2 Kings 18:28-37

See the text and comments for October 6, one week ago.

1 Corinthians 9:1-15

See the text and comments for October 6, one week ago.

Matthew 7:22-29

See the text and comments for October 6, one week ago.

Jeremiah 38:1-13

Jeremiah in the “Pits” (the Cistern)

38:1 Now Shephatiah son of Mattan, Gedaliah son of Pashhur, Jucal son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur son of Malchiah heard the words that Jeremiah was saying to all the people, 2 Thus says the LORD, Those who stay in this city shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence; but those who go out to the Chaldeans shall live; they shall have their lives as a prize of war, and live. 3 Thus says the LORD, This city shall surely be handed over to the army of the king of Babylon and be taken. 4 Then the officials said to the king, "This man ought to be put to death, because he is discouraging the soldiers who are left in this city, and all the people, by speaking such words to them. For this man is not seeking the welfare of this people, but their harm." 5 King Zedekiah said, "Here he is; he is in your hands; for the king is powerless against you." 6 So they took Jeremiah and threw him into the cistern of Malchiah, the king's son, which was in the court of the guard, letting Jeremiah down by ropes. Now there was no water in the cistern, but only mud, and Jeremiah sank in the mud.

Jeremiah Rescued

7 Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, a eunuch in the king's house, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern. The king happened to be sitting at the Benjamin Gate, 8 So Ebed-melech left the king's house and spoke to the king, 9 "My lord king, these men have acted wickedly in all they did to the prophet Jeremiah by throwing him into the cistern to die there of hunger, for there is no bread left in the city." 10 Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, "Take three men with you from here, and pull the prophet Jeremiah up from the cistern before he dies." 11 So Ebed-melech took the men with him and went to the house of the king, to a wardrobe of the storehouse, and took from there old rags and worn-out clothes, which he let down to Jeremiah in the cistern by ropes. 12 Then Ebed-melech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, "Just put the rags and clothes between your armpits and the ropes." Jeremiah did so. 13 Then they drew Jeremiah up by the ropes and pulled him out of the cistern. And Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard. (Jeremiah 38:11-13, NRSV)

At the end of Jeremiah, chapter 37, he is imprisoned “in the court of the guard with food rations (Jer. 37:21), an improvement by order of King Zedekiah over the initial harsh treatment upon his arrest (vv. 34-36). But chapter 38 begins with his “words to all the people” (38:1):

Thus says the LORD, Those who stay in this city shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence; but those who go out to the Chaldeans shall live; they shall have their lives as a prize of war, and live. Thus says the LORD, This city shall surely be handed over to the army of the king of Babylon and be taken. (Jer. 38:2-3, NRSV)

The court officials, Shephetiah, Gedaliah, Jucal and Pashur (38:1) call this treason on Jeremiah’s part, accusing him before the king. “This man ought to be put to death, because he is discouraging the soldiers who are left in this city, and all the people, by speaking such words to them. For this man is not seeking the welfare of this people, but their harm” (v. 4). So Jeremiah is put back where he was in chapter 37, that is, in “the court of the guard” (37:21; 38:6), but this time “into the cistern of Malchiah, the king's son, which was in the court of the guard, letting Jeremiah down by ropes. Now there was no water in the cistern, but only mud, and Jeremiah sank in the mud” (38:6). Mark. E. Biddle suggests that chapters 37 and 38 “may be alternate accounts of the same event” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., on 38:1-13; cf. Patrick D. Miller, The Book of Jeremiah (The New Interpreter’s Bible, VI [2001], 849), which is possible, given the chaotic situation under siege. Miller, however, also notes that “Ebed-melech’s report that there is no bread left in the city [38:9] picks up directly on the final words of chap. 37.” (One wonders how records of any kind were preserved!) But whether Jeremiah was released to proclaim his message and then arrested again, or his message was being recalled from earlier is unclear. Jeremiah had many bad moments, discouraging days, but this must have been one of his lowest–“in the pits,” so to speak.

