Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) 43:1-22

The Splendor of the Sun

43:1 The pride of the higher realms is the clear vault of the sky,

as glorious to behold as the sight of the heavens.

2 The sun, when it appears, proclaims as it rises

what a marvelous instrument it is, the work of the Most High.

3 At noon it parches the land,

and who can withstand its burning heat?

4 A man tending a furnace works in burning heat,

but three times as hot is the sun scorching the mountains;

it breathes out fiery vapors,

and its bright rays blind the eyes.

5 Great is the Lord who made it;

at his orders it hurries on its course.

The Splendor of the Moon

6 It is the moon that marks the changing seasons,

governing the times, their everlasting sign.

7 From the moon comes the sign for festal days,

a light that wanes when it completes its course.

8 The new moon, as its name suggests, renews itself;

how marvelous it is in this change,

a beacon to the hosts on high,

shining in the vault of the heavens!

The Glory of the Stars and the Rainbow

9 The glory of the stars is the beauty of heaven,

a glittering array in the heights of the Lord.

10 On the orders of the Holy One they stand in their appointed places;

they never relax in their watches.

11 Look at the rainbow, and praise him who made it;

it is exceedingly beautiful in its brightness.

12 It encircles the sky with its glorious arc;

the hands of the Most High have stretched it out.

The Marvels of Nature

13 By his command he sends the driving snow

and speeds the lightnings of his judgment.

14 Therefore the storehouses are opened,

and the clouds fly out like birds.

15 In his majesty he gives the clouds their strength,

and the hailstones are broken in pieces.

17a The voice of his thunder rebukes the earth;

16 when he appears, the mountains shake.

At his will the south wind blows;

17b so do the storm from the north and the whirlwind.

He scatters the snow like birds flying down,

and its descent is like locusts alighting.

18 The eye is dazzled by the beauty of its whiteness,

and the mind is amazed as it falls.

19 He pours frost over the earth like salt,

and icicles form like pointed thorns.

20 The cold north wind blows,

and ice freezes on the water;

it settles on every pool of water,

and the water puts it on like a breastplate.

21 He consumes the mountains and burns up the wilderness,

and withers the tender grass like fire.

22 A mist quickly heals all things;

the falling dew gives refreshment from the heat. (Ecclesiasticus 43:1-22, NRSV)

On June 3, 2007 (Trinity Sunday, Year One), comments were based on comments–several repeated among these dates– from November 3, 2004 (Wednesday of the week of the Sunday closest to November 2, Year Two), from May 1, 2005 (the Sixth Sunday of Easter, Year One), from May 22, 2005 (Trinity Sunday, Year One), from November 7 and 8, 2006 (Tuesday and Wednesday in the week of the Sunday closest to November 2, Year Two), and from May 13, 2007 (the Sixth Sunday of Easter, Year One):

This passage praises God for his creation, including the universe, and especially the sun. Within the larger context “in praise of God and the wonders of creation,” the subtitle of Harold C. Washington (NOAB, 3^rd ed., 2001, on Ecclus. 42:15-43:33), in which Ben Sira says he “will now call to mind the works of the Lord / and will declare what [he has] seen” (42:15a, b). “By the word of the Lord ( ejn lovgoiV [plural] kurivou, en logois kyriou),” says Ben Sira, “his works are made; / and all his creatures do his will” (v. 15c, d NRSV). This creation “by the words [plural in the LXX] of the Lord” reminds us of the Prologue to the Gospel of John, especially John 1:3, 10). According to Burton L. Mack, revised by Benjamin G. Wright, the larger passage here is “a hymn of praise to the Lord and his creation. It consists of a concise poem on the inscrutable knowledge and power of the creator (42:15-21) followed by a lengthy poem on the wonders of the natural order (42:22-43:26) and concludes with an invitation to join the author in singing the Lord’s praises (43:27-33). The initial verses of the second of these sections lead up to today’s reading. “How desirable are all his works,” says Ben Sira, “and how sparkling they are to see!” (42:22). These created things “live and remain forever; / each . . . preserved to meet a special need” (v. 23); “he [God] has made nothing incomplete” (v. 24b).

