Poor Providers

In today's texts we meet two "poor providers," Naomi (and her foreign daughter-in-law Ruth) and the unnamed woman who cast the Widow's Mite into the temple treasury.

Ruth 3:1-5; 4:13-17

The widow Naomi declares that she will seek "a resting place" (manoach, NRSV says "some security") for her widowed daughter-in-law, Ruth, so that everything will be OK for Ruth. (She had already blessed both Ruth and Orpah with rest, releasing them to find husbands in their native land; see Ruth 1:9.) Now, until and unless there is a change in Ruth's circumstance, she (and, for that matter, Naomi) is and will continue to be like the dove that Noah released from the window of the ark after the flood, "to-ing and fro-ing," but finding no resting place because all of the landing places are still covered with water. (Genesis 8:9)






(Image source, http://www.josephmillersculpture.com/images/dove-over.jpg)



Ruth, the foreigner from Moab, will be lost in Israel just like the people of Israel were once lost in Egypt--and just like exiles who have been dispossessed for reasons of disobedience: scattered from nation to nation, worshiping with strangers, finding no ease, having no resting place, constantly walking without stopping, moving on to avoid the authorities, life constantly in doubt, with heart murmurs, blurry eyes, depression, and a total lack of confidence. Her desperation will become so great that she'll try to sell herself as a slave, but find no takers. (Deuteronomy 28:62-68; see Lamentations 1:3; return to the Land of Promise and settlement there is rest, Joshua 21:43-22:8.)





(Image source, http://archives.starbulletin.com/2007/02/04/editorial/art1x.jpg)



Ruth will be like the driven-out Lilith, finally finding a place of repose. (Isaiah 34:14)





(Image source, http://www.artsjournal.com/artopia/images/kikismith-lilith-1994.jpg)





(Image source, http://www.arthistoryarchive.com/arthistory/christian/images/JeanFrancoisMillet-Harvesters-Resting-Ruth-and-Boaz-1850-53.jpg)



Ruth will be like the simple person, inexperienced in the ways of wisdom, who gets into trouble. In desperate straits, in mourning, she will be like the Psalmist who calls out, "the sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow." (KJV, Psalm 116:3) She will be brought low and then saved by God--in this case, Naomi's God--and by Naomi. But when all is said and done, when Naomi has helped her find "some security," Ruth will also be able to pray the thanksgiving portion of the Psalm: "Return, O my soul, to your rest; for the LORD has been good to you." (Psalm 116:6) Naomi and Ruth together are like the ark of God--which travels here and there, and is sometimes captured in a foreign land. It may be viewed as a curse in Philistia, but it scatters blessing wherever it may go in Israel, until it comes finally to rest in Jerusalem during the reign of Ruth's descendant, King David. (1 Chronicles 6:16)

Naomi knows, and shares, the desperate plight of her daughter-in-law Ruth. Given the cultural milieu, Naomi is in fact poorer and more desperate than Ruth. Naomi has an additional disadvantage, her age, which prevents her from childbirth. (Ruth 1:11) But Naomi also has an advantage; she is a native widow. Therefore it takes their cooperation, the sharing of their relative strengths and assets (Ruth's youth and Naomi's pedigree), to move the story toward its redemptive end. Nevertheless, it is Naomi who takes the initiative to provide protection for Ruth (and for herself), an initiative that should rightfully have been taken by the man in the story, the go'el, or near kinsman and redeemer. (Boaz is referred to as "our 'kin,'" moda`at, which is not so precise a connection as to invoke the law of the Levirate Marriage. But note the strong connection to the story of Tamar in Genesis 38; see Ruth 4:12.) Naomi tells Ruth to take advantage of the showers at the shelter in order to make herself presentable, perfuming (How much did that cost? Mark 14:3, John 12:3), and going by night to the threshing floor, concealing herself in a cloak until Boaz has eaten his meal and drunk his wine. (Ruth 3:2-3)





(Image source, http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2348/2280616209_65c78095ee.jpg)



Given the well-known Hebrew euphemisms ("feet" = sexual parts [see Exodus 4:25, Isaiah 6:2] and "lie down" = have sexual relations [too many to cite]), there is clearly a strong sexual innuendo in Ruth 3:4. But the writer never tells us explicitly "what actually happened on the threshing floor." [Gray, Joshua, Judges, and Ruth (New Century Bible), p. 309] That makes for a better story, it holds us in greater suspense.

When the suspense is resolved, Ruth has born a child--for Naomi (Ruth 4:16; compare Hagar and Sarah, Genesis 16). Each woman has been for the other the conduit for God's blessing, receiving in the process more than she has given. There are royal overtones (Psalm 2:7, Isaiah 9:6), which carry through directly (Ruth 4:17) to David and indirectly (Matthew 1, Luke 3) to Jesus. Through each poor widow God has blessed the other, and through the both of them together God has blessed the nation, and indeed the world.

Mark 12:38-44

One of the foremost indictments in Jesus' teaching against the Teachers of the Law is their appetite: they routinely devour the resting places of widows like Naomi and Ruth. They eat the hope of the poor for lunch. According to Jesus, there are certain visible signs of their ilk to beware: fancy dress, the use of honorifics ("The Rev. Dr. ...") in public (especially when wheeling and dealing), seats on the governing board of the church, V.I.P. invitations to awards banquets, and the like. These are things we might expect, but they also pray long prayers, which might come to us as something of a surprise. Jesus' conclusion is that such people will get their just desserts: just as Naomi and Ruth were blessed beyond all rightful expectation, so these Teachers of the Law will be cursed (judged guilty) to excess.

Then begins the story of another widow. Jesus sits down to watch people give their temple offering, throwing coins into the collection plate. ("According to Mishnah, Shekalim , 5 there were in the temple 13 such receptacles in the form of trumpets." BDAG, gazophulakion) The clatter must have been noticeable when the rich folk [the aforementioned "Teachers of the Law"] threw in large amounts. It is hard to think of such an act--giving freely to the temple coffers, and thus to the support of the poor, as in any way destructive, but Jesus has already judged it so. He says they are eating the lunch of the woman who appears next in line. But this unnamed widow has the last laugh. Her two coppers together amount to less than a penny; they hardly make a noise as they hit the plate. The disciples, their attention drawn elsewhere, must be summoned to pay attention to the widow. She has given more than all the others who are throwing coins into the plate, Jesus says. They gave the overflow, the parts they didn't need or want. Every cent she gave, she needed. As a homeless person, she gave up her last little bit of security, her last place to rest, her very life.

