Daily Old Testament and Early Christian Writings: Exodus 39-40 and Justin Martyr's First Apology 26-28

Exodus 39 – The vestments made and the work presented to Moses for his blessing are here described. The colors of everything are specified including even the color of the thread to be used (gold).

The names of the twelve tribes are engraved on a dark reddish gem mounted into gold. All the various garments  are described in great detail and all are decorated with gems and gold. “The Israelites did all the work just as the Lord had commanded Moses. Moses examined everything and saw that they had made it all just as the Lord had commanded. So Moses blessed them” (39:43). The Schocken editors point out the extent to which the completion of the work is marked by terms that equate it with God’s completion of the work of creation in Genesis.

Exodus 40 – Everything is ready to be assembled (40:18) and anointed by Moses.  Aaron and his sons are anointed.  “Then the cloud covered the meeting tent, and the glory of the Lord filled the Dwelling.  Moses could not enter the meeting tent, because the cloud settled down upon it and the glory of the Lord filled the Dwelling.  Whenever the cloud rose from the Dwelling, the Israelites would set out on their journey. 

But if the cloud did not lift, they would not go forward; only when it lifted did they go forward.  In the daytime the cloud of the Lord was seen over the Dwelling; whereas at night, fire was seen in the cloud by the whole house of Israel in all the stages of their journey” (40:34-38).

Early Christian Writers

Justin Martyr (100-165 AD) – First Apology

26 – After “Christ’s ascension into heaven the devils put forward certain men who said that they themselves were gods; and they were not only not persecuted by you, but even deemed worthy of honors.” And here he is speaking of Simon Magus (Acts 8:9-24), whom I had no idea was so well-known in Roman circles.

He claims that the Romans esteemed Simon for the acts of magic he performed. Justin Martyr thinks this “magic” was “the art of the devils operating in him” but he notes that the Romans “considered him a god” and had a statue erected in his honor on the Tiber and had it inscribed with the words, “Simoni Deo Sancto” [To Simon the holy God]. It’s possible Justin Martyr was misinformed in this. In the 16^th century, a statue was unearthed in this location which was inscribed to “Semo Sancus” – a Sabine deity, not the Simon referred to in Acts.

He also implies that Marcion of Pontus – still living at this time – was influenced by Simon Magus. He says he is “teaching his disciples to believe in some other god greater than the Creator. And he, by the aid of the devils, has caused many of every nation to speak blasphemies, and to deny that God is the maker of this universe, and to assert that some other being, greater than He, has done greater works.” He and his followers may be CALLED Christians, but they are not. They are heretics.

Marcion was the son of a bishop in the early church – in Sinope in the province of Pontus. He may also have been appointed an assistant to his father but his father excommunicated him when he rejected the God of the Jewish Scriptures as the God Christians worshipped [Wikipedia]. It’s easy to see that a man like Justin Martyr, who found the Jewish Scriptures and particularly the Jewish prophets as his road to Christ, would denounce such a belief. Marcionism was declared a 4^th century heresy.

27 – Bucking the culture of the time, Justin Martyr writes that “we have been taught that to expose newly-born children is the part of wicked men.” We are taught to do no one injury. And those who are “so exposed (not only the girls, but also the males) are often brought up to prostitution.

Those who are in government – like the men for whom he is writing this apology – “receive the hire of these, and duty and taxes from them [those who profit from their prostitution, I think], whom you ought to exterminate from your realm.”

“And anyone who uses such persons, besides the godless and infamous and impure intercourse, may possibly be having intercourse with his own child, or relative, or brother.”

28 – Among Christians, “the prince of the wicked spirits is called the serpent, and Satan, and the devil . . . “Christ foretells that he and those who follow him will be punished for all eternity, and God has delayed this end-of=time scenario out of “His regard for the human race.”

“He foreknows that some are to be saved by repentance, some even that are not yet born. In the beginning He made the human race with the power of thought and of choosing the truth and doing right, so that all men are without excuse before God; for they have been born rational and contemplative.”

Some then – even as today – insinuate that God does not exist or if He does exist, He “exists like a stone, and that neither virtue nor vice are anything, but only in the opinion of men these things are reckoned good or evil. [But] this is the greatest profanity and wickedness.”

Daily Old Testament and Early Christian Writings: Exodus 37-38 and Justin Martyr's First Apology 23-25

Exodus 37 – The ark or “covenant box” is to be made out of acacia wood and the dimensions are to be 45” by 27” by 27.”

