Habakkuk 3:1-10 (11-15) 16-18

The following comments are combined with revision and supplement here from November 16, 2004, two years ago (Tuesday of the week of the Sunday closest to November 16, Year Two), and from March 2, 2006 (Thursday in the week of the Last Sunday after the Epiphany, Year Two):

Habakkuk, “a contemporary of Jeremiah” (Gregory Mobley, NOAB, 3^rd ed., Introduction to Jeremiah), considers both injustice within Judah itself (Hab. 1:2-4), and the injustice of God’s using Babylon to punish Judah. “Why do you look on the treacherous, / and are silent when the wicked swallow / those more righteous than they?” (1:13c, d). But the LORD promises “a vision for the appointed time” (2:3a), worth waiting for. “If it seems to tarry, wait for it; / it will surely come, it will not delay” (v. 3c, d). For Mobley, verse 4 gives “the substance of the message” from God to Habakkuk: “The righteous survive by remaining steadfast, reliable, faithful. Here the contrast is primarily between the oppressed Judahites (the righteous) and oppressing Chaldeans (the proud). After a series of woes, introduced by “alas,” directed against Babylon, “a rapacious empire,” Habakkuk speaks for the oppressed nations, speaking “the last taunting word, delivered in the style of funeral laments” (Mobley on 2:5-20).

In the psalm itself (chap. 3), Habakkuk affirms the LORD’s past glory, his “renown” and his “work” (3:2a, b), and calls for God to “revive it,” to “remember mercy” though he has acted “in wrath” to punish Judah (v. 2c, d, e). The LORD’s glory is described in detail. It “covered the heavens, / and the earth was full of his praise” (v. 3c, d). Habakkuk wonders at the Lord’s “brightness,” “where his power lay hidden” (v. 4), his judgment which brings “pestilence, / and plague” (v. 5), his power to shake the earth, make the nations tremble, shatter “the eternal mountains” and sink “the everlasting hills” (v. 6). He reminds the LORD of his mighty acts on Israel’s behalf at the time of the Exodus and wilderness wandering toward the promised land. “Was your wrath against the rivers, O LORD? / Or your anger against the rivers, / or your rage against the sea, / when you drove your horses, / your chariots to victory?” ( v. 8).

Habakkuk seems to recount the history of God’s actions when he delivered Israel from enemies on the journey from Egypt to the Promised Land (vv. 3-15), but scholars suggest that the prophet’s eye is on the future. The reference to “the rivers” and “the sea” (v. 8). Deliverance from Egypt in the past becomes a picture of future deliverance from Babylon, this time crossing the Euphrates (cf. O. Palmer Robertson in The New International Commentary on the Old Testament).

After the section with the parenthetical references (3:11-15), which continues to wonder at God’s mighty acts, Habakkuk, trembling at God’s power (v. 16a, b), waits “quietly for the day of calamity / to come upon the people who attack us” (v. 16e, f). The Book of Habakkuk has worked through various questions about justice and injustice, but faith comes to expression in the end:

17 Though the fig tree does not blossom,

and no fruit is on the vines;

though the produce of the olive fails

and the fields yield no food;

though the flock is cut off from the fold

and there is no herd in the stalls,

18 yet I will rejoice in the LORD;

I will exult in the God of my salvation. (Habakkuk 3:17-18, NRSV)

“The overarching theme of this chapter [3] may be seen as a poetic elaboration of 2:4” (Robertson), “Look at the proud! / Their spirit is not right in them, / but the righteous live by their faith.”

James 3:1-12

3:1 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. 2 For all of us make many mistakes. Anyone who makes no mistakes in speaking is perfect, able to keep the whole body in check with a bridle. 3 If we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we guide their whole bodies. 4 Or look at ships: though they are so large that it takes strong winds to drive them, yet they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. 5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great exploits.

How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire! 6 And the tongue is a fire. The tongue is placed among our members as a world of iniquity; it stains the whole body, sets on fire the cycle of nature, and is itself set on fire by hell. 7 For every species of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by the human species, 8 but no one can tame the tongue-a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse those who are made in the likeness of God. 10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and brackish water? 12 Can a fig tree, my brothers and sisters, yield olives, or a grapevine figs? No more can salt water yield fresh. (James 3:1-12, NRSV)

The following comments are combined here with revision and supplement from November 16, 2004, two years ago (Tuesday of the week of the Sunday closest to November 16, Year Two), and from October 1, 2006 (the Sunday closest to September 28, Year Two), when comments were repeated from August 31, 2005 (Wednesday, week of the Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Year One):

In this reading James begins with a warning for teachers. “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness” (Jas. 3:1). The continuation with warnings about improper speaking has relevance for all of us, but especially for teachers

James B. Adamson explains the warning for teachers:

In the Jewish Diaspora congregations [i.e. among those whom James addresses] there was an order of “teachers,” which this passage suggests was in danger of being overrun by unworthy members and candidates . . . Apparently James himself was a member of the order: “we shall be adjudged . . . .” though a few [later manuscripts] and versions emend to the second person to soften this inclusiveness. This chapter, though not formally addressed to this order, is specially aimed at them: vv. 1-12 caution the sincere against the constant danger of sinning with the tongue, a danger inseparable from the teaching profession” (The Epistle of James, NICNT, 1976, p. 140).

