Jeremiah 38:1-13

See the text and comments for October 13, one week ago.

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

See the text and comments for October 13, one week ago.

Matthew 10:34-42

See the text and comments for October 13, one week ago.

Ezra 1:1-11

End of the Babylonian Captivity (2 Chr 36.22-23)

1:1 In the first year of King Cyrus of Persia, in order that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the LORD stirred up the spirit of King Cyrus of Persia so that he sent a herald throughout all his kingdom, and also in a written edict declared:

2 "Thus says King Cyrus of Persia: The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem in Judah. 3 Any of those among you who are of his people-may their God be with them!--are now permitted to go up to Jerusalem in Judah, and rebuild the house of the LORD, the God of Israel--he is the God who is in Jerusalem; 4 and let all survivors, in whatever place they reside, be assisted by the people of their place with silver and gold, with goods and with animals, besides freewill offerings for the house of God in Jerusalem."

5 The heads of the families of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites--everyone whose spirit God had stirred--got ready to go up and rebuild the house of the LORD in Jerusalem. 6 All their neighbors aided them with silver vessels, with gold, with goods, with animals, and with valuable gifts, besides all that was freely offered. 7 King Cyrus himself brought out the vessels of the house of the LORD that Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and placed in the house of his gods. 8 King Cyrus of Persia had them released into the charge of Mithredath the treasurer, who counted them out to Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah. 9 And this was the inventory: gold basins, thirty; silver basins, one thousand; knives, twenty-nine; 10 gold bowls, thirty; other silver bowls, four hundred ten; other vessels, one thousand; 11 the total of the gold and silver vessels was five thousand four hundred. All these Sheshbazzar brought up, when the exiles were brought up from Babylonia to Jerusalem.

Cyrus the Persian had conquered territories as far west as south central Asia Minor before he bothered to invade and conquer neighboring Babylon, whose empire was clearly on its last legs, so to speak. Persia is modern Iran and Babylon is modern Iraq. Cyrus’ military victories “began with the conquest of Media (549), followed by Lydia (546) [in south central Asia Minor], and Babylonia (539)” (Harper’s Bible Dictionary, s.v. Cyrus II). So Nebuchadnezzar’s Neo-Babylonian Empire lasted less than a century, 625-539 B.C. Cyrus could act in brutal ways to maintain his power and authority, but his empire is remembered as treating conquered peoples more humanely than the Assyrians and Babylonians. Conquered peoples were allowed to practice their own religions, a policy that is reflected in the decree of Cyrus which allows Jewish persons to return from captivity to Jerusalem and Judea. The text of this decree, recorded by Jewish scribes and reflecting the Jewish perspective, is found in 2 Chronicles 36:23 (the last verse of 2 Chron.) and also in Ezra 1:2-4 (the longer version). Both accounts date the decree “in the first year of King Cyrus of Persia” (2 Chron. 36:22; Ezra 1:1), which is understood to mean 538 B.C., the first year of his domination of Babylon, which followed the earlier conquests of Media and Lydia.

The initial return of Jews from Babylon under “Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah (Ezra 1:8) was a good beginning, with “with silver vessels, with gold, with goods, with animals, and with valuable gifts, besides all that was freely offered” (v. 6) as provided in the decree (v. 4), including “the vessels of the house of the LORD” which “King Cyrus himself brought out” (v. 7). They apparently made a beginning in rebuilding the temple (cf. vv. 2-3, 5), but this task was aborted and the temple site lay in ruins (Haggai 1:9) until “the second year of King Darius (i.e. 520 B.C.). But the initial enthusiasm surely was appropriate after decades of exile and reflection on the destruction caused by the Babylonians.

or Jeremiah 42:1-22 (Presbyterian Tradition)

Jeremiah Advises Survivors Not to Migrate

42:1 Then all the commanders of the forces, and Johanan son of Kareah and Azariah son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least to the greatest, approached 2 the prophet Jeremiah and said, "Be good enough to listen to our plea, and pray to the LORD your God for us--for all this remnant. For there are only a few of us left out of many, as your eyes can see. 3 Let the LORD your God show us where we should go and what we should do." 4 The prophet Jeremiah said to them, "Very well: I am going to pray to the LORD your God as you request, and whatever the LORD answers you I will tell you; I will keep nothing back from you." 5 They in their turn said to Jeremiah, "May the LORD be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act according to everything that the LORD your God sends us through you. 6 Whether it is good or bad, we will obey the voice of the LORD our God to whom we are sending you, in order that it may go well with us when we obey the voice of the LORD our God."

7 At the end of ten days the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah. 8 Then he summoned Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces who were with him, and all the people from the least to the greatest, 9 and said to them, "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your plea before him: 10 If you will only remain in this land, then I will build you up and not pull you down; I will plant you, and not pluck you up; for I am sorry for the disaster that I have brought upon you. 11 Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, as you have been; do not be afraid of him, says the LORD, for I am with you, to save you and to rescue you from his hand. 12 I will grant you mercy, and he will have mercy on you and restore you to your native soil. 13 But if you continue to say, 'We will not stay in this land,' thus disobeying the voice of the LORD your God 14 and saying, 'No, we will go to the land of Egypt, where we shall not see war, or hear the sound of the trumpet, or be hungry for bread, and there we will stay,' 15 then hear the word of the LORD, O remnant of Judah. Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: If you are determined to enter Egypt and go to settle there, 16 then the sword that you fear shall overtake you there, in the land of Egypt; and the famine that you dread shall follow close after you into Egypt; and there you shall die. 17 All the people who have determined to go to Egypt to settle there shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence; they shall have no remnant or survivor from the disaster that I am bringing upon them.

