Sunday, July 29, 2007

2 Chronicles 24:1—25:28

CM’s commentary:

Joash was seven years old when he became king and reined for 40 years. Important to keep in mind the potential for this to be symbolically important. 40 days of flood, forty years I the desert. I wonder what is significant about this guy’s reign, because he starts so well and so dramatically—saved from a certain execution by a doting aunt and generous chief priests who then fervently follows the Lord and leads Israel to follow the Lord as well. Then upon Jehoida’s death, he finishes so terribly by turning to Ashera Poles and even killing Jehoida’s son, Zecharia, because of his prophesying against the Pole practices. Amazing.

24:17

“Paid homage…and he listened to them.” What kind of homage was this. Kind of a form of worship? Whatever the “homage” was, it evidently caused Irael to start back into paganism. How could a man’s goldly leadership turn back in such a short time? Jehoida ruled as priest, but perhaps did he lead people to love God or just fear God through externalities? The text says nothing about this, but think it’s a good exercise to consider the various possibilities explaining how Joash and Jehoida ended poorly.

In their youth, it seems they were on fire. But in their old age, they seemed to dim. Joash, and the rest of Israel, seemed ready to simply turn over their affections to idols, so it prompts one to wonder just what kind of spiritual workout was not taking place during the time leading up to this season in which Jehoida’s life was sunsetting. Maybe Jehoida was fervent to the end. Still, did he use his youth to set up rules and regulations that had the appearance of godliness but not the power?

Perhaps there was not a David-like octane to worship of Jehoida’s day, where leaders danced and loved God openly, not just for counsel on whether/how to wage war, collect taxes, or sacrifice in the temple, but for daily small and big life matters. It seems that Israel was just an old fragile county ripe for takeover, given how quickly they turned from the Lord to paganism after Jehoida’s death.

24:23

What & Where is Aram?

Wikipedia:

Aram is the name of a region mentioned in the Bible located in central Syria, including where the city of Aleppo (aka Halab) now stands. The name is traditionally derived from Aram, a grandson of Noah in the Bible.

The Aramaeans (speakers of the Aramaic traditionally descended from Aram) began to settle in Aram and Mesopotamia in the late 12th century BCE. Two medium-sized Aramaean kingdoms, Aram-Damascus and Hamath, along with several smaller kingdoms and independent city-states, developed in the region during the first millennium BCE. The Chaldeans who settled in southern Babylonia around 1000 BCE were founders of the Neo-Babylonian Empire in 625 BCE are also believed to have been an Aramaean tribe.

As Christians began to inhabit that area of Syria, a dialect of Aramaic, Syriac, was born. Hence Syriac has been associated with Christian Syrians.

Today in this same area, there are several Eastern Catholic Churches that are distinct from the Latin Rite. Two of these are the Maronite Church and the Melkite Greek-Catholic Church, both common to Syria and Lebanon.

Crosswalk.com:

The son of Shem (Genesis 10:22); according to Genesis 22:21, a grandson of Nahor. In Matthew 1:3,4, and Luke 3:33, this word is the Greek form of Ram, the father of Amminadab (1 Chronicles 2:10).

The word means high, or highlands, and as the name of a country denotes that elevated region extending from the northeast of Palestine to the Euphrates. It corresponded generally with the Syria and Mesopotamia of the Greeks and Romans. In Genesis 25:20; 31:20,24; Deuteronomy 26:5, the word "Syrian" is properly "Aramean" (RSV, marg.). Damascus became at length the capital of the several smaller kingdoms comprehended under the designation "Aram" or "Syria."

Matthew Henry’s Commentary

I particular enjoyed this commentary from MH:

He that will not be counselled cannot be helped. It is especially prudent for young people to take advice in their marriages, as Joash did, who left it to his guardian to choose him his wives, because Jezebel and Athaliah had been such plagues, v. 3. This is a turn of life which often proves either the making or marring of young people, and therefore should be attended to with great care.

