Isaiah 7:1-9

Isaiah Reassures King Ahaz (2 Kings 16.5; 2 Chr 28.5-15)

7:1 In the days of Ahaz son of Jotham son of Uzziah, king of Judah, King Rezin of Aram and King Pekah son of Remaliah of Israel went up to attack Jerusalem, but could not mount an attack against it. 2 When the house of David heard that Aram had allied itself with Ephraim, the heart of Ahaz and the heart of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind.

3 Then the LORD said to Isaiah, Go out to meet Ahaz, you and your son Shear-jashub, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Fuller’s Field, 4 and say to him, Take heed, be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint because of these two smoldering stumps of firebrands, because of the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and the son of Remaliah. 5 Because Aram-with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah-has plotted evil against you, saying, 6 Let us go up against Judah and cut off Jerusalem and conquer it for ourselves and make the son of Tabeel king in it; 7 therefore thus says the Lord GOD:

It shall not stand,

and it shall not come to pass.

8 For the head of Aram is Damascus,

and the head of Damascus is Rezin.

(Within sixty-five years Ephraim will be shattered, no longer a people.)

9 The head of Ephraim is Samaria,

and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah.

If you do not stand firm in faith,

you shall not stand at all. (Isaiah 7:1-9, NRSV)

On December 14, 2006 (Thursday in the week of the Second Sunday of Advent, Year One), comments were repeated with revision and supplement here from December 9, 2004, (Thursday in the week of the Second Sunday of Advent, Year One), when there was repetition from an email message of December 12, 2002. The revised comments are repeated again here:

Today’s reading begins by reference to the attempted attack of Syria and Ephraim upon Jerusalem, when “King Rezin of Aram and King Pekah son of Remaliah of Israel went up to attack Jerusalem, but could not mount an attack against it” (Isa. 7:1). When King Ahaz, first called “the house of David,” heard of this alliance, “the heart of Ahaz and the heart of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind” (v. 2). Although in the long run his advice was not heeded (v. 12, in tomorrow’s reading), Isaiah tells Ahaz that this threat is not the real threat. The real threat is the larger nation to the east, Assyria (v. 17). But for the immediate threat, the LORD sends Isaiah “out to meet Ahaz” with his son “Shear-jashub,” a name intended to encourage Ahaz that means “a remnant shall return” (Isa. 7:3, NRSV text note b). They are to meet “at the end of the conduit of the upper pool in the highway to the Fuller’s Field” (Isa. 7:3). Joseph Blenkinsopp identifies the “upper pool” as a “reservoir south of the Gihon Spring (36:2)” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., 2001, on Isa. 7:3).

Isaiah’s word from the Lord for Ahaz is “Take heed, be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint because of these two smoldering stumps of firebrands,” that is, “because of the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and the son of Remaliah” (v. 4). Isaiah explains the threat further: “Because Aram [Syria]–with Ephraim [North Israel] and the son of Remaliah [i.e. Pekah]–has plotted evil against you, saying, “let us go up against Judah and cut off Jerusalem and conquer it for ourselves and make the son of Tabeel king in it [in place of Ahaz]“ (vv. 5-6).

Benjamin D. Sommer describes the situation for “Prophecies delivered during the Syro-Ephramite crisis” (Isa. 7:1-8:23):

These passages, and perhaps some of the passages following them, deal with a series of events known from both biblical texts (2 Kgs. ch. 16; 2 Chron. ch. 28) and ancient Assyrian records. In 735 BCE the leaders of the kingdom of Damascus in Syria (or Aram) and of the northern Israelite kingdom (also known as Ephraim) attempted to create a coalition of small states to oppose the Assyrian empire. King Ahaz of Judah did not join their conspiracy, and the Arameans (Syrians) and Israelites (Ephraimites) marched against Judah, intending to depose Ahaz and replace him with an ally of their own, the son of Tabeel (his first name is not given, probably to slight him). Ahaz appealed to the Assyrian king, Tiglath-Pileser for help. The Arameans and Ephraimites did not succeed in their efforts; Damascus was conquered entirely in 732, while Israel lost considerable territory to Assyria. Judah was saved, but it became dependent on Assyria. (The Jewish Study Bible, 2004, pp. 797-798, on Isa. 7:1-8:23)

