FRAMEWORK FOR CHRISTIAN LEARNING GOD'S STORY · PDF fileBlessed Lord, who caused all holy ......

SCHOOL FOR MINISTRY RESOURCING GOD’S PEOPLE FOR MISSION

FRAMEWORK FOR CHRISTIAN LEARNING

GOD'S STORY

RESOURCE SHEETS

God’s Story Resource Sheets Revision: 18 September 2017

Diocese of Hereford School for Ministry

FRAMEWORK FOR CHRISTIAN LEARNING

GOD’S STORY Session 1 Resource sheet 1.1 Opening and closing worship

Opening Worship

A short time of silent recollection

The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure and gives wisdom to the simple.

The statutes of the Lord are right and rejoice the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure and gives light to the eyes.

The fear of the Lord is clean and endures for ever; the judgements of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.

More to be desired are they than gold, more than much fine gold, sweeter also than honey, dripping from the honeycomb.

By them also is your servant taught and in keeping them there is great reward. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer. Amen.

From Psalm 19

A reading from Hebrews 1: 1-4

Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds. He is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word. When he had made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

A short time for silent reflection, after which the facilitator will close the opening worship with prayer.

Closing Prayer

Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: help us so to hear them, to read, mark, learn and inwardly digest them that, through patience, and the comfort of your holy word, we may embrace and for ever hold fast the hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Saviour Jesus Christ, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Collect for the Last Sunday after Trinity


GOD’S STORY SESSION 1

Resource sheet 1.2

What this course is meant to do

Doing justice to the whole Bible in the course of just six sessions would be an impossible task of course.

So this course has the modest aim of covering the overall sweep of the Biblical story by focussing on a

number of significant characters, and in particular, the ways in which they experienced God's call on

their lives.

The letter to the Hebrews begins, 'Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by

the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son...' Time and again, the stories which

make up the Bible are set in motion by God's action, not that of human actors, however holy or just.

These days, people sometimes talk about searching for meaning, or a purpose in life, if not for God

himself. But in the Bible, God doesn't appear at the end of a human quest – far from it. It's the other way

around: the title of a celebrated book by the 20th century rabbi, Abraham Joshua Heschel, says it all: God

in Search of Man.

This course has been put together on the assumption that, from first to last, the Bible is the story of God's

initiative and of human response to that initiative. By using the idea of God's call as our key, the hope is

that not only will we learn some new things about the big picture of God's love affair with his creation,

but that also we will receive food for thought about what can happen as God continues to call us today.

The characters which have been chosen include some famous names which are essential to the unfolding

of the Biblical story and some who are more incidental. They have been chosen because, together, they

provide a way in to some key episodes and themes in the story, and because they illustrate something

of the variety of ways in which God's call continues to be experienced.

If you want to do some reading, why not try

Michael Coogan, The Old Testament: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: OUP (2008) Luke Timothy Johnson, The New Testament: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: OUP (2010)

Follow-up Task

This is for those registered for the Framework for Christian Learning certificate and any others who would like to test their learning at the end of the module. We suggest about 1000 words. Please send your completed work to [email protected].

‘The Bible is a bunch of made-up stories about a remote people

that has nothing to say to us today’.

Thinking about what you’ve learned on this course, how would you respond?

mailto:[email protected]


GOD’S STORY Session 1

Resource sheet 1.3

Quiz

1. How many books are there in Protestant Bibles? (55... 66… 77...?)

2. How many books are there in Roman Catholic Bibles? (37… 73… 144…?)

3. List the first five books of the Bible in the right order.

4. What do the following books have in common? Haggai Obadiah Amos Jonah

5. From which book do these words come from: For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance…

6. Place these Israelite kings in the correct chronological order: David Solomon Saul

7. Who succeeded Moses as leader of the Hebrews? (Elijah… Jeremiah… Joshua…?)

8. In the 6th century BC the kingdom of Judah was overrun and its leading people taken into exile – by which empire? (Babylon… Assyria… Egypt… Persia...?)

9. Which New Testament book do scholars generally believe was the first to be written? (Matthew… Mark… 1 Thessalonians… Hebrews…?)

10. Which of the gospel writers also wrote the book of Acts? (Matthew… Mark… Luke… John…?)

11. Roughly when do scholars believe that the last New Testament book was written? (100… 200… 300… 1662…?)

12. The Jewish historian Josephus mentions four ‘schools’, or sects, in first century Judaism. Which one is not mentioned in the New Testament? (Sadducees… Pharisees… Essenes… Zealots…?)

The Bible remains the world’s best-seller

Although it is impossible to obtain exact figures, there is little doubt that the Bible is the world's best-selling and most widely distributed book. A survey by the Bible Society concluded that around 2.5 billion copies were printed between 1815 and 1975, but more recent estimates put the number at more than 5 billion.

By the end of 1995, the whole Bible had been translated into 349 languages; 2,123 languages have at least one book of the Bible in that language.



Resource sheet 1.4

Quiz: The Answers!

1. How many books are there in Protestant Bibles? 66

2. How many books are there in Roman Catholic Bibles? 73

The Old Testament section of Roman Catholic bibles is based on what is known as the Alexandrian Canon, the collection used by Greek-speaking Jews in Alexandria (Egypt) in the early part of the Christian era. The Protestant reformers of the 16th century preferred the Hebrew Palestinian Canon, which lacked the books of Tobit, Judith, 1 & 2 Maccabees, Baruch, Ecclesiasticus (also known as Sirach) and Wisdom of Solomon. Together these are known as the Apocrypha, or deuterocanonical (i.e. canonical, or authoritative, in a secondary sense) books.

3. List the first five books of the Bible in the right order. Genesis – Exodus – Leviticus – Numbers – Deuteronomy

According to ancient tradition, these books – also known as the Pentateuch, the Law or Torah – were ascribed to Moses. Scholars have long been agreed that they actually have much more complex histories of composition. Some elements were first handed down for generations by word of mouth before beginning to be set down in writing, perhaps in the 10th century BC. Other parts are probably much later, dating from the time of the Exile (587-539 BC).

4. What do the following books have in common? All are prophetic books.

From Moses onwards, the people of Israel produced many prophets. Although not unique to Israel, Biblical prophecy has a distinctive character: it is less concerned with fore-telling the future for its own sake than it is with pointing out the consequences of current actions, calling people to repentance and affirming hope in God’s saving purposes.

