Some comments on these readings for today have been taken or adapted from comments in my devotional email of Monday, November 3, 2003, for the readings of Tuesday, November 4, 2003.

Nehemiah 12:27-31a, 42b-47

Dedication of the City Wall

27 Now at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought out the Levites in all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem to celebrate the dedication with rejoicing, with thanksgivings and with singing, with cymbals, harps, and lyres. 28 The companies of the singers gathered together from the circuit around Jerusalem and from the villages of the Netophathites; 29 also from Beth-gilgal and from the region of Geba and Azmaveth; for the singers had built for themselves villages around Jerusalem. 30 And the priests and the Levites purified themselves; and they purified the people and the gates and the wall.

31 Then I brought the leaders of Judah up onto the wall, and appointed two great companies that gave thanks and went in procession.

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

And the singers sang with Jezrahiah as their leader. 43 They offered great sacrifices that day and rejoiced, for God had made them rejoice with great joy; the women and children also rejoiced. The joy of Jerusalem was heard far away.

Temple Responsibilities

44 On that day men were appointed over the chambers for the stores, the contributions, the first fruits, and the tithes, to gather into them the portions required by the law for the priests and for the Levites from the fields belonging to the towns; for Judah rejoiced over the priests and the Levites who ministered. 45 They performed the service of their God and the service of purification, as did the singers and the gatekeepers, according to the command of David and his son Solomon. 46 For in the days of David and Asaph long ago there was a leader of the singers, and there were songs of praise and thanksgiving to God. 47 In the days of Zerubbabel and in the days of Nehemiah all Israel gave the daily portions for the singers and the gatekeepers. They set apart that which was for the Levites; and the Levites set apart that which was for the descendants of Aaron. (Nehemiah 12:27-31a, 42b-47, NRSV)

The following comments are repeated here with editing and supplement from November 1, 2005 (Tuesday in the week of the Sunday closest to November 2, Year One). On that day it was noted that some comments on these readings were taken or adapted from comments in my devotional email of Monday, November 3, 2003, for the readings of Tuesday, November 4, 2003.

It’s time to celebrate! Especially in the reading from Nehemiah. We know from other parts of the book that there was a dark side, but in Tuesday’s reading it’s party time! The shadows appear in the other readings, “the beast from the bottomless pit,” the “Dragnet” that separates people at the judgment, but celebration breaks through in the praise of the elders for God, who is in control, and the immeasurable value of the Treasure and the Pearl. For those who have suffered the loss of loved ones or other seeming defeats–hurricanes, or whatever–God has promised that he can bring good out of “all things” (Rom. 8:28). It may still be time to celebrate the presence of loved ones with the Lord, according to his promise. There may be other hidden values in our experiences. I pray that it may be so.

“Now at the dedication of the wall,” says Nehemiah, “they sought out the Levites in all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem to celebrate the dedication with rejoicing, with thanksgivings and with singing, with cymbals, harps, and lyres” (Neh. 12:27). “The companies of the singers gathered together from the circuit around Jerusalem,” we are told, “and from the villages of the Netophathites” (v. 28). Netophath is about four miles south of Bethlehem, judging from the scale in maps of the New Oxford Annotated Bible (3^rd ed., 2001). It is called

a Judean hill village near Bethlehem (1 Chron. 2:54; Ezra 2:21-22; Neh. 7:28. It was the home of two of David’s mighty men (2 Sam. 23:28-29; 1 Chron. 11:30. It was also the home of Gedaliah’s supporter Seraiah, after Jerusalem’s fall to Babylon (586 B.C.; 2 Kings 25:23; Jer. 40:8-9). Various levitical and other returnees from exile in Babylon counted it their home (Ezra 2:22; Neh. 7:26; 1 Chron. 8:16. It may be modern Khirbet Bedd Faluh, some three and a half miles southeast of Bethlehem. The modern spring ‘Ain en-Natuf may reflect the name. (Harper’s Bible Dictionary, 1985, s.v. Netophah)

Singers also came “from Beth-gilgal [17 mi. NE of Jerusalem] and from the region of Geba [6 or 7 mi. NNE of Jerusalem] and Azmaveth [5 mi. NE of Jerusalem]; for the singers had built for themselves villages around Jerusalem” (v. 28; cf NOAB maps). Beth-gilgal is apparently the Gilgal of Joshua 3-4 (cf. Frank S. Frick, in the Harper’s Bible Dictionary, 1985, s.v. Gilgal). Azmaveth is “A village of the postexilic community, identified with the modern Ras-Dhukeir or El-Hizma, about five miles northeast of Jerusalem” (Dennis R. Bratcher, in Harper’s Bible Dictionary, 1985, s.v. Asmaveth). It was clearly a time of celebration for the entire region. According to Hindy Najman, “Scholars note that this section resumes the Nehemiah memoir from 7:5. After a long interruption from the Ezra memoir, which is inserted into the Book of Nehemiah, the dedication of the Jerusalem wall provides closure” (The Jewish Study Bible, 2004, p. 1708, on Neh. 12:27-43). Tamara Cohn Eskenazi, apparently comparing this occasion to another under Ezra’s leadership, says “The initiative for the grand finale again comes from the community (cf. 8:1)” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., on Neh. 12:27).