Isaiah’s word from the LORD for Ahaz is presented in poetic lines, interrupted by a parenthetical historical note: “It shall not stand, / and it shall not come to pass. / For the head of Aram is Damascus, / and the head of Damascus is Rezin. (Within sixty-five years Ephraim will be shattered, no longer a people.) The head of Ephraim is Samaria, / and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. / If you do not stand firm in faith, / you shall not stand at all” (vv. 7-9). Ephraim cannot be much of a threat if they are to go out of existence “within sixty-five years” (v. 8). As Isaiah sees it, Syria and Ephraim are not the real threat to Ahaz and Judah; rather the Assyrians pose the larger problem. Isaiah favors avoiding an alliance with Assyria, which can come to no good. Ahaz should “stand firm in faith” if he hopes to “stand at all” (v. 9).

This word of the Lord from Isaiah for Ahaz can be a word of the Lord for us. We may hear and heed it even though Ahaz did not. Are we threatened by smoldering stumps or firebrands? It may be time to call the fire department to put out some fires: a mountain of chores? financial shortages? worries? Name your own smoldering stumps. But take Isaiah's promise to heart: “Take heed, be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint” (v. 4).

2 Thessalonians 2:1-12

The Man of Lawlessness

2:1 As to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we beg you, brothers and sisters, 2 not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as though from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord is already here. 3 Let no one deceive you in any way; for that day will not come unless the rebellion comes first and the lawless one is revealed, the one destined for destruction. 4 He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, declaring himself to be God. 5 Do you not remember that I told you these things when I was still with you? 6 And you know what is now restraining him, so that he may be revealed when his time comes. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work, but only until the one who now restrains it is removed. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will destroy with the breath of his mouth, annihilating him by the manifestation of his coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one is apparent in the working of Satan, who uses all power, signs, lying wonders, 10 and every kind of wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11 For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion, leading them to believe what is false, 12 so that all who have not believed the truth but took pleasure in unrighteousness will be condemned. (2 Thessalonians 2:1-12, NRSV)

On April 25, 2008 (Friday in the week of the Fifth Sunday of Easter, Year Two), when the reading was 2 Thessalonians 2:1-17, comments were repeated from December 14, 2006 (Thursday in the week of the Second Sunday of Advent, Year One), when comments on 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 were combined with some revision and supplement from December 9, 2004, (Thursday of the week of the Second Sunday of Advent, Year One), from comments on 2 Thessalonians 2:1-3 selected and repeated from comments on 2 Thessalonians 2:1-3, 13-17 on December 11, 2005 (the Third Sunday of Advent, Year Two), and from comments on 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 selected and repeated from comments on verses 1-17, May 19, 2006 (Friday of the week of the Fifth Sunday of Easter, Year Two). Relevant comments for today’s reading are repeated here:

Paul promised in his first letter to the Thessalonians that “the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call and with the sound of God’s trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord forever” (1 Thess. 4:16-17). In the first letter, he added an implicit warning to be ready, “For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night” (1 Thess. 5:2). This promise apparently left some with an intense focus on an immediate Second Coming. In his Second Letter, Paul reassures them: “As to the coming (parousiva, parousia) of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we beg you, brothers and sisters, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as though from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord is already here” (2 Thess. 2:2). “Let no one deceive you in any way,” says Paul; for that day will not come unless the rebellion (ajpostasiva, apostasia) comes first and the lawless one (oJ a[nqrwpoV th:V ajnomivaV, ho anthrōpos tēs anomias) is revealed, the one destined for destruction (oJ uiJo;V th:V ajpwleivaV, ho huios tēs apōleias)” (v. 3). According to Abraham Smith, “though the identity of the lawless one is unknown, some identify him as a false prophet or an emperor” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., 2001, on 2 Thess. 2:3). In other words, says Paul, the parousia hasn’t happened yet, and will not happen before certain events, the “rebellion” and the revealing of the “lawless one.” This “lawless one” is described further. “He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, declaring himself to be God” (v. 4; Smith compares “Isa. 14:13; Ezek. 28:2; Dan. 11:36,” ibid., on v. 4). With a rhetorical question that expects an affirmative answer–introduced by the negative particle ouj (ou)–Paul reminds the Thessalonians that he has told them about these things. “Do you not (ouj, ou) remember that I told you these things when I was still with you? (v. 5). Paul continues to refresh their memory. “And you know,” he says, “what is now restraining him (to; katevcon, to katechon, ‘the thing [neuter] restraining [him]’), so that he (aujtovn, auton, masculine pronoun) may be revealed when his time comes” (v. 6). This thing that restrains seems to be a person or personality, referred to as first neuter gender, then masculine, as is made explicit in Paul’s continuation. “For the mystery of lawlessness (musthvrion . . . th:V ajnomivaV, mystērion . . . tēs anomias) is already at work, but only until the one who now restrains it (oJ katevcwn a[rti, ho katechōn arti, ‘the person [masculine] now restraining [it]’) is removed” (v. 7). According to Jouette M. Bassler, “the author does not say what (and who; see v. 7) is now restraining him. Suggestions include the Roman Empire and emperor, God and a divine decree, and Paul and his preaching; but the ambiguity may be intentional. The restraining force emphasizes the necessary delay of the day of the Lord” (HarperCollins Study Bible, rev. ed., 2006, on 2 Thess. 2:6; cf. W. Neil, Peake’s Commentary on the Bible, 1962, reprint 1972, sec. 873 d, p. 1000, on 2 Thess. 2:1-12).

