Faith

Dumber than Dumb – Monday, 15th Week in ordinary time – Isaiah 1:10 – 17

I once read a lovely sentence that has made an impression on me. I cannot recall the author and so I am unable to credit the source. The sentence went thus, “speak to me of love, the cherry tree was asked and the cherry tree blossomed.” Love can only be defined when seen as ‘a verb’; in action. Words of love may sound glorious and while words reassure, actions speak louder! In the prophet Isaiah, the Lord is not tired of the actions of worship as much as he abhors their ‘acts’ or pretence of love.

We began our reflections with the prophet Isaiah who prophesied in the eight century BC before the exile took place. Last week we began our study of this book with chapter six which speaks of God’s call to Isaiah. We now go to the beginning of the book, to chapter one and from now on we will study selected readings as they appear in the liturgy of the Eucharist. Chapters 1-39 which were prophesied somewhere between the years 742 and 701. These first 39 chapters of Isaiah have been accepted by scripture scholars to be taken from Isaiah’s own ministry and deals mostly about judgment. The rest of the Book of Isaiah (Parts 2 and 3) is attributed to other writers.

The chapter opens with Yahweh’s frustration at having raised children who turned out to be rebellious. “They are a sinful nation laden with iniquity; offspring who do evil, children who deal corruptly, who have forsaken the Lord and who have despised the Holy one of Israel” (1:4).

The leaders and people of Judah were not like dumb animals, such as the ox or the donkey. They were dumber than dumb animals! The ox at least knew its owner, but Judah didn’t know who owned them. The donkey knows who takes care of him, but Judah didn’t know who took care of her. The language in the text may surprise readers who expect the Bible to conform to popular standards of decorum, but such language is typical of prophetic literature and perhaps typical for people who cared little for Yahweh.

It is frequently and rightly concluded that prophets functioned as something like the conscience of the monarchy. The kings were entrusted above all with the enactment and embodiment of justice and righteousness. But, of course, the kings seldom did what they were supposed to do; and so the prophets called them and the people to account, employing frequently the key words “justice” and “righteousness.”

Today’s reading and whole of chapter one, while written in stunning poetry (and I recommend you read verses 3-6) is a severe attack on religious hypocrisy. It is part of an oracle presumably uttered in the Temple at the beginning of Isaiah’s ministry. Like Amos Isaiah castigates ritual that is divorced from morality. The sincerity of the worshipper, not the number of his religious activities, is most important.

The passage also emphasizes divine freedom. Strictly speaking God is God and does not need human worship but delights in the praise of his people. Yet God will not and cannot be manipulated through empty and meaningless acts of worship.

Chapter 1 is like a courtroom scene. God is not only one of the parties in a lawsuit; he not only brings the indictment but is also the judge. So it’s kind of unfair, you might say. How can God be the judge, jury and executioner? The very accusations that God brings against them may also sound contradictory for God says “ I have had enough of your burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed beasts. I do not delight in the blood of bulls or of lambs or of goats.” Remember, it was God who commanded sacrifices, who commanded offerings. It was God who set up an elaborate system to sacrifice animals to atone for sins. The law prescribes animal sacrifices as offerings to atone for sin (Leviticus 1; 4-7; 16; 22). Why would you say, ‘stop bringing them’?

Spread the love ♥
       
Continue Reading
Faith


Saturday, 14th week in ordinary time – Isaiah 6: 1-8

Isaiah’s ministry spans approximately four decades, beginning sometime around 742 B.C. and continuing through the rest of the century to Sennacherib’s siege of Jerusalem in 701 B.C. The Martyrdom and Ascension of Isaiah which is part of later legend, claims that Hezekiah’s son, Manasseh, executed Isaiah by having him sawed in two. The prophecies contained in the first part of the book refer to the period in which Isaiah himself lived.

Isaiah, one of the greatest of the prophets, appeared at a critical moment in Israel’s history. In the year 738 the political horizon of the Near East was overshadowed by the growing threat of the military strength of Assyria, which was ruled at the time by Tiglath- Pileser III. The northern kingdom (Israel) collapsed, under the hammer like blows of Assyria, in 722 B.C., and in 701B.C.

