Judgment on nations by Amos

I am torn between studying the epistles of St. Paul and the daily readings. The Year of St. Paul has officially begun. We are supposed to spend time learning more about the messages of St. Paul. On the other hand, I have started my journey to reflect and draw inspirations from the daily readings. I don't think I will be able to do both at the same time. Therefore, I will continue my journey and when occasion arises, I will touch on the writings of St. Paul. I do have a plan to read St. Paul. I will begin with the letters to individuals before I touch on those to churches. May God guide me.
This week, I will read the book of Amos. Scholars have agreed that Amos was the first prophet whose sayings have been collected into one opus. It is a book of judgments and the first two chapters contain judgments on 8 nations: Damascus (1:3-5), Gaza (1:6-8), Tyre (1:9-10), Edom (1:11-12), Ammon (1:13-15), Moab (2:1-3), Judah (2:4-5) and Israel (2:6-16). In all these judgment oracles, God was a terrible destroyer and Israel, the chosen people of God, naturally the greatest attention.
The words of Amos, who was among the shepherds of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.
And he said: "The LORD roars from Zion, and utters his voice from Jerusalem;
the pastures of the shepherds mourn, and the top of Carmel withers." (Amos 1:1-2)
Thus Amos 1:1 gives us the setting of the activities of Amos but we are not able to reconstruct much about Amos, the man. Tekoa was south of Bethelem and Jerusalem. So, Amos was a prophet from Judah but his mission was for Israel before Assyria conquered her. We should not be surprised to read "The words of Amos, ..., which he saw ...". "Seeing words" suggests that Amos and many other prophets, such as Isaiah, had visions of God.
Now, God pronounced judgments from Jerusalem. These judgment oracles follow a certain pattern. Take the example of Damascus.
Thus says the LORD:
"For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment;
because they have threshed Gilead with threshing sledges of iron.
So I will send a fire upon the house of Hazael, and it shall devour the strongholds of Ben-hadad.
I will break the bar of Damascus, and cut off the inhabitants from the Valley of Aven,
and him that holds the scepter from Beth-eden;
and the people of Syria shall go into exile to Kir," says the LORD (Amos 1:3-5).
Each judgment begins with a formula:
Thus says the LORD: "For three transgressions of (country name), and for four, I will not revoke the punishment;
Then an accusation of their sins and the punishment to be meted out. Judgments on all seven nations follow this pattern. The last one on Israel is more elaborated. The punishment on Judah was interesting because God would be burning His own dwelling place!
Thus says the LORD:
"For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment;
because they have rejected the law of the LORD, and have not kept his statutes,
but their lies have led them astray, after which their fathers walked.
So I will send a fire upon Judah, and it shall devour the strongholds of Jerusalem." (Amos 2:4-5)

Whatever God's logic, it is time to turn to Israel. She drew 11 verses of judgment from God, instead of just two to three, like the 7 other nations. The accusations against Israel were many: the rich exploited the poor (2:6b-7a), fornication (2:7b), oppressed the poor in front of God (2:8a) and defiled the Temple (2:8b). Then, Amos lists a series of good things God had done for them in their history (2:9-11). He then switched back to yet more sins of Israel against Nazarites and prophets (2:12). As for the punishments, while the first 7 nations were purged with fire, Israel would not be. God simply pressed her to the ground (2:13). At last, Amos warned that the swift, the strong and mighty (2:14), the warriors (2:15) and the stout of hearts would not escape the punishments (2:16). We cannot rely on ourselves, our strength to gain salvation.

My Advocate, how often we abuse our authority and strength! Indeed, we are putting fire on our own heads. Amos' message is clear. Let us not depart from Your statutes. If we do, let us see clearly our sins and repent and turn back to You once more. Have mercy on us and let us live to praise You. Amen.

Feast of Ss. Peter & Paul

The Yuen Long parish is both aged and young. Last evening, they celebrated the Feast of Ss. Peter & Paul, their patron saints. The Mass was conducted in a bilingual manner because there is a huge community of domestic helpers and Yuen Long parish is one of the only two parishes in the north west New Territories that offer Mass in English. The Dean of New Territories (North-West) Deanery, Fr. Ferdinand, the Supervisor of Shung Tak, was the chief celebrant. He was accompanied by Deacon Paul Tam of Jerome Church and Perpetual Deacon Carl Tsang of our parish; and of course, together with the parish priests in Yuen Long. Fourteen youngsters were confirmed in the Mass and afterwards, there was a buffet dinner. Brenda booked a table to treat her colleagues in Shung Tak.
I said the parish is both aged and young. This is what you see in the parish. Among the aged, I found Ms. Pang, the sister of the late Brother Henry Pang, ex-principal of La Salle Primary. There was also the retired nun, Sr. Leung who succeeded Ms. Pauline Cheng to head the Diocesan Catechetical Commission. Now, she conducts instruction classes in Yuen Long. The young are vibrant. I see many students and ex-students of Shung Tak working for the parish. There is also the young nun Cecilia, also an ex-student of Shung Tak. She led the young in a joyous Mexican folk dance around the buffet dinner tables. Last night, I also met an ex-Legionary from La Salle. He moves to Yuen Long and serves there. It was a wonderful and memorable evening.
This morning, Fr. Martin Ip celebrated the Sunday Mass for Ss. Peter & Paul. In the Mass, there was a ceremony of commission of young people to take part in the upcoming World Youth Day in Sydney this July. The first reading was taken from Acts 12:1-11, the story of the miraculous release of Peter awaiting execution. The gospel was taken from Matthew 16:13-19, Peter's Confession of the Messiahship of Jesus. Here we find the famous verses of Jesus' renaming Simon into Peter.
And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it.
I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven (Matthew 16:18-19).
Fr. Martin found it paradoxical that Jesus promised Peter that whatever he binds on earth shall be bound in heaven. Yet, he himself was bound in prison awaiting execution! Of course, divine intervention assured his safety and freedom.
Fr. Martin shared with us that evangelical missions would not be a bed of roses. There would also be rejections and even persecutions. Since the Jews rejected the preaching of the apostles, they had no choice but to turn to Gentiles. In rejecting the gospels, the Jews had given us the chance of hearing the good news. Salvation had the opportunity to become catholic.
Fr. Martin also shared with us the story of a lay lady missionary from the Mother of Good Counsel parish in Cambodia. She did very insignificant menial work among the ghetto, taking care of children. She seemed to have sacrificed a lot of comfortable and convenient life in Hong Kong. Yet, God rewarded her with a faithful husband. They plant their roots in Cambodia, bearing witness to the kindness of God happily there. God works in mysterious ways to help us weather through hardship and troubles. In (not quite) the end, God generously rewards us with spiritual as well as material blessings.

My Advocate, may Your Holy Name be praised from coast to coast, from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth. We thank the great apostles for laying down the foundation of the Catholic Church. May we build upon this solid bedrock a magnificent Church to bear witness to Your kindness to mankind and praise, in one filial and fraternal voice, Your loving mercy. Amen.

Feast of St. Irenaeus

Today, the Catholic church celebrates the Feast of St. Irenaeus. He was a bishop of Lyon in the second century. St. Irenaeus lived in a period of relatively peaceful time between massive persecutions from the Roman Empire. Therefore, he was able to devote his time in refuting the heresy of the day: Gnosticism.
The reading today is chapter 2 of Lamentations which consists only of 5 poems. The first four poems are acrostic. That is they are made up of multiples of 22 verses, each beginning with the 22 Hebrew alphabets in sequence! Lamentations is one of the 5 Megillot, liturgical scrolls to be read in special days in Judaism. It is read for communal mourning. Nowadays when individualism is prevalent, it is not easy to appreciate the emotions of sufferings in a community. We can only experience such emotions in times of great disasters like the recent Sichuan earthquake. But even for us in Hong Kong, it is difficult to share the emotions unless we happen to be touring in Sichuan. We can only see them in TV footages.
Lamentations is not about natural disasters. Rather, it is about war atrocities. The Jews saw Yahweh turn against them and butcher them without mercy! Of course, they saw this as a punishment for their rebellion against Yahweh. Yet, when their very Saviour turned against them in blind rage, it was really too much to bear.
The Lord has destroyed without mercy all the habitations of Jacob;
in his wrath he has broken down the strongholds of the daughter of Judah;
he has brought down to the ground in dishonor the kingdom and its rulers (Lamentations 2:2).
In our time of economic prosperity, it is heart-renting to read of the plights of famine, of young children starving to death on the bosom of their mothers. In time of hardship, the poor and the weak, without any security cushion, are the first to bear the brunt, the hardest hit.
My eyes are spent with weeping; my soul is in tumult;
my heart is poured out in grief because of the destruction of the daughter of my people,
because infants and babes faint in the streets of the city
They cry to their mothers, "Where is bread and wine?"
as they faint like wounded men in the streets of the city,
as their life is poured out on their mothers' bosom. (Lamentations 2:11-12).

My Advocate, like a summer gnat, it is unconvincing for me to talk about the chill of winter. You are the Spirit of Love. Awake in us the awarenss that we are one with each other on this planet. Grant us empathy so that we may be able to share genuinely the sufferings of our neighbours. Extinguish the selfishness in our hearts so that we will be able to contribute generously to relieve the sufferings of our brothers. Amen.