(Image source, http://www.romanorum.com.au/Info/Articles/Forming%20a%20Collection/Forming%20a%20collection/Bolden-Widows%20mite.jpg)

It is hard to see how, or where, or when this woman has her life restored to her. Certainly the "Teachers of the Law" are not going to help her. I think Jesus must be looking after her like Naomi looked after Ruth, one homeless person helping another, one penniless sojourner staying awake, guarding the underpass while the other catches a moment of sleep. Like Ruth looking at Naomi, Jesus sees something in this widow that reminds him of his Father. By sharing, like the boy with the loaves and fishes, miraculously all are loved: saved, healed, and fed by God's grace.

(Image source, http://www.wcg.org/lit/images/b9/WidowsMite.jpg)

Where does that leave us? In part, we are surely indicted like the "Teachers of the Law." Very few of us by any stretch of the imagination are "widowed" in the sense that these widows were, without even a place to rest, without "some security," Social Security or otherwise. But we are all also experienced in loss and are more or less aware of the severe limits placed on us in this life. As such, we need the sort of help that Naomi gave to Ruth, the help of others who share our plight, and the help of one other in particular, Jesus the Christ.

A "New" House

Renovation, Open House, Rededication

This Sunday we are leaving the lectionary, and it will be a month or so until we pick it up again. Our first departure, the text for this week, is occasioned by a celebration of the completion of a complete renovation of the church building, with priorities on improving hospitality and ministry to families with children 12 and under, and to address some delayed maintenance issues.

(Source, http://tumbledownfarm.shutterfly.com/32)

You can read the announcement at the Southminster web site, open house, http://www.southminster-pcusa.org/drupal/News/Open_House_09022009.

It seems appropriate to begin with the well-known quote of Winston Churchill about buildings and their effects: "On the night of May 10, 1941, with one of the last bombs of the last serious raid, our House of Commons was destroyed by the violence of the enemy, and we have now to consider whether we should build it up again,and how, and when. We shape our buildings, and afterwards our buildings shape us. Having dwelt and served for more than forty years in the late Chamber, and having derived very great pleasure and advantage therefrom, I, naturally, should like to see it restored in all essentials to its old form, convenience and dignity." -WSC, 28 October 1943 to the House of Commons (meeting in the House of Lords).

(Source, a .pdf file, http://ocw.mit.edu/NR/rdonlyres/Sloan-School-of-Management/15-310Managerial-Psychology-LaboratorySpring2003/6F5D40DC-478B-4DC3-8ECE-973746576CCB/0/lecture21a.pdf

According to the notes attached to that 2003 presentation to the Sloan School of Management (op cit.), "The old House of Commons was rebuilt in 1950 in its old form,
remaining insufficient to seat all its members. Churchill was against 'giving each member a desk to sit at and a lid to bang' because, he explained, the House would be mostly empty most of the time; whereas, at critical votes and moments, it would fill beyond capacity, with members spilling out into the aisles, in his view a suitable 'sense of crowd and urgency.'"

Churchill's oft-quoted observation suggests the following realities about Southminster's newly renovated facilities:

• First, that the decisions of our ancestors continue to shape us in profound ways. The Facilities Task Force and Session, when faced with the question whether to "start over" or to renovate the existing facility, consciously chose the latter path. One of the values of that decision is that it preserves a great deal of what we had. In that way the building in which we fellowship, minister, and worship, continues to shape our children in some of the very same ways that it has shaped us.


• Secondly, we have not significantly increased the size of the building while attempting to multiply our ability to minister to and serve our community. All of our space is now shared space, shared with one another and shared with those to whom we hope to minister. We no longer have any "dedicated" rooms that are just used for one purpose for an hour on a Sunday morning. We share. In Churchill's language, we have refused to give each member "a desk to sit at and a lid to bang," a decision that should lead in a very short while to what Churchill called a "sense of crowd and urgency." If you read Tom Ehrich's piece--"Why let churches sit empty?"--in the Saturday Star this week, you will recognize some of what we have begun to do. It is a return, historically speaking, to a dual function, both secular and sacred, for the whole facility. The one exception, the one space where we had dreamed of extending this new mode of living with one another and with our community, by sharing all of our space--but failed for lack of funds, ability, or will (or all three)--is in the sanctuary. I would suggest that this may be the "unfinished business" of our "Phase I." Jim Kitchens and Baird Dixon ("Up from the Ashes," Call to Worship, vol. 42.1, 2008-2009, p. 45) call this "a functional understanding of the sanctuary, acknowledging that it is a 'holy space' when we gather for the purpose of worship and a space that can be used for other functions at other times."


• Finally, we have maintained a close proximity between staff, even increasing it in some instances, thus increasing the likelihood of regular communication of important information.

To the extent that we have been able, within the very human constraints of the time, money, and ability with which we had to work, we have tried to shape our building to help us to do two things very well: 1) to welcome our neighbors and to provide excellent hospitality to all who come to Southminster and 2) to minister to families with children ages 12 and under. We did this while trying to preserve the integrity of worship, fellowship, and programs for Christian Education and Youth. The spaces where these other activities happen every week have not gone away; they are simply being shared during the week in a way that will multiply our ability to reach out to others with Christ's love and grace.

2 Samuel 7:1-29

Of course, we aren't talking about shaping a private residence or a secular, public building. We are talking about a building dedicated to religious purposes, a building shaped for the purpose of shaping our relationship with God. We are talking about what has ordinarily been called "the house of God." But, as the prophet makes clear to David, and as Solomon's prayer (below) reiterates, everyone knows that God does not live in a house shaped by human hands. Whatever we build, it is not God's dwelling. No, if you want to be clear about it, God chooses to live in a house that his very own hands have shaped. (Genesis 2:7) God is in some theology known as the unmoved mover, the one not shaped or created by another; God simply is and does. When God made us, God made his own dwelling place. We have fallen into disrepair. We are in need of some divine maintenance to make us habitable again. For that work, Jesus provides the divine plan; Jesus is the blueprint for our home makeover.