5. From which book do these words come from: Ecclesiastes (also known as Qoheleth, or the Preacher) chapter 3

Ecclesiastes is thought to be have been composed during the period when Judah was part of the Persian empire (539 – 333 BC). This was the hey-day of so-called Wisdom literature, which was concerned with calmly pondering the big questions of life.

6. Place these Israelite kings in the correct chronological order: Saul David Solomon

Saul, a member of the tribe of Benjamin, was the first to be anointed king of all twelve Israelite tribes (c. 1000 BC). Previously each tribe had arranged its own affairs, occasionally joining together with the others to fight a common foe under the leadership of a divinely inspired war-lord – one of the Judges. Saul was supplanted as king by David, a young warrior from the tribe of Judah. After much family intrigue, David was in turn succeeded by one of his sons, Solomon. After Solomon’s time the kingdom divided permanently – David’s descendants continuing to reign over Judah and Benjamin from Jerusalem (the southern kingdom), while the northern kingdom comprising the other tribes was ruled by a series of usurpers.

7. Who succeeded Moses as leader of the Hebrews? Joshua

Famously, Moses led the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt. Joshua took over on the threshold of the promisedland. The book that carries his name is arguably the most difficult for the modern reader, as it contains gory details of how the Hebrews (partly) dispossessed the native inhabitants of the land.

Cont…


Resource sheet 1.4 Quiz: The Answers!

… Cont

8. In the 6th century BC the kingdom of Judah was overrun and its leading people taken into exile – by which empire? Babylon

‘By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept at the memory of Zion’ (Psalm 137). This was a huge trauma for the people of Judah: the Jerusalem Temple had been destroyed by the invading Babylonians, and the exiles were left trying to ‘sing the LORD’s song in a strange land’. However it proved to be a fruitful time in the development of the Jewish faith, with the consolidation of synagogue worship and the Sabbath day rest, and the emergence of important new theological emphases.

9. Which New Testament book do scholars generally believe was the first to be written? 1 Thessalonians

Scholars believe Paul wrote the first of his letters, 1 Thessalonians, in 51 AD – some time before any of the gospels achieved their current forms (between 60 and 100 AD). It’s striking therefore that the earliest evidence we have for what the first Christians believed is in the writings of Paul.

10. Which of the gospel writers also wrote the book of Acts? Luke

Luke’s gospel begins:

‘Since many have undertaken to set down an orderly account of the events that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed on to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word, I too decided, after investigating everything carefully from the very first, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the truth concerning the things about which you have been instructed...’

While the Acts of the Apostles begins:

‘In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning until the day when he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen…’

Who was Theophilus? As his name means ‘lover of God’, it could be anyone.

11. Roughly when do scholars believe that the last New Testament book was written? 100

The last of the New Testament books to be written probably included the gospel and epistles of John, Jude, 2 Peter and Revelation. Not all early Christian communities were sure about the status of some of these later writings, and there was debate about e.g. 2 Peter and Revelation as the Church gradually moved to establishing a single unified canon (= ‘rule’, authorised collection) of books.

12. The Jewish historian Josephus mentions four ‘schools’, or sects, in first century Judaism. Which one is not mentioned in the New Testament? Essenes

As mentioned on Resource Sheet 4.1, the Essenes seem to have been a reclusive, quietistic sect living apart from, or on the edges of, mainstream society. The archaeological site excavated at Qumran is thought to have been an Essene settlement, and shows that they produced their own sacred writings and particular rituals. They were very critical of the Sadducee establishment running the Jerusalem Temple, and entertained strong messianic hopes. It has been suggested that perhaps John the Baptist had Essene connections.



Resource sheet 1.5

Organising the Library

What we now know as the Old Testament was still in the process of being finalised during the time of Jesus. The authoritative collection of Hebrew books that came to be established in Palestine was divided into three sections. The Greek counterpart that came to be established among Jews in Alexandria, northern Egypt, was divided into four.

THE PALESTINIAN CANON

Law (Torah) Prophets Writings

Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers Deuteronomy

Joshua Judges 1 & 2 Samuel 1 & 2 Kings Isaiah Jeremiah Ezekiel Hosea Joel Amos Obadiah Jonah Micah Nahum Habakkuk Zephaniah Haggai Zechariah Malachi

Former Prophets Latter Prophets Minor Prophets, or Scroll of the Twelve

Psalms Proverbs Job Daniel Ezra Nehemiah 1 & 2 Chronicles Ruth Song of Songs Ecclesiastes Lamentations Esther

Scroll of Five

All Greek to me

Most Old Testament quotations in the New Testament come from a Greek translation produced

in Alexandria (northern Egypt) in the 2nd and 3rd centuries BC. This is called the Septuagint, and often denoted by the Roman numeral LXX, to reflect the tradition that it was the work of 72 scholars (so it should strictly be denoted LXXII!).

It catered for the many Jewish people dispersed across the ancient world for whom Greek, rather than Hebrew, was their first language.


Resource sheet 1.5 Organising the Library

THE ALEXANDRIAN CANON

Law Histories Poetical Books Prophetic Books

Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers Deuteronomy

Joshua Judges Ruth 1, 2, 3 & 4 Kingdoms

1 & 2 Samuel and 1 & 2 Kings in Hebrew

1 & 2 Chronicles Esdras B

Ezra and Nehemiah in Hebrew

Esther Judith Tobit 1 & 2 Maccabees

Psalms Proverbs Ecclesiastes Song of Songs Job Wisdom of Solomon Ecclesiasticus

Isaiah Jeremiah Baruch Lamentations Ezekiel Daniel Hosea Joel Amos Obadiah Jonah Micah Nahum Habakkuk Zephaniah Haggai Zechariah Malachi

By the time of Jesus, the status of the books of the Law and the Prophets was well established, but that

of the Writings less so. However the Psalms, for example, were well known and widely used in worship.

The New Testament began life as varied collections of literature in local churches in the near east and

eastern Mediterranean in the mid-first century. Writings associated with the apostles – e.g. Paul’s letters

- had high status, and began to be shared among neighbouring churches. In this way numerous proto-

new testaments came into being.

During the second century it became apparent that consistency across the Church was desirable, and so

began a process of formal canonisation. This was complete by the end of the fourth century. In the

process, a number of other writings which had been held in high regard by some Christian communities

were not included in what we now know as the New Testament.