It is to be covered with gold inside and out and carried with poles of gold-covered acacia wood that are slipped through rings along the sides of the box. The top of the case is covered with a lid with hammered golden winged creatures facing each other and protecting the contents.

The table for the offered bread is made with similar precision and then the lamp stand and altar of incense. Everything is beautifully decorated.

Exodus 38 – The altar of holocausts or “burnt offerings” is described in great detail along with all the tools necessary. The bronze basin and enclosure needed for the Tent of the Lord’s Presence is also described. The gold and silver dedicated to the Temple is based on the census done.

The Jerusalem Bible note at the beginning of chapter 35 says that “35-40 is almost a word for word repetition of 25-31; there the orders were given; here they are carried out” (123).

Early Christian Writers

Justin Martyr (100-165 AD) – First Apology

23 – Here Justin Martyr claims that the prophets who foretold Christ are really older than “all the writers” who have set these stories before the Roman world and that they said not “fabricated” things but true things..

This is interesting. I had to check on the timeframe for the emergence of all the myths that were part of Greek and Roman culture dated from 900-800 BC. So, it’s hard to say now if the Hebrew stories were older but Justin Martyr seems to be saying they were, and not only older but truer as well.

 

24 – It is ludicrous that Christians are “hated on account of the name of Christ . . . and put to death as sinners” when we do nothing wrong. And others are “in other places worshipping trees and rivers, and mice and cats and crocodiles, and many irrational animals.”

25 – We too used to worship these gods, he says – Bacchus and Apollo, Proserpine and Venus and Aesculapius – but we “have now, through Jesus Christ, learned to despise these, though we be threatened with death for it, and have dedicated ourselves to the unbegotten and impossible God; of whom we are persuaded that never was he goaded by lust of Antiope, or such other women, or of Ganymede, nor was rescued by the hundred-handed giant whose aid was obtained through Thetis . . . Those who believe these things we pity, and those who invented them we know to be devils.”

Daily Old Testament and Early Christian Writings: Exodus 34-36 and Justin Martyr's First Apology 20-22

Exodus 34 - The Lord tells Moses to bring Him two new stones on which to re-write the “words” He gave him.  Moses climbs the mountain again alone, and the Lord passes before him, crying out, “The Lord, the Lord, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity, continuing his kindness for a thousand generations, and forgiving wickedness and crime and sin; yet not declaring the guilty guiltless, but punishing children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generation for their fathers’ wickedness!” (34:6-7) The two attributes—the Lord’s kindness and His justice—are the two things we can know about Him, the two things we must know about Him.

Moses, in response, renews his request to have the Lord accompany them on their journey. The Lord promises to work marvels (34:10) among the people; but in return they must “keep the commandments I am giving you today” (34:11). 

This list of commandments, the post-apostacy set—called The Ten but clearly a different set from what Moses received in Exodus 20--is framed not by a reminder of the salvation from Egypt, but by a prospective view of the victories and challenges their entry into the Promised Land will bring.  Perhaps this story entered into the text after the Israelites had been a people in the Promised Land for a while, and had been unfaithful AGAIN—worshipping the golden calves of the Canaanite religion--and needed this particular temptation to be added to the Exodus story.

Preface - The Lord will drive out the Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites; but the Israelites must tear down the altars and smash their sacred pillars and poles. 

1. They are to make no covenant (nor enter into marriages) with these people or the Israelites will end up ensnared in their forms of worship.
2. No molten images are to be made.
3. They shall keep the Passover.
4. They shall dedicate to God all first-born.
5. They shall keep the Sabbath.
6. They shall keep the feast of Weeks and the feast of the Fruit Harvest
7. Three times a year all the men shall come to worship the Lord
8. They shall not offer the blood of sacrifice with leavened bread.
9. They shall bring to the House of the Lord the first grains that are harvested

    10.  They hall not boil a young sheep or goat in its mother’s milk (34:14-26).

      

Moses stays another 40 days and nights; when he comes down “he did not know that the skin of his face had become radiant (karan) while he conversed with the Lord. Later, in the Latin translation, the word ‘karan’ was rendered as ‘horned’—hence Michelangelo’s horned statue of Moses at the Church of San Pietro in Vincoli.

This first “transfiguration” – Moses’ -- is certainly the backdrop against which Jesus’ is to be interpreted in Mark 9:2-3; Mt 17:2 and Luke 9:29. This radiance terrifies Aaron and others.  He puts a veil over his face, and thereafter takes it off only when he enters the Tent of Meeting to “converse” with the Lord (34:34).

