The Oil Press

“The Olive Press”
Matthew 26:36-46

The Impressive Uses of Olive Oil:
                As a runner and track and field coach, I have come to value antioxidants. Every time a new season begins, I give the diet talk to my athletes, emphasizing the health benefits of antioxidants and in which foods athletes can find them. These chemicals that naturally occur throughout the foods in God’s creation allow athletes to have a quicker recovery, a healthy heart, and can ease muscle fatigue.
                Olive oil boasts several helpful antioxidants, including tocopherols, β-carotene, lutein, squalene, lipophilic, and hydrophilic phenols. Each of these helps to promote immune health, reverse the oxidation process in our bodies, and help our tissues not to inflame. Olive oil also helps to prevent cardiovascular issues. Perhaps I shall find even more ways to increase my olive oil intake. Maybe it will help with the aches in my aging muscles as I run.
                The cultures of the first-century Hellenistic world had many uses for Olive Oil. As with many cultures, the people across the Roman Empire used the oil for cooking and enhancing their diet. They also regularly rubbed their bodies with olive oil after vigorous exercise. When they did so, it cleaned off the various dirt particles and sweat. After they finished smearing it on, they would scrape it off with a metal instrument called a strigil. Many people also used the oil as a perfume, as a fuel for their lamps, as medicine, as a lubricant, and in various religious rituals. The variety of uses caused such a high demand for olive oil that it became a highly taxed commodity in the Roman Empire.[1]
                With such a wide use for this amazing oil, gardens, and groves of olives spread throughout the Roman Empire. Olive growers found various means to process the fruit so that they could produce the oil. Often, they had to hire workers to don wooden footwear so they could crush the olives underfoot. How would you like to know that your olive oil came from the action of stomping feet? Other methods included pestle and mortar, a stone roller, or an olive press.[2]
The Press of Life:
                Many of us have felt pressed like olives. I know I certainly have, especially in recent years as I have struggled through a redefinition of my service to God and even more vividly through the loss of my son, Peter. Perhaps, like olives, others have trampled upon us, pushing out the very essence of life from our beings. The grinding action of suffering may have felt like a pestle and mortar against the soul. Or maybe we have felt like a stone crushed us because of betrayal or heartache or a sense that God forsakes us. We have been pressed by the machinations of society, the pain of death, the harsh words of other people, or the many other grievances we experience within our mortal existence. We exist like the empty husk of an olive, cast aside and useless.
Entering the Olive Press:
                Yet, we might just receive comfort as we gaze upon a scene of sorrow and submission that occurred in the Garden of Gethsemane a little over 2000 years ago. Jesus has just broken bread and shared wine with his most intimate friends. He has done this knowing that one will betray him, one will deny him, and the rest will scatter into the night, with the exception of the beloved disciple. Now he leads them to this garden known as Gethsemane so that they might support him in prayer as he awaits betrayal from a trusted companion.
                The name Gethsemane comes from the Hebrew/Aramaic Gath (tg) Shemen (Nmw), meaning “oil press.”[3] Many sites have been suggested for this garden and the accompanying olive press. Luke’s account references The Mount of Olives, likely referring to the central summit of three mountains that made up a group of mountains located to the east of Jerusalem. The other two summits that people refer to collectively by the title Mount of Olives include Mount Scopus and the Mount of Offense.[4] On and surrounding these mountains existed many olive groves, including the one called Gethsemane to which Jesus led the disciples. A traditional location for the Garden of Gethsemane now hosts the Church of All the Nations, which sits adjacent to an olive grove. The more likely location for the garden exists a few hundred feet north of this traditional site. A cave at this location shows evidence of the preparation of olive oil. A cultivated garden may have surrounded this cave.[5] Jesus came to this garden with an oil press to express to God the agony pressing upon his soul.
Companions beneath the Press:
                The fullness of his deep sorrow finds expression throughout the scene. He takes Peter, James, and John with him and asks them to keep watch with him. Jesus wants the three members of his inner circle, who had also witnessed his glory at the moment of transfiguration, to share in his sorrow with him. Jesus asks them to watch with him. He feels a deep need to lean on these human relationships as he faces his great sorrow.[6]
                When we exist in great sorrow, we long for others to keep watch with us. Like Jesus, we want our closest friends present, not to offer advice, but to just dwell in the midst of the pain with us. Sorrow so often feels solitary. Our hearts desire for someone to join in the moments of grief with us because isolation only encourages deeper grief. In this, we can face the crush of the olive press.
God with Us in the Oil Press:
                Jesus also prays as he feels the crush of life and death. He longs for God to take the burden, the cup, of sorrow. The mention of the cup recalls the meal that Jesus had just shared with his disciples. In this meal, he lifted the cup of salvation. As he held the cup aloft, he called it the blood of the covenant. In this, he infers the sprinkling of sacrificial blood so that the community can, through grace, enter into a continuous and committed relationship with God.[7] Jesus knows that the calling placed upon him carries the need for sacrifice. This calling becomes a burden and overwhelms him. His agony pours forth because of the knowledge that he must play the part of the sacrificial lamb and take on the sins of the world, the cup of God’s wrath. So he cries out to God, asking for release.
                In the same breath, he submits to God. “Yet, not as I will, but as you will.” Jesus acknowledges God’s sovereignty in this situation. Even as he fears and shouts out in abject sorrow, he turns his heart toward God. As he feels the crush of his being, he faces the pressing, seeking out God in the midst.
                Our sorrows and situations do not even come close to equating with what Jesus dealt with in the garden on the night. Yet, we can still learn from his prayer. We can learn to express our pain honestly before God. We weep because of the crushing reality of life. God listens. We cry out because the burdens we carry overwhelm us and bury us. God hears our cries. As we sit in the metaphorical oil press, God sits with us. Scream out the griefs and aches. The crush may continue, but we can know that God offers his covenant love even as we bleed.
                We can also submit to God. Scripture attests over and over that God remains sovereign amid our heartaches. I have a hard time praying for God’s will in the midst of my many grievances. Yet, I must. In this, I might not discover the totality of healing, I may not even discover how God directs my paths through the sorrow, but I will try to discover the truth of his reign in this world.
                It does not make sense that each one of us has to deal with the sorrows we bear. Why must we know the crushing action of the oil press? From a human standpoint, it does not make sense that Jesus had to suffer as he did, becoming the sacrifice so that we might know reconciliation with God. He still faced that sorrow, struggled his way through it, and submitted to God. The task before Jesus was not an easy one!
                The task we face as we dwell in the oil press is not easy! Dwell there we must because all things exist in this broken creation. As a blessing, God enters into this broken creation with us. He weeps with us. He grieves for us. He experiences the oil press and drinks the cup on our behalf. Perhaps, we can find comfort in God as we yell out in regards to the many sorrows that crush us. At least we can try.

