Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) 43:23-33

23 By his plan he stilled the deep

and planted islands in it.

24 Those who sail the sea tell of its dangers,

and we marvel at what we hear.

25 In it are strange and marvelous creatures,

all kinds of living things, and huge sea-monsters.

26 Because of him each of his messengers succeeds,

and by his word all things hold together.

27 We could say more but could never say enough;

let the final word be: “He is the all.”

28 Where can we find the strength to praise him?

For he is greater than all his works.

29 Awesome is the Lord and very great,

and marvelous is his power.

30 Glorify the Lord and exalt him as much as you can,

for he surpasses even that.

When you exalt him, summon all your strength,

and do not grow weary, for you cannot praise him enough.

31 Who has seen him and can describe him?

Or who can extol him as he is?

32 Many things greater than these lie hidden,

for I have seen but few of his works.

33 For the Lord has made all things,

and to the godly he has given wisdom. (Ecclesiasticus 43:23-33, NRSV)

On November 8, 2006 (Wednesday in the week of the Sunday closest to November 2, Year Two), comments were revised with supplement from November 3, 2004 (Wednesday in the week of the Sunday closest to November 2, Year Two); the comments are repeated here with editing and supplement:

The early part of this chapter describes the glories and wonders of God’s creation (yesterday’s reading). Today’s reading focuses on the greatness of God himself. The created world is the result of God’s plan. “By his plan he stilled the deep / and planted islands in it” (Ecclus. 43:23; cf. Gen. 1:2, 6-7, 9-10). According to Burton L. Mack, revised by Benjamin G. Wright III, “That the Lord stilled the deep is derived from an ancient myth of creation according to which God had to slay the monster of the deep, or still the chaotic waters, in order to let the dry land appear and construct upon it his house. Cf. Pss. 104:24-26; 107:23-24” (HarperCollins Study Bible, rev. ed., 2006, on Ecclus. 43:23). But such a battle is not described either here or in Genesis. God is in control throughout the process. The result of his plan is a sea of dangers, but also of marvels. “Those who sail the sea tell of its dangers, / and we marvel at what we hear” (v. 24). The sea is full of “strange and marvelous creatures, / all kinds of living things, and huge sea monsters” (v. 25). It is “because of him,” that is, because of God, that “each of his messengers succeeds,” and it is “by his word (lovgoV, logos) [that] all things hold together” (v. 26). Burton Mack says:

This verse, which serves as a conclusion to the poem of praise for the natural order (42:22-43:26), brings together two cosmologies, or mythologies of the way in which the world is ordered. Messengers refers to all of the natural phenomena as servants of the Lord who do his bidding so that the universe may stand firm (42:17). His word by which all things hold together derives from the Stoic view of the logos (Greek ‘word’ or ‘logic’) that permeates the natural world (kosmos) as a principle of cohesion and order. It is probable that Ben Sira had the Genesis account of creation in mind, according to which God spoke the world into being, and that both mythologies were understood as explications of God’s words, as commands (to his ‘messengers’) and as expressions of rhyme and reason for the world for the world he had in mind (‘logos’). In somewhat later literatures, such as the works of Philo of Alexandria and the Gospel of John (Jn. 1:1-18), the Stoic logos became the primary concept for interpreting the Genesis account. (HarperCollins Study Bible, 1^st ed., 1993, on Ecclus. 43:26)

The final stanza focuses upon the awesome God who created all of these natural wonders. So after describing the glories and wonders of nature, Ben Sira declares that God is greater than them all. "We could say more [about the wonders of nature] but could never say enough; / let the final word be: ‘He is the all.' / Where can we find the strength to praise him? / For he is greater than all his works" (43:27-28). The statement, "He is the all" should not be understood in a pantheistic sense, but “in the sense that all creatures reveal the divine presence” (Bruce M. Metzger and Roland E. Murphy, NOAB, 2^nd ed., 1994, on Ecclus. 43:27), though some, for example Mack, say the phrase “derives from Stoic philosophies of the world as an organism generated and held together by a single (divine) principle”(op. cit., on 43:27).

“Awesome is the Lord and very great,” says Ben Sira, “and marvelous is his power” (v. 29). “Glorify the Lord and exalt him as much as you can,” he urges, “for he surpasses even that” (v. 30a, b). Ben Sira’s enthusiasm builds, so to speak, toward a climactic peroration. “When you exalt him [i.e., God],” says Ben Sira, summon all your strength, / and do not grow weary, for you cannot praise him enough” (v. 30c, d). “To praise and glorify the Lord is a demonstration of one’s own wisdom,” says Mack, “that one has come to see how marvelous his works are despite the limitations of human capacity to plumb their mysteries. According to 15:10, in wisdom must praise be uttered” (op. cit., on v. 30). “Who has seen him and can describe him?” asks Ben Sira. “Or who can extol him as he is? / Many things greater than these lie hidden, / for I have seen but few of his works” (vv. 31-32).

