Today's Readings and Stuff --- Tuesday, 05 June 2018

Happy Tuesday.


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Ray Vanderlaan did a good commentary on this section some years ago.  The issue before them was "who is really God"?  Is the king "God"?  Is Ba'al God?  Asherah?  Dagon?  Pharaoh?  Moloch?  Who is really God??  The question has never really left us.  The Aztecs, Incas, Toltecs, Olmecs, and such in the Americas.  Odin and Wotan and Zeus, and many others all across the world.  Who is really God?  And, now, we have the Moslems who loudly proclaim that "Allah" is God and that there is no other.
Our answer will have much to do with our conduct, and with the type of culture and civilization created.  As well as our own, personal, eternal destiny.  It's an important question.
The Israelites, located in the midst of hostile cultures, each with their own "gods", had been strictly warned about intermixing with those heathen (dare I use that term?) nations, and adopting their ways and their "gods".  Warnings and commands that were quickly cast aside, with the foreseen results.  And, as is so often the case, the rot began right at the top, with the leaders of the nation being prominent in their disobedience. 
That also has not changed:  I receive, weekly or more often, missives from people I know (or used to know, anyway) who have become "tolerant" and "sophisticated" and who call upon us "deplorables" to accept the Official Party Line that the Lord and Allah are pretty much the same, just different nicknames and titles. 
I reject that.  If that makes me unfit for being around, so be it.  But I draw attention to the part about the Lord being a jealous God.  That is, somehow, deemed un-trendy these days.  But it's still true.
In this passage, the Lord used Elijah to address the issue in a pretty unmistakable way, with bad consequences for the priests of Ba'al.  It can happen again.

1st Kings 17

1  And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.

2  And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying,

3  Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.

4  And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.

5  So he went and did according unto the word of the Lord: for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.

6  And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook.

7  And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.

8  And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying,

9  Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.

10  So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.

11  And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand.

12  And she said, As the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.

13  And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son.

14  For thus saith the Lord God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth.

15  And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days.

16  And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by Elijah.

17  And it came to pass after these things, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick; and his sickness was so sore, that there was no breath left in him.

18  And she said unto Elijah, What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God? art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son?

19  And he said unto her, Give me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him up into a loft, where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed.

20  And he cried unto the Lord, and said, O Lord my God, hast thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son?

21  And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the Lord, and said, O Lord my God, I pray thee, let this child's soul come into him again.

22  And the Lord heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived.

23  And Elijah took the child, and brought him down out of the chamber into the house, and delivered him unto his mother: and Elijah said, See, thy son liveth.

24  And the woman said to Elijah, Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in thy mouth is truth.

1st Kings 18

1  And it came to pass after many days, that the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year, saying, Go, shew thyself unto Ahab; and I will send rain upon the earth.

2  And Elijah went to shew himself unto Ahab. And there was a sore famine in Samaria.

3  And Ahab called Obadiah, which was the governor of his house. (Now Obadiah feared the Lord greatly:

4  For it was so, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the Lord, that Obadiah took an hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.)

5  And Ahab said unto Obadiah, Go into the land, unto all fountains of water, and unto all brooks: peradventure we may find grass to save the horses and mules alive, that we lose not all the beasts.

6  So they divided the land between them to pass throughout it: Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself.

7  And as Obadiah was in the way, behold, Elijah met him: and he knew him, and fell on his face, and said, Art thou that my lord Elijah?

8  And he answered him, I am: go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here.

9  And he said, What have I sinned, that thou wouldest deliver thy servant into the hand of Ahab, to slay me?

10  As the Lord thy God liveth, there is no nation or kingdom, whither my lord hath not sent to seek thee: and when they said, He is not there; he took an oath of the kingdom and nation, that they found thee not.

11  And now thou sayest, Go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here.

12  And it shall come to pass, as soon as I am gone from thee, that the Spirit of the Lord shall carry thee whither I know not; and so when I come and tell Ahab, and he cannot find thee, he shall slay me: but I thy servant fear the Lord from my youth.

13  Was it not told my lord what I did when Jezebel slew the prophets of the Lord, how I hid an hundred men of the Lord's prophets by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water?

14  And now thou sayest, Go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here: and he shall slay me.

15  And Elijah said, As the Lord of hosts liveth, before whom I stand, I will surely shew myself unto him to day.

16  So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him: and Ahab went to meet Elijah.

17  And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, Art thou he that troubleth Israel?

18  And he answered, I have not troubled Israel; but thou, and thy father's house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the Lord, and thou hast followed Baalim.

19  Now therefore send, and gather to me all Israel unto mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the groves four hundred, which eat at Jezebel's table.

