Joel 2:28-3:8

God's Spirit Poured Out

28 Then afterward

I will pour out my spirit on all flesh;

your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,

your old men shall dream dreams,

and your young men shall see visions.

29 Even on the male and female slaves,

in those days, I will pour out my spirit.

30 I will show portents in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. 31 The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and terrible day of the LORD comes. 32 Then everyone who calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved; for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the LORD has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the LORD calls.

3:1 For then, in those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, 2 I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat, and I will enter into judgment with them there, on account of my people and my heritage Israel, because they have scattered them among the nations. They have divided my land, 3 and cast lots for my people, and traded boys for prostitutes, and sold girls for wine, and drunk it down.

4 What are you to me, O Tyre and Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia? Are you paying me back for something? If you are paying me back, I will turn your deeds back upon your own heads swiftly and speedily. 5 For you have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried my rich treasures into your temples. 6 You have sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks, removing them far from their own border. 7 But now I will rouse them to leave the places to which you have sold them, and I will turn your deeds back upon your own heads. 8 I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans, to a nation far away; for the LORD has spoken. (Joel 2:28-3:8, NRSV)

The following comments are repeated with revision and supplement here from November 12, 2004, two years ago (Friday of the week of the Sunday closest to November 9, Year Two):

After the LORD answers the repentance of the people (Joel 2:15-17, and after his promised restoration, reversing the destruction of the army of locusts (vv. 18-27), he promises, “I will pour out my spirit on all flesh; / your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, / your old men shall dream dreams, / and your young men shall see visions” (v. 28 [Heb. 3:1]). God will even pour out the spirit “on the male and female slaves” (v. 29). This expectation that all the people, even the slaves, would prophesy calls to mind Moses’ desire, “Would that all the LORD’s people were prophets, and that the LORD would put his spirit on them!” (Num. 11:29). This will be “the great and terrible day” (v. 31b) when the LORD “will show portents in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke” (v. 30). As further signs, “the sun shall be tuned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and terrible day of the LORD comes” (v. 31).. R. Lansing Hicks and Walter Brueggemann restate this: “The heavens and the earth will warn of the great and terrible day” (NOAB, 2^nd ed., on Joel 2:30-31, with ref. to Mk. 13:24; Rev. 6:12). This will be a time of salvation for “everyone who calls on the name of the LORD,” “for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the LORD has said and among the survivors shall be those whom the LORD calls” (v. 32)

“This passage, Joel 2:28-32, is quoted from the Septuagint version “with small but significant alterations” in Peter’s sermon (Acts 2:17-21), as noted by Beverly Roberts Gaventa (HarperCollins Study Bible, on Acts 2:17-21). “Most important,” says Gaventa, “is the change from ‘afterward’ (Joel 2:28) to in the last days (Acts 2:17), emphasizing the eschatological context of the church. In 2;18, Luke adds the phrase and they shall prophecy, making explicit what the text of Joel implies.”

Joel’s continuation announces a turning of the tables on Israel’s enemies. “The nations who were cruel toward Israel will be judged” (Richard A. Henshaw, HarperCollins Study Bible, on Joel 3:1-8). “When I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather all the nations . . . to the valley of Jehoshaphat” (vv. 1-2a). The name “Jehoshaphat” combines the divine name Yahweh and the verb “judge” (shaphat) to mean “Yahweh judges.” Gregory Mobley notes that “it is called ‘the valley of decision [‘ēmeq hechārûts]’ in v. 14 [and] is probably symbolic, though some traditions locate it is the Kidron valley” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., on Joel 3:2). The nations will be so gathered and judged “on account of my people and my heritage Israel, because they have scattered them among the nations. They have divided my land, and cast lots for my people, and traded boys for prostitutes, and sold girls for wine, and drunk it down” (v. 2b, 3). The LORD denounces Tyre, Sidon, “and all the regions of Philistia” (v. 4), “For you have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried my rich treasures into your temples” (v. 5). They have trafficked in human beings, that is, “sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks, removing them far from their own border” (v. 6). “But now,” says the LORD, “I will turn your deeds back upon your own heads. I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans, to a nation far away, for the LORD has spoken” (vv. 7-8). The “Sabeans” were “an important trading and caravan people whose homeland was . . . part of today’s Yemen” (Henshaw, on v. 8).

