4:1 Now when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he was angry and greatly enraged, and he mocked the Jews. 2 He said in the presence of his associates and of the army of Samaria, "What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they restore things? Will they sacrifice? Will they finish it in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish-and burned ones at that?" 3 Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him, and he said, "That stone wall they are building-any fox going up on it would break it down!" 4 Hear, O our God, for we are despised; turn their taunt back on their own heads, and give them over as plunder in a land of captivity. 5 Do not cover their guilt, and do not let their sin be blotted out from your sight; for they have hurled insults in the face of the builders.

6 So we rebuilt the wall, and all the wall was joined together to half its height; for the people had a mind to work.

7 But when Sanballat and Tobiah and the Arabs and the Ammonites and the Ashdodites heard that the repairing of the walls of Jerusalem was going forward and the gaps were beginning to be closed, they were very angry, 8 and all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to cause confusion in it. 9 So we prayed to our God, and set a guard as a protection against them day and night.

10 But Judah said, "The strength of the burden bearers is failing, and there is too much rubbish so that we are unable to work on the wall." 11 And our enemies said, "They will not know or see anything before we come upon them and kill them and stop the work." 12 When the Jews who lived near them came, they said to us ten times, "From all the places where they live they will come up against us." 13 So in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, in open places, I stationed the people according to their families, with their swords, their spears, and their bows. 14 After I looked these things over, I stood up and said to the nobles and the officials and the rest of the people, "Do not be afraid of them. Remember the LORD, who is great and awesome, and fight for your kin, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes."

15 When our enemies heard that their plot was known to us, and that God had frustrated it, we all returned to the wall, each to his work. 16 From that day on, half of my servants worked on construction, and half held the spears, shields, bows, and body-armor; and the leaders posted themselves behind the whole house of Judah, 17 who were building the wall. The burden bearers carried their loads in such a way that each labored on the work with one hand and with the other held a weapon. 18 And each of the builders had his sword strapped at his side while he built. The man who sounded the trumpet was beside me. 19 And I said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people, "The work is great and widely spread out, and we are separated far from one another on the wall. 20 Rally to us wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet. Our God will fight for us."

21 So we labored at the work, and half of them held the spears from break of dawn until the stars came out. 22 I also said to the people at that time, "Let every man and his servant pass the night inside Jerusalem, so that they may be a guard for us by night and may labor by day." 23 So neither I nor my brothers nor my servants nor the men of the guard who followed me ever took off our clothes; each kept his weapon in his right hand. (Nehemiah 4:1-23, NRSV)

Nehemiah gets down to work, "So we rebuilt the wall, and all the wall was joined together to half its height; for the people had a mind to work" (Neh. 4:6). But that, so to speak, is only half the story. The report of the completion of the wall comes later, "So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul [the 6th month, counting from Nissan], in fifty-two days" (6:15), but only after enduring a series of troubles. Sanballat, Tobiah and associates are angered by news of Nehemiah's beginning the work (4:7-10) and plotted against him to prevent his success (4:8) and harm him (6:2-13). Perhaps they did want to kill him, but the statement to that effect, "tonight they are coming to kill you" (6:10), comes from Shemaiah, "the enemy within the camp" (A. Jeffery, J. J. Collins, NOAB, 2^nd. ed.), who intended "to make me [Nehemiah] sin" (v. 13) by entering the temple as a lay person (v. 11) for refuge "so they could give me a bad name, in order to taunt me" (v. 13).

Summary of Jerusalem’s Desperate Condition

5 Remember, O Lord, what has befallen us;

look, and see our disgrace!

²Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers,

our homes to aliens.

³We have become orphans, fatherless;

our mothers are like widows.

⁴We must pay for the water we drink;

the wood we get must be bought.

⁵With a yoke on our necks we are hard driven;

we are weary, we are given no rest.

⁶We have made a pact with Egypt and Assyria,

to get enough bread.

⁷Our ancestors sinned; they are no more,

and we bear their iniquities.

⁸Slaves rule over us;

there is no one to deliver us from their hand.

⁹We get our bread at the peril of our lives,

because of the sword in the wilderness.

¹⁰Our skin is black as an oven

from the scorching heat of famine.

¹¹Women are raped in Zion,

virgins in the towns of Judah.

¹²Princes are hung up by their hands;

no respect is shown to the elders.

¹³Young men are compelled to grind,

and boys stagger under loads of wood.

¹⁴The old men have left the city gate,

the young men their music.

¹⁵The joy of our hearts has ceased;

our dancing has been turned to mourning.

¹⁶The crown has fallen from our head;

woe to us, for we have sinned!

