Nehemiah 13:4-22

The Reforms of Nehemiah

4 Now before this, the priest Eliashib, who was appointed over the chambers of the house of our God, and who was related to Tobiah, 5 prepared for Tobiah a large room where they had previously put the grain offering, the frankincense, the vessels, and the tithes of grain, wine, and oil, which were given by commandment to the Levites, singers, and gatekeepers, and the contributions for the priests. 6 While this was taking place I was not in Jerusalem, for in the thirty-second year of King Artaxerxes of Babylon I went to the king. After some time I asked leave of the king 7 and returned to Jerusalem. I then discovered the wrong that Eliashib had done on behalf of Tobiah, preparing a room for him in the courts of the house of God. 8 And I was very angry, and I threw all the household furniture of Tobiah out of the room. 9 Then I gave orders and they cleansed the chambers, and I brought back the vessels of the house of God, with the grain offering and the frankincense.

10 I also found out that the portions of the Levites had not been given to them; so that the Levites and the singers, who had conducted the service, had gone back to their fields. 11 So I remonstrated with the officials and said, "Why is the house of God forsaken?" And I gathered them together and set them in their stations. 12 Then all Judah brought the tithe of the grain, wine, and oil into the storehouses. 13 And I appointed as treasurers over the storehouses the priest Shelemiah, the scribe Zadok, and Pedaiah of the Levites, and as their assistant Hanan son of Zaccur son of Mattaniah, for they were considered faithful; and their duty was to distribute to their associates. 14 Remember me, O my God, concerning this, and do not wipe out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God and for his service.

Sabbath Reforms Begun

15 In those days I saw in Judah people treading wine presses on the sabbath, and bringing in heaps of grain and loading them on donkeys; and also wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the sabbath day; and I warned them at that time against selling food. 16 Tyrians also, who lived in the city, brought in fish and all kinds of merchandise and sold them on the sabbath to the people of Judah, and in Jerusalem. 17 Then I remonstrated with the nobles of Judah and said to them, "What is this evil thing that you are doing, profaning the sabbath day? 18 Did not your ancestors act in this way, and did not our God bring all this disaster on us and on this city? Yet you bring more wrath on Israel by profaning the sabbath."

19 When it began to be dark at the gates of Jerusalem before the sabbath, I commanded that the doors should be shut and gave orders that they should not be opened until after the sabbath. And I set some of my servants over the gates, to prevent any burden from being brought in on the sabbath day. 20 Then the merchants and sellers of all kinds of merchandise spent the night outside Jerusalem once or twice. 21 But I warned them and said to them, "Why do you spend the night in front of the wall? If you do so again, I will lay hands on you." From that time on they did not come on the sabbath. 22 And I commanded the Levites that they should purify themselves and come and guard the gates, to keep the sabbath day holy. Remember this also in my favor, O my God, and spare me according to the greatness of your steadfast love. (Nehemiah 13:4-22, NRSV)

In the following comments those of November 2, 2005 (Wednesday in the week of the Sunday closest to November 2, Year One) have been essentially rewritten:

The opening verses of Nehemiah 13 speak of public reading of “the book of Moses” (Neh. 13:1a; cf. chap. 8), and discovery there of writing “that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever enter the assembly of God, because they did not meet the Israelites with bread and water, but hired Balaam against them to curse them–yet our God turned the curse into a blessing” (13:1b-2). This discovery led the people to separate “from Israel all those of foreign descent” (v. 3).

In today’s reading , we apparently move back in time before this reading and discovery. “Now before this,” says Nehemiah, “the priest Eliashib, who was appointed over the chambers of the house of our God, and who was related to Tobiah, prepared for Tobiah a large room where they had previously put the grain offering, the frankincense, the vessels, and the tithes of grain, wine, and oil, which were given by commandment to the Levites, singers, and gatekeepers, and the contributions for the priests” (vv. 4-5). This was done during Nehemiah’s absence from Jerusalem, when, as noted in Monday’s comments (Nov. 5, 2007), we learn that it was done while Nehemiah was absent from Jerusalem, but has gone to King Artaxerxes in his thirty-second year (v. 6a; the year was 432 B.C., according to David J. A. Clines, HarperCollins Study Bible, rev. ed., 2006, on Neh. 13:6; but 433 B.C. according to Tamara Cohn Eskenazi, NOAB, 3^rd ed., on Neh. 13:6).