Prayer: Ever-present God, through Christ you have become the man of sorrows. We can know that you hear our desperate prayers of pain, forsakenness, and grief. Comfort us now. Then help us to know your will in our turmoil. Enable us to submit to you, even as we reel from the crushing effects of life and death. Come, dwell in the oil press with us. Make us useful like olive oil that has emerged from the crushing. In Christ’s holy name, we pray, Amen!

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[1] Mark Cartwright, The Olive in the Ancient Mediterranean. (March 29, 2024); www.worldhistory.org.

[2] Ibid.

[3] J. B. Green, “Gethsemane.” in Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels. (Downers Grove: IVP, 1992), 265.

[4] Craig S. Keener, A Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999), 634.

[5] Michael J. Wilkins, The NIV Application Commentary: Matthew. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2004), 840.

[6] Ibid., 841.

[7] Robert H. Mounce, New International Biblical Commentary: Matthew. (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1991), 241.

Remember the Renegade

 

“Remember the Renegade”
Luke 23:39-43

Remembrances on March 25:
            This evening I plan to pull out my four Belgian Waffle makers and cook up some delicious waffles so that I can celebrate International Waffle Day. My daughter prefers to have a waffle with the impression of Mickey Mouse upon it while I prefer to have one from the waffle makers that place impressions of Star Wars characters upon them. My whole family looks forward to waffles for dinner.
            It would be particularly fitting if I could make a Waffle with images of an angel or of the crucifixion as the historical church has honored March 25^th for two significant reasons throughout the centuries. The church has celebrated the Solemnity of the Annunciation on this day. Tradition holds that on March 25^th, sometime around 2000 years ago, the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary to announce the birth of the Messiah.
            Interestingly, the church also claims this date as the actual day of the crucifixion, when Jesus dies for our sins. These two events falling on the same day infers the possibility that in great mercy, Jesus gives up his life on the anniversary of his conception. God’s gift of grace and presence with us spreads from birth to death.
            Since the church acknowledges March 25^th as the day of the crucifixion, some through the centuries have celebrated the Feast of Saint Dismas in remembrance of this creation altering moment. Dismas is the name given by tradition to the repentant criminal on the cross next to Jesus who said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” This man has become the patron saint for prisoners and penitent sinners because of his crimes, his confession and the mercy that Christ offers to all prisoners through the crucifixion.
            Tradition and myth add narrative to this man’s life. A legend regarding his life seeks to illuminate his character and why he spoke the words he did as he hung upon the cross. This apocryphal story from the Arabic Gospel of the Infancy, where he has the name Titus, narrates that he and the other criminal who hung next to Jesus had previously sought to rob Mary and Joseph. As the holy family traveled to Egypt following the events concerning the wise men and King Herod a band of thieves, consisting of these two men, threatened them. The legend tells that Dismas convinced the other thief to deter from his intention to steal by paying him 40 drachmas. He did this because he detected something special about the child Jesus being carried by Mary. As the tale concludes, Jesus prophecies that the thieves will suffer crucifixion with Jesus and Dismas will then join Jesus in heaven.[1]
Meeting the Renegade on the Cross:
            This legendary account provides great fodder for the imagination. It remains a myth attached to this miscreant who hung next to our Lord. From the brief narrative we do have in Scripture we can glean some facts about this man. Additionally, the words he gasps out in his final moments offer truth about how we should interact with our crucified Lord.
            Luke uses the Greek word, kakourgon (kakourgon), a general term for miscreants, malefactors, and lawbreakers. Mark uses the word, lhsthj (lestes), translated as robber or thief, but referring to those who will not hesitate to use violence to achieve their desires. Many ancient sources used this word to refer to revolutionaries.[2] Most likely, these two men had plotted to overthrow Rome in some manner. Thus they received the punishment of death by crucifixion.
            We can know that this man had a violent past and likely harmed many others in pursuit of his militant goals. Most likely, he looked for a revolutionary Messiah, who would come and lead Israel to conquest over the hated foreign oppressors from Rome. Yet, somehow as his companion rails against Jesus, this rebel gains insight and truth.