In any event, Nehemiah says, “Then I brought the leaders of Judah up onto the wall, and appointed two great companies that gave thanks and went in procession” (Neh. 12:31a). In the section passed over by the lectionary reference, “Two groups circled the city [in procession] on the wall and alongside it” (Eskenazi, on 12:31-42). After naming many places along the wall and many persons who participated in the procession, Nehemiah tells us that “the singers sang with Jezrahiah as their leader” (v. 42b), and that “They offered great sacrifices that day and rejoiced, for God had made them rejoice with great joy; the women and children also rejoiced. The joy of Jerusalem was heard far away” (v. 43). According to Eskenazi, the singing was “antiphonal . . . by the professional liturgical singers” (on v. 42).

Following this “dedication of the walls, with music, purification, procession, and sacrifice” (Neh. 12:27-43), we read of “arrangements for temple revenues” (vv. 44-47; A. Jeffery, J. J. Collins, NOAB, 2^rd ed., on vv. 44-47). “On that say,” says Nehemiah, “men were appointed over the chambers for the stores, the contributions, the first fruits, and the tithes, to gather into them the portions required by the law for the priests and for the Levites from the fields belonging to the towns; for Judah rejoiced over the priests and the Levites who ministered” (v. 44). And accordingly, “They performed the service of their God and the service of purification, as did the singers and the gatekeepers, according to the command of David and his son Solomon” (v. 45; cf. 1 Chron. 16:37-42; chaps. 22-26; 2 Chron 5:2-6:11; 7:1-11). Nehemiah reflects further on the days of the first temple. “For in the days of David and Asaph long ago there was a leader of the singers, and there were songs of praise and thanksgiving to God” (v. 46). Many of the Psalms are attributed to David, and several to Asaph (e.g., Pss. 50, 73-83). But Nehemiah also reflects back on “the days of Zerubbabel and in the days of Nehemiah [i.e., himself, when] all Israel gave the daily portions for the singers and the gatekeepers” (v. 47a). We are told that “They set apart that which was for the Levites, and the Levites set apart that which was for the descendants of Aaron” (v. 47b). Eskenazi says this verse reflects the time “from the beginning of the return (Ezra 2) to Nehemiah” (on v. 47).

or Ezra 4:7, 11-24 (alternative reading, Presbyterian and Lutheran traditions)

For texts and comments on this alternative reading, see the text and comments of Saturday, October 27, 2007, ten days ago..

Revelation 11:1-19

The Two Witnesses

11:1 Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told, "Come and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there, 2 but do not measure the court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample over the holy city for forty-two months. 3 And I will grant my two witnesses authority to prophesy for one thousand two hundred sixty days, wearing sackcloth."

4 These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. 5 And if anyone wants to harm them, fire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes; anyone who wants to harm them must be killed in this manner. 6 They have authority to shut the sky, so that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying, and they have authority over the waters to turn them into blood, and to strike the earth with every kind of plague, as often as they desire.

7 When they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the bottomless pit will make war on them and conquer them and kill them, 8 and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that is prophetically called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. 9 For three and a half days members of the peoples and tribes and languages and nations will gaze at their dead bodies and refuse to let them be placed in a tomb; 10 and the inhabitants of the earth will gloat over them and celebrate and exchange presents, because these two prophets had been a torment to the inhabitants of the earth.

11 But after the three and a half days, the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and those who saw them were terrified. 12 Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, "Come up here!" And they went up to heaven in a cloud while their enemies watched them. 13 At that moment there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell; seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.

14 The second woe has passed. The third woe is coming very soon.

The Seventh Trumpet

15 Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying,

"The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord

and of his Messiah,

and he will reign forever and ever."

16 Then the twenty-four elders who sit on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worshiped God, 17 singing,

"We give you thanks, Lord God Almighty,

who are and who were,

for you have taken your great power

and begun to reign.

18 The nations raged,

but your wrath has come,

and the time for judging the dead,

for rewarding your servants, the prophets

and saints and all who fear your name,

both small and great,

and for destroying those who destroy the earth."

