Micah 7:1-7

The Total Corruption of the People

7:1 Woe is me! For I have become like one who,

after the summer fruit has been gathered,

after the vintage has been gleaned,

finds no cluster to eat;

there is no first-ripe fig for which I hunger.

2 The faithful have disappeared from the land,

and there is no one left who is upright;

they all lie in wait for blood,

and they hunt each other with nets.

3 Their hands are skilled to do evil;

the official and the judge ask for a bribe,

and the powerful dictate what they desire;

thus they pervert justice.

4 The best of them is like a brier,

the most upright of them a thorn hedge.

The day of their sentinels, of their punishment, has come;

now their confusion is at hand.

5 Put no trust in a friend,

have no confidence in a loved one;

guard the doors of your mouth

from her who lies in your embrace;

6 for the son treats the father with contempt,

the daughter rises up against her mother,

the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;

your enemies are members of your own household.

7 But as for me, I will look to the LORD,

I will wait for the God of my salvation;

my God will hear me. (Micah 7:1-7, NRSV)

The following comments are repeated here with some editing and supplement from October 16, 2006 (Monday in the week of the Sunday closest to October 12, Year Two), when comments were repeated with revision and supplement from October 11, 2004 (Monday in the week of the Sunday closest to October 12, Year Two):

As noted yesterday, by the analysis of Gregory Mobley, the final two chapters of Micah present both judgment and promise. He calls them “a prophetic sampler [which] moves from legal indictment of Israel’s guilt to liturgical affirmation of God’s mercy . . . four units, of different genres, which extend the themes of the first section (1:2-3:12)” (NOAB, 3^rd ed. on Mic. 6:1-7:20). He calls yesterday’s reading (Mic. 6:1-8) “a divine lawsuit” (on 6:1-8), and today’s reading “a lament for a desperate society” (7:1-7).

The prophet’s lament begins with a woe: “Woe is me!” he says. “For I have become like one who, / after the summer fruit has been gathered, / after the vintage has been gleaned, / finds no cluster to eat; / there is no first-ripe fig for which I hunger” (7:1). “The first-ripe fig,” says Mobley, “was the most delicious” (ibid., on 7:1). Micah’s lament describes a situation in which human community has broken down at every level, for lack of trust. “The faithful have disappeared from the land, / and there is no one left who is upright; / they all lie in wait for blood, / and they hunt each other with nets” (v. 2). Mobley observes that “Abraham (Gen. 18:23-33), Jeremiah (Jer. 5:1), and Ezekiel (Ezek. 22:30) also searched for an honest man” (ibid., on v. 2). The leaders are totally corrupt: “Their hands are skilled to do evil; / the official and the judge ask for a bribe, / and the powerful dictate what they desire; / thus they pervert justice” (v. 3). No one who is honest and upright, it seems, is left. “The best of them is like a brier, / the most upright of them a thorn hedge. / The day of their sentinels, of their punishment, has come; / now their confusion is at hand” (v. 4). According to Philip J. King, revised by Carol J. Dempsey, “in the absence of honorable people, only the treacherous, including the civil leaders, remain” (HarperCollins Study Bible, rev. ed., 2006, on Mic. 7:2-4).

The desperate condition of society, it seems, extends to a lack of trust among family and friends. Micah warns, “Put no trust in a friend, / have no confidence in a loved one” (v. 5a, b). This lack of trust extends even to one’s spouse, for the prophet adds, “guard the doors of your mouth / from her who lies in your embrace” (v. 5c, d). Nor are other members of the household to be trusted, “for the son treats the father with contempt, / the daughter rises up against her mother, / the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; / your enemies are members of your own household” (v. 6). The prophet’s one consolation is in looking to the LORD. “But as for me,” he says, “I will look to the LORD, / I will wait for the God of my salvation; / my God will hear me” (v. 7). In view of this positive assertion, Ehud Ben Zvi characterizes this section as “a text about trust in the LORD despite and in response to social disintegration” (The Jewish Study Bible, 2004, on Mic. 7:1-7). He says the words, “Yet I will look to the LORD” [v. 7a NJPS, cf ‘But as for me (wa’ ^anî), I will look to the LORD’ NRSV] may be translated ‘As for me, I will look to the LORD.’ The ‘me’ is, of course, the pious speaker in the text with whom the readers are supposed to identify” (ibid., on v. 7). Perhaps we should take the hint. You and I probably haven’t faced situations where trust has broken down between persons at every level and human community seems ruptured beyond repair, but we may be called upon to minster to some who feel that way. It may be we who must represent God to them, the God who is the key to hope.

Hosea 11:12-12:1 (Presbyterian and Lutheran traditions; this passages is not included in the current Book of Common Prayer Daily Office Lectionary series)

12 Ephraim has surrounded me with lies,

and the house of Israel with deceit;

but Judah still walks with God,

and is faithful to the Holy One.