20  So Ahab sent unto all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together unto mount Carmel.

21  And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the Lord be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.

22  Then said Elijah unto the people, I, even I only, remain a prophet of the Lord; but Baal's prophets are four hundred and fifty men.

23  Let them therefore give us two bullocks; and let them choose one bullock for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under: and I will dress the other bullock, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under:

24  And call ye on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the Lord: and the God that answereth by fire, let him be God. And all the people answered and said, It is well spoken.

25  And Elijah said unto the prophets of Baal, Choose you one bullock for yourselves, and dress it first; for ye are many; and call on the name of your gods, but put no fire under.

26  And they took the bullock which was given them, and they dressed it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us. But there was no voice, nor any that answered. And they leaped upon the altar which was made.

27  And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud: for he is a god; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked.

28  And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, till the blood gushed out upon them.

29  And it came to pass, when midday was past, and they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that there was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regarded.

30  And Elijah said unto all the people, Come near unto me. And all the people came near unto him. And he repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down.

31  And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of the Lord came, saying, Israel shall be thy name:

32  And with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord: and he made a trench about the altar, as great as would contain two measures of seed.

33  And he put the wood in order, and cut the bullock in pieces, and laid him on the wood, and said, Fill four barrels with water, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice, and on the wood.

34  And he said, Do it the second time. And they did it the second time. And he said, Do it the third time. And they did it the third time.

35  And the water ran round about the altar; and he filled the trench also with water.

36  And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word.

37  Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the Lord God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again.

38  Then the fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.

39  And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The Lord, he is the God; the Lord, he is the God.

40  And Elijah said unto them, Take the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape. And they took them: and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there.

41  And Elijah said unto Ahab, Get thee up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of abundance of rain.

42  So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he cast himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees,

43  And said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up, and looked, and said, There is nothing. And he said, Go again seven times.

44  And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man's hand. And he said, Go up, say unto Ahab, Prepare thy chariot, and get thee down, that the rain stop thee not.

45  And it came to pass in the mean while, that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel.

46  And the hand of the Lord was on Elijah; and he girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.

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Psalm 112

1  Praise ye the Lord. Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord, that delighteth greatly in his commandments.

2  His seed shall be mighty upon earth: the generation of the upright shall be blessed.

3  Wealth and riches shall be in his house: and his righteousness endureth for ever.

4  Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness: he is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous.

5  A good man sheweth favour, and lendeth: he will guide his affairs with discretion.discretion: Heb. judgment

6  Surely he shall not be moved for ever: the righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance.

7  He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord.

8  His heart is established, he shall not be afraid, until he see his desire upon his enemies.

9  He hath dispersed, he hath given to the poor; his righteousness endureth for ever; his horn shall be exalted with honour.

10  The wicked shall see it, and be grieved; he shall gnash with his teeth, and melt away: the desire of the wicked shall perish.

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This passage is a bit tough for me in several ways (and go back and look at the passage from 1st Kings above).
For much of my life, I've been pretty hard on the Jewish leadership in examples like this.  With some reason, surely.  But .....
Look at their situation and history.  The observant Jews, then and today as well, could look back on their history and see too many places where the clear and unambiguous commands of the Lord, some quite minute and detailed, had been ignored or honored in name only, and the awful results of that.  Look back, for example, at Aaron's sons, who offered unauthorized fire.  And were struck down and died.  Look at the poor fellow who tried to catch the Ark of the Covenant lest it fall of the cart.  And died.  Many other examples.  Look at their situation at the time of this account.  The nation had become apostate, and judgment had fallen.  They were captives in their own land, several times, most lately by the Roman Empire.  The Romans had complete control and could do as they wished:  look at the "slaughter of the Innocents" in Matthew 2:13-23.  Herod the Great, appointed as quasi-king by the Romans, had ALL the little boys of a certain age in that area put to death.  (Happens when you don't have limited government and that unlimited government has arms control, but that's a subject for another day).  The Lord wasn't executing judgement on those babies, but He allowed it.    All a result of national and cultural disobedience going back centuries.  Think it can't happen again, by the way?  I fear that it can, and might.
So I'm tending to be a bit less harsh on these religious leaders who, seeing all around them the results of treating the Lord's commands lightly, as being rigorous in upholding their interpretations of those commands and of the implications of that determination.  Were they right in all respects?  Of course not, or Jesus would not have been opposed by them.  Or Paul or James or, well, the Church. 
I've seen, personally and up close, efforts, many of them well-intentioned I am certain, to uphold church teachings and traditions and beliefs.  Many with good foundations but long-term results that aren't, yet which occupy more attention than Scripture.  Examples are really not hard to find.  Yet, like the Jews, I've heard too often the phrase "it's not that bad" as the effort is made to relax a particular standard.  Sometimes that relaxation is sensible and wise.  Sometimes it's not.  The Jews here were trying to hold the line, but that "line" was, often, less what was in the Law of Moses, and more often from the teachings and commentaries of the rabbis ever since (and even today:  I occasionally read through some).  That cultural baggage sometimes helps.  Sometimes it interferes, and becomes a "god" in itself.
So Paul's outreach to the Gentiles must have been a dreadful affront to those who fervently believed that the father-to-son and beyond heritage was the most important thing.

