Book Three - Internal Consolation

     The Thirty-Fourth Chapter / God Is Sweet Above All Things And In All Things To Those Who Love Him

     The Disciple

     BEHOLD, my God and my all! What more do I wish for; what greater happiness can I desire? O sweet and delicious word! But sweet only to him who loves it, and not to the world or the things that are in the world.

     My God and my all! These words are enough for him who understands, and for him who loves it is a joy to repeat them often. For when You are present, all things are delightful; when You are absent, all things become loathsome. It is You Who give a heart tranquillity, great peace and festive joy. It is You Who make us think well of all things, and praise You in all things. Without You nothing can give pleasure for very long, for if it is to be pleasing and tasteful, Your grace and the seasoning of Your wisdom must be in it. What is there that can displease him whose happiness is in You? And, on the contrary, what can satisfy him whose delight is not in You?

     The wise men of the world, the men who lust for the flesh, are wanting in Your wisdom, because in the world is found the utmost vanity, and in the flesh is death. But they who follow You by disdaining worldly things and mortifying the flesh are known to be truly wise, for they are transported from vanity to truth, from flesh to spirit. By such as these God is relished, and whatever good is found in creatures they turn to praise of the Creator. But great—yes, very great, indeed—is the difference between delight in the Creator and in the creature, in eternity and in time, in Light uncreated and in the light that is reflected.

     O Light eternal, surpassing all created brightness, flash forth the lightning from above and enlighten the inmost recesses of my heart. Cleanse, cheer, enlighten, and vivify my spirit with all its powers, that it may cleave to You in ecstasies of joy. Oh, when will that happy and wished-for hour come, that You may fill me with Your presence and become all in all to me? So long as this is not given me, my joy will not be complete.

     The old man, alas, yet lives within me. He has not yet been entirely crucified; he is not yet entirely dead. He still lusts strongly against the spirit, and he will not leave the kingdom of my soul in peace. But You, Who can command the power of the sea and calm the tumult of its waves, arise and help me. Scatter the nations that delight in war; crush them in Your sight. Show forth I beg, Your wonderful works and let Your right hand be glorified, because for me there is no other hope or refuge except in You, O Lord, my God.

THE IMITATION OF CHRIST

     Less than two months after Lincoln was inaugurated President, the Civil War began this day, April 12, 1861, with Confederate troops in Charleston, South Carolina, firing upon Fort Sumter. The Confederate Army was unstoppable, twice winning battles at Bull Run, Virginia, just twenty miles from Washington, D.C., forcing the Union troops to retreat to the fortifications of the Capitol. It wasn’t until the Battle of Gettysburg, over two years into the war, that the tide began to turn. President Lincoln confided: “I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go.”

William J. Federer. American Minute

The work of spirituality is to recognize where we are - the particular circumstances of our lives - to recognize grace and say, "Do you suppose God wants to be with me in a way that does not involve changing my spouse or getting rid of my spouse or my kids, but in changing me, and doing something in my life that maybe I could never experience without this pain and this suffering?
--- Edmund Clowney


We are generally desirous of bargaining with God; we would like at least to impose the limits and see the end of our sufferings. That same obstinate and hidden hold of life, which renders the cross necessary, causes us to reject it in part, and by a secret resistance, which impairs its virtue. We have thus to go over the same ground again and again; we suffer greatly, but to very little purpose. The Lord deliver us from falling into that state of soul in which crosses are of no benefit to us! God loves a cheerful giver, according to Paul; ah! what must be his love to those who, in a cheerful and absolute abandonment, resign themselves to the entire extent of his crucifying will!
--- Francois Fenelon

... from here, there and everywhere

25     A truthful witness saves lives,
but a liar misdirects [judgment].

26     In the fear of ADONAI is powerful security;
for his children there will be a place of refuge.
27     The fear of ADONAI is a fountain of life
enabling one to avoid deadly traps.

Stern, D. H. (1998). Complete Jewish Bible-OE
: An English version of the Tanakh (OT) and
B'rit Hadashah (NT) (1st ed.). Clarksville, Md.: Jewish
New Testament Publications.

                Moral dominion

     Death hath no more dominion over Him … in that He liveth, He liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God.
--- Romans 6:9–11.

     Co-Eternal Life. Eternal life was the life which Jesus Christ exhibited on the human plane, and it is the same life, not a copy of it, which is manifested in our mortal flesh when we are born of God. Eternal life is not a gift from God, eternal life is the gift of God. The energy and the power which were manifested in Jesus will be manifested in us by the sheer sovereign grace of God when once we have made the moral decision about sin.

     “Ye shall receive the power of the Holy Ghost”—not power as a gift from the Holy Ghost; the power is the Holy Ghost, not something which He imparts. The life that was in Jesus is made ours by means of his Cross when once we make the decision to be identified with Him. If it is difficult to get right with God, it is because we will not decide definitely about sin. Immediately we do decide, the full life of God comes in. Jesus came to give us endless supplies of life: “that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.” Eternal Life has nothing to do with Time, it is the life which Jesus lived when He was down here. The only source of Life is the Lord Jesus Christ.