12:1 Ephraim herds the wind,

and pursues the east wind all day long;

they multiply falsehood and violence;

they make a treaty with Assyria,

and oil is carried to Egypt. (Hosea 11:12-12:1, NRSV = Heb. 12:1-2)

The following comments are repeated here from October 16, 2006 (Monday in the week of the Sunday closest to October 12, Year Two):

Sandwiched between the section that Gregory Mobley calls “Israel as God’s wayward child” (Hos. 11:1-11), and further discussion of “rebellion and restoration (12:2-14:9; NOAB, 3^rd ed., 2001), we meet a brief section which warns of foreign alliances. Ephraim is charged with surrounding “me [the LORD] with lies, / and the house of Israel with deceit” (Hos. 11:12a, b = Heb. 12:1a,, b). Judah, on the contrary, says the prophet, “still walks with God, / and is faithful to the Holy One” (11:12:c, d = Heb. 12:1c, d). Despite the antithetical parallelism, so to speak, and the reference to Judah’s faithfulness, the point seems to be the unfaithfulness of Ephraim, that is, the northern kingdom. Ephraim’s unfaithfulness is pictured as futility, as herding “the wind,” and pursuing “the east wind all day long” (12:1a, b = Heb. 12:2a, b), which is to continue to “multiply falsehood and violence” (12:1c = Heb. 12:2c). But the point of this rhetoric comes in the last two lines, where it is said that “they make a treaty (tyr9B4, b^erîth) with Assyria, / and oil is carried to Egypt” (12:1d, e = Heb. 12:2d, e). Mobley says, “Samaria was renowned for its olive oil, used here as a commodity of tribute to Egypt” (ibid., on 12:1). He calls the reference to Judah (11:12c, d = Heb. 12:1c, d) “perhaps a later addition” (ibid., on 11:12). Since the northern kingdom came to an end under the assault of Assyria in Hosea’s time, his book was preserved in Judah, and his prophecies may well have been applied to Judah’s condition.

Acts 26:1-23

Paul Defends Himself before Agrippa

26:1 Agrippa said to Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself.” Then Paul stretched out his hand and began to defend himself:

2 “I consider myself fortunate that it is before you, King Agrippa, I am to make my defense today against all the accusations of the Jews, 3 because you are especially familiar with all the customs and controversies of the Jews; therefore I beg of you to listen to me patiently.

4 “All the Jews know my way of life from my youth, a life spent from the beginning among my own people and in Jerusalem. 5 They have known for a long time, if they are willing to testify, that I have belonged to the strictest sect of our religion and lived as a Pharisee. 6 And now I stand here on trial on account of my hope in the promise made by God to our ancestors, 7 a promise that our twelve tribes hope to attain, as they earnestly worship day and night. It is for this hope, your Excellency, that I am accused by Jews! 8 Why is it thought incredible by any of you that God raises the dead?

9 “Indeed, I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things against the name of Jesus of Nazareth. 10 And that is what I did in Jerusalem; with authority received from the chief priests, I not only locked up many of the saints in prison, but I also cast my vote against them when they were being condemned to death. 11 By punishing them often in all the synagogues I tried to force them to blaspheme; and since I was so furiously enraged at them, I pursued them even to foreign cities.

Paul Tells of His Conversion (Acts 9.1-19; 22.6-16)

12 “With this in mind, I was traveling to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests, 13 when at midday along the road, your Excellency, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and my companions. 14 When we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It hurts you to kick against the goads.’ 15 I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ The Lord answered, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. 16 But get up and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you to serve and testify to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you. 17 I will rescue you from your people and from the Gentiles-to whom I am sending you 18 to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

Paul Tells of His Preaching

19 “After that, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, 20 but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout the countryside of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God and do deeds consistent with repentance. 21 For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me. 22 To this day I have had help from God, and so I stand here, testifying to both small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would take place: 23 that the Messiah must suffer, and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles.” (Acts 26:1-23, NRSV)

The following comments are repeated here from August 27, 2007 (Monday in the week of the Sunday closest to August 24, Year One), when they were repeated with editing and supplement from October 16, 2006 (Monday in the week of the Sunday closest to October 12, Year Two), when comments were combined and revised from October 11, 2004, (Monday of the week of the Sunday closest to October 12, Year Two), and from August 22, 2005 (Monday in the week of the Sunday closest to August 24, Year One).