Paul’s Epistles Gospels Other Epistles Apocalypse

Romans 1 & 2 Corinthians Galatians Ephesians Philippians Colossians 1 & 2 Thessalonians 1 & 2 Timothy Titus Philemon

Matthew Mark Luke John

Hebrews James 1 & 2 Peter 1, 2 & 3 John Jude

Revelation



Resource sheet 1.6

Activity

1. Where in the Bible can each of the following accounts be found?

(a) As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake—for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, ‘Follow me and I will make you fish for people.’ And immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.

(b) Meanwhile Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Now as he was going along and approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?’ He asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ The reply came, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.’

(c) At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his room; the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was. Then the Lord called, ‘Samuel! Samuel!’… Now the LORD came and stood there, calling as before, ‘Samuel! Samuel!’ And Samuel said, ‘Speak, for your servant is listening.’

(d) Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; he led his flock beyond the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush; he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed. Then Moses said, ‘I must turn aside and look at this great sight, and see why the bush is not burned up.’ When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, ‘Moses, Moses!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’

(e) Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. The seraph touched my mouth with it and said: ‘Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out.’ Then I heard the voice of the LORD saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I; send me!’

(f) I, John, your brother who share with you in Jesus the persecution and the kingdom and the patient endurance, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. I was in the spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet saying, ‘Write in a book what you see and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamum, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.’

(g) And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east; and there he put the man whom he had formed… The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, ‘You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.’

2. What do these extracts all have in common?


Resource sheet 1.6

Homework

If possible, have a look at the following short video from the Nottingham University Bibledex website before the next session – it will put all our chapter & verse hunting during this course into context! http://www.bibledex.com/verses/versification.html

Next time… We’ll be looking at the following passages – do take the opportunity to find them in your Bible and read them in advance: Genesis 12: 1-3 Exodus 3: 1-15

http://www.bibledex.com/verses/versification.html



Resource sheet 1.7

Timelines of the Bible



Resource sheet 2.1

Abraham and Sarah

Abram/Abraham, widely seen as the forefather of God' people by Jews, Christians and Muslims, was a

nomadic figure. Originally from Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq), he perhaps settled in Canaan (modern

day Israel), the land of God's promise, somewhere around 1900 BC.

Genesis 12: 1-3

Now the Lord said to Abram, ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’

1. Have you ever set out on a journey without knowing quite where it would lead?

Why? How did that feel?

2. Which words, or set of related words, appear most frequently in this short passage?

What do we understand by these?

A Pioneering Faith

Writing probably in the final decades of the first century AD, the anonymous writer of the letter to the

Hebrews makes a striking claim: 'Only faith can guarantee the blessings that we hope for, or prove the

existence of realities that at present remain unseen' (Hebrews 11:1, Jerusalem Bible).

The writer uses the example of Abraham and Sarah to illustrate his point. He stresses that, in setting

out without knowing where they would end up, they were obeying a call. That willingness to say 'Yes'

derived from faith in the God who did the calling and trusted the promises God had made. Likewise,

faith was needed to raise a family in a foreign land, not least because both parents were well beyond

usual child-bearing age.

The writer points out though that those promises weren't fulfilled during Abraham and Sarah's own

lifetime. God's blessing would only play out fully in the future, ultimately only through God's work in

Jesus. But crucial in setting the scene for this was Abraham and Sarah's readiness to see themselves

always as immigrants: 'in transit', not fully belonging where they were, but willing to move on into an

open future, trusting that God had made ready for them their true and eternal home.


Resource sheet 2.1 Abraham and Sarah

Notice that the writer of Hebrews sees Abraham and Sarah primarily as exemplars of faith:

1. What light does this cast on the notion of a Biblical faith?

2. How does this perhaps contrast with ways in which the word faith tends to be used today?

3. What do you make of the suggestion that God's promises may only get fulfilled beyond

the horizon of our own lives – or of our own expectations?

Hebrews or Israelites?

These words are synonyms.

People disagree about where the word ‘Hebrew’ comes from. Some people think it refers to Abraham’s ancestor Eber (Gen. 11: 14-26); others think it comes from the word abar, ‘to cross over’, relating to the origin of the people across the river Euphrates in Mesopotamia; others again refer to the apiru, a diverse and socially inferior group of people who lived on the edges of settled civilizations between Egypt and Mesopotamia during the second millennium BC.

‘Israel’ was originally a new name given to Jacob by his mysterious opponent at the ford of the river Jabbok (Gen. 32: 22-32). It probably means ‘May God show his strength’. By extension Jacob’s descendants are known by this name too.



Resource sheet 2.2

Moses: the story so far

Images 1, 2, 5:

© Revd Henry Martin/ FreeBibleimages.org

Images 3, 4, 6:

© Sweet Publishing/ FreeBibleimages.org


Resource sheet 2.2 Moses

A Burning Bush

From Exodus 3

Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; he led his flock beyond the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush; he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed. 3Then Moses said, ‘I must turn aside and look at this great sight, and see why the bush is not burned up.’ 4When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, ‘Moses, Moses!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ 5Then he said, ‘Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.’ 6He said further, ‘I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

7 Then the Lord said, ‘I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings, 8and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the country of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 9The cry of the Israelites has now come to me; I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them. 10So come, I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.’ 11But Moses said to God, ‘Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?’ 12He said, ‘I will be with you; and this shall be the sign for you that it is I who sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God on this mountain.’

13 But Moses said to God, ‘If I come to the Israelites and say to them, “The God of your ancestors has sent me to you”, and they ask me, “What is his name?” what shall I say to them?’ 14God said to Moses, ‘I am who I am.’ He said further, ‘Thus you shall say to the Israelites, “I am has sent me to you.” ’ 15God also said to Moses, ‘Thus you shall say to the Israelites, “The Lord, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you”: This is my name for ever, and this my title for all generations.'

1. Bearing in mind Moses' backstory, what words would you use to describe him?

2. What words would you use to describe God's call to Moses in this passage?

3. How would you describe Moses' response to God's call?

4. What does this episode suggest about the nature of God's call?



Resource sheet 2.3

Blessing

“In most Biblical texts, the associated verbs (to bless), adjectives (blessed) and nouns (blessing,

blessedness) express a reciprocity pertaining between God and his chosen people. God blesses them as

a mark of his grace and favour; their blessing of God is a recognition of his presence among them. His

blessing conveys to his people a share in his own vitality and ageless purpose. Their blessing of him,

often in song, dance, and instrumental music, celebrates their gratitude for his goodness and help. Each

movement in this mutual activity elicits the other, so that the words point to the conjunction of two

activities, especially in worship.”