The downfall of Judah

Today, we finish the history of Judah. I will summarize her history from the death of Queen Athaliah, daughter of Ahab who reigned for 7 years in Judah.
Jehoash was 7 years old when he began to reign. He reigned for 40 years and he was a good king in the eyes of Deuteronomist historians, but the high places for idol worship were not removed. People continue to sacrifice there (2 Kings 11:21-12:3).
Amaziah was 25 years old when he began to reign. He reigned for 29 years and he was also a good king for like Jehoash, he did not remove the high places (2 Kings 14:2-3).
Azariah (Uzziah) was 16 years old when he began to reign. He reigned for 52 years and he was not totally good like his father Amaziah (2 Kings 15:2-4).
Jotham was 25 years old when he began to reign. He reigned for 16 years and he was not totally good (2 Kings 15:34-35).
Ahaz came next. He began to reign at the age of 20 and he reigned for 16 years. He followed the idolatry of the kings of Israel (2 Kings 16:2-3).
Hezekiah began to reign at the age of 25. He reigned for 29 years. He was considered good because he removed the high places (2 Kings 18:2-4).
Manasseh was 12 when he began to reign. He reigned for 55 years and he was very bad. He worshipped idols and even burned his son as sacrifice (2 Kings 21:1-6).
Amon was 22 when he began to reign but he reigned for 2 years only. He was bad (2 Kings 21:19-20).
Josiah was 8 when he began to reign and he reigned for 31 years. He was good and began religious reforms in Judah (2 Kings 22:1-28).
No king after Josiah was considered good in the eyes of the Deuteronomists.
Jehoahaz was 23 when he began to reign but he was bad. He was able to reign for only 3 months and Pharaoh Neco captured him and carried him to Egypt to demand a ransom from Judah. Jehoahaz died in Egypt (2 Kings 23:31-34).
Jehoiakim, the brother of Jehoahaz was 25 when he began to reign and he reigned for 11 years. He was bad (2 Kings 23:36-37).
Jehoiachin, the son of Jehoiakim, was 18 when he began to reign. The second book of Chronicles had him 8 instead of 18 (2 Chronicles 36:9). He was bad and reigned for only 3 months when Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, conquered Judah and carried him and the elites of the land to Babylon (2 Kings 24:8-16). This was the first Babylonian Exile.
Zedekiah, the last king of Judah was the uncle of Jehoiachin. He was 21 when Nebuchadnezzar made him a puppet king in Judah. He was as bad as Jehoiahim and was able to reign for 11 years (2 Kings 24:18-19).
When he rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar, it brought the final destruction of Judah. He was captured. His sons were killed before his eyes. Then the Babylonians put out his eyes, bound him in fetters and carried him away to Babylon (2 Kings 24:20-25:7). The Babylonians burned down the Temple and carried away all the bronze and vessels to Babylon (2 Kings 25:9-17).
And in the 37^th year of the first exile, Evil-merodach, king of Babylon, freed Jehoiachin from prison. From that day on, Jehoiachin was able to dine at the king's table everyday as long as he lived (2 Kings 25:27-30).
From the king list above, we see that bad kings can reign both long (Manasseh 55 years) and short (Jehoiachin 3 months). There is no causal relation between longevity and virtues. The Bible does not say how old Jehoiachin was when he died but he must have been over 55. Therefore, we should not entertain the mentality of Pharisees to see evil people perish. Didn't Jesus drink and dine with sinners? Be good and try our best to do God's will. Suffer patiently until God vindicates you.

My Advocate, my heart is too narrow. I really desire to see Your justice done. But You are always so patient and merciful. Allow us to live in Your mercy all the days of our life. Amen.

Asking a sign from God

God is invisible. But times and again, He gives us signs to show His approval. For example, God puts the rainbow in cloud as a sign of covenant between Him and the earth that He would not destroy the earth again with flood (Genesis 9:13). Circumcision becomes a sign in flesh that Israelites are the Chosen People of God (Genesis 17:11). The blood of Paschal Lamb was a sign to spare the Israelites in Egypt of the plague to wipe out the first-born (Exodus 12:13). The tearing down of the altar at Bethel, where Jeroboam was burning incense, was a sign for the religious reform of Josiah in the future (1 Kings 13:2-3). Hezekiah was a sign given to Ahaz that the Syrian-Israel alliance posed no threat to Judah (Isaiah 7:14). These and others were signs God gave voluntarily.
But there were people in the Old Testament who took the initiative to demand signs from God for assurance. Gideon, the Judge whom God chose to deliver Israelites from Midianites, demanded a sign to confirm that God had really chosen him.
And he said to him, "If now I have found favor with thee, then show me a sign that it is thou who speakest with me (Judges 6:17).
In fact, after the first sign, Gideon demanded an opposite sign to confirm (Judges 6:36-40)!
Jonathan also demanded a sign when he and his armour-bearer attempted to attack a garrison of Philistines.
Then said Jonathan, "Behold, we will cross over to the men, and we will show ourselves to them.
If they say to us, 'Wait until we come to you,' then we will stand still in our place, and we will not go up to them.
But if they say, 'Come up to us,' then we will go up; for the LORD has given them into our hand. And this shall be the sign to us." (1 Samuel 14:8-10)
These Israelites were really something. They put the Lord to the test according to their design! But this is not the end of the story. Hezekiah asked a sign from God to assure him that he would recover from his illness (2 Kings 20:8). Even David, the Psalter, demanded a sign in time of distress.
Show me a sign of thy favor, that those who hate me may see and be put to shame
because thou, LORD, hast helped me and comforted me (Psalm 86:17).
So, it seems totally legitimate for the Pharisees to demand from Jesus a sign from heaven to show God's approval of his work (Mark 8:11). God had already done this many times before in the Old Testament. Moreover, there was a long line of respectable people making similar demands from God. Therefore, Jesus did not disappoint them and promised to give them the sign of Jonah, that is, his resurrection (Matthew 16:1-4).
But what about the sign Satan demanded in Jesus' temptation? He asked Jesus to jump down from the top of the Temple to show that he is the Son of God. Jesus refused, quoting Deuteronomy 6:16 that we should not tempt the Lord our God (Luke 4:9-12). Jesus satisfied the demands from the Pharisees but dismissed Satan's outright. Is it because Satan is God's enemy so much so that his demand should be refused? On the surface, it seems correct. Satan wanted the human Jesus not to die to save the world; not to defeat him with resurrection. Without death, there will not be resurrection. Satan's demand was very subtle indeed. Since it goes against God's plan, Satan's request was denied. So, next time when we want a sign from God, make sure that the sign falls within God's plan, that it is not a temptation of God. We should not put Him in a test-tube. God freely gives us signs. Without freedom, no sign or love is genuine.

My Advocate, who am I to ask a sign from God? I am just a negligible creature of God. May Your will be done, not mine. I see injustice done. I see a man holding grudges against his subordinate and persecuting her doggedly in a paranoid manner. How much I desire a sign from You but I resist. I pray that truth and justice prevail. Amen.

Like father like son?

Today, we read of the religious reform by Josiah in Judah (2 Kings 23:1-28). We have briefly gone through a king list of Israel. It is high time we took a look at the kings of Judah.

Last time, we finished at Joash, king of Judah. After him, Judah had Amaziah, Azariah (Uzziah), Jotham, Ahaz before Hezekiah in whose reign, Israel was conquered by the Assyrians. Before the conquer, Israel formed an alliance with Syria to ward off the invasion of Assyria. They wanted Judah to join as well. Ahaz refused and the Syro-Ephraimitic war was fought. It was at this time that Isaiah made the famous Immanuel oracle (Isaiah 7:14). Notice that Ahaz refused to demand a sign from God for an assurance.
Again the LORD spoke to Ahaz,
"Ask a sign of the LORD your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven."
But Ahaz said, "I will not ask, and I will not put the LORD to the test." (Isaiah 7:10-12)
Nevertheless, God gave him a sign. A son was born to him and it was Hezekiah. He was the Immanuel. Later, Matthew took this oracle out of context, re-packaged and applied it to Jesus (Matthew 1:23).
In Hezekiah's reign, Sennacherib, king of Assyria invaded Judah with a huge army (2 Kings 18:13). Hezekiah prayed to God in the Temple. God heard his prayer and sent Isaiah to console him. Then, God saved Judah by killing 185,000 Assyrians (2 Kings 19:35). Later, Hezekiah fell sick. He cried to God. God extended his life for 15 years (2 Kings 20:6). God sent Isaiah to inform Hezekiah of His decision. Unlike his father, this Hezekiah asked a sign from God!
And Hezekiah said to Isaiah, "What shall be the sign that the LORD will heal me, and that I shall go up to the house of the LORD on the third day?" (2 Kings 20:8)
Hezekiah was not a smart king. When Babylonian diplomats visited him to inquire about his health, he showed them everything in his house, his armory, his storehouses and his realm (2 Kings 20:13)! Isaiah appeared again to scold him for his stupidity and predicted the Babylonian Exile. Guess what Hezekiah's reaction was.
Then said Hezekiah to Isaiah, "The word of the LORD which you have spoken is good." For he thought, "Why not, if there will be peace and security in my days?" (2 Kings 20:19).
In the eyes of the Deuteronomist historians, Hezekiah was already a good king because he did not rely on political alliance with Egypt!
Unlike his father Hezekiah, Mannaseh was very evil in the eyes of the Deuteronomists. He restored all the idolatry practices.
And he burned his son as an offering, and practiced soothsaying and augury, and dealt with mediums and with wizards. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking him to anger (2 Kings 21:6).
Amon reigned after Mannaseh for only two years and he was as bad. Amon was assassinated by his servants and the people made his son Josiah king. Josiah was only eight (2 Kings 22:1).
In the eighteenth year of Josiah's reign, Hilkiah the high priest 'discovered' the book of Law in the Temple (2 Kings 22:8). When the book of Law was read to him, Josiah was so moved that he rented his clothes (2 Kings 22:11). The prophetess Huldah was consulted (2 Kings 22:14). She predicted the destruction of Judah and the exile. But because of his penitent heart and humility before the Lord, Josiah would not see the evils she predicted (2 Kings 22:20). Then Josiah began a series of religious reform in Judah (2 Kings 23:1-28). Josiah was a good king religiously but not militarily.
In his days Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt went up to the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates. King Josiah went to meet him; and Pharaoh Neco slew him at Megiddo, when he saw him (2 Kings 22:29). What a pity! His untimely death rendered the religious reform he started half-baked. The fate of Judah was sealed.
What can we say about these kings of Judah? My only conclusion is that 'Like father like son' is not always true, at least as far as kings are concerned. We are independent individuals. God deals with us according to what each of us does.