That's what the prophet meant when he told David that he should shelve his plans to make a house for God. God doesn't need a house--and if he did, David couldn't build it. God will make David a house, and in doing so will provide a place for God to dwell. God doesn't need a house of cedar. David does. Solomon does. We do. But God does not.

What makes this place God's house? The people who are gathered here in his name, who come together to make a living temple, a house not made with (human) hands; the people of God make this the house of God. In other words, God's hands make this the house of God. Does that mean that we should devalue the church facilities? Should we neglect the physical place where we gather? Should we let it fall into ruin and disrepair? Should we fail to shape it when the opportunity presents itself? Should we fail to make it over to fulfill the mission and vision we have received from God? No! (In good Bible speak, "God forbid!")

David and Solomon understood that the house they built could never contain the God they worshiped. But the house they built could and it would shape the people who came there to pray. For that reason Solomon made it out of the best available materials. He called together (conscripted) the most expert craftsmen and builders, architects and contractors. David, for his part, must have prepared his son to do the work from which David had been barred. Perhaps David collected materials, perhaps he merely planted the vision and nurtured the desire in Solomon to see the very best timbers and stone, gold, silver, and other materials used to build a house for the worship of the Holy One of Israel. Solomon, in his wisdom, put together a Facilities Task Force that was equal to the challenge. And when they were done, they had shaped a house of prayer that would shape the people of Israel for centuries to come.

Solomon's prayer of dedication is a model in this regard. Solomon lays out in prayer before God the most important functions of the temple space; he lists the ways he hopes the temple will shape the peoples' lives. He prays that the temple will do its job as way in which God shapes his people into the sort of home that God desires to live in (1 Kings 8:31-43):

• "If someone sins against a neighbor and is given an oath to swear, and comes and swears before your altar in this house, then hear in heaven, and act, and judge your servants, condemning the guilty by bringing their conduct on their own head, and vindicating the righteous by rewarding them according to their righteousness.


• "When your people Israel, having sinned against you,...


• "When heaven is shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against you,...


• "If there is famine in the land, if there is plague, blight, mildew, locust, or caterpillar;...


• ...so that they may fear you all the days that they live in the land that you gave to our ancestors.


• "Likewise when a foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, comes from a distant land because of your name -- for they shall hear of your great name, your mighty hand, and your outstretched arm-- when a foreigner comes and prays toward this house, then hear in heaven your dwelling place, and do according to all that the foreigner calls to you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your people Israel, and so that they may know that your name has been invoked on this house that I have built."

(all NRSV)

House Cleaning and Renovation: Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur

It is happy circumstance that Southminster's celebration falls on the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, 2009, which began at sundown on Friday September 18 and ends at nightfall on Sunday September 20. Yom Kippur follows 10 days later, on September 27. Rosh Hashanah is the time for celebrating the creation of the world, i.e., the "birthday of the world." It is also the time when Israel celebrated the fact that God rules in this world. The simplest way of understanding this aspect of Rosh Hashanah is to imagine that God sits on his throne in heaven and has appointed one day each year in which to pass judgment on the deeds of the past year and determine what will happen next year. Rosh Hashanah (as a season that lasts until Yom Kippur) is that day of judgment; it is the day appointed for the determination of one's destiny. (See Job 1 and 2.) It is also likely that Israel's kings were enthroned (and their kingship renewed) during the New Year celebrations, following a thorough renovation and cleansing of the temple.

The shaping of the temple and its rituals did indeed shape the lives of those who worshiped there. It taught Israel that God is on the throne, that God holds both life and death in his hands, that Israel and its leaders lived for God's will and purpose. That even the kings ruled at God's pleasure, for God's purposes. The cleansing of the temple and its renovation reminded the people of their need for reconciliation with one another and with the God whom they served, whose temple and image they were.

Two things that have been renewed in the Reformed tradition of shaping houses of worship are especially important for shaping us theologically. They are also aspects that Southminster has included in our renovation. They are 1) an attempt to focus on the presence of God, removing as many human distractions as possible and diminishing the self-importance of human performers, and 2) "infusing the [...] sanctuary with natural light and using clear glass windows to connect worshipers to the world into which they are called to serve through their own Christian vocations." (Kitchens and Dixon, p. 41.) Our building shapes our focus on God and our focus on the world which we are called to serve. In that way, God continues to shape us into the house he wants to inhabit.

Note: An interesting article on how our institutions shape us.

Rich Man, Poor Man

Generosity and Justice, Grace and Righteousness

Proverbs 22:1-2, 8-9, 22-23

22:1-16 is composed of a series of comparisons, specifically contrasts between the path (or life) of a wise person vs. a fool. The compiler of this collection of aphorisms uses antonyms for good and stark effect. There are no shades of gray here, no blurred lines. All is either black or white.

22:1, Contrast, Riches and Reputation

The first contrast is between a tangible good and one that is intangible. Riches are good, but there is something better. The wise person makes the better choice: a [good] name (fame, reputation) and good favor (popularity). The fool sells himself short and settles for money over good personal relationships and the high regard of others. The proverb doesn't give us specific examples, but examples of wise (or blessed) folk in scripture who gained favor with God and with others are: Noah (Genesis 6:8, etc.), Ruth (2:2, 10), and Esther (2:17, 5:8, 7:3). See 1 Samuel 1:18; see also Genesis 11:4 and 12:2 for a cautionary note about establishing one's own reputation vs. a strong faith in God's fulfillment of his promise to establish us.

22:2, Comparison, Rich and Poor

What do a wise person (rich) and a fool (poor) share in common? A single "maker." This proverb includes but goes well beyond the act of initial creation. It avers that the LORD remains in the director's chair, willing and doing his good pleasure. Hence the wise person and the fool will often (always?) have different ends, despite similar beginnings. The wise person embraces and follows God's "doing and making," whereas the fool rebels and tries to reject God's work. The wise becomes rich, the fool is impoverished.

22:3, Contrast, Open and Shut

Caution, road out ahead. (Image Source, http://farm1.static.flickr.com/24/90451693_084e5fd5d1.jpg)

The alliteration (both assonance and consonance) employed in the first three words of this verse is a mark of the literary craft to be found in the whole collection. Note the opening line: `arûm ra´â ra`â, "the wise person sees evil [things]" coming and hides. The word for "a wise person" (`arûm) here is the same word used in Genesis 2:25 (the man and his wife were both "naked" [`árûmmîm] and were not ashamed) and in Genesis 3:1 (the serpent was more "subtil" [`arûm] than any beast of the field). The motif of secret things and secret places, things hidden, is very much in evidence here. The wise can see through obscure things and into dark places; they have advance warning systems and sophisticated radar to detect danger. They proceed with caution. The fool on the other hand is oblivious to even the most obvious warning signs. The big detour that warns of a bridge out ahead is ignored as the fool guns the engine and plunges headlong into a watery grave.

