Daily Old Testament: Isaiah 37 and My Own Book "Leadings: A Catholic's Journey Through Quakerism" (Part 32)

Isaiah 37 – On hearing the message, Hezekiah tears his garments and goes to the Temple and sends for Isaiah, wanting Isaiah to plead with Yahweh to punish the Assyrians. Isaiah sends word back that he is not to be afraid of the Assyrians’ words – Sennacherib will return to his country when he hears a rumor of something back at home and Yahweh will “bring him down with the sword” (37:7). Hezekiah approaches the Temple sanctuary and prays to Yahweh. He acknowledges the strength of the Assyrians but prays that the “gods” they have destroyed are not like Yahweh.

Isaiah tells Hezekiah the answer Yahweh has given him; it is a lengthy oracle.

“The surviving remnant of the House of Judah shall bring forth new roots below and fruits above. For a remnant shall go out from Jerusalem, and survivors from Mount Zion. The jealous love of Yahweh Sabaoth will accomplish this” (37:31-32). And, as for the King of Assyria, “He will not enter this city, he will let fly no arrow against it, confront it with no shield, throw up no earthwork against it” (37:33).

That very night “the angel of Yahweh went out and struck down a hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp” (37:36). They strike camp and leave. His own sons strike him down with a sword and escape, leaving another son Esarhaddon to succeed him.

From Leadings: A Catholic’s Journey Through Quakerism

Part 32

Yet another area of coincidence or common emphasis is one that is not often thought of by Friends, but it is nevertheless important. It is the belief that God’s promises are foundational and trustworthy. When George Fox was a young man, seeking God and the power of God’s redeeming work, which had been so richly testified to in the New Testament Scriptures, he knew that if New Testament believers had experienced Christ’s life and power, then he and his contemporaries should also be able to experience them. The promise of redemption offered through Christ was not a delusion or mere words. Friends continually used language that demonstrated how completely they believed they could rely upon Christ’s promises to them. Likewise, the Catholic Church believes in the promises of Christ—in the promise made to Peter that he was the rock on which Christ’s church would be founded (Matt. 16: 19) and in the promise of the Holy Spirit’s presence and power (John 14:26) to teach them and lead them into the fullness of truth. These are real promises, and like the promises to Abraham and to Moses, they are utterly trustworthy. Anyone who is brought into that inward experience of God of which Friends speak knows that the promises of God are palpably real and trustworthy, and this too strengthens my faith in the Church.

The argument of the sixteenth and seventeenth-century Reformers seemed to be that the Roman Catholic Church had departed so fundamentally from the holiness and faithfulness Christ had expected of them that they had forfeited their claim to the special status these promises seemed to carve out for them. I do think that in charging this and in shaking up the Church, they had a prophetic Word from God that the Church was meant to hear. And ultimately, I believe it was heard. If people believe that there are still things that need reform, they have a prophetic responsibility to speak what God gives them to say, but I think God is calling us to struggle over these things together, not to see imperfections as occasion to go off and be separate.

The prophets of old did not leave and start their own communities. We should not either. It seems to me that the whole vision of and thirst for an eventual unity is missing in the Protestant denominations I am familiar with. People’s identities are comfortably tied up in being Quakers or Presbyterians or Episcopalians. To me, the Catholic Church is not perfect, but it still is the institution on which the promises rest.

        

The early months and even years of my return to the Catholic Church were not the easiest. The whole culture of the Church is different from the Protestant culture I had mostly known in my life—a different way of praying, of writing about Christ and his disciples, of talking about the faith, and especially a different way of conceiving of one’s place in the community of faith. I don’t think they are very substantive differences, but they can get in the way of feeling at home. Asked to pray, a Catholic will almost always pray a set prayer like the “Our Father” or a “Hail Mary”, while a Protestant will pray words that appear more personal and come to him or her in a more spontaneous way.

The Catholic devotion to Mary caused me problems. I knew Catholics did not “worship” Mary or think of her as divine. I had little trouble with the reverence shown toward her as a person who opened herself to God utterly and completely, who permitted Christ to grow in her. These were virtues any Quaker believer could agree were modeled in her story. But the repetitions nature of the rosary went against certain Quaker ideas I had about how important it was for worship to be Spirit-led and spontaneous. And the frequent talk of visions of Mary, which are often encountered in Catholic circles, was something I could not relate to. But these were cultural differences, not theological issues for me.