As for the “lawless one” himself (v. 3), when the time comes “then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will destroy with the breath of his mouth, annihilating him by the manifestation of his coming (parousiva, parousia)” (v. 8). As to the identity of the “lawless one,” according to Warren A. Quanbeck and William A. Beardslee, “There are three main conjectures, none of which is entirely satisfactory: (a) The Roman Empire and emperor; (b) A supernatural power; ( c) Satan himself” (NOAB, 2^nd ed., 1994, on 2 Thess. 2:1-12). However, we are warned about what his coming will bring. “The coming of the lawless one is apparent in the working of Satan, who uses all power, signs, lying wonders, and every kind of wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved” (vv. 9-10). Those so deceived by these works of Satan will come under God’s judgment. “For this reason,” says Paul [‘because they refused to love the truth and so be saved,’ v. 10], “God sends them a powerful delusion, leading them to believe what is false, so that all who have not believed the truth but took pleasure in unrighteousness will be condemned” (vv. 11-12).

Whatever this evil power is, we should be grateful for “what is now restraining him” (v. 6), and that “the Lord Jesus will destroy [the lawless one]” (v. 8). While some believe they see contradictory “eschatological timetables” implied for these two passages, it is likely that Second Epistle offers a clarification of the First. Paul had to leave Thessalonica early, ahead of persecution (Acts 17:10-15). First Thessalonians was written soon after, very likely within weeks of his departure. So, in a sense, both Epistles may be seen as clarification of misunderstandings at Thessalonica.

After a brief comparison of 1 Thessalonians and 2 Thessalonians, Beverly Roberts Gaventa asks a question: “How do we account for this curious combination of similarities in the structure and language of these letters, on the one hand, and the differences in content and tone, on the other?” (First and Second Thessalonians, Interpretation, 1998, p. 93 in the Introduction to 2 Thess.) As noted above, some of these issues can be resolved by Paul’s hasty departure, and the need to explain misunderstandings. But one of these issues, what some see as significant differences related to Paul’s teaching about the Second Coming of Christ, that is, about eschatology, comes to the fore in chapter 2. Gaventa admits that she belongs to “an increasing number of scholars, myself included [she says, who] find themselves unable to reconcile 2 Thessalonians with 1 Thessalonians and, indeed, with the remainder of the Pauline letter corpus” (ibid.).

Paul J. Achtemeier, Joel B. Green and Marianne Meye Thompson respond to those who find the teaching about the second coming of Christ in Second Thessalonians so different from that of First Thessalonians that they must be from different authors by admitting that “The signs that will precede Christ’s second coming named in 2 Thess. 2:1-12 are nowhere else mentioned by Paul, and the fact that such observable events seem to contradict Paul’s claim in the first letter that there would be no such signs (1 Thess. 5:2) may point to someone other than Paul as author” (Introducing the New Testament, 2001, p. 443). But they add:

Yet both ideas–observable events preceding the coming of the Messiah and the suddenness of the events–are held in apocalyptic Judaism, which influenced Paul and other early Christians in these matters. Paul is apparently reminding his readers of what he told them when he was with them (2:5). Also to be noted are the different situations addressed. In the first letter the problem is potential despair over the long delay in Christ’s return; in the second letter the problem is anxiety about the fact that Christ may already have returned. The two problems require different solutions. (pp. 443-444).

