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].”

Genesis 2 and Early Church Writings [Clement of Rome] 21-25

Genesis 2 – God rests on the seventh day.  The day therefore becomes blessed and hallowed. Then we go on to another story of man’s creation. It is not completely consistent with the details of the first, but its focus is wholly on the place of man in the creation, man’s role in “naming” all that is, and relations between the man and the woman created.

Here the creation of man occurs before the bringing forth of vegetation and rain upon the earth.  There was a stream swelling up out of the ground, and out of the clay near the stream, God forms a man and breathes “the breath of life” into his nostrils (2:7).  Then God “plants” a garden and places the man there.  Only then does God continue his work of creation – planting beautiful trees and placing two special trees at the center of the garden: the tree of life (in the middle) and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (2:9).

Man’s commission here is somewhat smaller in this story, extending primarily to caring for the garden, which apparently is made to represent all the earthly creation. Man is given dominion over it in a limited way, however.  He apparently can eat of the tree of life, but of the other tree, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, this he is forbidden to eat upon pain of death (2:17). I say that last phrase in my own words, as they might have been said in a U.S. Court. The biblical translations of it are interesting and at one time I became a little obsessed with the differences. My notes from those days are included below.

The translations of this verse are frustratingly inconsistent, especially so because the verse is so central to the meaning of the story. Here they are: 

§  NLT (2007) – “If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.”

§  NAB (1987) – “From that tree you shall not eat; the moment you eat from it you are surely doomed to die.”

§  Jerusalem Bible (1966) – “Nevertheless of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you are not to eat, for on the day you eat of it you shall most surely die.”

§  Confraternity (1959) – “…but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you must not eat; for the day you eat of it, you must die.”

§  King James – “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”

§  Good News Bible (1992) – “ . . .except the tree that gives knowledge of what is good and what is bad.  You must not eat the fruit of that tree; if you do, you will die the same day.”

§  NRSV (1989) – “but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, or in the day that you eat of it, you shall die.”

§  Schocken Bible (1996): “YHWH, God, commanded concerning the human, saying: From every (other) tree of the garden you may eat, yes, eat, but from the Tree of the Knowing of Good and Evil—you are not to eat from it, for on the day that you eat from it, you must die, yes, die.”

§  Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures (1985) – “but as for the tree of knowledge of good and bad, you must not eat of it; for as soon as you eat of it, you shall die.”

The differences in the translations have been important for scholars in interpreting what is being communicated to us by the story. The traditional reading of this passage led some people to see this story as in explaining the reason for man’s mortality.

Quakers see the story as explaining the fact that man lives in a condition of “spiritual death,” and this seems more convincing and more profound than the other reading.  The interpretation has turned in part on how one reads the clause I have highlighted.  If man merely incurred the fate of eventual mortality, then the story is on point for the mortality approach.  But if the death man incurred was more instantaneous, then the only interpretation that will stand is that he incurred a profound spiritual death that presents the “problem” or issue around which the on-going story of redemption will focus.

Returning to the text, the man in this story is still alone.  There are no other earthly creatures, and woman has yet to make her appearance.  So man is lonely. First, the creatures are created and brought to man to see what he would name them, but none of the creatures proves a suitable mate for man until God creates woman.  The Lord creates Eve not out of the ground as he does all the other creatures.  He creates her out of Adam side, out of part of Adam, and when she is presented to Adam, he recognizes that she is part of his own flesh. 

It is my sense of it that this creation of woman from Adam is meant to echo the first creation of “man” (meaning man and woman) in the first account.  But there the lonely one is God.  After all He created, He still wanted something in the creation to reflect His image and likeness, to be “bone of His bone” if you will.  And His answer was man.  In that account, man, like everything else issues forth from His all-powerful Word, not from the dust.  As the unity of Adam and Eve finds its pinnacle in their coming together as “one flesh,” so the redemption of mankind will take shape as a great eschatological wedding and banquet.  But that will come later.

First Epistle of Clement of Rome to the Corinthians (96/97 AD)

Section 21

“The spirit of the Lord, as the Bible tells us, is a candle searching the inward parts of the body; so let us keep in mind this nearness of His presence, remembering that not a single one of our thoughts or reasonings can ever be hidden from Him” (32).

“The right thing, then, is not to run away from His will . . . but to reverence the Lord Jesus Christ whose blood was given for us” (32).