The present reading begins with a “list of the works of the Lord . . . arranged; in a list that begins with the sun as the highest visible creature, descends through moon, stars, and geophysical phenomena (rainbow, lightning, clouds, wind, snow, frost, ice, and dew), to end with a notice about the ocean as the deep” (ibid., on 42:22-43:33). The sun heads Ben Sira’s list. “The pride of the higher realms is the clear vault of the sky, / as glorious to behold as the sight of the heavens. / The sun, when it appears, proclaims as it rises / what a marvelous instrument it is, the work of the Most High. / At noon it parches the land, / and who can withstand its burning heat?” (Ecclus. 43:1-3). Ben Sira compares the heat of the sun to the heat of a furnace. “A man tending a furnace works in burning heat, / but three times as hot is the sun scorching the mountains; / it breathes out fiery vapors, / and its bright rays blind the eyes” (v. 4). If the author only knew! we might exclaim, but that would be unfair to expect the author to know what modern science knows about the sun and other heavenly stars. Ben Sira concludes a stanza on the sun with praise for the Lord, who made and controls the sun. “Great is the Lord who made it; / at his orders it hurries on its course” (v. 5).

Next the author focuses on the moon “that marks the changing seasons, / governing the times, their everlasting sign” (v. 6). Jewish festival days are dated by the cycles of the moon, from which “comes the sign for festal days,” though it is a light that wanes when it completes its course” (v. 7). If the waning of the moon is a weakness, “the new moon, as it’s name suggests, renews itself” (v. 8a). Ben Sira finds the cycles of the moon “marvelous”: “How marvelous it is in this change, / a beacon to the hosts on high, / shining in the vault of the heavens!” (v. 8b, c,, d).

The “glory of the stars” is praised as “the beauty of heaven,/a glittering array” (v. 9). Their control by “the Holy One” and their fixed position “in their appointed places” is noted (v. 10). The rainbow also calls us to praise “him who made it” (v. 11). It is “exceedingly beautiful” (v. 11), a “glorious arc” stretched out by “the hands of the Most High” (v. 12). Various other marvels of nature are described including snow and lightning, for God “sends the driving snow / and speeds the lightnings of his judgment” (v. 13). The Lord opens the storehouses “and the clouds fly out like birds” (v. 14). He breaks hailstones “in pieces” (v. 15). He sends thunderstorms (vv. 17a, 16, 17b), snow (vv. 17-18), frost and icicles (v. 19), cold wind and ice (v. 20, consuming heat (v. 21), and refreshing mist (v. 22).

The focus in this reading has been on the glories and wonders of God’s creation. The continuation focuses on the greatness of God himself. But that brings us to tomorrow’s reading.

Zephaniah 1:14-18 (Presbyterian and Lutheran traditions–This passage is not included in the Daily Office Lectionary of the Book of Common Prayer.)

The Great Day of the LORD (Cp Am 5.18-20)

14 The great day of the LORD is near,

near and hastening fast;

the sound of the day of the LORD is bitter,

the warrior cries aloud there.

15 That day will be a day of wrath,

a day of distress and anguish,

a day of ruin and devastation,

a day of darkness and gloom,

a day of clouds and thick darkness,

16 a day of trumpet blast and battle cry

against the fortified cities

and against the lofty battlements.

17 I will bring such distress upon people

that they shall walk like the blind;

because they have sinned against the LORD,

their blood shall be poured out like dust,

and their flesh like dung.

18 Neither their silver nor their gold

will be able to save them

on the day of the LORD’s wrath;

in the fire of his passion

the whole earth shall be consumed;

for a full, a terrible end

he will make of all the inhabitants of the earth. (Zephaniah 1:14-18, NRSV)

The following comments are repeated here with editing and supplement from November 7, 2006 (Tuesday in the week of the Sunday closest to November 2, Year Two):

The day of the LORD was introduced in yesterday’s reading (Zeph. 1:7) as a day of judgment and punishment. Today’s reading begins by announcing that “the great day of the LORD is near, / near and hastening fast” (v. 14a, b). It has a “bitter” sound; “the warrior cries aloud there” (v. 14c, d). It will be a day of wrath, distress, and anguish, of ruin, devastation, darkness and gloom (v. 15a, b, c, d). What is being described is “divine warfare,” says Gregory Mobley (NOAB, 3^rd ed., 2001, on Zeph. 1:14-18 [not v. 23, as indicated]). There will be a “trumpet blast and battle cry” as “fortified cities” and “lofty battlements” are attacked.(v. 16). Mobley adds that Zephaniah elaborates the preaching of Amos (Am. 5:18-20; 8:9-14) that the day of the LORD will be dreadful for Israel as well as the nations” (Ibid.).

