Malachi is another one of the "minor prophets" that have major impact. It is the last book in the Protestant Christian Bible. (It's not the last in the Hebrew Bible, and the Catholic Bible has the Apocrypha).
It may be dated to about 433 B.C. and was probably the last prophetic book to be written before the coming of Christ. In fact, it seems to directly anticipate the Messiah.
I love this book; it is so relevant, even today. It takes the form of a dialog between the prophet, speaking for God, and the people of Israel (which should include us).
Some of the issues may seem arcane, but they aren't. The first chapter talks about blemished sacrifices, that is, bulls or whatever that were injured or imperfect and not acceptable for religious sacrifices. Obviously we don't sacrifice animals (or even our first fruits or sheaves of wheat) anymore, but we, too, can have blemished sacrifices. The only reason someone would offer less than the best to Yahweh was because they were insincere or stingy. I suspect those are the very reasons many Christians today don't give to God as generously as they should.
Chapter 2 discusses half-hearted, corrupt and hypocritical religious leaders. God hated them in 433 B.C. He hates them today.
Chapter 2 also discusses marrying spouses who worship a foreign god and divorce. Both were abhorent in those days on two levels. They were forbidden by Mosaic Law, for one thing. For another, they were metaphors for infidelity and impurity in worshiping Yahweh. Adultery is a common motif in the Bible for portraying the worship of pagan gods.
Sadly, adultery and divorce don't seem to be as abhorent today as they were then. I'm not going to jump on a soap box about divorce--I've known too many cases where it may have been the best alternative. Personally, I just think people should be a little more careful about making a marriage commitment in the first place. As for adultery--it's never okay. And, hopping on the soap box for a moment, how come our society gets all riled up about homosexuality but not about adultery? How many families and lives have been wrecked by two people of the same sex being in love? And how does that compare with the number of wrecked lives and families resulting from marital infidelity?
Malachi also takes aim at people who are cynical about faith in God. It wearies God when people give up and say that God is not just and righteous. I think many today may not come out and say that, but many do act as if they don't believe God will punish the wicked. Malachi states that God will indeed bring charges against "sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the fatherless, and deprive aliens of justice, but do not fear...the LORD Almighty (Malachi 3:5).
Passages in Malachi anticipate Messiah. Malachi 3:1-4 are quoted in Handel's Messiah. Or how about this: "But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings" (Malachi 4:2). Sound familiar? At Christmas, be sure to sing "Hark, the Herald Angels Sing!"
I also love the last two verses of Malachi. "See, I will send you the great prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse." I think this is why the Jews of Jesus' day, and today as well, expected that the ancient prophet Elijah would appear right before Messiah. The Gospels mention that people were asking if Jesus was Elijah, or if Elijah had already come. Jesus affirmed that John the Baptist fulfilled the appearance of Elijah. See Matthew 11:13-14; 17:12-13; Mark 9:11-13. Also, read the description of John the Baptist in Luke 1:17--a direct quote from Malachi.
Still, the passage in Malachi that means the most to me is 3:8-10. "Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. But you ask, 'How do we rob you?' In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse--the whole nation of you--because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Trust me in this," says the LORD Almighty,"and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it."
This passage was life-changing to me several years ago. It made me realize that giving to God is a matter of faith and trust. God doesn't need anything we think we might be giving to Him. The point is that we are to be obedient. Even more so, the point is when we give sacrifically of something important, something that we need ourselves to sustain our life (e.g., money or crops for the ancient Jews), we are showing implicit trust that God will take care of our needs. This passage states that not only will God replace our little sacrifice, He will "open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing..."
Trust and obedience given to God in sincere faith yield blessings from God in return. What are the blessings? Well, you don't really know till you step out in faith and give God the trust and obedience He asks for. Try it. See what blessings come your way.
Saturday, September 15, 2012
Friday, September 14, 2012
My Obsession with Luke
Ah, Luke. My favorite Gospel. Or, at least it's one of my favorite Gospels. I love all of them.
Luke, however, resonates with me in a different way. I guess I've always been captivated by the author. The Book of Luke, and its sequel, Acts, are attributed to a doctor who accompanied Paul on some of his missionary journeys. The introduction to both Luke and Acts state that the author did extensive research, including interviews with eyewitnesses. His purpose was to write an orderly account so that Theophilus, whoever that might have been, might "know the certainty of the things about which you have been instructed" (Luke 1:4).
