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Archive for the ‘Theology’ Category

Song of Songs (Poem 6)

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photo by Matija Barrett

This commentary is based on my notes after reading The New International Commentary on the Old Testament: Song of Songs, by Tremper Longman III, 2001

Poem 6 (Compliments)

The Man:

v 15 Behold, you are beautiful, my darling.

You are beautiful; your eyes are doves.

Note the repetitive compliments and term of endearment.

We have no clue what aspect of the dove her eyes would be (though there are guesses), but it does sound better than being compared to a mare these days!

The Woman:

v 16 You are beautiful my lover, so lovely; our bed is verdant!

Verdant can mean luxurious, flourishing or having to do with trees.

v 17 The boards of our house are cedars, its rafters are junipers.

These are strong woods and it implies the foundation of their home/ marriage is strong.

Location: They could be in a well-built house, or in a private part of the woods. Since the previous poem mentioned the oasis En-Gedi, it could be either, with most scholars believing they are outside.

Notice that both the male and the female compliment each other. Here the woman compliments the man on their location implying he had something to do with it. He has either built them a strong house, or arranged a tryst in a secluded location. Either way, he has put some time and effort into this setting and she is grateful.

Category:

Marriage, Theology

Song of Songs (Poem 5)

 

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This commentary is based on my notes after reading The New International Commentary on the Old Testament: Song of Songs, by Tremper Longman III, 2001

Poem 5 (The Cuddle)

The Woman

v12 While the king is on his couch, my nard gives off its scent.

She is aroused by him.

v 13 My lover is to me a sachet of myrrh, lodging between my breasts.

The imagery of smell implies they are close to each other. She is likely lying with him, with his head on her bossom.

v 14 A cluster of henna blossoms is my lover to me in the vineyards of En-Gedi.

En-gedi is a beautiful oasis surrounded by desolate land.

Category:

Marriage, Theology

Song of Songs (Poem 4)

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Photo by Matija Barrett

This commentary is based on my notes after reading The New International Commentary on the Old Testament: Song of Songs, by Tremper Longman III, 2001

Poem 4 (Compliments and Gifts)

Remember- compliments change with time…. Not all women want to be called a ‘mare.’

The Man:

v 9 To a mare among Pharoah’s chariots (strong, powerful, beautiful, sleek, opulent)

I liken you, my darling. (note the term of endearment)

Typically stallions, not mares, drove the chariots. This could be saying she is as good as any man, an equal, in his eyes. There is another theory however. There was a battle strategy where a mare in heat was sent amongst the enemy’s chariots to distract their stallions. He may be saying she is very distracting to him.

v 10 Your cheeks are lovely between earings, your neck with a necklace.

This implies she has been given gifts of jewelry- some things do not change!

v 11 Earings of gold we will make for you along with studs of silver.

Given her background, she likely does not have a lot of jewelry. He will give her the things she desires.

Category:

Marriage, Theology

Song of Songs (Poem 3)

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This commentary is based on my notes after reading The New International Commentary on the Old Testament: Song of Songs, by Tremper Longman III, 2001

Poem 3 (Time Together)

The Woman:

v 7 Tell me, one whom my soul loves, Where will you graze?

Where will you make your flocks lie down at noon?

(She does not like being separated from him.)

Why should I be like a veiled woman (prostitute/ having to hide her identity- remember Tamar wore veils when she posed as a prostitute with Judah),

around the flocks of your companions?

She does not like the social taboos that do not allow a wife to be with her husband while he is out with the flocks, but do allow prostitutes. She feels it is stupid that she, who rightfully belongs as a wife, has to be circumspect and stay away. She wants to be near him, by his side and there is an implication that this is where she belongs. The social taboos make no sense.

The Man:

v 8 If you do not know, most beautiful of women (compliment),

follow the tracks of the sheep,

and feed your young goats by the dwellings of the shepherds.

