Isaiah 13:6-13 (Episcopal); or 1-13 (Presbyterian, Lutheran)

Proclamation against Babylon

13:1 The oracle concerning Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz saw.

2 On a bare hill raise a signal,

cry aloud to them;

wave the hand for them to enter

the gates of the nobles.

3 I myself have commanded my consecrated ones,

have summoned my warriors, my proudly exulting ones,

to execute my anger.

4 Listen, a tumult on the mountains

as of a great multitude!

Listen, an uproar of kingdoms,

of nations gathering together!

The LORD of hosts is mustering

an army for battle.

5 They come from a distant land,

from the end of the heavens,

the LORD and the weapons of his indignation,

to destroy the whole earth. (Isaiah 13:1-5, NRSV)

6 Wail, for the day of the LORD is near;

it will come like destruction from the Almighty!

7 Therefore all hands will be feeble,

and every human heart will melt,

8 and they will be dismayed.

Pangs and agony will seize them;

they will be in anguish like a woman in labor.

They will look aghast at one another;

their faces will be aflame.

9 See, the day of the LORD comes,

cruel, with wrath and fierce anger,

to make the earth a desolation,

and to destroy its sinners from it.

10 For the stars of the heavens and their constellations

will not give their light;

the sun will be dark at its rising,

and the moon will not shed its light.

11 I will punish the world for its evil,

and the wicked for their iniquity;

I will put an end to the pride of the arrogant,

and lay low the insolence of tyrants.

12 I will make mortals more rare than fine gold,

and humans than the gold of Ophir.

13 Therefore I will make the heavens tremble,

and the earth will be shaken out of its place,

at the wrath of the LORD of hosts

in the day of his fierce anger. (Isaiah 13:6-13, NRSV)

The following comments are repeated here from December 12, 2004, two years ago (the Third Sunday of Advent, Year One):

In chapter 13 of Isaiah, we encounter an Oracle (Maśśe’ ) against Babylon (Isa. 13:1-22), as a part of a series of oracles against foreign nations (chaps. 13-23). Babylon is told to:

            Wail, for the day of the LORD is near;

               it will come like destruction from the Almighty!

            Therefore all hands will be feeble,

               and every human heart will melt,

               and they will be dismayed. (Isa. 13:6-7a)

The coming judgment will include “pangs and agony . . . like a woman in labor,” but more so; “their faces will be aflame” (v. 8). But the judgment takes on cosmic proportions:

            See, the day of the LORD comes,

               cruel, with wrath and fierce anger,

            to make the earth a desolation,

               and to destroy its sinners from it. (v. 9)

            . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

            I will punish the world for its evil,

               and the wicked for their iniquity;

            I will put an end to the pride of the arrogant,

               and lay low the insolence of tyrants. (v. 11)

This chapter and the next seem to be addressed to Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon, after it superceded the Assyria of Tiglath Pileser and Sennacherib as the superpower of the region. But the cosmic dimensions suggest that it could apply to all tyrannies everywhere, even modern ones.

Hebrews 12:18-29

18 You have not come to something that can be touched, a blazing fire, and darkness, and gloom, and a tempest, 19 and the sound of a trumpet, and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that not another word be spoken to them. 20 (For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even an animal touches the mountain, it shall be stoned to death.” 21 Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.”) 22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, 23 and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

25 See that you do not refuse the one who is speaking; for if they did not escape when they refused the one who warned them on earth, how much less will we escape if we reject the one who warns from heaven! 26 At that time his voice shook the earth; but now he has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heaven.” 27 This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of what is shaken-that is, created things-so that what cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us give thanks, by which we offer to God an acceptable worship with reverence and awe; 29 for indeed our God is a consuming fire. (Hebrews 12:18-29, NRSV)

The following comments are repeated here from December 12, 2004, two years ago (the Third Sunday of Advent, Year One):

The “blazing fire, and darkness, and gloom, and a tempest” which begin the reading from Hebrews (Heb. 12:18) is not the kind of universal judgment of the world found in the Isaiah reading, but rather a reference to the manifestations at Mt. Sinai (Ex. 19:16-18) as God prepared to give the laws to Moses. The writer to the Hebrews reminds his people (or hers) that dealing with God is serious business. “Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, ‘I tremble with fear.’ But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel” (Heb. 12:21-24). The question comes: “If they did not escape when they refused the one who warned them on earth [i.e. Moses], how much less will we escape if we reject the one who warns from heaven! [i.e. Jesus, who “entered into heaven itself,” 9:4]” (12:25). The point is that “we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, [so] let us give thanks, by which we offer to God an acceptable worship with reverence and awe, for indeed our God is a consuming fire” (12:28-29).