My Advocate, I pray that my children walk in Your path of truth. My actions and sins certainly affect them. But I am confident in Your righteousness. Let not my punishments harm them. Amen.

Feast of St. John the Baptist

According to the two nativity stories in Luke 1, John the Baptist was conceived six months before Jesus. Therefore, the Church celebrates the feast of St. John the Baptist today. Half a year later, it will be Christmas. The Catholic Biblical Institute (CBI for short) has chosen well the day to celebrate the year closing Mass. Had CBI wanted to choose for herself a patron saint among the saints, St. John the Baptist would have been a good candidate. He was the Elijah for the Messiah. His mission was to prepare the hearts of the Jews to receive the Word of God. CBI is carrying out a similar mission among the Catholics in Hong Kong. John the Baptist did not preach to the Gentiles but Jews who had known God to a certain extent. Similarly, CBI does not target non-believers but practising Catholics who want to learn more about the Word of God, to know Jesus better.

Tonight, the chief celebrant was Fr. Placid Wong, OFM., with whom Fr. William Lo, S.J. and Fr. Seán Ó Cearbhalláin S.J. were co-celebrating. Fr. Placid delivered the homily. He reflected on the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of CBI. He joked that when CBI began, he was only a minor friar serving drinks and snack to all the big shots present. Twenty years on, it is his turn to call the shot. It took a quarter of a century for the OFM friars to translate the Bible into Chinese. Therefore, CBI still has a couple of years to catch up with her mission.
The Bible is not an easy book to read. The first reading tonight says it well.
But I said, "I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity (Isaiah 49:4a)
Students of CBI surely have worked very hard to study the books in the Bible for several years. Parallelism, synchronic and diachronic criticisms, Greek and Hebrew etc. But in the end, the Bible remains as challenging as before, if not more challenging. We are still clueless in trying to decipher the meaning of some even familiar passages. Isaiah has more to say. He continues.
yet surely my right is with the LORD, and my recompense with my God (Isaiah 49:4b).
Therefore, when we love the Word of God more, when we become more eager to want to know Jesus after the study, our effort has not been wasted.

Like any other organizations, CBI has to deal with mundane problems constantly. There used to be a benefactor who contributed generously every year. After his demise, CBI has to look for other resources to support its running. The availability of professors is another acute problem for CBI. Personally, I share Fr. Placid's feeling. I wish I had been able to study the CBI courses earlier. Fr. Seán suffers stroke a second time and cannot teach anymore. Some others take up teaching or study assignments elsewhere. At present, only a handful of professors are shouldering the bulk of teaching load in CBI.
Fr. Placid did not announce any grand plan ahead. He did mention that projects to update the Chinese translation of the Bible, to make more references available in Chinese, to promote Biblical studies here in Hong Kong and in Mainland etc. needed to be prioritized. He remains confident. CBI will continue her mission. He and I are sure that God is taking care of CBI. In these twenty years, a hundred odd of diploma course students have graduated. They are working in different capacities in promoting biblical studies. However, the majority of output remains verbal. He wished we can make more use of other media in promoting the study of the Bible.

My Advocate, I thank You for enabling me to finish the diploma course. Together with all CBI members, we pray for the health of the CBI professors, for the mission of CBI. May we be able to continue the promotion of biblical studies among our neighbours. May we ourselves be enriched in turn. Amen.

Child Abuses

In Chapter 17 of the second book of the Kings, we find the collapse of the northern kingdom, Israel. The last king Hoshea, son of Elah, ruled for nine years and Israel was conquered by Assyria. At first he paid tribute to Shalmaneser king of Assyria (2 Kings 17:3). Later, he courted the support of Egypt and this political blunder angered Shalmaneser. After the conquer of Israel, Shalmaneser exiled the Israelites to different places in the Assyrian Empire: in Halah, and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes (2 Kings 17:6b). Moreover, the Assyrian king completely diluted the root of Israel by moving in other peoples to occupy Samaria.
And the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sephar-vaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the people of Israel; and they took possession of Samaria, and dwelt in its cities (2 Kings 17:24).
The Israelites were completely uprooted. They were less fortunate than the Jews who were also conquered and exiled some 150 years later to Babylon. When the Babylonians took over the Assyrian Empire, they did not send the Israelites home. There was no Cyrus in the Babylonian Empire. He would be a Persian king. Historically speaking, the ten tribes of Israelites have vanished. Nowadays, we only have Jews and no Israelites of OT origin.
The Deuteronomist author attributed the fall of Israel not to any economical or political reasons but religious ones (2 Kings 17:7-18). Idolatry was widespread. Not only did the Israelites build altars to worship fertility idols (2 Kings 17:8-12), they ignored the warnings from Yahweh's prophets (2 Kings 17:13-14). They did not obey the commandments of the Lord (2 Kings 17:15-16). The most horrifying and disgusting of all, they practised human sacrifices with their own children!
And they burned their sons and their daughters as offerings, and used divination and sorcery, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking him to anger (2 Kings 17:17).
Child abuses were widespread. Unlike modern couples who live in nuclear families and give birth to one or two children, people in ancient times gave birth to many children due to high mortality rate. Children were less precious in their eyes. It is against this background that we should think about the sacrifice of Isaac by Abraham. It was a test which Abraham passed with flying colours. Isaac was the only child Abraham had in old age because earlier on, he had driven Ishmael away, the son of Hagar, the maid of Sarah. Isaac must be the most precious in Abraham's eyes. Yet, Yahweh tested Abraham and told him to offer Isaac as a burnt sacrifice (Genesis 22:2). Of course, satisfied with the faithfulness of Abraham, Yahweh stopped Abraham from killing Isaac and gave him a ram to offer as a burnt sacrifice instead (Genesis 22:13). This story is difficult to handle.

The very idea of God testing a man is rather disturbing. James has written the following.
Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted with evil and he himself tempts no one (James 1:13).
Perhaps we should distinguish between tests and temptations. Tests are occasions for us to prove our worth whereas temptations are occasions in which we will fall victim to our lust and desires. Therefore, we can explain God's test of Abraham away as an opportunity for the Israelites to show off the super-heroic quality of their patriarch.
Now, why a test in such a way? Why not other forms of test? In making such a demand, how is Yahweh different from the other baals?
Some theologians would explain that this story abolishes the malpractice of child sacrifice. Yahweh demanded it in order to demolish it. But others would turn the table around and argue that even Yahweh demanded child sacrifice in the first place. As the supreme Law-Giver, Yahweh could simply decree the abolishment of child sacrifice. Every word of His is a law and He would not utter a word in vain. He cannot contradict Himself. Therefore, what makes child sacrifice illegitimate? I really have no satisfactory defence.
Worse still, in making such a harsh demand on a 107-year-old man, how can we say that Yahweh is good? Peter Chiu, the ex-vice principal of La Salle College held this view. God cannot be benevolent in treating an old man in such a harsh way. It is really a difficult position to defend, a mystery indeed. I could only say that eight years ago, Abraham was able to bargain with God in order to save Sodom and Gomorrah. He was portrayed as a very capable but over-confident negotiator. Therefore, eight years later, the author of Genesis painted an Abraham of deep faith, wisdom with humility --- God will provide (Genesis 22:8). Such wisdom was shown in Job as well.
the LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD (Job 1:21b).
I am not sure whether this is a satisfactory answer. But thus far I have reached.

My Advocate, keeping Your commandments is a sure path to eternal life. I pray that I may be able to keep them with faith and humility. Amen.

Nothing is hidden that will not be known

Today is the Twelfth Ordinary Sunday of Year A. If we read the Gospel (Matthew 10:26-33) out of context, surely we will have a different understanding of Jesus' message.
So have no fear of them; for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known (Matthew 10:26).
From a superficial reading, we may conclude that there is no such thing called "secret" in this world. If you design a secretive, malicious plan against your subordinates, sooner or later, it will be made known to the whole world. You will end up in humiliation instead. In Chinese, we say 「若要人不知，除非己莫為。」Indeed, this feeling immediately surged up in my heart when I read it with my choir members this morning. God is watching over you. He will torpedo your plan at His pleasure.
Is it a correct reading? Did Matthew intend such an understanding? Let's check the context.
In Matthew 10, Jesus chose 12 apostles and sent them out to preach the good news to the Jews. He advised them to be wise and cherish no malicious designs.
Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.
Beware of men; for they will deliver you up to councils, and flog you in their synagogues,
and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear testimony before them and the Gentiles (Matthew 10:16-18).
The Matthean community was made up of Jewish Christians. They were persecuted by the larger Jewish community because these Christians believed that Jesus is the Son of God. For the Jews, this was blasphemy. The Lord God is one. Curse you Christians for believing in yet another god! Therefore, the Matthean community could only practise their faith underground. They went about secretly, avoiding hostility from their fellow Jews. Just as the Master was persecuted by the Jews, the disciples would meet a similar fate (Matthew 10:24-25). But Jesus assured them that the day would come when Christians would practise their faith in the open (Matthew 10:26-27).
And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father's will.
But even the hairs of your head are all numbered.
Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows (Matthew 10:28-31).
Therefore, have no fear of persecutions because they would not come without our heavenly Father's permission. Yet, our heavenly Father would take good care of us. See, even the hairs of our head are all numbered!
Nowadays, we can practise our faith respectably. Outsiders will not persecute us because we believe that Jesus is our Lord and our God. Without this martyrdom context, we need to find new applications for these verses. Therefore, I feel that my superficial reading above is totally legitimate in the modern context. Be mindful of your thoughts and actions so that they do not go contrary to your call to being a follower of Christ, that you do not deny Jesus with your contemptible acts. Make sure that your thoughts and actions do not bring you down into damnation in hell where your body and soul will be cut off from God.