     The weakest saint can experience the power of the Deity of the Son of God if once he is willing to ‘let go.’ Any strand of our own energy in ourselves will blur the life of Jesus. We have to keep letting go, and slowly and surely the great full life of God will invade us in every part, and men will take knowledge of us that we have been with Jesus.

Chambers, O. (1993). My Utmost for His Highest

You go up the long track
That will take a car, but is best walked
On slow foot, noting the lichen
That writes history on the page
Of the grey rock. Trees are about you
At first, but yield to the green bracken,
The nightjars house: you can hear it spin
On warm evenings; it is still now
In the noonday heat, only the lesser
Voices sound, blue-fly and gnat
And the stream's whisper. As the road climbs,
You will pause for breath and the far sea's
Signal will flash, till you turn again
To the steep track, buttressed with cloud.

And there at the top that old woman,
Born almost a century back
In that stone farm, awaits your coming;
Waits for the news of the lost village
She thinks she knows, a place that exists
In her memory only.
You bring her greeting
And praise for having lasted so long
With time's knife shaving the bone.
Yet no bridge joins her own
World with yours, all you can do
Is lean kindly across the abyss
To hear words that were once wise.

R.S. Thomas

     D’RASH

     Often, we think of God in terms of overwhelming power—the Creation, the splitting of the Sea of Reeds, the revelation at Sinai. Rabbi Yoḥanan’s explanation reminds us that the rabbinic view of God’s greatness is more inclusive. God exhibits not only strength and grandeur in divine transcendence, but also unending concern for humanity and love, in divine imminence.

     Perhaps Rabbi Yoḥanan’s words, and his attempt to expand our view of God’s attributes, can help us refocus our view of greatness—not only God’s, but also our own. If we are to follow God’s ways and imitate God’s attributes, then we have to understand real stature. True greatness is powerful, expansive, and broad-based, yet it is also quiet and understated. Wherever there is strength, there should also be compassion.

     Recent studies of successful businesses have made this exact point. Those companies that excel are not only strong, powerful corporations but, more often than not, businesses that show care and concern for people. They are in the forefront of providing child-care for employees, of listening to customer suggestions and acting on them, of making people, even the lowliest employee on the corporate ladder, feel both needed and welcome.

     Sam Walton, founder of Wal-Mart, turned a small store into a nationwide chain, becoming one of the richest men in America. Some have explained Walton’s success in his concern for each employee. A story demonstrates this: One night, he could not sleep. After driving to an all-night bakery at 2:30 A.M., Mr. Walton brought donuts to the workers at a Wal-Mart distribution center, chatting with them at this late hour. In so doing, he found out that the employees wanted a new shower installed at work, which he arranged for. Sam Walton’s greatness was not only in selling $2 billion of merchandise a year, but also in caring for the lonely employee who worked the late night shift at one of his stores.

     This is what Rabbi Yoḥanan’s words are saying to us today: Just as God’s greatness comes from strength combined with compassion, we humans, created in God’s image, must show both strength and compassion, hand-in-hand. Thus, a business executive can have a high-powered career, earning lots of money and wielding strength; that executive must also care for the human beings who are touched by the company. Powerful politicians can win votes and elections, but the real challenge is often winning the hearts of the people whom they represent. We have to earn money to support our families, but we cannot forget to spend time with them.

     If the common person, even the most unfortunate member of society like the widow or orphan, is constantly the focus of God’s attention, then don’t we human beings have an equal responsibility of never forgetting them? This, in Rabbi Yoḥanan’s eyes, as well as in the view of Judaism, is true greatness.

     One does not mix one happy occasion with another.

     Text / Mishnah (1:7): One does not marry a woman during a festival, be she a virgin or a widow, nor does one effect a levirate marriage, because it is a happy occasion.…

     Gemara: So what if it is a happy occasion? Rav Yehudah said in the name of Shmuel, and so too Rabbi Elazar said in the name of Rabbi Oshiya, while others say Rabbi Elazar said in the name of Rabbi Ḥanina: “Because one does not mix one happy occasion with another.” Rabbah bar Rav Huna said: “Because he would set aside the rejoicing in the festival and busy himself with rejoicing with his wife.” Abaye said to Rav Yosef: “What Rabbah bar Rav Huna said is the same as Rav said, for Rav Daniel bar Katina said in the name of Rav: ‘From where do we learn that one does not marry a woman during a festival? As it says: “You shall rejoice in your festival” [Deuteronomy 16:14]. In your festival, not with your wife.’ ” Ulla said: “Because of all the trouble.” Rabbi Yitzḥak Nappaḥa said: “Because of the neglect of reproduction.”