At this point we come to a significant transition, closing a section on the marvelous works of God’s creation (42:22-43:33), and preparing for “the praises of famous men” (44:1). “For the Lord has made all things,” says Ben Sira, “and to the godly he has given wisdom” (43:33). “This,” says Mack,

is a transitional verse, providing a summary for the hymn to creation and pointing ahead to the hymn in praise of the famous men to follow. It shows that Ben Sira intended the two poems to be taken together, now to call the works of the Lord to mind (42:15), now to sing the praises of famous men (44:1). The combination follows a recognizable pattern in certain psalms and other poems that begins with a meditation upon creation and comes to focus upon the sweep of epic history. Cf. Pss. 135; 136. (op. cit., on v. 33)

Zephaniah 2:1-15 (Presbyterian and Lutheran traditions–This passage is not included in the Daily Office Lectionary of the Book of Common Prayer.)

Judgment on Israel’s Enemies

2:1 Gather together, gather,

O shameless nation,

2 before you are driven away

like the drifting chaff,

before there comes upon you

the fierce anger of the LORD,

before there comes upon you

the day of the LORD’s wrath.

3 Seek the LORD, all you humble of the land,

who do his commands;

seek righteousness, seek humility;

perhaps you may be hidden

on the day of the LORD’s wrath.

4 For Gaza shall be deserted,

and Ashkelon shall become a desolation;

Ashdod’s people shall be driven out at noon,

and Ekron shall be uprooted.

5 Ah, inhabitants of the seacoast,

you nation of the Cherethites!

The word of the LORD is against you,

O Canaan, land of the Philistines;

and I will destroy you until no inhabitant is left.

6 And you, O seacoast, shall be pastures,

meadows for shepherds

and folds for flocks.

7 The seacoast shall become the possession

of the remnant of the house of Judah,

on which they shall pasture,

and in the houses of Ashkelon

they shall lie down at evening.

For the LORD their God will be mindful of them

and restore their fortunes.

8 I have heard the taunts of Moab

and the revilings of the Ammonites,

how they have taunted my people

and made boasts against their territory.

9 Therefore, as I live, says the LORD of hosts,

the God of Israel,

Moab shall become like Sodom

and the Ammonites like Gomorrah,

a land possessed by nettles and salt pits,

and a waste forever.

The remnant of my people shall plunder them,

and the survivors of my nation shall possess them.

10 This shall be their lot in return for their pride,

because they scoffed and boasted

against the people of the LORD of hosts.

11 The LORD will be terrible against them;

he will shrivel all the gods of the earth,

and to him shall bow down,

each in its place,

all the coasts and islands of the nations.

12 You also, O Ethiopians,

shall be killed by my sword.

13 And he will stretch out his hand against the north,

and destroy Assyria;

and he will make Nineveh a desolation,

a dry waste like the desert.

14 Herds shall lie down in it,

every wild animal;

the desert owl and the screech owl

shall lodge on its capitals;

the owl shall hoot at the window,

the raven croak on the threshold;

for its cedar work will be laid bare.

15 Is this the exultant city

that lived secure,

that said to itself,

“I am, and there is no one else”?

What a desolation it has become,

a lair for wild animals!

Everyone who passes by it

hisses and shakes the fist. (Zephaniah 2:1-15, NRSV)

The following comments are repeated here with editing and supplement from November 8, 2006 (Wednesday in the week of the Sunday closest to November 2, Year Two):

The prophet issues a brief call to repentance as today’s reading begins. Noting the word “perhaps” (yl1Ux, ’ûlay) in Zephaniah 2:3, Gregory Mobley calls it “a muted call to repentance” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., 2001, on Zeph. 2:1-3; cf. his remarks in the Introduction to Zephaniah). Judah and Jerusalem were addressed earlier (1:4-6, cf. 8, 10-13), before the threat of universal judgment became worldwide in scope, as “the whole earth shall be consumed (1:18e). So the singular reference, “Gather together, gather, / O shameless nation” (2:1), surely still refers to Judah. Judah is to “gather together . . . before you are driven away / like the drifting chaff, / before there comes upon you / the fierce anger of the LORD . . . the day of the LORD’s wrath” (2:1-2). The words, “gather [yourselves] together,” (Uww4Oqt4h9, hithqôš^ešû, a form of this verb, hitpolel, that occurs only here in the Hebrew Bible) are translated by Sunavcqhte (Synachthēte) in the Septuagint, a form of the verb sunavgw (synagō), which is related to the noun sunagwghv (synagōgē, “synagogue”). But the gathering of the people called for here is under rather dark circumstances. With the words, “Seek the LORD, all you humble of the land, / who do his commands; / seek righteousness, seek humility” (v. 3a, b, c), the prophet calls them to repentance, but he offers no words of assurance, as he continues, “perhaps you may be hidden on the day of the LORD’s wrath” (v. 3d, e).