Paul refers to this in 2 Corinthians 17 when he interprets the veil as something that prevents the Jews from seeing in Christ a fulfillment of the Mosaic ‘ministration’ as Fox would call it.

Exodus 35 – Sabbath regulations: penalty for violation is death.  No work is to be done. “You shall not even light a fire in any of your dwellings on the Sabbath day” (35:3).

Then the chapter turns to collection of materials again, and the call for artisans and contributions for everyone “all as their heart prompted” (35:22).  The particular God-given “skills,” “understandings,” and “abilities” of individuals are recognized.

Exodus 36 – The work proceeds communally according to how people’s hearts are moved to make them come and take part in the work (36:2). More is contributed than is needed, so people are told to stop making contributions.

The most skilled men work on the “Tent of the Lord’s presence” (36:8). It is to be made of “ten pieces of fine linen woven [14 yards by 2 yards] with blue, purple, and red wool and embroidered with figures of winged creatures” (36:9).  Directions and descriptions follow for all the parts that make up the Tent or “Dwelling” follow.

Early Christian Writers

Justin Martyr (100-165 AD) – First Apology

20 – Many of the things we Christians affirm have been affirmed by other “pagan” religions and philosophers – the Sibyl [the prophetess], the Stoics, Plato, Menander and others. They all seem to teach that things of this world are corruptible and that all things will end in fire. But while there are similarities between the beliefs of these more respected [at that time] sources, we believe our teaching is “on other points . . . fuller and more divine.”

“For while we say that all things have been produced and arranged into a world by God, we shall seem to utter the doctrine of Plato; and while we say that there will be a burning up of all, we shall seem to utter the doctrine of the Stoics; and while we affirm that the souls of the wicked, being endowed with sensation even after death, are punished, and that those of the good being delivered from punishment spend a blessed existence, we shall seem to say the same things as the poets and philosophers; and while we maintain that men ought not to worship the works of their hands, we say the very things which have been said by the comic poet Menander, and other similar writers, for they have declared that the workman is greater than the work.”

He seems to be arguing that so many of the things Christians believe are not really NEW, it is hard to understand why they should be so singled out for persecution.

21 – Even the core belief is not new to the Romans. “And when we say also that the Word, who is the first-birth of God, was produced without sexual union, and that He, Jesus Christ, our Teacher, was crucified and died, and rose again, and ascended into heaven, we propound nothing different from what you believe regarding those whom you esteem sons of Jupiter.” He is referring here to the various events surrounding the “sons of Jupiter” – Mercury, Aesculapius, Bacchus, Hercules, Perseus, and Bellerophon.

And even some of the emperors in the past have been declared “worthy of deification” and the reason all of these “people” are written about and celebrated is because they feel it is good to encourage “youthful scholars” to “imitate the gods.” But the truth is that many of the stories of these people contain things that are good at all, things that have been perpetrated by “wicked devils.”

22 – The writer continues his argument that nothing in the Jesus story is all that unusual. The Romans have sons of gods too, even suffering sons. But Jesus was superior to them – and this was shown in “His actions.”

Daily Old Testament and Early Christian Writings: Exodus 33 and Justin Martyr's First Apology 18-19

Exodus 33 – The Lord promises to send the people into the land He swore to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and He will send His angel before them.  But He says He will not accompany them Himself because they “are a stiff-necked people; [and He] might exterminate [them] on the way” (33:4). In repentance, the Israelites lay aside their ornaments (33:6).

The Meeting Tent or “Tent of the Lord’s Presence,” is pitched outside of camp “at some distance.” When Moses entered the Tent, the people saw a column of cloud outside the entrance “while the Lord spoke with Moses” (33:9).  This was a cue for everyone to worship at the entrances to their own tents.  Joshua would stay in the Tent of Meeting even when Moses returned from it.

Moses convinces God that He really must come along with them, that He must accept them as His people: “For how can it be known that we, your people and I, have found favor with you, except by your going with us?” (33:16) The Lord tells Moses “I myself  [note indicates the word literally is ‘my face,’ that is ‘my presence’] will go along, to give you rest.” This passage precedes Moses’ argument to God, but it seems to me to be a response.  Schocken’s translation is better, I think, making it a question: “If my presence were to go (with you), would I cause you to rest easy? (33:14).  Moses then tells YHWH if He will not come, then He should not bring them up from here; for only through that presence that they can become a distinct people at all.