The man too, wants to be with her. He tells her to bring her goats so that she appears to be a shepherdess (like Rebekah and Zipporah) so she does not appear to be inappropriate. He is guarding her honor (like Boaz does for Ruth) while figuring out how to be with her.

Also take note of how many verbal compliments are contained in this Song. This indicates that love is fragile, and much verbal affirmation is a good, perhaps necessary, thing.

Category:

Marriage, Theology

Song of Song (Poem 2)

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This commentary is based on my notes after reading The New International Commentary on the Old Testament: Song of Songs, by Tremper Longman III, 2001

Poem 2 (Insecurities)

The Woman:

v 5 I am dark (likely tanned due to working in the sun- not pampered)

but beautiful (healthy self-esteem)

daughters of Jerusalem (she is now speaking to the pampered women who would look down on her)

like the tents of Qedar, like the curtains of Solomon (she compares herself to 2 powerful, respected groups)

v 6 Don’t look at me, because I am swarthy (dark) because the sun scorched me.

She is speaking to the other woman and hoping for understanding/ compassion/ empathy. There is no indication re: whether, or not, they respond positively. The implication is that they should show understanding.

My mother’s sons (implies a different father- 2nd marriage?) were angry with me.

She may have rejected their advances. Remember during this time half-siblings married- think Sarah and Abraham.

They made me guard/ work the vineyards,

but my vineyard I did not guard/ tend.

While vineyard can refer to sexuality, here is it likely an actual vineyard as she becomes tan when working it. She has not taken care of herself. She is also associated with the laboring/ farm class.

Note that brothers are supposed to protect sisters and arrange for their marriages. These brothers did not indicating she does not come from a supportive, wonderful family.

Category:

Marriage, Theology

Song of Songs (Poem 1)

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This commentary is based on my notes after reading The New International Commentary on the Old Testament: Song of Songs, by Tremper Longman III, 2001

v 1 The Song of Songs, which concerns Solomon

Poem 1: The Woman’s Pursuit

Note: In Song of Songs the woman speaks 53% of the time and the man 39%. While some commentaries make much of this, to me, it seems like a normal relationship…

The Woman:

v 2 Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth,

For your lovemaking is better than wine.

v 3 How wonderful the scent of your oils (semen);

Your name (sem in Hebrew) is poured out oil (semen).

-This is wordplay, a joke within a compliment. “Name” in scripture indicates what a person is known for, in this relationship she is implying he should be known for his lovemaking- a compliment I believe most men would enjoy!

This poem also changes pronouns randomly- this is not uncommon in poetry of this region.

V 2 and 3 contain a chiasm, a simple poem with repetition and the main idea at the ‘point.’ It is not a perfect chiasm, but you will get the idea.

For good

            is your lovemaking

                                    more than wine (most important point)

                                    (as for scent)

            your oils (semen)

are good.

The repetition of ‘good’ indicates his lovemaking/ semen (equivalent points) are better than wine for making her feel good.

Therefore the young women love you.

–She is likely referring to herself in the third person plural in an exaggerated compliment, ie Who could resist you? (Also a compliment men typically enjoy.)

v 4 Draw me after you; Let’s run! (note her urgency)

The king has brought me into his bedroom. (can also be translated as private place or storeroom)

Note: She wants to run to privacy, she is excited and sure he wants her sexually.

The Women of Jerusalem: (Chorus)

We will rejoice and feel happy for you! (no jealousy or condemnation)

We will praise/ celebrate your love.

– Her friends confirm she has made a good choice. This is not lust and she is not deluded by love, she has made a wise decision and her friends acknowledge it. They are also happy for her. These are good women who are glad their friend is doing well.

The Woman:

Righteousness loves you. (What they are doing is good in God’s eyes.)

