Numbers 9 – The second Passover is celebrated and Moses, after consulting with the Lord, decides that uncleanness due to contact with the dead or absence on a journey will not totally prevent celebration of the holiday, but it will need to be celebrated in the second month, fourteenth day—not the first month.

The Israelites have been organized into the various offices, both military and religious that will characterize it during the time in the desert.  We see in…

Amos 2 – Amos continues to “channel” God’s words to the wicked nations of Moab, Judah and Israel.

Judah has “rejected the Law of Yahweh and failed to keep his precepts, because the false gods which their ancestors followed have led them astray” (2:4).

Israel’s crimes are laid out in great detail: they have “sold the virtuous man for silver and the poor man for a pair of sandals” (2:6). They “trample on the heads of ordinary people and push the poor out…

Introduction to the Book of the Prophet Amos: Amos is the oldest of the “minor prophets” included in the Hebrew canon. The “minor prophets” were not necessarily less important than the “major prophets” but the texts were shorter. There were twelve book of “minor prophets” included in the Hebrew canon.

Amos was a shepherd from the town of Tekoa on the western bank of the Jordan in the northern kingdom where the religious center was Bethel. He preached under Jeroboam II…

1 Maccabees 15 –Antiochus VII Sidetes, the younger brother of Demetrius II, sends a letter to Simon, asking for his help in re-establishing Seleucid strength. He promises to continue tax remissions that the Jews have enjoyed and he says he will permit them to mint their own coinage and to forgive all their debt. Some texts open the chapter with a reference to “Antiochus, son of King Demetrius” making it very confusing. They are both children of Demetrius I.

In 138 BC,…

Judith 8 - Judith, model of all things Jewish, is a widow. Her husband, Manasseh died some years ago of sunstroke. She is beautiful, virtuous and quite wealthy. When she hears of what the elders told the people about waiting five days, she calls them in and rebukes them, saying that God cannot be manipulated or coerced in this way. We must trust that God will not desert his nation. We must give thanks to God and allow him to test us as he tested Abraham and all our…

Sirach 30 – On raising children: While the spirit of wanting one’s children to grow up well and not be spoiled or self-centered is here, the advice runs so against the modern sense of what is wise it is remarkable. So while usually I include quotes here that I like, her I am including them just to show how utterly alien they seem.

 “A man who loves his son will beat him frequently so that in after years the son may be his comfort”…

Jeremiah 33 - Jeremiah is still in prison at the Court of the Guard when a second message from God reminds Jeremiah that despite the destruction they will suffer, God also promises restoration: “I am going to fulfill the promise I made to the House of Israel and the House of Judah.”  A virtuous branch will grow for David (33:15). Yahweh would sooner break his covenant with day and night, with nature and its laws as break his covenant with David and the Levitical priests…

Introduction and Context: The next chapters of Jeremiah can be confusing because they make continual references to historical events and people that the earlier chapters seem to ignore. I may have already said something about the historical context, but here it is again:

Josiah, the reformer-king, died on the battlefield of Megiddo in 609, trying to stop the northward march of Pharaoh Neco, who was at that time allied with the Assyrians.  After Josiah’s death, his son…

I had a lot of trouble getting the font even through these postings. Sorry!

Deuteronomy 19 - The land is to be divided into three regions and each region is to have a city of refuge so “that every [non-malicious or accidental] homicide will be able to find a refuge” (19:4). In the event the territory given is expanded, three…