The former arrest of Jeremiah (37:13-14) was at the initiative of a sentinel, Irijah, who brought him to the officials who “beat him and imprisoned him” (37:15). King Zedekiah saw this as an opportunity for a “word from the LORD” (v. 37), and improved Jeremiah’s situation. In chapter 38 Zedekiah consents to their keeping Jeremiah in custody (38:5), but also gives a favorable ear to Ebed-melech’s proposal to rescue Jeremiah from the cistern “before he dies” (v. 10). We sense ambivalence on Zedekiah’s part. Patrick D. Miller refers to “the odd relationship between Zedekiah and the prophet” (p. 849). Ebed-melech’s name means “servant of the king,” Mark E. Biddle notes that, “Ironically, Jeremiah was delivered from murder at the hands of his countrymen by an Ethiopian court official” (on 38:7). He adds that the Hebrew word saris does not necessarily refer to a physical eunuch.”

Among other reflections on this situation, Patrick D. Miller presents the following:

The reaction of the leadership [the ‘officials’] to Jeremiah as articulated in 38:4 is an appropriate text for thinking about the resistance of political leaders to any kind of moral or religious direction, any kind of counsel of conscience that involves a threat to national honor. It is the danger of patriotism, but patriotism is too simple a cliché at this point. Our instincts are so set for resistance to any form of domination, for victory over our enemies, for pulling together in any sort of foreign conflict, that we cannot countenance another mode of conduct and cannot allow a moral claim that suggests we might not seek victory and must accept defeat. This is a kind of secularized form of the “God is on our side” claim that surreptitiously always guides national conduct. Any other conduct and any other proposal or counsel is automatically and inherently treasonous and to be suppressed. (Patrick D. Miller, The Book of Jeremiah (The New Interpreter’s Bible, VI [2001], 852)

1 Corinthians 14:26-33a (33b-36) 37-40

All Things Decently and In Order

26 What should be done then, my friends? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up. 27 If anyone speaks in a tongue, let there be only two or at most three, and each in turn; and let one interpret. 28 But if there is no one to interpret, let them be silent in church and speak to themselves and to God. 29 Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others weigh what is said. 30 If a revelation is made to someone else sitting nearby, let the first person be silent. 31 For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged. 32 And the spirits of prophets are subject to the prophets, 33 for God is a God not of disorder but of peace.

(As in all the churches of the saints, 34 women should be silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be subordinate, as the law also says. 35 If there is anything they desire to know, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church. 36 Or did the word of God originate with you? Or are you the only ones it has reached?)

37 Anyone who claims to be a prophet, or to have spiritual powers, must acknowledge that what I am writing to you is a command of the Lord. 38 Anyone who does not recognize this is not to be recognized. 39 So, my friends, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues; 40 but all things should be done decently and in order. (1 Corinthians 14:26-33a, [33b-36], 37-40, NRSV)

After comparing the relative importance of speaking in tongues and prophecy (1 Cor. 14:1-25), Paul summarizes with general instructions about orderly worship. Whether one contributes with “a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a longue, or an interpretation,” it should “be done for building up” (v. 26). One should not speak in a tongue unless there is provision for interpretation (vv. 27-28). Prophets may speak, but in an orderly fashion (vv. 29-33a).

Of the words about women speaking in church (vv. 34-35), Ben Witherington III, who regards them as authentic, says that they are “not a programmatic silencing of women in the ekklēsia [church, or Christian assembly]” (Conflict & Community in Corinth, 1994, p. 288, n. 50):

[A. C.] Wire, Corinthian Women Prophets, pp. 153f., who is right about the authenticity but fails to note the rhetorical function of these verses as a correction of abuses in worship–as is most of the rest of chs. 11-14. 14:34f. is not a programmatic silencing of women in the ekklēsia. One must weigh not only what Paul says but also the function of his words in context to discover his rhetorical intent.