Today’s reading includes the last of three accounts of Paul’s conversion from the book of Acts. For a comparison of these accounts with Paul’s own account in Galatians 1:13-17, see the table in a separate file of Paul’s Conversion. Each account has its own perspective, but all emphasize Paul’s call as an apostle to proclaim the gospel to the Gentiles. Paul’s witness in the Jerusalem temple was cut short by his reference to that (Acts 22:21), which enraged the crowd and led to Paul’s arrest. But he was able to address Agrippa as one who should understand. “I consider myself fortunate that it is before you, King Agrippa, I am to make my defense today against all the accusations of the Jews, because you are especially familiar with all the customs and controversies of the Jews; therefore I beg of you to listen to me patiently” (Acts 26:2-3). As Paul speaks to defend himself before Festus and Agrippa, he emphasizes his early life as a model Jew. “All the Jews know my way of life from my youth, a life spent from the beginning among my own people and in Jerusalem” (v. 4). We are reminded of what Paul himself wrote to the Philippians: “If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness under the law, blameless” (Phil. 3:4b-6; cf. 2 Cor. 11:21b-22). Before Agrippa, Paul claims to have “lived as a Pharisee” [the strictest sect of the Jews] (Acts 26:5), and to be on trial for preaching “hope in the promise made by God to our ancestors . . . that God raises the dead” (vv. 6, 8).

Paul tells the story of his zealous persecution of Christians. “Indeed, I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things against the name of Jesus of Nazareth,” he says (v. 9), and he recounts some of that activity. “And that is what I did in Jerusalem; with authority received from the chief priests, I not only locked up many of the saints in prison, but I also cast my vote against them when they were being condemned to death. By punishing them often in all the synagogues I tried to force them to blaspheme; and since I was so furiously enraged at them, I pursued them even to foreign cities” (vv. 10-11; cf. 22:4-5a). As for his specific mission in Damascus, he says, “With this in mind, I was traveling to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests” (v. 12; cf. 22:25b). But then, his trip was interrupted by his Damascus road experience (9:1-19). To Agrippa, he says “when at midday along the road, your Excellency, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and my companions” (v. 13; cf. 9:3; 22:6). He and his companions all fell to the ground, says Paul, and “I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It hurts you to kick against the goads’ ” (v. 14); the other accounts lack the statement about kicking “against the goads” (cf. Acts 9:4; 22:7-8). According to Christopher R. Matthews, “the voice speaks Hebrew, quoting a common Greek proverb about the futility of resisting the divine will (cf. 9:4; 22:7).” Matthews adds that “a goad is a pointed stick used to prod an ox or other animals” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., 2001, on Acts 26:14). To Paul’s (i.e. Saul’s) question, “Who are you Lord?” (26:15a; 9:5a; 22:8a), the Lord answers, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting (26:15b; 9:5b; 22:8b). At this point in the account before Agrippa, Festus and Bernice, Paul describes his mission to the Gentiles as given directly from the Lord. “But get up and stand on your feet” says the Lord; “for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you to serve and testify to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you. I will rescue you from your people and from the Gentiles–to whom I am sending you to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me” (26:16-18). “Turning from darkness to light,” says Beverly Roberts Gaventa, is “a conventional expression for gentile conversion (see, e.g., 13:47; Lk. 1:79; 2:32 . . .)” (HarperCollins Study Bible, rev. ed., 2006, on Acts 26:18). In chapter nine, this commission for Paul is given directly to Ananias (9:15-16). In chapter 22, he receives the commission through Ananias (22:14-16), which is later confirmed when Paul, praying in the temple, fell into a trance (22:17-21). Paul assures Agrippa about his faithfulness to that commission. “After that, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout the countryside of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God and do deeds consistent with repentance” (vv. 19-20). In chapter 22, with Paul’s reference to being sent “to the Gentiles” (22:21), his speech was interrupted, and he did not get to an account of his faithfulness or the success of his missionary activity. But before Agrippa, Festus and Bernice, he points to his mission to Gentiles as the reason for his arrest. “For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me” (26:21). In this formal setting, there is no interruption at the mention of Gentiles, but Paul is able to continue. “To this day I have had help from God, and so I stand here, testifying to both small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would take place: that the Messiah must suffer, and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles” (vv. 22-23). At that, Paul’s speech is essentially complete. The reactions of Festus and of Agrippa are presented in tomorrow’s reading.

Luke 8:26-39

Jesus Heals the Gerasene Demoniac (Mt 8.28-9.1; Mk 5.1-20)

26 Then they arrived at the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. 27 As he stepped out on land, a man of the city who had demons met him. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he did not live in a house but in the tombs. 28 When he saw Jesus, he fell down before him and shouted at the top of his voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me”- 29 for Jesus had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many times it had seized him; he was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the wilds.) 30 Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” He said, “Legion”; for many demons had entered him. 31 They begged him not to order them to go back into the abyss.

32 Now there on the hillside a large herd of swine was feeding; and the demons begged Jesus to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. 33 Then the demons came out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.