     Context / The Gemara goes on to ask if there is a biblical source for the principle of not mixing one happy occasion with another. It is found in the account of Solomon’s dedication of the Temple which took place on the seven days following the festival of Sukkot:

     So Solomon and all Israel with him—a great assemblage, [coming] from Lebo-hamath to the Wadi of Egypt—observed the Feast at that time before the Lord our God, seven days and again seven days, fourteen days in all. (1 Kings 8:65)

     The Rabbis note that it would have been easier and more convenient for the people to have celebrated the dedication of the Temple during the holiday of Sukkot. The justification for imposing upon the nation to spend an additional week in Jerusalem is that both the festival and the dedication were considered happy occasions, not to be mixed.

     One is immediately struck by the large number of Rabbis mentioned in this short piece. Trying to establish the correct source of a teaching is a very important characteristic of rabbinic literature. Attributing a quote to its original author, or bringing alternative claims of authorship, account for the many names here. Mentioning the correct source helps to establish the authority of a particular teaching; it also bestows a kind of immortality on the author.

     The levirate marriage referred to in the Mishnah is when a man marries his childless dead brother’s widow, in order to continue the family line (Deuteronomy 25:5–6). Four reasons are presented by the Gemara to explain the prohibition of marriage during a festival. Rabbah bar Rav Huna is concerned that a man would spend time with his new wife and neglect the celebration of the holiday. Rav derives the prohibition from a very literal reading of a biblical verse. Ulla worries that a wedding requires a great deal of preparation, and work of many kinds is forbidden on a holiday. Rabbi Yitzḥak Nappaḥa notes that weddings cost a good deal of money, as did holiday preparations. If weddings were permitted on a festival, many people might postpone their marriages until the festival, so they would have to prepare only one banquet for both. Rabbi Yitzḥak fears that by putting off weddings, ultimately there would be a decrease in the number of children born.

Katz, M., & Schwartz, G. (1998). Swimming in the Sea of Talmud: Lessons for Everyday LIving . Philadelphia, PA: The Jewish Publication Society.

     This section of Deuteronomy contains the detailed stipulations of the covenant which governed the relationship between God and His Old Testament people.

     Chapters 5–11 of Deuteronomy affirmed the basic principle of love which God’s gift of Law expresses. Then Moses reviewed the Law given earlier at Sinai, and highlighted specific ways in which God’s people could express their love for Him. In essence this chapter explores a variety of ways of worship: ways in which God’s people can honor, glorify, and love the Lord their God.

     Worship. In the Old Testament, “worship” is usually sahah, “to bow down” or “to prostrate oneself out of respect.” ˓Asab, “to serve,” is also translated “worship.” The underlying idea is to show respect and reverence, not only in a worship service where God is praised, but in every aspect of one’s life.

     Our lives are to be expressions of worship of God.

     Tithe. Ten percent of all that the Promised Land produced was to be set aside by Israelites as “holy to the Lord” and to be used as He commanded.

     The people of Israel, who were so deeply loved by God, were to return that love in worship— by showing respect and reverence for God in every way.

     In these chapters of Deuteronomy we find a number of mixed themes—special instructions about tithes, about ritual cleanness, about war, justice, and compassion. At first glance they seem unrelated. But what ties them together is the fact that every action commanded describes another aspect of a life so intimately linked to God that all the godly Israelite said and did could be considered an act of worship.

     One Place: Deuteronomy 12; 16 / Many of the ritual elements of Israel’s worship are explained by a simple phrase we find repeated in Deuteronomy 12. “You must not worship the Lord your God in their way”
(Deuteronomy 12:31). The worship of God must be as distinct from the worship of pagan idols as God Himself is from dead wood and stone.

     A basic feature of pagan worship was its localization. The peoples of Canaan called their gods Baals, a word which means “master” or “owner.” The baals were thought of as owners of their area—a hillside, a valley, a plot of land, or a larger section of territory. One worshiped the local Baal as an act of respect, for it was thought to control the fruitfulness of the land.

     Because of this localized concept of a deity’s rights and powers, Canaan under the pagans was filled with “high places”—spots on the tops of hills or groves of trees set aside for worship of the local deity.

     Many years later, when the Assyrians resettled the Northern Kingdom of Israel after deporting most of its Jewish inhabitants, the people resettled there took up the worship of Yahweh along with worship of their old gods. They did not do this because they respected Yahweh as Lord God Almighty. They did it because He was viewed as the God of that land, and it was wise to show respect for One who controlled the fertility of the fields they plowed!

     But God is God of the whole earth. His sovereign power extends over all! To truly worship God, His overarching sovereignty must be acknowledged and He must be worshiped for who He truly is. God is no local diety—and it would be totally inappropriate for Him to be worshiped as if He were nothing more than God of these few trees, that plot of land.

     So God commanded Israel that, when they entered the land of Canaan, they were to “destroy completely all the places on the high mountains and on the hills and under every spreading tree where the nations you are dispossessing worship their gods” (Deuteronomy 12:2). In place of these localized places of worship, God promised to choose one place where He would put His name. “To that place you must go; there bring your burnt offerings and sacrifices” (Deuteronomy 12:5–6). This command is repeated and underlined (Deuteronomy 12:11–14). Israel was to worship “only at the place the Lord will choose in one of your tribes.”