Witherington explains as follows:

During the time of the weighing of the prophecies some women, probably married women, who themselves may have been prophetesses and thus entitled to weigh what was said, were asking questions, perhaps inappropriate questions, and the worship service was being disrupted. Paul urges . . . that Christian worship not be turned into a question-and-answer session. In light of the discussion of pagan prophecy above [i.e. earlier by Witherington], it is very believable that these women assumed that Christian prophets or prophetesses functioned much like the oracle at Delphi, who only prophesied in response to questions, including questions about purely personal matters. Paul argues that Christian prophecy is different: Prophets and prophetesses speak in response to the prompting of the Holy Spirit, without any human priming of the pump. Paul then limits such questions to another location, namely home. He may imply that the husband or man who was to be asked was either a prophet or at least able to answer such questions at a more appropriate time. (p. 287)

Paul’s instructions conclude here with a further reminder that prophecy should be done correctly and all things [in worship] “should be done decently and in order “ (v. 40).

Matthew 10:34-42

Not Peace, but a Sword (cf. Lk 12.51-53; 14.26-27)

34 "Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.

35 For I have come to set a man against his father,

and a daughter against her mother,

and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;

36 and one's foes will be members of one's own household.

37 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; 38 and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. (Matthew 10:34-39, NRSV)

On the face of it this passage seems rather too demanding. We have a saying, “Charity begins at home,” which has been attributed to Andria Terence, a Roman comic dramatist (185-159 B.C.). And so we resist–or most of us do, hopefully–the call to a commitment that might bring dissension within the family. William Barclay explains this “terrible choice” with reference to an appeal made by Oliver Cromwell to Lord Wharton (1649). He entitles this discussion, “The Warfare of the King’s Messenger” (The Gospel of Matthew, vol. 1, rev. ed., 1975, pp. 393-397, on Mt. 10:34-39). Barclay is aware that “warfare” is a metaphor here, as is the reference to “sword” in v. 34. “The ‘sword’ is not literal war, but diamerismos [dissension, disunity] (Lk.); cf. Heb. iv. 12: as the word of God sifts the components of man’s being, so will the same word, as proclaimed by Jesus, do in human society” (Alan Hugh McNeile, The Gospel According to St Matthew, Thornapple Commentaries, reprinted 1980 from 1915 ed., p. 147, on Mt. 10:34).

Barclay says that Jesus “offers a choice; and a man has to choose sometimes between the closest ties of earth and loyalty to Jesus Christ. He further explains with a quotation from Bunyan’s Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners:

The parting with my wife and poor children hath often been to me in this place, as the pulling the flesh from my bones; and that no only because I am somewhat too fond of these great mercies, but also because I should have often brought to my mind the many hardships, miseries, and wants that my poor family was like to meet with, should I be taken from them, especially my poor blind child, who lay nearer my heart than all I had besides. . . . But yet, recalling myself, thought I, I must venture you all with God, though it goeth to the quick to leave you; O I saw in this condition, I was a man who was pulling down his house upon the head of his wife and c children; yet thought I, I must do it, I must do it. (cited by Barclay, p. 395)

Barclay sums up as follows: “Once again, this terrible choice will come very seldom; in God’s mercy to many of us it may never come; but the fact remains that all loyalties must give place to loyalty to God.” I am also reminded that the New Testament says, “And whoever does not provide for relatives, and especially for family members, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever” (1 Tim. 5:8).

J. Andrew Overman notes briefly that “Jesus’ presence creates division also” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., on Mt. 10:34-39), and refers to Micah 7:6, “for the son treats the father with contempt,/the daughter rises up against her mother,/ the daughter -in-law against her mother-in-law; your enemies are members of your own household,” but that comes from what Gregory Morley calls “a lament for a desperate society” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., on Micah 7:1-7), and contrasts with Maiolica 4:6, “He [the prophet Elijah] will turn the hearts of parents to their children and the hearts of children to their parents, so that I will not come and strike the land with a curse.”

Rewards (cf. Mk 9.41)

40 "Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. 41 Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet's reward; and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous; 42 and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple--truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward." (Matthew 10:40-42, NRSV)

By describing the rewards for welcoming the disciples (Mt. 10:40) in terms comparable to the welcoming of prophets and righteous persons (v. 41), Jesus in effect characterizes their mission as prophetic. But the rewards are promised to those who provide for the needs of “one of these little ones in the name of a disciple” (v. 42). I should think that televised stories of persons helping young victims of recent hurricanes and other disasters might be included in this promise.

Ronald D. Worden, Ph.D.

rdworden@hgst.edu

rworden@houston.rr.com