My Advocate, I thank St. Francis for painting us a lofty ideal of being a Christian. Make me an instrument of Your peace. May I be able to cheer up my colleagues in this time of tribulation. I trust that You will give us enough grace to bear the cross imposed on us. Amen.

Kings of Israel

Solomon was the third king of Israel after his father David. In his latter years, his servants rebelled against him. Among them was Jeroboam (1 Kings 11:28). When Rehoboam, son of Solomon ascended the throne, the kingdom was divided. Ten tribes of the north made Jeroboam king of Israel. Rehoboam became the first king of Judah in the south. The kingdom passed on in the family to Abijam, Asa and then Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat's son Jehoram married Ahab's daughter Athaliah.
It was difficult to keep ten tribes together. Therefore, the kingdom of Israel changed hand frequently. Jeroboam passed his kingdom to his son Nadab. Israel changed hand when Baasha killed Nadab and became king (1 Kings 15:27). Elah, son of Baasha, succeeded his throne and was killed by Zimri, who wiped out the family of Baasah (1 Kings 16:9). The famous Omri was proclaimed king of Israel by the army. Zimri burned himself in the king's house. Omri passed on the kingdom to his son Ahab. We have the stories of Elijah in his reign. Ahab joined Jehoshaphat in the battle at Ramoth-gilead and was bled to death by a stray arrow. Ahaziah, the son of Ahab, succeeded. the throne (1 Kings 22:40). He fell through the lattice of his upper chamber and was hurt. He inquired Baal-zebub about his recovery (2 Kings 1:2). Elijah announced his death. The brother of Ahaziah, Jehoram succeeded the throne.
So he (Ahaziah) died according to the word of the LORD which Elijah had spoken. Jehoram, his brother, became king in his stead in the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, because Ahaziah had no son (2 Kings 2:17).
So for some years, the two kings of Israel and Judah were called Jehoram. But there are a few mysterious verses which read
In the fifth year of Joram the son of Ahab, king of Israel, Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, began to reign (2 Kings 8:16).
Further down, we read
So Joram slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David; and Ahaziah his son reigned in his stead.
In the twelfth year of Joram the son of Ahab, king of Israel, Ahaziah the son of Jehoram, king of Judah, began to reign (2 Kings 8:24-25).
In the eleventh year of Joram the son of Ahab, Ahaziah began to reign over Judah (2 Kings 9:29).

Interesting, eh?  It seems that whenever Jehoram became kings, they changed their names to Joram. To tell who is who, one needs to say Joram the son of Ahab to refer to the king in Israel. Still, how shall we reconcile verses 2:17 and 8:16? Which Jehorom became king first?
Ahaziah, king of Judah was considered by the Deuteronomist historians bad because his mother, Athaliah was the daughter of Ahab. He joined Joram to go to war against Syria in Ramoth-gilead, like their fathers did (2 Kings 8:27)! Joram was hurt and returned to Jezreel to recover. Ahaziah visited him.
Now entered Jehu, the son of Nimshi. God instructed Elijah to anoint him in 1 Kings 19:17. Later, Elisha sent a servant to anoint him again in 2 Kings 9:2. Immediately, he sprang into action and started his killing spree to wipe out the house of Ahab (2 Kings 9:14). After shooting Jehoram, Jehu and his men shot Ahaziah as well. When Jehu entered Jezreel, he told the eunuchs to throw Jezebel over the window. He killed all the 70 sons of Ahab in Samaria.
So Jehu slew all that remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, all his great men, and his familiar friends, and his priests, until he left him none remaining (2 Kings 10:11).
He also killed 42 kinsmen of king Ahaziah (2 Kings 10:14).
And when he came to Samaria, he slew all that remained to Ahab in Samaria, till he had wiped them out, according to the word of the LORD which he spoke to Elijah (2 Kings 10:17).
And Jehu wiped out all the worshippers of Baal in Israel (2 Kings 10:28).
At the same time, Athaliah killed all the royal family because Jehu shot her son Ahaziah (2 Kings 11:1). Then she ruled over Judah for seven years.
But Jehosheba, the daughter of King Joram (Jehoram), sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him away from among the king's sons who were about to be slain, and she put him and his nurse in a bedchamber. Thus she hid him from Athaliah, so that he was not slain (2 Kings 11:2).
Jehoram must have more than one wife. That explains why Athaliah wanted to kill off all the legitimate claimants to David's throne. It was likely that Jehosheba was not the daughter of Athaliah. Joash, whose mother was Zibiah of Beer-sheba (2 Chronicles 24:1), was tutored by Jehoiada, the husband of Jehosheba (2 Chronicles 22:11) who engineered a coup d'état to kill Athaliah and restore the David line.
Jehoash was seven years old when he began to reign (2 Kings 11:21).
Joash was remembered for restoring the house of the Lord (2 Chronicles 24:4). And Jehoiada died 130 years old (2 Chronicles 24:15).
Now after the death of Jehoiada the princes of Judah came and did obeisance to the king; then the king hearkened to them.
And they forsook the house of the LORD, the God of their fathers, and served the Asherim and the idols. And wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their guilt (2 Chronicles 24:17-18).
Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada, was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesized against them. They stoned him to death (2 Chronicles 24:21). Zechariah was no Jesus or Stephen, he curse them at his death.
Thus Joash the king did not remember the kindness which Jehoiada, Zechariah's father, had shown him, but killed his son. And when he was dying, he said, "May the LORD see and avenge!" (2 Chronicles 24:22)

So, Dr. Francis Chan, why did Joash, who was tutored by a good priest Jehoiada and was supposed to be a good king of Judah, turn bad? Who were these princes of Judah? Did Joash depend on them to rule over Judah so much so that he had to compromise his faith, even killing the son of his tutor? Or, once you have outlived your usefulness for your king, resign or perish （飛鳥盡，良弓藏；狡兔死，走狗烹。）However, your namesake is burying the bow which he hates even when there are still many birds around. So, not only wealth, but also power are both hazardous to one's faith.

My Advocate, let us pray for kings to be good. Pray that their hearts will not be corrupted by the lust for power. Amen.

Happy Birthday

Tonight, I attended the End of Year Concert organized by the Diocesan Sacred Music Commission at the Cathedral. It was a lovely birthday party for me. Only Popes and kings could enjoy such a private audience with organists and vocalists.
Before the party began, I took out my personal prayer book to say the vespers once more. I am very glad to say these prayers to praise God in the Cathedral. Then the party began. Fr. Peter Choi, the Commission Director, made a welcoming speech, saying that it was a family gathering tonight. It was not a concert as such. We were praying to God rather than performing. What a good start! Then he led the opening prayer and the congregation sang the Lord's Prayer written by the late Fr. Paul Lau Wing Yiu. The program started with organ music.
Isabel Kwan, my ex-student in Shung Tak played Prière À Notre-Dame by L. Boëllmann. The organ emitted its full effects and the acoustics of the Cathedral sustained each note to its full. Yes, without the support of such an architectural edifice, any hundred-thousand electronic organ will only be a white elephant. Then came the Toccata and Fugue in D minor by J.S. Bach. Isabel and the other organists are Year 2 students of the Organ Course.
Gloria Laus and Salve Regina were sung by a choir made up of students from the Latin Course, Italian Course, German Course, French Course and Gregorian Music Course. Erminia and Wulstan were among them. Then soloists from the Vocal Course, sang the Prayer of St. Francis by Sebastian Temple and Panis Angelicus by César Franck. It was beautiful and soothing.
The Harmony Course students wrote up a song circle of the Fourteen Stations of the Cross. It was their première. The choral group was made up of three sopranos, three altos, two tenors and two basses. They were accompanied by a violinist and an organist. Erminia sang the soprano, while Wulstan bass. The styles of individual songs varied. Some were pretty sophisticated and some naive. You could even detect a little fleeting trace of pop themes in one or two songs. Anyway, I enjoyed and meditated on them. What a birthday audience! My student played organ music for me. My wife and my son sang me a première. What else can I expect from life!
Unfortunately, my blood sugar level began to sink. Reluctantly, I walked up to Fr. Choi to bid him farewell. Fr. Lanfranco Fedrigotti was sitting next to him. He shook my hand warmly. Goodbye.

My Advocate, I heartily thank You for such a lovely evening. I regret that I was only able to enjoy halfway through. Nevertheless, it was a wonderful birthday present. For days ahead, allow me to work the whole way through. Happy Birthday.