James 1:16-27

The following texts are presented here as the were on May 3, 2005 (Tuesday of the week of the Sixth Sunday of Easter, Year One); the comments are combined with revision and supplement here from that date and from November 12, 2004, two years ago (Friday of the week of the Sunday closest to November 9, Year Two):

            Do not be Deceived by Temptation (cf. James 1:12-16)

16 Do not be deceived, my beloved. (James 1:16 NRSV)

In the NRSV, this brief verse concludes the warning that “one is tempted by one’s own desire” (James 1:14), which, “when that desire has conceived, it gives birth sin, and . . . to death” (v. 15). In Today’s New International Version, this verse begins the following paragraph. Either way, it provides a transition from the blessing on those who endure temptation (vv. 12-16), and the reminder that God, who only gives good gifts (vv. 17-18), is not the source of temptation (v. 13).

            God’s Gracious Gift: “Birth by the Word of Truth” 

17 Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. 18 In fulfillment of his own purpose he gave us birth by the word of truth, so that we would become a kind of first fruits of his creatures. (James 1:17-18 NRSV)

The reference to a “generous act of giving” in verse 17, followed by the reference to “birth” (v. 18), “he gave us birth,” is apparently to God’s gift of life to us in the creation of humanity, “or more probably to the re-birth of Christians by the word of the Gospel (see Jn. 3:3-7; Titus 3:5; 1 Pet. 1:3, 23” (Sophie Laws, Harper-Collins Study Bible, on Jas. 1:18). Cain Hope Felder agrees with the latter view, for he sees here “a return to the subject of God’s generosity (v. 5)” which “gave us birth [v. 18], i.e., as Christians (cf. 1 Pet. 1:23)” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., on Jas. 1:17-18). The “word of truth” by which he “gave us birth” is the gospel (Ibid.). Felder also notes the use of the phrase “Father of lights” in reference to God in several Jewish texts (the Damascus Document 5:17-18; Apocalypse of Moses 36:5; and the Testament of Abraham 7:60).

            “Anger does not Produce God’s Righteousness”

19 You must understand this, my beloved: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; 20 for your anger does not produce God’s righteousness. 21 Therefore rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls. (James 1:19-21 NRSV)

The admonition to be “slow to speak,” says James B. Addison,

may refer to the perils of the tongue and the perils of overmuch speaking–a stock theme of the ancient moralist. ‘Be not hasty in thy tongue, and in thy deeds slack and remiss’ [Sir. 4:29] In the second part of the Epistle (chs. 3, 4) James mentions one particularly vicious sin of the tongue, viz., malicious slander (4:11), which the rabbis called ‘the third tongue’ (lishan telitay), for it slays three persons–the speaker, the spoken to, and the spoken of [b ‘Arakin 15b]. (The Epistle of James, NICNT, p. 78, on Jas. 1:19)

The saying with three commands, “be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger” (v. 19) “alerts the reader to an important distinction between James and Paul. Paul (2 Cor. 5:21) probably means a ‘righteousness found in God’ but imparted to believers as a gift, whereas the Jewish Christian James means a standard of righteousness established by God to which the believer seeks to conform” (Felder, on v. 19). The admonition to be “slow to anger” (v. 19) is followed by the explanation, “for your anger (orgē, ‘wrath’ AV/KJV) does not produce God’s righteousness (dikaiosynē). Among other interpretations of this which Addison cites, he prefers that of J. H. Ropes, “this is the warning against the wrong but common Jewish doctrine that anger ‘is sometimes valuable as an engine of righteousness. While man may imitate certain divine qualities, according to the Jews, certain ones, notably anger, are forbidden: ‘Thrice was Moses angry, and thrice he failed to produce the mind of God’” (Addison, pp. 78-79, citing b Pes. 66b). Addison adds:

The objection to [human] wrath is not simply that it is bad tactics and futile. Even if a pedagog’s wrath–contrast God’s patience (1:5)–may produce righteousness in his pupil (Zahn), Christians are not told to eschew wrath because it has no good effect on the persons wronged. The reason is not necessarily the possible effect on the target of my wrath: you might be more grieved, and even damaged, by cold, calculated, and justified censures than by any heated chastisement from my tongue. In Christianity, sin is forbidden primarily because of its effect on the sinner. (p. 79 on v. 20)

We are further advised to rid ourselves “of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness,” welcoming instead “the implanted word that has the power to save [our] souls” (v. 21). This “implanted word,” says Felder, is “a rare phrase meaning the same as “word of truth” in 1:18" (on v. 21). After considering various views, Addison concludes that “implanted” (emphytos) does not mean “innate” (Hort), but rather, based on Hort’s reference to “a secondary ingrowth,” and to “a Divine gift (Hort’s phrase), we may very well say ‘sown’ or ‘planted’ (but not ‘engrafted,’ KJV), in the regularly used metaphorical sense” (p. 81, on v. 21). Addison adds:

The Jewish Torah was held to be redemptive, the medicine of life and a ‘spice’ against the yetser [i.e. the (evil) impulse]. ‘Torah is the only way that leadeth to life’ [b. Qid. 30b]. Like the Torah, the implanted Word was redemptive, uniquely so since this was the ‘Torah of the Messiah.’ James may not mention Christ by name, but Christ’s Saviorhood, if not explicitly elaborated here, is everywhere implied. (Ibid.)