Not much is known about Luke. He was probably Greek, well-educated, perhaps a former slave. It appears that he may have first met Paul in Syrian Antioch. After that, pretty much everything else is speculation.
Many years ago, I became fascinated with the idea of how and why Dr. Luke went about researching and writing this account of Jesus. As I studied it more closely, I learned that there are several wonderful sections that are unique to Luke: For example, the whole birth narrative, including the stories about Elizabeth, Zachariah and John as well as the annunciation of the birth to Mary, are only found in Luke. Mark has a little bit of birth narrative that dovetails with Luke's information.
Or, there are some 17 parables that are found only in Luke--The Prodigal Son, the Lost Coin, Lazarus and the Rich Man, etc.
One thought is that Luke used the works of Mark and Matthew but supplemented them with his own research. In particular, he may have had exclusive interviews with people who knew Jesus. There's another matter. Maybe Luke wrote his books at the request of Theophilus. But somewhere I read a theory that Luke wrote the account of Jesus to be sort of a legal brief for Paul when he went to trial in Rome. I love that!
Fascination turned to obsession for me. And obsession turned into my unpublished novel. I took the idea of a friendship between Paul and Luke, the need to prepare an orderly account about Jesus, and the evidence that Luke did eyewitness interviews and fleshed out a tale. It's written in the first person, through Luke's eyes, and is organized around a journey from Antioch, on the missionary journeys, and then to Caesarea, where Paul was imprisoned. After that, the story follows Luke on his mission to research the life of Jesus as he travels through Galilee and Judea, finding and interviewing people who knew the Savior.
Further, I focused on those 17 parables and tried to imagine which people might have had a reason to remember Jesus telling them--the circumstances, events, or locations. For example, could it be that Mary and Martha of Bethany remembered the story of Lazarus and the rich man precisely because their brother was named Lazarus?
Both Luke and Acts consistently portray Roman centurions in a very positive light. Could it be that Luke talked to one who recognized Jesus as the Son of God?
How about those two people who were walking to Emmaus after the Resurrection? Any chance one of them was one of the women who followed Jesus and talked to Luke years later?
It's possible that Mary was still living while Luke did his research. Did he get the details about the visitation of the angel Gabriel from the one person who was there?
You get the idea. Pure speculation and imagination. Taking "poetic license" to the extreme, I was also able to make up stuff about Mary Magdalene. You see, I think she was one of Jesus' inner circle; certainly all four Gospels say that she of all people was the first to see the risen Christ. What a woman! What was her real story? What happened to her after Jesus ascended?
Well, I got the book all written way back in the mid-1990s. When I was in Seminary, every time I had a reason to do a research paper, I'd try to link it in to my study of Luke. Even my master's thesis, God-Fearers in the First Century, was all about the Gentiles who embraced Judaism, and in some cases, Christianity. In a class with the very learned Dr. Darrell Bock, who has written extensively on Luke, I first heard his opinion that Luke may have been a God-Fearer.
I have revised the book a time or two. In my creative writing class at DTS, I listened to my eminent professor Reg Grant's suggestions and adhered to some of them. It's a better book than it was before.
I never have come up with a great name for my novel. "Luke's Story" is the best I can come up with. Lame, but accurate.
I've tried to get it published a time or two, but that's always been an exercise in futility. I think it's pretty good, but the path to publication is long, dreary, difficult, and more time-consuming and frustrating than I've ever been able to stand.
"Publishing my novel" is on my bucket list. I guess I'd better start ramping up again. Any suggestions, kindly Reader?
In any event, I hope you can read Luke and Acts with the idea of the researcher behind the writing. Oh, and one more thing. Luke was probably a Greek, a Gentile, the only non-Jew to write a Gospel. He evidently became a believing Christian, and his accounts reverberate with the joy of salvation that Christ made available to all people.
Luke, however, resonates with me in a different way. I guess I've always been captivated by the author. The Book of Luke, and its sequel, Acts, are attributed to a doctor who accompanied Paul on some of his missionary journeys. The introduction to both Luke and Acts state that the author did extensive research, including interviews with eyewitnesses. His purpose was to write an orderly account so that Theophilus, whoever that might have been, might "know the certainty of the things about which you have been instructed" (Luke 1:4).