34 When the swineherds saw what had happened, they ran off and told it in the city and in the country. 35 Then people came out to see what had happened, and when they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid. 36 Those who had seen it told them how the one who had been possessed by demons had been healed. 37 Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them; for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned. 38 The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him; but Jesus sent him away, saying, 39 “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” So he went away, proclaiming throughout the city how much Jesus had done for him. (Luke 8:26-39, NRSV)

On May 10, 2007 (Thursday in the week of the Fifth Sunday of Easter, Year One), comments were repeated from October 16, 2006 (Monday in the week of the Sunday closest to October 12, Year Two), when comments from October 11, 2004, two years earlier (Monday of the week of the Sunday closest to October 12, Year Two) were revised and supplemented. The revised version from October 16, 2006, and May 10, 2007, is repeated here. For parallel accounts, see the separate file, the Gadarene Demoniacs. (For recent comments on Matthew’s version, see the comments of May 7, 2008, Wednesday in the week of the Seventh Sunday of Easter, Year Two, and for recent comments on Mark’s version, see the comments of February 23, 2008, Saturday in the week of the Second Sunday of Lent, Year Two).

Luke reports Jesus’ healing of the Gerasene demoniac, and his account is very similar to Mark’s (Lk. 8:26-39; cf. Mk. 5:1-20). Matthew’s account (Mt. 8:28-34) has similar details but also differences of place (Gadara, not Gerasa) and number (two demoniacs). Some see these as accounts of two different events, others of varying accounts of the same event. But it is important to note that few scholars now try to explain the events away in the manner of the eighteenth and nineteenth century rationalists. Even a rather critical “Jesus scholar” such as Marcus Borg, speaking of exorcisms and healings in general, says “Behind this picture of Jesus as a healer and exorcist, I affirm a historical core,” and in that he claims to be “in common with the majority of contemporary scholars” (The Meaning of Jesus: Two Visions, 1998, p. 66). For Borg, this is extraordinary, but not the result of supernatural intervention in the course of nature. But for many of us, though we cannot explain the details, we see these accounts as signs of the power of God that “was reconciling the world to himself” (2 Cor. 5:19).

Luke briefly describes the man who, “at the country of the Gerasenes” (Lk. 8:26), met Jesus “as he stepped out [of the boat] on land”: The man “had demons” and “for a long time he had worn no clothes, and he did not live in a house but in the tombs” (v.27). Luke delays and simplifies Mark’s graphic details about the attempts to chain him (Mk. 5:3-4; cf. Lk. 8:29b) and he omits Mark’s reference to the man’s “howling and bruising himself with stones” (Mk. 5:5). But other changes are rather minor. Luke changes Mark’s version of the man’s plea, “I adjure (oJrkivzw, orkizō) you by God” (Mk. 5:7): “I beg (devomai, deomai) you (Lk. 8:28; cf. “begged” (parekavlei, parekalei Mk. 5:10, parekavloun, parekaloun [plural] Lk. 8:31, where Mark has the man beg, but Luke has the demons beg–as if there were a difference at this point). In Mark, the request is not to send the demons [and the man?] “out of the country” (Mk. 5:10), but in Luke the demons ask that Jesus not “order them to go back into the abyss (eijV th;n a[busson, eis tēn abysson)” (Lk. 8:31). According to Marion Lloyd Soards, the “abyss” is “a place of confinement for demonic forces which, though hostile to God, are ultimately under his control (Rev. 9:1-11; 11:7; 17:8; 20:1-3). The words attribute a judicial authority to Jesus (as do Mt. 7:21-23; 11:20-24)” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., 2001, on Lk. 8:31). Eric Franklin takes note of the term “Legion” and comments as follows:

A legion was a unit in the Roman army of something around 6,000 men. The use of the term witnesses to the severity of the possession. The state of the man, his being held in chains and shackles, may well suggest something of the burden of the Roman occupation. The story may have been handed down with the intention of associating Jesus’ throwing out of demonic powers with the expectation of the overthrow of the equally oppressive political authorities. The local citizens may well have been understood by Luke as asking Jesus to leave their area because they regarded him as a threat to stability. This would be seen by Luke as one with the situation that he describes frequently in Acts (16:39; 17:14; 20:1).. (The Oxford Bible Commentary, 2001, on Lk. 8:26-39)

In contrast to the local people, the man, now healed, wants to be with Jesus (Lk. 8:38, cf. Mk. 5:18), but Jesus says to him, “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you” v. 39a, cf. Mk. 5:19). So he becomes the local “proclaimer” of what Jesus has done for him (Lk. 8:39b, cf. Mk. 5:;20).

Ronald D. Worden, Ph.D.

rdworden@hgst.edu

deanworden@comcast.net