22:4-5, Contrast, Carrot and Stick

The first verse lays out the carrot, the reward, for a life of humility and a genuine fear of (respect for, worship of) the LORD. However, this isn't a case of external manipulation; it isn't a matter of trying to get someone to do something he or she doesn't already want to do. Rather (like the "seed" example to follow in verse 8), this "reward" is actually a built-in consequence; it is the result, or the natural end place, for someone who lives in humility and the fear of the LORD. Such people will naturally wind up with riches, glory, and [long, good] life.

This image shows just how hard it can be to detect a snare. This is very definitely the wrong road to be traveling. (Image Source, http://tumaren.wildlifedirect.org/files/2009/01/snare1.jpg)

On the other hand, sharp, spiny thorns and bird-trap nets seem to sprout up overnight everywhere along the road of the "crook" (crooked, twisted, perverse, perverted, or "froward" [gotta love the King James Version]). Again, this is not an external imposition, a punishment of some sort meted out directly by God. It is safe to say that the "God-fearer" and the "pervert" aren't traveling the same road. If they were, the conditions of the road would be the same. If both were traveling the road of humility, the result would be riches, glory, and life. If both were traveling the crooked path, both would encounter thorns and snares. If you want to keep your life, you'll stay away from the crooked road strewn with thorns and bedeviled by snares.



A net snare for small birds (Maori). (Image Source, http://www.nzetc.org/etexts/Bes02Maor/Bes02Maor482a.jpg)

22:6, Comparison, Young and Old

(Image Source, http://www.baltimoresun.com/media/photo/2008-05/38979882.jpg)

This is perhaps the most famous verse in all of Proverbs, yet nearly every translation obscures the most common meaning of the first word, chanok. In the few other biblical instances of its use, the word means to "dedicate" something (usually a house, or public building) to a particular use (usually holy). It can mean to inaugurate or "baptize" (break-in, initiate). In other words, the point is to put a young person on the right road, at the right starting line, aimed in the right direction...and when he or she finally comes to the end of that road, all will still be well. Dedicate a young person to the right path at the start and the wrong path will not be a problem at the end. Don't put a horse in the starting gate at the Preakness if you are wanting it to cross the finish line in the Kentucky Derby. Some things are by definition impossible. Take care of the starting gate (which is all a parent or teacher can really effect) and the finish line will take care of itself (or, in more theologically straightforward language, God will take care of the finish line).


(Image Source, http://fineartamerica.com/images-medium/finish-line-michael-lee.jpg)

Isaiah 35:4-7a

Psalm 125

Psalm 146

James 2:1-10, (11-13), 14-17

Mark 7:24-37

"Tradition, Tradition!"

There are things that we receive in life from others, things handed down to us from parents, teachers, and other cultural influences. Sometimes we cling to these "traditions" for the good; sometimes not. Do we have "traditions" that we will not let go in order that we may reject evil thoughts, immorality, theft, and the like? What "traditions" have we already let go of that we should be clinging to with all of our strength? (And is love a better motive for hanging on to something than obedience? Or are they so closely related and coordinated as to be indistinguishable?)

(The title for this entry obviously has it's origin in the classic film, "Fiddler on the Roof." Image Source, http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h199/jandkatlarge/Tevye.jpg)

Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-9

The Book of Deuteronomy is, according to its Hebrew title, a book of "words," a collection of the Words of Moses, which he spoke to "all Israel" on the far side of the Jordan River before the people of God crossed over to take possession of the Promised Land. (Deuteronomy 1:1, 21, etc.) Deuteronomy 4, therefore, appropriately begins with a command to "listen up!" (šema`, not at all unlike the more famous "Shema" in Deuteronomy 6:4.) This call for attention is one replayed many times in many cultural contexts both today and in yesteryear: in court, when the judge enters the room to take a seat; in the assembly hall, when a speaker rises to begin prepared remarks; in the classroom, when a teacher is ready to begin a lesson; in the sanctuary, when it is time for worship and for the reading of the Word of God; in the home, when a parent addresses a child about a matter of importance.

According to Deuteronomy, Moses played all these roles for the people of Israel. He was in some sense a prophet or preacher, helping Israel hear and obey God's word. He was in another way, Israel's premier law-giver (president, senator, judge; handing out chuqqîm and mišpatîm, 4:1). He was also Israel's teacher (lamad), instructing not just in "book learning" but in practical "how to," hands on demonstrations of what to do and how to act (`asah). The words that Moses speaks here are, like all the words of Deuteronomy, performative. They make a difference in the lives of the hearers. In fact, like the words spoken by God on the first day of creation, they give life to those who hear and obey them. Those who hear and obey these words will live and will successfully enter and take possession of the future that God has prepared for them. Life is a divine gift--a gift from the "God of your fathers"--that is "passed on" (handed down, "tradition-ed") to the children of Israel by these words of Moses.

This word of promise comes also with a word of warning, a command of "thou shalt not." According to Moses, the words recorded here are complete. They do not need any mathematical computation--neither addition nor subtraction--to get them to work out right. They work fine just as they are presented; they'll be ruined by increase or decrease. Thou shalt not add to or subtract from them on pain of forfeiting life itself. (Deuteronomy 4:2; see Revelation 22:18-19.) In this way, the instructions of this chapter (and the book as a whole) are very much like the "10 Words" or "10 Things" (Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5), the "10 Commandments." The list of God's commands (tsavah,mitsvoth) is complete and succinct. It needs only to do them to live.