Not much is known about Luke. He was probably Greek, well-educated, perhaps a former slave. It appears that he may have first met Paul in Syrian Antioch. After that, pretty much everything else is speculation.
Many years ago, I became fascinated with the idea of how and why Dr. Luke went about researching and writing this account of Jesus. As I studied it more closely, I learned that there are several wonderful sections that are unique to Luke: For example, the whole birth narrative, including the stories about Elizabeth, Zachariah and John as well as the annunciation of the birth to Mary, are only found in Luke. Mark has a little bit of birth narrative that dovetails with Luke's information.
Or, there are some 17 parables that are found only in Luke--The Prodigal Son, the Lost Coin, Lazarus and the Rich Man, etc.
One thought is that Luke used the works of Mark and Matthew but supplemented them with his own research. In particular, he may have had exclusive interviews with people who knew Jesus. There's another matter. Maybe Luke wrote his books at the request of Theophilus. But somewhere I read a theory that Luke wrote the account of Jesus to be sort of a legal brief for Paul when he went to trial in Rome. I love that!
Fascination turned to obsession for me. And obsession turned into my unpublished novel. I took the idea of a friendship between Paul and Luke, the need to prepare an orderly account about Jesus, and the evidence that Luke did eyewitness interviews and fleshed out a tale. It's written in the first person, through Luke's eyes, and is organized around a journey from Antioch, on the missionary journeys, and then to Caesarea, where Paul was imprisoned. After that, the story follows Luke on his mission to research the life of Jesus as he travels through Galilee and Judea, finding and interviewing people who knew the Savior.
Further, I focused on those 17 parables and tried to imagine which people might have had a reason to remember Jesus telling them--the circumstances, events, or locations. For example, could it be that Mary and Martha of Bethany remembered the story of Lazarus and the rich man precisely because their brother was named Lazarus?
Both Luke and Acts consistently portray Roman centurions in a very positive light. Could it be that Luke talked to one who recognized Jesus as the Son of God?
How about those two people who were walking to Emmaus after the Resurrection? Any chance one of them was one of the women who followed Jesus and talked to Luke years later?
It's possible that Mary was still living while Luke did his research. Did he get the details about the visitation of the angel Gabriel from the one person who was there?
You get the idea. Pure speculation and imagination. Taking "poetic license" to the extreme, I was also able to make up stuff about Mary Magdalene. You see, I think she was one of Jesus' inner circle; certainly all four Gospels say that she of all people was the first to see the risen Christ. What a woman! What was her real story? What happened to her after Jesus ascended?
Well, I got the book all written way back in the mid-1990s. When I was in Seminary, every time I had a reason to do a research paper, I'd try to link it in to my study of Luke. Even my master's thesis, God-Fearers in the First Century, was all about the Gentiles who embraced Judaism, and in some cases, Christianity. In a class with the very learned Dr. Darrell Bock, who has written extensively on Luke, I first heard his opinion that Luke may have been a God-Fearer.
I have revised the book a time or two. In my creative writing class at DTS, I listened to my eminent professor Reg Grant's suggestions and adhered to some of them. It's a better book than it was before.
I never have come up with a great name for my novel. "Luke's Story" is the best I can come up with. Lame, but accurate.
I've tried to get it published a time or two, but that's always been an exercise in futility. I think it's pretty good, but the path to publication is long, dreary, difficult, and more time-consuming and frustrating than I've ever been able to stand.
"Publishing my novel" is on my bucket list. I guess I'd better start ramping up again. Any suggestions, kindly Reader?
In any event, I hope you can read Luke and Acts with the idea of the researcher behind the writing. Oh, and one more thing. Luke was probably a Greek, a Gentile, the only non-Jew to write a Gospel. He evidently became a believing Christian, and his accounts reverberate with the joy of salvation that Christ made available to all people.
Friday, September 7, 2012
Leviticus: How much is still relevant?
When I was in seminary (Dallas Theological Seminary), I had a class assignment to outline the book of Leviticus. Once, I taught a unit on Leviticus and Numbers to one of my Sunday School classes. And I've also dug into passages of Leviticus as part of a study on the Jewish feasts.