After some time in Babylon, says Nehemiah, “I asked leave of the king and returned to Jerusalem” (v. 6b, 7a). At that time, he discovers the violation and acts to correct the situation, first by evicting Tobiah. “I then discovered the wrong that Eliashib had done on behalf of Tobiah, preparing a room for him in the courts of the house of God. And I was very angry, and I threw all the household furniture of Tobiah out of the room” (vv. 7b, 8). He orders a purification of the temple. “Then I gave orders and they cleansed the chambers, and I brought back the vessels of the house of God, with the grain offering and the frankincense” (v. 9). This was done because “Tobiah’s illegitimate presence contaminated the room” (Eskenazi, on v. 9). According to Clines, “It is probably also an attack on Nehemiah’s personal authority–which explains Nehemiah’s reaction” (on v. 9).

But Nehemiah soon discovers other problems that he must set right. “I also found out,” he says, “that the portions of the Levites had not been given to them; so that the Levites and the singers, who had conducted the service, had gone back to their fields” (v. 10). Eskenazi says, “Tobiah’s presence likely hastened the departure of the Levites” (on v. 10). But Nehemiah challenges this situation “I remonstrated with the officials,” he says, and asks, “Why is the house of God forsaken?” And he gathers them together and “set them in their stations” (v. 11). And under his leadership, “all Judah brought the tithe of the grain, wine, and oil into the storehouses” (v. 12). Nehemiah claims responsibility for setting the financial affairs of the temple in order. “And I appointed as treasurers over the storehouses the priest Shelemiah, the scribe Zadok, and Pedaiah of the Levites, and as their assistant Hanan son of Zaccur son of Mattaniah, for they were considered faithful; and their duty was to distribute to their associates” (v. 13). And he prays that this service of his will not be forgotten. “Remember me, O my God, concerning this, and do not wipe out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God and for his service” (v. 14).

Another issue that Nehemiah addresses is abuse of the laws concerning the Sabbath. “In those days I saw in Judah people treading wine presses on the sabbath, and bringing in heaps of grain and loading them on donkeys; and also wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the sabbath day; and I warned them at that time against selling food” (v. 15). Foreign merchants were part of the problem. “Tyrians also, who lived in the city, brought in fish and all kinds of merchandise and sold them on the sabbath to the people of Judah, and in Jerusalem” (v. 16). So Nehemiah challenges this situation as well. “Then I remonstrated with the nobles of Judah,” he says, “and said to them, ‘What is this evil thing that you are doing, profaning the sabbath day?’ ” (v. 17). He questions them further: “Did not your ancestors act in this way, and did not our God bring all this disaster on us and on this city? Yet you bring more wrath on Israel by profaning the sabbath” (v. 18). So he takes action again, closing the gates of the city for the duration of the sabbath. “When it began to be dark at the gates of Jerusalem before the sabbath, I commanded that the doors should be shut and gave orders that they should not be opened until after the sabbath. And I set some of my servants over the gates, to prevent any burden from being brought in on the sabbath day” (v. 19). There was a kind of protest, as “the merchants and sellers of all kinds of merchandise spent the night outside Jerusalem once or twice” (v. 20). But Nehemiah was firm. He warned them, he says, “Why do you spend the night in front of the wall? If you do so again, I will lay hands on you.” And he adds that “From that time on they did not come on the sabbath” (v. 21). Nehemiah charges the Levites with guarding the gates “to keep the sabbath day holy,” and prays again that the LORD will remember his service. “ Remember this also in my favor, O my God, and spare me according to the greatness of your steadfast love” (v. 22).

or Haggai 1:1-2:9 (alternative reading, Presbyterian and Lutheran traditions)

For the text and comments of this reading see the text and comments of Sunday, October 28, 2007, ten days ago.

Revelation 12:1-12

The Woman and the Dragon

12:1 A great portent appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. 2 She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pangs, in the agony of giving birth. 3 Then another portent appeared in heaven: a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. 4 His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. Then the dragon stood before the woman who was about to bear a child, so that he might devour her child as soon as it was born. 5 And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron. But her child was snatched away and taken to God and to his throne; 6 and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, so that there she can be nourished for one thousand two hundred sixty days.

Michael Defeats the Dragon

7 And war broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels fought back, 8 but they were defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. 9 The great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world-he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.

