Daily Old Testament and Early Christian Writings: Numbers 22 and Origen's De Principiis: Preface 5-6

Numbers 22 - The Israelites camp on the plains of Moab, across the Dead Sea from Jericho.  Balak, son of Zippor (a name very like Moses’ wife, Zipporah), is the king of Moab. He is afraid of the Israelites and sends elders from Moab and Midian to Balaam of Pethor on the Euphrates. 

Balaam is a pagan prophet known for his occult powers. He is asked by Balak to come and curse the intruders.  Now God Himself comes to Balaam (at night so perhaps in a dream) and warns him not to interfere with these people for they are blessed. The next day Balaam tells the messengers from Balak that he cannot return with them.  King Balak does not give up, however.  He sends more important messengers to offer a great reward to Balaam if he comes.  This time God tells him he may go but only if he does just as God directs.  In the next paragraph we are told that God becomes angry with Balaam but it is not clear why.  The traditional interpretation is that Balaam did not follow the Lord’s direction but succumbed to the temptation to take the riches in return for his powers. [In the letters of Jude and 2 Pet, this is the reason they give for God’s displeasure at Balaam]

On the road, Balaam’s ass sees the angel of the Lord with a sword drawn, and leaves the path--Balaam beats her.  This happens three times each time the path becomes narrower and the movement off less noticeable.  Then the Lord allows the ass to speak to her master and she asks him why he is beating her.  Then his “eyes are opened” and he too sees the angel in the middle of the road armed with a sword.  So he finally gets on course again and arrives in Moab where Balak is annoyed he took so long.  Balaam tells him he can only say what the Lord puts in his mouth. 

This story is interesting for a number of reasons, the main one being that here again we see example of a non-Jewish king with a powerful connection to the Lord.  He is generally obedient and responsive to the correction of the Lord when he is tempted by riches to leave the path.  So he represents the capacity of those who are outside the promise to understand at least that God favors these gathered people and they should be allowed to follow the Lord.  Presumably for the entire stretch of history before Christ there were people of all nations who could in some measure see and respect the presence of God and the working of God around them even though the work did not directly relate to them.  As God gathered the Jews he is patiently building a redemptive possibility through historical events that will ultimately be opened to all men.

Origen (185-254 AD)

De Principiis (First Principles)

Preface

5 – On the soul, the apostolic teaching is “that the soul, having a substance and life of its own, shall, after its departure from the world be rewarded according to its deserts being destined to obtain either an inheritance of eternal life and blessedness if its actions shall have procured this for it or to be delivered up to eternal fire and punishments if the guilt of its crimes shall have brought it down to this: and also that there is to be a time of resurrection from the dead, when this body which now ‘is sown in corruption shall rise in incorruption,’ . . . “

“This also is clearly defined in the teaching of the Church, that every rational soul is possessed of free-will and volition; that it has a struggle to maintain with the devil and his angels and opposing influences because they strive to burden it with sins; but if we live rightly and wisely we should endeavor to shake ourselves free of a burden of that kind.” We do not believe that we are “subject to necessity so as to be compelled . . . even against our will, to do either good or evil.” There may indeed be things that “influence” us to do one or the other, but our will is not bound by those influences.

He goes on to deny that the “stars” are any “cause of human actions.” And there are details about the nature of the soul that are NOT subjects, which the Church claims clarity on.

6 – Regarding the devil and the angels with him, the Church does say that “these beings exist. . . but what they are, or how they exist, it has not explained with sufficient clearness.” The opinion most Christians have, however, is that the devil, having become “apostate” (rebellious), did “induce” other angels to fall away with him, and these beings are still called angels.

Daily Old Testament and Early Christian Writings: Leviticus 7-8 and Justin Martyr's First Apology 41-43

Leviticus 7 – Instructions for the Guilt Offering: The ceremony for making guilt offerings—the priests may eat of it as with cereal offerings and sin offerings.  The peace offering is different.  They are made in thanksgiving, and may include loaves of leavened bread along with unleavened cakes and an animal.  A portion of each shall be for the priest, but any “clean” or “unpolluted” person may eat of it too

The fat of ox, sheep or goat is not to be eaten (7:24).  Fat from animals who die naturally or are killed by other beasts may be used for “other things” but not for eating.  A portion of peace offerings—typically the fat together with the breast is offered to the priest.  The fat shall be burned and the meat given to the priest as a “wave offering” or “offering raised up” (7:30).

Leviticus 8 – The ordination ceremony: Aaron and his sons are washed before the community, clothed with the vestments including a miter on his head with gold plate and sacred diadem; the dwelling is anointed and consecrated, oil sprinkled on the altar and appurtenances; some anointing oil on Aaron’s head.

The sacrifices are a sin offering, the fat is burned on the altar with innards, etc.  Then there is a burnt offering (holocaust or “offering-up”) offering; the second ram is the “ordination” (“giving-mandate”) ram.  They may not depart from the entrance of the meeting tent for seven days.  The ordination lasts that long.  This is all to make atonement for them as priests.