Zephaniah describes “such distress upon people / that they shall walk like the blind.” Why? “Because they have sinned against the LORD” (v. 17a, b, c). In this dreadful punishment, “their blood shall be poured out like dust, / and their flesh like dung” (v. 17d, e). Their silver and gold cannot save them “on the day of the LORD’s wrath,” because his fiery passion will consume the whole earth, making “a terrible end . . . of all the inhabitants of the earth” (v. 18). Ben Mason says, “it seems to be those who confide in human resources–here their wealth–who are singled out, but the effect of vv. 2-3 [cf. comments Sunday, Nov. 2, 2008] and 17-18 is therefore to make the threats of vv. 4-16 against the people of Jerusalem for specific sins applicable to all people of all times” (The Oxford Bible Commentary, 2001, p. 605, on Zeph. 1:2-18).

Revelation 14:14-15:8

Reaping the Earth’s Harvest

14 Then I looked, and there was a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was one like the Son of Man, with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand! 15 Another angel came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to the one who sat on the cloud, “Use your sickle and reap, for the hour to reap has come, because the harvest of the earth is fully ripe.” 16 So the one who sat on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was reaped.

17 Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. 18 Then another angel came out from the altar, the angel who has authority over fire, and he called with a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, “Use your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, for its grapes are ripe.” 19 So the angel swung his sickle over the earth and gathered the vintage of the earth, and he threw it into the great wine press of the wrath of God. 20 And the wine press was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the wine press, as high as a horse’s bridle, for a distance of about two hundred miles.

The Angels with the Seven Last Plagues

15:1 Then I saw another portent in heaven, great and amazing: seven angels with seven plagues, which are the last, for with them the wrath of God is ended.

2 And I saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands. 3 And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb:

“Great and amazing are your deeds,

Lord God the Almighty!

Just and true are your ways,

King of the nations!

4 Lord, who will not fear

and glorify your name?

For you alone are holy.

All nations will come

and worship before you,

for your judgments have been revealed.”

5 After this I looked, and the temple of the tent of witness in heaven was opened, 6 and out of the temple came the seven angels with the seven plagues, robed in pure bright linen, with golden sashes across their chests. 7 Then one of the four living creatures gave the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God, who lives forever and ever; 8 and the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no one could enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were ended. (Revelation 14:14-15:8, NRSV)

On November 7, 2006 (Tuesday in the week of the Sunday closest to November 2, Year Two), comments were repeated with revision and supplement from November 2, 2004, (Tuesday of the week of the Sunday closest to November 2, Year Two); they are repeated here with editing and supplement.

As yesterday’s reading closed, John heard a voice from heaven sayuing, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who from now on die in the Lord,” and the response of the Spirit, “Yes . . . they will rest from their labors, for their deeds will follow them” (Rev. 14:13). “Their deeds,” says Bruce M. Metzger, are “the fruits of Christian character (Gal. 5:22-23)” (NOAB, 2^nd ed., 1994, on Rev. 14:13). The announcements noted in yesterday’s reading, by the angel with “an eternal gospel” (Rev. 14:6), an angel announcing the fall of Babylon (v. 8), the angel who announces judgment on “those who worship the beast and its image, and receive a mark on their foreheads or on their hands” (v. 9, cf. vv. 9-11), and the call for “the endurance of the saints” (v. 12), are follow in today’s reading with a description of harvest. “Then I looked,” says John, “and there was a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was one like the Son of Man, with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand! Another angel came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to the one who sat on the cloud, “Use your sickle and reap, for the hour to reap has come, because the harvest of the earth is fully ripe.” So the one who sat on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was reaped” (vv. 14-16). But this is no ordinary harvest scene. According to Metzger, “the final judgment of God (Joel 3:13)” is pictured here, “involving the ingathering of the saints by one like the Son of Man (vv. 14-16)” (ibid., on vv. 14-20). This anticipates the vision of the redeemed (15:2-4) who “sing the song of Moses . . . and the song of the Lamb” (15:3). Overall, the reading alternates between the redeemed (14:14-16; 15:2-4) and those who are judged (14:17-20; 15:5-8).