The “anxiety about the fact that Christ may already have returned” is indicated in Paul’s instruction “not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as though from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord is already here” (2 Thess. 2:2, cited above). It seems that someone else has written a letter pretending to be from Paul but misrepresenting his teaching, which leads him to authenticate this letter (2 Thess. 3:17): “I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. This is the mark in every letter of mine; it is the way I write.”

Luke 22:1-13

This reading from Luke is found in the right-hand column of the following table, excluding the passage from Luke 7 which is similar to the Anointing at Bethany reported by Matthew (26:6-13) and Mark (14:3-9).

On December 14, 2006 (Thursday in the week of the Second Sunday of Advent, Year One), comments were repeated with revision and supplement from December 9, 2004, two years ago (Thursday in the week of the Second Sunday of Advent, Year One); the revised comments are repeated again here:

The reading from Luke begins with reference to the Passover (Lk. 22:1; cf. Mk. 14:1; Mt. 26:2) and plans of the chief priests and scribes “to put Jesus to death” (Lk. 22:2; Mk. 14:1; cf. Mt. 26:3-4, which names Caiaphas). We note that in John’s Gospel, this decision comes in response to Jesus’ raising of Lazarus from the dead and the response of many Jews who “believed in him [Jesus]” (Jn. 11:45). Luke continues immediately with Judas’ bargain with the chief priests and officers of the temple (Lk. 22:3-6; cf. Mk 14:10-11; Mt. 26:14-16), which follows the Anointing at Bethany in Mark (Mk. 14:5-9) and Matthew (Mt. 26:6-13). Perhaps Judas’ view of the poured out expensive ointment as “waste” (Mt. 26:8; Mk. 14:4) motivated his betrayal; Luke says that “Satan entered into Judas” (Lk. 22:3). Marion Lloyd Soards says that “the entry of Satan into Judas . . . reintroduces the theme from 4:13” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., 2001, on Lk. 22:3). Other details, for example, Judas’s initiative, the offer of money by “the chief priests [and officers of the temple, Lk],” and Judas’s looking “for an opportunity to betray him” are common to the three accounts (Mt. 26:14-16; Mk. 14:10-11; Lk. 22:33-6).

The reading continues with preparations for the Passover meal (Seder) by Jesus, Peter and John. According to Matthew (26:17) and Mark (14:12), the disciples appear to take the initiative in planning for the Passover with their question, “Where do you want us to make the preparations for you to eat the Passover?” But in Luke, the question, “Where do you want us to make preparations for it?” (Lk. 22:9), comes in response to Jesus instruction, “Go and prepare the Passover meal for us that we may eat it” (v. 8). But the detailed instructions about the sign of “the man carrying a jar of water” (Mk. 14:13) and the conversation with the owner of the house about the guest room (vv. 14-15) indicate that Jesus in fact took the initiative in planning according to Mark’s version, as well. Luke includes thes details as well (Lk. 22:10-12), but Matthew passes over most of these details–no pun intended–having Jesus say only, "Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, 'The Teacher says, My time is near; I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples’” (Mt. 26:18). When the disciples went and did as instructed, they “found everything as he had told them; and they prepared the Passover meal” (Lk. 22:13; cf. Mk. 14:16; Mt. 26:19).

With a little imagination, we might see this as appropriate for Advent, as preparation for the presence/coming (parousia) of the Lord. Later, different Christian traditions would debate the manner of the Lord’s presence in the Eucharist, but a common assumption of the fact of his presence underlay these debates. Even the Quakers have emphasized “The Presence in the Midst,” the title of a picture of Quaker worship which can be found at this web site: http://www.quakerinfo.com/quak_wor.shtml (accessed again December 10, 2008).

Ronald D. Worden, Ph.D.

rdworden@hgst.edu

deanworden@comcast.net