Acts 23

1  And Paul, earnestly beholding the council, said, Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day.

2  And the high priest Ananias commanded them that stood by him to smite him on the mouth.

3  Then said Paul unto him, God shall smite thee, thou whited wall: for sittest thou to judge me after the law, and commandest me to be smitten contrary to the law?

4  And they that stood by said, Revilest thou God's high priest?

5  Then said Paul, I wist not, brethren, that he was the high priest: for it is written, Thou shalt not speak evil of the ruler of thy people.

6  But when Paul perceived that the one part were Sadducees, and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee: of the hope and resurrection of the dead I am called in question.

7  And when he had so said, there arose a dissension between the Pharisees and the Sadducees: and the multitude was divided.

8  For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit: but the Pharisees confess both.

9  And there arose a great cry: and the scribes that were of the Pharisees' part arose, and strove, saying, We find no evil in this man: but if a spirit or an angel hath spoken to him, let us not fight against God.

10  And when there arose a great dissension, the chief captain, fearing lest Paul should have been pulled in pieces of them, commanded the soldiers to go down, and to take him by force from among them, and to bring him into the castle.

11  And the night following the Lord stood by him, and said, Be of good cheer, Paul: for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome.

12  And when it was day, certain of the Jews banded together, and bound themselves under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul.

13  And they were more than forty which had made this conspiracy.

14  And they came to the chief priests and elders, and said, We have bound ourselves under a great curse, that we will eat nothing until we have slain Paul.

15  Now therefore ye with the council signify to the chief captain that he bring him down unto you to morrow, as though ye would enquire something more perfectly concerning him: and we, or ever he come near, are ready to kill him.

16  And when Paul's sister's son heard of their lying in wait, he went and entered into the castle, and told Paul.

17  Then Paul called one of the centurions unto him, and said, Bring this young man unto the chief captain: for he hath a certain thing to tell him.

18  So he took him, and brought him to the chief captain, and said, Paul the prisoner called me unto him, and prayed me to bring this young man unto thee, who hath something to say unto thee.

19  Then the chief captain took him by the hand, and went with him aside privately, and asked him, What is that thou hast to tell me?

20  And he said, The Jews have agreed to desire thee that thou wouldest bring down Paul to morrow into the council, as though they would enquire somewhat of him more perfectly.

21  But do not thou yield unto them: for there lie in wait for him of them more than forty men, which have bound themselves with an oath, that they will neither eat nor drink till they have killed him: and now are they ready, looking for a promise from thee.

22  So the chief captain then let the young man depart, and charged him, See thou tell no man that thou hast shewed these things to me.

23  And he called unto him two centurions, saying, Make ready two hundred soldiers to go to Caesarea, and horsemen threescore and ten, and spearmen two hundred, at the third hour of the night;

24  And provide them beasts, that they may set Paul on, and bring him safe unto Felix the governor.

25  And he wrote a letter after this manner:

26  Claudius Lysias unto the most excellent governor Felix sendeth greeting.

27  This man was taken of the Jews, and should have been killed of them: then came I with an army, and rescued him, having understood that he was a Roman.

28  And when I would have known the cause wherefore they accused him, I brought him forth into their council:

29  Whom I perceived to be accused of questions of their law, but to have nothing laid to his charge worthy of death or of bonds.

30  And when it was told me how that the Jews laid wait for the man, I sent straightway to thee, and gave commandment to his accusers also to say before thee what they had against him. Farewell.

31  Then the soldiers, as it was commanded them, took Paul, and brought him by night to Antipatris.

32  On the morrow they left the horsemen to go with him, and returned to the castle:

33  Who, when they came to Caesarea, and delivered the epistle to the governor, presented Paul also before him.

34  And when the governor had read the letter, he asked of what province he was. And when he understood that he was of Cilicia;

35  I will hear thee, said he, when thine accusers are also come. And he commanded him to be kept in Herod's judgment hall.