     When the people first entered the land they worshiped wherever the tabernacle was located. That was the one place where God met with His people, and where the sacrifices the Law ordained could be made. Some 400 years would pass before David established Jerusalem as his capital city, and set aside a mount on which his son Solomon would build the promised temple of God.

     Deuteronomy 16 reviews again the three pilgrim festivals, religious feasts which were to be held annually at the central place of worship. Here again the “one place” theme is repeated. “You must not sacrifice the Passover in any town the Lord your God gives you except in the place He will choose as a dwelling for His name” (Deuteronomy 16:5–6).

     What is the significance for us of these crystal clear instructions to Israel? Primarily they serve as a reminder of the wonders that are now ours as Jesus’ people.

     Corporate worship in Israel was to be focused in the one place on earth where God’s presence was established. But where is God present today? God is present in His people—God has come in the person of the Holy Spirit and taken up residence in you and me!

     No wonder Jesus taught, “Where two or three come together in My name, there am I with them” (Matt. 18:20).

     For many today, “worship” is an experience generated by the stately music and quiet surroundings of some beautiful sanctuary. The church is just a building, and worship is a Sunday kind of thing. But we Christians do not worship God in their way!

     Instead we gather together, realizing that we ourselves are the church and that Jesus, living in each one, is the living focus of our praise.

     In Old Testament times God’s special presence was in one place. Today His special presence is felt whenever we who love Jesus come together to worship and honor our Lord.

     One God: Deuteronomy 13; 17–18 / Again and again Moses emphasized the total commitment to God that personal relationship with Him demands. “If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you love, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, ‘Let us go and worship other gods’ … do not yield to him or listen to him. Show him no pity. Do not spare him or shield him. You must certainly put him to death. Your hand must be the first in putting him to death” (Deuteronomy 13:6–9).

     It was absolutely essential for the spiritual future of Israel to maintain a complete and total commitment to God.

     However, God carefully protected His people against the kind of thing that marked the Spanish Inquisition—false and anonymous accusation. Deuteronomy 17 repeats the command that a person who traffics with other gods should be put to death, but specifies “on the testimony of two or three witnesses a man shall be put to death, but no one shall be put to death on the testimony of only one witness.” And then “the hands of the witnesses must be the first in putting him to death” (Deuteronomy 17:6–7).

     What might be so attractive as to turn the hearts of the Israelites to pagan gods? One answer of course is found in the immorality which was associated with Canaanite religious rites. But another is located in man’s sense of helplessness in a universe too big for control. One aspect of pagan religions was their suggestion that through magical means a person might gain control over his or her environment and other persons. Through the seers and diviners of paganism people were offered some insight into the future, and some hope of controlling or guarding themselves from future events.

     Twice in these chapters Moses dealt with the question of those who seemed to have some supernatural powers that offered supernatural help and guidance.

     The key passage is found in Deuteronomy 18, and is the background against which we must understand the role of the prophet in Israel.

     When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord, and because of these detestable practices the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you. You must be blameless before the Lord. --- Deuteronomy 18:9–13

     While God’s people were forbidden to consult pagan or occult sources for information, God knew that there would be times when the written Law did not provide enough guidance to know God’s will in a specific situation.

     So Moses promised that the Lord would raise up for them a prophet like him from among their own brothers. They must listen to him (Deuteronomy 18:18).

     The prophet, then, would be God’s own spokesman, giving Israel the guidance required to live in a given situation in the will of God. As God said, “I will put My words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him” (Deuteronomy 18:18).

     There was no reason, ever, to turn to pagan gods. God was ready and able to meet every need of His dearly loved people.

     These chapters also tell the Israelites how to distinguish a true prophet from a false prophet. These tests are:

     The prophet must be an Israelite “from among your own brothers” (Deuteronomy 18:18).

     He will “speak in My name,” and anyone who prophesied in the name of other gods was to be put to death (Deuteronomy 18:20).

     What he says will happen will actually take place, for “if what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true, that is a message the Lord has not spoken.” Such pseudo-prophets are not to be feared, for the words of a true prophet will always come true
(Deuteronomy 18:22).

     Anyone who encourages the following of other gods, even if he works miracles, is to be rejected and put to death. The Word of God stands as an objective test of the prophet’s message.

     God does meet all the needs of His people. To look elsewhere for guidance or aid is to treat Him with contempt. We are to count on God to meet our every need, for He truly is committed to us.

Richards, L., & Richards, L. O. (1987). The Teacher's Commentary (323). Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books.