19 Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple; and there were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail. (Revelation 11:1-19, NRSV)

The following comments are repeated here from October 30 and 31, 2006 (Monday and Tuesday in the week of the Sunday closest to October 26, Year Two), when comments were combined and revised from October 25 and 26, 2004, two years earlier, and from November 3, 2005 (Tuesday in the week of the Sunday closest to November 2, Year One):

Saturday’s reading, (Rev. 7:4-17, Nov. 3, 2007) was from an interlude between the sixth (Rev. 6:12-17) and seventh(8:1-5) seals; yesterday’s was part of the interlude between the sixth (9:13-21) and seventh (11:14-19) trumpets. Today’s reading continues in that interlude, but also includes the seventh trumpet.

In the second vision between the sixth and seventh trumpets, the scene is getting more complex with John measuring the temple and the altar and those who worship there (11:1). According to Bruce M. Metzger, the measuring of “the sanctuary and those who worship there” is “with a view to their preservation (as in Zech. 2:1-5); compare Ezek. 40:3-42:20)” (NOAB, 2^rd ed., on Rev. 11:1). The nations, however, are not granted this protection, for John is told not to “measure the court outside the temple” which “is given over to the nations, and they will trample over the holy city for forty-two months” (v. 2). The two witnesses (v. 3) are “the two olive trees and two lampstands” (cf. Zech. 4:2-3). They have “authority to prophesy for one thousand two hundred sixty days, wearing sackcloth” (v. 3). They are “unnamed but resembling Zerubbabel and Joshua (Zech. 3:1-4:14) as well as Elijah (vv. 5-6; 2 Kings 1:10) and Moses (v. 6; Ex. 7:17, 19),” says Metzger, who further suggests that the “sackcloth” is “a sign that their prophecy was of repentance” (on v. 3). Their witness is powerful, like that of Moses and Elijah. Their authority brings judgment on the earth (v. 6), but draws them into conflict–war–with the “beast from the bottomless pit” who “will make war on them and kill them” (v. 7). They lie dead “in the street of the great city that is prophetically called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified” (v. 8). “The great city is identified here prophetically, i.e., allegorically or spiritually rather than literally by its proper name. While the majority of scholars understand the city as Jerusalem, others suggest that the city is Rome, as is Babylon in 17:1-6" (Jean-Pierre Ruiz, NOAB, 3^rd ed., on v. 8). Of course, “the Lord was crucified” in Jerusalem, not Rome (unless that phrase is also meant allegorically). Metzger notes that “the name Sodom is applied to Jerusalem in Isa. 1:10, Jer. 23:14; Ezek. 16:46-56” (on v. 8). The adversary is “the beast that comes up from the bottomless pit” who “will make war on them and kill them” (v. 7). But although the enemy rejoices over them (vv. 9-10), God will resurrect them: the two witnesses are brought to life again when “the breath of life from God entered them” (v. 11), and they ascend to heaven “while their enemies watched them” (v. 12). But “a great earthquake” caused “a tenth of the city” to fall, killing “seven thousand people” (v. 13).

In spite of the deadly confrontation, we see here the pattern of Christian hope. “But our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will transform the body of our humiliation that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, by the power that also enables him to make all things subject to himself (Phil. 3:20-21; cf. 2:9-11).

We are told that “the second woe,” that is, the plague announced by the sixth trumpet (Rev. 9:13), has passed (11:14; cf. the fifth trumpet, 9:1 and the passing of the first woe, 9:12). The seventh trumpet (11:14-19) would be the third of three woes (9:12; cf. 8:13); a new series, of the seven bowls of the wrath of God, comes later (15:1-16:21).

According to Bruce M. Metzger, “the seventh trumpet announces (11:15) the consummation of God’s Kingdom (10:7)” (NOAB, 2^nd ed. on Rev. 11:14-19). “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord / and of his Messiah [Christ NRSV n. b], / and he will reign forever and ever” (Rev. 11:15). The song (vv. 17-18) rejoices in God’s victory: “We give you thanks, Lord God Almighty, / who are and who were, / for you have taken your great power / and begun to reign. / The nations raged, / but your wrath has come, / and the time for judging the dead, / for rewarding your servants, the prophets, / and saints and all who fear your name, / both small and great, / and for destroying those who destroy the earth.” So, in spite of the beast and the woes, God is in control, and there is blessing for those who belong to Him. This good news for the saints and the vision of the redeemed (14:1-5) bracket the account of the atrocities of the dragon and the two beasts (chaps. 12-13). I take comfort in this song of victory and reference to the redeemed.