Paul S. Minear in The Oxford Companion to the Bible, eds Bruce M. Metzger & Michael D. Coogan (Oxford University Press 1993)

Homework

Next time we’ll be looking at the story of Ruth. To prepare for this please watch the short video available at http://www.bibledex.com/videos/ruth.html

OR (AND, if you’re feeling keen!) read the book of Ruth (only 4 chapters)

Next time…

We’ll be looking at the following passages – do take the opportunity to find them in your Bible and read them in advance:

Ruth 1: 1-18

Jeremiah 1: 4-10; 20: 7-13

What were the Hebrews doing in Egypt?

According to Genesis the family of Jacob migrated to Egypt because of famine in Canaan. This was facilitated by Jacob’s son Joseph, who had been made governor by the Egyptian pharaoh. Jacob’s descendants remained in Egypt, multiplied and thrived until the advent of a new pharaoh who knew nothing of Joseph: this was the start of forced labour for the Hebrews.

http://www.bibledex.com/videos/ruth.html



Resource sheet 3.1

Ruth’s Story

Ruth 1: 1-18 (from The Message)

Dramatis personae: Narrator 1, Narrator 2, Naomi, Orpah, Ruth

Narrator 1 Once upon a time—it was back in the days when judges led Israel— there was a famine

in the land. A man from Bethlehem in Judah left home to live in the country of Moab, he

and his wife and his two sons. The man’s name was Elimelech; his wife’s name was

Naomi; his sons were named Mahlon and Kilion—all Ephrathites from Bethlehem in

Judah. They all went to the country of Moab and settled there.

Narrator 2 Elimelech died and Naomi was left, she and her two sons. The sons took Moabite wives;

the name of the first was Orpah, the second Ruth. They lived there in Moab for the next

ten years. But then the two brothers, Mahlon and Kilion, died. Now the woman was left

without either her young men or her husband.

Narrator 1 One day she got herself together, she and her two daughters-in-law, to leave the country

of Moab and set out for home; she had heard that the LORD had been pleased to visit his

people and give them food. And so she started out from the place she had been living,

she and her two daughters-in-law with her, on the road back to the land of Judah.

Narrator 2 After a short while on the road, Naomi told her two daughters-in-law,

Naomi Go back. Go home and live with your mothers. And may the LORD treat you as graciously

as you treated your deceased husbands and me. May the LORD give each of you a new

home and a new husband!

Narrator 2 She kissed them and they cried openly. They said,

Ruth & Orpah No, we’re going on with you to your people.

Narrator 2 But Naomi was firm:

Naomi Go back, my dear daughters. Why would you come with me? Do you suppose I still have

sons in my womb who can become your future husbands? Go back, dear daughters—on

your way, please! I’m too old to get a husband. Why, even if I said, ‘There’s still hope!’

and this very night got a man and had sons, can you imagine being satisfied to wait until

they were grown? Would you wait that long to get married again? No, dear daughters;

this is a bitter pill for me to swallow—more bitter for me than for you. The LORD has

dealt me a hard blow.

Cont…


Resource sheet 3.1 Ruth’s Story

… cont

Narrator 1 Again they cried openly. Orpah kissed her mother-in-law good-bye; but Ruth embraced

her and held on. Naomi said,

Naomi Look, your sister-in-law is going back home to live with her own people and gods; go

with her.

Narrator 1 But Ruth said,

Ruth Don’t force me to leave you; don’t make me go home. Where you go, I go; and where you

live, I’ll live. Your people are my people, your God is my God; where you die, I’ll die, and

that’s where I’ll be buried, so help me God—not even death itself is going to come

between us!

Narrator 2 When Naomi saw that Ruth had her heart set on going with her, she gave in. And so the

two of them travelled on together to Bethlehem.

1. Why do you think Ruth showed such faithfulness towards her mother-in-law?

2. Why was this faithfulness so remarkable?

Ruth in Bethlehem

Ruth gets noticed by a relative of her late father-in-law, a man named Boaz. In purchasing a field

belonging to the late Elimelech, Boaz also acquires Ruth as his wife. They have a son, Obed, a grandson,

Jesse, and a great-grandson, David, who goes on to become Israel's most celebrated king.

3. What makes King David's family tree remarkable?



Resource sheet 3.2

Kings and Prophets: good, bad and indifferent

When the Hebrews first settled in Canaan they were little more than a

confederation of tribes, occasionally united to fight against a common foe by one of the so-called Judges:

'cometh the hour, cometh the war-lord'!

Eventually there arose a popular clamour for a king – someone who would exercise authority in an on-

going way, and would strengthen the identity of the tribes as a single people. Saul, David and David's

son Solomon were anointed by God to this role in turn (not without much intrigue), but on Solomon's

death the kingdom divided. After that, David's dynasty would continue to rule from Jerusalem over the

southern kingdom, now reduced to the tribes of Judah and Benjamin; while the other tribes together

made up a northern kingdom, ruled over by an unsavoury succession of usurpers – that, at least, is how

the author of the books of Kings tells the story.

In due course both kingdoms fell foul of regional geopolitics. The northern kingdom was annihilated by

the Assyrian empire in 722 BC. The southern kingdom survived this period only to fall under the shadow

of the next big player to emerge from the east – Babylon.

Throughout this time numerous prophets arose in both kingdoms, typically with a challenging message

for their hearers: change your ways, or disaster will overtake you. Jeremiah was one such prophet,

ministering in Jerusalem during the final years before the Babylonians descended, destroying the city,

the temple, and taking the leading people away into exile.

Jeremiah 1: 4-10

Now the word of the LORD came to me saying,

‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,

and before you were born I consecrated you;

I appointed you a prophet to the nations.’

Then I said, ‘Ah, LORD God! Truly I do not know how to

speak, for I am only a boy.’

But the LORD said to me,

‘Do not say, “I am only a boy”;

for you shall go to all to whom I send you,

and you shall speak whatever I command you.

Do not be afraid of them,

for I am with you to deliver you, says the LORD.’

Then the LORD put out his hand and touched my

mouth; and the LORD said to me,

‘Now I have put my words in your mouth.