Early Christian Writers

Justin Martyr (100-165 AD) – First Apology

The Crucifixion Predicted

41 – Again, “in another prophecy, the Spirit of prophecy, through the same David, intimated that Christ, after He has been crucified, should reign, and spoke as follows: ‘Sing to the Lord, all the earth, and day by day declare His salvation. For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, to be feared above all the gods. For all the gods of the nations are idols of devils; but God made the heavens. Glory and praise are before His face, strength and glorying are in the habitation of His holiness. Give Glory to the Lord, the Father everlasting. Receive grace, and enter His presence, and worship in His holy courts. Let all the earth fear before His face; let it be established, and not shaken. Let them rejoice among the nations. The Lord hath reigned from the tree.’” A note adds that this last sentence is not in any of copes we have of Psalm 96. When I tried to find more information about this, I found this online:

Adam Clarke’s Commentary on the Bible (1832) has this in it:

“It appears that this reading did exist anciently in the Septuagint, or at least in some ancient copies of that work, for the reading has been quoted by Tertullian, Lactantius, Arnobius, Augustine, Cassiodorus, Pope Leo, Gregory of Tours, and others. . . . It is necessary, however, to add, that no such words exist in any copy of the Hebrew text now extant, nor in any MS. yet collated, nor in any of the ancient Versions. Neither Eusebius nor Jerome even refer to it, who wrote comments on the Psalms; nor is it mentioned by any Greek writer except Justin Martyr” (http://bible.cc/psalms/96-10.htm)

Prophecy Using the Past Tense

42 – “[T]he Spirit of prophecy speaks of things that are about to come to pass as if they had already taken place.” The words cited were all “uttered 1500 years before Christ become a man and was crucified.” This number is a mistake and commentators are not sure if it was Justin Martyr’s error or an error in transcription of his work.

“But our Jesus Christ, being crucified and dead, rose again, and having ascended to heaven, reigned; and by those things which were published in His name among all nations by the apostles, there is joy afforded to those who expect the immortality promised by Him.”

Responsibility Asserted

43 – Justin Martyr, while he finds excitement and convincement from his exploration of predictions made in the Jewish scriptures, he does not want to make it look as if he thinks everything is predestined in this life.

“We have [also] learned from the prophets . . . that punishments, and chastisements, and good rewards, are rendered according to the merit of each man’s actions. Since if it be not so, but all things happen by fate, neither is anything at all in our own power. For if it be fated that this man, e.g, be good, and this other evil, neither is the former meritorious nor the latter to be blamed.”

“Unless the human race [has] the power of avoiding evil and choosing good by free choice, they are not accountable for their actions, of whatever kind they be.”

We see people transitioning from good to evil and also from evil to good, so there must be some element of choice going on in their lives.

Daily Bible Reading: Ezekiel 32-33 and Revelation 2-3

Ezekiel 32 – Egypt’s pharaoh is again compared to a crocodile, snorting, churning the waters and muddying its streams (32:2). God’s net will be thrown over this crocodile and its carcass will be scattered, leaving the country in darkness. The world will be shocked at the fate of Egypt.

Egypt will go down to Sheol and there meet with those who have died in battles before – Assyria, Elam [ancient civilization in SW Iran], Meshech, Tubal, Edom, the princes of the North and the Sidonians.

One is reminded of the many works of literature that also are built on the premise that there is a dark abode, beneath the earth and beyond time where the personages of the past may be encountered suffering judgment for all the bad things they did in life. 

Ezekiel 33 - God tells Ezekiel to speak to the nation and tell them that he is meant to be the sentry God has appointed to protect the people of Israel. A sentry is there to warn of coming disasters. If the sentry blows his horn and people ignore him, then they are responsible for their own fate. But if the sentry does not warn them, he is responsible for and will be held responsible for the people’s deaths. In a similar way, if the sentry God has sent – the prophet – warns the people that they are being unfaithful and bringing God’s wrath upon them, and they do not respond to the warning, then they are justly doomed; but if the prophet does not warn them, then he must bear the consequences.

The Lord also says through his prophet, “I take pleasure, not in the death of a wicked man, but in the turning back of a wicked man who changes his ways to win life” (33:11). Past integrity will not save the man who chooses to sin, and similarly, past sins will not consign a man to destruction if he uses his free will to turn from sin. We are free.

At the end of 586 BC, a “fugitive” comes from Jerusalem and tells the prophet that the city has fallen. The night before, the hand of the Lord had been upon him and he was no longer unable to speak. The Lord intends to reduce the land to desolation. People listen to the prophet but do not act on his words – “you are like a love song beautifully sung to music. They listen to your words, but no one puts them into practice” (33:32).

The relationship between God and man is dynamic, not static.  The wicked man can repent and find forgiveness and life through his repentance.  But in a similar way, the man who is righteous can forfeit his “life,” his unity with God, by turning from the path of virtue.  Nothing is settled until death – and who knows after that. 