¹⁷Because of this our hearts are sick,

because of these things our eyes have grown dim:

¹⁸because of Mount Zion, which lies desolate;

jackals prowl over it.

Prayer for Mercy

¹⁹But you, O Lord, reign forever;

your throne endures to all generations.

²⁰Why have you forgotten us completely?

Why have you forsaken us these many days?

²¹Restore us to yourself, O Lord, that we may be restored;

renew our days as of old—

²²unless you have utterly rejected us,

and are angry with us beyond measure. (Lamentations 5:1-22, NRSV)

The last chapter of Lamentations concludes the book with a graphic description of Jerusalem’s distress, and a final prayer for the LORD’s mercy. The people of Jerusalem “We must pay for the water we drink;/the wood we get must be bought (Lam. 5:4). More than that, “With a yoke on our necks we are hard driven;/we are weary, we are given no rest” (v. 5). They are ruled by slaves (v. 8), blackened by the sun (v. 10), raped in Zion and the towns of Judah (v. 11). Forced child labor has boys staggering “under loads of wood” (v. 13). There is no music or dancing (vv. 14-15). “Mount Zion . . . lies desolate;/jackals prowl over it” (v. 18).

F. W. Dobbs-Allsopp compares the concluding prayer to some of the Psalms, but with a difference; it is “not a straightforward hymn of praise as in other communal laments (e.g., Ps. 44:1-8; 74:12-17; 89:1-18)” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., on Lam. 5:19-22). The word “unless,” says Dobbs-Allsopp, “is difficult”:

Perhaps “but instead” (as in Vg [the Vulgate]; cf. Num. 24:22; 1 Sam 21:6; 2 Sam. 13:33), underscoring the LORD’s rejection and anger; or even more literally, “for if,” in which case the conditional clause’s apodosis [the “then” clause, expressing the result if the condition is met] has been intentionally withheld. Either sentiment runs contrary to the traditional concluding lines in communal laments and, when combined with the brevity of the prayer in v. 21, undoes whatever hopefulness inheres in the prayer. Therefore the poem, and the book, ends pessimistically, even tragically. (F. W. Dobbs-Alsopp, NOAB, 3^rd ed., on v. 22)

4 And I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred forty-four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of the people of Israel:

“The explicit number (144,000) symbolizes completeness; not one of the redeemed is missing” (Bruce M. Metzger, NOAB, 2^nd ed., on Rev. 7:4). “ The symbolic number 144,000, which is the square of 12 multiplied by 1000, has been interpreted variously as a reference to the faithful remnant of Israel; the church; the martyrs; the remnant of Christians who survive the eschatological turmoil; all the redeemed (14:1, 3)” (Jean-Pierre Ruiz, NOAB, 3^rd ed., on v. 4). Ruiz notes the reference to “every tribe” but the omission of Dan and Ephraim. Since Ephraim and Manasseh were Joseph’s sons (Gen., chap. 48), perhaps “Joseph” (Rev. 7:8b) stands for Ephraim. Thus, only Dan would be omitted of those sons blessed in Genesis, chapter 49).

9. After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands. 10 They cried out in a loud voice, saying,

11 And all the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 singing,

13 Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, "Who are these, robed in white, and where have they come from?" 14 I said to him, "Sir, you are the one that knows." Then he said to me, "These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

John sees “a great multitude that no one could count” of redeemed people “from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages” (Rev. 7:9) rejoicing in heaven. “These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (v. 14). This multitude praises God, “Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!” (v. 10). The angels around God’s throne respond with a “sevenfold ascription of praise to God” (Bruce M. Metzger, NOAB, 2^nd ed., on v. 12) bless him with singing (v. 12). It is explained to John that “these, robed in white” (i.e. the multitude), “are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (v. 14), which “cleanses from Sin” (Metzger). Worship in heaven is described, with these redeemed people “before the throne of God” (v. 15a), “a favored position because of their faithfulness” (Metzger, on v. 15). Metzger also notes the paradox in verse 17, where “the Lamb is their Shepherd,” which reminds me of the Commencement Address given when I graduated from George Fox College by T. Canby Jones. He refers to that occasion in an address given to the Friends United Meeting Triennial this year (2005), which is available online:

I've been struggling to remember when I first became enamored with this Quaker way of describing the eternal struggle against evil into which Christians are called. Since I gave the commencement address at George Fox College, Newberg, Oregon, in June 1960 on “The Lamb's War” it must have been before that. Hugh Barbour and Arthur Roberts must have introduced me to the idea in their volume, Early Quaker Writings, which contains James Nayler's 1657 essay, “The Lamb's War and the Man of Sin.” Without their efforts and my concern, I wonder if we would be reviving the concept of enlisting in and fighting a nonviolent Lamb's War today? (http://www.fum.org/about/triennial%202005/canby.htm, accessed Oct. 29, 2005).