See, today I appoint you over nations and over

kingdoms,

to pluck up and to pull down,

to destroy and to overthrow,

to build and to plant.’

1. What strikes you about this account of Jeremiah's call be to a prophet?

What is prophecy?

Prophecy is all about bringing the word of God to his people. This can sometimes take the form of (eccentric) actions as well as speech.

Often God’s message is one of challenge – condemning ways in which people are failing to live according to God’s law - and pointing to the disastrous consequences of such failure. Equally prophets can bring words of consolation, hope and reassurance. Either way, God’s purposes cannot ultimately be confounded.

Prophecy is less to do with forecasting an inevitable future than it is to do with eliciting a right response to God’s gracious and just initiative.

.


Resource sheet 3.2 Kings and Prophets: good, bad and indifferent

From Jeremiah 20

7 O LORD, you have enticed me, and I was enticed;

you have overpowered me, and you have prevailed.

I have become a laughing-stock all day long; everyone mocks me. 8 For whenever I speak, I must cry out, I must shout, ‘Violence and destruction!’

For the word of the LORD has become for me a reproach and derision all day long. 9 If I say, ‘I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name’,

then within me there is something like a burning fire shut up in my bones;

I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot. 10 For I hear many whispering: ‘Terror is all around!

Denounce him! Let us denounce him!’

All my close friends are watching for me to stumble.

‘Perhaps he can be enticed, and we can prevail against him,

and take our revenge on him.’ 11 But the LORD is with me like a dread warrior;

therefore my persecutors will stumble, and they will not prevail.

They will be greatly shamed, for they will not succeed.

Their eternal dishonour will never be forgotten. 12 O LORD of hosts, you test the righteous, you see the heart and the mind;

let me see your retribution upon them, for to you I have committed my cause. 13 Sing to the LORD; praise the LORD!

For he has delivered the life of the needy from the hands of evildoers.

2. What was the result of Jeremiah's 'speaking the truth to power'?

3. If you were a friend of his, how would you respond to Jeremiah's lament?

4. What does Jeremiah's experience suggest about being obedient to God's call?

5. Can you think of any contemporary examples of the costs of speaking the truth?

Next time…


Mark 1: 9-15; 8: 27-31; 15: 23-39

John 6: 24-35



Resource sheet 4.1

One Empire after Another

Jeremiah's ministry ended as the kingdom of Judah was swallowed up by

the Babylonian empire. Jerusalem and its temple were pillaged and the

leading citizens taken off into exile in Babylon. This was a period of deep

spiritual loss and soul-searching for the Jews.

However no empire lasts long. Within a few decades, the Babylonians had been overcome by another

empire from further east, that of the Persians. The Persian king Cyrus permitted the Jews to return

home, and this led to a period of slow and painful rebuilding.

In 333 BC there was further upheaval when the Macedonian Alexander the Great swept through the

middle east, conquering all in his path. For some 200 years the Jewish people lived under the power of

empires founded by Alexander's generals. These were Hellenistic, i.e. Greek in language and culture,

and the influence of Hellenism continued to be very prominent into New Testament times and beyond.

After a short period of notional political independence for the Jews - marked by plenty of in-fighting -

Palestine became part of the Roman empire. As with all their provinces, the Romans exacted taxes on

the Jews which were needed to maintain imperial Rome.

So many ordinary people in Jesus' time were very poor. Some were attracted by the Zealots' message of

armed resistance; others by groups such as the Essenes, who urged a life of quiet piety while awaiting

God's messiah, 'anointed one', who would kick out the Romans and restore proper temple worship.

Most however lived ordinary lives, their communities occasionally visited by wandering holy men – such

as Jesus.

Jesus and his message

Read one of the following passages (in pairs or groups), considering the questions that follow.

Mark 1

9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10And just

as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a

dove on him. 11And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.’ 12 And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. 13He was in the wilderness for forty

days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him. 14 Now after

John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, 15and saying, ‘The time is

fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.’

What does this tell us about Jesus' message?

What does this tell us about Jesus?


Resource sheet 4.1 One Empire after Another

Mark 8

27 Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way he asked his

disciples, ‘Who do people say that I am?’ 28And they answered him, ‘John the Baptist; and others, Elijah;

and still others, one of the prophets.’ 29He asked them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Peter answered

him, ‘You are the Messiah.’ 30And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him. 31Then he

began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the

chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32He said all this quite openly.

And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked

Peter and said, ‘Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human

things.’ 34He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, ‘If any want to become my followers,

let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35For those who want to save their life

will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.’



Mark 15

22Then they brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means the place of a skull). 23And they

offered him wine mixed with myrrh; but he did not take it. 24And they crucified him, and divided his

clothes among them, casting lots to decide what each should take. 25 It was nine o’clock in the morning

when they crucified him. 26The inscription of the charge against him read, ‘The King of the Jews.’ 27And

with him they crucified two bandits, one on his right and one on his left. 29Those who passed by derided

him, shaking their heads and saying, ‘Aha! You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, 30save yourself, and come down from the cross!’ 31In the same way the chief priests, along with the

scribes, were also mocking him among themselves and saying, ‘He saved others; he cannot save himself. 32Let the Messiah, the King of Israel, come down from the cross now, so that we may see and believe.’

Those who were crucified with him also taunted him.

33 When it was noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. 34At three o’clock

Jesus cried out with a loud voice, ‘Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?’ which means, ‘My God, my God, why have

you forsaken me?’ 35When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, ‘Listen, he is calling for Elijah.’ 36And someone ran, filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink, saying,

‘Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.’ 37Then Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed

his last. 38And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. 39Now when the centurion,

who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, ‘Truly this man was God’s Son!’




Resource sheet 4.1 One Empire after Another

Not quite what we were expecting

Hopes that God would soon send a messiah (a Hebrew word meaning ‘anointed one’, christos in Greek –

from which we get the anglicized ‘Christ’) were common in first century Palestine. But images of this

messiah could vary a lot.

Some were hoping for a human figure in the form of a war-lord, rather like the Judges of old, who would

unite the people in revolt to drive out the Roman oppressors. Others were hoping for the descent of a

heavenly, angelic figure who would vanquish the Romans and, just as importantly, purify the corrupt

and compromised Sadducee regime which ran the Jerusalem temple. For some, the messiah had a

distinctly royal bearing, the true Son of David, destined to restore God's kingdom, or rule, on earth. For

others, the messiah was a priestly figure, interceding to God on behalf of his chosen people, as Moses’

brother Aaron had done of old. Different echoes from the past meant that the popular first-century

image of the messiah was complex and somewhat muddled.