The following comments are repeated here from May 28, 2006 (the Seventh Sunday of Easter, Year Two)

As the writer to the Hebrews does throughout the book, he (or she) compares the Mosaic Covenant with the New Covenant of Christ. When the Israelites gathered at Mt. Sinai and, in preparation for the giving of the Ten Commandments, they saw “a blazing fire, and darkness, and gloom, and a tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that not another word be spoken to them” (Heb. 12:18-19; cf. Exod. 19:16, 18-19; 20:19; Deut. 5:4-5). Hebrews adds “For they could not endure the order that was given, "If even an animal touches the mountain, it shall be stoned to death” (Heb. 12:20, citing Exod.19:12-23). By way of contrast, he tells the readers that they have come to “Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem,” where there are “innumerable angels in festal gathering” (Heb. 12:22), and “to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect” (v. 23). The comparison continues with reference to Jesus, “the mediator of the new covenant,” whose sprinkled blood “speaks a better word than the blood of Abel” (v. 24). “Abel’s blood cried out to God from the ground, protesting against his murder and appealing for vindication; but the blood of Christ brings a message of cleansing, forgiveness, and peace with God to all who place their faith in him” (F. F. Bruce, The Epistle to the Hebrews, NICNT, rev. ed., 1990, p. 361 on Heb. 12:24).

The point is that the readers must take the revelation of Christ very seriously; if the former revelation was so awesome, how much more so is the latter? F. F. Bruce comments: “Our author reverts to the contrast already pointed in 2:2-4 between the giving of the law and the reception of the gospel. Awesome as were the circumstances of the giving of the law in Moses’ day, more awesome by far are the privileges associated with the gospel, if they are despised or refused” (Bruce, pp. 353-354 on Heb. 12:18-19). So the readers are warned: “See that you do not refuse the one who is speaking; for if they did not escape when they refused the one who warned them on earth, how much less will we escape if we reject the one who warns from heaven!” (v. 25). The writer cites Haggai 2:6, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heaven” (v. 26), referring to Exodus 19:18, “while the whole mountain shook violently.” The words, “yet once more” (Hag. 2:6 LXX. eti hapax; ‘once again, in a little while’ NRSV for Heb. ‘ôd ’achat me‘at hî’) are interpreted by Hebrews; the phrase “indicates the removal of what is shaken–that is–created things–so that what cannot be shaken may remain” (Heb. 12:27). Bruce says of the Haggai passage,

In their context these words declare God’s purpose, in the day when he rises in vindication of his cause, to put down Gentile dominion, to exalt the throne of David, and to make Jerusalem and its temple the center of worship and allegiance for all nations. Our author [the writer to the Hebrews] interprets them of the end of the present world-order; the picture is similar to that in the Apocalypse where earth and heaven flee away from the face of the Judge on the great throne, to be replaced by a new heaven and a new earth (Rev. 20:11; 21:1). (Bruce, pp. 363-364 on Heb. 12:26)

The unshakeable kingdom that remains (v. 28), “we are receiving,” so we are urged to “ offer to God an acceptable worship with reverence and awe” (v. 29).

The following comments on Hebrews 12:12-29 are repeated here from February 4, 2006 (Saturday of the week of the Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany, Year Two). For other treatments of this passage, see December 12, 2004, two years ago (the Third Sunday of Advent, Year One), in the Archive for 2004, and May 28, 2006 (the Seventh Sunday of Easter, Year Two), in the Archive for 2006.

This reading begins by concluding the exhortation to persevere in the face of opposition (Heb. 12:12-13), and add an exhortation to “pursue peace with everyone and the holiness without which no one will see the Lord” (v. 14). Some would link peace and holiness as though “without” either “no one will see the Lord,” and they may be right. But the relative pronoun “which” (hou) refers specifically to “holiness.” Nevertheless, we are exhorted to “pursue peace” as well as pursuing “holiness.” Peace can exist if both parties pursue it, but for our part, we should do all we can to promote peace. Esau is cited as a bad example with a “root of bitterness” (v. 15), “an immoral and godless person, who sold his birthright for a single meal” (v. 16).

The warning against rejecting God’s grace reminds us of the earlier warning.

For if the message declared through angels was valid, and every transgression or disobedience received a just penalty, how can we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? It was declared at first through the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard him, while God added his testimony by signs and wonders and various miracles, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit, distributed according to his will. (Heb. 2:2-4, NRSV)

The argument is a fortiori, “all the more.” If there were severe sanctions against transgression of the Mosaic covenant “declared through angels,” how much more so through the salvation “declared at first through the Lord.” Similar logic is operative in chapter 12. There were terrifying signs that accompanied the first covenant, “a blazing fire, and darkness, and gloom and a tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that not another word be spoken to them (Heb. 12:18-19; cf. Ex. 19:16-19; 20:18-21; Deut. 4:11-12). F. F. Bruce puts it this way:

The mountain was so charged with the holiness of the God who manifested himself there that for man or beast to touch it meant certain death. “Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire; and the smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain quaked greatly. And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him in thunder” (Ex. 19:18f.). Then, “when all the people perceived the thunderings and the lightnings and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood afar off, and said to Moses, ‘You speak to us and we will hear; but let not God speak to us, lest we die’” (Ex. 20:18f.). (F. F. Bruce, The Epistle to the Hebrews, NICNT, 354 on Heb. 12:18-19)

The “all the more” applies to the new covenant. If the former was so awesome and terrifying, “something that can be touched” (Heb. 12:18), that is, of this earthly, material world, how much more should we respect the covenant based in the heavenly sanctuary?

