God at work

Remembering is the theme at the beginning and end of Malachi. Remembering God’s promise to punish Edom (Mal 1:2–5), reflecting upon what God has done in this book of remembrance (3:16–18), and recalling an even bigger story involving Moses and Elijah (4:4–5 [Eng. 3:22–23]) offers hope for those who fear YHWH. This hope, in Malachi, is not a naïve optimism, but a reminder that God has not abandoned God’s people, even though the people have returned to acting much like the people in Hosea. Thus, judgment and hope remain in tension at the end of the Book of the Twelve, a tension that is never resolved, because it deals with the human condition and the relationship of humans to the deity. Those who fear YHWH, who remember what YHWH has done, and who turn to YHWH for help and strength, will find instruction and hope in the midst of life, while those determined to go their own way should know that this God of compassion does not leave the guilty unpunished. The great and terrible day of YHWH functions as both warning and comfort, depending upon what one has learned from this story (Mal 4:5 [Eng. 3:23]).—James D. Nogalski, “Recurring Themes in the Book of the Twelve : Creating Points of Contact for a Theological Reading,” Int 61 (2007): 136

A timely word from the Book of the Twelve (Minor Prophets)

Righteousness and justice—how one relates to God and human beings—are the hallmarks by which humanity in general, and God’s people in particular, shall be evaluated. The prophets challenge God’s people in times of crises in order to elicit a change in behavior. When people worship gods who do not control the world, consequences ensue. When people treat the poor as commodities, consequences ensue. These two foci remind readers of the Twelve of their own responsibility to behave as those who fear YHWH, who learn to distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, and who live accordingly.

Repentance, not pride, in the face of calamity and threat offers the only hope that YHWH will intervene to thwart, stall, stop, or repair a damaged people. Hosea, Joel, Amos, Jonah, Zechariah, and Malachi all underscore the need to repent before YHWH, to change behavior, and to change attitudes toward God and humanity. The Book of the Twelve presumes that calamity comes from YHWH as punishment for rebellion against YHWH, or mistreatment of other human beings.—James D. Nogalski, “Recurring Themes in the Book of the Twelve : Creating Points of Contact for a Theological Reading,” Int 61 (2007): 135–36

What's a person to do?

Just saw this by Ed Stetzer. Very good. Here's a snippet:

Half of Americans, and the vast majority of white Evangelicals, have elected soon-to-be President Trump. Most Evangelicals I know did so because they felt he was the best, flawed, choice they had. But, the results (and the hurt) is still here—and real.

Like many, it is my hope that Donald Trump’s presidency will be better than his campaign—that Trump will be a better President than he has been a person. But regardless, the Church must be the Church.

White Evangelicals owe it to their minority brothers and sisters in Christ, and ultimately all, to care, but also to help bring change in the Church and beyond.

<idle musing>
Indeed! I long-ago shed the label "evangelical" because of the political baggage it carries. If pressed, I would probably say I am an 18th-century evangelical in the mold of a John Wesley, who was a social progressive, establishing schools for the miners' children, appointing women to positions of authority in the Methodist movement, and standing against slavery. Somewhere along the line, probably around 1980, the Evangelical movement in the U.S. completely lost the social progressiveness and became a Republican stronghold (it had been moving that direction, but that seems to be the watershed moment).

Whomever you voted for, if you are a Christian of any stripe, you are called by God to be an agent of peace and reconciliation. The mood of the country right now is not one of peace and reconciliation. Scripture says that they will know Christians by their love. Hmmm...last time I checked love didn't mean insulting people, attacking people, etc.—and I'm talking about both left and right here. Stetzer is correct. Scripture is very clear that we need to stand with the poor, the immigrant, the marginalized.

How to do that is the question that I'm grappling with right now. I live in a small community (1500 people) that is overwhelmingly white—after all, it's made up of Scandinavians! We're five hours from a major metropolitan area. What can I do? That's the question that I'm laying before God.

Yes, I will (continue to) pray. But what else is God calling me to do?

If, God forbid, Muslims are ordered to wear armbands, I will follow the example of the Danish when the Jews were commanded to wear a star of David armband, and wear one even though I am not Muslim. But before things get that far along (if they do), what can I do?