18 "For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Just as my anger and my wrath were poured out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so my wrath will be poured out on you when you go to Egypt. You shall become an object of execration and horror, of cursing and ridicule. You shall see this place no more. 19 The LORD has said to you, O remnant of Judah, Do not go to Egypt. Be well aware that I have warned you today 20 that you have made a fatal mistake. For you yourselves sent me to the LORD your God, saying, 'Pray for us to the LORD our God, and whatever the LORD our God says, tell us and we will do it.' 21 So I have told you today, but you have not obeyed the voice of the LORD your God in anything that he sent me to tell you. 22 Be well aware, then, that you shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence in the place where you desire to go and settle." (Jeremiah 42:1-22, NRSV)

Jeremiah’s advice to Johanan, as earlier to Zedekiah, was to submit to the Babylonians and live in the land under tolerable conditions. Jeremiah’s word from the LORD for Johanan is, “If you will only remain in this land, then I will build you up and not pull you down; I will plant you, and not pluck you up; for I am sorry for the disaster that I have brought upon you” (Jer. 42:10). But Jeremiah warns against going to Egypt, where “the sword that you fear shall overtake you there, in the land of Egypt” (v. 16). From the continuation we know that, as with Zedekiah earlier, Johanan and his people did not follow Jeremiah’s advice. The future of Israel lay with the Babylonian exiles, not with the people left behind.

1 Corinthians 16:1-9

The Collection for the Saints

16:1 Now concerning the collection for the saints: you should follow the directions I gave to the churches of Galatia. 2 On the first day of every week, each of you is to put aside and save whatever extra you earn, so that collections need not be taken when I come. 3 And when I arrive, I will send any whom you approve with letters to take your gift to Jerusalem. 4 If it seems advisable that I should go also, they will accompany me.

Paul’s collection for the saints was his way of fulfilling his agreement with leaders in Jerusalem (Gal. 2:10). Here he gives instructions to the Corinthians about collecting money for this project. Instructions continue in 2 Corinthians, chapters 8 and 9, but in Romans 25:15-19, he reports that the collection is completed and he is ready to take the money to Jerusalem. Paul invites the Corinthians to send persons to accompany him to Jerusalem “if it seems advisable” (1 Cor. 16:4), an appropriate measure for responsible accounting. Richard A. Horsley notes that the collection “indicates the economic dimension of this international movement” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., on 1 Cor. 16:1-12).

Plans for Travel (Cp Acts 19.21)

5 I will visit you after passing through Macedonia--for I intend to pass through Macedonia-- 6 and perhaps I will stay with you or even spend the winter, so that you may send me on my way, wherever I go. 7 I do not want to see you now just in passing, for I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord permits. 8 But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, 9 for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries. (1 Corinthians 16:1-9, NRSV)

Acts 19:21 states that Paul had plans (1) “to go through Macedonia and Achaia,” (2) “and then to go on to Jerusalem.” Also, Paul says, “After I have gone there, I must also see Rome.” This fits with the travel plans mentioned in Romans, as well as these from 1 Corinthians 16. But there is further difficulty for Paul in Ephesus according to Acts 19:23-41, and in Corinth according to 2 Corinthians. Nevertheless, Romans is to be dated in the final weeks of the Third Missionary Journey, and we know from later chapters in Acts that Paul did go to Jerusalem, and then to Rome, but the latter only after two years of imprisonment at Caesarea and still as a prisoner for the journey to Rome and two years of house arrest there (Acts 28:16, 30-31). Sometimes, human plans get changed, but in spite of that, Paul was able to stand “before governors and kings because of me [Christ], as a testimony to them and the Gentiles” (Mt. 10:18; cf. Mk. 13:9b; Lk. 21:12b).

Matthew 12:15-21

God's Chosen Servant

15 When Jesus became aware of this, he departed. Many crowds followed him, and he cured all of them, 16 and he ordered them not to make him known. 17 This was to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah:

18 "Here is my servant, whom I have chosen,

my beloved, with whom my soul is well pleased.

I will put my Spirit upon him,

and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles.

19 He will not wrangle or cry aloud,

nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets.

20 He will not break a bruised reed

or quench a smoldering wick

until he brings justice to victory.

21 And in his name the Gentiles will hope." (Matthew 12:15-21, NRSV)

Matthew passes over most of the details in Mark’s summary account of many healings of people from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, beyond the Jordan, and the region around Tyre and Sidon (Mk. 3:8, cf. vv. 7-12). This passage is condensed to the following: “When Jesus became aware of this, he departed. Many crowds followed him, and he cured all of them, and he ordered them not to make him known (Mt. 12:15-16). The omission of reference to Gentile territories may fit Matthew’s understanding of Jesus’ mission as focused only on Israel (Mt. 10:5-6), but two references to the “Gentiles” appear in the quotation from Isaiah 42:1, 4-9, which Matthew quotes as one of his “formula quotations” (i.e. Mt. 1:22-23; 2:17-18; 4:14-16, etc.), and in so doing supplies a kind of description of Jesus’ ministry. The Spirit of God is upon Jesus as he proclaims “justice to the Gentiles” (v. 18). He will be peaceful (v. 19) and gentle, but will bring “justice to victory” (v. 20).

Ronald D. Worden, Ph.D.

rdworden@hgst.edu

rworden@houston.rr.com