chariots emerging from between two mountains of bronze. The first chariot has red horses, the second has black horses, the third has white horses and the fourth has dappled-gray horses (6:1). The angel says they “are the four spirits of heaven who stand before the Lord of all the earth. They are going out to do his work” (6:5). The red ones are going to the East; the black ones to the North; the white ones to the West and the dappled to the South. They will patrol the world (6:7).

Zephaniah is to take a crown of silver and gold, place it on Joshua’s head and tell him that “This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: Here is the man called the Branch. He will branch out from where he is and build the Temple of the Lord . . . Then he will receive royal honor and will rule as king from his throne. He will also serve as priest from his throne, and there will be perfect harmony between his two roles” (6:12-13).

People will come from lands far away to rebuild the Temple, and when it is rebuilt, everyone will know that these visions and messages have come from the Lord.

Zechariah 7 – November 518 – since the destruction of the Temple in June-July 587, there had been a fast to commemorate it. Zechariah wants to know if this tradition should continue. The important thing is God wants the people to practice kindness and compassion towards each other, but the people never obey these simple commandments, so he scattered them. “They turned a land of delights into a desert” (7:14).

Zechariah 8 – Yahweh promises to return to Zion and “shall dwell in the middle of Jerusalem” (8:3). “Now with the remnant of this people, I am not as I was in the past. It is Yahweh . . .who speaks. For I mean to spread peace everywhere. . .Just as one you were a curse among the nations, you House of Judah (and House of Israel), so I mean to save you for you to become a blessing” (8:12-13). The prophet also tells us that someday people from many nations will come to Jerusalem to learn of Yahweh.

From Leadings: A Catholic’s Journey Through Quakerism -

“What Did I Say?”

Part 5

The story goes on to say that Jesus leaves his disciples, telling them to baptize all people. The Holy Spirit comes and Christ’s church is born. The church believes that Christ will return soon to end human history and gather his faithful to himself. But he does not return. We learn a little about the first decades of the church, but then the narrative ends, at least as history. The real end of the biblical narrative comes in the Revelation of John, which portrays in symbolic or imaginative terms what the end of history will be like.

History, insofar as it has to do with the past, ends in the first century, biblically speaking. Quakers incorporated the Revelation part of the narrative by saying that events prefigured there could be experienced on a spiritual plane even though they had not yet come to pass, just as all the events of the narrative could be inwardly experience. We could come into the full presence of God and sup at the great banquet in a spiritual way in this life. But Quakers did not see the historic events that unfolded after the establishment of the church, after Christ’s ascension, as having much weight or spiritual significance. Like the New Testament writer of Hebrews, they saw Christ’s coming as the end of all outward types and shadows, the culmination and end of God’s redemptive work in the world.

They used the image of the sun and compared Christ’s coming historically to the rising of the sun (Son) to its zenith over the earth. As the sun (Son) rises to its fullness—to its zenith—it casts “shadow” in the world (the “types” or outward forms), but once it is “come” (or risen to its fullness), the shadows disappear and what you have is perfect fullness (what Friends called Substance), the fullness of God’s Spirit and Light.

        

This image spoke to me. It explained why Friends did not feel the need to see God’s redemptive truths embodied in outward things like sacraments; but over time, it also led my mind to see that it was Quakerism did not address. The sun did not stop at noontide; it had a downward course to take as well to complete its story, and during this part of its course through our world, it would inevitably cast “shadows” again because the world it illuminated was just that way. It contained things that both obstructed and made real the sun’s presence. This image, the sense of what it implied, the sense that it revealed something true to me about the course of the redemption story and the way God was working in the world today, opened a way out of the labyrinth I felt Quaker theology had placed me in. It helped me see a way of resolving issues about the place of outward things in religion, the legitimacy of the historic church, and the matter of apostasy as well. I began to see another way the narrative could be viewed and other truths it might open.

        

I know this sounds strange. It is very hard to communicate how a vision of something comes to one, how a different way of orienting oneself to a story like the biblical story can open things, solve issues, or lead one in a direction not yet taken. It is very mysterious, but these insights brought me to some important conclusions and insights.

