Samuel said to Saul, “The LORD sent me to anoint you king over his people Israel; now therefore listen to the words of the LORD. Thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘I will punish the Amalekites for what they did in opposing the Israelites when they came up out of Egypt. Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have; do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’”Did the LORD give such a command to Samuel to pass on to Saul? I don't think so. Readings like the one above stop me in my tracks in daily prayer. I ponder the words for a while and then move on, usually without further understanding than when I started out. Yes, I know the words form part of a story told by a human person or persons, who are not God, but still...
(1 Samuel 15:1-3, 7-23)
Later in the readings comes the passage from Luke telling of darkness over the land and Jesus' death on the cross, which provides little comfort, except for the account of Joseph of Arimathea's tender care for the body of Jesus.
Finally, consolation from the Collect of the Day:
O God, you have taught us to keep all your commandments by loving you and our neighbor: Grant us the grace of your Holy Spirit, that we may be devoted to you with our whole heart, and united to one another with pure affection; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
They were difficult readings today.... And if I try to explain to myself what the Hebrew scriptures are all about when the people are told to destroy in the name of God... well... I tend to border on Christian triumphalism, and that's no good either.
ReplyDeleteI can only sit in humility and think --that is what we look like when we presume to know the mind God.... we get it all wrong.
So, here's to humility, Grandmere! (and she lifts her glass of water and toasts you virtually).
Yes margaret, I think of Christian triumphalism and don't want to go there. To humility!
DeleteOne must distinguish between the high ethical and moral passages of the Bible and those that merely express the very narrow attitudes of the tribal, all-male, "WE-are-the-chosen-people" patriarchy at the time. And then it all begins to fall into place.
ReplyDeleteA couple of years ago, I came across a quote by Judge Judy, which was so startlingly clear and simple that I wondered why the same insight had never occurred to me: to wit, "If it doesn't make sense, it's not true."
I think that's a very good rule to keep close by when reading the Scriptures.
The person who wrote the words so long ago thought they made sense, as well as many others up till today, who still see God as a warrior. I don't dismiss passages in Scripture. I wrestle with them, not as a scholar, but as a respectful reader. When all is said and done, I do not believe God ordered such a slaughter.
DeleteRuss:
DeleteJohn 1, verse 5:
"And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not." (KJV)
(and yes, the NIV accepts "understand" as one reading of that text)
You, as much as I, are still in darkness: still seeing through a glass darkly. So are you saying that the light of God is no such thing?
I'm saying that when thuh Bibul sez I should be dragged out to the city dump by a mob and have big stones repeatedly dropped on my head and body until my bones break, my skull collapses, my eyes pop out of their sockets, and I am dead - THAT is in no possible sense "the light of God."
DeleteAnd I say that not on my own account alone, but on behalf of all manner of virgins, matrons taken in adultery, their partners in crime, slaves, prisoners of war, old men, old women, children, and practically every other sort and condition of humankind, even babies - e.g., "Happy is the one who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks." Psalm 137:9, to give but one of a multitude of examples.
It is in no way holy to regard all such writings as the word of God - rather, it is mere idol worship, a superstition called bibliolatry, which has nothing whatsoever to do with Christianity.
I think if we take seriously the Christian belief that Jesus is God incarnate, the most accurate expression of 'the Word of the Lord' that we have been given, then in order to be consistent we have to conclude that quite a few of those 'the Lord said' sayings in the OT can't really be taken at face value. (I may be arrested by the evangelical thought police for saying this, although I still consider myself a good evangelical!!!) But if as Jesus taught us, each of these little ones has an angel who has continuous access to our Father in heaven (Matthew 18:11), then it's surely beyond credulity to believe that the same heavenly Father could turn around and order Saul to slaughter them.
ReplyDeleteSo I have a simple rule: everything in every other part of the Bible must be read in the light of the teaching of Jesus. Like you say, Mimi, I don't dismiss those passages; they are part of Jesus' family heritage, part of the story of the nation that produced him, and we can't make sense of him unless we understand both his continuities and his discontinuities with the Judaism that produced him.
I also think it's important for us to be honest - and publicly honest - when we struggle with difficult scriptures, rather than pretending all is just fine. So, thanks for this post.
So I have a simple rule: everything in every other part of the Bible must be read in the light of the teaching of Jesus.
DeleteTim, that's my rule, too. :-)
I work in the public sector. I can't tell you how often I am mis-quoted by reporters. Or read about a meeting I also attended yet I don't recognize the reporter's account of the same meeting. At all. And that is with modern technological equipment and with only a one day lag in order to report it. My confidence that ANYTHING in the Bible is recorded with any real accuracy is shaky at best.
ReplyDelete8thday, I agree. Having said that, I think the best we know of what God is like are the accounts of the teachings and actions of Jesus in the Gospels, especially the Two Great Commandments, to love God and love our neighbors as ourselves. and the Golden Rule, to do to others as we would be done to.
DeleteI can live with that!
Delete"Did the LORD give such a command to Samuel to pass on to Saul?"
ReplyDeleteOh of course not. Yet at the same time, I kinda love the Hebrew Bible writers for sticking such words in YHWH's mouth. Totally get it: the "and your little dog, too!" kind of RAGE!!1!1!
I don't think God turns away from our human impulses---even from our utterly despicable impulses (genocide qualifies!). God loves us anyway. But, as the evangelicals say, God "doesn't leave us there." God loves us into a better place (and, in the case of the Israelites, it was into the "I will prepare a feast for ALL nations" place. Isaiah 25:6)
JCF, I love and respect the Hebrew Testament, too. Jesus was formed by the Jewish sacred writings, and was born a Jew and died a Jew. It's amazing how many people believe Jesus was a Christian. :-)
DeleteThe psalms are quite reassuring in that they articulate the reality of how we think and speak about and to God and our fellow humans. The imprecation psalms and the psalms which express anger at God are the reality of the thoughts and words of the people of God, and God loves us anyway. And God does not leave us there.