This is why Jesus, with his message of the Kingdom of God (or Kingdom of Heaven), could generate a

mixed response and considerable misunderstanding. Clearly, Jesus claimed that God’s kingdom was

arriving in and through his ministry – he was no simple prophet of 'pie in the sky when you die'. But

equally Jesus seemed reluctant to allow himself to be straightforwardly identified as messiah in any of

the ways just mentioned.

This coyness of Jesus about his true identity, especially as it comes across in Mark's gospel, is summed

up in the idea of the messianic secret. Against the backdrop of a jumble of at best semi-accurate

expectations about the messiah, Jesus reserves his most intimate teaching for a select few – the disciples.

Misunderstandings are then less likely - but not guaranteed.

Because even the disciples struggle to

really grasp the nature of Jesus'

kingship. Jesus' questions, 'Who do

people say that I am?’ and ‘Who do you

say that I am?' in Mark 8, get to the heart

of the matter. The disciples'

spokesman, Peter, almost gets it... but

not quite. In the end, we can't

understand what it means to call Jesus

messiah, or what the kingdom of God is

about, without seeing these ideas

through the lens of Jesus' public

execution at the hands of those who, as

things stand, wield religious and

political power.

Did you know?

… that Matthew, Mark and Luke are known as the synoptic gospels. This means that, despite some important differences, they tell the story of Jesus from a similar viewpoint.

For example, 95% of Mark’s gospel is in either Matthew or Luke – and 50% is in both.

By contrast, John tells a different kind of story about Jesus. Apart from the account of Jesus’ last days in Jerusalem, his death and resurrection, the only parts of John common to the synoptics are:

The cleansing of the Temple (but notice where it happens in John’s story compared to the others… John 2: 13-22)

A miracle of the loaves / Jesus walking on the water (John 6: 1-21)

Jesus’ anointing at Bethany (John 12: 1-11)


Resource sheet 4.2 An Unexpected Feast

From John 6

14When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, ‘This is indeed the prophet who is

to come into the world.’ 15When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to

make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

1. On the face of it, what is this story about?

2. What similarities do you notice with the passages from Mark which we looked at earlier?

Can we have some more?

From John 6

24So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into the

boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus.

25When they found him on the other side of the lake, they said to him, ‘Rabbi, when did you come here?’ 26Jesus answered them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but

because you ate your fill of the loaves. 27Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that

endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set

his seal.’ 28Then they said to him, ‘What must we do to perform the works of God?’ 29Jesus answered

them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.’

30So they said to him, ‘What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you?

What work are you performing? 31Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, “He

gave them bread from heaven to eat.” ’ 32Then Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses

who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.’

34They said to him, ‘Sir, give us this bread always.’ 35Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever

comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.'

1. In this passage, those who had been fed by Jesus earlier in chapter 6 go in search of him.

Why?

2. According to Jesus, the most important thing about the miracle of the loaves and fishes

was that it functioned as a sign. What did it signify, or point to? Why does this matter?

Next time…


Acts 22: 1-21 1 Corinthians 1: 17-25; 15: 1-26



Resource sheet 5.1

Paul – saved by grace

From Acts 22

‘Brothers and fathers, listen to the defence that I now make before you.’

2When they heard him addressing them in Hebrew, they became even more quiet. Then he said: 3‘I am

a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, educated strictly

according to our ancestral law, being zealous for God, just as all of you are today. 4I persecuted this Way

up to the point of death by binding both men and women and putting them in prison, 5as the high priest

and the whole council of elders can testify about me. From them I also received letters to the brothers

in Damascus, and I went there in order to bind those who were there and to bring them back to

Jerusalem for punishment.

6‘While I was on my way and approaching Damascus, about

noon a great light from heaven suddenly shone about me. 7I

fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, “Saul, Saul,

why are you persecuting me?” 8I answered, “Who are you,

Lord?” Then he said to me, “I am Jesus of Nazareth whom

you are persecuting.” 9Now those who were with me saw

the light but did not hear the voice of the one who was

speaking to me. 10I asked, “What am I to do, Lord?” The Lord

said to me, “Get up and go to Damascus; there you will be

told everything that has been assigned to you to do.” 11Since

I could not see because of the brightness of that light, those

who were with me took my hand and led me to Damascus.

12‘A certain Ananias, who was a devout man according to the

law and well spoken of by all the Jews living there, 13came

to me; and standing beside me, he said, “Brother Saul, regain

your sight!” In that very hour I regained my sight and saw him. 14Then he said, “The God of our ancestors

has chosen you to know his will, to see the Righteous One and to hear his own voice; 15for you will be

his witness to all the world of what you have seen and heard. 16And now why do you delay? Get up, be

baptized, and have your sins washed away, calling on his name.”

17‘After I had returned to Jerusalem and while I was praying in the temple, I fell into a trance 18and saw

Jesus saying to me, “Hurry and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony

about me.” 19And I said, “Lord, they themselves know that in every synagogue I imprisoned and beat

those who believed in you. 20And while the blood of your witness Stephen was shed, I myself was

standing by, approving and keeping the coats of those who killed him.” 21Then he said to me, “Go, for I

will send you far away to the Gentiles.” ’

Saul or Paul – what’s in a name?

Saul was a good Jewish name, that of Israel’s first king, another Benjaminite. Benjamin had been the youngest of Jacob’s sons and the smallest of the tribes, so perhaps this is partly what Paul had in his mind when he described himself as last and smallest of the apostles in 1 Corinthians 15.

In any event, the Latin name Paul is derived from the word for ‘small’; and, rather than being a post-conversion substitute for ‘Saul’, was a second name better suited for communication in a Graeco-Roman world.


Resource sheet 5.1 Paul – saved by grace

Damascus revisited?

An account of a 'Damascus Road' experience, from:

http://www.thepositiveencourager.global/d-road-damascus-experiences/

I was weeding in the garden, I’m a rose gardener, and I was weeding with my daughter, Nikki,

who had turned five a couple of weeks before that, and I have to tell you, that even though I

write books about kids, I’m really not very good with kids. And, like most of you, I’m goal

oriented and time urgent.

