Lenten Homilies AD 2009 – The Scriptures
3rd Sunday of Lent – The Old Testament
Last week we looked at the history of the Bible's translation into English and how language changes and the need for accurate translations that enable the literal meaning of the text to be conveyed in every generation.
This week we turn our thoughts to the Old Testament. Now to cover the whole of the Old Testament in one homily is impossible - so much material is there to consider. Having given an overview of the Scriptures two weeks ago when the theme of the Homily was “The Book” I intend to look at two matters that are important to any serious study of the Bible. The first is a brief historical outline of the period covered by the Old Testament books and then secondly I want us to look at some of the Titles used for God in the Old Testament. In the former the online version of this homily will include far more dates. In the latter I want us to reall what I said from the outset in this series of Homilies “The Scriptures are the record of God’s revelation of himself to mankind” and it is very often through the names or titles given to God that we see that revelation and understand God’s relationship with ourselves.
Historical Outline:
So first of all we look at a brief historical outline. It is difficult to say just how many thousands of years the historical period is that is covered by the Old Testament. Some fundamentalist Christians would tell you exactly how much time has elapsed since the creation, and tell you to boot that the devil had planted the dinosaur bones to confuse us. No wonder limited scientists like Richard Dawkins have a field day! But there is nothing to worry about really for the ancient scribes were not all that concerned with accurate times and dates.
The historical era covered by the Old Testament falls basically into three broad periods. The first is what we would call pre-history which deals with the origins of the Cosmos, earth, and mankind. It describes Creation, Paradise and Original Sin. Now in my series of Homilies looking at the works of Richard Dawkins I explained how we need not be overly concerned about the Creation accounts in the Book of Genesis seemingly being in conflict with the Theory of Evolution so I do not intend to go over that again. Suffice to say that the scribes were trying to describe what happened and by whom rather than when. So ascribing dates to this period would be a foolish exercise.
The second period covered is that of the origins of the Hebrews and it covers the time of the Patriarchs and the period when the Hebrews were in Egypt. It is with this period that we can begin to put some dates to what happened. Now bear in mind that the numbering of years in the BC era goes backwards from the year nought. It is generally believed that the era of the Patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, was around 1850 to 1600 years before Christ, and it is thought that the period when the Hebrews were in Egypt was from about 1600 to 1250 BC.
The third period covers the Origins and History of the State of Israel and this is broken down into eight smaller periods linked with particular events:
The origins of Israel as a nation: the Exodus, the forty years in the wilderness and the conquest of the land from about 1250 -1200 BC
The period of the Judges before Israel had a King and when God raised up defenders of the people and the land such as Samson, Gideon, Deborah and others, from about 1200 – 1000 BC
The beginnings of the Monarchy in Israel and the reigns of Saul (1000BC), David (1000-965 BC) and Solomon (965-922 BC)
Then we get the period where the nation is divided into two Kingdoms: Israel and Judah. Alongside this we see the rise of prophecy in the land. Now this period is dated as being 922-587 BC. We can date fairly accurately the fall of these two kingdoms. The Northern Kingdom, Israel, fell to the Assyrians in 721 BC, and the Southern Kingdom, Judah, fell to the Babylonians in 587- The period of the Exile in Babylon is dated as being 587-53 BC
- Following the return from Babylon we see the restoration of the Temple and national life and the beginning of the end of prophecy. But this period is also marked out by Persian domination of the Region. 538-333 BC
In the late fourth century before Christ the Greeks took over the land, first under Alexander in 333 BC, then under the Seleucids up to 175 BC. After this for forty year the Maccabean Revolt took place which ended in 135 with a period of Jewish independence under the Hasmonean era until 63 BC
In 63 BC disaster struck again when the Roman General Pompey took Jerusalem and Israel became part of the Roman province of Syria.
Throughout all this time the Jewish people still continued to write Scripture recording what happened and seeing it all through what God was revealing of himself and asking of the people. So we see not a sanitised version of history, but one that describes failure and despair as well as glory and victory.
The Titles ascribed to God:
There are many titles ascribed to God in the Old Testament but I want us to briefly consider what are thought to be the seven most important ones. They tell us about God’s nature and his dealings with his people. An important point to note is that the Hebrews (the ancient people of Israel) do not pronounce the name of God out of respect for His holiness.
El. This is a common term used throughout the Semitic speaking world. It suggests: power, wholly other, Highest. We see evidence of this in certain names: Michael (Who is like God?) – note that this was a question not a statement – Gabriel (Man of God), or Israel (One who has striven with God).
Elohim. This appears thousands of times in the Old Testament and is the Hebrew plural of El and refers to the god’s (note small g) of the nations. But it can also be used in the singular and is reflected in Jesus cry from the Cross “Eli, Eli lama sabacthani”
Adonai. This Hebrew word is translated as Kyrios in Greek, as Dominus in Latin, and as LORD in English. It is the Hebrew substitute for the unspeakable name of God: YHWH. Christians use this title deliberately for Jesus in order to proclaim his divinity.
Yahweh (or incorrectly, Jehovah). This stems from the YHWH (or tetragrammaton). The Hebrews never wrote the vowels so as to render God’s name unpronounceable. Whether "Yahweh" is correct is also a matter for debate amongst Biblical Scholars.
Ehyeh-asher-Ehyeh. “I am that I am”- God’s revelation to Moses from the Burning Bush. This divine name is mysterious just as God is mystery. It is at one and the same time a name revealed and something like the refusal of a name, and so it expresses God as what he is - infinitely above everything that we can understand or say: he is the "hidden God", his name is ineffable as we sing in the hymn, meaning unutterable, and he is the God who comes close to mankind. After Israel's sin, when the people had turned away from God to worship the golden calf, God hears Moses' prayer of intercession and agrees to walk in the midst of an unfaithful people, thus demonstrating his love. When Moses asks to see his glory, God responds "I will make all my goodness pass before you, and will proclaim before you my name 'the LORD' [YHWH]." Then the LORD passes before Moses and proclaims, "YHWH, YHWH, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness"; Moses then confesses that the LORD is a forgiving God. The divine name, "I Am" or "He Is", expresses God's faithfulness: despite the faithlessness of mankind's sin and the punishment it deserves, he keeps "steadfast love for thousands"... By giving his life to free us from sin, Jesus reveals that he himself bears the divine name: "When you have lifted up the Son of man, then you will realize that "I AM"."
(El) Shaddai. Literally, in English, this means “Lord of the Mountain”, but in Greek it means “Pantocator”: “Ruler of all” and many of the Icons of Christ in the Byzantium Exhibition show Christ bearing this Title. El means God and “Shaddai” is more commonly translated as “almighty.” Thus this title means: Almighty God.
Zebaot. This is translated into English as Sabaoth or Hosts. It is used with the tetragammaton YHWH and forms the Title “Lord of Hosts” – unfortunately this was ditched by the 1960/70’s liturgists in favour of “God of power and might”, but at least the Roman Catholics have seen sense and will be restoring it in their revised liturgy in 2010.
These Titles resonate with Christians because we know that there is a progression in God’s revelation of himself from Old Testament times to the Christian Era and the fullest revelation of himself in Christ. They show us that God reveals himself at one and the same time as Almighty and as the one who comes close to us. We see this in displayed in the Mass as we all face east awaiting the return of the Lord in glory and celebrating a foretaste of the heavenly Banquet and then under the veils of bread and wine the Lord himself comes to us and feeds us with himself the Living Bread which has come down from heaven.
God is revealed as "a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness." as St Paul records from a possible early Christian hymn: "We may be unfaithful, but he is always faithful" 2 Timothy 2:13.
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