“Accordingly, let us be respectful to those who have been set over us, honor our elders and train up our young people in the fear of God; let us set our womenfolk on the road to goodness, by teaching them to be examples of lovable purity, to display real sincerity in their submissiveness, to prove the self-restraint of their tongues by observing silence, and to bestow equal affection, with no favoritism and as becomes holiness, upon all God-fearing persons” (32).

“As for our children, see that they have their share of Christian instruction; let them learn how greatly a humble spirit avails with God, how mightily a chaste and innocent love prevails with Him, and how great and goodly a thing is the fear of Him, by which all who pass their lives therein with holiness and purity of heart are made sure of salvation. For He is the searcher of our thoughts and desires; His is the breath that is in us, and at His own good pleasure will He take it away” (32).

Section 22

“All these promises find their confirmation when we believe in Christ, for it is He Himself who summons us, through His Holy Spirit, with the words, Come, my children; listen to me, and I will teach you the fear of the Lord . . . Keep your tongue free of evil, and your lips from uttering deceit; turn away from wrong, and do what is good, seek peacefulness, and make that your aim. The Lord’s eyes are on the righteous, and His ears open to their prayers” (33).

Section 23

“So let us be done with vacillation, and indulge no more inward doubts of the reality of His great and glorious gifts” (33).

Section 24

“Think, my dear friends, how the Lord offers us proof after proof that there is going to be a resurrection, of which He has made Jesus Christ the first-fruits by raising Him from the dead. My friends, look how regularly there are processes of resurrection going on at this very moment. The day and the night show us an example of it; for night sinks to rest, and day arises; day passes away, and night comes again” (33). 

Section 25 – Clement also uses the legend [myth] of the Phoenix as a kind of “figure” of Christ’s resurrection. The Phoenix was a bird thought to have a life-span of 500 years. It must have been a well-known myth in his day:  “When the hour of its dissolution and death approaches, it makes a nest for itself out of frankincense and myrrh and other fragrant spices, and in the fullness of time it enters into this and expires. Its decaying flesh breeds a small grub, which is nourished by the moisture of the dead bird and presently grows wings. This, on reaching full growth, takes up the next containing the bones of its predecessor and carries them all the way from the land of Arabia into Egypt, to the city called Heliopolis. There, in the full light of day and before the eyes of all beholders, it flies to the altar of the Sun, deposits them there, and speeds back to its homeland; and when the priests consult their time records, they find that its arrival has marked the completion of the five-hundredth year” (33-34).

Just looking around for a little information on the reference to this myth, I came across a whole book called The Myth of the Phoenix According to Classical and Early Christian Traditions by R. van den Broek. Sounds interesting!

Daily Bible Reading: Psalms 128-134 and Matthew 28

Psalm 128 – “Happy are those who obey the Lord, who live by his commands” (128:1). You will work and your needs will be met; you will be prosperous and happy. Your wife will give you children and “your children will be like young olive trees around your table” (128:3).

Psalm 129 – “From my earliest youth my enemies have persecuted me. Let all Israel repeat this: From my earliest youth my enemies have persecuted me, but they have never defeated me. My back is covered with cuts, as if a farmer had plowed long furrows. But the Lord is good; he has cut me free from the ropes of the ungodly” (129:1-4).

“May all who hate Jerusalem “be as useless as grass on a rooftop, turning yellow when only half grown” (129:6).

Psalm 130 – “From the depths of my despair I call to you, Lord” (130:1). Hear my cry, please. Our sins are endless but you are a forgiving God and we are in awe of you.

“I long for the Lord more than sentries long for the dawn” (130:6). I wait in hope that the Lord will respond to my cry. Trust in God. His love is constant.

“O Israel, hope in the Lord; for with the Lord there is unfailing love. Is redemption overflows” (130:7).

Psalm 131 – “Lord, my heart is not proud, my eyes are not haughty. I don’t concern myself with matters too great or too awesome for me to grasp. Instead, I have calmed and quieted myself, like a weaned child who no longer cries for its mother’s milk. Yes, like a weaned child is my soul within me. O Israel, put your hope in the Lord—now and always” (131:1-3). That all of it.

Psalm 132 – “ Lord, remember David and all that he suffered. He made a solemn promise to the Lord . . . ‘I will not go home; I will not let myself rest. I will not let my eyes sleep nor close my eyelids in slumber until I find a place to build a house for the Lord’” (132:1-5).