The New Testament “take” on the Lord’s assessment of our integrity is much harsher (Matthew 5:20-26). Who can escape reproach under this very high standard?  Really, no one.  We are all under condemnation as Calvin (following Paul, I think) noted – condemnation is kind of where we start from.  In a way, the Old Testament reading is more comforting than the New, for it promises that we have a choice between life and death that is not completely unrealistic.  It is within our power to choose the good.  It is our fault when we turn away from it. Still, looking beyond these words to the larger message, our love of Jesus and our faith in his healing death (which is that joining of himself to us despite our sinfulness) can bridge the deep if invisible gap between what God expects from us and what we in our own power can achieve.

Hearing God’s voice, St Catherine of Sienna says in His name, “I will only your well-being and whatever I give, I give it so that you may reach the goal for which I created you.”  Again we see a glimpse into the idea, the reality of God’s faithfulness to His own intention, the original intention or goal He had in our creation – that we would live as His image in the creation.  In a way, we (corporately) were created to be God’s Eve, God’s spouse, God’s companion and helpmate on the earth.  We are “bone of his bone,” and “flesh of his flesh.”  And his faithfulness to us has endured from the very beginning. 

My own conviction is that most of what has been revealed to us by God’s spirit and happened to us and for us through His intervention in our history has been to fulfill this simple intention.  I see it mostly as being in the context of the creation, and in the context of time, but that of course is not to say there is no heaven, no life in some eternal dimension with God.  I believe in fact that there is a realistic hope that this may be so based on the knowledge and faith of those who have known God better than I have yet known Him.  But I do think that sometimes we wander into speculations about things we do not need and cannot in fact know with any certainty.  The Jehovah’s Witnesses and other fundamentalists wander off into speculation about the end-time; Catholics and other mainline Christians seem to me to wander into speculations about after-things too much.  The focus of the scriptures is on the fulfillment of God’s intention with respect to our corporate human life on this earth, in this history we have.  Such clarity as I feel I have relates only to that dimension.

Revelation 2 – The messages that are to go to “the angel” watching over these churches is are as follows:

To Ephesus – The beginning image here is the image of one holding the seven stars in his right hand, surrounded by seven gold lamp-stands. Ephesus was the religious capital. They are praised for their patience and discernment – they tested some who called themselves apostles but were not. They have suffered tirelessly, but the “have less love now than [they] used to” (2:4). They need to repent and be as they were at first.

They loathe what the Nicolaitans are doing, which is good. No certainty exists as to what the Nicolaitans practiced that was thought though some seem to think they were associated with promiscuity. Wikipedia says Hippolytus of Rome (170-235), disciple of Irenaeus, wrote that it was product of a deacon Nicolas, hence the name.

The Ephesians are praised for just sticking to the more ethically conservative gospel that was considered authentic.

To Smyrna: No introductory symbol in this letter unless it is just the resurrected Christ, “the First and the Last, who was dead and has come to life again” (2:8). They are poor and have had many trials. The Jews have accused them unfairly, and they will face an ordeal, but they are encouraged not to be afraid. The ordeal will be short, and “even if you have to die, keep faithful, and I will give you the crown of life for your prize” (2:11).

To Pergamum: Message from the one with the sharp, double-edged sword [judgment]: Satan is enthroned where they live but they hold firmly to Christ. Antipas [the bishop] was killed in Pergamum. Some there are “followers of Balaam” (Nicolaitans); they must repent. To “those who prove victorious I will give the hidden manna and a white stone—a stone with a new name written on it, known only to the man who receives it” (2:17).

To Thyatira: The introductory symbol here is of the burning eyes and feet like burnished bronze [divine knowledge and permanence]: The Thyatirans are charitable and devoted but they encouraged the woman Jezebel, “who claims to be a prophetess,” and she is luring people to eat food sacrificed to idols. It is “I who search heart and loins and give each one of you what your behavior deserves” (2:21).

Revelation 3 – Three other churches are addressed:

To Sardis: The opening symbol is the same as for Ephesus – the one holding the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. This church is “reputed to be alive and yet are dead” (3:1).  

“Wake up; revive what little you have left: it is dying fast” (3:2). “[R]emember how eager you were when you first heard the message. . .Hold on to that. Repent“ (3:3). Individuals from this church who have been faithful will be acknowledged (3:6).

To Philadelphia: From the holy and faithful one “who has the key of David” (3:7). They are not very strong, but have not disobeyed the commandments or “disowned my name” (3:8). “I will keep you safe in the time of trial which is going to come for the whole world, to test the people of the world (7:10).

To Laodicea: The message of “the Amen, the faithful, the true witness, the ultimate source of God’s creation” (3:14).

“You are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were one or the other, but since you are neither, but only lukewarm, I will spit you out of my mouth” (3:16). They are satisfied with their wealth and so not seek the “gold that has been tested in the fire to make you really rich” (3:18). “I am the one who reproves and disciples all those he loves: so repent in real earnest. Look, I am standing at the door, knocking. If one of you hears me calling and opens the door, I will come in to share his mean, side by side with him” (3:19-20).