The prophet continues with an oracle against Judah’s neighbors: “For Gaza (hz0!f1, ‘azzāh) shall be deserted (hb!Uzf3, ‘ ^a zûvāh), / and Ashkelon shall become a desolation; / Ashdod’s people shall be driven out at noon, / and Ekron (NOrq4f@, ‘eqrôn) shall be uprooted (rq2f!T2, tē‘āqēr)” (v. 4). Ehud Ben Zvi comments: “English translations are unable to convey the puns on the terms Gaza and Ekron that feature prominently in the Heb. text. Something like ‘Powertown shall be powered’ or ‘Gaza shall be ghastful,’ and ‘Rootville–or perhaps Uprootville–will be uprooted’ may suggest the force of the pun to English readers. The towns mentioned, including Ashkelon and Ashdod, were Philistine cities” (The Jewish Study Bible, 2004, on Zeph. 2:4). Next, the prophet addresses the “Cherethites”: “Ah, inhabitants of the seacoast, / you nation of the Cherethites (Myt9r2K4, k^erēthîm)! / The word of the LORD is against you, / O Canaan, land of the Philistines; / and I will destroy you until no inhabitant is left” (v. 5). According to Ben Zvi, the “Nation of Cherethites [are] people of Crete (an island in the eastern Mediterranean Sea). The Cherethites are associated with Philistines in Ezek. 25:16. Another word-play: The main three letters of Cherethites in Heb. connote a sense of ‘cut off’ (cf. v. 6)” (ibid., on v. 5). Verse 6, to which Ben Zvi refers, has problematic text: “And you, O seacoast, shall be pastures, / meadows for shepherds / and folds for flocks” (Zeph. 2:6 NRSV). “The seacoast Cheroth^b shall become / An abode for shepherds and folds of flocks, (Zeph. 2:6 NJPS 1985, 1999; text note b: ‘Meaning of Heb. uncertain’). According to the apparatus in the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (1967/77), two words from the Massoretic Text are lacking in the Septuagint, and another word is lacking in the Vulgate. But the word play noted by Ben Zvi may well be present in the text.

Zephaniah claims the seacoast from the Philistines for his own people. “The seacoast shall become the possession / of the remnant of the house of Judah, / on which they shall pasture, / and in the houses of Ashkelon / they shall lie down at evening. / For the LORD their God will be mindful of them / and restore their fortunes” (v. 7). These blessings for Judah are set in contrast to prophetic indictments pronounced against neighboring nations. “I have heard the taunts of Moab / and the revilings of the Ammonites, / how they have taunted my people / and made boasts against their territory” (v. 8). The prophet pronounces devastating judgment against these nations. “Therefore, as I live, says the LORD of hosts, / the God of Israel, / Moab shall become like Sodom / and the Ammonites like Gomorrah, / a land possessed by nettles and salt pits, / and a waste forever” (v. 9a, b, c, d, e, f). The remnant and survivors of Judah will profit at the expense of these neighbors (v. 9g, h). These lands will be punished “because they scoffed and boasted / against the people of the LORD of hosts” (v 10b, c). “The LORD will be terrible against them” and their gods (v. 11a, b). The nations will be compelled to bow down to the LORD (v. 11c, d). Judgment will include the Ethiopians (v. 12), and especially Assyria (vv. 13-15), which will become “a desolation, / a dry waste” (v. 13c, d), so desolate that it will be inhabited by wild animals, “the desert owl and the screech owl” (v. 14a, b, c), “for its cedar work will be laid bare” (v. 14g). Nineveh, a proud city “that said to itself, / ‘I am, and there is no one else’” (v. 15c, d), will be desolate and mocked. “Everyone who passes by it / hisses and shakes the fist” (v. 15g, h). The analysis of Mobley calls attention to God’s judgment on Judah’s neighbors to the west (vv. 4-7), to the east (vv. 8-11), to the south (v. 12), and to the north (vv. 13-15). We might compare the first two chapters of Amos, in which the prophet’s judgments circle and then focus in on Israel.