Daily Old Testament and Early Christian Writings: Numbers 16 and Irenaeus Selections: The New Creation in Christ “Recapitulates” the Old

Numbers 16 – Two new rebellions—a) Korah’s rebellion and b) a rebellion led by Dathan and Abiram—The rebellions are conflated here, but they clearly are distinct.  Korah, a Levite and Moses’ first cousin, leads 250 “men of note” (16:2) to Moses, complaining as follows: “’Enough from you! The whole community, all of them, are holy; the Lord is in their midst.  Why then should you set yourselves over the Lord’s congregation?” This is the same old story—now the rebellion is from the leaders, jealous of Moses’s particular leadership role, even though they too have positions of importance, of honor even. Moses “prostrates” himself again, and tells Korah that the Lord will decide the matter the next day, that they should all bring their censers with incense to off to God and that somehow he will decide the matter. 

In a different rebellion, Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab (and Reubenites—perhaps angry because of their position in the camp) tell Moses, “Are you not satisfied with having led us here away from a land flowing with mild and honey, to make us perish in the desert, that must now lord it over us” (16:13).  Moses is furious.  His conscience is clear regarding their accusations.

Dathan and Abiram are sucked down to the nether world with everything they owned--the earth closed over them and they perished from the community (16:33-34).

As for Korah and the 250, fire comes down from the Lord and consumes them all—the story ends at 17:27 where the people express fear that every time someone approaches the Meeting Tent, he is consumed.

The story of Korah’s rebellion is hardly ever referred to today in sermons or in Christian writings, but it has always been interesting to me that it played such an important part of George Fox’s vision of the Old Testament narrative. He spends a lot of time discussing it. AND what is most interesting to me is that in his writings it intersects with an idea, which he develops that I first see in early Christian writings in Irenaeus (below) – the idea that the narrative of the Old Testament is “recapitulating” itself in the story of Christ and His redemption of all creation.

Irenaeus doesn’t do with it quite what Fox does – make it into a part of the recapitulation that happens in every believer, but he is the first I am away of who instead of just seeing predictions of what will happen in Christ, sees a recapitulation of the entire narrative line. And just to top it off – I had no plan to include these selections together on my site – it just happened!!

Irenaeus of Lyons (c.180 AD)

Selections from the Work Against Heresies

Book V – Redemption and the World to Come

The New Creation in Christ “Recapitulates” the Old

19 – “So the Lord now manifestly came to his own, and, born by his own created order which he himself bears, he by his obedience on the tree renewed [and reversed] what was done by disobedience in [connection with] a tree; and [the power of] that seduction by which the virgin Eve, already betrothed to a man, had been wickedly seduced was broken when the angel in truth brought good tidings to the Virgin Mary, who already [by her betrothal] belonged to a man. For as Eve was seduced by the word of an angel to flee from God, having rebelled against his Word, so Mary by the word of an angel received the glad tidings that she would bear God by obeying his Word. The former was seduced to disobey God [and so fell], but the latter was persuaded to obey God, so that the Virgin Mary might become the advocate of the virgin Eve.”

20 – “Therefore he renews these things in himself, uniting man to the Spirit; and placing the Spirit in man, he himself is made the head of the Spirit, and gives the Spirit to be the head of man, for by him we see and hear and speak.”

21 – “He therefore completely renewed all things, both taking up the battle against our enemy, and crushing him who at the beginning had led us captive in Adam, trampling on his head, as you find in Genesis that God said to the serpent, ‘And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he will be on the watch for our head, and you will be on the watch for his heel.’ From then on it was proclaimed that he who was to be born of a virgin, after the likeness of Adam, would be on the watch for the serpent’s head—this is the seed of which the apostle says in the Letter to the Galatians, ‘The law of works was established until the seed should come to whom the promise was made.’”

If you want to see what I came to see in this, you could check out the article entitled John and Genesis.