But, of course, Israel didn't always do what God had commanded. Idolatry was the first and most frequent of the commandments broken, and it was clearly also the chief offense, the number one law broken, a capital offense. The verses skipped by the lectionary here (Deuteronomy 4:3-5) concern one such incident, when some of the people of Israel allied themselves with the people of Moab and (either for reasons of personal devotion, or, what is more likely, for reasons of marriage, tribal, and political alliance) began to "bow down" to Baal-Peor and to eat (ritually) sacrifices offered to Baal. (See Numbers 25, Psalm 106:28, and Hosea 9:10.) Moses appeals to Israel's memory of this experience to prove the point that obedience to God's commands brings life, while disobedience means certain (and widespread) death. There is some irony here that should not escape us. While the passages that mention the incident of Baal-Peor seem to lay the blame at intermarriage with the people of Moab, we would do well to remember this complicating fact: Ruth (the great-grandmother of King David) was...gasp...herself a woman of Moab. (Ruth 1:4, 4:15-22, etc.) And in the Christian tradition, King David was the "father" (several generations removed) of Jesus. (Matthew 1:5)

When our reading resumes in Deuteronomy 4:6, Moses is giving yet another reason for obeying these words of his. He says that these words represent "wisdom" (chokmah) and "discernment" (binah)--something that is sought by all nations, large and small. If the people of Israel will heed his words, they will become famous, and perhaps envied, throughout the world, especially among the foreign nations that surround them (like little Moab their neighbor, just mentioned, or the major players: Egypt, Babylon, and Assyria). Wisdom and understanding represent the educational "traditions" of the international community of Israel's day. It is no mistake, for example, that Solomon--maker of broad international alliances--is regarded as the founder of Israel's wisdom tradition. Solomon's name is associated with Proverbs and Ecclesiastes (or Qohelet, another "preacher") as Israel's consummate teacher. But in our passage such wisdom is distilled in the words of Moses.

Deuteronomy 4:7 speaks of God's nearness to Israel. Given the emphasis of Deuteronomy on the "tradition" of God's word through Moses, perhaps we are to think here of the very proximate "give and take" of an intimate conversation. God is near enough to hear and answer when Israel calls. (But is Israel also near enough to hear and obey when God calls?) According to Deuteronomy 30:14, God's word is very near--lighting on our lips and penetrating to our hearts. (See Paul's quote of this verse in Romans 10:5-13; "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.") If we see these words of Moses as words of faith (which they must be, since Israel has not yet entered the Land of Promise), then we may think of ourselves as part of the very long line of this "faith tradition" of which Moses was already a "child" and recipient as well as a "parent" and promulgator: Hebrews 11:9, By faith he [Abraham] stayed for a time in the land he had been promised, as in a foreign land, living in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. (NRSV)

In Deuteronomy 4:8, Moses continues to make his case that Israel's role is to be an example to the nations, a point of comparison and contrast, especially in the area of "justice"--no nation has laws and statutes that are more righteous than Israel does. Finally, Moses says, guard yourself, guard your soul very closely, so that you do not forget what you have experienced or let the cherished memories fade with time as you grow older. Time has a way of erasing some of the sharp detail of what we have learned. Moses says that it takes a vigilance--a kind of constant study--not to lose these "words" that we have been given. In particular, it takes teaching them (making them known, yada`) to our children and grandchildren. Never is anything ever learned so well as by a teacher, who must master the subject in order to teach it well to someone else.

Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

The Gospel reading opens with certain "pharisees" and "teachers of the law" (aka "scribes," grammateus), who have "come together" (synago) from Jerusalem to meet with Jesus. When they see Jesus' disciples eating bread (literally; or figuratively, any food) with "common," "unwashed" (ritually unclean) hands(koinos, aniptos), they ask Jesus why his disciples do not live according to the traditions (paradosis, "handing down") of the elders (presbyteros). By way of answer, Jesus quotes Isaiah, who says, "these people honor me with their lips (cheilos), but their hearts (kardia) are far from me." It would seem that Jesus is responding out of the notion of God's nearness, saying that the words (of the elders, or of Moses) have landed on the people's lips, but have not yet penetrated to the depths of their hearts. Moreover, in using the word "hypocrite" (hypokrites to describe the people to whom he is speaking, Jesus also emphasizes the difference between hearing and doing, knowing and obeying, between meaningless, empty words and active, useful, performative words. Mark 7:7 reiterates Jesus' point: "in vain (maten) they worship me, teaching human commandments as their teachings." Jesus then drives the point home: they lay aside (or let go of) God's words (the commandments), so that they may grab hold of (and hold on to) human traditions (Mark 7:8).

It seems that Jesus is making a strong distinction between God's commandments and human traditions. He is also making a sharp distinction between that which comes into contact with a person from the outside (unclean, or ritually common food) and that uncleanness which originates in a person's heart and makes its way out in human words and actions. (Mark 7:14-15) "For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly." (Mark 7:21-22, NRSV) In other words, the contravention of God's words comes from a human heart that is far from God. Jesus does not directly contradict Moses here (in fact, he doesn't seem much to have Moses in view), he simply shifts the focus. Moses is insisting that the people Israel get the words of God onto human lips and into human hearts, so that they might live; Jesus is insisting that his disciples live the commandments as evidence that it is God's law in their hearts as well as on their lips. In both cases, it is what we do that counts in demonstrating our closeness to God and God's closeness to us.

In other parts of the New Testament, it is clear that this distinction between the "words of God" and "human traditions" is also operative. For example, Paul realizes that his words could have been categorized either way, rejected or accepted, but he gives thanks that when the Thessalonians "received the word of God that you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word but as what it really is, God's word, which is also at work in you believers" (1 Thessalonians 2:13, NRSV). In speaking of the Lord's Supper, Paul says "For I received (parelabon) from the Lord what I also handed on (paradidomi) to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread,..." (1 Corinthians 11:23, NRSV). The same can be said of the gospel itself, which is "tradition-ed" (handed on and received) in the form of human communication. Whether it is received is often contingent on whether it is perceived as the "Word of God" or merely "human traditions." Take the following examples: "Now I would remind you, brothers and sisters, of the good news that I proclaimed to you, which you in turn received (parelabon), in which also you stand,.... For I handed on (paradidomi) to you as of first importance what I in turn had received (parelabon): that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures." (1 Corinthians 15:1, 3, NRSV)

Wanted: Doorkeepers and Ambassadors!

These two vocations (callings) are never obsolete. They are always needed until Jesus comes!

Doorkeepers

(Image Source, http://changingtheguard.co.uk/upload/gallery/sentry1.jpg)

1 Kings 8

Solomon brings the Ark of the Covenant into the newly built temple. Suddenly bricks and mortar--splendid and magnificent as they are--have been improved. The magnificent house has become God's home. Here is where his glory dwells.