Remembering Our Rebellion:
            He hangs on the cross next to Jesus, struggling to breathe, gasping for hope. He hears the mocking of his fellow felon, looks beside him, and sees the face of innocence, sweating and bearing the pain of the world’s sin on his shoulders. He suddenly knows the reality of God’s Messiah. He can do nothing, but in awe, speak these words, addressing them to the other criminal, “Don’t you fear God? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”
            In these words, this hardened man confesses his own wrongdoing and declares the reality and necessity of a Messiah for his life and ours. This man, wracked with pain, admits his own guilt, contrasting it with the innocence of Jesus.[3] In doing so, he reveals the truth, the innocent Messiah comes to suffer along with each person who exists in the guilt of rebellion, thievery, and violence. Seeing his own guilt and Jesus hanging beside him leads to salvation.[4]
            Each of us needs to consider our penchant toward rebellion, thievery, and violence. We all turn our hearts away from God’s design for life. We all steal from our neighbors, treating them unjustly with actions of greed and selfish pursuits. We all abuse others with cruel words, angry thoughts, bitterness, warmongering attitudes, and sometimes our very fists. We all hang on the edge of death in the midst of our guilt.
            Thanks be to God that Jesus hangs beside us! We can turn and recognize the precious Messiah just as the evil doer does on the cross. We can see Jesus’ innocence and our guilt. Then we can turn to Jesus for healing, restoration, and lives marked by his kingdom values.
Remembering Our True Sovereign:
            In the midst of conviction the criminal also states, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” This statement is replete with acknowledgement of the full grace of God present through the person and sacrifice of the Messiah, Jesus Christ.
            This miscreant acknowledges that he needs Jesus to remember him. Remembering comes with knowledge and compassion. When we seek this from Jesus, he grants it, inviting us into relationship with him and our Creator God. Jesus wants to remember each one of us and welcome us into his open arms. At the cross, Jesus forgives and offers the opportunity for each person to make this same request.
            In this statement, the criminal also implicitly acknowledges Jesus’ kingship.[5] He accepts Jesus as the sovereign over his life, setting aside any self-centered claim toward personal sovereignty. In this moment, he bows before the Lord in worship. He wants to take his place, through the grace of God, among the righteous in the coming kingdom of Christ.[6] He longs to experience restoration as a steward in God’s creation and knows that this man hanging next to him brings about that restoration through his perfect reign.
            Each of us needs to follow the example of this dying man. We all die a little every day. In our dying, we need to see Jesus hanging beside us claiming our fate as his own. We all revel in our rebellion against God’s design for life. In acknowledgement of our rebellion, we need to view the grace of God present in the one who takes our shame as his own. In seeing Christ beside us, joining us in our situation we can pray for him to remember us and rest assured that he does! When we truly gaze upon Christ, we will have to acknowledge him as Lord. Then, like the crucified rebel, we should ask Jesus to welcome us into his kingdom on this day.
            Jesus will do just that. In his unmatched love, he will invite us to dwell with him in paradise. In mercy, Jesus hangs beside each one of us, accepts our confessions of rebellion, and receives us as we bow before him in worship. Know the great grace of our sovereign king, Jesus Christ, and enter into his kingdom today.

 

Prayer: Gracious God, when I consider your great mercy, I know you remember me. Your Son, Jesus, did nothing wrong. Yet, he chooses to live and die as someone who has. He hangs beside me in my mortality. Even as I have rebelled against you and committed acts of injustice against other people, I know that Jesus has come into my reality. Forgive me and help me rest in the fact that you welcome me into paradise. In Christ’s loving name, Amen.

 

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[1] St. Dismas, the Good Thief (April 25, 2024) Faith ND, http://www.fatih.nd.edu; St. Dismas (April 25, 2024), Catholic On-line/Saints & Angels; http://www.catholic.org/saints.

[2] N. T. Wright, The Crown and The Fire. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1992), 18.

[3] Fred B. Craddock, Interpretation: Luke. (Louisville: John Knox Press, 1990), 274.

[4] Michael Card, Luke: The Gospel of Amazement. (Downers Grove: IVP, 2010), 256.

[5] Craig A. Evans, NIBC: Luke. (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1990), 338.