Ben Sirach's views on Elijah

Ben Sirach means 'Son of Sirach'. When the Jewish rabbis met at Jamnia around 100 AD to define the canon of Hebrew Scripture, the Hebrew version of Ben Sirach was lost. Only the Greek version was available. Therefore, Ben Sirach was not included in the Hebrew Scripture and during Reformation ever since Martin Luther followed the Jamnia Council to throw out the Greek books in the Bible, Ben Sirach has been excluded from the Protestant Bible. Later in the twentieth century when fragments of Hebrew Ben Sirach were recovered from two different places, it is too late for the Protestant churches to put Ben Sirach back into their Bibles. Too bad.
Ben Sirach belongs to the genre of Wisdom literature. It is similar to the Proverbs except that it is not a collection of aphorisms. It is an extensive exposition on Wisdom. The second half of the book is a commentary on the lives of OT figures (Ben Sirach 44:1-50:21). Today, we read of his commentary on the life of Elijah. It is worth quoting in full.
Then the prophet Elijah arose like a fire, and his word burned like a torch.
He brought a famine upon them, and by his zeal he made them few in number.
By the word of the Lord he shut up the heavens, and also three times brought down fire.
How glorious you were, O Elijah, in your wondrous deeds! And who has the right to boast which you have?
You who raised a corpse from death and from Hades, by the word of the Most High;
who brought kings down to destruction, and famous men from their beds;
who heard rebuke at Sinai and judgments of vengeance at Horeb;
who anointed kings to inflict retribution, and prophets to succeed you.
You who were taken up by a whirlwind of fire, in a chariot with horses of fire;
you who are ready at the appointed time, it is written, to calm the wrath of God before it breaks out in fury, to turn the heart of the father to the son, and to restore the tribes of Jacob.
Blessed are those who saw you, and those who have been adorned in love; for we also shall surely live.
It was Elijah who was covered by the whirlwind, and Elisha was filled with his spirit; in all his days he did not tremble before any ruler, and no one brought him into subjection.
Nothing was too hard for him, and when he was dead his body prophesied.
As in his life he did wonders, so in death his deeds were marvelous.
For all this the people did not repent, and they did not forsake their sins, till they were carried away captive from their land and were scattered over all the earth; the people were left very few in number, but with rulers from the house of David.
Some of them did what was pleasing to God, but others multiplied sins (Ben Sirach 48:1-16).
It sounds very much an eulogy, a hymn listing his wonderful deeds, omitting his killing of 550 men. There are also things he did which are not recorded in the books of Kings. For example, when did he calm the wrath of God before it breaks out in fury (Ben Sirach 48:10a)? How did he turn the heart of the father to the son and to restore the tribes of Jacob (Ben Sirach 48:10b)? Where was his dead body which prophesied (Ben Sirach 48:13)? A band of men were dispatched to look for his corpse for three days after he was taken up to heaven. Of course, nothing was found (2 Kings 2:17-18). What other wonders did Elijah do in death (Ben Sirach 48:14)? What was in the mind of the author when he wrote this? Or were there some other folklore which did not enter the canon?
Ben Sirach began commenting on the lives of these OT figures with Noah up to the Maccabees. He wrote of them in the third person except for two, Solomon and Elijah. These two were addressed in the second person and in immediate succession with no other person in between. The use of the second person shows his admiration for these two figures. However, he did not gloss over the stains of Solomon (Ben Sirach 27:19-21). It is understandable because Solomon was supposed to be the fountainhead of the wisdom tradition. Ben Sirach saw his work a continuation of Solomon's work in the Greek Empire. Once more, I have raised more questions than reflecting on the inspired word of God. I hope I am on the right path.

My Advocate, allow me to listen to the wisdom of Yours through Ben Sirach. I know that You have been very patient in waiting for my repentance. Help me hold on to my faith in good times and bad. Allow me to repent before it is too late. Amen.

Final days of Elijah

The first book of Kings ended with an unfavourable verdict on the acts of Ahaziah, the son of Ahab. It reads.
Ahaziah the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria in the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and he reigned two years over Israel.
He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the way of his father, and in the way of his mother, and in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin.
He served Baal and worshiped him, and provoked the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger in every way that his father had done (1 Kings 22:51-53).
These verses are formulaic. We find a lot of such examples, condemning the kings of Israel, throughout the books of Kings. The Deuteronomist author explains the downfall of Israel in terms of the widespread practice of idolatry in the northern kingdom. To illustrate his point, the author told us how Ahaziah died at the beginning of the second book of Kings.
Now Ahaziah fell through the lattice in his upper chamber in Samaria, and lay sick; so he sent messengers, telling them, "Go, inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I shall recover from this sickness." (2 Kings 1:2)
When Christians fall sick or suffer any setbacks, they will accept them and embrace them gladly. They will thank God, rejoicing that they are counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name of Jesus (Acts 5:41) and to suffer for the salvation of the world.
In contrast, Ahaziah inquired about his fate of a Canaanite fertility deity. Such behaviour would horrify Christians and would invoke condemnation from them. Don't bother. Elijah would do the job.
Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron?'
Now therefore thus says the LORD, `You shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone, but you shall surely die.' (2 Kings 1:3b-4)
When the messengers returned and reported to Ahaziah, he was angry and sent fifty soldiers led by a captain to arrest Elijah. Elijah called down fire from heaven to consume them all (2 Kings 1:9-10). A second group went and met the same fate. When the third group went, the captain feared for his life and humbled himself in front of Elijah. Elijah followed them without doing them any harm. At last, Ahaziah died according to the word of the Lord and Jehoram, Ahaziah's brother succeeded the throne because Ahaziah had no son (2 Kings 1:17).
Elijah was a rather destructive man. A total of 550 men died in his hand. He was able to call down fire from heaven. But he was also an attractive figure. Even James and John, nicknamed Sons of Thunder, wanted to copy his example to consume the Samaritan village which did not receive Jesus (Luke 9:54). Prophets lead a colourful and romantic life, especially when they perform powerful miracles. But how many of us know their moments of frustration and depression? How many of us are willing to embrace a life of persecutions they lead?
In chapter 2 of 2 Kings, we read of the ascension of Elijah at River Jordan on a chariot of fire. His prophetic office was succeeded by Elisha, his disciple. From Gilgal, they travelled to Bethel, then Jericho and finally River Jordan. Elijah struck the river with his mantle. Water split up to let them crossing the Jordan. After Elijah was carried away to heaven on a chariot of fire, Elisha took up his mantle and split the water of the Jordan with it (2 Kings 2:14). Elisha began his prophetic office.

My Advocate, You are the giver of life of which we are but stewards. Very often, instead of cherishing it, we waste it away instead. Be with us and help us lead it wisely to carry out Your wish. Amen.

Saving Naboth

Naboth refused to sell his vineyard to Ahab the king because it was the inheritance of his fathers (1 Kings 21:3b). It was not just a piece of land but also his roots. The vineyard embodied the tradition handed down from his ancestors. It was also the linkage to his God because the piece of land was allotted by God. Selling the vineyard would uproot him. Many native Indians who were resettled by the US government, suffered depression and committed suicide though they had been adequately compensated in materials. Had Naboth sold his vineyard, he would have suffered similar psychological ailments and might commit suicide in the end. Naboth stood firm to guard his sanity, yet he paid his life for this sanity.
Yesterday, I said that the elders and nobles of Jezreel were also responsible for the shedding of the innocent blood of Naboth. Jezebel informed them of her plan (1 Kings 21:8). She was an evil woman indeed. She made the hands of all these people dirty. They were forced into becoming conspirators. But did they have any choice? Could they say no, individually or as a group? Was there any way to save Naboth? Failing that, could they stay away from this murderous plot? If they had succeeded in persuading Naboth to leave, they would have saved his life for the moment. In the end, Naboth would still be uprooted and would commit suicide. If they stayed away from this plot, Jezebel would surely make them her next target for elimination. On the other side of the situation, would they persuade Ahab to give up his desire to expand his 'vegetable garden'? It seemed impossible. This murderous plot seemed to be very air-tight. Were Naboth and Ahab destined to die in the hand of Jezebel over this vineyard?
How did the story continue after Naboth's death?
Of course, Yahweh was not amused. He sent Elijah to pronounce His judgment. Ahab had done enough evil to deserve death.
In the place where dogs licked up the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick your own blood (1 Kings 21:19c).
Why didn't You intervene earlier to prevent this tragedy from happening in the first place?
It is interesting to see that Elijah said many things more severe than this.
Behold, I will bring evil upon you; I will utterly sweep you away, and will cut off from Ahab every male, bond or free, in Israel;
and I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, for the anger to which you have provoked me, and because you have made Israel to sin.
And of Jezebel the LORD also said, `The dogs shall eat Jezebel within the bounds of Jezreel.'
Any one belonging to Ahab who dies in the city the dogs shall eat; and any one of his who dies in the open country the birds of the air shall eat." (1 Kings 21:21-24)
Elijah had added a lot more than Yahweh had instructed him to say. Of course, all these came to pass as announced by Elijah.
Ahab showed his regret and repented and God stayed His punishment for a few years before killing him. A strayed arrow wounded him in battle but he had to be propped up in his chariot, facing the Syrians for the rest of the day. Poor Ahab was bled to death (1 Kings 22:34-35). When people washed the chariot by a pool in Samaria, dogs came to lick up his blood according to the word of the Lord (1 Kings 22:38). How Naboth and Ahab died!
Now, I have a proposal. It is not perfect but I think the damages may be minimized. Ahab bought Naboth's vineyard and converted it into a vegetable garden as planned. Add a clause. Naboth and his children in the future generations would serve Ahab's house as the tender of this part of the vegetable garden. Naboth gave up the ownership of the land but he still retained his control over the land. Just think about it, when the king set sight on your land, loss was a certainty. By keeping the management part of the land, it is hoped that Naboth could save his life as well as his sanity. If Israel continued to keep the Torah, may be when Jubilee Year arrived, Ahab's house would even return the land to Naboth's house. But as history has it, Jehu killed off Ahab's children and I wonder if he would return the vineyard to Naboth if he were still alive.