Revelation 16:1-11

The Bowls of God’s Wrath

16:1 Then I heard a loud voice from the temple telling the seven angels, “Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God.”

2 So the first angel went and poured his bowl on the earth, and a foul and painful sore came on those who had the mark of the beast and who worshiped its image.

3 The second angel poured his bowl into the sea, and it became like the blood of a corpse, and every living thing in the sea died.

4 The third angel poured his bowl into the rivers and the springs of water, and they became blood. 5 And I heard the angel of the waters say,

“You are just, O Holy One, who are and were,

for you have judged these things;

6 because they shed the blood of saints and prophets,

you have given them blood to drink.

It is what they deserve!”

7 And I heard the altar respond,

“Yes, O Lord God, the Almighty,

your judgments are true and just!”

8 The fourth angel poured his bowl on the sun, and it was allowed to scorch people with fire; 9 they were scorched by the fierce heat, but they cursed the name of God, who had authority over these plagues, and they did not repent and give him glory.

10 The fifth angel poured his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness; people gnawed their tongues in agony, 11 and cursed the God of heaven because of their pains and sores, and they did not repent of their deeds. (Revelation 16:1-11, NRSV)

The following comments are repeated here from November 8, 2006 (Wednesday in the week of the Sunday closest to November 2, Year Two):

The seven angels who are told to “Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God” (Rev. 16:1) are the ones who emerged from the temple when the “ten of witness in heaven was opened” (15:5; cf. yesterday’s comments). They are “robed in pure bright linen, with golden sashes across their chests” (15:6) and the bowls were given to them by “one of the four living creatures” (15:7; cf. 4:6-11). The contents of the bowls were “the seven plagues” (15:5), hot enough to fill the temple “with smoke from the glory of God,” and prevent anyone’s entrance into the temple “until the seven plagues of the seven angels were ended” (15:8).

And so, we come to today’s reading with the preparations set for the command, “a loud voice from the temple telling the seven angels, ‘Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God’” (16:1). The bowls of wrath have been compared to “the plagues inflicted on Egypt (Ex. chs. 7-12). According to Bruce M. Metzger, “the descriptive details are not to be understood literally, but as contributing to the general effect of intense calamity and terror” (Bruce M. Metzger, NOAB, 2^nd ed., on Rev. 16:1-21). This reading includes the first five of these plagues (vv. 2-11).

When the first angel pours out his bowl, the result is “a foul and painful sore” which comes on those who have “the mark of the beast and who worshiped its image” (16:2). Metzger refers (ibid., on v. 2) to the sixth plague on Egypt, when Moses threw soot into the air which “caused festering boils on humans and animals” (Exod. 9:10; cf. Deut. 28:35).

When “the second angel poured his bowl into the sea . . . it became like the blood of a corpse,” resulting in the death of “every living thing in the sea” (16:3). In a similar manner, “the third angel poured his bowl into the rivers and the springs of water, and they became blood (v. 4), as did the waters of Egypt when struck by Aaron’s staff, introducing the first plague (Exod. 7:17-21). An angel (the third?) is called “the angel of the waters” (Rev. 16:5a); he speaks, praising the justice of the “Holy One, who has “judged these things” (v. 5b). In return for shedding “the blood of saints and prophets,” the people have been given “blood to drink.” He adds, “It is what they deserve!” (v. 6), which draws a response from the altar, “Yes, O Lord God, the Almighty, / your judgments are true and just!” (v. 7). Metzger refers to this as “divine retribution” (ibid., on Rev. 16:6). For that Jean-Pierre Ruiz refers to Isaiah 49:26 (NOAB, 3^rd ed., 2001, on Rev. 16:6):

I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh,

and they shall be drunk with their own blood as with wine.

Then all flesh shall know

that I am the LORD your Savior,

and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob. (Isaiah 49:26, NRSV)

The fourth angel’s bowl is poured “on the sun,” which is “allowed to scorch the [the people who have worshipped the image of the beast] with fire” (v. 8); even so, the people “cursed the name of God, who had authority over these plagues, and they did not repent and give him glory” (v. 9). The fifth bowl has a similar effect. “The fifth angel poured his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness,” but though the people “gnawed their tongues in agony” (v. 10), they “cursed the God of heaven because of their pains and sores, and they did not repent of their deeds” (v. 11). In spite of this hardening opposition to God’s will and way, it is comforting to know that he is the one who controls the situation. He “had authority over these plagues” (v. 9).

