22. Second letter to the Corinthians - trust issues

Following on from the example of good community in action found in the book of Ruth, where the immigrant is welcomed into the heart of Bethlehem society, I thought it might be interesting to look at a new Christian community that's struggling with unity

1. The letter begins with a reminder that the scattered Christian community is joined, both in its suffering and in the comfort it receives from God through Jesus

2. Paul writes that he's sad not to have visited Corinth again, but that he felt it was important to let the dust settle on the dispute that happened within the community, so that their time together could be fruitful and affirming for all of them

3. Paul continues; our ministry comes directly from God's Spirit speaking within us, so unlike when God spoke to Moses (then God's presence shone out from him for a time before fading away) God's glory will continue to grow and show in us

4. So we don't get discouraged when things don't go well for us, we continue to speak of the life giving power of Christ even when it seems that the world is not listening

5. Yes, life can be hard and we feel at times that we want to hurry away to the place God is preparing for us, but the Spirit has equipped us to share a message of reconciliation with the whole world - it's why Christ came, and then died

6. So we beg you not to abandon your calling, but to follow our example of serving with love, and not to bond yourselves to worldly concerns that have nothing to do with God 

7. I am sorry that you felt criticized by me in my last letter to you, but so glad to hear about how you have responded to the situation

8. For the sake of equity we urge you to be generous in your giving; we are doing our best to use and share the money wisely, and one of the commitments we're making is to send Titus and another brother to see you soon

9. The brothers will collect the gift you've already promised, and I just know we're all going to be impressed by what you send, because your generosity and commitment are well established

10. I know it sometimes seems that I push you too hard, but I'm just trying to be obedient to the call on my life and asking you to do the same

11. I'm just going to keep on doing what I've been doing, even if some find me embarrassing, I've come too far and been through too much to give up now

12. Sometimes I can seem impressive and sometimes I look like an idiot - I'm just a man trying to serve God and to do right by you

13. I know that you sometimes doubt me, but I ask you to examine your own hearts, because all I want for you is for you know God better.

Grace to you my sisters and brothers, with love, Paul

There's something incredibly sad about this letter. Paul seems to be flailing around trying to find the words to encourage the Corinthian community; he clearly feels hurt by them but doesn't want to respond in kind. The issue assailing the community seems to be the one that all Christian communities struggle with at some point - authority. Who do we trust? Ultimately, of course, the answer is God, but what are the sources we trust speak to us of God? The Corinthian community was made up of a mishmash of people from different streams of Judaism and paganism, but the one thing they probably would have shared would have been some kind of temple worship. Whether it's was a semi-annual pilgrimage to the temple in Jerusalem or local worship in a grand Roman edifice, temple worship would have been well organised, impressive and awe inspiring. To replace this with worship in someone's home or another civic space, to have to organise everything yourself, using written guidance from an absent leader would have been incredibly challenging. No doubt it was exciting at first, in the fresh flush after conversion, but to keep going requires a deep trust, which is hard to sustain in such circumstances. As a minister myself, who has seen people I wanted to encourage drift inevitably further and further from faith, my heart really aches to read about Paul's struggles, especially after the joy and enthusiasm found in the first letter to the Corinthians

21. Ruth - short and sweet

1. Matriarch Naomi is forced to return to her homeland in Bethlehem after the death of her husband and sons who were attempting a new family venture in Moab, and most unexpectedly Ruth (her Moabite daughter-in-law) chooses to stay with her

2. While scraping a living by gathering leftover grain from the harvest, Ruth meets and forms an instant rapport with Boaz, who turns out to be a close relation of her deceased father in law

3. Wanting to secure her daughter-in-law's future, Naomi initiates a plan which involves Ruth approaching Boaz secretly to ask him for protection, after which the two women wait anxiously for the outcome

4. Following the tradition of Torah law, Boaz claims the right of inheritance to make Ruth his wife and she bears a son, much to Naomi's delight

This is the first Old Testament book I've come across so far that had a coherent narrative from beginning to end. It's a sweet little story, and I loved the sense of growing relationship between Naomi and Ruth, and then between Ruth and Boaz. I have to confess to being a little disappointed that in the end it all seemed to be about the ancestry of king David. The story seems to be wanting to fully legitimise Israel's favourite king by making it clear that one of his Moabite ancestors did not stop him from being 100% pure Israel.