After the song, we see that “God’s temple in heaven [is] opened, and the ark of his covenant [is] seen within,” but “flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail” (v. 19) introduce the vision of chapter 12.

Matthew 13:44-52

Three Parables

44 "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

45 "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; 46 on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.

47 "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind; 48 when it was full, they drew it ashore, sat down, and put the good into baskets but threw out the bad. 49 So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous 50 and throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Treasures New and Old

51 "Have you understood all this?" They answered, "Yes." 52 And he said to them, "Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old." (Matthew 13:44-52, NRSV)

On October 1, 2006 (the Sunday closest to September 28, Year Two), comments were repeated from June 5, 2005 (Monday of the week of Pentecost Sunday, Year Two), when comments were combined and revised from May 31, 2004 (Monday of the week of Pentecost, Year Two) in an email sent May 31, 2004 for May 30 through June 6:, and from November 1, 2005 (Tuesday of the week of the Twenty-Fourth Sunday after Pentecost, Year One); they are repeated again here:

The series of parables in Matthew chapter 13 concludes with the Parables of Hidden Treasure (v. 44, cf. Gospel of Thomas 109), the Pearl of Great Value (vv. 45-46, cf. Gospel of Thomas 76), and the Dragnet (vv. 47-51, cf. Gospel of Thomas 8). There are no parallel versions of these parables in the other Canonical Gospels.

The Parable of the Dragnet refers to “the end of the age” at which time “the angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous” (Mt. 13:49. The evil will be thrown “into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (v. 50). In Matthew’s version, the net catches “fish of every kind” (Mt. 13:47), and the point is the end-time sorting by the angels who “separate the evil from the righteous” (v. 49 understood as the meaning of putting the good fish in baskets but throwing out the bad (v. 48). If the great value of the gospel of salvation is the meaning of the pearl and the treasure, the outcome at Judgment Day is a key part of this value. Matthew’s Parable of Weeds Among the Wheat (13:24-30) makes a similar point; whereas the parallel in Mark 4:26-29 makes no reference to weeds, but focuses on the growth of the seed, though the one who scattered the seed “does not know how” (Mk. 4:27). This theme of eschatological judgment is not found in the Gospel of Thomas 8:

And he said: Man is like a wise fisherman who cast his net into the sea (thalassa); he drew it out of the sea (thalassa) when it was full of little fishes. Among them the wise fisherman found a large good fish. The wise fisherman cast all the little fishes down into the sea (thalassa) (and) chose the large fish without (chōris) difficulty. He who has ears to hear, let him hear. (Trans., Bruce M. Metzger)

Another translation:]

And he said, “The person is like a wise fisherman who cast his net into the sea and drew it up from the sea full of little fish. Among them the wise fisherman discovered a fine large fish. He threw all the little fish back into the sea, and easily chose the large fish. Anyone here with two good ears had better listen! (Gospel of Thomas 8, trans. Stephen Patterson and Marvin Meyer, http://www.misericordia.edu/users/davies/thomas/Trans.htm, accessed again, Nov. 5, 2007)

The Pearl of Great Price (Mt. 13:46 KJV; “pearl of great value” NRSV) is one of three treasures appearing in brief parables in Matthew, chapter 13, with the “treasurer hidden in a field” (v. 44) and the boat full of fish (v. 47). You and I might define “treasure” as a strong 401(k) or other retirement plan. That’s apparently what the man who hid the treasure in the field so he could buy the field and obtain the treasure saw in it. We may question his ethics, but the point is the great value of the treasure, and of the pearl in the “twin parables” (Dennis C. Duling, HarperCollins Study Bible on Mt. 13:44-46). One version of the Dragnet Parable (Mt. 13:47-50), as cited in the Gospel of Thomas (see above), makes a similar point.

The value of the large fish is apparently the point in the Gospel of Thomas version. But In Matthew’s version, the net catches “fish of every kind” (Mt. 13:47), and the point is the end-time sorting by the angels who “separate the evil from the righteous” (v. 49 understood as the meaning of putting the good fish in baskets but throwing out the bad (v. 48). If the great value of the gospel of salvation is the meaning of the pearl and the treasure, the outcome at Judgment Day is a key part of this value. Matthew’s Parable of Weeds Among the Wheat (13:24-30) makes a similar point; whereas the parallel in Mark 4:26-29 makes no reference to weeds, but focuses on the growth of the seed, though the one who scattered the seed “does not know how” (Mk. 4:27).

Ronald D. Worden, Ph.D.

rdworden@hgst.edu

deanworden@comcast.net