Here are a couple of brief thoughts to review for class that will be good introductions for grasping the power of Deuteronomy.
· Imagine if marriage vows came with a death penalty for the person who broke them. How would this change both the ceremony and the relationship which followed?
· The Torah at times represents Israel as a baby who has been born and delivered to God. As you read through the Deuteronomy 29-30 (31-32 are also good and important if you have time to read them as well) think of how you educate a child. How you will set up very basic categories of good and bad, right and wrong, etc. that allows a child to then grasp more complicated ideas. Think of how this might be working to shape the peoples’ understanding of how the world works and how they are to live in it.
· What sort of implications do you see for Deuteronomy mimicking a political treaty between a king and their subjects?
· Read Deuteronomy 6:4-5. These verses, also known as the shema, form a prayer which is one of the most important prayers within Judaism, and also within Christianity. Why do you think that is? I know this is an open ended question but this prayer has been one of the foundational blocks of faith in YHWH for over 3,000 years.
Here are just a couple of other thoughts to get us rolling for Sunday.
The name Deuteronomy is derived from two greek words and roughly translates to “Second Law.” This comes from the fact that simply skimming the book gives the impression of simply rehashing what we have already read in Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers. This is the furthest thing from the truth and Deuteronomy in fact is one of the most important books in the Bible and not simply a retelling of old news. Its importance is due largely to how it portrays the relationship between God and Israel and it is this understanding that allows us to make sense of why most of the Old Testament looks the way that it does. The books of Judges through II Kings is called the ‘Duetoronomic History” because it is a history seen in light of Deuteronomy’s teachings concerning life and death, blessing and cursing, holiness and sin, good and bad.
Think of the great speeches given over the course of human history (“I have a dream,” “we have nothing to fear but fear itself,” “a day that will live in infamy,”). Think of those men and women who have stood before crowds, microphones, firing squads, etc. and have uttered words which have changed the world. What made them great? What has caused them to continue to ring in our memories? How do we use their words now? Would Martin Luther King Jr. have ever dreamt all the ways people would borrow his words to give power to their own? We will talk more about this in class as it relates to nature of the book and dating but for the time being focus on the power of “words” (This is the Hebrew name for the book).
Friday, December 26, 2008
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Leviticus
Leviticus: Nothing but the blood
Page 73 of Drama talks about the interaction between the holiness of God and sinfulness of people. The interaction of these two ideas, which have now been thrown side by side because of the covenant and tabernacle, drive not only Leviticus, but the rest of the Bible. Leviticus can be divided many ways but most simply notice that the first 16 chapters regulate holiness within the cult (that is a non pejorative usage which describes something as a religious system) and the final 11 chapters regulate holiness amongst the people (within the camp).
As you read, and I appreciate some of you already have completed the reading, imagine that the ‘wilderness’ is not just a physical location, but also a spiritual one. This is what I mean by that. The Hebrew for wilderness is meed-bar and is basically a participle derived from the verb da-var which means ‘to speak’. The wilderness is a place of speaking. God leads the Israelites out of the world defined by Pharaoh and slavery and begins speaking to them about a new world. God is not just telling them what they have to do, He is inviting them to see the world in a completely new way. His words are a gracious invitation to live in a new world. Take for example the commands concerning slavery and foreigners. How do these compare to the Egyptian’s commands concerning foreigners and slaves?
We often time have trouble with the sacrificial system and have a tendency to look at it as something evil of which we are set free by the work of Christ. Often I have heard people say that the laws themselves are oppressive and burdensome. Read through these questions and try to work through one or two for class, or all of them if you want.
What is holiness? Why is this a problem? How is this dealt with? Walter Brueggemann says that the term both describes the sheer ‘otherness’ of YWHW but also provides a righteous direction that His people are to follow. This varied usage, as Walter Brueggemann points out, is derived from a term which attempts to describe that which most characterizes YHWH. Is it any wonder that it avoids a single definition? So what does it mean to “be a holy nation” (Exodus 19:6)?
What is sin? How is it dealt with? Here are some other texts which make this discussion ‘interesting.’ Psalm 51:16-19; Isaiah 11:1; Hebrews 9:13, 10:14
What do you think about the idea that these laws are oppressive and evil? What does it mean that Christ said not a yod or tittle (the smallest marks in Hebrew writing) would disappear and that He had come not to abolish but to fulfill the law when compared to the fact that certain aspects of the law seem to be abolished in the church’s practices (e.g. eating with gentiles, eating unclean animals, not requiring circumcision, etc.).
What in the Old Testament might support or contradict this idea?
What happens in the New Testament?
Why don’t we as Christians follow all of these laws anymore? This website (http://www.positiveatheism.org/writ/drlaura.htm) is done in a mocking fashion but poses challenges that I think many in the church would have a hard time answering. How would you respond to these questions?
Side note: The schedule lists Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy for December 7th and then a dinner the following meeting. Sometimes less is more. This is not really a survey course but one looking to help us be better readers and livers (?) of the Bible. We want to give time for class interaction so we’re not going to do a whole lot with Numbers in class but the page and a half in Drama has some important stuff. If anyone wants I’d be glad to meet outside of class. We’ll talk about the dinner and what people want to do but that will be a good time to do Deuteronomy which is in many respects takes the teaching of Exodus and Leviticus and frames it in a way that is the standard against which the rest of the Old Testament is measured.