Note:

  1. The married woman takes initiative for sex (Draw me after you… Let him kiss me…). She is not forcing, or throwing herself at him, but asking and confident in a positive response.
  2. She yearns for him.
  3. Their lovemaking is intoxicating- mood changing.
  4. The Song incorporates all the senses:

-taste: kiss

-smell- his scent

-hearing: compliments spoken

-sight: compliments re: body

-mind: wordplay/ joking

  1. Her friends confirm this is a good choice.
  2. A wedding ritual in this region has the groom as a ‘king’ and the bride as a ‘queen.’ They would be crowned as such in the ceremony. A king is the best, most powerful man, worthy of the highest honors, likewise a queen is the best, most powerful woman, also worthy of highest honors.

Category:

Marriage, Theology

Seven Types of Pharisees

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The Talmud defines seven types of Pharisees. *

  1. The ‘Shoulder’ Pharisee

This type of Pharisee carries all of his ‘good’ deeds on his shoulder so all can see (and it is assumed praise) him.

Make sure when you do good it is not for the praise, but because it is the right thing to do.

  1. The ‘Wait a Moment’ Pharisee

This type of Pharisee does not attend to the needs of the people who are right in front of him because he needs to go off and do good deeds for others.

This would be the pastor who cares for his flock, but ignores his family. Or the parent who always has to do something for work, the church or friends while their children are begging for attention.

  1. The ‘Bruised’ Pharisee

This Pharisee runs into a wall while trying not to look at a woman.

This is a person who takes the commands in the Bible too far and does stupid things in order to overly obey God’s laws. We see this person when they refuse to meet with a woman in a normal work situation when she has done nothing inappropriate to warrant this behavior towards her.

  1. The ‘Reckoning’ Pharisee

This type of Pharisee commits a sin, then performs a good deed to make up for it. He believes he can sin as long as he does something good to balance the scales.

This is the husband who is mean to his wife and then thinks that buying her something makes it all better. This is the wife who is mean to her husband and then thinks that letting him sleep with her makes it all right.

  1. The ‘Pestle’ Pharisee

This type of Pharisee’s head is bowed in false humility. He is always asking what his duty is, so that he may do it as if he has already done everything else.

This is the person who believes they do nothing wrong. They will say things like, ‘If you tell me what you want, I will do it’ as if it is your fault they are not living up to your expectations. The unreasonableness of your expectations is implied. They are not trying to change because all the fault in the relationship is the other person’s.

  1. The Pharisee of the ‘Fear of Consequences’

This Pharisee does good because he is afraid of what would happen if he does not do it. There is no love in his actions.

This person does all of the ‘right’ things, but it is empty because he is acting out of fear. It is difficult to explain to the person what they are doing wrong, because while their actions are ‘right,’ they clearly are not enjoying any of it. The fact that they do not want to do what they do is evident.

  1. The Pharisee of Love

This is the ‘right’ kind of Pharisee to be. Their motivation is love. There are two things they love- people and God in general, and the rewards from doing what is right.

In Jewish culture loving the rewards that are inherent in doing what is right is not wrong. This Pharisee’s goal is not selfish- they are not doing things just for gain, but they do love the things God blesses them with. This is a healthy relationship with God. The prime motivation is love, and there is thanks, praise and enjoyment when God blesses them.

*adapted from Jewish New Testament Commentary by David H. Stern 1992 p. 69-70

(please pray for Dr Stern, last report was that he was in very poor health)

Category:

Theology

How to Pray

IMG_2581Many Christians struggle with prayer- though no one likes to admit it. What most Christians fail to understand is that there are many ways to pray…

The most common prayer is petition. Asking God for what you need. And this is fine, but often it seems repetitious and in many lives (thankfully) our list of needs runs out fairly quickly…

We should also remember to thank God for what He has done for us. But this too is often over in a brief period of time.