In Bethlehem they learned of the “Covenant Box” [the Ark of the Covenant]. It was found in the “fields of Jearim.” I read that this psalm is called a “song of ascent” because it was read or recited as people went up the hill to the Temple at Jerusalem. It is about David’s devotion to getting the Ark installed in the Temple. Though he himself was not permitted to build the Temple, his son Solomon fulfilled the promise and hope of David. “The Lord has chosen Zion; he wants to make it his home: ‘This is where I will live forever; this is where I want to rule’” (132:13-14).

Psalm 133 – “How wonderful and pleasant it is when brothers live together in harmony! For harmony is as precious as the anointing oil that was poured over Aaron’s head” (133:1-2). This psalm celebrates the wonders of peace – God’s people living in eternal harmony.

Psalm 134 – “Lift up holy hands in prayer, and praise the Lord” (134:2). Very short and to the point.

Matthew 28 - The Resurrection – Instead of just having Matthews’s account, all accounts are here set side by side.  I think Paul is the only NT writer we have who writes about the risen Jesus Christ from his own experience.  But his credibility is so huge.  He is so convincing, so resonant even though he lived so damn long ago, that no one can fail to be at least tempted to listen to him.  In Matthew, only verses 1-8 are based on Mark.  The rest is unique:

Matthew 28 - The two Marys come to the tomb. There is a great earthquake and the coming of an angel “like lightning” with “clothing. . white as snow” to roll back the stone and sit on it. The angel is probably the same as Mark’s “young man.” The guards are shaken with fear and were “like dead men.” The angel tells them not to fear; he tells them Jesus “has been raised” and has gone ahead to Galilee. They leave in fear but are overjoyed. Jesus meets them on the way and greets them; they embrace his feet, and he tells them again not to fear but to go tell others to go to Galilee (28:10) where they will also see him.

The guards tell the priests and they are paid to tell everyone that his disciples stole the body (28:14).

The disciples then go to Galilee, to the mountain where they see and worship him, but we are also told “they doubted.” (28:17).  His last words to them are: “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me [see Dan. 7:13]. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.  And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.” (28:18-20) An NAB note indicates this is meant to be a foretaste of the final Parousia when “the nations” will experience him in this way.

Mark 16 - Mary Magdalene, Mary, the mother of James, and Salome bring spices; they come after dawn, worrying about the stone. It is rolled back. They enter and see a young man on their right in white.

“Do not be amazed!” he tells them. “You seek Jesus of Nazareth, the crucified. He has been raised. . .Go and tell his disciples and Peter; he is going before you to Galilee where you will see him as he said.”

They flee, terrified, and say “nothing to anyone” for they are afraid.

In the longer ending [thought by some to have been an addition, by others to have been lost for a time and then re-added] has him appearing first to Mary Magdalene and her going to tell went his companions. Then there are also appearances to the two [on their way to Emmaus as in Luke] and his appearance to the Eleven.

Luke 24 - Unnamed women who had come from Galilee with Jesus – a wonder why only here they remain unnamed? – they take spices and go to the tomb where they find the stone rolled away. Puzzling over his disappearance, they see “two men in dazzling garments” and are terrified. The men ask, “Why do you seek the living one among the dead?  He is not here, but he has been raised.”  They remind them of Jesus’ words to them. They return and tell everyone.

The women are then identified: Mary Magdalene, Joanna and Mary the mother of James and “others.”

The disciples generally do not believe them, but Peter runs to the tomb and discovers the burial cloths but no Jesus.

Then comes the Emmaus story.

John 20 - Mary of Magdala comes early when it is still dark and sees the stone removed. So, she runs to Simon Peter and to the beloved disciple and tells them “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they put him.” Peter and the other disciple run out to look for him.  The “beloved disciple” arrives first, having run faster, but Peter actually enters the tomb first and sees the burial cloths – the head cloth rolled up in a separate place. They return home, but Mary stays and weeps.  Then she sees the two angels in white sitting there, one at the head and one at the feet where the body of Jesus had been. He asks why she is weeping; then she turns around and sees a man who asks “Woman, why are you weeping? Who are you looking for? She thinks it is the gardener, but when he says her name, “Mary,” she turns and calls him “Rabbouni”

He tells her to stop holding on to him and that he is going to “my God and your God.”

Mary goes and tells the others what she has seen and what he told her.