[6] Darrell L. Bock, The NIV Application Commentary: Luke. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996), 396.

Living in Paradox

 

“Living in the Paradox”
Job 30:16-31

The Grieving Community:
            We stumble through life as broken people, seeking some sense of comfort as we struggle with loss during this season. We know we should feel joy. We know we should feel excitement. We know we should feel love and hope as we face these holidays. Yet, many of these feelings seem fleeting as we sit mired in the tragedies of our lives. Death haunts us. Loss of dreams leave us sleepless. Unemployment causes fear. Other losses leave us wondering. We weep. We cry. We yell out to God. We doubt. We struggle. We mourn.
            So, we join into a community of lament. We look for answers and find few. We try to pray and groans emerge. We hold tight to memories and fear making new ones. Where is the joy? Where is the peace? Silent nights hold the wrong type of silence.
            My own grief over losing my son, Peter Emmanuel Jackson, to his lifelong battle with hypo-plastic left heart syndrome on April 18, 2021, has taught me the prayers and songs of lament. Peter passed at the age of 16 during a surgery to replace his pacemaker. My wife and I have been shattered ever since. So, we have spent much time and tears reading the laments of Scripture. We have also processed our grief through the writing of our own laments. We ache through loss and have found comfort through parched prayers and melancholy melodies.
The Lament of Job:
            Another place I have turned as I have tried to grasp any sense of understanding my great loss is to the book of Job. Job, a righteous man knows the pain of immense loss, but not the satisfaction of knowing why. Through much of his life, he experienced many blessings – wealth, a large family, the joy of a loving wife, respect in his community, and a meaningful relationship with God. All this vanished in a moment as his wealth was stolen, as his ten children died while celebrating together, as his wife told him to curse God, and as his body developed a terrible sickness. These events, compounded by faulty wisdom from friends, brought great struggle for this man in his relationship with God.
            In Job 30:16-31, we hear a portion of Job’s response to one of those friends, Bildad. This man, who masqueraded as a comforter, tells Job that no one can truly relate to God because humans are but maggots and worms. These words, for obvious reasons, did not bring Job comfort, but instead brought Job to the mood in which we find him in the poetry found in this portion of his lament.
Job and the Night:
            Job begins his words of sorrow addressing a personified night.[1] Darkness has consumed him so thoroughly that he feels its presence as a living and breathing entity. It chokes him like a garment pulled too tightly around his neck. This could relay that feeling in our throat as grief overtakes us, that lump that steals our breath, and only finds appeasement through screaming tears.
            Job also feels that night has reduced him to dust and ashes. In the culture in which Job lived, dust and ashes symbolized death, grief, and abasement. At this point in his grief, in the attack he feels from the forces of night, he declares himself as mourning and death.[2] Many people feel ruined in the depths of our beings. We experience death over and over and over in our souls. We, like Job become mourning and death.
Job Dealing with the Paradox of God in Our Suffering:
            Job continues and turns his ire toward God. In his honest experience he cries out to God and hears no answer. God merely looks at him as he tries to understand why God has allowed tragedy into his life. God has become the enemy, bringing death, allowing for inexplicable, unjust circumstances. Job feels attacked by God. He feels as if God has placed him within this storm. Job knows that God will bring him to death.
            These expressions of angst flow from Job’s mouth. He appears to despise God. His experience of grief has led Job to confess that God has dumped upon him, that God has poured cruelty upon him, and that God has cursed him. Even though, he has previously, in fact just recently in chapter 29, declared God as his friend, he still feels betrayed. He lives in paradox, trying to understand how the sovereign God of love could allow all these things.
            We could ask similar questions. As we consider the message of this holiday season: that the God of love, the God who seeks relationship with each one of us, sent His beloved Son into our world so that we might experience restoration, we face loss. We wonder how this God who supposedly offers friendship to us through the amazing gift of Jesus Christ, could also allow for such tragedy, such pain, and such grief in our lives. So, like Job, we sit in the paradox, wearing our sackcloth and ashes.
Job and the Paradox of Common Wisdom:
            Job continues exploring the paradox of his existence. In verse 25 he thinks about his actions of righteousness when he wept for those in trouble or grieved with the poor. But reality contradicts the expectations. Common wisdom in Job’s day claimed that those who lived in reflection of God, choosing love and compassion, would benefit from God’s blessings. But when Job hoped for good, evil came and when he looked for light, darkness came. The paradox continues. In these statements, Job wonders, “Why?” None of it seems right. None of it seems just. None of it seems to measure up to expectations in regard to his relationship with God. Do we not wonder similar things? Do we not wonder about the encroaching darkness as we wander through the inexplicable pain of life? Do we not wrestle with the injustice that has been cast upon us by a God who appears merciless and unloving?
Job and the Paradox of Living in Grief:
            Job concludes his lament with three metaphors. In the first he states that he has become the brother of jackals and the companion of owls. Both of these animals lived in the wilderness. The people of Job’s culture viewed them as desert dwellers. Every time jackals are mentioned throughout the Bible, except once, they are associated with lamentation and mourning – they give voice to their desolate and sterile environment. Isaiah 43:20 is the exception, where jackals give off praise because the desolate desert has been transformed into a garden.[3] Owls also give praise when God transforms the desolation. In this passage, Isaiah declares that God will restore Israel from their exile in Babylon, that God will bring about a new thing. Perhaps God will restore all those who mourn, all those who feel in exile. Perhaps all those who mourn will also learn to praise. For now, we sit like Job, like the jackal and the owl yelping about our desolation.
            The second metaphor concerns Job’s skin, which has been blackened. Some feel this refers to the boils that cover him. Since it appears among two other metaphors, we should likely consider it a metaphor as well. By speaking of his blackened skin, Job emphasizes the gloominess that consumes his very being, darkening his continence. The night covers him. No light can seep through into his heart.
            The final metaphor just might show that Job is a musician. He states, “My heart is tuned to mourning and my flute to the sound of wailing.” Through these words, Job emphasizes that those instruments usually reserved for praise and joy now only declare his grief, pain, and weeping. Job feels that his very existence is a reversal of what should be.[4] Instead of praising the God of love, he laments, mourns, and curses.
Resting in the Presence and Promise of God:
            Shortly after this complaint, this agonizing honesty, God comes to Job and speaks out of the storm. As God speaks, God illustrates to Job through images of creation and God’s control of the elements of chaos that God remains present with Job in the midst of the sorrow and in the midst of the suffering.
            God sits with us in our dust and ashes. God grieves with us. God allows us to wrestle and doubt and yell. God invites us to rediscover His mercy, love, and sovereignty in the midst of our grieving. God does bring peace. God promises that He will restore joy into our lives. Yes, we wait. Yes, we weep. Yes, we exist, like Job, in the paradox of the unfulfilled promise. Yes, we sing our laments intermingled with praise. We hope in the promises of God. We look toward the promise, toward the truth of the Christ Child – the God who enters into our lives, into our mourning, into our nights, into our darkness, and offers us light. And we wait for all things to become new!