The most forgotten aspect of prayer is meditative. The one that instructs us to ‘be still and know that I am God.’ Sitting in God’s presence. Being at peace with the One who created us. This state of prayer is where we truly commune with God. In this state our petitions and thanksgiving come more easily to mind and don’t seem like such a short list. In this state we may think of nothing, or wait until the Holy Spirit brings something to mind. In this state it is easy to wish that prayer time would never end. We don’t need words, or lists or anything else, just the quietness of mind to experience God’s presence. I have often wondered what Joshua did, praying in the Tent of Meeting. I am convinced much of his time was spent just sitting in God’s presence. Because, while Israel had many, many issues that required prayer, it is difficult to believe he could spend all day, every day, listing their needs. Sitting in God’s presence and waiting on the Holy Spirit seems to make more sense. Try sitting in the presence of God today.

Category:

Theology

Samson: The Study of a Spoiled Child/ Dysfunctional Adult

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There is an example of every behavioral issue in the Bible- we just have to look.

Samson is an example of a boy, now a grown man, whose parents had difficulties saying ‘no.’

The first clue we have is that Samson asks for a wife a man in his position- Jewish (which is enough), a judge, and a Nazarite- should never be asking to marry. His parents vaguely try to dissuade him by asking if there is not another, perhaps Jewish, woman he might want, and when he demands to have his way, they give in and proceed to give him what he wants, even though they know it is not good for him. (Judges 14-16)

So here are the traits that result from never hearing ‘no’ in any meaningful way…

  1. He does not think the rules apply to him.

Samson eats unclean food out of a dead lion’s carcass, he sleeps with prostitutes etc.

Samson, to his eventual detriment, disregards the rules when they do not suit him. This does not mean that he is always bad, but when the rules interfere with what he wants to do, he does what he wants.

  1. He does not fulfill his responsibilities when it is inconvenient to him.

The groom is expect to provide wedding clothes for the groomsmen. Samson finds ways to get out of his responsibility and stick his new friends with the bill.

  1. He throws tantrums when he is thwarted.

When the groomsmen answer his riddle, Samson does not handle it good-naturedly. Instead he goes out and brings them back the clothes of dead men, who were brutally killed in the outfits he presents.

  1. He does not consider the feelings of others.

Samson embarrasses his bride by not providing clothing for the groomsmen she provided him with and then with the horrid way he finally provides the clothing. (Samson may have no friends.)

  1. He storms off.

Upset about not getting his way and having to provide clothing, (even though he knows this is a societal norm), Samson storms off and goes home, leaving his bride devestated.

  1. He does not understand that his behavior will have consequences.

Later, Samson returns and believes his wife will be waiting for him, happy to see him, even after his horrid behavior.

  1. He does not accept that he caused the problem. It is not his fault.

When confronted by his father-in-law, and told that his wife has been married to another (because his behavior at their wedding seemed to indicate to everyone but Samson that he did not love her) Samson kills his ‘bride’ and her father and sets the neighborhood fields on fire, condemning the citizens of that area to starvation.

  1. He over-reacts.

When he finds his ‘bride to be’ married to another he kills her and her father and burns the fields, condemning others to starvation, or at least a very difficult year.

  1. He does not understand love and trust.

Samson is easily deceived by Delilah. This is likely due to the fact that Samson has never had a decent relationship, nor has he ever paid enough attention to another to be able to determine whether, or not, they are trustworthy. Being self-centered leaves you a target for others who are self-centered. No one with an once of self-respect wants to be close to a spoiled brat, so Samson has no wise counsel, or experience with ‘good’ people; so when someone comes along who is worse than he is, he is an easy target.

Still, God is with Samson.

Why?

There are two reasons found in scripture:

  1. God keeps His promises.

God made a promise to Samson’s mother before he was born- that he would deliver Israel. This may not have been the method God would have preferred to deliver Israel, but God can use anyone, even a spoiled brat. (Not that this is what we should aim to be… but our faults, no matter how large, do not mean that God is done with us.)