Page 73 of Drama talks about the interaction between the holiness of God and sinfulness of people. The interaction of these two ideas, which have now been thrown side by side because of the covenant and tabernacle, drive not only Leviticus, but the rest of the Bible. Leviticus can be divided many ways but most simply notice that the first 16 chapters regulate holiness within the cult (that is a non pejorative usage which describes something as a religious system) and the final 11 chapters regulate holiness amongst the people (within the camp).
As you read, and I appreciate some of you already have completed the reading, imagine that the ‘wilderness’ is not just a physical location, but also a spiritual one. This is what I mean by that. The Hebrew for wilderness is meed-bar and is basically a participle derived from the verb da-var which means ‘to speak’. The wilderness is a place of speaking. God leads the Israelites out of the world defined by Pharaoh and slavery and begins speaking to them about a new world. God is not just telling them what they have to do, He is inviting them to see the world in a completely new way. His words are a gracious invitation to live in a new world. Take for example the commands concerning slavery and foreigners. How do these compare to the Egyptian’s commands concerning foreigners and slaves?
We often time have trouble with the sacrificial system and have a tendency to look at it as something evil of which we are set free by the work of Christ. Often I have heard people say that the laws themselves are oppressive and burdensome. Read through these questions and try to work through one or two for class, or all of them if you want.
What is holiness? Why is this a problem? How is this dealt with? Walter Brueggemann says that the term both describes the sheer ‘otherness’ of YWHW but also provides a righteous direction that His people are to follow. This varied usage, as Walter Brueggemann points out, is derived from a term which attempts to describe that which most characterizes YHWH. Is it any wonder that it avoids a single definition? So what does it mean to “be a holy nation” (Exodus 19:6)?
What is sin? How is it dealt with? Here are some other texts which make this discussion ‘interesting.’ Psalm 51:16-19; Isaiah 11:1; Hebrews 9:13, 10:14
What do you think about the idea that these laws are oppressive and evil? What does it mean that Christ said not a yod or tittle (the smallest marks in Hebrew writing) would disappear and that He had come not to abolish but to fulfill the law when compared to the fact that certain aspects of the law seem to be abolished in the church’s practices (e.g. eating with gentiles, eating unclean animals, not requiring circumcision, etc.).
What in the Old Testament might support or contradict this idea?
What happens in the New Testament?
Why don’t we as Christians follow all of these laws anymore? This website (http://www.positiveatheism.org/writ/drlaura.htm) is done in a mocking fashion but poses challenges that I think many in the church would have a hard time answering. How would you respond to these questions?
Side note: The schedule lists Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy for December 7th and then a dinner the following meeting. Sometimes less is more. This is not really a survey course but one looking to help us be better readers and livers (?) of the Bible. We want to give time for class interaction so we’re not going to do a whole lot with Numbers in class but the page and a half in Drama has some important stuff. If anyone wants I’d be glad to meet outside of class. We’ll talk about the dinner and what people want to do but that will be a good time to do Deuteronomy which is in many respects takes the teaching of Exodus and Leviticus and frames it in a way that is the standard against which the rest of the Old Testament is measured.
Exodus 16-40
Exodus II: Shaping their imaginations and their world
There are several things to take note of through the end of Exodus:
First the material dealing with covenant, chapters 19-24:
· What patterns do you see emerging right from the very beginning of their wandering from the Red Sea to Sinai?
· What is the purpose of spending such a long time at Sinai?
· What did you think of the comments made on page 68 of Drama regarding the vassal, or suzerain, treaty and the discussion of the laws given as being genuine for the Israelite’s context? Often times we think that the laws given are some sort of heavenly rulebook. Is this what seems to be presented? If you have extra time (I know it’s the holidays and all) read a little of Hammurabi’s Code (Google it with the words Torah and you will find a variety of websites with all different kinds of answers).
· Think about the tension created by the fierceness and compassion of some of the commands. What do you think God is communicating?
Then the material dealing with God’s presence (tabernacle), chapters 25-31:
· After the material dealing with the covenant, why do you think God’s presence gets so much attention?
· God speaks seven times through this section (25:1; 30:11, 17, 22, 34; 31:1: 12). Take a moment and look up what God says in 31:12. Why could God be communicating about the creating of the Tabernacle?
· Think about the awesome holiness of God that is communicated here in contrast to the picture of Jesus as a little baby lying in a feeding trough. What are some theological questions or ideas that come out of this?
There are several things to take note of through the end of Exodus:
First the material dealing with covenant, chapters 19-24:
· What patterns do you see emerging right from the very beginning of their wandering from the Red Sea to Sinai?
· What is the purpose of spending such a long time at Sinai?
· What did you think of the comments made on page 68 of Drama regarding the vassal, or suzerain, treaty and the discussion of the laws given as being genuine for the Israelite’s context? Often times we think that the laws given are some sort of heavenly rulebook. Is this what seems to be presented? If you have extra time (I know it’s the holidays and all) read a little of Hammurabi’s Code (Google it with the words Torah and you will find a variety of websites with all different kinds of answers).
· Think about the tension created by the fierceness and compassion of some of the commands. What do you think God is communicating?
Then the material dealing with God’s presence (tabernacle), chapters 25-31:
· After the material dealing with the covenant, why do you think God’s presence gets so much attention?
· God speaks seven times through this section (25:1; 30:11, 17, 22, 34; 31:1: 12). Take a moment and look up what God says in 31:12. Why could God be communicating about the creating of the Tabernacle?
· Think about the awesome holiness of God that is communicated here in contrast to the picture of Jesus as a little baby lying in a feeding trough. What are some theological questions or ideas that come out of this?
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