Just musing out loud here...
</idle musing>

The significance of the prophetic books

The word of God in the prophetic books is understood to have a potential significance that goes far beyond the time they describe. The prophetic books guide their readers so that they can recognize the signs of the times and align themselves with God’s plan. Everything found in these books is valid, though not everything is significant for each historical moment or generation. Many things have already been fulfilled, others await their time, and still others can (or will) be like those events that have already happened.—The Prophets of Israel, page 30

<idle musing>
Excellent! That paragraph is worth the price of the book...
</idle musing>

A Psalm for today

Psalm 94

94 Lord, avenging God—
    avenging God, show yourself!
2 Rise up, judge of the earth!
    Pay back the arrogant exactly what they deserve!
3 How long will the wicked—oh, Lord!—
    how long will the wicked win?
4 They spew arrogant words;
    all the evildoers are bragging.
5 They crush your own people, Lord!
    They abuse your very own possession.
6 They kill widows and immigrants;
    they murder orphans,
7     saying all the while,
    “The Lord can’t see it;
        Jacob’s God doesn’t know
        what’s going on!”

8 You ignorant people better learn quickly.
    You fools—when will you get some sense?
9 The one who made the ear,
    can’t he hear?
The one who formed the eye,
    can’t he see?
10 The one who disciplines nations,
    can’t he punish?
The one who teaches humans,
    doesn’t he know?[a]
11 The Lord does indeed know human thoughts,
    knows that they are nothing but a puff of air.

12 The people you discipline, Lord, are truly happy—
    the ones you teach from your Instruction—
13     giving them relief from troubling times
        until a pit is dug for the wicked.
14 The Lord will not reject his people;
    he will not abandon his very own possession.
15 No, but justice will once again meet up with righteousness,
    and all whose heart is right will follow after.

16 Who will stand up for me against the wicked?
    Who will help me against evildoers?
17 If the Lord hadn’t helped me,
    I[b] would live instantly in total silence.
18 Whenever I feel my foot slipping,
    your faithful love steadies me, Lord.
19 When my anxieties multiply,
    your comforting calms me down.

20 Can a wicked ruler be your ally;
    one who wreaks havoc by means of the law?
21 The wicked gang up against the lives of the righteous.
    They condemn innocent blood.
22 But the Lord is my fortress;
    my God is my rock of refuge.
23 He will repay them for their wickedness,
    completely destroy them because of their evil.
    Yes, the Lord our God will completely destroy them.

Footnotes:

1. Psalm 94:10 Correction; MT the one who teaches humans knowledge
2. Psalm 94:17 Or soul; also in 94:19, 21

Common English Bible (CEB)

Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible

It's a modern problem

The problem of differentiating between the historical and literary prophet did not trouble ancient scribes as it has troubled modern scholarship since the Enlightenment and the emergence of historical-critical research on the Bible. For the ancient scribes, the prophet and the prophetic book were one. Yet, for them the most important thing about the prophet was not his biography but rather the word of God that was present in the person of the prophet and is still present in his book. Thus, the prophet and his book give access to comprehensive knowledge about God’s plan, which he had made known to his prophets (Isa 44:26; Jer 23:18; 29:11; Amos 3:7) .—The Prophets of Israel, page 30

<idle musing>
Yep. I couldn't have put it better myself. It boils down to why we read the Bible. Is it for information? Or is it in hopes of encountering the living God who alone can animate the words on the page?
</idle musing>

Idolatry unmasked

On this post-election Wednesday, there are a lot of people rejoicing and a lot of people weeping. As Christians, what should our response be? I like the response posted over at Missio Alliance Here's a paragraph, but please, do yourself a favor and read the whole thing.

The good coming from this crazy election season is all this shaking has rattled the thick dust off the idol of nationalism, which is a disproportionate devotion to one’s nation. The sudden revelation of this form of idolatry has been painful for some people. The growing post-Christian culture in America has caused some in the body of Christ to forsake their primary allegiance in Christ for what Scot McKnight has called an “eschatology of politics.” When our ultimate hope is in the candidate we vote for, when our primary concern is the preservation of a certain political system, when we “hold our nose” and vote for a candidate who stands in direct conflict to our Christian convictions simply because we do not want the other side to win, we have shockingly exposed an idol, a false hope for salvation. When we have exchanged our hope in God for hope in elected officials, we have unwittingly traded our Christian birthright for a bowl of toxic political soup.