10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, proclaiming,

"Now have come the salvation and the power

and the kingdom of our God

and the authority of his Messiah,

for the accuser of our comrades has been thrown down,

who accuses them day and night before our God.

11 But they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb

and by the word of their testimony,

for they did not cling to life even in the face of death.

12 Rejoice then, you heavens

and those who dwell in them!

But woe to the earth and the sea,

for the devil has come down to you

with great wrath,

because he knows that his time is short!" (Revelation 12:1-12, NRSV)

On June 10, 2007 (the Sunday closest to June 8, Year One) comments were combined with revision and adaptation from June 5, 2005, two years earlier (the Sunday closest to June 8, Year One), from comments of November 2, 2005 (Wednesday in the week of the Sunday closest to November 2, Year One, from December 18, 2005 (the Fourth Sunday of Advent, Year Two), and from November 1 and 2, 2006 (Wednesday and Thursday of the week of the Sunday closest to October 26, Year Two):

John has a vision of “a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars” (Rev. 12:1). She is pregnant and “crying out in birth pangs, in the agony of giving birth” (v. 2). According to Bruce M. Metzger, she “appears to be the heavenly representative of God’s people, first as Israel (from whom Jesus the Messiah was born, v. 5), then as the Christian Church (which is persecuted by the dragon, v. 13)” (NOAB, 2^nd ed. on Rev. 12:1). The “great red dragon” (v. 3), a serious threat to the woman and her child (v. 4), “is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world” (v. 9). The fact that the child “is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron,” alludes “to Ps. 29, originally concerning the king of Israel, and interpreted as referring to a future anointed ruler or messiah (Psalms of Solomon 17:23-24)” (Jean-Pierre Ruiz, NOAB, 3^rd ed. on Rev. 12:5). But the child is “snatched away and taken to God and to his throne” (v. 5), which prevents the dragon from devouring him, and the woman is also protected: she flees “into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God (v. 6a); thus “the church is sustained by God” (Metzger on v. 7).

According to Ruiz,

The vision of the woman, the child, and the dragon is rich in symbolism drawn from mythological traditions found in ancient Babylonia, Egypt, Greece, and Rome, as well as in the Hebrew Bible. One well-known version of the story tells of the goddess Leto, pregnant with Apollo, who is menaced by the dragon Python, who pursues her because he knows that Apollo is destined to kill him (Hyginus, Fabulae 140). Here this material is reinterpreted in terms of Jewish traditions and expectations as the story of the birth of the messiah. (op. cit., on Rev. 12:1-17)

One should say, however, that the “Jewish traditions” dominate the background, but vision contributes to John’s message of Christian victory in the face of diabolical opposition. The Battle continues between Christ and Satan. “War broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels fought against the dragon” (Rev. 12:7). But the dragon and his angels are defeated and thrown down to the earth (vv. 8-9), where they pose a deadly threat. Another poetic announcement in heaven celebrates the coming of salvation, God’s kingdom, and his Messiah’s authority (v. 10a. b, c), and the victory of the martyrs in heaven who “have conquered him [Satan] by the blood of the Lamb / and by the word of their testimony” (v. 11a, b), “paradoxically, like Jesus (3:21; 5:5), by dying” (David E. Aune, HarperCollins Study Bible, on Rev. 12:11; the same in the 2^nd ed.; cf. Phil. 1:21-23; 3:20-21). So the heavens and “those who dwell in them” are called upon to rejoice (v. 12a, b), but woe is pronounced on the earth and the sea “for the devil has come down to you / with great wrath, / because he knows that his time is short!” (v. 12c, d, e, f).

Matthew 13:53-58

53 When Jesus had finished these parables, he left that place.

The Rejection of Jesus at Nazareth (Mk 6.1-6; Lk 4.16-30)

54 He came to his hometown and began to teach the people in their synagogue, so that they were astounded and said, "Where did this man get this wisdom and these deeds of power? 55 Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? 56 And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all this?" 57 And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, "Prophets are not without honor except in their own country and in their own house." 58 And he did not do many deeds of power there, because of their unbelief. (Matthew 13:53-58, NRSV)

On June 6, 2006 (Tuesday in the week the Sunday closest to June 1, Year Two, Pentecost Sunday in 2006), comments were combined with revision from comments of May 31, 2004 (Tuesday of the week of Pentecost, Year Two) in an email sent May 31, 2004 for May 30 through June 6, and comments of November 2, 2005 (Wednesday of the week of the Twenty-Fourth Sunday after Pentecost, Year One). The combined comments are repeated here with some further editing and supplement:

This reading from Matthew is presented in parallel with Mark 6:1-6a and Luke 4:16-30 in the separate file, Jesus is Rejected at Nazareth. Recent comments on these passages from the perspective of Mark’s version may be found in the Archive for July 28, 2007 (Saturday in the week of the Sunday closest to July 20, Year One). Matthew’s and Mark’s versions are very similar. Jesus’ sermon on Isaiah 61 at Nazareth (Lk. 4:14-30), which also leads to rejection, is clearly not a version of the accounts in Matthew and Mark, but may be Luke’s substitute for them. In Luke, the Nazareth sermon begins Jesus’ public ministry, and it’s emphasis on the Spirit, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, / because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor” (Lk. 4:18, citing Isa. 61:1). The sermon’s placement at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry is programmatic, not only for Luke’s Gospel, but also for the Acts of the Apostles (and so for the season of Pentecost). The placement here involves a decision of Luke to move the event at Nazareth forward as compared with the sequence of events in Mark. Recent comments from the perspective of Luke’s version may be found in the Archive for April 23, 2007 (Monday in the week of the Third Sunday of Easter, Year One).

Today’s reading begins with Matthew’s closing formula for his collection of Jesus’ parables (Mt. 13:53), which becomes the transition to a series of “events of decisive acceptance or rejection of Jesus” (Mt. 13:53-17:27, so called by E. E. Tilden and B. M. Metzger, NOAB, 2^rd ed. on Mt. 13:53-17:27), beginning with the account of Jesus’ rejection at home (13:53b-58; cf. Mk. 6:1-6a; Lk. 4:16-30). Jesus “came to his hometown,” says Matthew, “and began to teach the people in their synagogue, so that they were astounded and said, ‘Where did this man get this wisdom and these deeds of power?’ ” (Mt.13:54). Mark notes that as Jesus “came to his hometown . . . his disciples followed him” (Mk. 6:1), and that the teaching was “on the sabbath . . . in the synagogue (v. 2a). In both Gospels the people of Nazareth ask about Jesus family. In Matthew, they say, “Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all this?” (Mt. 13:55-56). Matthew’s phrase, “the carpenter’s son,” replaces Mark’s “the carpenter, the son of [Mary]” (Mk. 6:3a), but names of the same brothers, James, Joseph, Simon and Judas, and reference to unnamed sisters, appear in both Gospels (Mt. 13:55b, 56a; cf. Mk. 6:3, with Judas before Simon). The rejection is explained by the proverb, “Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown [‘own country,’ Mt. 13:57], and among their own kin [omitted by Mt.], and in their own house” (Mk. 6:4; cf. Mt. 13:57; Lk. 4:24; Jn. 4:44). Mark thus includes Jesus’ “own kin” among those who fail to honor him. Mark says that Jesus “could do no deed of power there, except; that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them” (Mk. 6:5); cf. “And he did not do many deeds of power there, because of their unbelief” (Mt. 13:58). Whereas a typical miracle story in the Gospels ends by noting the crowd’s amazed reaction (cf. Mk. 2:12), this one ends with reference to limitations “because of their unbelief” (Mt. 13:58).

In Mark, the rejection of Jesus at Nazareth (Mk. 6:1-6), coming as it does between a series of four of Jesus’ miracles (Mark 4:35-5:43), and his sending out the Twelve, who “cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them” (Mk. 6:13), strikes us as sad indeed. We may sometimes feel that the people who know us well take us for granted, or do not give us the honor and respect we deserve. That certainly applies to Jesus in this situation. “Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown, and among their own kin, and in their own house” (v. 4). But in Mark’s narrative, the rejection at Nazareth is a kind of foil that makes the surrounding miracles stand out in bold relief. Jesus commends the faith (pistis) of the woman with the hemorrhages (Mk. 5:34), but is “amazed at their unbelief (apistia)” in Nazareth (6:6). “Let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith (pistis), who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of God” (Heb. 12:1-2). Through Jesus, we have access to the Creator of heaven and earth for whom Isaiah speaks.

Ronald D. Worden, Ph.D.

rdworden@hgst.edu

deanworden@comcast.net