Moses asks to see the Lord’s “glory” and God assures Moses He will permit him to see His “beauty,” but the Lord’s “face” he cannot see “for no man sees me and still lives” (33:20).  He places Moses “in the cleft of the rock” and screens his vision until He passes, but He permits Moses to see His “back” (33:23). The note suggests that God’s “back” is also reflected in the creation.

Early Christian Writers

Justin Martyr (100-165 AD) – First Apology

Immortality and Resurrection

18 – If we reflect on those kings and other rulers just talked about, we know they all die “the death common to all.” If death resulted in “insensibility” [the death of all that comprises who they are], then that would be a blessing to those who are wicked. But we believe “sensation remains to all who have ever lived, and eternal punishment is laid up . . . for the wicked.”

It is not only to the traditional Christian view of man’s eternal nature that Justin Martyr appeals. He is surrounded by necromancers, diviners and “dream-senders” who also believe in a spiritual realm not visible to the human senses. They all believe that “the spirits of the dead, whom all call daemoniacs or madmen” can reach into our lives. And he points out that all the great thinkers of their day – and earlier – ascribed to a belief in the afterlife – Empedocles, Pythagoras, Plato, Socrates, Homer.

19 – He gives an amazing argument in favor of the possibility of “resurrection” – bodily resurrection.  He starts by observing the miracle of life coming from the “human seed” that is the start of every life. No one would ever look at that drop of seed and imagine that a man or woman would arise from it.

“In the same way, then, you are now incredulous because you have never seen a dead man rise again. But as at first you would not have believed it possible that such persons could be produced from the small drop, and yet now you see them thus produced, so also judge ye that it is not impossible that the bodies of men, after they have been dissolved, and like seeds resolved into earth, should in God’s appointed time rise again and put on incorruption [incorruptibility].”

Daily Old Testament and Early Christian Writings: Exodus 32 and Justin Martyr's First Apology 15-17

Exodus 32 – Moses takes a long time conferring with God on the mountain (40 days), and the people become restless and anxious.  Throughout the wilderness journey, they express the same anxieties. 

Back on earth, down the mountain, life is full of human frailty. So the people go to Aaron and ask him to “make us a god who will be our leader” (32:1). One of the commandments – the FIRST one by the Catholic count, is specifically NOT to make any such representation.  The Lord, seeing what is going on, tells Moses “Go down at once to your people, [not his any more, note] for they have become depraved” (32:7).

God threatens to “consume them” but Moses pleads with Him on their behalf—this is his other “hat” a prophet wears—the role of being a pleader for his people. The prophet not only represents God’s voice to the people.  He represents the people’s voice to God.  He is a two way intermediary.  Moses reasons with God as he might have with some proud potentate and tries to get Him to see how the fate of His people ultimately reflects on Him.  He reminds God of the promise he made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and exhorts Him to the faithfulness He swore to them on more than one occasion. I guess we all need to be reminded once and a while.

Moses meets up again with Joshua and returns to the camp with the tablets, but when he sees himself what they have done, his anger flares up so much [he does have a temper---remember 11:8] he throws the tablets down and breaks them.  He takes the golden calf, melts it down, grinds up the gold, throws it on the water and makes the people drink it.  Then he turns to Aaron, appropriately enough, and asks him an unexpected question—not what have you done? Or even what have my people done? but “What did this people ever do to you that you should lead them into so grave a sin?” (32:21)

Aaron, of course, blames the people—he was just their pawn or he just did what he did to keep them from doing something even worse.  “I told them, ‘Let anyone who has gold jewelry take it off,’ They gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and this calf came out.” [Is this supposed to be funny??] 

Moses, seeing what he is confronted with, takes charge.  He has those who are “for the Lord” come to him.  Only the Levites rally to him, and he instructs them to slay their kinsmen—about 3000 [a stylized number often used in the Bible] are slain. And this becomes the basis for their being seen as dedicated to the Lord in a special way!!

The next day, Moses leaves them again and returns to the mountain to “make atonement” for them (32:30). Only when he is there do we see him as a pleader for his people once again.

Early Christian Writers

Justin Martyr (100-165 AD) – First Apology

What Christ Himself Taught

15 – Concerning Chastity: Jesus said such things as this – “Whosoever looketh upon a woman to lust after her, hath committed adultery with her already in his heart before God.” If you marry a woman who is divorced from another, this is also adultery.

Many believers who have been “Christ’s disciples from childhood” remain pure for their whole lived. And it isn’t just a few who can live by this standard. “Christ called not only the just and the chaste to repentance, but the ungodly, and the licentious and the unjust.” Our heavenly Father would rather have the repentance of the sinner, not his punishment.