Another difference to note

There is also a significant difference between the ancient Near East on the one hand and Israel on the other. The ancient Near Eastern archives that we know from excavations have not produced a single prophetic book, nor are the prophetic books of the Hebrew Bible archives, and they could scarcely have been included in one. There are simple reasons why this is the case. The ancient Near Eastern archive was a royal library. The prophetic books of the Hebrew Bible predict the demise of the monarchy and similar institutions.—The Prophets of Israel, page 28

Psalm 73

But me? My feet had almost stumbled;
    my steps had nearly slipped
3     because I envied the arrogant;
    I observed how the wicked are well off:
4 They suffer no pain;
    their bodies are fit and strong.
5 They are never in trouble;
    they aren’t weighed down like other people.
6 That’s why they wear arrogance like a necklace,
    why violence covers them like clothes.
7 Their eyes bulge out from eating so well;
    their hearts overflow with delusions.
8 They scoff and talk so cruel;
    from their privileged positions
    they plan oppression.
9 Their mouths dare to speak against heaven!
    Their tongues roam the earth!
10 That’s why people keep going back to them,
    keep approving what they say.
11 And what they say is this: “How could God possibly know!
    Does the Most High know anything at all!”
12 Look at these wicked ones,
    always relaxed, piling up the wealth!

13 Meanwhile, I’ve kept my heart pure for no good reason;
I’ve washed my hands to stay innocent for nothing.
14 I’m weighed down all day long.
    I’m punished every morning.
15 If I said, “I will talk about all this,”
    I would have been unfaithful to your children.
16 But when I tried to understand these things,
    it just seemed like hard work

Yep! That's exactly how I feel sometimes. Good thing the psalm doesn't stop there, isn't it! It goes on, and in the last half we see the truth, but it is seen through spiritual eyes and will never make sense in the eyes of the world. We need to remember that on a day like today...our hope is not in the institutions of government, however good they might be (or bad). Our hope is in God. Here's the rest of the psalm:

17     until I entered God’s sanctuary
        and understood what would happen to the wicked.
18 You will definitely put them on a slippery path;
    you will make them fall into ruin!
19 How quickly they are devastated,
    utterly destroyed by terrors!
20 As quickly as a dream departs from someone waking up, my Lord,
    when you are stirred up, you make them disappear.

²¹ When my heart was bitter,
    when I was all cut up inside,
²² I was stupid and ignorant.
    I acted like nothing but an animal toward you.
²³ But I was still always with you!
    You held my strong hand!
²⁴ You have guided me with your advice;
    later you will receive me with glory.
²⁵ Do I have anyone else in heaven?
    There’s nothing on earth I desire except you.
²⁶ My body and my heart fail,
    but God is my heart’s rock and my share forever.
²⁷ Look! Those far from you die;
    you annihilate all those who are unfaithful to you.
²⁸ But me? It’s good for me to be near God.
    I have taken my refuge in you, my Lord God,
        so I can talk all about your works! (CEB, from Bible Gateway)

God's word for today

A psalm for this year's election day, Psalm 62:

Only in God do I[a] find rest;     my salvation comes from him. 2 Only God is my rock and my salvation—     my stronghold!—I won’t be shaken anymore. 3 How long will all of you attack others;     how long will you tear them down[b]     as if they were leaning walls or broken-down fences? 4 The only desire of this people     is to bring others down low;     they delight in deception. With their mouths they bless,     but inside they are cursing. Selah 5 Oh, I[c] must find rest in God only,     because my hope comes from him! 6 Only God is my rock and my salvation—     my stronghold!—I will not be shaken. 7 My deliverance and glory depend on God.     God is my strong rock.     My refuge is in God. 8 All you people: Trust in him at all times!     Pour out your hearts before him!     God is our refuge! Selah 9 Human beings are nothing but a breath.     Human beings are nothing but lies.     They don’t even register on a scale;     taken all together they are lighter than a breath! 10 Don’t trust in violence;     don’t set false hopes in robbery. When wealth bears fruit,     don’t set your heart on it. 11 God has spoken one thing—     make it two things—     that I myself have heard:     that strength belongs to God, 12     and faithful love comes from you, my Lord—     and that you will repay     everyone according to their deeds. Footnotes: Psalm 62:1 Or my soul Psalm 62:3 Correction; MT kill them Psalm 62:5 Or my soul Common English Bible (CEB) Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible

But I want easy answers!