Daily Old Testament: 2 Maccabees 2-3 and My Own Article on "Genesis and John" (Part 4)

2 Maccabees 2 – The author tells how the prophet Jeremiah ordered those who were taken into exile to “hide some of the fire from the altar” so it could be found as they have just found it to rekindle the light of the Temple. He also instructed them concerning God Law and warned them about the temptation of idol worship that they would see in the land they were being taken to.

“These same records also tell us that Jeremiah, acting under divine guidance, commanded the Tent of the Lord’s Presence and the Covenant Box to follow him to the mountain where Moses had looked down on the land which God had promised our people. When Jeremiah got to the mountain, he found a huge cave and there he hid the Tent of the Lord’s Presence, the Covenant Box, and the altar of incense. Then he sealed up the entrance” (2:4-5). No one was to know about the site until the time God would gather his people again and show them mercy. “At that time he will reveal where these things are hidden, and the dazzling light of his presence will be seen in the cloud, as it was in the time of Moses” (2:8).

Nehemiah is credited with bringing together all the “royal records” and all the “writings of David, letters of the kings concerning offerings, and books about the kings and prophets” (2:13).

A Jerusalem Bible note seems to say that all this is not very historically accurate. It is an attempt to show the continuity of orthodox worship – give it higher credentials. He also tries to impress the reader with the massive amount of research he has done, but that the account he plans to give is cursory – an overview.

2 Maccabees 3 – The narrative starts here. It begins when Onias III was high priest and Seleucus IV is ruler of Asia (186-175 BC). One Simon gets into a conflict with Onias over regulation of the markets and Simon uses the Seleucids to get even. He sends rumors of great wealth stashed in the Temple. The king sends Heliodorus, his chancellor, to seize this money – out of all proportion to any money needed for the religious purposes of the Jews. The Lord himself intervenes on Israel’s behalf appearing in a vision to Heliodorus to protect his Temple. He is converted by this experience it says, though he does not seem to be thought of as a good guy.

“Genesis and John”

Part 4

I knew that the opening of Genesis was very important to Fox and Friends. And I knew that the term “Seed” was just as linked to Genesis as “Light” and “Word,” but I wondered if the first part of Genesis was so important to the author of John, were there not perhaps other references to it in other parts of John’s gospel. The first other passage I thought of was the miracle at Cana, Jesus first miracle and the beginning of his ministry. There had always been controversy over the question of why Jesus referred to his mother as “Woman” not “mother dearest.” And the note in my Jerusalem Bible says, “Unusual address from son to mother; the term is used again in 19:26 where there may be a reference to Gn 3:15, 20: Mary is the second Eve, ‘the mother of the living’.”

The only other mention of Mary in John is in John 19:26 when Jesus is on the Cross, and he again calls her “woman” – Jesus, “[s]eeing his mother and the disciple he loved standing near her, Jesus said to his mother, ‘Woman, this is your son’. Then to the disciple he said, ‘This is your mother’. And from that moment the disciple made a place for her in his home” (John 19:26-27). Putting together all of these passages blew my mind. Quakers had gotten the Second Adam insight and run with it, finding in it a theological basis for leading the charge back through the “flaming sword” that kept us out of Eden; but Catholics had seen that in accepting Mary, the woman who was the first to open herself utterly and completely to Christ’s life in her, we too - all of us who were Christ’s beloved disciples – could really join ourselves to them both.

But perhaps the strongest sense of "convincement" I felt about the connection between these Old and New Testament passages came when I read on in John and it said, "After this, Jesus knew that everything had now been completed, and to fulfill the scripture perfectly he said: 'I am thirsty'. A jar full of vinegar stood there, so putting a sponge soaked in the vinegar on a hyssop stick they held it up to his mouth. After Jesus had taken the vinegar he said, 'It is accomplished'; and bowing his head he gave up his spirit" (John 19: 28-30). Yes, the promise made in 3:15 was accomplished.

“Openings” have power. They make us feel that God is working in us, opening our eyes to things we have been blind to; raising to life in us insights that enrich our faith-lives and make us feel the fruits of faithfulness – excitement on an intellectual and spiritual plane, love for those who have witnessed to him and made him live for others. I am thankful.