            Doers of the Word

22 But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. 23 For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; 24 for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like. 25 But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act--they will be blessed in their doing. (James 1:22-25 NRSV)

James calls for righteousness in our actions. He says, “be (or ‘become,’ ginesthe) doers (poiētai) of the word, and not merely hearers (akroatai) who deceive themselves” (v. 22). Later he will argue that faith without “works” is useless; they belong together (James 2:14-26). Addison calls attention to the present tense of the verb be, with its “continuative sense: ‘Keep on striving to be doers of the Word.” He adds that “the Hebraic doers (Vulgate factores), comparable to ‘doers of the law,’ is almost adjectival, like ‘law-abiding,’ ‘law-breakers’ (Addison, p. 82, on v. 22, with ref. to Hort). The “word” of which we are to be “doers” is, of course, the “word of truth” (v. 18), the “implanted word” (v. 21), “the gospel as taught by Jesus, then practiced and proclaimed by his followers” (Addison). James goes on to describe two kinds of people. Some “are like those who look at themselves in a mirror . . . and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like” (vv. 23-24). Others, “who will be blessed in their doing,” are the ones “who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act” (v. 25). Addison finds here

two contrasts: (I) between a hasty, forgetful glance and an attentive, sustained study; (ii) between the picture, glimpsed in a mirror of a mortal, physical face, and the picture, contained in the divine law, of the ideal pattern of each immortal soul for the time being inhabiting the mortal flesh, and while still in that flesh, striving to approach that immortal ideal. (pp. 82-83 on vv. 23-25)

The actions are similar, but the reflections are from different sources, the one from a mirror, and the other from “the perfect law, the law of liberty” (v. 25). The immediate forgetting of the one has little or no effect, but the “attentive, sustained study of the other is life-transforming. Sophie Laws comments on the law of liberty:: “Jewish teachers also argued that the law is not a constraint, but rather gives true freedom” (on Jas. 1:25). Torah, the Hebrew word for “law,” frequently means “direction,” or “instruction,” and is related to the verb yrh, which means “instruct, teach” (William L. Holladay, Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon, s.v. torah, and yrh). We might understand the liberty or freedom which following the laws (rules) gives if we think of the rules of an athletic game (e.g. baseball, soccer) or the principles of music. One who knows the rules of the game and is trained in following them can follow the rules with good results. One who knows the principles of music and is trained in the use of a musical instrument can play with a freedom unavailable to the novice. In both instances, “breaking the rules” will lead to unsatisfactory results. As with many topics treated in James, chapter 1, this one relates to a fuller treatment later in the book (i.e. 2:8-13)

            Pure and Undefiled Religion

26 If any think they are religious, and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless. 27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world. (James 1:26-27 NRSV)

Those who “do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts” have religion that is “worthless” (v. 26 (cf. v. 19; 3:2-12). The truly religious person will care for the needy, “orphans and widows,” and will “keep oneself unstained by the world” (v. 27; cf. 2:14-17). So James gives us a lot to think about. Being “doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves” (v. 22), has broad implications. We might search this chapter for things to do–what does he mean? But though the chapter concludes with a warning to “bridle” our “tongues” (v. 26), and a definition of pure religion as “to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world” (v. 27), the “doing” is not confined to this chapter. Fulfilling “the perfect law, the law of liberty” (v. 25), means not being partial (chap. 2), taming the tongue (chap. 3) and so forth.

Luke 16:1-9

The Parable of the Dishonest Manager

16:1 Then Jesus said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was squandering his property. 2 So he summoned him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Give me an accounting of your management, because you cannot be my manager any longer.’ 3 Then the manager said to himself, ‘What will I do, now that my master is taking the position away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. 4 I have decided what to do so that, when I am dismissed as manager, people may welcome me into their homes.’ 5 So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ 6 He answered, ‘A hundred jugs of olive oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it fifty.’ 7 Then he asked another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He replied, ‘A hundred containers of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill and make it eighty.’ 8 And his master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light. 9 And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes. (Luke 16:1-9, NRSV)

The following comments are combined with revision and supplement here from November 12, 2004, two years ago (Friday of the week of the Sunday closest to November 9, Year Two), and from May 26, 2005 (Thursday of the week of the Sunday closest to May 25, Year One):