Despite being named for her, we don't hear much from Ruth in the story, but what we do hear is significant. She not only showed her love for Naomi in her choice to return to Israel with her, but also her love for God. This is expressed through her bravery in choosing to start a new life in a foreign land and through her obedience to Naomi and Boaz. What she did is compared in the story to the sisters Rachel and Leah - the mothers of the twelve tribes of Israel. I'm struck by the way that this family of Israel looked after it's people, that Naomi was able to return from Moab without husband and sons to claim a home and an inheritance. She needed a man to speak for her though and if Boaz hadn't taken a shine to Ruth things may have been more challenging.

I think the book of Ruth celebrates women generally and the matriarchal influence of Naomi in particular. In the way that she treated her 2 daughters-in-law, and in her savviness with helping Ruth to speak with Boaz, Naomi demonstrated wisdom and fairness at a time in her life when she could easily have focused entirely on her own needs and wellbeing. I have seen in other old testament books, especially the law books like Deuteronomy, how exclusive and insular the twelve tribes were, so it is nice that this book celebrates an immigrant woman - even if it's main aim seems to be to prove that Ruth was in fact really truly Israel after all

20. Deuteronomy - does anyone ever actually read the instruction manual?

I have been confidently asserting for several months that I had read the five traditional Torah books from the Old Testament already in this study, completely forgetting that Deuteronomy was still outstanding. It's time to correct the omission

1. At the edge of the Promised Land, Moses begins to outline the full extent of the people's disobedience to God in the wilderness, and the consequences of their choices

2. A journey around the lands close to the Jordan establishes the boundaries of the Promised Land

3. The taking of land on the far side of the Jordan (for the two and a half tribes of Israel not destined to settle the Promised Land) is recounted, and Moses expresses his sadness that he will never cross the Jordan, and his support for Joshua who will lead them after him

4. Moses urges the people to remember God, remember the covenant they have with God, and be faithful to God's commandments always

5. The Ten Commandments are recounted and happy times remembered, when the relationship with God and people was at it's best

6. Listen well, says Moses and remember to love God and keep the Commandments, for God's promise to Israel has been fulfilled

7. Do not fear the nations you will encounter and ultimately conquer; but keep separate from them, or else their idolatrous ways will creep into your homes

8. When you enter this good land and your fortunes increase remember that it came from God, not your own efforts - if you forget God you could lose it all again

9. Moses reminds the people that it is not through their own righteous that they will take the promised land, and that he has had to intercede on their behalf frequently to protect them from God's wrath

10. With the new stone tablets to replace those broken in the time of God's anger with them, and with their hearts dedicated to following God's commands, the people can now enter the promised land confidently

11. Follow God's commands and teach them to your children, says Moses, and you will live well in the land

12. Destroy the altars of false gods and be careful about how and where you make your own offerings to God

13. Be vigilant about being led astray by people from within your own community, and show them no mercy

14. Stick with the dietary rules you have inherited, and use your 10% tithe as an opportunity to feast and to praise God for all that you've been given - and make sure to pay your priests, they depend on you!