Christians love all people. “He taught. . .’if ye love them that love you, what new thing do ye?’” “Pray for you enemies and love them that hate you.”

“Lay not up for yourselves treasure upon earth. . . but lay up for yourselves treasure in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt.” Be kind and merciful; take no thought what you shall eat or put on.

16 – Concerning Patience and Swearing: “[C]oncerning our being patient of injuries, and ready to serve all, . . . free from anger, this is what He said: ‘To him that smiteth thee on the one cheek, offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloak or coat, forbid not. And whosoever shall be angry is in danger of the fire . . .”

“’And let your good works shine before men, that they, seeing them, may glorify your Father which is in heaven.’” He comments that he’s seen many times people won over to the gospel by the witness of Christians’ lives.

As to not swearing and always speaking the truth, he quotes Jesus: “’Swear not at all; but let your yea be yea, and your nay, nay; for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.’”

Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only with all your heart.

“[L]et those who are not found living as [Jesus] taught, be understood to be no Christians, even though they profess with the lip the precepts of Christ; for not those who make profession, but those who do the works, shall be saved, according to His word.”

17 – Concerning Civil Obedience: He notes that Jesus taught his followers to pay whatever taxes were owed to those in civil authority over them. While God alone is whom we worship, “in other things we gladly serve you, acknowledging . . .kings and rulers of men” and we pray that “with your kingly power you [also] be found to possess sound judgment.”

Everyone will be judged by God in the end anyway.

Daily Old Testament and Early Christian Writings: Exodus 31 and Justin Martyr's First Apology 12-14

Exodus 31 – Artisans are chosen to make everything, artisans “filled . . . with a divine spirit—or breath--of skill and understanding and knowledge in [their] craft[s]” (31:3).  And then they are admonished to keep the Sabbath sacred “as a token” of the covenant between God and his people. Schocken’s translation “for in six days YHWH made the heavens and the earth, but on the seventh day he ceased and paused-for-breath” (31:17) is good, especially when we remember breath and spirit are the same.  The anthropomorphism of the image is appealing – to me at least.

Early Christian Writers

Justin Martyr (100-165 AD) – First Apology

12 – As for promoting peace, no one want to be a stronger helper and ally than Christians. We know that nobody escapes the notice of God and it is impossible “for the wicked, the covetous, the conspirator, [or] the virtuous” to escape the consequences of their deeds. And the consequences may be either “everlasting punishment or salvation” depending on what they did in life. 

If people KNEW this, then they would not CHOOSE wickedness or even “intend” it, for even the intention to do bad things does not escape God’s radar [my modern paraphrase].

He addresses his emperor with the assumption that he is a man who has a “reputation for piety and philosophy.”

Justin Martyr believes that all of what Jesus was and did was foretold by the prophets; and it is this amazing fulfillment of their words that provides Christianity with its convincing power.

13 – No “sober-minded man” could ever think that Christians are “atheists.” We worship “the Maker of this universe, and [declare] that He has no need of streams of blood and libations and incense.”

It would not be right for us to use “what He has brought into being for our sustenance” as burnt offerings; these things should be used by us and others who are in need “with gratitude to Him.”

“Our teacher of these things is Jesus Christ, who also was born for this purpose, and was crucified under Pontius Pilate, procurator of Judaea, in the times of Tiberius  Caesar; and we reasonable worship Him, having learned that He is the Son of the true God Himself, and hold Him in the second place, and the Prophetic Spirit in the third. . .”

People do not understand how we could believe that a “crucified man” could be “second to the unchangeable and eternal God, the Creator of all; for they do not discern the mystery that is herein . . ..”

14 – Justin Martyr points to the role of what he calls “demons” in deceiving authorities about what Christians are about. These demons “strive to hold you their slaves and servants.” Through dreams and sometimes “magical impositions” they convince those who do not resist them.

We, however, “stand aloof from them and follow the only unbegotten God through His Son.” We used to be like those who resist this truth. We too used to delight in fornication, used magical arts and valued material wealth above all things. We too used to hate and destroy one another because of “their different manners” – “men of a different tribe”; but “now, since the coming of Christ” we live with them in peace; we pray for our enemies and try to persuade those who “hate us unjustly to live conformably to the good precepts of Christ, to the end that they may become partakers with us of the same joyful hope of a reward from God the ruler of all.”

Christ was no sophist. To prove this, Justin says that he will review some of what Christ taught.