John’s picture of judgment continues. “Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. Then another angel came out from the altar, the angel who has authority over fire, and he called with a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, “Use your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, for its grapes are ripe” (vv. 17-18). “So the angel swung his sickle over the earth and gathered the vintage of the earth, and he threw it into the great wine press of the wrath of God. And the wine press was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the wine press, as high as a horse’s bridle, for a distance of about two hundred miles” (vv. 19-20).

The image changes from grain harvest (vv. 14-16) to what Metzger calls a “vintage scene; these two scenes,” he adds, “correspond to the parable in Mt. 13:24-30, 37-43)” (Metzger, ibid., on vv. 18-20). “Metaphorically,” says Jean-Pierre Ruiz, “wine is frequently associated with blood (Gen. 49:11; Deut. 32:14; Sir. 39:26; 1 Macc. 6:34). Here the enormous quantity of blood suggests the vast extent of the divine judgment (cf. Isa. 63:3-6). Mention of the horse’s bridle here,” says Ruiz, “foreshadows the combat in 19:11-21” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., 2001, on Rev. 14:20).

At this point we come to “The seven bowls of the wrath of God” (Metzger, op. cit., and Ruiz, op. cit., on 15:1-16:21; cf. the seven seals, 6:1-17; 8:1-5, and the seven trumpets, 8:6-9:21; 11:14-19). John says, “then I saw another portent in heaven, great and amazing: seven with seven plagues, which are the last, for with them the wrath of God is ended” (15:1). The term “portent,” says Ruiz, refers to “a third heavenly sign” (op. cit., on 15:1). The first two portents (shmei:a, sēmeia) are found in chapter 12, the “woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars” (12:1), and the “great red dragon , with seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads” (12:3). And John sees “what appeared to be a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands” (15:2). Earlier, the “sea of glass” is a kind of pavement before God’s throne (4:6), compare the “dome, shining like crystal,” that is over the throne-chariot in Ezekiel’s vision, but under God’s throne (Ezek. 1:22-28). In Revelation, according to Metzger, the “sea of glass suggests the distance between God and his creatures, even in heaven” (op. cit., on Rev. 4:6). In chapter 15 the “sea of glass” appears to represent the sea through which the Lord has just delivered the Israelites. John tells us that “those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name” (v. 2) were singing “the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb” (v. 3a). This song celebrates the “great and amazing deeds” of “the Lord God the almighty,” the “king of the nations,” whose ways are “just and true” (v. 3b, c). He alone is “holy,” says the song. “All nations will come / and worship before you, / for your judgments have been revealed” (v. 4) .

After the song, “the temple of the tent of witness in heaven was opened” (v. 5). Jean-Pierre Ruiz says, “On opening the heavenly gates as a prelude to judgment, see 3 Macc. 6:18-19. In Rome, the ‘Temple of Janus’ was opened as a prelude to war (Virgil, Aeneid 1.294)” (op. cit., on Rev. 16:5). He says that the tent of witness in heaven is “the heavenly counterpart of the tent of witness that accompanied Israel’s journey through the desert (Num. 9:15).” And he adds, though the “seven golden bowls” are “libation vessels used in religious rituals” (op. cit., on v. 7), they are “full of the wrath of God, who lives forever and ever” (v. 7), and when they are poured out (chap. 16), the plagues far surpass the plagues against Egypt at the time of Israel’s exodus.

Luke 13:1-9

Repent or Perish

13:1 At that very time there were some present who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 He asked them, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? 3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did. 4 Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them-do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did.”