"The role of Job serves as paradigm for a righteous man faced with the human condition. As often noted, Job protests against easy answers, but the power of these protests derives from the many ways in which Job makes his point by challenging accepted wisdom and traditional teachings. In a very real way, Job takes on religious orthodoxy as an insufficient means to express the complexity of life. Job protests against the reduction of tradition into simplistic cause and effect theology."—James D. Nogalski, “Job and Joel: Divergent Voices on a Common Theme,” in Reading Job Intertextually, ed. Katharine J. Dell and Will Kynes, LHBOTS 574 (London: T&T Clark, 2013), 137

Contingency

"These verses [Joel 2:12–14] employ שוב [šwb] positively, twice commanding the people to return to YHWH, and once holding out the prospects that YHWH will return to the people and bless them. These actions are contingent upon one another. Only if the people שוב to YHWH is there a chance that YHWH will שוב to them. YHWH responds by offering a series of blessings (2:18–27), contingent upon the response to the call to repent in 2:12–17."—James D. Nogalski, “Job and Joel: Divergent Voices on a Common Theme,” in Reading Job Intertextually, ed. Katharine J. Dell and Will Kynes, LHBOTS 574 (London: T&T Clark, 2013), 135

<idle musing>
Why is it that as humans we want to grab the promise part (apodosis) and ignore the conditions (protasis)? We want the blessings, but we don't want to turn/repent. But, as we שוב to God, he will שוב to us. James 4:8 says the same thing, "Draw near to God and he will draw near to you." (ἐγγίσατε τῷ θεῷ καὶ ἐγγιεῖ ὑμῖν).

But that requires that we change our ways—which requires that we acknowledge that we are wrong! No way! Can't do that! Too damaging to my self-worth to admit I might be wrong! Or so says our culture. So we wander and struggle and fail. Oops, can't say fail, too damaging to my self-worth! Better find a synonym.

Personally, I think I'm better off abandoning the cultural paradigm and embracing the biblical one. It offers me hope, something woefully lacking right about now.

Just an
</idle musing> for a Sunday morning

It's not simple, that's for sure

An author may “quote” another text inexactly. An author may work from memory and simply record a slightly different version of the text, or an author may also deliberately alter the quotation to fit the context or to make a different point. One should attempt to make a decision regarding these alternatives since the presupposition of an intentional change or an oversight can directly impact how one interprets the function of the quotation.—James D. Nogalski, “Intertextuality and the Twelve,” in Forming Prophetic Literature: Essays on Isaiah and the Twelve in Honor of John D. W. Watts, ed. John W. Watts and Paul R. House, JSOTSup 235 (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic, 1996), 104

But nothing like this

Sometimes [in the ancient Near Eastern prophecies], mild criticism of the king is combined with grandiose promises, when the prophets remind the king of his duties toward the gods, their temples and priests, as well as toward his subjects. This criticism, however, is very different from the fundamental doubts about the cultic system or the existing social order as we find them in the Hebrew Bible.—The Prophets of Israel, page 15

To whom is it addressed?

Prophecy in the ancient Near East was a political tool of state propaganda that was used to preserve the prevailing order. Generally, the divine message of the prophets refers to the king and addresses the fate of the royal house; it has little to do with the common people. In Assyria in particular, prophecy serves to legitimate the ruling dynasty.—The Prophets of Israel, page 15

<idle musing>
A good bit different from the Hebrew literary prophets, isn't it? Sure, they do address the rulers, but not to legitimate them! They rebuke them for their treatment of the poor and marginalized and for their worship of other deities. And they warn of the coming doom unless the change their hearts and lifestyles.

You do see prophets, like Nathan, who legitimate David's dynasty. But Nathan was also the one who confronted David about Bathsheba and Uriah! Don't try that in Assyria if you want to live.
</idle musing>

Praxis matters

Righteousness and justice—how one relates to God and human beings—are the hallmarks by which humanity in general, and God’s people in particular, shall be evaluated. The prophets challenge God’s people in times of crises in order to elicit a change in behavior. When people worship gods who do not control the world, consequences ensue. When people treat the poor as commodities, consequences ensue. These two foci remind readers of the Twelve of their own responsibility to behave as those who fear YHWH, who learn to distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, and who live accordingly.—James Nogalski, "Recurring Themes in the Book of the Twelve: Creating Points of Contact for a Theological Reading," Int 61 (2007):135–36

Those pesky prophets!