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[1] John H. Walton, Application: Job. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2012), 317.

[2] Gerald H. Wilson, NIBC: Job. (Peabody: Hendrickson, 2007), 330.

[3] Gerald J. Janzen, Interpretation: Job. (Louisville: John Knox Press, 1985), 209.

[4] Good, 308-309.

Song Work - The Way to Blessing

The Way to Blessing
Psalm 1

God bless America. A large percentage of Americans who believe in God believe that God has done just that. What do we mean when we talk about blessing? Are blessings connected with material abundance or with personal success or with happiness? Does blessing refer to the brand of freedom so carefully crafted in this nation? Does blessing refer to our being perceived as a nation with the greatest military? What do we mean by blessing? What should we mean by blessing? How might this apply to America and more importantly how does blessing apply to the lives of God’s followers within this nation and world?

Psalm 1 opens with the word “blessed.” The Hebrew word used here is yrwx (esher), a word that appears throughout the wisdom literature of the Hebrew Scriptures.[1] This word refers to something much greater than happiness, material abundance, or the supposed superiority of a nation. This word relates to a term, rwx, which means to go straight or proceed in a right manner or have a right understanding.[2] The idea of blessing flows from a sense of well-being and rightness, of going in the right direction or living as deemed right.[3] God will grant the people blessing, direction and a right relationship with him, if they choose to live in the way God provides for us all. This Psalm seeks to point the people of God toward right living so that they might experience the life God desires for people to live. So how should those who wish to receive this blessing live?

The wisdom shared by the poet offers three directives or signposts that can lead us down the right path. In verse 1, the poet instructs that the person seeking God’s blessing should not walk in the counsel of the wicked, stand in the way of sinners, or sit in the seat of mockers. In stating the same truth in three ways, the poet uses parallelism in order to mark the intensity by which a person must avoid associating with those who live contrary to God’s design.[4] By using the parallel terms of walk, stand, and sit, the poet develops the picture of a person who increasingly associates with people who live contrary to God’s direction.

Likewise, the terms wicked, sinner, and mocker express different aspects of people who live contrary to God’s actions. The wicked (mycWr – rasa’im) person is someone who is judged guilty by the courts, someone who lives contrary to a society defined by God’s shalom. A sinner (myxFH – hata’im) is a person who lives dominated by evil. This person does evil by choice. A mocker (mycl – lesim) is a person who actively works against the righteous and those who seek to live a righteous life. Each of these types of people drag down the righteous, encouraging a lifestyle contrary to the path God desires people to walk upon. Those who walk with the wicked, stand with the sinner and sit with the mocker cannot receive the blessing of right direction provided by God.