Jerusalem itself saw the army of Sennacherib drawn up before its walls. Judah, in the south, had become a vassal of Assyria and was about to succumb politically and spiritually in the reign of King Ahaz. Isaiah’s oracles especially chapters 1-39 cluster around several key historical events of the late eighth century revolving around the southern kingdom of Judah

In the year that Uzziah (known as Azariah in 2 Kings 15), king of Judah, died (742), Isaiah received his call to the prophetic office in the Temple of Jerusalem. Isaiah was charged with proclaiming the downfall of Israel and of Judah in punishment for the unfaithfulness of the people and their failure to repent. Dip into chapters 1-5 at random, and you will find yourself reading about Judah’s sin or of God’s judgment.  Isaiah’s tone throughout is critical and condemnatory. In chapters 1-5, Isaiah uses harsh words to speak of Judah’s wickedness and lays out the spiritual problem of the Judeans  He speaks of Judeans as rebellious children (1:2) and how they have forgotten and forsaken the Lord (1:4). They have despised the Holy One of Israel.  “They are estranged and backward”; their worship is futile (1:11-17); corruption marks their leadership (1:23). Greed has led to injustice (5:8). Isaiah says that the faithful city has become a whore (1:21).  He tells of a vine grower (God) who planted a vineyard (Judah) with choice vines, expecting it to yield grapes, but “it yielded wild grapes” (5:1-2).And then, Isaiah 6:1 describes an ongoing political crisis : the long-serving king Uzzaiah who brought stability, has died.
Isaiah’s work in chapters 1-5, denouncing Judah’s sin and warning of judgment, was necessary to prepare Isaiah himself for the surprise that he experiences in chapter 6.  For five chapters, he has pointed his judgmental finger at his fellow Judeans.  In chapter 6, in the presence of Yahweh’s holiness, he suddenly recognizes his own unholiness.  It finally occurs to him that he is not only dwelling among a people of unclean lips, but that he is one of them—that his lips are unclean—that he, too, is subject to judgment.  It is that “Aha!” moment that humbles him and prepares him for a life of service beyond anything that he otherwise could have rendered.
Isaiah describes now that moment of realisation revealed to him as he ‘saw’ the Lord sitting on a throne.

Spread the love ♥
       
Continue Reading
Faith

Take words with you – Friday, 14th Week in ordinary time – Hosea 14:1-9

 The conclusion of Hosea chapter 14 is not very long. It’s all of nine verses that take a little more than a minute to read. It is compact and dense poetry, marked with signposts that point to all that has gone before in the book; yet it still finds a way to say something of its own in the final crescendo.

Hosea brings a rather prickly book to a flowery end. It is not that God has forgotten the iniquity, its just that the last words are those of the hope and restoration; someday there will be a new land a new people who reject their wooden images that they have made their god. So Hosea, like an elder sibling prodding an errant brother to find the right words to apologise, prods Israel on. “Take words with you and return to the lord.” Israel can no longer pull a sorry face and get away with it. In returning to the LORD, Israel must come back on God’s terms and not their own; as must we. 

Israel, having been prodded by the prophet not only finds its feet but loosens its arrogant tongue. In Hosea 10:3 they said “we do not fear the Lord.” So the first words of Israel, as should be ours and which are the words of the  Church when we gather at the Eucharist is the admittance of our sin. “Take away all guilt, accept that which is good (in us)” say the people of Israel. Israel now renounces her dependence on her neighbours for protection and her love for her ‘gods’ made by hand in wood and metal. Their contrition acknowledges their devastation for they are but ‘orphans’, orphaned by all the things they once thought brought them comfort and it is as orphans that they return to a God who was father to them (11:1)

And just like that, God’s anger melts. The words we hear are no longer the words of wrath and destruction. The first thing that God wants to do is to ‘heal’ their disloyalty or as some translations put it, ‘heal their backsliding.’ This line is so appropriate for every generation and every worshiper. It is that slippery slope of sin that makes us backslide; yet it the hand of God that we grab on to when all else fails and He is always waiting to save us.  

Spread the love ♥
       
Continue Reading
Faith


A history of sin, a lifetime of forgiveness – Thursday, 14th week in ordinary time – Hosea 11:1-4,8-9

The liturgy of the word at the Eucharist will cover the book of Hosea, all fourteen chapters in a span of a week. Hence it is important to place each text in its context within the book. Chapter 8 among other texts in Hosea, spelled out Israel’s apostasy.  In chapters 9 and 10, Yahweh recounted Israel’s sins and punishment, but now the tone becomes personal and affectionate; it speaks of God’s love and compassion.  The text of today offers striking testimony to the gracious, merciful, and steadfastly loving character of God. In the earlier chapters, we saw Yahweh’s anger, here we see Yahweh’s broken heart.  Yes, Israel has been unfaithful.  Yes, they deserve punishment but it breaks Yahweh’s heart to punish them.

While the message is much the same, the metaphor employed is different. In chapters 1-3 the metaphor used to describe the relationship of God and Israel was that of a marriage between God as a faithful husband and Israel as a unfaithful wife who prostituted herself.  In chapter 11 the metaphor changes; it is that of parenting. This metaphor too, like the first one, is full of poignancy and power.The parental image in verse 4 is particularly note worthy. When Israel was a child, Yahweh loved him and because Yahweh loved him, Yahweh established a covenant relationship with him. While older  commentaries were inclined to describe verse 4 in terms of a loving father, the portrayal is almost certainly of God as a loving mother. 