Nowhere else in the entire ancient Near East did prophets or other men of God ever proclaim such a message. True, outside Israel, gods could be angry and bring disaster upon their cities, countries, and people. Yet the foundations on which the relationship between God and his king, his city, or his people rested was never questioned. What the prophets of Israel, in turn, announced was outrageous and new in the ancient world. Quite rightly, they have been described as Männer des ewig Neuen “men of the eternally new” (Bernhard Duhm). This is not contradicted by the fact that they really did not intend “to say anything new, they are only proclaiming old truth” (Julius Wellhausen). But since they made this ancient truth—namely, the relationship to God mediated by kings, judges, priests, seers, and sages—dependent on God’s desire for justice, they reversed the traditional order.—The Prophets of Israel, page 8

<idle musing>
A new book started. I hope you enjoy the excerpts as we go along. I'm a bit ambivalent about the book—there aren't any footnotes! How can he defend some of his statements without documentation? So it's more like a series of long lectures on the subject of the Hebrew prophets and the prophetic books. He takes a far more critical stance than I do, but the insights he offers are great, as the preceding paragraph shows.

Enjoy the ride!
</idle musing>

A different perspective

From James D. Nogalski, “Joel as ‘Literary Anchor’ for the Book of the Twelve,” in Reading and Hearing the Book of the Twelve, ed. James D. Nogalski and Marvin A. Sweeney, SymS 15 9Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 20000, 95: Instead, [Hosea] 14:5–9 [4–8] offers the foundational promise of YHWH’s salvific intention, on which the call to repentance is built. This promise is not offered because Israel has repented; it offers the reason why Israel should repent. The significance of the call to Israel and its position at the end of the writing lies in the open-ended nature of the invitation. It becomes a type of divinely initiated RSVP to which Israel is called to respond, but no response is narrated. In fact, the final verse of the book indicates that the open-ended nature of the call is transferred to the reader. (emphasis original) <idle musing>
Wow! I had always read it the other way, too. What an eye-opener! That's the kind of God we have...
</idle musing>

From beginning to restoration

The Christian life now is not about fear that we will fail to keep happy the One who loved us while we were still enslave to darkness. The Christian life is really about grasping two concepts: our adoption into God’s family—which means Jesus is our brother, and that God loves us like he loves Jesus—and our purpose in God’s plan to restore his kingdom on earth. We are, and will be, God’s new divine council. He is our Father. We are his children, destined to live where he lives forever. We are his coworkers, tasked with helping him release those still owned by the lord of the dead and held captive by unseen powers of darkness.

That is what the Bible is about, from Eden to Eden. That is your destiny. Your life now is not about earning your place in God’s family. That cannot be earned. It’s a gift. Your life now is showing appreciation for your adoption, enjoying it, and getting others to share it with you.— Supernatural: What the Bible Teaches about the Unseen World—And Why It Matters, page 154

<idle musing>
A fitting final excerpt from the book, wouldn't you say? As I said at the beginning, I like this book. It's a great introduction to the whole issue of the spiritual/unseen realm in the Bible. But—and this is a huge but—it's too simplistic. The real (unseen) world is more complicated than he makes it out to be. Sure, the general overview is correct, but if you spend much time reading the ancient sources, well, let's just say, "It's complicated!" And I think God wants us to see it that way, otherwise we would get too comfortable with the boxes we create. We do anyway!

So, I recommend the book as a first step. But go on and read other stuff; I haven't finished his more scholarly version yet, but what I have read seems good: The Unseen Realm. Another book, which I excerpted from extensively a year or so ago, is World Upside Down: Reading Acts in the Graeco-Roman Age.

A book that recently appeared and that I haven't had a chance to look at yet but looks great is Destroyer of the gods: Early Christian Distinctiveness in the Roman World by Larry Hurtado (and, yes, the lower case "g" on gods is correct!). Hopefully I'll be able to snag a copy of it at AAR/SBL!

Next up? Not sure. I haven't had a lot of time to read this summer, between cabins, Eisenbrauns, and copyediting. Hopefully I'll have something for you tomorrow : )
</idle musing>