John depicts a life and death struggle between the powers of darkness, led by Satan, and the powers of light, led by the Lamb. The enemy was at least personified by Lord Caesar and his Empire, but that was the side ultimately to be defeated. Are we fighting the Lamb’s war with the weapons of peace? T. Canby Jones has more to say about the Lamb’s war:

If we are committed to the Lamb's War and engaged in nonviolent force, Jesus’ command to love enemies is an inescapable demand on us. However difficult, this command is a must! If we cannot practice reconciling love toward enemies, we not only are not fit to engage in the Lamb's War, but we are also not worthy of experiencing his transforming presence and power in our lives.

I must bear personal witness to the fact that just as the act of forgiveness is a gift of sheer grace so is the act of loving our enemies. I find it extremely hard to practice such love. I am tender toward those who try but fail at it. By the same token, I am jubilant and my faith in the Lamb's War is confirmed when I observe someone actually loving an enemy or an oppressor.

It is well to remember in such difficult circumstances that Jesus has promised he will not lay on us such heavy burdens or tasks without giving us the grace and strength to carry them out. (from the online address cited above)

31 He put before them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; 32 it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches."

33 He told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened."

34 Jesus told the crowds all these things in parables; without a parable he told them nothing. 35 This was to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet:

I will proclaim what has been hidden from the foundation of the world." (Matthew 13:31-35, NRSV)

Sunday’s Gospel reading is Jesus’ advice about worry and anxiety (for tomorrow, Oct. 30, 2005). This advice can stand on its own, of course, but the point of the two brief parables about the Mustard Seed and the Yeast is the amazing results that come from apparently insignificant beginnings. That thought should be of some added comfort to those with worries and anxieties. From “the smallest of all the seeds” comes “the greatest of shrubs” which “becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches” (Mt. 13:32). This amazing growth is growth of the kingdom of heaven, of course, but as Christian believers, we are part of that kingdom and part of that growth.

Consider what Matthew has done in chapter 13. He has presented eight parables (or comparisons), three with parallels in canonical Gospels, and four explanatory paragraphs (Purpose of Parables, Mt. 10-17; the Sower explained, vv. 18-23; the Use of Parables, vv. 34-35; and an explanation of the parable of the weeds, vv. 36-43). An outline of these Matthew 13 Parables and Parallels is found in a separate file. All of these (brief paragraphs) have parallels in the canonical Gospels or in the Gospel of Thomas, sometimes both, except the statement about the Christian scribe (vv. 51-52. It is likely, of course, that Matthew, or traditions used by Matthew, is Thomas’ source rather than the reverse. Matthew certainly did not make use of the Gospel of Thomas as a source. But Matthew, not inventing sayings of Jesus, but gathering them from various sources, has shown us how Jesus drew upon the agriculture and local business activity to illustrate his conception of the kingdom of heaven. This he does to “proclaim what has been hidden from the foundation of the world” (v. 35).

Daily Scripture Readings
Saturday (October 29, 2005)
Daily Office Lectionary, The Book of Common Prayer, the Episcopal Church in the U.S.A.	Daily Lectionary, The Book of Worship, the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.	Daily Lectionary, Book of Worship Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship, c. 1978 (2002 printing)
http://www.satucket.com/lectionary/index.htm http://www.pcusa.org/cgi-bin/lectiond.cgi
Unless otherwise indicated, the scripture texts quoted are from The New Revised Standard Version (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers), 1989.
According to Proper25*	According to Proper 25*	According to Proper 24*
Saturday: AM Psalm 55 PM Psalm 138, 139:1-17(18-23) Neh. 4:1-23 Rev. 7:(4-8)9-17 Matt. 13:31-35 James Hannington, and his Companions: http://www.satucket.com/lectionary/James_Hannington.htm Psalm 124 or 116:1-8 1 Peter 3:14-18,22; Matthew 10:16-22	Morning: Psalm 63:1-11 Nehemiah 4:1-23 or Lamentations 5:1-22 Revelation 7:(4-8) 9-17 Matthew 13:31-35 Evening: Psalm 125:1-5	Morning Pss.: 63, 149 Ezra 4:7, 11-24 or Jeremiah 44:1-14 Philemon 1-25 Matthew 12:33-42 Evening Pss.: 125, 90
*For this week (of the Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost): the Lutheran tradition remains a week behind the Episcopal and Presbyterian traditions.