But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. (Heb. 12:22-24, NRSV)

And the same conclusion is drawn that was made in chapter 2, “See that you do not refuse the one who is speaking,” and a similar question is asked: “how much less will we escape if we reject the one who warns from heaven!” (v. 25; cf. 2:3). The shaking of earth in the first covenant becomes for the second a shaking of earth and heaven (Heb. 12:26). But as with several earlier admonitions, the writer expects better from his readers. “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us give thanks, by which we offer to God an acceptable worship with reverence and awe; for indeed our God is a consuming fire” (vv. 28-29).

John 3:22-30

Jesus and John the Baptist

22 After this Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside, and he spent some time there with them and baptized. 23 John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim because water was abundant there; and people kept coming and were being baptized 24 –John, of course, had not yet been thrown into prison.

25 Now a discussion about purification arose between John’s disciples and a Jew. 26 They came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, the one who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you testified, here he is baptizing, and all are going to him.” 27 John answered, “No one can receive anything except what has been given from heaven. 28 You yourselves are my witnesses that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah, but I have been sent ahead of him.’ 29 He who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. For this reason my joy has been fulfilled. 30 He must increase, but I must decrease.” (John 3:22-30, NRSV)

The following comments are combined with revision and supplement here from December 12, 2004, two years ago (the Third Sunday of Advent, Year One), and from February 18, 2005 (Friday of the week of the First Sunday of Lent, Year One):

The reading from John’s Gospel comes from an early period in Jesus’ ministry, in the Judean countryside (Jn. 3:22), when John the Baptist was still active (v. 23). This early period of Jesus’ Judean ministry is not reported in the Synoptic Gospels. Luke, by reporting John’s imprisonment by Herod Antipas (Lk. 3:19-20) before the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry (chap. 4) seems to separate the period of John’s ministry, as the end of the time of the prophets, from the time of Jesus’ ministry, the “middle of time” (Hans Conzelmann, Die Mitte der Zeit, 1953, 2^nd ed., 1957; trans., G. Buswell as The Theology of St. Luke, 1960). But neither Luke nor John provides a complete chronicle of everything Jesus said and did (cf. Jn. 20:30), and Luke himself follows the report of John’s imprisonment in 3:19-20 with a continuation, as John baptizes Jesus (vv. 21-22).

John tells us of a time when Jesus “spent some time there [in the Judean countryside] with them [his disciples] and baptized” (Jn. 3:22; the disciples baptized, not Jesus, 4:2). “John [the Baptist] also was baptizing,” says John the Evangelist, “at Aenon near Salim because water was abundant there; and people kept coming and were being baptized” (3:23). John the Evangelist makes a point of telling us that John the Baptist “had not yet been thrown into prison” (v. 24). We are given a series of contrasts between John the Baptist and Jesus. As noted, John and Jesus were both baptizing, for “people kept coming” (Jn. 3:23), though it was not “Jesus himself, but his disciples who baptized” (Jn. 4:2; cf. 3:22). Jesus, by turning water into wine earlier (2:1-11), improved on the use of the “jars for the Jewish rites of purification” (2:6), but John’s disciples have a “discussion about purification” with a Jew (v. 25). “No one [John?] can receive anything except what has been given from heaven” (v. 27). This leads to a report of John’s testimony about Jesus: “I am not the Messiah, but I have been sent ahead of him” (v. 28). He identifies Jesus as “the bridegroom” and himself as “the friend of the bridegroom” (v. 29). “He must increase, but I must decrease” (v. 30). Later, Jesus would say, “I tell you, among those born of woman no one is greater than John; yet the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he” (Lk. 7:28).

In the following verses (beyond today’s reading), the contrast shifts from comparing Jesus and John to comparing Jesus to any mere human being. “The one who comes from above [i.e. Jesus] is above all; the one who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks about earthly things” (v. 31a). “He [Jesus] testifies to what he has seen and heard, yet no one accepts his testimony” (v. 32; cf. 5:31-38). Accepting Jesus’ testimony leads one to certify “that God is true” (v. 33). “He whom God has sent [that is, Jesus] speaks the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure” (v. 34. God the Father “loves the Son [Jesus] and has placed all things in his hands” (v. 35), so having “eternal life” depends on believing “in the Son” (v. 36).

Ronald D. Worden, Ph.D.

rdworden@hgst.edu

rworden@houston.rr.com