Day 74: 1 Chronicles 6–10; Hosea 1–4; Hebrews 1–4
Unless I read closely the genealogies in 1 Chronicles, I would not have understood that Joab, King David's chief military commander was also his nephew, the son of his sister Zeruiarh (1 Chr. 2:13-16). I also would have missed bits of history not told anywhere else. For instance "the prayer of Jabez" was an obscure little passage from which Bruce Wilkinson made a small fortune with his book on the topic of seeking God's blessing in order to glorify God (1 Chr. 4:10).
Most distressing about these genealogies is that they seem incomplete or even contradictory to what the narrative texts reveal. For instance where is Mephibosheth, son of Jonathan, son of Saul? He's not in the lineage. Jonathan is show as having only one son, Meri-baal. If I kept to my weakness and not studied harder I would be left with that impression.
Interestingly enough, Meri-baal the same man as Mephibosheth. Saul's son Ishbosheth who loses in his fight against David to control the kingdom is listed as Esh-baal. According to the Encyclopedia Brittanica because the name "Baal" was associated with the pagan deity, later chroniclers changed the names of these men to something more acceptable. Each man's name associated with "baal" was turned to "bosheth" which means "shame."
I admit I read ahead a bit today up through 1 Chr. 12. I also got a refresher on Saul and David, but very brief like a "Greatest Hits" album gives you the highlights of a musician's career. A detail or two is new in these passages. Like men from the house of Saul, his own relatives defected to join David (1 Chr. 12:1-2). And some of his mighty men were Benjaminites formerly loyal to Saul (1 Chr. 12:16-18).
I note also that Naphtali's genealogy has only four sons listed and then it stops. We are left to guess as to why. It is my guess the tribes family records did not survive the Assyrian invasion and exile. This actually confirms for me the authenticity of these texts. There is doctoring to tell history in a way that meets the needs of those writing at the time, but there is also a transparency that reveals the compilers of this genealogical record are presenting the information as best they have it. It's not complete or perfect, but it is an attempt to show their roots and their tribal histories in brief. It seems very human, weakness and all.
The prophet Hosea's oracles and story are recorded in his boo the first of the twelve minor prophets. They are called minor because their recorded works have much less material the 4 major prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel). Hosea is famous for marrying a prostitute named Gomer as a way of speaking to Judah and Israel's unfaithfulness to Yahweh. She keeps running away, but Hosea keeps bringing her back into his home. God is faithful to his unfaithful bride nation.
"The word of the LORD that came to Hosea son of Beeri during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and of Jeroboam son of Joash, king of Israel (Hos. 1:1)."
We are used to the confrontational rhetoric of the prophet by now. In the prophetic style Hosea has three children through Gomer, Jezreel (representative of the house of Jehu whom God is going to eliminate), No Compassion (Lo-ruhamah), and Not My People (Lo-ammi), each named as a way to confront Israel's unfaithfulness.
And then the tone tenders as God promises restoration.
"And the Judeans and the Israelites
will be gathered together.
They will appoint for themselves a single ruler,
and go up from the land.
For the day of Jezreel will be great.
Call your brothers: My People
and your sisters: Compassion." (Hos. 1:11-2:1)
One of the most compelling parts of Hosea's oracle is Hos. 4:11-14. The example of the men of Israel and their promiscuity leads their daughters and daughter-in-laws to do the same. Why should the men be surprised when their daughters play the prostitute when they have not set an example of sexual purity?
While channel flipping I came across Jerry Springer whose guest was a 23 year old stripper who turned lesbian as a result of her experiences with other erotic dancers. So on national daytime television she and her roommate showered together for the audience in erotic embrace. The audience cheered and applauded wildly.
The word of the prophet warns,
"Promiscuity, wine, and new wine
take away [one's] understanding.
People without discernment are doomed. (Hos. 4:11, 14b)
Paul also warned Timothy,
"...difficult times will come in the last days. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, without love for what is good, traitors, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to the form of religion but denying its power. Avoid these people!" (2 Tim. 3:1-5)
It seems to me that a growing portion of our society has "lost all sense" and given themselves over to sensuality.
"They are darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them and because of the hardness of their hearts. They became callous and gave themselves over to promiscuity for the practice of every kind of impurity with a desire for more and more (Eph. 4:18-19)
The writer of Hebrews lays out his case for Christ before the Jewish people to accept the salvation that comes through Him. For He is "the radiance of His glory, the exact expression of His nature (Heb. 1:3)."
By the time of the sermon (this does not have the form of an epistle or letter), the Jews thought of the Law of Moses having been delivered through angels. There is plenty of texts where "the angel of the Lord" relays a message to one whom God is calling. The thought is that no one can see or talk to God for God is holy. It would mean death. So God sends angelic messengers to spare them. Still the angels are awe inspiring and often elicit a fearful reaction. That's why the angels often say first, "fear not." Some even held to a tradition of worshiping angels (Col. 2:18).
The writer (his or her identity lost to history) wants Hebrews to turn away from glorifying angels and pay attention to Christ, the Son of God who is superior to angels. We get the first glimmers of Hebrew infatuation with angelic beings in Daniel which was written at a time of great persecution under Antiochus the IV, a Greek ruler. The critical view is that the Babylonian exile period was used by the writer to speak to the current oppression. Daniel is the newest book in the Old Testament and the only one written in Greek. Gabriel and Michael are introduced, princes in the spiritual realm. They forecast the future in dreams for Daniel. Later Hebrew texts would give great stories of angels and their adventures fighting demons (princes of darkness) like Lucifer, a name for the devil never mentioned in the Bible, but well known.
Now if the law delivered through angels was binding, then how much more the covenant through God's own son (Heb. 2:1-4)? This is a reasonable argument, if you can accept Jesus as God's Son. The argument then turns to the suffering of Jesus, a most compelling discourse about Jesus' humanity. Not only is Jesus the exact expression of God's nature, but He is also human in every way (Heb. 2:14-15, 17-18).
Not only that, he is superior to Moses. If Moses was a faithful servant of God, how much more should the Son of God be honored? And if those who heard the law and did not heed it, but fell in the desert, how much more those who hear the good news of the gospel and do not believe it? Unbelief will lead to the same fate. "They will never enter My rest (Psa, 95:11; Heb. 4:5)."
I find in these readings today a sense that all God has been doing in Judah and Israel has lead up to Jesus conquering sin in his own body and destroying the one who has the power of death...the devil (Heb. 2:14-15). If Old Testament history teaches us anything it is that we humans are weak and prone to idolatry. We are prone to placing created things ahead of the creator, whether that be good things like family, food or entertainment...or whether that be promiscuity and other evils in our flesh. Until we respond in faith to the good news we will remain restless and prone to sin. But God has opened our eyes to this fact through His dealings with Israel. For Israel's weaknesses are the same as all humanity's weaknesses. And through this chosen people who struggle to keep the law, comes One who fulfills the law, Jesus Christ. And He destroys the power sin has on us through the cross and overpowers Death in His resurrection. This victory is shared with all who believe.
My weakness is His strength. "For whenever I am weak, then I am strong (2 Cor. 12:10)."
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