Daily Old Testament and Early Christian Writings: Exodus 30 and Justin Martyr's First Apology 9-11

Exodus 30 – The incense altar (not previously mentioned—possibly an addition) is 18” long and 18” wide and 36” high (using the Today’s English Version so as to get away from cubits). It has “projections,” rings and poles to make it moveable.  And it is placed “outside the curtain which hangs in front of the Covenant Box” (30:6).

There shall be incense burned morning and evening for all time to come.  No holocausts or cereal offerings or libations shall be made on it, but once a year Aaron shall perform the “atonement rite” on its horns (30:10).  This “altar is most sacred to the Lord.”

When they have a census (seen here as in other places as threatening.  Schocken says, that it seemed people thought if you could be counted, you could be controlled—an early argument against government interference in people’s lives), each Israelite (age 20+ which was the age for military service) shall give the Lord “a forfeit for his life, so that no plague may come upon them for being registered” (30:12), It is a half-shekel offering. This tax shall go to keeping up the meeting tent “that there it may be the Israelites’ reminder before the Lord, of the forfeit paid for their lives” (30:16).

A wash-bowl is to be placed between the meeting tent and the altar for the priests to wash their hands and feet whenever they enter or approach the altar to offer an oblation.

Anointing oil shall be made of the finest spices—myrrh, cinnamon, cane, cassia—and oil. Everything shall be anointed with it and the priests as well.  There are directions for the incense as well.

Early Christian Writers

Justin Martyr (100-165 AD) – First Apology

9 – Justin says that Christians do not “honor with many sacrifices and garlands of flowers such deities as men have formed and set in shrines and called gods since we see that these are soulless and dead . . ..”

10 – “[W]e have received by tradition that God does not need the material offerings which men can give, seeing, indeed, that He Himself is the provider of all things. And we have been taught, and are convinced, and do believe, that He accepts those only who imitate the excellences which reside in Him, temperance, and justice, and philanthropy, and as many virtues as are peculiar to a God who is called by no proper name.”

“For as in the beginning He created us when we were not, so do we consider that, in like manner, those who choose what is pleasing to Him are, on account of their choice, deemed worthy of incorruption and of fellowship with Him.”

Justin Martyr is unique among the early Christians that I have read. He is clearly a man of philosophical leanings, a kind of very early “enlightenment” type. He speaks often of “choices” we make and “deeds” we shall be judged by. He also esteems the “rational faculties”; it is these faculties that lead us to the door beyond which the realm of the spirit lies. These faculties can lead us there but they cannot lead us passed the door/gate. There we need faith and trust and hope and spiritual eyes.

11 – “[W]hen you hear that we look for a kingdom, you suppose, without making any inquiry, that we speak of a human kingdom.” This is just ONE of the things people HEARD about Christians that caused them to freak out. Constant talk of “brothers and sisters” all over the place and “eating the body of Christ” led some to think this was a cult full of incestuous cannibals and people who threatened to undermine traditional Roman family values.

The kingdom Christians speak of, however, is not of this world. The kingdom we believe in is “with God, . . . if we looked for a human kingdom, we should also deny our Christ, . . . But since our thoughts are not fixed on the present, we are not concerned when men cut us off; since also death is a debt which must at all event be paid.”

Daily Old Testament and Early Christian Writings: Exodus 29 and Justin Martyr's First Apology 6-8

Exodus 29 – The ceremony for the dedication or ordination of priests follows: “Take a young bull and two rams with no defects. Then, using choice wheat flour and no yeast, make loaves of bread, thin cakes mixed with olive oil, and wafers spread with oil. Place them all in a single basket, and present them at the entrance of the Tabernacle, along with the young bull and the two rams” (29:1-2).

Aaron and his sons are to be washed with water at the entrance of the Tabernacle and dressed in priestly garments. They are to be anointed and given head-coverings. The young bull will be slaughtered by the priests and “some of its blood [shall be placed] on the horns of the altar with [their] finger, and . . . the rest [poured] at the base of the altar” (29:11-12). Some of the innards shall be burned on the altar and some burned “outside the camp as a sin offering” (29:14).

The two rams are to be offered up as well; after sprinkling its blood on the sides of the altar (29:16) and cut up, it shall be offered as a “burnt offering to the Lord” (29:18). The other ram shall be slaughtered and some of its blood rubbed on the “right earlobes of Aaron and his sons” (29:20) and on their right thumbs and big toes. Some blood shall be sprinkled on Aaron his sons and their garments to set them apart as holy (29:21).