Luke 13:10-17

Jesus Heals a Crippled Woman

10 Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath. 11 And just then there appeared a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, “Woman, you are set free from your ailment.” 13 When he laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God. 14 But the leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had cured on the sabbath, kept saying to the crowd, “There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be cured, and not on the sabbath day.” 15 But the Lord answered him and said, “You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger, and lead it away to give it water? 16 And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the sabbath day?” 17 When he said this, all his opponents were put to shame; and the entire crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things that he was doing. (Luke 13:10-17, NRSV)

On June 29, 2008 (the Sunday closest to June 29, Year Two), comments were repeated from November 8, 2006 (Wednesday in the week of the Sunday closest to November 2, Year Two), when comments were repeated from earlier as follows: For the comments of November 3, 2004,(Wednesday of the week of the Sunday closest to November 2, Year Two), on Luke’s description of Jesus’ healing of a crippled woman who "was bent over and was unable to stand up straight" (Lk. 13:11), I simply quoted parts of a sermon delivered earlier that fall by my wife, Dr. Barbara Worden. To that I have added comments of my own, repeated here from July 2, 2006 (the Fourth Sunday after Pentecost, Year Two), when comments were combined and revised from June 27, 2004, in an email sent June 25, 2004 for June 26-27, and from May 17, 2005 (Tuesday of the week of Pentecost Sunday [using Proper 2], Year One). The comments are repeated again here:

The woman bent over made herself intentionally or not, less conspicuous. Being bent over is way we sometimes cope with our bad feelings about ourselves. She hoped she could go through life, both unseeing, and unseen. Linda was a girl who lived on my street when I was young. Ironically, her bent over body made her more not less conspicuous. Our woman bent over was compelled to look forever at her feet, certainly not the most attractive part of herself and occasionally at other people's feet. Linda was so focused on her own self-defined ugliness, she hardly ever looked at anyone else to really see them.

Another thing that tends to make our spirits bend over is carrying loads too heavy for us without asking for help. In Guatemala City I saw a Maya woman picking up her little store of snacks for sale at the end of the day, her already tiny body made shorter, and shoulders rounded by years of carrying a burden with no help. How many of us are spiritually burdened because we persist in not asking for help.

Jesus addresses the woman by the honorable name daughter of Abraham; he honors someone most people would prefer not to look at. She is honored by the name of her great ancestor; the quibblers of the law get no such honor. Part of lifting this woman from her bent over state is recognizing who she is, a daughter of Abraham, not a walking disease. Fortunately the bent over woman in Luke was able to see where healing was to come from with her spiritual eyes, and was present to worship God when Jesus saw her. (From Dr. Barbara Worden’s sermon)

This narrative of Jesus healing a crippled woman is found only in Luke, though certain details resemble other healing stories, for example, the immediacy of the healing itself (Lk. 13:13; cf. Mt. 12:13; Mk. 3:5; Lk. 6:10), and criticism for healing on the Sabbath (Lk. 13:14; cf. Mt. 12:10; Mk. 3:2; Lk. 6:7). When criticized for healing here, Jesus replies, “You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger, and lead it away to give it water?” (v. 15). G. W. H. Lampe understands Jesus to be calling here for “Israel's repentance in face of the crisis of the Kingdom” which “will be shown chiefly in respect of the treatment of those in bondage and the outcasts” (Peake's Commentary on the Bible, 1962, reprinted 1972, sec. 729g, p. 835 on Lk. 13:10-17). He notes that the woman “is bound (cf. 12: ‘freed’; 15: ‘untie’; 16: ‘bound', ‘loosed'), and the implication of 16 is that a daughter of Abraham is being treated as an outcast (cf. 19:9)” (on v. 16). In a paraphrase of Jesus’ words at the tomb of Lazarus (Jn. 11:44, Unbind her and let her go!

As noted above, this is one of several time when Gospel narratives report that Jesus’ healing activity was resisted by Jewish leaders because it occurred on the Sabbath. Another follows in Luke 14:1-6. Here, Marion Lloyd Soards notes that “Jesus relates the physical disorder of the woman to the work of Satan (cf. 11:14)” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., 2001, on Lk. 13:16). Catherine Clark Kroeger calls this episode “a monument to the rights and dignity of women” (The IVP Women’s Bible Commentary, 2002, 577 on Lk. 13:10-17). She adds, “Marginalized women are objects of consistent concern to Jesus. With no request made of him, Jesus undertakes her healing. Its instant effect is contrasted with the long years that she has spent with her affliction. ‘Woman, you are set free from your ailment’.” After further comment, Kroeger adds, “As a liberated member of the covenant community, she may now stand erect and look people in the face. Those who must hide their faces in shame are they who would deny her this right.”

Ronald D. Worden, Ph.D.

rdworden@hgst.edu

deanworden@comcast.net