God  recalls His tender love for Israel when more than 500 years before the time of Hosea He brought them out of Egypt. Like Hosea chapter 1, Hosea chapter 11 alludes to the exodus (see Exodus 4:22)where Israel is called God’s “son”. The deliverance from captivity and oppression in Egypt was an act of love. It established a relationship and constituted a call to honour that relationship, as a children honour their parents. Despite the attentive nurture and loving care of the faithful parent (verses 3-4) Israel’s response to this devotion was rebellion and Israel proved to be a wayward child (verse 2). Rather than acknowledging their divine parent, they worship other deities like the foreign storm god Baal (Hosea 11:2). God called Israel out of Egypt, but the idolatry of the Baals called to Israel, and they forsook the LORD and followed the Baals (the local deities of Canaan).

Israel’s apostasy began almost immediately upon leaving Egypt.  Before crossing the Red Sea, the Israelites complained, “For it were better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness” (Exodus 14:12).  Not long afterwards they made and worshiped a golden calf (Exodus 34).  Even before entering the Promised Land, they yoked themselves to Baal” (Numbers 25:3) and after entering the Promised Land, they quickly succumbed to Baal worship (Judges 2:11-13; 3:7; 8:33; 10:6; etc.)

 Despite the pain of rejection, God admits feeling internal turmoil at the thought of disowning his children: “My heart recoils within me, my compassion grows warm and tender” (verse 8). Yahweh is no aloof-detached deity like Baal. Rather, God’s relationship with humankind involves an emotional risk. When you make a choice to love you make a choice to open yourself to pain. Grief and pain are the price we pay for love. This passage therefore, has the ability to shock many when one reads of the divine vulnerability of God. 

 Yet the matter of judgment remains. Once again we hear Yahweh’s anguish as he contemplates Israel’s punishment.Though the dark clouds of judgment are on the horizon, God takes no pleasure in the chastening about to come upon Israel. Instead He says, “My sympathy is stirred.” Because God’s “compassion” prevails, there will be no further destruction (verse 9). “How can I make you like Admah?”  says God. “How can I make you like Zeboiim?” he asks in verse 8. Admah and Zeboiim were two cities near Sodom and Gomorrah that were also destroyed (Dt 29:23). In short, God is moved by compassion to pursue justice by forgiving, not punishing.Yahweh would certainly be justified in destroying Israel.  Jewish law requires parents of an ungovernable child to identify the problem to the elders of the city, who then become responsible for stoning the ungovernable child to “put away the evil from the midst of you” (Deuteronomy 21:21).

 But God’s love and forgiveness are of a different order. Indeed, such sheer grace defines what it means to be “God and no mortal” (verse 9). Thank God that he judges us by his standards and not human standards. Such compassion, such suffering-with, such amazing grace is what makes life and hope possible for Israel. And such grace means that we have to now re examine a fundamental definition of holiness. No longer can holiness mean separation from the sinner. God is “the Holy One in your midst” (verse 9). He becomes the one who bears the burden of our sin

Spread the love ♥
       
Continue Reading
Faith

Complaining about my condition, never acknowledging my contrition?  Wednesday, 14th week in ordinary time – Hosea 10: 1-7

Hosea chapter 10 must be read along with chapter 9. Hosea is a prophet with no filter. He comes with no disclaimer or warning that this text may not be suitable for some audiences. There is a no holds bar policy for this prophet who speaks God’s word to his own people of the Northern Kingdom, referred in this book by several names; Ephraim, Israel or Samaria. 

“You have played the whore, you have loved a prostitutes pay” (9:1). “They will get a miscarrying womb and dry breasts”(9:14) “Their root will be dried up and they shall bear no fruit” (9:16). ‘Even thought they give birth, God says he will kill the cherished offspring of their womb’. (9:16).Hosea does not mince words even though he himself is denounced as ‘a fool’ and as a man with a ‘mad spirit’ (9:7). Hosea sees himself as a sentinel for God over that of the beliefs of his countrymen for they have corrupted themselves. This is no misguided nationalistic prophet with a jingoistic agenda but a hard hitting man of God who fears but God alone. 

In Hosea we see a true servant of God for even though we would have liked this prophet of God to be more ‘godlike’  and tone down the rhetoric, he chooses to condemn the godless rather than be given human certifications of approval. 

Today’s reading reiterates the failure of Israel as a spiritual nation even though it flourished materially under King Jeroboam II  and had grown to be a prosperous country. The prophet acknowledges that  as a nation they are a ‘luxuriant wine that bears fruit’; indicating the wealth it had acquired. But the wealth that Israel acquired was used to build altars to the pagan god Baal. Ironically, they had received from the hand of Yahweh, the true God, but directed their thanksgiving to Baal, the false God. In this there is a glaring lesson for us who receive not by our merit but by God’s grace and yet it is to men that we direct our thanksgiving making humans our gods.

Spread the love ♥
       
Continue Reading