The second directive found in verse 2 is that people who wish to know God’s blessings should delight in the law of the Lord. The parallel that reflects the same thought challenges those seeking blessing to meditate on the law day and night. In other words, those seeking God’s blessing need to find meaning and joy in God’s law and think on it all day long. What we spend time on or find joy in reveals what we truly value.[5]  

For the obedient Hebrew person, in whose culture this Psalm was written, the law would refer to the Torah or the five books of Moses – Genesis-Deuteronomy. These five books made up the instruction and wisdom given by God for right living within God’s covenant community. This instruction and wisdom has since expanded, including the entirety of God’s inspired Scriptures. God has provided the words in the Bible so that we might know God and understand how we might live as those seeking the blessed life. Throughout the many years of the Bible’s composition, God utilized the talents, stories, and cultures of people in order to reveal His work of love and grace in the world. It takes time and guidance by God’s Holy Spirit to understand how God spoke into those cultures and now continues to speak into the modern world in order that people might receive the blessings of God. Thus, people seeking blessing must find joy in God’s word and spend time throughout each day learning of God’s wisdom, love, grace, and presence.

The third directive comes in the form of a contrast between those people, the wise, who allow God’s sovereignty in their lives and those people, the wicked, who do not submit to God’s sovereignty. The similes in verses 3 and 4 paint a picture of two different plants, one which thrives in usefulness and another which blows away as waste. The righteous or wise person depicted as a flourishing tree that yields fruit benefits because of its location. It has been planted by streams of water. Such a tree grows strong and provides fruit for others based on its location. This tree is not located next to the beneficial water through chance, but has been planted. The verb for planted is a passive participle, indicating that the tree has been placed next to the water by an outside force.[6] Through finding joy in God’s word and meditating upon it, the wise person allows God to plant them in a beneficial location in which they can bear fruit, never wither, and prosper. The wise person allows God to reign in their life. This allows God to provide nourishment through His wisdom, grace, love, and shalom.

Those who do not allow God’s sovereignty over their lives cannot receive blessing. In this, they become like chaff blown in the wind. They are blown to and fro by the forces of this world. Chaff is the bi-product of the grain harvest. A grain harvester would take the plant and wave it about in the wind, which would cause the useful heavy grain to fall to the ground and the useless light chaff to blow away in the wind. The wicked are pictured as useless, fruitless, and without worth.[7] In this useless state, they cannot offer blessing or experience blessing. The wicked have no true place in God’s world. They might seem to flourish, but truthfully, their flourishing is at the expense of others rather than within community.

Verse 5 continues speaking of the fruitless plight of the wicked. The opening statement that speaks of standing in judgement does not picture an end times judgement, but rather the hoped for social situation in Ancient Israel. The hope was that the righteous would offer wisdom in governing others, pursuing justice.[8] The wicked person cannot do this because their visions of justice are not justice at all. Instead their justice is inspired by wickedness, sin, and mocking. They also cannot gather in the assembly of the righteous. In other words, they cannot experience true, holy fellowship with the people of God. Their pursuit of the sinful lifestyle denies them the grace, love and shalom of God’s community. Thus, they do not experience the blessing of God’s direction and wholeness in their lives. They can neither offer God’s blessing to others nor receive the fullness of God’s blessing because they refuse to walk according to God’s ways, failing to meditate upon God’s word.

The opposite of the statements in verse 5 are also true. The righteous or blessed person lives in a just relationship with society, seeking God’s justice and redemption in the midst of interpersonal relationships. This person also receives the gift of God’s community. The righteous person lives in the midst of righteous people, benefitting from the community that God creates.[9] Part of the blessing received from our loving God for those who truly pursue His will and study His word is that of a blessed and righteous community built on the love and righteousness of God.

Verse 6 offers a final contrast between the righteous and the wicked. In so doing, it illustrates the life of the blessed individual. The blessed know that the Lord watches over their way. God offers direction, assurance and relationship as the blessed righteous person walks the path of life. God’s regard, His attention, His compassion is focused upon the righteous person.

The alternative to blessing is the way of the wicked, which brings about perishing. The person who surrounds their self with those intent on rebelling against God, disregards the truths of Scripture, and who does not acknowledge and bow to God’s sovereignty in their life faces destruction. God does not desire this path for anyone, but allows people, in their denial of God’s blessing, to follow it.

The blessing received from God is that God involves Himself along the path of life. This blessing comes through choosing not to dwell or live in the ways of evil. This blessing comes through seeking out God’s wisdom, given in the words of Scripture. This blessing comes with an obedient heart that bows down and allows God to transplant him or her beside the streams of water that bring life. Blessing is not about abundance in riches, material gain, or freedom to do as we wish. Blessing is found in discovering the path of righteousness, living according to God’s guidance, living a life inspired by God’s ways, and allowing God to live in relationship with us.

Prayer: O Lord, you are the giver and revealer of wisdom. Thank you for offering us your guidance in this life so that we might become the people you have created us to be, a people who live in reflection of you. Thank you for giving us opportunity to avoid living the life of the wicked. Thank you for inviting us to embrace the life of the righteous. Strengthen us to do so. Enable us to grow and bear fruit. Grant us blessings as we walk along the path of life. In Christ’s holy name we pray, Amen!

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[1] Robert Davidson, The Vitality of Worship. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998), 10.

[2] F. Brown, et al., The Brown-Drivers-Briggs Hebrew English Lexicon. (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1997), 80.