And I was trying to get the weeds out, and Nikki was throwing weeds in the air and running

around and dancing, and I yelled at her, and she sort of looked at me and she walked away, and

she came back and said, “Daddy, I want to talk to you.”

I said, “Yeah, Nikki?”

She said, “Yeah, Daddy, you may not have noticed, but do you remember that before I was five

years old, before my fifth birthday, I was a whiner? I whined every day from the time I was

three until the time I was five.

“And, you know, Daddy, on my fifth birthday, I decided I wasn’t gonna whine anymore. And

that was the hardest thing I’ve ever done, and I haven’t whined since. And if I can stop

whining, you can stop being so grumpy.”

This was actually an epiphany for me. First, personally, Nikki was exactly right, for fifty years

of my life, I’ve walked around being grouchy and grumpy.

And even though I’m surrounded in my life by my wife and children, who are just rays of

sunshine, and there’s no reason for my grumpiness.

So personally I decided I was going to change just like Nikki, and that’s the hardest thing I’ve

ever done, by the way. I don’t know if I’ve succeeded or not, but I’ve tried.

1. In what ways does this experience resemble Paul's? In what ways does it differ?

2. How important is it for a Christian to have undergone a Damascus Road experience?


Resource sheet 5.1 Paul Recounts his Conversion

What Mattered to Paul

From 1 Corinthians 1

17 ... Christ did not send me to baptize but to proclaim the gospel, and not with eloquent wisdom, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its power. 18 For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19For it is written, ‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.’

20Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who believe. 22For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, 23but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling-block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.

From 1 Corinthians 15

1Now I should remind you, brothers and sisters, of the good news that I proclaimed to you... 3For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, 4and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures...

12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead? 13If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; 14and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation has been in vain and your faith has been in vain. 15We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified of God that he raised Christ—whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. 16For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised. 17If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18Then those also who have died in Christ have perished. 19If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.

20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died. 21For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead has also come through a human being; 22for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ. 23But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. 24Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, after he has destroyed every ruler and every authority and power. 25For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

1. In your passage, could you spot a sentence or phrase which sums up what Paul is

arguing? In other words, what is it about the Christian message that really matters to

Paul here? Why do you think this is?

2. How does Paul's emphasis here strike you?



Resource sheet 5.2

The Crucified God

A Passage from Jurgen Moltmann, The Crucified God

[I]n 1 Cor. 1:18ff, [Paul] developed the word of the cross against wisdom and the knowledge of

God from the world, so that the knowledge of the cross would bring about liberation from the

powers of the cosmos. What is a stumbling block for the Jews and folly to the Greeks, becomes

for believers the power of God for freedom.

The question here is not whether in his polemic Paul gives a just account of historic Judaism,

faithful to the law, or of historic Hellenism, with its wisdom piety. For his polemic is aimed at

the deeper issue of the situation of dehumanised man as one who pursues his own interest, and

who, whether he is a Jew or a Greek, cannot let God be God, but must make himself the unhappy

and proud God of his own self, his fellow men, and his world...

For man seeks God in the law, and attempts to conform to him through the works of the

law, in order to bring himself into the righteousness of God. If he sees and believes in

God in the person of Christ, condemned by the law, he is set free from the legalistic

concern to justify himself.

Man seeks God in the will for political power and world domination. If he sees and

believes God in Christ who was powerless and crucified, he is set free from this desire to

have power and domination over others.

Man seeks to know God in the works and ordinances of the cosmos or the course of world

history, in order to become divine himself through knowledge. If he sees and believes

God in the suffering and dying Christ, he is set free from the concern for self-deification

which guides him towards knowledge.

Thus the knowledge of God in the crucified Christ takes seriously the situation of man in

pursuit of his own interests, man who is in reality inhuman, because he is under the

compulsion of self-justification, dominating self-assertion and illusionary self-

deification...

Appealing constantly to Paul, [Martin] Luther [1483-1546]... contrasts the knowledge of God

through his sufferings and cross with the knowledge of God through his works in creation and

history. He does not deny that man in himself can have an indirect knowledge of God from

creation, history and the soul. But man... is in practice a sinner, although he is created in the

image of God. Thus dehumanised man, who must exalt himself, because he cannot ensure

himself as he is, in practice uses religious insights only in the interest of his own self-deification.

As a result, they do not help him to achieve humanity, but only give greater force to his

inhumanity.

Cont…


Resource sheet 5.2 The Crucified God

…Cont

The knowledge of the cross is the knowledge of God in the suffering caused to him by

dehumanised man, that is, in the contrary of everything which dehumanised man seeks and

tries to attain as the deity in him.

Consequently, this knowledge does not confirm him as what he is, but destroys him. It destroys

the god, miserable in his pride, which he would like to be, and restores to us our abandoned

and despised humanity.

The knowledge of the cross brings a conflict of interest between God who has become man and

man who wishes to become God. It destroys the destruction of man. It alienates alienated man.

And in this way it restores the humanity of dehumanised man.

Jurgen Moltmann, The Crucified God (SCM, 1974), pp. 69-71

Next time…


Psalms 5, 16, 22, 140

Matthew 27: 45-50

Acts 2: 22-28

Romans 3: 9-20

Revelation 21: 1-7

And if you have a favourite Psalm, bring that along next time too.

Called Together

The Greek word chosen by the early Christians to name their new community was ecclesia. This had been used in ancient Athens to refer to the gathering of all adult male citizens; and had been adopted by the translators of the LXX to refer to the gathering of all the Israelite tribes. This brings out the early Christians’ self-understanding as a new kind of socio-political entity, rather than just a collection of individuals who happened to share some common religious interest.

As the word ecclesia also derives from the verb ‘to call’ (as in ‘to call a meeting’), it also brings out how all Christians collectively – not just a spiritual elite - were understood to be called to service by God in Christ.



Resource sheet 6.1

The Psalms

The Psalms are impossible to date with certainty; some are strongly

coupled to historical periods (e.g. Ps. 137) though most are not; some

carry the superscription ‘Of David’ and may date from David’s time, but this doesn’t necessarily mean

that they were composed by him. 85% of quotes from the Psalms in the New Testament are from the

Septuagint.

Some scholars have argued that they are a mixture of private compositions (the ‘I’ psalms, often laments)

and cultic compositions (i.e. intended for use in Temple worship). Others have linked many of the

psalms to a great autumn festival.