My Advocate, keeping Your precepts delights my heart. May I continue to walk Your path and brings Your light to my students. Amen.

Naboth's vineyard

There are different ways to govern a people. We can have a single person ruling over the rest. This is monarchy. We can have an assembly of people passing laws, making decisions for the rest. This is representative government. We can involve everybody in the decision making process. This is pure democracy. Obviously, this is the fairest as far as justice is concerned, but it is also the most inefficient for a relatively large group of people since the efficiency of decision making decreases exponentially as the group size increases. Ever since Enlightenment and the rise of industrialization, people do not trust emperors. How can you rely on a single person to satisfy the wants and needs of the whole empire? Nowadays, monarchy loses its charisma and is left with only symbolic functions. Nepal is the latest casualty in the history of monarchy. Different forms of representative government become the norm.
In ancient time, monarchy was legitimized either by tradition or by theocracy. The king was invested with the authority to rule the land because he came from the royal family which had been in power for many generations or because the king represented God to rule the subjects. Theocracy is a two-edged sword. It legitimates the authority of the king while at the same time, it prevents him from abusing his power. God is watching over the king, not simply to protect him, but to make sure that he would be punished if he went astray. Theocracy was the sole effective weapon to counteract the abuses of kings. The story of Naboth's vineyard in 1 Kings 21 illustrates this.
Naboth's vineyard was next to Ahab's palace. It was unfortunate for Naboth because Ahab wanted to expand his royal garden. Ahab offered Naboth a generous package in exchange for his vineyard.
"Give me your vineyard, that I may have it for a vegetable garden, because it is near my house; and I will give you a better vineyard for it; or, if it seems good to you, I will give you its value in money." (1 Kings 21:2b)
It was a fair deal in terms of economic transactions. Ahab was not stealing or robbing Naboth. It was rather impossible to decline such a generous offer from the king. But decline Naboth did. The reason?
The LORD forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers." (1 Kings 21:3b)
The key concept here is inheritance. For the Israelites, an inheritance meant a piece of land given by God. Naboth was calling upon God to counteract the greed of the king and king Ahab had no way to fight back against God. He was crestfallen.
And Ahab went into his house vexed and sullen ... And he lay down on his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no food. (1 Kings 21:4)
Then the evil woman Jezebel entered the scene. She engineered a death trap and made use of the elders of the city to have Naboth killed. She wrote a letter in Ahab's name to instruct the elders and nobles of the city how to proceed.
And she wrote in the letters, "Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people;
and set two base fellows opposite him, and let them bring a charge against him, saying, `You have cursed God and the king.' Then take him out, and stone him to death." (1 Kings 21:9-10)
Therefore, Ahab, Jezebel, the two false witnesses, the elders and nobles of Jezreel were all responsible for the innocent blood of Naboth.
Kings are themselves human and vulnerable to vanity and greed. They can be selfish and prey on their people. Laws (according to Israelite customs, two witnesses were enough to establish the truth of a case) can be abused and manipulated to satisfy the lust of the privileged. For the lowly people, where then will protection and security come from? Poor old Naboth was a typical victim under monarchy.
And as soon as Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, Ahab arose to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it. (1 Kings 21:16)

My Advocate, You are our refuge and our rock of salvation. Protect Your chosen ones from the abuses of the mighty. Amen.

Apostles List

The Second Person of the Blessed Trinity had to suffer an inconvenience when He decided to incarnate. Once He took flesh and became Jesus of Nazareth, He was constrained in space and time. He no longer enjoyed the freedom in the time-dimension He used to enjoy. He could only travel at a speed human flesh could afford. Sorry, no more instantaneous teleport. He had to rely on His helpers to accomplish His will. Of course, this was not the first time God delegated to human agents responsibilities and missions. We had Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Samuel, David etc. Similarly, Jesus had to rely on his apostles to help spread the gospel, build the Kingdom of Heaven.
John does not leave us any apostles list. The other three do. The Acts has a list of eleven, that is, before the election of Matthias to replace Judas. Yet, the same author (Luke) gave us two lists of different sequence. When a name was recorded in these documents, the person concerned must be able to command a certain degree of respect and status in the church. Therefore, let's do a comparison.

APOSTLES LIST
Mark 3:13-19	Matthew 10:2-4	Luke 6:13-16	Acts 1:13
Simon Peter
James	Andrew, his brother		John
John	James
Andrew	John, his brother		Andrew
Philip
Bartholomew			Thomas
Matthew	Thomas	Matthew	Bartholomew
Thomas	Matthew, the tax collector	Thomas	Matthew
James, son of Alphaeus
Thaddaeus		Simon, the Zealot
Simon the Cananaean		Judas, son of James
Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus			---

The list consists of three groups of four. Simon Peter heads the first group, and indeed, the whole list. Philip heads the second and James, son of Alphaeus the last.
In the first group, it is interesting to note that the same author, Luke, put John the last in the gospel but the second in the Acts. In fact, Peter and John are almost always mentioned in the same breath in the Acts. John, the beloved disciples of the Lord, occupied a prominent status after the Lord's ascension. On the contrary, Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, drops from the second in the gospel to the last in the Acts.
In the second group, Luke places Thomas last in the gospel and second in the Acts. Thomas appears only once in both the gospel and the Acts, in the apostles list. Only Matthew mentions his occupation and put himself the last in the group. The others don't.
The last group is the most consistent. Judas Iscariot, the traitor, occupies naturally the last of all.
These apostles were no extraordinary people. They were fishermen, tax-collector and even terrorist (Simon the Zealot). Other than that, the background of the remaining half was unknown. The gospel of Mark does not paint a favourable picture of these apostles. They held a very strong political expectation on the Messiah. They did not understand Jesus' teachings. They argued among themselves who would occupy the most prestigious position in the Kingdom of God. They deserted Jesus in his Passion etc. They were not the elites of the society. We are very confident that if we had been in their position, we would have performed better. Yet, these people were chosen by Jesus and they became the corner stones of the church which has survived for nearly 2000 years. In the end, they cooperated better than their contemporaries in bringing about the Kingdom of God on earth.
And preach as you go, saying, `The kingdom of heaven is at hand.'
Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying, give without pay (Matthew 10:7-8).
It is too easy to fall into the trap of superiority complex. In earlier centuries when the missionaries tried to convert primitive peoples, they carelessly destroyed the indigenous cultures, mistakenly thinking that their customs were demonic. Nowadays, we begin to appreciate the diversity of human civilizations and have learnt to respect them. May the Almighty God remind us to be humble because
You received without paying, give without pay (Matthew 10:8b).

My Advocate, I thank You for choosing us to share Your eternal life. May we treasure it and work with You to bring about the Kingdom of God on earth. Amen.

Epiphany

Elijah ate and drank twice before he embarked on a 40-day journey from Beersheba to Mount Horeb (Mount Sinai) to receive God's revelation (1 Kings 19:5-8). This was the end of his glorious days, the end of his career. In Mount Horeb, he found a cave and stayed there. Then the word of Yahweh came to him.
"What are you doing here, Elijah?"
He said, "I have been very jealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the people of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thy altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away." (1 Kings 19:9b-10)
Interesting question, eh? How was it that God should ask Elijah what he was doing there? The all-knowing God should have known better than Elijah. Elijah was fleeing for his life and it was God who sent him here to receive revelation.
Elijah's answer was interesting as well. It was not an answer at all. It was rather a confession of his devotion (I have been very jealous for the Lord) and his plight (the people of Israel were seeking my life). Between the lines, Elijah was demanding compensation. See, I have been working among your people for you. They have rejected your covenant and me. What have become of me, a fugitive!
I am luckier. I teach RS in a Catholic diocesan school. Students do not take this as a covenant. Still, some students are working hard in the subject. Some don't and I am not yet a fugitive. My God, are my students Your people? I believe they are. But even the Israelites forsook Your covenant. So, I cannot blame some of my students for not putting enough effort in RS.
Then came a strong wind, an earthquake and fire, but each time, Yahweh was not in these elements. After the fire, there came a still, small voice (1 Kings 19:12b). Elijah felt the presence of Yahweh. Immediately, he wrapped his face with his mantle and went to the entrance of the cave.
A similar case took place in Exodus 33 where Moses demanded Yahweh to show him His glory. God granted his request but He would only allow Moses to see His back when He passed by. It is because no man could see the face of Yahweh and live (Exodus 33:20-23).
The same exchange between Yahweh and Elijah took place once more.
"What are you doing here, Elijah?"
He said, "I have been very jealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the people of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thy altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away." (1 Kings 19:13b-14)
OK. God asked the same question once more probably because Elijah did not answer His question properly. Elijah sounded rather stupid to repeat the same answer once more!
I repeat, I have been working among your people for you. They have rejected your covenant and me. What have become of me, a fugitive!
It is puzzling why the author of 1 Kings repeated the materials twice. There must be some very important message he wanted to tell us. But what purpose did he want to achieve? Can someone tell me why the author repeated this dialogue twice?
This time, God revealed His plan. Before he retired, Elijah would go to the wilderness of Damascus to anoint three people. Hazael to be king over Syria, Jehu the son of Nimshi king over Israel and Elisha his successor (1 Kings 19:15c-16).
And him who escapes from the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay; and him who escapes from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay.
Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him." (1 Kings 19:17-18)
God takes an active part in the history of man and Jehu went down in the history of Israel as the slayer of Ahab's house. For the time being, Elijah went about his pre-retirement business. It is interesting to note that Elisha requested to kiss his parents goodbye before following Elijah (1 Kings 19:20). Jesus advised against even this (Luke 9:61-62). Of course, Elijah was only a man and Jesus is God. Definitely, Jesus is entitled to demand our total dedication whereas Elijah could not.