15. Be as generous to one another as wish God to be to you, cancelling all debts in the jubilee years, and you will be rich in the land

16. Come together to observe the festivals that help you to remember who you are as a nation and where you've come from

17. When people stray from the commandments or disputes arise, be sure to judge fairly; beware of giving too much authority to a single person, justice is best decided by accord, with the whole community following God's lead

18. God has provided the Levite tribe to lead worship, and will raise up trustworthy prophets; the people should provide for and listen to these servants of God

19. Show mercy to the innocent and unfortunate, but be utterly merciless to any deceivers in your midst 

20. Be bold when you go into battle, for God is with you

21. Moses gives some examples of how to respond in a Godly way to the kind of common disputes that arise in the community

22. Be honest, generous and neighbourly in all of your relationships, says Moses, and when you wrong another Israelite, put it right

23. To stay holy before God avoid those actions and people which the community deem to be impure

24. Be generous; remember you were once poor and enslaved

25. Be honest and reasonable in how you live and trade, remember that God does not bless the sneaky

26. When you've settled in the land, remember to thank God for what you have through prayer and by being generous

27. A ceremony is planned where all of the people will agree to follow God's commands - and accept the consequences if they fail

28. Moses promises that following God's commands will result in abundant blessing, and failing to follow them will bring abundant curses

29. This covenant is for the people here now (including the immigrants that live among you) and for future generations says Moses

30. The choice is ever before God's people; to follow God's good ways and be fruitful, or to abandon God on the road to destruction

31. Moses prepares to read an instruction poem to all the leaders, to guide them when he is dead, and he commissions Joshua

32. The poem describes God's vengeful plans for all unfaithful peoples

33. A prayer of blessing for the tribes is recited 

34. With this the final instruction of the people is complete, Moses then climbs a mountain for a glimpse of the promised land, and then he dies

I've reached that point in life where the events of my growing up years have become 'history'. I see a mixture of nostalgia and misrepresentation in the media to document a time which is historical to younger generations but I still remember clearly. Deuteronomy has something of that feel about it. The book was clearly written long after the events it tells of, and the nostalgia for the leadership of Moses, who "knew the Lord face-to-face" (34:10) is strong. Deuteronomy has a very strong flavour of Babylon about it, it's set in the context of Israel entering the promised land for the first time, but is full of references to the scattered people returning from exile. There's so much exhortation and reminding of the past to try desperately to keep the people on the right track - the God track. But I feel there's a hopelessness to it even so. In chapter 13 the community is told to execute false prophets, which is not a new idea, but then they are also told to execute anyone who leads the community astray even "your own son or daughter or your dear spouse or best friend" (13:6). For a community built around tight family units this seems both unreasonable and self destructive - could love for the God who led your ancestors out of Egypt survive you executing someone you deeply loved? What kind of people could follow such commandments? I don't believe that such zealousness can be sustained for long, the people would be torn apart by it, emotionally and spiritually. History has shown that such oppressive regimes can become very powerful for a time, but only love is strong enough to endure. 

The vulnerability and dependence of women is evident in chapter 22, where the topics of extra material sex and rape are discussed. There is provision in Mosaic law for women who have been the victim of rape, but they need much support to prove their case and if successful, the outcome is that they are dependant on their rapist for the rest of their life. More horror can be found in the warnings in chapter 28 which go into great detail of the horrible things that will happen to Israel if they fail to follow God's commands, with the height of horror being good people eating their own babies to survive. Clearly the author felt that a very big stick was needed to keep Israel on target because it's impossible to imagine such a thing happening in a culture which valued family and abhorred human sacrifice.

A point which I found personally interesting (bracketed in chapter 29), is that the covenant very much included immigrants. There is a requirement for purity of behaviour and of heart, but bloodlines are actually less important. This matters to me because I'm not of Jewish heritage (as far as I know), and yet I claim a connection to this story through Jesus. It's something Paul discussed with all his rhetoric of 'grafted vines' in his epistles, and it's comforting to find it right there 'in the mouth of Moses' so to speak. Immigrants rights are mentioned elsewhere in the Old Testament, but this is the first time it really struck me as being relevant to me. Overall I felt that Deuteronomy was not the most interesting, but like all instruction manuals, there was some useful information in it