A Time and a Place for Everything…

There are many different ways of organising the Psalms – what follows isn’t definitive, but provides a

helpful starting point.

Hymns of praise. The Hebrew word for the book of Psalms literally means ‘hymns’.

Laments. This is the largest category – more than 50 psalms are individual or communal

laments. They often include expressions of trust in God’s salvation and/or thanksgiving

for that salvation; sometimes the themes of trust and/ or thanksgiving can dominate.

Royal psalms. In these the king is either the speaker or the focus of attention.

Wisdom psalms. These show similarities to the wider Wisdom literature of the Old

Testament (e.g. Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Job). Their general theme is reflection on the

human lot before God, often pondering the link between the fates of the wicked and the

righteous.

Liturgical psalms. These are associated with worship in the Jerusalem Temple,

especially those sung as worshippers approached it.

Historical psalms. These recount aspects of the story of the people of Israel. Note that

some could also be categorised under other headings, e.g. hymns or wisdom psalms.

Look up the following psalms. Which heading would you put each one under?

Ps 134

Ps 106

Ps 8

Ps 128

Ps 100

Ps 88

Ps 21

Ps 23


Resource sheet 6.1 The Psalms

More than Meets the Eye

Along with other Old Testament books, portions of the Psalms are quoted extensively in the New

Testament. When this happens, the passage quoted can be given quite an original slant.

Look at the passages below, in each case starting with the psalm. What does the passage mean in this,

its original context? Then look at the New Testament quotation: how has the meaning changed?

Psalm NT passage

16: 8-11 Acts 2: 22-28

22: 1 Matthew 27: 45-50

5: 9 & 140: 3 Romans 3: 9-20

Strong language

Some Psalms are intensely personal, and can express sentiments which can shock. For example, Ps. 88 seems unremittingly despairing; while public readings of Ps. 137 often omit the final verses, which plainly bless infanticide.

It might therefore seem hard to respond ‘Thanks be to God’ at the end of some Psalm readings. Rather than being ‘the Word of the Lord’, these words can appear ‘human, all too human.’

But perhaps there need be no contradiction. The Psalms are all about being truthful, honest with God and with each other. And sometimes the truth of our situations is very dark. The Psalms show that it’s OK to give vent to the felt truth of these situations: being faithful to God isn’t about religiously pretending that all’s well with the world, when obviously it’s not.

What matters is that despair and anger aren’t the last word: in the words of Psalm 43’s refrain, ‘Why so downcast, my soul, / why do you sigh within me? / Put your hope in God: I shall praise him yet, / my saviour, my God’.



Resource sheet 6.2

All will be Revealed

Although the book of Revelation was ascribed by some

Church Fathers to the author of the gospel and epistles of

John, there is no real agreement today about who the

author was, or when he wrote – though the time of

persecution under Emperor Domitian in the 90s is quite

possible. What seems clear is that he was writing from

a context in which Christians were being persecuted, and

was therefore keen to encourage perseverance in faith.

The book is a striking example of a type of writing called

apocalyptic, which means ‘unveiling’. We know of many

examples of this type from around this time. You can

spot this type of writing by its use of bizarre linguistic

codes involving numbers, colours etc.

Although apocalyptic often apparently has famous

heroes of faith from the past talking about future events,

the real purport is to ‘unveil’, to cast light on, the true

meaning of current situations. By providing a reading of

the signs of the times, the intention is to foster fortitude

among Christians who might otherwise be tempted to

abandon their faith.

The book is addressed to seven churches in Asia Minor

(modern day Turkey); and the overall thrust of the book

can be grasped by looking at the specific messages given

to each of these in chapters 2 and 3.

Extracts from Revelation 2 & 3, Jesus’ messages to the seven churches:

To the church in Ephesus: ‘I know all about you – I know how hard you have worked and what you have endured… I know that you cannot tolerate evildoers; you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them to be false… But I have this against you: that you have abandoned the love you had at first…’

To the church in Smyrna: ‘I know your affliction and your poverty, even though you are rich. I know the slanderous accusations brought against you… Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer… Be faithful and I will give you the crown of life.’

To the church in Pergamum: ‘I know you live in the place where Satan in enthroned, yet you hold fast to my name, and did not deny your faith in me...’

To the church in Thyatira: ‘I know all about you – your love, faith, service and patient endurance… hold fast to what you have until I come.’

To the church in Sardis: ‘I know all about you– you have a name for being alive, but you are dead. Wake up! Revive what little you have left – it is dying fast. I have not found any of your deeds complete in the sight of my God. Remember then what you were given and what you were taught. Hold to these things and repent...’ …Cont

The Number of the Beast

Revelation can fascinate for many reasons, not all of them good. For example, numerical symbolism lends itself to some very imaginative contemporary interpretations! The number of the Beast in Rev. 13, 666, is a case in point. Some commentators argue that this is the sum of the number-values of the letters in the name Nero Caesar. Others point out that, since 7 represents completion/ perfection (God created the world in 7 days), 6 is the simply the epitome of imperfection or falling short.

Likewise 3 ½, half of 7, is associated with imperfection or a time of trial: thus the Beast is allowed to mouth its blasphemies for 42 months (3 ½ years).

12 is associated with the tribes of Israel; while 1000 just represents a big number. Thus the elect of Rev. 7, at 144000 (= 12 x 12 x 1000), reflect the ultimate extrapolation of God’s chosen people.


Resource sheet 6.2 All will be Revealed

…Cont

To the church in Philadelphia: ‘I know all about you. See, I have given you a door flung wide open, which no-one can shut. I know that though you are not very strong, you have kept my word and not denied my name… Because you have obeyed my call to patient endurance I will keep you safe in the time of trial which is coming for the whole world…’

To the church in Laodicea: ‘I know all about you, and that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either cold or hot! But since you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. You say to yourself, I am rich, I have prospered, I need nothing. You do not realise that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind and naked. I warn you, buy from me the gold that has been tested by fire to make you really rich, and white robes to clothe you and hide the shame of your nakedness, and salve to put on your eyes to make you see. All those whom I love I correct and discipline; so shake off your complacency and repent.’

1. What words/ ideas keep cropping up in these extracts?

2. How would you sum up the writer’s advice in a sentence?

3. Can you think of any examples of situations in which Christians today need to

hear that message?

FRAMEWORK FOR CHRISTIAN LEARNING GOD'S STORY · PDF fileBlessed Lord, who caused all holy ......

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