  1. God knows the beginning and the end.

Samson repents. Granted it is at the end of a very troubled life, but he does repent. God wants us close to Him- and He wants all of us close to Him. The relationship is the end-game, and in this instance, Samson eventually gets it, and that is exactly what God wants, for us to eventually get it and want a relationship with Him. Samson’s spoiled nature leads to a hard life, for him and those around him, but it does not disqualify him from having a relationship with God. And if Samson is not disqualified, neither are you!

Category:

Children, Theology

The Last Day of Sukkot

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On the eighth day of Sukkot (The Feast of Booths/ Tabernacles) God commands all the Jews in Israel to hold a sacred assembly (get together in Jerusalem, do no work and eat).

On this day the Jewish custom is to pour water on the altar as an offering to God. It is also on this day that the last chapter of Deuteronomy is read.

It was on this day that Jesus said ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink..’ (John 7:37-39) implying that He was the source of living water (God).

So how would a Christian home celebrate this day?

Some suggestions include:

-Reading Deuteronomy 28- the blessings and curse- explaining to your children the benefits and disadvantages of following God’s Word. (This is not the final chapter. The final chapter of Deuteronomy involves Moses’ death and Joshua’s commission.)

-Pouring out water (onto the ground) as a reminder that God provides the water of life.

-If your climate co-operates water activities for the children or the young-at-heart may be part of the celebration. Slip and slides, sprinklers, pools and water guns are always fun, as is a trip to the water park. If your climate does not co-operate, you may wish to include snow cones, dry ice concoctions, bubbles, water colors, or fishing may be fun.

-A happy birthday Jesus party. Most scholars believe that Jesus was born in the fall, and many believe that it may have been on the last day of Sukkot, since Sukkot commemorates the time when God ‘tabernacled’ or lived among the Israelites in the desert. (FYI: The Jewish people at this time did not typically celebrate birthdays. Instead they tended to remember death days…)

-Since the last day of Sukkot was the day the Jewish people finished reading the Torah in the synagogue, (the readings would begin again with Genesis 1:1), they frequently passed out candy at this time (honey treats). As a reminder that God’s Word is ‘sweet’ (pleasant to follow) the candy would be distributed among the children. A piñata, or throwing of candy during the reading of the blessings in Deuteronomy may help reinforce this concept.

-During this time Jewish children often paraded by with flags they had made symbolizing what they had learned. Adults would toss candy for the children to catch. Making flags that represent your thanks for what God has blessed you with may also be a fun activity. (Instead of flags, you may make other items such as collages.)

-Food ideas: Create a menu that includes food from the sacrifices at the temple: beef, lamb, goat, unleavened bread, and wine (grape juice for the kids). You may also wish to include citrus fruits, since the lulav is to have citrus associated with it. A Happy Birthday Jesus cake may also be fun. (FYI: There is no prohibition against eating leaven at this time. Unleavened bread is typically offered at the Temple.)

-The final waving of the luval, a bundle of four types of branches: citrus, palm, myrtle and willow. (Lev. 23:40)

Ideas for the day after Sukkot

Since Sukkot represents the end of the harvest season, ideally the end of fall, this is a good time to get ready for winter. The day after Sukkot may include:

– Getting the yard ready for winter (putting away lawn chairs, the grill or anything else that will not be used in the coming months). Play praise music and make it fun, thanking God for the seasons, and the fact that summer yard work has come to an end!

– Winter clothes shopping. Hats, boots, gloves etc will soon be needed. The day after Sukkot is a nice time for this event. Since it is a planned outing, and not a rushed trip when the first snow hits, this should be a relaxing, fun time away from the house. Plan a nice meal out as well to make it a relaxing, fun day for all.

– The first cup of hot cocoa, or pumpkin pie may also be a nice treat, indicating that fall is finally here.

You may stretch these activities out instead of doing them all in one day, since this is not an official holiday. Just remember, it is easier on a family to do these activities as relaxed, fun, planned events, rather than rushing around at the last minute to get everything done. Sukkot gives us a date that reminds us the time to do these things is near.

Category:

Holidays, Theology

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