Friday July 28, 2007

July 28, 2007

2 Chronicles 21:1-23:21

21:7

Interesting to note that God is not willing to destroy Jehoram because of his covenant with David. “Destroy” is indeed a relative term, because many of Jehoram’s relatives—and, of course, thus David’s descendants—end up losing their lives. But God doesn’t define that as “destroying.”

21:8

Where is Edom? Edom doesn’t exist any longer. But here is where it apparently used to be:

• According to commentary on Crosswalk, they have disappeared:

“Edom fell under the growing Chaldean power (Jeremiah 27:3,6).

There are many prophecies concerning Edom (Isaiah 34:5,6; Jeremiah 49:7-18; Ezekiel 25:13; 35:1-15; Joel 3:19; Amos 1:11; Obad.; Malachi 1:3,4) which have been remarkably fulfilled. The present desolate condition of that land is a standing testimony to the inspiration of these prophecies. After an existence as a people for above seventeen hundred years, they have utterly disappeared….”

• Wikipedia says:

The Edomite people were a Semitic-speaking tribal group inhabiting the Negev Desert and the Aravah valley of what is now southern Israel and adjacent Jordan. The region has much reddish sandstone, which may have given rise to the name "Edom". The nation of Edom is known to have existed back to the 8th or 9th century BCE, and the Bible dates it back several centuries further. Recent archeological evidence may indicate an Edomite nation as long ago as the 11th century BCE, but the topic is controversial. The nation ceased to exist with the Jewish-Roman Wars.

The Edomites are descendend from Esau. When Israel and Esau parted ways, Israel ended up in Egypt for 400 years while Esau went to the land of Canaan. God eventually called the Israelites out of Egypt and into the land of Canaan to kick out the inhabitants, which included the descendents of Esau, the Edomites.

21:12

Interesting that Elijah refers to David as Jehoram’s “father” not “grandfather” or great grandfather, like we do. I wonder where/how/at what point did we coin the terms to distinguish between generations of fathers. Is there a Hebrew term for grandfather now? In ancient Hebrew?

21:14

“So now the Lord is about to strike your people, your sons, your wives and everything that is yours, with a heavy blow.”

Yet, God does not define this as “destroy.”

21:15

God curses Jehoram with an illness that causes “lingering disease of the bowels, until the diseases causes your bowels to come out.”

Ugh, yuck! God has chosen not to destroy Jehoram for David’s sake (21:7), but instead has chosen a verrry long and painful death. And terribly yucky, too. And yet God does not define this as “destroying.” Interesting.

What could this sickness be? Not sure, but it sounds a bit like Crohn’s disease. Ouch.

21:17

I wonder why Ahaziah was spared.

21:19

Jehoram seemed to be on par with all of Israel’s recent previous evil kings, and they were ostensibly treated to appropriate head-of-state funerals. Jehoram, however, “passed away, to no one’s regret, and was buried in the City of David (ok, a little respect here), but no in the tombs of the kings.”

22:2:

Ahaziah, Jehoram’s 22 year old successor, was evidently a one-hit wonder, presiding as king for only one year. He inherited all the bad apple advisors from his father, which, to me, smacks of a set up. Poor guy probably didn’t have a clue what was coming to him.

The writer mentions that A’s mother, Athalia, was a daughter of Omri, a former king of Israel who doesn’t score very highly on his devotion to God.

22:7

“God brought about Ahaziah’s downfall” through Jehu, son of Nimshi, whom the Lord has anointed to destroy the house of Ahab.

It just seems that God doesn’t do this very efficiently. He does it very much in his own timing. It has taken him quite a long time to “destroy the house of Ahab.”

22:9

Interesting: Jehu & co. find and kill Ahazia and then they buried him (with Kingship honors? Doesn’t say). Their respectful burial of Ahazia (however the buried him, we evidently will not find out) was reasoned, according to the writer quoting the executioners, in that “He was a son of Jehoshaphat, who sought the Lord with all his heart.” Wha??