James warns about sins of the tongue, which is compared to “a bridle” with “bits” which are put “into the mouths of horses” (James 3:2-3) and the “very small rudder” that guides large ships (v. 4). He warns about intemperate speech that “boasts of great exploits” (v. 5), “a fire . . . a world of iniquity” (v. 6), untamable, “full of deadly poison” (v. 8). “From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this ought not to be so” (v. 10). James appears to present a variation on the teaching of Jesus about fruit. “Can a fig tree, my brothers and sisters, yield olives, or a grapevine figs? No more can salt water yield fresh” (v. 12). Compare “Figs are not gathered from thorns, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush” (Lk. 6:44). These warnings are especially appropriate for teachers. According to Warren A. Quanbeck and Pheme Perkins, “Two besetting sins of the teacher are rebuked: intemperate speech (vv. 1-12) and arrogance (vv. 13-18 [from tomorrow’s lesson])” (NOAB, 2^nd ed., on Jas. 3:1-18). Teaching is an essential function within society in general as well as in the church. Pray that we may do it in a proper spirit, with dedication both to truth and to the well-being of those with whom we work.

Luke 17:1-10

Some Sayings of Jesus (Mt 18.6-9; Mk 9.42-48)

17:1 Jesus said to his disciples, “Occasions for stumbling are bound to come, but woe to anyone by whom they come! 2 It would be better for you if a millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea than for you to cause one of these little ones to stumble. 3 Be on your guard! If another disciple sins, you must rebuke the offender, and if there is repentance, you must forgive. 4 And if the same person sins against you seven times a day, and turns back to you seven times and says, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive.”

5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” 6 The Lord replied, “If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.

7 “Who among you would say to your slave who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, ‘Come here at once and take your place at the table’? 8 Would you not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, put on your apron and serve me while I eat and drink; later you may eat and drink’? 9 Do you thank the slave for doing what was commanded? 10 So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, ‘We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!’” (Luke 17:1-10, NRSV)

The following comments are combined here from November 16, 2004, two years ago (Tuesday of the week of the Sunday closest to November 16, Year Two) and from May 30, 2005 (Monday in the week of the Sunday closest to June 1, Year One):

After the story of the rich man and Lazarus, Jesus continues with various admonitions: on not causing another to sin (Lk. 17:1-2; cf. Mk. 9:42; Mt. 18:6-7), on forgiveness (Lk. 17:3-4; cf. Mt. 18:15, 21-22), on “faith the size of a mustard seed” (Lk. 17:5-6; cf. Mt. 17:20) and on “obedience to God [as] a duty to be fulfilled and not an occasion for reward” (Lk. 17:7-10; described by Elwyn E. Tilden and Bruce M. Metzger, NOAB, on Lk. 17:;7-10). These sayings teach “the disciples . . . about the nature of their stewardship in the Kingdom,” which is set “in contrast to the Pharisaic failure to exercise stewardship” (G. W. H. Lampe, Peake’s Commentary on the Bible, sec. 731b, p. 837, on Lk., chap. 17). Let us pray to be faithful servants; then the rewards will take care of themselves.

The following charts are based on Kurt Aland, Synopsis of the Four Gospels (1982), 199-201:

Jesus warned against causing “one of these little ones” to stumble (Mt., Mk.). Luke puts it in a passive, more general form, but all of the evangelists see it as a warning against causing temptation for Christian believers.

Matthew and Luke stress the need to deal with offenses. According to Luke Jesus said to forgive another disciple seven times a day. In his response to Peter according to Matthew, one should forgive “another member of the church” (Greek adelphos, “brother”) “not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.”

In different ways, each Gospel stresses the need for faith. A corollary is that each Gospel indicates that Jesus expected the disciples to perform miracles. In Matthew and Mark the context is the healing (exorcism) of the boy after the Transfiguration (Mk. 9:14-29; Mt. 17:14-21), which Luke does not report.

Disciples as Unprofitable Servants (NRSV “worthless slaves”)

In the final paragraph (Lk. 17:7-10), which has no parallels in the other Gospels, the disciples who have been encouraged to exercise faith are reminded that, though “they must strive after faith [they] must avoid all sense of superiority that arises out of the attitude that God is obligated to them” (Eric Franklin, The Oxford Bible Commentary, p. 949, on Lk. 17:1-10). “For the apostles, obedience to God is a duty to be fulfilled and not an occasion for reward; yet, cf. 12:35-38" (Marion Lloyd Soards, NOAB, 3^rd. ed., on Lk. 17:7-10).

Ronald D. Worden, Ph.D.

rdworden@hgst.edu

rworden@houston.rr.com