Every time I've taken the time to carefully study Leviticus, armed with good commentaries, it has been a pleasurable and enlightening experience. I know a woman who was advised by her spiritual mentor to actually write out all of Leviticus, word by word. It took her some months, but she reported that it was a transformational experience. No doubt.
For this read-through, I didn't do any of these thorough, thoughtful ways of absorbing Leviticus. Instead, I did what many people do who end up abandoning their read-through-the-Bible goals. I just read through it straight. As it happened, my husband, John, and I were on a road trip, so I read it out loud to him.
I can't say I recommend this method, but we did have some interesting thoughts and discussions. So much of what's in Leviticus is completely arcane. For example, no one has actually slaughtered animals at the Tent of Meeting or the Temple since the first century A.D. when the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed.
We read long passages about how priests are to deal with skin diseases or "infections" ("mildew" in some translations) in a house or on fabric or leather. We happened to be at my mother-in-law's home when we got to chapter 18 about unlawful sexual relations. Believe me--reading those passages out loud was deeply uncomfortable!
This is the book that goes on and on about clean and unclean animals: You can eat locusts, but you can't eat shell fish. You're not supposed to plant your field with two kinds of seed or wear clothing with two kinds of material.
"Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard. Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the LORD" (Lev. 19:18-19)
"If a man commits adultery with another man's wife...both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death" (Lev. 20:10). And of course, everyone's favorite, "If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death" (Lev. 20:13). NB: "Put to death." Really?
So reading through Leviticus--for the thoughtful, Bible-revering believer--makes you stop and think hard. Which of these laws should still be observed, and which are too outmoded? Why? How do you decide? Jesus said, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets: I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished" (Matthew 5:17-18). What does that mean?
All of this raises more questions than it answers. In my humble opinion, I don't think anyone should be very dogmatic about interpreting and applying Leviticus. It's too easy to start cherry-picking what to observe and what to ignore, based on one's own preferences (or sinful choices).
I think we can, however, agree on a couple of principles. First, God did and does care about the minutiae of our lives. We honor or disobey Him in even the smallest details of what we do or don't do. Second, God has high and sometimes unfathomable standards for His people. We may not always understand His commands; we don't necessarily have to understand.
Third, there is no way anyone then or now could observe and obey all of God's standards, although we are obliged to do our best. The sacrifices described in Leviticus were the means for the ancient Jews to atone for their sins--intentional or unintentional. Humans simply are unable to live up to God's standards for holiness.
And that, friends, is why we need our Savior. The book of Hebrews speaks directly to Leviticus when it explains how Christ died once and for all to take away the sins of many people. "We have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all" (Hebrews 10:10).
If you're reading Leviticus, I hope you have a good commentary and some time on your hands to ruminate on the meaning and intention of this book for the people of ancient Israel and for modern people today.
Every time I've taken the time to carefully study Leviticus, armed with good commentaries, it has been a pleasurable and enlightening experience. I know a woman who was advised by her spiritual mentor to actually write out all of Leviticus, word by word. It took her some months, but she reported that it was a transformational experience. No doubt.
For this read-through, I didn't do any of these thorough, thoughtful ways of absorbing Leviticus. Instead, I did what many people do who end up abandoning their read-through-the-Bible goals. I just read through it straight. As it happened, my husband, John, and I were on a road trip, so I read it out loud to him.
I can't say I recommend this method, but we did have some interesting thoughts and discussions. So much of what's in Leviticus is completely arcane. For example, no one has actually slaughtered animals at the Tent of Meeting or the Temple since the first century A.D. when the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed.
We read long passages about how priests are to deal with skin diseases or "infections" ("mildew" in some translations) in a house or on fabric or leather. We happened to be at my mother-in-law's home when we got to chapter 18 about unlawful sexual relations. Believe me--reading those passages out loud was deeply uncomfortable!
This is the book that goes on and on about clean and unclean animals: You can eat locusts, but you can't eat shell fish. You're not supposed to plant your field with two kinds of seed or wear clothing with two kinds of material.
"Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard. Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the LORD" (Lev. 19:18-19)
"If a man commits adultery with another man's wife...both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death" (Lev. 20:10). And of course, everyone's favorite, "If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death" (Lev. 20:13). NB: "Put to death." Really?