Daily Old Testament and Early Christian Writings: Numbers 14-15 and Irenaeus Selections: Doctrine of Redemption in Reply to the Gnostics

Numbers 14 – The exaggerated reports of the scouts—that the Anakim are giants, etc—bring threats of revolt from the people.  Again they yearn for the old slavery: “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt. . .Why is the Lord bringing us into this land only to have us fall by the sword?” (14:2-3)

They even agitate to appoint another leader who will bring them back! What does Moses do? He (and Aaron) prostrate themselves before the community, reassure them that the land is good, and that if they will only do what the Lord has commanded, they will be settled on the land.  But the people only “threaten to stone them” (14:10). They are afraid to trust in God; the palpable dangers ahead are more real to them than the promises they hear through Moses. 

But then there is some manifestation of the Lord’s presence among them at the Meeting Tent and once again Moses must wrestle with God for His support!  God wants to abandon them, but Moses says to God, “Are the Egyptians to hear of this? . . . by your power you brought out this people from among them. . .If now you slay this whole people, the nations . . .will say, ‘The Lord was not able to bring this people into the land he swore to give them; that is why he slaughtered them in the desert’” (14:13-16) And he asks the Lord to pardon . . .the wickedness of this people in keeping with your great kindness, even as you have forgiven them from Egypt until now” (14:19). And He does—but he will not let anyone who deserted Him after having witnessed his saving presence see the land into which He is bringing the people; only Caleb will see it because he “has a different spirit and follows me unreservedly” (14:24). Joshua is also exempted.

For the present, however, the Lord tells them to turn away and set out on the Red Sea road. [This is great stuff here. I love it] Moses recounts all this to the people and they feel remorse; in their remorse, they disobey again—they go ahead with the assault rather than turning back temporarily—but they do not take the ark or Moses; this is equivalent to leaving God behind, so of course, they do not succeed.  The Amalakites and Canaanites defeat them and drive them back to Hormah (14:44-45).

Numbers 15 – Supplemental instructions are given on offerings to the Lord.  With every meat offering, there should also be a cereal offering and a libation. Also, the rules for aliens living amongst them is the same as for them (15:15).

Sin offerings for inadvertent violations are prescribed.  The main focus seems to be application of all regulations equally on Jews and aliens alike.  A Sabbath breaker is stoned. Schocken editors speculate that this could be here because it constitutes an individual act of rebellion.  And tassels are prescribed for the corners of Israeli garments to remind them of the commandments.

Irenaeus of Lyons (c.180 AD)

Selections from the Work Against Heresies

Book V – Redemption and the World to Come

Doctrine of Redemption in Reply to the Gnostics

2 – The Gnostic message that the Christ came into a world that His God had nothing to do with, in order to bring man to a god who neither made nor created him” is vain and wrong. And Jesus could not have redeemed us “by his blood if he had not been truly made man.”

“For since we are his members, and are nourished by [his] creation—and he himself gives us this creation, making the sun to rise, and sending the rain as he wills—he declares that the cup, [taken] from the creation, is his own blood, by which he strengthens our blood, and he has firmly assured us that the bread, [taken] from the creation, is his own body, by which our bodies grow. For when the mixed cup and the bread that has been prepared receive the Word of God, and become the Eucharist, the body and blood of Christ, and by these our flesh grows and is confirmed, how can they say that flesh cannot receive the free gift of God, which is eternal life, since it is nourished by the body and blood of the Lord, and made a member of him?” This is pretty deep stuff. I don’t think most modern Christians appreciate how deeply intelligent people were two thousand years ago.

“And just as the wooden branch of the vine, placed in the earth, bears fruit in its own time—and as the grain of wheat, falling into the ground and there dissolved, rises with great increase by the Spirit of God, who sustains all things, and then by the wisdom of God serves for the use of men and when it receives the Word of God becomes the Eucharist, which is the body and blood of Christ—so also our bodies which are nourished by it, and then fall into the earth and are dissolved therein, shall rise at the proper time, the Word of God bestowing on them this rising again, to the glory of God the Father.”

Daily Bible Reading: 1 Kings 3-4 and Ephesians 1

1 Kings 3 – Solomon takes one of the Pharaoh’s daughters in marriage.  Asimov says the 21^st Dynasty in Egypt was in a state of decline. They “ruled only the Nile Delta, while upper Egypt was under the domination of the priests of Ammon, who ruled as virtual monarchs from Thebes” (323). 