The Parable of the Barren Fig Tree

6 Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. 7 So he said to the gardener, ‘See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?’ 8 He replied, ‘Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it. 9 If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’” (Luke 13:1-9, NRSV)

On November 7, 2006 (Tuesday in the week of the Sunday closest to November 2, Year Two), comments were combined with revision and supplement from November 2, 2004, (Tuesday in the week of the Sunday closest to November 2, Year Two), and from May 16, 2005 (Monday in the week of the Sunday closest to May 18, Year One); they are repeated here with some editing and supplement:

The reading from Luke does not have evident close parallels in Matthew or Mark, though we might compare the Cursing of the Fig Tree (Mt. 21:18-19; Mk. 11:12-14) to the Parable of the Barren Fig Tree here (Lk. 11:6-9; cf. Kurt Aland, Synopsis of the Four Gospels, 1982, rev. printing 1985, sec. 272, p. 238).

One might think we were set up today. If the reading from Revelation contrasts the redeemed and the lost, the Gospel reading warns us to repent or perish. “No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did” (Lk. 13:3), that is, as “the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices” (v. 1) had perished. As a part of Jesus’ warning that the people need to repent of sin, or perish (Lk. 13:5), he reminds them of some Galileans who were apparently killed while they were offering sacrifices in the temple (v. 1), according to Marion Lloyd Soards, an “otherwise unattested” incident (NOAB, 3^rd ed., 2001, on Lk. 13:1), and of “those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them” (v. 4). “They,” says Eric Franklin, “were no worse than the people Jesus is addressing who face an equal fate if they do not repent. . . . It is now the climactic hour” (The Oxford Bible Commentary, 2001, p. 945, on Lk. 12:54-13:35).

Jesus illustrates his teaching with a parable. “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard,” he says, “and he came looking for fruit on it and found none” (v. 6). We may compare the report that Jesus himself, when coming from Bethany to Jerusalem, came upon a fig tree that had no figs (Mk. 11:12-13; cf. Mt. 21:18-19a). In the parable in Luke the owner of the vineyard says to the gardener, “See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?” (Lk. 13:7). In this parable, the fig tree is given a year of mercy, so to speak. The gardener replied, “Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it an d put manure on it. If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down” (vv. 8-9). As for the tree that Jesus came upon on his way from Bethany to Jerusalem, it receives no such “mercy.” Jesus “said to it, ‘May no one ever eat fruit from you again.’ And his disciples heard it” (Mk. 11:14; cf. Mt. 21:19b). In Mark, the fig tree is later found “withered” (Mk. 11:20), but in Matthew it “withered at once” (Mt. 21:19b). We might raise such questions as this: When should one expect fruit from a fig tree. According to one person who sells fig trees on eBay, “A fig tree reaches maturity in about four years but should carry fruit some from the first year” (“EXOTIC FIG TREE 2 YEARS OLD lge plant with figs on,” on the Internet at http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160290177704, accessed Nov. 3, 2008). Presumably, Jesus spoke about a fig tree from which one could expect fruit. But the point is the spiritual lesson. Israel is God’s vineyard, and has failed to meet his expectations. According to Robert H. Stein, the parable illustrates Jesus’ theme that the audience must repent or face the destruction of Jerusalem, or both spiritual and eternal death, or both:

A tree that has received special treatment from its owner has not borne fruit. Now he seeks to rid the vineyard of this worthless tree and plant something else that will use the space more profitably. The vinedresser, however, intercedes to give the tree one last opportunity. If it does not bear fruit in the coming year after additional care and treatment, it will then be cut down. . . . It is therefore best to interpret it as symbolizing a last opportunity for the nation of Israel to repent before becoming subject to divine judgment. (Luke, The New American Commentary, vol. 24, 1992, p. 369, on Lk. 13:1-9).

The parable of the fig tree illustrates the call for repentance, and could apply to any hearer of Jesus’ message. “If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down” (v. 9). Another fig tree parable suggests that the time for repentance is over (Mt. 21:18-22; Mk. 11:12-14, 20-26). It is encouraging to remember that these calls to repentance and warnings come from the God who “is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). Fruit bearing is a natural result of the proper conditions. Paul contrasts the works of the flesh (Gal. 5:19-21) with the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23). “If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit” (Gal. 5:25).

Ronald D. Worden, Ph.D.

rdworden@hgst.edu

deanworden@comcast.net