The Parable of the “Dishonest Manager” (ton oikonomon tēs adikias), so called in Luke 16:8, is not presented as an example of ethical behavior, in spite of the master’s commendation. Some of Jesus’ parables may be understood as exemplary stories. The actions of the Good Samaritan, for example, may be taken as a model for Christian behavior in similar circumstances (Lk. 10:29-37). In some cases, the example is a bad example. Don’t follow the example of the Rich Fool (Lk. 12:16-21), or the Rich Man who ignored the needs of Lazarus, who lay at his gate, hungry and “covered with sores” (Lk. 16:20, cf. vv. 19-31). But many interpreters seem faced with a dilemma when it comes to the Parable of the Dishonest Manager (Lk. 16:1-9). Should he have squandered his master’s property in the first place (v. 1)? Should he have reduced the debt of his master’s debtors (vv. 5-7)? Was his motive to help his master realize whatever gain he could in the circumstances, and so to deserve the commendation in fact given by the master (v. 8)? Or was his motive to provide for his own future, “so that, when I am dismissed as manager, people may welcome me into their homes” (v. 4)? Other explanations have been given. Perhaps it’s a call for decisive action in reference to the coming kingdom of God, but one then wonders how verses 10-13 are related (G. W. H. Lampe, Peake’s Commentary on the Bible, sec. 730j, p. 836, on Lk. 16:1-9). Perhaps the commendation (v. 8) is ironic, or perhaps it is genuine because the manager has lowered the debt by forgoing his commission (50%?) (cf. David L. Tiede, HarperCollins Study Bible, on Lk. 16:5-7). Perhaps there is a contrast between earthly and heavenly values (cf. v. 13). Lampe has a point: “it is more likely that the parable is directed against the leaders of Israel as stewards of God’s property. They should be making friends of those whom they have oppressed, so as to find security when their present position of worldly privilege collapses with the end of the old order” (loc. cit.). The manager is called dishonest for a reason, “a manager of unrighteousness.” We are not called to act as he did, but we are called to weigh our values carefully as good stewards (managers) of the grace of God given to us.

Sheryl Bozeman, an alumna of HGST (M.Div., 1994), wrote her Master’s degree thesis as a study of this parable, in the context of recent research on parables. She noted that Adolf Jülicher, called “the father of modern parabolic research,” rejected allegorization and contended that “the essence of the parable was similitude” (Bozeman thesis, 14). She cites another (Kissinger), who said “a similitude grows from a simile that depicts familiar scenes and relationships that are presented in some detail.” So the point of the Parable of the Dishonest Manager is not in the correctness or the wickedness of what he does, but the comparison which can be made with his “shrewdness” in using the things of his present life to prepare for the future. And the disciples should “shrewdly” use the present time to prepare for the future kingdom of God. “And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth [text note a: ‘Gk. mammon] so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes [text note b: ‘Gk. tents]” (v. 9). “Wealth, lit. ‘mammon,’ is the Greek translation of a Semitic word probably meaning ‘that in which one fully trusts’” (Marion Lloyd Soards, NOAB, 3^rd ed., on Lk. 16:9).

Eric Franklin notes a difference in the sense of “dishonest” in verses 8 and 9, where the same Greek word (adikia) is translated as “dishonest.” (The word adikia, “injustice, unrighteousness,” is a noun but functions as an adjective in the Semitic idioms manager of injustice = “dishonest manager” and wealth (mammon) of injustice = “dishonest wealth.”)

The servant is ‘dishonest’ in our understanding of the term. All mammon (NRSV wealth), however, is called ‘dishonest’ in the sense that it is material possessions understood as the things in which one puts one’s trust and that therefore encourage an acquisitive attitude and a self-reliance; it separates one from God (hence ‘unrighteous’ is probably a better term). (Eric Franklin, The Oxford Bible Commentary, p. 948, on Lk. 16:1-13)

In this way, Franklin suggests that verse 9 is not a part of the parable. “If v. 9 were part of the parable, it would be encouraging us to use our wealth gained dishonestly in a way that brought us some benefits: it would be virtually condoning dishonesty!” Franklin further struggles with the idea that the master commended the dishonest manager. “The real challenge is the master’s commendation of the steward. What does this say, not only about the steward but also about the master?” As he says, the parable certainly is enigmatic. But perhaps some former Exxon employees and other creditors have something of an answer. When the crunch time comes, you take what you can get! Or better, as Sheryl Bozeman suggested, we should regard the story as an extended simile which is really about something else, namely our own preparation for the future with God.

Ronald D. Worden, Ph.D.

rdworden@hgst.edu

rworden@houston.rr.com