So reading through Leviticus--for the thoughtful, Bible-revering believer--makes you stop and think hard. Which of these laws should still be observed, and which are too outmoded? Why? How do you decide? Jesus said, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets: I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished" (Matthew 5:17-18). What does that mean?
All of this raises more questions than it answers. In my humble opinion, I don't think anyone should be very dogmatic about interpreting and applying Leviticus. It's too easy to start cherry-picking what to observe and what to ignore, based on one's own preferences (or sinful choices).
I think we can, however, agree on a couple of principles. First, God did and does care about the minutiae of our lives. We honor or disobey Him in even the smallest details of what we do or don't do. Second, God has high and sometimes unfathomable standards for His people. We may not always understand His commands; we don't necessarily have to understand.
Third, there is no way anyone then or now could observe and obey all of God's standards, although we are obliged to do our best. The sacrifices described in Leviticus were the means for the ancient Jews to atone for their sins--intentional or unintentional. Humans simply are unable to live up to God's standards for holiness.
And that, friends, is why we need our Savior. The book of Hebrews speaks directly to Leviticus when it explains how Christ died once and for all to take away the sins of many people. "We have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all" (Hebrews 10:10).
If you're reading Leviticus, I hope you have a good commentary and some time on your hands to ruminate on the meaning and intention of this book for the people of ancient Israel and for modern people today.
Lamentations: Great Is Thy Faithfulness
Lamentations is the book attributed to Jeremiah that expresses the prophet's emotions--and those of the people of Israel--following the collapse of the nation in 586 B.C. and the Exile. As the title implies, it is one long lament.
I did not make a careful, analytical study of Lamentations. I'm thinking it deserves such a treatment because I think it is richer in meaning and structure than just a straight reading will reveal. (Hey, Kehila Sunday School Class: This might be a good choice for an upcoming study!)
Most of Lamentations is pretty grim. It is the picture of woe, devastation, and regret. Some of the descriptions of the siege of Jerusalem are horrifying (as in mothers having to eat their children).
I marked a couple of passages that deal with the causes of the demise of Israel: 3:34-36 and 4:12-13. These passages pinpoint the injustices of the people, the arrogance of kings, and the iniquity of the religious leaders.
Yet, as woeful as the book is, right in the middle are some beautiful, hopeful passages. One of Christendom's favorite hymns, "Great Is Thy Faithfulness," comes from 3:22-24:
"Because of the LORD's great love, we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning: great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, 'The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for Him.'"
And a little later, "For men are not cast off by the Lord forever. Though He brings grief, He will show compassion, so great is His unfailing love. For He does not willingly bring affliction or grief to the children of men" (3:31-33).
If you like Hebrew poetry, with its evocative imagery and its graceful parallelism, Lamentations is a tour de force. It's message of hope is twofold. First, God is just and righteous: He does indeed follow through on punishing wickedness. Second, God is faithful and accessible in our deepest distress. Great is His faithfulness; morning by morning, new mercies we see.
I did not make a careful, analytical study of Lamentations. I'm thinking it deserves such a treatment because I think it is richer in meaning and structure than just a straight reading will reveal. (Hey, Kehila Sunday School Class: This might be a good choice for an upcoming study!)
Most of Lamentations is pretty grim. It is the picture of woe, devastation, and regret. Some of the descriptions of the siege of Jerusalem are horrifying (as in mothers having to eat their children).
I marked a couple of passages that deal with the causes of the demise of Israel: 3:34-36 and 4:12-13. These passages pinpoint the injustices of the people, the arrogance of kings, and the iniquity of the religious leaders.
Yet, as woeful as the book is, right in the middle are some beautiful, hopeful passages. One of Christendom's favorite hymns, "Great Is Thy Faithfulness," comes from 3:22-24:
"Because of the LORD's great love, we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning: great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, 'The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for Him.'"
And a little later, "For men are not cast off by the Lord forever. Though He brings grief, He will show compassion, so great is His unfailing love. For He does not willingly bring affliction or grief to the children of men" (3:31-33).
If you like Hebrew poetry, with its evocative imagery and its graceful parallelism, Lamentations is a tour de force. It's message of hope is twofold. First, God is just and righteous: He does indeed follow through on punishing wickedness. Second, God is faithful and accessible in our deepest distress. Great is His faithfulness; morning by morning, new mercies we see.
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