Psalm 84

The sentiment of this Psalm has often been put to song. At our youth camp, Camp Olivet, we frequently sing "better is one day in your court" (accompanied by the motion of shooting a basketball, followed by "swish!")..."better is one day in your court, better is one day in your house, better is one day in your court...than thousands elsewhere."

The image that comes most readily to mind when one reads Psalm 84:10 in most modern translations is that of a sentry or guard, a ticket-taker or a bouncer, in the doorway of the church.



(Image Source, http://pjspictures.me.uk/images/P_sentry.jpg)

There were such guardian "offices" in ancient Near Eastern temples and palaces (aka the shomer hassap, "the watcher of the door"), e.g. in 2 Kings 12:10, where the doorkeepers have a money box for collecting contributions from the people who visit the temple. Perhaps Jesus even had a run-in with these doorkeepers, or collectors of the temple tax (Matthew 17:24, 21:12; John 8:20; note that Jesus is always hanging around the offering plates, even noticing when a poor widow drops in her last pennies). The Hebrew term for doorkeeper also occurs in 2 Kings 22:4, 23:4, and 25:18, where these doorkeepers are lower ranking members of the priesthood. They seem to be drawn from the ranks of the Levites and/or Korahites (see Jeremiah 35:4 and 52:24, also 1 Chronicles 9:19, 9:22, 2 Chronicles 23:4 and 34:9) and they also seem to have some responsibility for the furniture in the temple. For doorkeepers in the palaces of the Persians, see Esther 2:21 and 6:2.



(Image Source, http://i.ehow.com/images/GlobalPhoto/Articles/4586126/77073-main_Full.jpg)

In modern church parlance, these doorkeepers would be the deacons, the people who take up and count the offerings and who are the first responders in case of any disturbance in the worship service. But the word so frequently translated "doorkeeper" in Psalm 84:10 is not the altogether common shomer hassap referred to above; rather, it is a hithpolel of a denominative verb formed from the noun for "doorpost," sap, also translated "jamb" or "sill"; i.e., it is a verb formed from the word for "the stone under the door-frame, in which the 'ammoth, the "pivots," of the doors revolve and, if they are made of basalt, rumble and bang" [HALOT]. For examples of the way the ancient Hebrews thought of these door sills or doorjambs, see Isaiah 6:4, Amos 9:1, Judges 19:27, 1 Kings 14:17, Ezekiel 40:6, 41:16, 43:8, Zephaniah 1:9, 2:14, 2 Chronicles 3:7, and the like.

(Image Source, http://www.bethsaidaexcavation.com/Bethsaida_2007/Pictures/IMG_1750.JPG)

So, just what does it mean to "hang around the door" of the temple? Who does that sort of thing, coming daily to this place of "massive stones and magnificent buildings" and "beautiful gifts dedicated to God" (Mark 13:1; Luke 21:5)? What image should we have of this "one day" in the life of a temple-doorjamb-person? Just as it was common in ancient Near Eastern temples and palaces to have doorkeepers, it was also common to bring the lame, the deaf, and the blind to beg at the doorway of the temple or important person's house (e.g., Acts 3:2, 3:10 [note that he begs at the "Gate Called Beautiful"]; Luke 16:20).

Perhaps we are to think of someone like the bird woman in Mary Poppins.



(Image Source, http://revsongbird.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/tupp_bag.jpg)

(See the Revsongbird "Reflectionary" blog on the Widow's Mite.) The Bird Woman sits on the stairs of St. Paul's Cathedral (for a great riff on the beautiful, magnificent, old stone church building vs. the living stones which we are called to be as a church, see this week's blog from don Heatley, Creatio Ex Nihilo, "I'm a Doctor".)



(Image Source, http://www.inetours.com/England/London/images/StPauls/St-Pauls_W_8926.jpg)

Like the Psalmist, it seems that the Bird Woman chooses to be there (Psalm 84:10, bacharti, "I have chosen to be a doorjamb-person in the house of my God rather than to stack things up in the mobile homes of the wicked.")

Ambassadors

Ephesians 6:10-20

Paul is an "ambassador in chains" for the gospel of Jesus Christ (6:20; 2 Corinthians 5:20). There is no "choosing" here. Rather, Paul is the one chosen, commissioned to bring reconciliation between opposing camps for the sake of the gospel. It is this work, for which Paul has been drafted, that will make disparate living stones into the body of Christ.

John 6:56-69

Wisdom Calls!

Who will answer?

What is the reward of "fearing God" and "following Wisdom"? The reward is life eternal, life that is full and meaningful.

1 Kings 2:10-12; 3:3-14

The first section of this reading alerts us to the fact that wisdom (Solomon's prayer for which is to follow) has at least two aspects: 1) the succession of generations (generally speaking: children are unlearned, unskilled, impetuous, and foolish, whereas parents are learned, skilled, self-controlled, and wise); and 2) the Way of the Lord (which is the wise path). Solomon respects both the example of his father and the precepts of the Lord. Solomon is wise even before we get to his prayer. (One might say that only the wise know to pray for wisdom.)

Solomon loved the Lord (loving and fearing or reverencing are kin) and (so, therefore) walked the same wise path his father David had. Solomon sacrificed a thousand burnt offerings to the Lord. (He showed wisdom in his moral, ethical, religious behavior, see below.) The Lord then appeared to Solomon in a dream (dreams are a sign of the Spirit's work in conveying wisdom to people, e.g., Joseph in the book of Genesis). God asked Solomon, "what shall I give you?"

Again, Solomon displays that he already possesses wisdom in what he asks. He displays humility, another mark of wisdom (teachable), saying that the task of governing is too great for his own innate gifts. Solomon admits to being a child (unwise) and claims that the task is too important for him to fail. Others depend on his ability to make good decisions. Thus Solomon prays for a "wise and discerning mind," which clearly he already possesses. God is pleased with his prayer, and grants him all the desire of his heart.

In 1 Kings 3:28, we see the king's prayer answered in practical terms, by the wide approval of his judgment in a tough court case.