My Advocate, grant me an ear to discern the still, small voice of Yours. Not many of us are ready to surrender our totality. I pray for the young people in the church that they may gain enough understanding and strength to respond generously to Your call. Amen.

Not a one-dimensional Elijah

It is rather difficult to follow the psychology of Elijah.
A couple of hours earlier, Yahweh won Baal hands down.
Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt offering, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.
And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, "The LORD, he is God; the LORD, he is God."  (1 Kings 18:38-39).
Action spoke louder than words. Yahweh was the ONE TRUE God. The choice was obvious. So, Elijah told the people to round up the 450 prophets of Baal and brought them down to the brook Kishon. He killed them there (1 Kings 18:40).
I cannot imagine how long it would take Elijah to kill 450 people. If he took an average of 12 seconds to walk up to a Baal prophet, swing a sabre in his hands to chop off the head, or to slit the throat, or to punch a hole in the heart or to rip open the belly, it would take one and a half hour to finish off these 450 prophets.
He then told Ahab to eat and drink while he went to pray for rain.
And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he bowed himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees (1 Kings 18:42).
Look at his posture. Elijah must have been very tired. Not quite right. When a great rain came, Ahab rode his chariot home while Elijah ran before him to the entrance of the city because the hand of the Lord was on Elijah (1 Kings 18:46). What an amazing feat!
A couple of hours later, Jezebel sent a death threat to Elijah (1 Kings 19:2). Elijah was afraid. He rose and fled to Beersheba (1 Kings 19:3). It was really difficult to follow his psychology. Didn't Yahweh walk with him all along? Why should he fear for his life?
From Beersheba, he went a day's journey into the wilderness. There, he prayed to God to take away his life.
But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree; and he asked that he might die, saying, "It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life; for I am no better than my fathers." (1 Kings 19:4)
Only one other person made this same request to God. He was Jonah, a prejudiced prophet. He was angry with God who, seeing the repentance of the people of Nineveh, spared them.  Jonah prayed to God to take away his life!
And he prayed to the LORD and said, "I pray thee, LORD, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that thou art a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and repentest of evil.
Therefore now, O LORD, take my life from me, I beseech thee, for it is better for me to die than to live." (Jonah 4:2-3)
He knew that God was merciful and would spare Nineveh. Yet, Jonah wanted Nineveh to receive punishment instead of pardon. His wish was so intense that, being frustrated, he wanted to die!
On the other hand, the request of Elijah was reasonable and understandable. Elijah preferred dying in God's hand to dying in the hand of the evil woman Jezebel. At that moment, Elijah was very human. He had been a superhero, channelling God's power to earth: flour, oil, breath of life, fire and rain. He had not spared any false prophets. Yet, at that moment, Elijah mysteriously experienced a bout of depression and weakness. He fled for his life and asked then God to kill him!! He must have been very confused indeed, a very human Elijah indeed. Very often, we think of these prophets and Jesus in a very one-dimensional and larger than life way. For some, it would be impossible for Jesus to be tired, to be hungry, to be reluctant to help, to be impatient, to be angry, to weep and to fear for his life. Luckily, the gospels leave us not with a one-dimensional Jesus.

My Advocate, I thank the authors of the Bible to have left us characters with a rich texture. Each of them related with You in a wide spectrum of manners. May we find our guides, our consolation and ourselves among them. Amen.

Yahweh vs. Baal

Today, we return to the story of Elijah. We are reading chapter 18 of the first book of Kings. It is a literary gem and a highly enjoyable story. It is a story of the contest between Yahweh and Baal, the Canaanite fertility god which was no god at all in the eyes of the Deuteronomists.
As a prolog, there is a contrast between Ahab and Obadiah, the housekeeper of his palace.
Now Obadiah revered the LORD greatly;
and when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the LORD, Obadiah took a hundred prophets and hid them by fifties in a cave, and fed them with bread and water (1 Kings 18:3b-4).
Ahab listened to his wife Jezebel and promoted the worship of Baal. Moreover, Jezebel systematically killed off the prophets of the Lord. But Obadiah was able to save one hundred of them. He must have been a very powerful courtier because in the searching for grass to feed the cattle, he and Ahab would divide the land and each of them searched their parts.
So they divided the land between them to pass through it; Ahab went in one direction by himself, and Obadiah went in another direction by himself (1 Kings 18:6).
In his search for grass, Obadiah met Elijah. He had full respect for Elijah and greeted him his lord.
And as Obadiah was on the way, behold, Elijah met him; and Obadiah recognized him, and fell on his face, and said, "Is it you, my lord Elijah?" (1 Kings 18:7).
But later, when Ahab met Elijah, he vented his hatred instead.
When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, "Is it you, you troubler of Israel?" (1 Kings 18:17)
What an irony! The accuser should in fact be the accused! This is a psychological defence mechanism. One does not simply deny one's fault. Furthermore, one usually projects the wrong to the others. As a prophet, Elijah confronted Ahab with the truth in no equivocal terms.
And he answered, "I have not troubled Israel; but you have, and your father's house, because you have forsaken the commandments of the LORD and followed the Baals (1 Kings 18:18).
Ahab's sin of idolatry was the cause of all the troubles in Israel.
Then Elijah challenged the false prophets of Baal for a duel to decide whose god was the true one.
Historians of science trace the origin of the scientific enterprise to magic. Magic was a procedure to induce the environment to produce what ancient people needed. There were as many magical rituals as human needs. Magic was not yet scientific because it aimed only at getting things done. It was pragmatic. On the other hand, science tried to explain why it could be done. Similarly, polytheism which was closely related to magic, was pragmatic and aimed at getting things done. The division of labour reflected the structure of the society. Polytheism was part of the society. When the society evolved into a more complex structure needing the service of a centralized government, polytheism was no longer able to glue the society together. Each deity had a turf of its own. Monotheism arose to take care of the need to glue the society together. From this perspective, the contest between Yahweh and Baal reflected the evolution of the Israelite society into a higher complexity.
And Elijah came near to all the people, and said, "How long will you go limping with two different opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him." And the people did not answer him a word (1 Kings 18:21).
Elijah urged the people to choose between Yahweh and Baal. But how do you decide who the true God is?
"And you call on the name of your god and I will call on the name of the LORD; and the God who answers by fire, he is God." And all the people answered, "It is well spoken." (1 Kings 18:24)
This is the ultimate pragmatic test. Elijah defined the criterion and if Yahweh passed this test, Yahweh is God! Remember, you should not put the Lord to the test. So, who are you Elijah, to put the Lord to the test? In the gospel, Satan did it. The Pharisees did it. They were only following the footsteps of Elijah. Of course, they were not Elijah because Elijah was sent by Yahweh! His test had been endorsed by Yahweh. The rest was history.

My Advocate, I confess You are the ONE TRUE GOD. Out of Your love and kindness, You reveal Yourself to us and deliver us from eternal damnation. May honour and glory be Yours forever and ever.  Amen.

Feast of St. Barnabas

Today, we celebrate the Feast of St. Barnabas. Barnabas appears very early in Acts and occupied a very important position in the early church. Together with Paul, Barnabas preached the gospel to the Gentiles.
Thus Joseph who was surnamed by the apostles Barnabas (which means, Son of encouragement), a Levite, a native of Cyprus,
sold a field which belonged to him, and brought the money and laid it at the apostles' feet (Acts 4:36-37).
Saul, a fervent Pharisee, persecuted the early church because they worshipped Jesus. Judaism could not tolerate another god besides Yahweh. After his conversion, Saul wanted to join the church in Jerusalem but they were still afraid of him. Barnabas introduced Saul into the Jerusalem community (Acts 9:27). Saul followed the footsteps of Stephen, the first Christian martyr. To secure his safety, the Jerusalem church sent him to Tarsus. Later, Paul and Barnabas embarked on missionary journeys to evangelize the Gentiles.
In the gospel reading today, we read of Jesus' sending his apostles to evangelize the Jews. The message the apostles preached was "The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand." (Matthew 10:7) They backed it up with services such as healing the sick, raising the dead, cleansing lepers and casting out demons. These actions had to be a kind of service because
You received without paying, give without pay (Matthew 10:8b).
How do I translate this good news into modern day language? How do I make the idea of the Kingdom of Heaven comprehensible to my students? Moreover, what sorts of back up do I have in order to preach this message? I am no physician, no miracle worker, not even an exorcist. How do I heal the sick and the leper, raise the dead and chase out demons? Without these back ups, how do I make the gospel meaningful to my students?
Look at these students. Many of them are hardworking. They know their goals. Yet, spiritual formation is NOT among their goals. Good examination results are. There are some who are not motivated at all in studies. They spend their time sleeping or chatting with their friends in the classroom. Their happiest moments are spent in ball games on the playground. I am not sure whether RS as an examination subject will ever arouse their interest in pursuing the Kingdom of Heaven. How do I explain to them the Kingdom of God?

1. The church? It is boring.
2. The end of the world? Do you think I'm nut? If God is the ruler of the earth, He should save the innocent from natural disasters such as the recent Sichuan earthquake.
3. God's rule in our hearts? Why should I? What advantage do I gain if I allow God to rule in my heart?