     Vers. 1–8—The support of the ministry the duty of God’s people. In a note on a corresponding passage in
Numb. 18:21, 22, Dr. Jameson remarks, “Neither the priests nor the Levites were to possess any allotments of land, but no depend entirely upon him who liberally provided for them out of his own portion; and this law was subservient to many important purposes, such as that, being exempted from the cares and labours of worldly business, they might be exclusively devoted to his service; that a bond of mutual love and attachment might be formed between the people and the Levites, who, as performing religious services for the people, derived their subsistence from them; and further, that, being the more easily dispersed among the different tribes, they might be more useful in instructing and directing the people.” This suggestive note seems to us to contain the pith of the Mosaic instructions concerning the maintenance of the Levites. We can scarcely fail to see in this passage principles far wider in their application than to the Jewish people alone, and reaching much further onward than the times of the old covenant. And though, as it falls to the lot of the preacher to expound these principles, it may not quite fall within his preference to do so, if he is, like the Levites, supported by the contributions of the people, yet, when he is continuously expounding the Word of God, he may not omit to teach the people that “he that is taught in the Word should communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things.” This is part of the “counsel of God,” and should not be withheld, since it is not for his own sake, but for the sake of the entire ministry of the Lord Jesus, for which, if he is faithful, he will plead. The principles which may be expounded by the ministers of the New Testament, are these—

     I. A GODLY, ABLE MINISTRY IS THE WANT OF THE PEOPLE. True, there are now no sacrifices to be offered, nor is there any complicated ritual of service to be performed; but there is a mighty work to be done in heralding the gospel “to every creature” and in “building up the body of Christ.” And so long as sin and ignorance prevail, so long will the people need those who will lead the way in seeking their expulsion and extinction. For this end our Lord has instituted a New Testament ministry. The work now to be fulfilled is that of teaching and preaching Jesus Christ
(Eph. 4:1–16; 1 Cor. 9). “Faithful men, able to teach,” are to be appointed. These are the qualifications. The Church needs no priesthood in it. It is itself the priesthood for the world. Ministers do not come now in a family, a tribe, or line. The figment of apostolical succession is “less than nothing, and vanity.” It is not by the law of “a carnal commandment” that any ministry is valid now. But wherever God’s Spirit fills a man with holy yearning for this work, where the needful gifts are imparted, where God’s providence leads and clears the way, and the divinely inspired voice of a free Christian people says to him, “Come and be our teacher and guide in the ways of the Lord,” there are calls to a ministry such as cannot be mistaken, and such as ought not to be ignored. And when, on such a ministry, the seals of Divine approval are set, when the minister can see the law of Christ which is promulgated by his lips, reproduced in men’s hearts and lives, when he can see many a wanderer reclaimed through his pleading and prayers,—then can his ministry show a like validity even with that of Paul, for he, like him, can point to one and another and say, “If I be not an apostle unto others, yet doubtless I am to you, for the seal of mine apostleship are ye in the Lord.”

     II. THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD DEMANDS THE DEVOTION OF THE ENTIRE LIFE. We by no means intend here that none should teach or preach but those who can give their whole time thereto. But that, as a part of the application of the “division of labour” in the Church, the demands on those who make the ministry of the Word their care are such, that only the entire consecration of their life to it will enable them fittingly to meet them. To take the oversight of the flock of God: to give unto each one their portion of meat in due season: to visit the fatherless and widow, the poor and the sick: to observe the signs of the times: to know what Israel ought to do, and to direct them in doing it: to keep abreast of the thinking of the day, whether helpful or adverse: and so to declare the whole counsel of God, as by manifestation of the truth to commend himself to every conscience:—all these things go to make up a work so varied, so momentous, so exhausting, that nothing less than “giving himself wholly” to it can enable any man even approximately to discharge it.

     III. THIS BEING THE CASE, IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT THE MINISTER SHOULD NOT BE ENTANGLED IN IMPEDING CARES. The Levites were not to have great estates that might draw off their interest from the duties of their office, nor were they to be left at an uncertainty respecting the supply of their temporal need. Even so now. It will greatly fetter and hamper a minister if he is entangled with the affairs of his life, whether by having; so much on his hands that his time is absorbed in secular, which ought to be devoted to sacred, things; or by having so little on which he can rely, that the anxiety about feeding the people with living bread, is diverted from its proper channel, by anxiety about having the “bread that perisheth” for himself and his.

     IV. CONSEQUENTLY IT IS AN ORDINANCE OF GOD THAT THE MINISTRY, WHICH IS FOR THE PEOPLE, SHOULD BE THE CARE OF THE PEOPLE. This may be set on several grounds. 1. It is manifestly right. If a man gives up all ways of securing temporal comforts for the sake of serving the people, they are bound to secure him the temporal comforts in some other way. 2. The Apostle Paul distinctly lays it down as an appointment by the Lord Jesus (1 Cor. 9:14). (Paul waived this right, rather than hinder the gospel by pressing it, as is now done under like circumstances; but it was a right, nevertheless, and a Divine appointment.) 3. Wherever a people cause a minister to be embarrassed in temporalities, they will suffer for it. The minister’s work, teaching, and preaching will all bear the traces of such embarrassment, and will be the weaker for it. 4. This Divine ordinance helps to promote the mutual care of minister and people for each other. They reap his spiritual things; he reaps their carnal things. 5. There is also thus a high and holy spiritual education of the people, in calling out their own kindly and just activities to uphold that ministry by which they themselves are upheld. The ministry is not to be found of them, but to be maintained by them. Thus there is seen to be a guard against abuse of position on either side.

