Readings for today: Deuteronomy 23-25, Mark 14:53-72
One of my favorite theologians is a man named John Walton. He teaches at Wheaton College. Specializes in Ancient Near East cultural studies of the Old Testament. One of his most important insights - for me at least - is that while the Bible was written for us, it was not written to us. It was written to a people immersed in their own cultural stream. Written to a people living in a particular time and place with a particular understanding of the universe and all that is in it. Written to a people whose thoughts and ideas were formed by the world around them. A world full of Hittites and Canaanites and Egyptians and Assyrians and Babylonians, each with their own pantheon of gods and goddesses. Each with their own particular worldview. The “cultural stream” of the ancient world flowed through all of these cultures and included currents regarding communal life, divine right of kings, centrality of temples and sacred space, spirits and magic, etc. The Israelites sometimes swam with these currents - to their detriment - and at other times swam against these currents as they pursued a deeper understanding of their God. But at no time were they able to step outside their stream. They always found themselves standing fully within it.
What does all this have to do with today’s reading? Or any of our reading thus far? It’s critical to remember the Bible was written to a people immersed in a cultural stream far different than our own. It’s why so many of their laws seem strange, archaic, even racist like in today’s reading about the eternal exclusion of the Ammonites and Moabites. (Something seemingly contradicted by the Book of Ruth.) There is a progression to God’s revelation. He always speaks to us in and through the culture we inhabit. He comes to us in the cultural stream we find ourselves swimming in. This is why Genesis 1 has so little to do with modern science. It’s written to a people immersed in an ancient near east cosmology. It’s why so many of the laws issued throughout the books of Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy having to do with food, clothing, economics, etc. have so little to do with modern-day capitalism. They are written for a people who lived in a world far removed from our own.
Does this mean the Old Testament is worthless? Does it render God’s Word meaningless? Far from it! It simply makes our work that much harder as we seek to bridge the cultural gap that exists between our world and the “strange new world of the Bible.” (Karl Barth) We have to work hard to learn first what the Bible meant to the people it was primarily written to before we can understand what it might mean for us. This is one of the main principles guiding Biblical interpretation. It’s called “authorial intent” and it is critical if we are to rightly understand what God is saying.
Let me use some examples from our readings today…
“You shall not give up to his master a slave who has escaped from his master to you.”
"You shall not charge interest on loans to your brother, interest on money, interest on food, interest on anything that is lent for interest.”
"If you go into your neighbor's vineyard, you may eat your fill of grapes, as many as you wish, but you shall not put any in your bag. If you go into your neighbor's standing grain, you may pluck the ears with your hand, but you shall not put a sickle to your neighbor's standing grain.”
“And if he is a poor man, you shall not sleep in his pledge. You shall restore to him the pledge as the sun sets, that he may sleep in his cloak and bless you. And it shall be righteousness for you before the Lord your God.”
"You shall not oppress a hired worker who is poor and needy, whether he is one of your brothers or one of the sojourners who are in your land within your towns.”
"You shall not pervert the justice due to the sojourner or to the fatherless, or take a widow's garment in pledge...”
"When you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. When you beat your olive trees, you shall not go over them again. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow. When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not strip it afterward. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow.”
Yes, each of these passages relate to a specific set of economic practices within ancient Israel. They were designed for a world where slavery was a given, women were property, and the poor held no social standing. They challenged Israel to “swim upstream” from the pagan cultures around them. They set Israel apart. Made her different. Marked her as God’s chosen people. But how do they apply to our world today? Well, imagine a society where people truly cared for the poor? Imagine a society where women and children and the most vulnerable were protected rather than exploited? Imagine a society where profit was not the goal but love for our neighbor? Imagine a society where justice was defined by how we treated the immigrant, refugee, orphan or widow? This was God’s design for Israel and it is God’s design for His church today. This is the heart of the law, friends. Through His people, God wants to give the earth a foretaste of heaven. He makes us a light to the nations. An example for all humanity to follow.
Any people or nation or church seeking the blessing of God must do things His way. Follow His commands. Push beyond our fear and place our faith in God’s provision and protection. Anyone who claims to serve God must do all they can to protect life from the womb to the tomb. The protection of life must form the foundation of our entire legal and social system. The welfare of all people must be our aim and passion. Anyone who prays for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven must stand ready to actually live according to the heavenly code. We must exchange earthly expediency for heavenly authority. We must be willing to swim upstream against our own cultural currents if we are to remain faithful to God.
Readings for tomorrow: Deuteronomy 26-27, Mark 15:1-20