There is more detail about the ceremony. Their ordination ceremony goes on for seven days (29:35) and each day another young bull is offered up as a “sin offering to purify them, making them right with the Lord” (29:36). After the ceremony every day, the altar shall be cleansed and purified. There are also to be burnt offerings of lambs along with wine and flour. These offerings too “are to be made each day from generation to generation” (29:42). And all of this is meant to bring the Lord into the lives of the people every day: “Then I will live among the people of Israel and be their God, and they will know that I am the Lord their God. I am the one who brought them out of the land of Egypt so that I could live among them. I am the Lord their God” (29:45-46).

Early Christian Writers

Justin Martyr (100-165 AD) – First Apology

6 – So if we are considered atheists for not believing in these demon-gods, then we confess that is true. But “with respect to the most true God, the Father of righteousness and temperance and the other virtues, who is free from all impurity” - we deny that we are atheists as to this God.

We worship and adore “Him and the Son who came forth from Him and taught us these things, . . . and the prophetic Spirit, we worship and adore, knowing them in reason and truth.”

7 – It is to the “deeds” of those who claim to be Christians that one should look. Just as ALL who claim to be “philosophers” are not equally wise, so too all those who call themselves Christians are not equally holy. “Wherefore we demand that the deeds of all those who are accused to you be judged, in order that each one who is convicted may be punished as an evil-doer, and not as a Christian; and if it is clear that anyone is blameless, that he may be acquitted, since by the mere fact of his being a Christian he does no wrong. For we will not require that you punish our accusers; they being sufficiently punished by their present wickedness and ignorance of what is right.”

8 – Justin says it is possible Christians could deny this, “but we would not live by telling a lie. For, impelled by the desire of the eternal and pure life, we seek the abode that is with God, the Father and Creator of all, and hasten to confess our faith, persuaded and convinced as we are that they who have proved to God by their works that they followed Him and loved to abide with Him where there is no sin to cause disturbance, can obtain these things.”

Then he makes a comparison between Plato and Christ, which is interesting. He says that Plato had basically to same message but instead of Christ, he said Rhadamanthus and Minos “would punish the wicked who came before them.”

“[W]e say that the same thing will be done, but at the hand of Christ.”

I find it very interesting actually, that Justin Martyr can see in the mythology of the Greeks a “type” of the Christian truth he has committed himself to. And he could also see in the philosophical vision of Plato a love of the same truth. To learn more about Rhadamanthus and Minos, check out http://www.theoi.com/Khthonios/Rhadamanthys.html.

He says the essential difference between the Platonic view of the punishment imposed – in his Republic – and the Christian view is that Plato thought the punishment should only last for a thousand years.

Daily Old Testament and Early Christian Writings: Exodus 28 and Justin Martyr's First Apology 3-5

Exodus 28 - The vestments shall have breast-pieces, ephods, robes, brocaded tunic, miter and sash. Onyx stones—one for each of the sons of Israel—engraved with the names in order of birth, shall be set in the shoulder strap of the ephod.  The breastplate “of decision” made with various precious stones (the names of which seem to vary with each English translation)—12 different ones: carnelian, topaz, emerald—garnet, sapphire, beryl—jacinth, agate, amethyst—chrysolite, onyx, jasper (NAB). 

Aaron will thus “bear the names of the sons of Israel on the breastpiece of decision over his heart as a constant reminder before the Lord” (28:29). In the breastpiece shall go the Urim and Thummim (over his heart).  Schocken editors have little to add to explain but note that Urim starts with the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet and Tummim with the last letter.

Aaron’s robe shall be made of violet material, and all around the hem he shall have gold bells and pomegranates alternating, and he must wear this whenever he is ministering in the sanctuary or else he will die.  On the miter there shall be a plate of gold engraved with “Sacred to the Lord” and this shall hang on his forehead  “Since Aaron bears whatever guilt the Israelites may incur in consecrating their gifts” (28:38). He must always have this plate on.

Early Christian Writers

Justin Martyr (100-165) – First Apology

3 – Sounding every bit like a defense attorney, Justin insists that the charges against the Christians be investigated. And, he insists somewhat ironically, if the charges “be substantiated, they be punished as they deserve; indeed we ourselves will punish them.”

Those subject to the investigation should “render an unexceptional account of their own life and doctrine,” and the rulers [you] “should give their decision in obedience, not to violence and tyranny, but to piety and philosophy.”