     V. ISRAEL WAS TO GUARD ITS OWN PRIESTHOOD AS BEING ITSELF A PRIESTHOOD FOR THE WORLD. So Churches are to guard the honour of their own ministry, because they have a ministry for the world. It is not for the ministers’ own sakes that they are to be thus cared for, but on account of the high and holy cause which they represent, and which they seek, however imperfectly, to maintain. They are to be esteemed very highly in love for their work’s sake; for the work which they fulfil is that which is purifying and saving the world. It is, in fact, by thus supporting a ministry that the Church is fulfilling its commission, “to preach the gospel to every creature.”. Of course, it follows from all this, that a ministry can claim such and such support, only so far as it is carrying out the Divine intent, or seeking in all fidelity to do so. It is not that God has put clergy as a kind of official police over the people; but that those who love righteousness are to show it by upholding the preaching of righteousness, and that those who love their Saviour’s Name are to sustain the heralds of that Name, both at home and abroad.

The Pulpit Commentary : St. Luke The Pulpit Commentary (23 Volume Set)

     One final point about the “how” of ancient biblical interpretation: it always worked via a scrupulous examination of the precise wording of the biblical text. Even when the issues addressed by interpreters were broader—divine omniscience, Abraham’s character, Isaac’s apparent passivity—these were always approached through the interpretation of a specific verse, indeed, sometimes through a single word in the verse. “Do you want to know what ‘after these things’ means in the story of Abraham and Isaac? It means after these words.” “Do you know why the two of them walked together is repeated? The second time is a hint that Abraham had just told Isaac he was to be sacrificed, and he agreed.” It was always from such precise points of wording that larger issues were approached.

     Ancient biblical interpretation was thus, no matter how broad its intentions, formally an interpretation of single verses. And this is what enabled specific interpretations to travel so widely. Teachers in school as well as preachers in synagogue or church would, in the course of explaining a biblical text, inevitably pass on an insight into this or that verse: “Here is what it is really talking about!” Thereafter, all the listeners would know that such was the meaning of that particular verse, and they would think of it every time the verse was read in public; indeed, they would pass on the explanation to others. Since the biblical text was known far and wide and often cited—the Torah, in particular, was learned by heart at an early age—a clever answer to a long-standing conundrum would circulate quickly throughout the population.

     Nowadays, such verse-centered interpretations are known as exegetical motifs—“motifs” because, like musical motifs, they were capable of being inserted into different compositions, reworked or adapted, and combined with other motifs to make a smooth-running narrative. After a while, retellers sometimes did not even bother to allude to the particular biblical verse in question, but simply incorporated the underlying idea into their retelling. Thus, for example, the idea that Abraham had explained to Isaac that “the lamb for the burnt offering [is you,] my son,” and that Isaac, far from fleeing, had willingly embraced his martyrdom, shows up in a variety of retellings, some of them terse, but others lovingly expanding on the basic idea:

     Going at the same pace—no less with regard to their thinking than with their bodies … they came to the designated place. (Philo, On Abraham 172)

     This is indeed intended as a precise explanation of the two occurrences of “and the two of them walked together” in the Genesis tale; the first refers to their physical walking (what Philo designates as the motion of “their bodies”), whereas the second refers to their agreement that Isaac should be sacrificed (Philo’s “with regard to their thinking”).

     Remember … the father [= Abraham], by whose hand Isaac would have submitted to being slain for the sake of religion. (4 Macc. 13:12)

     When the altar had been prepared (and) he had laid the cleft wood upon it and all was ready, [Abraham] said to his son: “My child, myriad were the prayers in which I beseeched God for your birth, and when you came into the world, I spared nothing for your upbringing.… But since it was by God’s will that I became your father and it now pleases Him that I give you over to Him, bear this consecration valiantly.…” The son of such a father could not but be brave-hearted, and Isaac received these words with joy. He exclaimed that he deserved never to have been born at all if he were to reject the decision of God and of his father.… (Josephus, Ant. 1.228–32)

     And as he was setting out, he said to his son, “Behold now, my son, I am offering you as a burnt offering and I am returning you into the hands of Him who gave you to me. But the son said to the father, “Hear me, father. If [ordinarily] a lamb of the flocks is accepted with sweet savor as a sacrifice to the Lord, and if such flocks have been set aside for slaughter [in order to atone] for human iniquity, while man, on the contrary, has been designated to inherit this world—why should you be saying to me now, ‘Come and inherit eternal life and time without measure?’ Why if not that I was indeed born in this world in order to be offered as a sacrifice to Him who made me? Indeed, this [sacrifice] will be the [mark of] my blessedness over other men.…” (Ps.-Philo, Bib. Ant. 32:2–3)

Kugel, J. L. (2010). Early Jewish Biblical Interpretation.The Eerdmans Dictionary of Early Judaism

     And I saw what looked like a sea of glass mixed with fire and, standing beside the sea, those who had been victorious over the beast. --- Revelation 15:2.