People in Israel are still sacrificing “at the high places . . .because no house had yet been built for the name of the Lord” (3:2). The king sacrifices in Gibeon, “the principal high place” (3:4). But one night when he is there, the Lord comes to him in a dream and asks Solomon what he should give him.  He says, “Give your servant. . .an understanding mind to govern your people, able to discern between good and evil; for who can govern this your great people?” (3:9) This pleases the Lord, and because he asked for something worthy, he also gives Solomon what he did not ask for—“riches and honor all [his] life; no other king shall compare with you” (3:13). When he wakes, he goes to Jerusalem before the ark of the lord and offers sacrifice there.

Two prostitutes come before the king to have him decide a case they have: they both recently gave birth to children, but one child died, and now they both claim that the surviving child is hers.  No one else was there—only they know the truth.  Exercising the wisdom he has just been promised, Solomon orders the baby cut in two so that each woman can have half.  When one of the women protests, she is awarded the child because her love for the child gives away her true identity.

1 Kings 4 – Officials of Solomon’s administration: Azariah (son of Zadok) – priest; Elihoreph and Ahijah – secretaries; Jehoshaphat – recorder; Benaiah – commander; Zadok and Abiathar – priests; Azariah (son of Nathan) – over officials; Zabud (son of Nathan) – priest and king’s friend; Ahishar  - in charge of the palace; Adoniram – in charge of forced labor.  Each of 12 officials was responsible for getting food for the king and his household for one month of the year (12 food districts). “Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand by the sea; they ate and drank and were happy” (4:20). Solomon’s kingdom extends from the Euphrates to the land of the Philistines, to Egypt even.

                 

The requirements of Solomon’s household – food and other provisions. “God gave Solomon very great wisdom, discernment, a breadth of understanding as vast as the sand of the seashore” (4:29). He composed 3000 proverbs, and his songs numbered a thousand and five.  He wrote of trees and animals. He sounds like a lover of nature. And people came from everywhere to hear him. 



Introductory Information to Ephesians: The theme of this letter, written between 61 and 63 AD, is the nature, origin and purpose of the church in its most universal sense.  Having touched in Colossians on the ascendancy of Christ over not only the church on earth but over all the principalities, dominions and powers that co-exist with God in the cosmos, he returns to the theme of how this “pleroma” concept transforms the deepest notion of the church.  It is in the increasingly “mysterious” sense of Christ’s place in the universe that Paul sees the inexhaustibility of God’s love and the glory of His redemptive work in Christ.

Ephesians 1 - The letter introduces its theme more quickly than in most of Paul’s letters – it is the eternal nature of God’s plan.  We believers were chosen in Christ from the beginning, before the foundation of the world. The “we” to whom Paul refers are called blessed because we were chosen “in Christ” to be holy and unblemished, chosen to be adopted “to Himself” and redeemed by his blood. In Christ, God has “made known to us the mystery of his will . . . a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth” (1:9-10).

What does it mean to be “chosen in him”? That the people who were to find their salvation were somehow joined in Christ’s body even from the beginning of time? The God of this letter is a God whose purposes cannot be thwarted.  What his intentions are, nothing can change or deflect, even all the sin and misunderstanding and darkness that man’s will can throw out at God.  He says too that the gift of the Holy Spirit is but the first installment of our redemption inheritance.  The word “redemption” implies being returned to God as his possession. Paul focuses his mind on the importance of “knowing” or just seeing into the mystery he describes, more than on conforming one’s behavior to a certain set of rules.  The behavior is important—that is amply clear from his words in Colossians 3:5-9 and here again in chapters 4 and 5 of Ephesians—but the root of this transformation in behavior and character is to be found in “the spirit of wisdom” here in 1:17 and 18.

The Church is Christ’s Body (1:23).  Paul asks that we who are part of the body may be given wisdom and knowledge of him through “the eyes of our hearts” (Jerusalem Bible translation) - that knowing him we may have a hope for all the riches of his inheritance.  It is the mighty power of God that raised Christ from the dead and set him at God’s right hand, giving him authority over all things spiritual in heaven and on earth.