And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it; but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you (Matthew 10:13).
God, they don't listen. Can I simply let go and give up?
What does Matthew mean by "worthy"?
Everyone is supposed to be created in the image of God. Doesn't everyone deserve the peace? What does this peace consist of?
Obviously, it is not the absence of wars. What about the absence of a guilty conscience, the absence of responsibilities? Or on a more positive note, does it mean the feeling of being loved?
Psychologists tell us that the most important task teenagers need to fulfil in order to develop a healthy personality is to build up their identity, their sex role etc. If they fail to do that, they will suffer a lot the rest of their life. Then, what can the Bible offer them, to help them build up their identity?

1. God created us. We are God's children.
2. We must build up a good dose of self-worth. We must feel ourselves valuable, if not in the eyes of our peers or parents, in the eyes of our God.
3. Each of us is unique. We are created in the image and likeness of God. Since God is infinite, we can only reflect a tiny portion of the infinite image of God. Therefore, each one of us is unique in our own way.
4. The goal of our life is to realize the potentials built into us. In deciding what I will be in the future and putting our efforts in achieving this goal, we realize our potentials. We are doing God's will.
5. When we realize these God-given potentials and talents, we attain the Kingdom of Heaven in our hearts. When we work together to build up a society of justice and peace, we build up the Kingdom of Heaven on earth.

Will this message be more suitable for my students? Will they listen to this message? Will they pay attention to the story of Jesus and the apostles? I know not the result. I will only try.

My Advocate, I do not ask for miracles. I know You will work them at Your pleasure. I pray that my students will be more open and receptive to Your saving truth. St. Barnabas, son of encouragement, pray for us. Amen.

An encounter with an alien

Before I reflect on the Elijah story today, I would like to clarify one point in my previous blogs. When I search the Old Testament and discuss the result, I follow the chronological order rather than the canonical order of the Bible. I want to follow the evolution of a concept. Therefore, I begin with the earliest written records which are the Prophets. Then I go to the Deuteronomist School which penned the Torah and the Early Prophets during the Persian Empire. Of course, the written records were finalized in the Persian Empire but the ideas behind might be very ancient, even earlier than the Prophets. But the final form bears traces of Persian influences. The Holy Writings surely consists of very early ideas as well but again, they were finalized in the Greek Empire. For example, the 150 psalms collected must have spanned a very long time. Now, let me return to the first book of Kings.

When you devise a plan to snare your enemy, you will not be so stupid as to trap yourself as well. When you bring down a curse from heaven to punish the sinners, will you not make sure that you yourself will not suffer from it? More generally, will you not make sure that your punishment is discriminating enough so that only sinners are punished and the righteous spared? Sometimes, God did just that. For example, when He killed all the first-borns in Egypt, He would pass over houses smeared with the blood of the Paschal Lamb. But when He destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, He had to send the family of Lot away first. Further back, when He decided to wipe the world of her sins, He helped the family of Noah to build an Ark to survive the Deluge. In short, God is able to deliver a few elected ones in the midst of annihilation.

The drought Elijah brought down affected a vast region. He himself was affected when brook Cherith dried up. Then God sent him away to Zarephath in Sidon, a Gentile region.
Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you (1 Kings 17:9). OK, God was going to deliver Elijah from the drought. Here, an intersting encounter unfolds.
When Elijah saw a widow (how did he know she was a widow and that she was the widow to feed him?), he asked her for water.
"Bring me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink." (1 Kings 17:10b).
This scene brings to mind the encounter between Jesus and a Samaritan woman in John 4. Jesus asked the woman for water. This was just an excuse. Jesus did not need to drink. Rather, he wanted to evangelize. He wanted to bring her salvation. The woman did not comply with Jesus' request for water. Rather, she retorted that Jews had no dealings with Samaritans (John 4:9). But in this Elijah story, the widow obeyed. Why? Here was a stranger asking for water. If you were the widow, why would you obey? In that age, were women supposed to entertain the requests of any men? Was it out of hospitality to aliens? I have no satisfactory answers. Now seeing that the widow even comply, Elijah asked for more than simply water. He really had a thick cheek unless the request for water was only an excuse to start a relation. Elijah actually wanted to bring her survival through this drought.
And as she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, "Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand." (1 Kings 17:11)
Only then did the widow start to complain.
And she said, "As the LORD your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of meal in a jar, and a little oil in a cruse; and now, I am gathering a couple of sticks, that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die." (1 Kings 17:12)
It seemed that the widow knew there was the Lord God and that Elijah was a man of the Lord God. She even swore in His name. How did she know? Had God revealed to her beforehand that she would meet such and such a man? I really don't know.
And Elijah said to her, "Fear not; go and do as you have said; but first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make for yourself and your son.
For thus says the LORD the God of Israel, 'The jar of meal shall not be spent, and the cruse of oil shall not fail, until the day that the LORD sends rain upon the earth.'" (1 Kings 17:13-14)
The author did not tell us what was going on inside the head/heart of the widow. She simply followed Elijah's instruction. It turned out that she was not a poor widow. She had a household to take care of. She was the mistress of the house (1 Kings 17:17). And the household survived the drought.
This Elijah story seems to be a kind of survival folklore. A woman was charitable/hospitable to a holy man disguised as an alien/a beggar. As a result, she and her family were able to survive some impending disasters. This is just my hypothesis.

My Advocate, You have chosen a few to survive disasters for Your own. I sincerely thank You for Your kindness to me. May all who hear Your story obtain salvation. Amen. 

Ravens in the Bible

We switch to read 1 Kings for next few days. The passage today 1 Kings 17:1-7, is the beginning of the so called "Elijah cycle". It is a collection of folklore surrounding the prophet Elijah. Elijah and his successor Elisha were great prophets in the Northern Kingdom. Yet, they did not leave us any writings.
This passage told us that Elijah came from Tishbe in Gilead. He confronted Ahab, the son of Omri and foretold a drought. In extra-biblical sources, Omri was remembered as the greatest king of Israel. He brought great prosperity to Israel. However, under the hands of the Deuteronomists, he and his son Ahab were bad because both of them spread idol-worship in Israel.
Omri did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and did more evil than all who were before him (1 Kings 16:25).
And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD more than all that were before him (1 Kings 16:30).
Therefore, this drought can be seen as a sign of punishment from God. Here is what Elijah said.
As the LORD the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word (1 Kings 17:1b).
The text is ambiguous. Was Elijah simply a messenger of God, pronouncing God's judgment? Or did Elijah pray to God to send this drought? The last few words suggest that Elijah took the initiative to call down this drought on Israel. Indeed, this was how James understood the situation (James 5:17). He was quoting Elijah as an example of the power of prayer by the righteous. If James could be any representative of New Testament authors, we can even say that this was how the Jews in the first century understood the story.
After depicting the background, the author of 1 Kings injected some legendary elements into the story. God sent Elijah to retire by the brook of Cherith, east of the Jordan River. God would send ravens to feed him with bread and meat and he would drink from the brook (1 Kings 17:3-4). Why did God choose, among all birds, ravens to feed Elijah? This may not be a meaningful theology question, but it surely is interesting to search for the place ravens have in the Bible.
Ravens appear in the prophets Isaiah and Zephaniah.
In his judgment oracle against Edom, Isaiah pronounced
But the hawk and the porcupine shall possess it, the owl and the raven shall dwell in it.
He shall stretch the line of confusion over it, and the plummet of chaos over its nobles (Isaiah 34:11).
About one hundred years later in Judah, Zephaniah pronounced judgment against Niveveh. We have
Herds shall lie down in the midst of her, all the beasts of the field;
the vulture and the hedgehog shall lodge in her capitals;
the owl shall hoot in the window, the raven croak on the threshold;
for her cedar work will be laid bare (Zephaniah 2:14).
In both cases, ravens were symbols of desolation, scavenging on corpses.
In the Persian period, we find ravens in the Pentateuch and the Former Prophets (1 Kings).
In the famous story of the Great Deluge, Noah firstly sent forth a raven after the water receded.
and sent forth a raven; and it went to and fro until the waters were dried up from the earth (Genesis 8:7).
The author did not tell us the whereabouts of this raven, whether it returned to Noah or died in the cruise. Most probably, it was missing in the action because ravens are not known to be able to return to where they start. Then Noah sent forth a dove three times. The dove was able to return the first time. It brought back a branch of olive the second time (the famous symbolism of peace). The last time it did not return. It is believed that it has found a new nest.
The Leviticus and Deuteronomy list raven as one of the unclean birds not to be eaten. There are twenty one of them according to Leviticus: the eagle, the vulture, the osprey, the kite, the falcon, the raven, the ostrich, the nighthawk, the sea gull, the hawk, the owl, the cormorant, the ibis, the water hen, the pelican, the carrion vulture, the stork, the heron, the hoopoe and the bat (Leviticus 11:13-19). Ravens are unclean! Then in 1 Kings, God chose an unclean bird to feed Elijah. Why?
In the Wisdom Literature, ravens are named to show God's care for all creatures.
Who provides for the raven its prey, when its young ones cry to God,
and wander about for lack of food? (Job 38:41)
He gives to the beasts their food, and to the young ravens which cry (Psalms 147:9).
In Proverbs, ravens become God's instrument to punish the grateful children.
The eye that mocks a father and scorns to obey a mother will be picked out by the ravens of the valley and eaten by the vultures (Proverbs 30:17).
Ravens have taken on a new dimension in their symbolism. More than simply scavenger birds that clean up the corpses, they exact God's judgment on the disrespectful children.
To wrap up the search, we find only one occurrence of ravens in Luke.
Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! (Luke 12:24).
In a similar passage of Matthew, only the general term birds is used.
Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? (Matthew 6:26)

My Advocate, You are free to choose whatever to be Your instrument, even despised ones. How stupid we are to pass judgment on things and people created in Your image. May we humble ourselves and sing honour and glory to Your holy name forever and ever. Amen.