Nehemiah 3-4 & Luke 6 plus 1 Kings 20--21 & 2 Corinthians 1

Following the people's commitment to rebuilt the walls comes the building itself in Nehemiah 3. The narrative reads as a list of those who did the work, or at least those who financed the work on the wall. A couple of points stand out for our notice.

1. Most of the work takes place on the north wall which was the wall that lead to the main roads leading to Jerusalem. As such, the north wall would take the brunt of any attack. It would seem that a primary goal in rebuilding the wall was to provide for the defense of the city.
2. The work was mostly done by those with residence next to the walls and families were assigned the section of the wall in front of their homes. This was a simple method of assuring the work was done and no one could argue about who was doing what work or which section.

But what to do while the work was taking place? It would seem Judah's neighbors to the north, Samaria, and  to the east, Ammon, were not please with the rebuilding efforts. Whether they wished to see Jerusalem weak and open to raids or perhaps feared a revived Judah is unknown, but it is clear in Nehemiah 4 that they wish to halt or at least show the building process.

Nehemiah must now plan for the defense of the city even as the wall is incomplete. He wisely positions large group of armed men in the gaps to demonstrate strength and can be seen. He also position troops by the builders, who themselves work with a sword nearby, ready to repulse any invasion that might be tempted. Perhaps these actions were enough, for no attacks are mentioned. Perhaps they will come soon?

Luke 6

The questions of the religious leaders continue to confront Jesus, attempting to trip him up. The first is targeted at the followers of Jesus, perhaps the Pharisees were afraid to confront Jesus personally so they go after his followers. Jesus will have none of it and defends his followers by referring to scripture. In so doing Jesus establishes his own authority by referring to scripture but then also points to himself as the Son of Man or the Messiah in his answer.

Again, Jesus now is attacked for his own Sabbath violations, but Jesus takes this opportunity to establish the danger of following rituals as opposed to make moral and ethical decisions based upon the ordinances of God. Whereas the Pharisees have chosen to make all violations equal, Jesus demonstrates that there are moral imperatives that supersede these violations, one size does not fit all. It "work" means giving life or renewing life, then this work is okay on the Sabbath.  

Perhaps these challenges lead Jesus to realize a need to expand the ministry and he calls and appoints the twelve apostles, who are his chosen messengers. They will now assist Jesus in his mission both while Jesus is present and after Jesus is gone. 

In a scene reminiscent of Moses descending from Mt. Sinai to offer the covenant to Israel, Jesus descends from the high place to the plain and offers the Sermon on the Plain, similar to Matthew's Sermon on the Mount. Jesus begins to outline the moral imperatives that he is speaking about and forms the guidelines for how this new community will live together. 

Backlogged Posts:

1 Kings 20 is a rather confusing chapter if for no other reason than it seems that God is actually helping Ahab and instead of Elijah being the prophet two unnamed prophets provide the guidance and condemnation.

It would seem that Aram, modern day Syria, is continuing to harass the northern kingdom of Israel. Ever since the death of David, Aram has provided a constant source of conflict to Israel. The king musters support from 32 other kings, understand this to mean that leaders of 32 cities have come to join the king of Aram, and they come against Samaria, the capital of Israel. 

The king sends messengers seeking the capitulation of the city but the first message evidently was not harsh enough because Ahab is okay with the terms. So the king sends new messengers with terms that Ahab cannot live with. It would seem that the Arameans want to provoke a war and not just have a peaceful surrender. 

The first unnamed prophet appears on the scene and advises Ahab on his strategy, which leads to military victory but not the death of the king of Aram. The Arameans regroup with a plan to attack in the spring in the plains of the region and insult God by claiming that God's authority ends at the mountains. Well, they learn the hard way the error of their theology. God leads an outnumbered Israelite army to victory and the king of Aram comes forward pleading for his life, which Ahab offers to him.

This further infuriates unnamed prophet number two who believes that the king of Aram is part of the ban and must be put to death. Since Ahab fails at this particular situation, judgement is rendered upon him.

Ahab is not a good listener, and is kind of pouty to be honest, if 1 Kings 21 is true. Ahab breaks many commandments, he covets the possession of his neighbor, he fails to keep the law of God which means a person was not supposed to sell their ancestral home and he benefits from the murder of another. Yes, wife Jezebel is part of this but Ahab is the prime problem. 

In coveting Naboth's property, he is already breaking a commandment, not that it seems he is very concerned about them. He then throws a fit and holds his breath til he turns blue, not really but I would not have put it past him. So annoying is he that his wife asks what the problem is which leads Jezebel to take action. In stories like this, we wonder who the real ruler was.

Jezebel then convinces others to bear false witness, anyone recall is lying as one of the commandments? And then Naboth is murdered based upon this false witness. So if you are keeping score, that is three commandments that the crown has broken.

Elijah is sent to pronounce judgement and he does. It seems that Ahab is scared straight, at least for a little while anyway because God relents in God's punishment and now will destroy Ahab's son, not Ahab. How nice.

2 Corinthians 1

 The second letter to the Corinthians is a very difficult text to get a handle on, primarily because we do not truly understand what prompts the letter. Well, we do, but we do not have all the texts and exchanges between Paul and the Corinthians to create a pure picture. Seemingly at the heart of the issue is that following Paul's founding of the community, another group of missionaries who were Jewish-Christians came to Corinth and criticized Paul and began to sow seeds of unrest. It is believed that a total of four letters were sent by Paul and this second letter might be a combination of two of them but at least a third is lost to us. See what I mean? So we make do and do our best.

Paul opens the letter in typical fashion, pointing to himself as the author and mentioning his colleague Timothy, who will be send ahead of Paul to Corinth. We then begin to get a flavor for Paul's mood as he begins to speak of suffering and the comfort he finds in God during his suffering. We do not actually know the nature of this suffering, but we do know that Paul has found get consolation for his suffering in God, for it is God who offers mercy and salvation. This is comfort to the afflicted in knowing that God will provide. This is not a panacea, Paul's suffering is not lifted, but he knows that Jesus suffered like Paul and will lead Paul into a greater place. Even greater, since Jesus suffered, Jesus willingly suffers with Paul so that Paul is not alone or forsaken. This is the consolation that Paul speaks of.

Paul also knows that not just consolation is offered but deliverance. God delivers God's people from suffering, that is the history of God. That is also the reality of God. Our suffering is not in vain, not is it the end, but we will be delivered by God from our suffering. "Deliver us from evil" that is what we pray that is what God does.

It would seem as if some have criticized Paul for not coming back to Corinth and/or changing his plans, to which Paul responds that like God, he has always been for Corinth and will continue to be but he also has a faithfulness to his calling. His actions reflect his faithfulness to God, as well as to Corinth.