(King's Solomon's decision. Image Source, http://pendulumopinions.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/solomon1.jpg)

Proverbs 9:1-6

Wisdom

The word (chakmot) (Proverbs 1:20, 9:1, 24:7) is a later Hebrew form that appears at first glance to be plural (f.), but the -ot ending is more likely an indicator of abstraction. In other words, we are to think of "the overarching concept of wisdom" or "wisdom in the abstract"--or perhaps something almost akin to "wisdom personified" (See Job 28 and Proverbs 8, where Wisdom is a she.) (There is a similar distinction, easily confusing, between Hebrew mamlekah, or mamlekuth [often a particular king's reign or kingdom], the latter perhaps a confusion of the two words, and melukah, malkuth [kingship itself]). Wisdom is a key word in the Old Testament, and one which it pays readers of the Bible to know in the full breadth of its spectrum of meaning:

• Technical skill in the exercise of some activity: e.g., art, music, architecture, building trades, war, or work. The sort of thing you would learn in a Vocational-Technical School.
  
• Administrative ability. The sort of thing you encounter in the best of mayors and governors and plant managers. Ability to arrange things so that the trains run on time.
  
• Creativity in the arts. The ability to think "outside the box" in other areas of life, to problem solve, to come up with new solutions for old problems.
  
• Savoir-faire, the ability to read and respond to any situation, to do or say what is appropriate to the occasion. The ability to avoid unacceptable and inappropriate social behavior. Also experience or political savvy, the ability to "read" the social context and know what is acceptable or unacceptable to the group.
  
• Cleverness or shrewdness, especially in business or financial affairs. The ability to make a buck.
  
• Sophistication or worldly wisdom, broad experience of the wider world, foreign cultures and learning, and the like.
  
• Prudence, the ability to foresee and avoid gaffes and mistakes.
  
• Ethics, decision making that is guided by religious and moral principles. Piety.

The Bible is everywhere clear that God is the source of all wisdom, that wisdom is the tool God used to create the world, and that all human wisdom is less than, and derivative of this divine source. (See Romans 11:33-36, 1 Corinthians 2:16, etc.) The Bible is also everywhere clear that the starting point, the first step or rung, the foundational footing for Wisdom is "the fear [reverence] of the Lord" (Job 28:28, Psalm 111:10, Proverbs 1:7, 9:10, and 15:33). This Wisdom is exemplified by the actions of kings like Solomon and, ultimately, by the ideal reign of the anointed one (messiah, e.g., Isaiah 11:2). The wisdom of God is to some extent revealed (in as much as all people have some sort of wisdom, the wisdom of God is at times only obvious) and to some extent hidden (in that all humans are to some extent and in some areas of life, foolish). When God's wisdom is known to humans, it is a gift, not something earned. Wisdom cannot be gained by pulling on one's own bootstraps. God's full plan, the full extent of God's wisdom, is known to no one and cannot be discovered by the most persistent searching. Not even such powerful forces and mysterious places as death or hell have access to the password for God's store of Wisdom.

Where Wisdom is personified, she is an attribute of the divine wisdom, an attribute of God that is seen in the foundations of the earth, the heights of the skies, the depths of the seas, the innumerable stars, sands, and clouds. She was begotten before the world began; she was birthed to be God's architect and God's blueprint maker for the greatest project of all, the design and construction of the created world, the universe. Wisdom is a professor, a public intellectual, an easily accessible teacher for anyone who will listen on the public airwaves or in the public square. She is inspiring in her presentation, never dull or boring. (The ruach, or Spirit, of God is the "inspire-er" of all human wisdom--the conduit for divine wisdom to humans. This association of wisdom with the spirit is also responsible for the notion that God reveals things to people in dreams.) When Wisdom teaches, even fools learn, kings give good decrees, musicians, artists, and writers create their best works, classics and masterpieces are born.

(When thinking of Wisdom's home, we should envision the temple, e.g., Herod's rebuilt temple in Jerusalem. Image Source, http://www.bible-architecture.info/4.The_16.jpg)

Wisdom's house is quite large and steady. It has seven pillars (Proverbs 9:1). If we are to think of 7 "courses" of pillars, as in Solomon's house (1 Kings 7:2), with it's four courses of pillars topped by cedar beams, then Wisdom's house is larger and more stable even than Solomon's. Whether of stone (the Jerusalem temple) or wood (the tabernacle in the wilderness), these pillars are "hewn" or "cut" and placed with human skill (or "wisdom"). Seven being the number of metaphorical fullness or perfection, perhaps we are to think of an even grander scale and see Wisdom's pillars as the foundations of our world (e.g., 1 Samuel 2:8, Job 9:6, Psalm 75:3), which are always held in place (or shaken, when they shake) by God.

Wisdom's place is one of great hospitality. She has prepared the meat herself, from farm to fork.

(Lamb chops, the food of sacrifice and altar. Image Source, http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/3678/images/3678_MEDIUM.jpg)

She has mixed the drinks.

(A vessel for mixing wine and water. Image Source, http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/images/hb/hb_1977.11.2.jpg)

She has set the table.

(Image Source, http://www.whitehousemuseum.org/floor1/blue-room/blue-room-2002-dining.jpg)

Wisdom issues her invitation.

(Image Source, http://www.custodiansofhistory.com/images/LBJ%20%20White%20House%20invite.jpg)

To those who are not yet wise, she extends an invitation. Come, all of you who are simple and senseless, still immature, and let me fill you up. Come, eat the bread and wine that I've set out. If you eat my bread and drink my cup, you will live. You will become mature. You will gain insight.

Psalm 34:9-14

John 6:51-58

Christ, the Word of God, is the logos, or Wisdom of God. (John 1:1, etc.) In John 6, Jesus extends the invitation to Wisdom. Whoever eats the flesh of the Son of Man and drinks his blood will live. The sort of life Christ gives is the same sort of gift Wisdom brings; it is more than mere existence. It is life characterized by the panoply of Wisdom's characteristics (the bullet list above). Christ, the very Wisdom of God, is considered foolishness by the world (1 Corinthians 1:21-24). The only way to Wisdom is to accept his invitation.

Make Yourself Useful!