It is our job, he says, to offer an inspection of our life and teachings.

4 – One should not decide everything on the basis of a name. Hard to believe how long we’ve been arguing that! We “are accused of being Christians” and others will insist that they are philosophers; but just the name is not enough.

5 – In the past “evil demons” were given the name of gods. When Socrates attempted “by true reason and examination to bring these things to light, and deliver men from the demons [beliefs in ridiculous so-called gods], then the demons themselves, by means of men who rejoiced in iniquity, compassed his death, as an atheist and a profane person, on the charge that ‘he was introducing new divinities;’ and in our case they display a similar activity. For not only among the Greeks did reason (Logos) prevail to condemn these things through Socrates, but also among the Barbarians [Jews] were they condemned by Reason (or the Word, the Logos) Himself, who took shape, and became man, and was called Jesus Christ”; it is in obedience to Him [that] we deny who did such things as these are gods, but assert that they are wicked and impious demons. . ..”

Interesting intersection here of a respect for the best philosophers and the Jewish line of thought that led Christians to see in Christ the fulfillment of that Logos. He is perhaps the first to see that different ways might lead to the same truth.

Daily Old Testament and Early Christian Writings: Exodus 27 and Justin Martyr's First Apology 1-2

Exodus 27 – The altar or “slaughter-site” [Schocken] shall be a square – five by five cubits, three cubits high. It is to be made of bronze and there are to be “horns” on each corner of bronze. Like the ark, it too shall have poles so that it may be carried.

The courtyard of the sanctuary should be enclosed with linen curtains hung on silver hooks and rings. The curtain shall be decorated “with beautiful embroidery in blue, purple and scarlet thread” (27:16).

“Command the people of Israel to bring you pure oil of pressed olives for the light, to keep the lamps burning continually. The lampstand will stand in the Tabernacle, in front of the inner curtain that shields the Ark of the Covenant. Aaron and his sons must keep the lamps burning in the Lord’s presence all night. This is a permanent law for the people of Israel, and it must be observed from generation to generation” (27:20-21).

While it may seem that I am including a lot of minutia in my paraphrasing and retelling, there is really a whole lot more detail; but it the kind of detail that provides a great deal of symbolism – details as to materials used, measurements and other things that for millennia have been interpreted and re-interpreted by those who see a great wealth of spiritual importance in the detail.

Early Christian Writers

Justin Martyr (100-165)

Introduction – Born in what is today Nablus (Palestine) into a Gentile/pagan family. Exposed early-on to Greek philosophy – Stoics and Pythagoreans and Plato. Met “an old man” who was a Syrian Christian and they talked philosophy and religion. He kindled in Justin an interest in the prophets, in whose writings he saw a foretelling of Christ, and this led him to a love of Christ that was deep and abiding. He was also influenced by the bravery of persecuted Christians.

He traveled to Rome where he started a school. Tatian was a student of his. Tatian would become a well-known, 2^nd century Christian theologian and author of the Diatessaron [Harmony of the Gospels]. In the reign of Marcus Aurelius, he was denounced by a “cynic philosopher” named Crescens, was tried by urban prefect Junius Rusticus and beheaded c. 165.

He was prominent in examining the idea of the Logos.

I use here the online edition of the Apology, which is available to the public on the site Christian Classics Etherial Library.

First Apology – Dated sometime between 147 and 161 AD.

1 – The letter/apology is addressed to Antoninus Pius, his sons and the Roman Senate “on behalf of those of all nations who are unjustly hated and wantonly abused, myself being one of them.”

2 – “Reason directs those who are truly pious and philosophical to honor and love only what is true, declining to follow traditional opinions, if these be worthless. For not only does sound reason direct us to refuse the guidance of those who did or taught anything wrong, but it is incumbent on the lover of truth, by all means, and if death be threatened, even before his own life, to choose to do and say what is truth, by all means, and if death be threatened, even before his own life, to choose to do and say what is right. Do you, then, since ye are called pious and philosophers, guardians of justice and lovers of learning, give good heed, and hearken to my address; and if you are indeed such, it will be manifested. For we have come, not to flatter you by this writing, nor please you by our address, but to beg that you pass judgment, after an accurate and searching investigation, not flattered by prejudice or by a desire of pleasing superstitious men, nor induced by irrational impulse of evil rumors which have long been prevalent, to give a decision which will prove to be against yourselves. For as for us, we reckon that no evil can be done us, unless we be convicted as evil-doers or be proved to be wicked men; and you, you can kill, but not hurt us.”