     With all the mystery of the book of Revelation, one thing we are sure of: in it we have the summing up of the moral processes of all time. (Classic Sermons on Suffering (Kregel Classic Sermons Series) )

     I speak only of moral contest, of this struggle with suffering and wickedness, of trial, of the state that earnest people, conscious of their own inner lives, know full well. What will be the end of it all?

     I do not know in full what is intended by this term “the beast.” I think it means in its largest sense the power of evil in all its earthly manifestations, all that is low and base and tries to drag down what is high and noble, all sin and temptation, so that “those who had been victorious over the beast” are those who have come out of sin holy and out of trial pure and, out of much tribulation, have entered the kingdom of heaven.

     These will walk on “a sea of glass mixed with fire.” The sea of glass—calm, clear, placid—evidently that is the symbol of repose, of rest, of peace. And fire, testing all things, consuming what is evil, purifying what is good, never resting a moment, never sparing pain; fire, all through the Bible, is the symbol of active trial of every sort, of struggle. The “sea of glass mixed with fire” is repose mingled with struggle. It is peace and rest and achievement, with the power of trial and suffering yet alive and working within it.

     This is our doctrine: the permanent value of trial—that when you conquer your adversaries and your difficulties, it is not as if you never had encountered them. Your victory is colored with the hard struggle that won it. Your sea of glass is always mixed with fire, just as this peaceful crust of earth on which we live, with its wheat fields, vineyards, orchards, and flower beds is full still of the power of the convulsion that wrought it into its present shape, of the floods and volcanoes and glaciers that have rent it or drowned it or tortured it. Just so, the life that has been overturned and overturned by the strong hand of God, filled with the deep, revolutionary forces of suffering, and purified by the strong fires of temptation keeps its long discipline forever. There roots in that discipline the deepest growths of the most sunny and luxuriant spiritual life that it is ever able to attain.
--- Phillips Brooks

Wallis, D. (2001). Take Heart: Daily Devotions with the Church's Great Preachers

     Few assume greatness by themselves. Behind the scenes often lies an older mentor, watching with pride. John Calvin exists as a hero in church history because of Guillaume Farel.

     Farel was a traveling evangelist in France, full of fire and fury. He was likened to Elijah and was called the “scourge of priests.” He considered the pope the Antichrist and viewed the Mass as nothing but idolatry. Priests, wishing him dead, carried weapons under their cloaks to assassinate him. After one attempt on his life, he whirled around and faced the priest who had fired the errant bullet. “I am not afraid of your shots,” he roared.

     He was small, sunburned, fiery, and powerful. His sermons were cannon blasts, and his oratory captivated the nation. He often said too much, and one friend cautioned him, “Your mission is to evangelize, not to curse.”

     On April 12, 1523 Farel was forbidden to preach in France. He fled to Switzerland and wandered from town to town, turning stumps and stones into pulpits. When he entered Geneva, the city fathers and priests tried to make him leave. “Who invited you?” they demanded. Farel replied:

     I have been baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, and am not a devil. I go about preaching Christ, who died for our sins and rose for our justification. Whoever believes in him will be saved; unbelievers will be lost. I am bound to preach to all who will hear. I am ready to dispute with you, to give an account of my faith and ministry. Elijah said to King Ahab, “It is thou, and not I, who disturbest Israel.” So I say, it is you and yours, who trouble the world by your traditions, your human inventions, and your dissolute lives.

     He was ridiculed, beaten, shot at, and abused. But he wouldn’t give up on Geneva. Several years later when young John Calvin came passing through, Farel spotted him and gave him a place to minister—and, as it turns out, a place in church history.

     Ahab went to meet Elijah, and when he saw him, Ahab shouted, “There you are, the biggest troublemaker in Israel!” Elijah answered, “You’re the troublemaker—not me! You and your family have disobeyed the LORD’s commands by worshiping Baal.”
--- 1 Kings 18:16b-18.

     Morgan, R. J. On This Day 365 Amazing And Inspiring Stories About Saints, Martyrs And Heroes

THURSDAY IN EASTER WEEK
YEAR 2

Psalms (Morning) Psalm 146, 147
Psalms (Evening) Psalm 148, 149
Old Testament Exodus 13:3–10
New Testament 1 Corinthians 15:41–50
Gospel Matthew 28:16–20

Index of Readings

PSALMS (MORNING)
Psalm 146, 147

1 Praise the LORD!
Praise the LORD, O my soul!
2 I will praise the LORD as long as I live;
I will sing praises to my God all my life long.

3 Do not put your trust in princes,
in mortals, in whom there is no help.
4 When their breath departs, they return to the earth;
on that very day their plans perish.

5 Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the LORD their God,
6 who made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them;
who keeps faith forever;
7 who executes justice for the oppressed;
who gives food to the hungry.