[3] Gerald H. Wilson, The NIV Application Commentary: Psalms Volume 1. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002), 94.

[4] Craig C. Broyles, New International Biblical Commentary: Psalms. (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1999), 42.

[5] Ibid.

[6] Gerald H. Wilson, The NIV Application Commentary: Psalms Volume 1. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002), 97.

[7] Peter C. Craigie, Word Biblical Commentary: Psalms 1-50. (Nashville: Nelson, 2004), 61.

[8] Ibid.

[9] Michael Wilcock, The Message of Psalms 1-72. (Downers Grove: IVP, 2001), 22. 

People In Exile - Utterly Unbalanced and Uncertain

Utterly Unbalanced and Uncertain
Lamentations 5:1-22

Lamentations 5 continues the pattern present in the earlier poems, jarring people with its honesty about suffering and all the emotions that accompany it. Yet, this poem deviates from the previous poems in important ways. First, while it has the façade of a Hebrew acrostic with its 22 verses or stanzas, it differs from the previous poems because no true acrostic exists.[1] The poem has fallen into chaos. It no longer follows the ordered pattern previously present. Second, this poem is the shortest of the 5 poems that make up the collection of Lamentations. This brevity could indicate that the community runs out of hope as the poet declares these final words.[2] Alternatively, this shortened poetic expression may indicate a weariness in expressing the grief. The poet is exhausted and has little more to say. These two deviations from the primary poetic form that makes up Lamentations emphasize the uncertainty central to this poem.

Interestingly, there are other deviations in the poetry in this chapter as compared to the other chapters. This poem, unlike its predecessors within the collection, has balanced lines. The most common line contains three accents in each half. There are also a larger proportion of parallel expressions within the poem. Very often, the second half line echoes the expressions that precede it.[3] These features provide order in the midst of the chaos, which further develops feelings of uncertainty. Sorrow mixed with praise. Doubt mixed with hope.

In addition, this poem, of all the poems that make up Lamentations, most closely resembles the structure of a communal lament. Lamentations 5 presents a collective prayer, using the plural “we” to indicate the far reaching effects of the communal grief. Other poems with this structure, such as Psalms 44, 60, and 74, tend to follow a specific pattern. These poems often begin with an address to God, continue with an expression of complaint, and conclude with a praise statement toward God. Lamentations 5 diverges from this pattern in two important ways. First, it extends the complaint portion. Secondly, the praise offered to God at the end of the poem is intermingled with other emotions and ultimately, concludes with further lament.[4] Using this form emphasizes the fact that the entire community experiences the pain expressed throughout this poem. All the people are utterly consumed with this lament. This form also allows the poet to present a prayer, a final beseeching of God, begging for God to notice the brokenness, hurt, and alienation experienced by the entire community. In addition, the communal lament encourages both poet and worshipper to turn and worship God even in the midst of life’s tragedies. The community finds itself utterly consumed by grief and yet utterly encompassed in a call to worship God as it seeks restoration.

The poem begins by addressing God, asking God to remember. In asking God to remember, this prayer does not infer that God has forgotten, but instead this prayer calls God to act on behalf of the people.[5] This prayer begins with hope that God will act on behalf of the covenant people, as He has in the past. God’s action will occur as He sees the people’s disgrace. Disgrace refers to the experience of reproach, abuse, and shame.[6] Experiencing shame was a huge deal in the ancient near east. The people sought honor, desiring acceptance and esteem from various groups. This acceptance came based on the behavior deemed desirable, virtuous and socially productive in a given culture. Shame refers to the experience of being devalued or belittled based on the inability to measure up to the expectations.[7] The people feel shame as they have failed to measure up to God’s expectations. This shame is compounded as they experience devaluation by the culture and peoples who attack them and take advantage of their situation. Based on their hope that God will see this shame and desire honor for His beloved, the people ask for God to remember them.

The majority of the rest of the poem elucidates what God observes as He looks upon the peoples shame, discovering an unbalanced situation. The entire community struggles through broken existence. This broken existence is punctuated immediately by the loss of inheritance. God had blessed Israel with the land, which they have now lost due to their behavior as rebellious children. This behavior also leads to the loss of family and justice. Comparing themselves to the fatherless and the widow in verse 3, announces both of these truths. Yes, they have literally lost parents and husbands through war and deportation. They have also lost relationship with their heavenly father who no longer blesses them with inheritance. This leads to an ironic understanding that they now live with the same injustice they cast upon the fatherless and widows who lived among them during the times of abundance in The Promised Land. The experienced injustice continues as the people must scrounge and barter for resources, which they should receive as part of their inheritance from God. Water, wood, and bread, commodities for life should be readily available. Yet their situation has stolen the availability of these material needs.