After the ensuing blood bath with Athalia, Jerhosheba, and Jehoida, et al, ending up with Athalia’s execution, “…the city was quiet because Athalia had been slain with the sword.” Interesting conclusion to this passage.

Romans 11:13-36

God is the hero of our faith, not us

This section is a helping of humble pie to gentiles who are tempted to boast about believing in the messiah when the messiah’s people rejected him. Paul acknowledges the validity of the argument that “branches were broken off so that I [a gentile] could be grafted in” but reminds the boaster that those branches were broken off because of their unbelief. If a believer boasts about his faith, then he seems to prove that he doesn’t understand the very faith he proclaims to own, for true faith in God is a gift from God, not something that a person can muster or create by himself. Therefore, there is no reason to boast about this faith, and therefore there is no reason to gloat at the Jew who has rejected the messiah. God is the hero of faith in Him, not man, be he a gentile or Jew.

11:23 God is able to graft anybody into the kingdom

God gives no man the keys to everlasting life. “And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.”

11:26 All Israel will be saved

I don’t understand this. Does this mean all Israel, as in, the land and enduring geography/legacy/idea of Israel, or each individual Israelite soul?

11:32 It hardly can get more Calvinistic than this

“For God has bound all men over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.”

Whew…God ordained our utter sinfulness in order to have mercy on us?

Proverbs 20:7 is a favorite for fathers

The righteous man leads a blameless life; blessed are his children after him.

Friday July 13, 2007

1 Chron 16:37 - 18:17

David has finished constructing the buildings "for himself in the City of David."(15:1). Interesting how this phrase seems to run afoul of contemporary evanglicalese, which would incline toward editing this statement as, "...for the glory of God in the city of God." But the text apparently allows economy for glorifying humans; the text appears to find no problem of the man-centered attention.

Interesting how David is coming to think about the ark *after* he has built all these city elements. It's like the town mayor, a Christian, obsessing for years about economic development, buildings, water, sewage treatment, plowing the snow, and as he starts his fourth term, he's concerned about the town's lack of a church building.

Interesting to see David's commitment to the quality of what might be called the "externals." This is another evangelical no-no. It's not just that he is committed to the Moses/Toray prescription for how the arc is to be handled, but he is committed to excellent singers and musicians (v 16), ornamentation and excellent clothes, the works. The text even bothers to obsess over the small details, like David being dressed in "fine linen" (v27).

(v29): King David was dancing in such a way as to make his wife, Michal, despise him. What would prompt that? I think it's evident that David was dancing in a way that would make us blush as well, and want to go dissuade him from such "lewd" conduct. I suspect that God is starved for such utterly joyful worship from his people. (I know, God isn't "starved" for anything...just endure a moment of exaggeration to make an important point).

(v 16:7) David wrote a pslam of praise. I find this element of David's life fascinating, because he convicts me as a liar and sluggard. Time and again I've lied to God and myself about how I don't have time to praise him or pray to him today because I just don't have time. David, however, was a king, and kings are very busy people. Kings and presidents, good and bad, noble and ignoble alike, are much more busy than desk workers like the rest of us. It may appear that they simply give us orders and sit back waiting for the result, but the fact is that they give the orders and spend much time plotting/anticipating/worrying about how we're working and what we bring them back as a final product. Yes, the work of a king has its cushy elements, but it has it's huge load of stress, for if a nation goes to war and loses, the first casualty is the soldier, the second is the king.

David convicts me because he devoted so much of his life praising God, and his excuses for not carving out time would dwarf mine, if not for the fact that his excuses were just as vacuous as mine. David not only devoted his life to praising God, but to writing his prose down to inspire later generations (and, of course, primarily because the Holy Spirit chose to use him as a vehicle for dictating scripture).

16:3: David gave food to the people as an expression of celebration. Way cool -- the godly example of how to throw a party.