The LORD sets the prisoners free;
8 the LORD opens the eyes of the blind.
The LORD lifts up those who are bowed down;
the LORD loves the righteous.
9 The LORD watches over the strangers;
he upholds the orphan and the widow,
but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.

10 The LORD will reign forever,
your God, O Zion, for all generations.
Praise the LORD!

1 Praise the LORD!
How good it is to sing praises to our God;
for he is gracious, and a song of praise is fitting.
2 The LORD builds up Jerusalem;
he gathers the outcasts of Israel.
3 He heals the brokenhearted,
and binds up their wounds.
4 He determines the number of the stars;
he gives to all of them their names.
5 Great is our Lord, and abundant in power;
his understanding is beyond measure.
6 The LORD lifts up the downtrodden;
he casts the wicked to the ground.

7 Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving;
make melody to our God on the lyre.
8 He covers the heavens with clouds,
prepares rain for the earth,
makes grass grow on the hills.
9 He gives to the animals their food,
and to the young ravens when they cry.
10 His delight is not in the strength of the horse,
nor his pleasure in the speed of a runner;
11 but the LORD takes pleasure in those who fear him,
in those who hope in his steadfast love.

12 Praise the LORD, O Jerusalem!
Praise your God, O Zion!
13 For he strengthens the bars of your gates;
he blesses your children within you.
14 He grants peace within your borders;
he fills you with the finest of wheat.
15 He sends out his command to the earth;
his word runs swiftly.
16 He gives snow like wool;
he scatters frost like ashes.
17 He hurls down hail like crumbs—
who can stand before his cold?
18 He sends out his word, and melts them;
he makes his wind blow, and the waters flow.
19 He declares his word to Jacob,
his statutes and ordinances to Israel.
20 He has not dealt thus with any other nation;
they do not know his ordinances.
Praise the LORD!

PSALMS (EVENING)
Psalm 148, 149

1 Praise the LORD!
Praise the LORD from the heavens;
praise him in the heights!
2 Praise him, all his angels;
praise him, all his host!

3 Praise him, sun and moon;
praise him, all you shining stars!
4 Praise him, you highest heavens,
and you waters above the heavens!

5 Let them praise the name of the LORD,
for he commanded and they were created.
6 He established them forever and ever;
he fixed their bounds, which cannot be passed.

7 Praise the LORD from the earth,
you sea monsters and all deeps,
8 fire and hail, snow and frost,
stormy wind fulfilling his command!

9 Mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedars!
10 Wild animals and all cattle,
creeping things and flying birds!

11 Kings of the earth and all peoples,
princes and all rulers of the earth!
12 Young men and women alike,
old and young together!

13 Let them praise the name of the LORD,
for his name alone is exalted;
his glory is above earth and heaven.
14 He has raised up a horn for his people,
praise for all his faithful,
for the people of Israel who are close to him.
Praise the LORD!

1 Praise the LORD!
Sing to the LORD a new song,
his praise in the assembly of the faithful.
2 Let Israel be glad in its Maker;
let the children of Zion rejoice in their King.
3 Let them praise his name with dancing,
making melody to him with tambourine and lyre.
4 For the LORD takes pleasure in his people;
he adorns the humble with victory.
5 Let the faithful exult in glory;
let them sing for joy on their couches.
6 Let the high praises of God be in their throats
and two-edged swords in their hands,
7 to execute vengeance on the nations
and punishment on the peoples,
8 to bind their kings with fetters
and their nobles with chains of iron,
9 to execute on them the judgment decreed.
This is glory for all his faithful ones.
Praise the LORD!

OLD TESTAMENT
Exodus 13:3–10

3 Moses said to the people, “Remember this day on which you came out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, because the LORD brought you out from there by strength of hand; no leavened bread shall be eaten. 4 Today, in the month of Abib, you are going out. 5 When the LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which he swore to your ancestors to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, you shall keep this observance in this month. 6 Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a festival to the LORD. 7 Unleavened bread shall be eaten for seven days; no leavened bread shall be seen in your possession, and no leaven shall be seen among you in all your territory. 8 You shall tell your child on that day, ‘It is because of what the LORD did for me when I came out of Egypt.’ 9 It shall serve for you as a sign on your hand and as a reminder on your forehead, so that the teaching of the LORD may be on your lips; for with a strong hand the LORD brought you out of Egypt. 10 You shall keep this ordinance at its proper time from year to year.

NEW TESTAMENT
1 Corinthians 15:41–50

41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; indeed, star differs from star in glory. 42 So it is with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable. 43 It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. 44 It is sown a physical body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 Thus it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46 But it is not the spiritual that is first, but the physical, and then the spiritual. 47 The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. 48 As was the man of dust, so are those who are of the dust; and as is the man of heaven, so are those who are of heaven. 49 Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we will also bear the image of the man of heaven.

50 What I am saying, brothers and sisters, is this: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.

GOSPEL
Matthew 28:16–20

16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

The Episcopal Church. Book of Common Prayer Lectionary