1 Kings 19:4-8

The stories about Elijah, especially the wild swings back and forth from emotional high to utter despair and back again that occur in 1 Kings 17-19, are some of my favorite in all of scripture. To see the full context you have to widen your camera lens to include the scene at 1 Kings 17:1, where the prophet says to "evil" (1 Kings 16:33) King Ahab that God has appointed the prophet (Elijah himself) to be the national water spigot: "By the life of the God of Israel in whose presence I stand, there shall be neither dew (tal) nor rain (matar), for a specified number of years (3), except by my command" (lit., "by the mouth of my word"). The implication, born out in the chapters that follow, is that the prophet is in no mood to command rain, because God is in no mood to provide it.

(Image Source, http://library.thinkquest.org/03oct/00494/Drought/images/Drought%202.jpg)

In these days, when most of us are so far removed from agriculture that only with difficulty do we ever make the connection between field and plate--and when most of our food is shipped so far that a drought in our home town or even in our region of the country doesn't immediately lead to a tightening of our belts--the obvious implication of these words might not be evident. But King Ahab must have gotten the message in a hurry.

Of course, water restrictions fall on both the just and the unjust alike, so the prophet--and all of Israel with him--needs to find a reliable source of food and water. Here we see for the first time the dominant theme of these chapters: God will provide for those who work for, who serve or worship, him. So God tells Elijah where to go to find water (Wadi Cherith, Kerith Ravine, "the brook Cherith" which is near the Jordan River, 17:3, 5) and whom to expect (the ravens [`oreb]) to deliver his breakfast and supper there.



(Image Source, http://americanart.si.edu/images/1986/1986.65.294_1b.jpg, http://www.louisglanzman.com/biblemen/withraven.jpg)

Ravens are opportunistic feeders, omnivores, feasting on everything: "carrion, insects and food waste, in addition to cereal grains, berries, fruit and small animals." (See "Common Raven," Wikipedia.) Because of their easy association with humans, it is possible that we are to think of them "sharing" their food with Elijah--or, perhaps as likely, they "share" unwittingly, their presence at food sources pointing the way for Elijah's foraging.

(Lanfranco, 1621-1624; Image Source, http://www.getty.edu/art/collections/images/m/00072701.jpg)

Whatever the case, the wadi soon dried up for lack of rain and Elijah was forced to move on to Zarephath, where he imposed on a widow and her son for water and fried bread, which she protests is a last meal for herself and her son. Once again, Elijah's God ("your God," 17:12) provides, this time with meal (qemach, flour) and oil (shemen) that didn't run out for the duration of the drought. This "best of times, worst of times" saga continues with an abrupt twist when the woman's son falls ill and dies. The prophet, who knows the source of all--both good and bad (light and darkness, weal and woe, or health and sickness; see Isaiah 45:7), asks "LORD have you brought evil [ra`a`, causative or hiph. form] even on the widow with whom I am staying (gur, sojourning)?" Is there perhaps an implication here that the prophet is beginning to resent the heavy hand of the LORD? Nevertheless, the LORD answers by returning to the widow's son his life.

That seems to be the pattern: mountaintop, to death's dark valley, and back to the mountaintop.

But before we get to the mountaintop again, we encounter a comic interlude. We meet Obadiah, who like Elijah is also a servant of the LORD. He has even hidden some 100 prophets illegally, 50 to a cave, bringing them bread and water just as the ravens and the widow had done for Elijah, to protect them from Ahab. Obadiah is out looking for signs of water at the behest of Ahab. The famine has extended so long that the king's horses and mules are beginning to starve for lack of grass. Along the way on his search for grass, Obadiah meets Elijah, whom one might imagine to be a better find even than the grass itself. After all, Elijah is the water spigot, the one for whom (as Obadiah affirms) Ahab has been searching everywhere. But instead of being overjoyed, Obadiah is afraid. He's afraid that Elijah will hide himself again (1 Kings 18:12, "the spirit of the LORD will carry you I know not where"; see John 3:8)--so that when Ahab arrives at that spot in search of Elijah, Elijah will have disappeared once again. After several tries, Elijah convinces Obadiah to rat him out to Ahab. He does. Ahab comes to meet Elijah; and Elijah issues a challenge to the king.

(Image Source, https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKzsLX0UmrOBXgPSRaViZCxfAJ8oLrxbGkk_NgWZeH1Gr2iaf-i6jtzLTg1eIE0a3YYiYSM3nln5OB1k5gBbwPcSeUDmVswYMjPHci33oN73YaYrYmEZ15IPWS45SHfM1iwNRoWCewN8gF/s400/Israel+18+Elijah%27s+View.jpg)

And so we arrive at the summit; on Mount Carmel in the north of Israel there is to be a showdown between Elijah and the prophets of Baal--or, more directly speaking, between the LORD and Baal--for the affection of Israel. And it all has to do with food and water.

This scene is quite well known, so we will not review it, other than to note the following items:

• The 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah eat at Jezebel's table. In other words, they are fed by the queen, not by the deity.


• The contest is an eating (2 sacrificial bulls) and drinking (water) contest in which Elijah's God devours the sacrifice and laps up the water, but Baal stays completely silent. It is almost as if the LORD has not eaten in a while, that he has endured the same drought as his people Israel, his sacrificial altar having been abandoned (1 Kings 18:30).


• Elijah is all alone (not quite; he seems quite conveniently to have forgotten the 100 prophets hidden by Obadiah), severely outnumbered.


• Elijah, in his prayer (18:36), seems to seek some form of vindication, some proof that it is the LORD and not he, Elijah, who had brought the drought and famine on the people.

So it would seem, when the fire flashes from the sky and strikes the mountaintop, that Elijah has finally arrived at the apex of his career as a prophet. He is now vindicated. He has captured the hearts of Israel for the LORD, and he has captured and killed the prophets of Baal (18:40). The drought is now at an end; even the king can go feast, for the prophet "hears the sound of an abundance of rain," the welcome sound of water washing through the wadis (18:41-42).

But as we know, that isn't the end. Ahab tells Jezebel what Elijah has done. Jezebel puts out an APB, prints up a wanted poster, and puts a contract out on Elijah's life: wanted, dead or alive, a prophet of the LORD.

That's the context of our Old Testament reading today. Elijah is wanted, on the run, afraid; he has fled the country. He's back in Death Valley. He's back in the desert with no food or water, and this time with and no ravens or widows to come to his aid. While the rest of the country experiences an abundance, Elijah is enduring his own personal drought.

(George Richmond, 1824-1825; Image Source, http://www.tate.org.uk/collection/T/T02/T02102_8.jpg)

Ephesians 4:25-5:2