At verse 10, the poet displays a parade of groups who experience the brokenness. This display serves to announce that the entire community experiences the loss, pain, and injustice of exile. Beginning with women and continuing with princes, elders, young men, and boys, the poet shows that no one remains untouched by the grief. Then verses 15-17 display specific experiences that consume the entire community. Joy is gone and dancing has turned to mourning. Both joy and dancing are frequent practices of worshippers, as seen in the Psalms. The community no longer enters into worship or celebration. In addition, the crown has fallen from their heads. This could refer to the literal crown as the monarchy has been destroyed through the deposition of Zedekiah.[8] This could also refer to the loss of glory experienced by the people. Israel, once viewed as a royal people, chosen by God, now exists in shattered remains.[9] The loss of the crown could also symbolize the destruction of the city as the Old Testament often portrayed Jerusalem’s walls as a crown.[10] The city has fallen and the people have fallen with it. The final images of the community, faint hearts and dim eyes, emphasize the frailty of the people caused by their experience and their excessive grief.

As the community suffers, repentance emerges. In the midst of exploring the experience of the community, the poet declares, “Woe to us, we have sinned.” With these words, the poet encourages the community to take ownership of their rebellion against God. Previously in this poem, at verse 7, it appears the people, through the voice of the poet, fail to take on the blame. They declare that their fathers have sinned. But now, at this moment, the people own their wickedness. Their shame, their loss of glory, their disgrace comes because of their choices to dishonor the covenant and rebel against the sovereign Lord. Taking ownership of the rebellion that leads to shame is important for all people as they seek the honor that God bestows through His infinite mercy.

As with most laments, this poem continues with words of worship, declaring the eternal truth about God. The poet affirms God’s complete and everlasting sovereignty. Verse 19 declares that the people believe God remains utterly in control, even in the midst of the community’s unbalance and uncertainty. When unbalance seems to reign and when uncertainty overwhelms, this stanza reminds the faithful that God continues to reign!  When doubt encroaches, God reigns! When life seems shattered, God reigns! When betrayal abounds, God reigns! When peace is a distant dream, God reigns! When chaos consumes, God reigns!

Yet, in the midst of this confession, the poet expresses utter honesty paired with a prayer for restoration. Almost in the same breath of praise, the poet questions God, wondering why God still forgets and forsakes. If God remains on the throne, why do His people exist in brokenness? As the poet questions God, a plea for restoration emerges. This prayer acknowledges further truth regarding God. Restoration must come from God. Human beings cannot initiate or bring about restoration. In the reality of rebellion against God, we cannot even approach the throne of God. Instead, we must depend on God’s amazing grace.[11] We must lay our case before Him, admitting to our absolute and total guilt. Then, we must await divine mercy. The opportunity to return to God cannot depend on the people, for all people continue to rebel. Thanks be to God for His incredible mercy! Perhaps this is why the poem ends in uncertainty. The people of Israel deserve utter rejection by God. Here the poet acknowledges this, wondering at the possibility of restoration. After all, in God’s sovereignty, He also must meet out justice upon all people. We do not deserve God’s grace and love. Will we yet receive it? This truth leaves the people of exile in uncertainty.

This truth points to the world’s need for Christ as the final answer to God’s wrath and justice and the final manifestation of God’s amazing grace! In Christ, God remembers all people. In Christ, God offers to restore each person to Himself. The entire world community can respond, moving from uncertainty and unbalance to certainty and balance. God has not utterly rejected anyone. Instead, God has utterly received us into His eternal embrace. Even in the midst of rebellion, we can all bow before God’s throne and know the fullness of grace! In the midst of the brokenness and rejection we have brought upon ourselves, we can bow before God’s throne and know the fullness of grace!

Prayer: Sovereign Lord, you do indeed reign forever, from generation to generation. We ask that this truth would bring people comfort. It is in your sovereignty that you remember us, you act on our behalf, blessing us with the fullness of grace in Christ Jesus! Through this you restore us to relationship with you! Please inspire all people to come before your throne to confess to rebellion. Then restore all people to your kingdom. Enable us all to rest in the promise of your mercy and the fact that your love overcomes your wrath. We pray these things in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen!

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[1] Tremper Longman III., NIBC: Jeremiah, Lamentations. (Peabody: Hendrickson, 2008), 388.

[2] John Goldingay, Lamentations and Ezekiel for Everyone. (Louisville: WJK, 2016), www.scribd.com edition, 33.

[3] Delbert R. Hillers, The Anchor Bible: Lamentations. (Garden City: Doubleday and Co., Inc., 1972), 102.

[4] F. W. Dobbs-Allsopp, Interpretation: Lamentations. (Louisville: John Knox Press, 2002), 142; Hillers, 102.

[5] Longman, 389; Christopher J. H. Wright, The Message of Lamentations. (Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2015) www.scribd.com edition, 192.

[6] Dobbs-Allsopp, 143.

[7] D. A. deSilva, “Honor and Shame.” Dictionary of the Old Testament: Wisdom, Poetry, and Writings, Downers Grove: IVP, 2008, 287.

[8] Longman, 392.

[9] Walter C. Kaiser, A Biblical Approach to Suffering. (Chicago: Moody Press, 1982), 117.

[10] Dobbs-Allsopp, 147.

[11] Christopher J. H. Wright, The Message of Lamentations. (Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2015) www.scribd.com edition, 205.