SOLOMON - 1 Kings 5:1-5; 8:27-30, 41-43

Commentary on Narrative Lectionary by Roger Nam

At the height of Israel's success as a monarchy, King Solomon stops and prays.

After David declares his intention to build a temple for God, he is rebuked and redirected to a new vision of a house. Now, Solomon ascends to the Israelite kingship. With the changing of the guard, Solomon recalls the earlier promise to David and makes arrangements to build a magnificent temple (1 Kings 5:1-5).

At the completion of the temple, Solomon gives his prayer of dedication. Scholars have long recognized 1 Kings 8 as a "chapter of reflection," one of the crucial chapters in the narrative of Israel's history from Deuteronomy through 2 Kings. (Other chapters of reflection include Deuteronomy 1-4; Joshua 1, 23; Judges 2; 1 Samuel 12; 2 Kings 17).

These chapters of reflection occur at pivotal moments throughout the grand narrative of ancient Israel. Together, they hold together the vast history from the wilderness through the settlement and partition of land, to the end of the Davidic monarchy. At these junctures, the Bible momentarily halts the action in order to reflect on past events. But such reflection is never merely nostalgic. The lessons of experience must guide and exhort the present generation to remain faithful to the Lord through new challenges.

The building of the temple in Jerusalem certainly qualifies 1 Kings 8 as a watershed moment in Israel's history. After the bloody expansionist wars of David, the borders stand secure. The nation is unified, and the Solomon rules as the second monarch of a historically astonishing four centuries of rule. Most significantly, the completion of the great temple provides a lasting place of prayer and sacrifice.

After much planning and execution, the temple is completed, the ark enters the sanctuary and the glory of the Lord fills the house. The physical presence of this great new building, as well as the promise of peace motivates a heartfelt prayer of praise. Despite all of the success that Solomon has witnessed with his ascension to the throne and economic prosperity, Solomon does not draw the prayer to himself nor the temple. The temple dedication prayer centers on God: his great actions, his character, and most importantly his commitment to the covenant of David.

Perhaps this prayerful reminder of the covenant to David prompted Solomon to reflect on the limitations of the earthly temple, "But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Even heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, much less in this house that I have built!" (1 Kings 8:27)

At first glance, this verse is puzzling for a temple dedication prayer. The construction of the temple came at the cost of much labor and the sacrifice of many resources over years. Why not highlight this accomplishment? But as a chapter of reflection, the question about the overwhelming presence of God and the inadequacy of an earthly house is actually a much more appropriate reflection. Solomon is praying through the question of the divine transcendence and immanence. God is vast, majestic, and often beyond human cognition.

At the same time, God is accessible and a covenant partner with David. The prayer of Solomon sets a standard by which we can rely on God as mysterious, awesome, and uncontainable, and thus, demands our obedience. At the same time, Solomon recognizes that the inevitable failures of the people force them to rely on a personal God who is trustworthy, loving, and fatherly.

With this background, Solomon is able to turn to supplication. Despite the recent political and religious successes, Solomon is aware that Israel will face great challenges. Solomon does not merely ask in meek voice, as a humble request to the transcendent God. Rather, the biblical text shows Solomon using an imperative (command) voice to God. The human tells the deity to open his eyes and then to listen, no less than four times!

Solomon continues to give explanation for these demands. For God promised that his name will dwell with the people. Although the temple cannot contain God, it can serve as a place where God hears the human voice "night and day" (1 Kings 8:29). Solomon strategically even quotes from God himself, pleading, contending and making a case that God will listen.

Solomon prays for the community of Israel to recognize the holiness of God (verses 31-32), for forgiveness and restoration (verses 33-34), for physical sustenance even in the wake of natural calamity (verses 35-36). Solomon prays for the community to welcome the foreigners so that they shall also be accommodated for worship in the house (verses 41-43). It becomes clear that this prayer sets a foundation for Israel's future. One can see echoes of 1 Kings 8 in the prayers of future leaders of Israel as they faced calamity:

• King Hezekiah against the world's most destructive military force

• King Josiah trying to purge Judah from idolatry

• Elijah's prayer at Mount Carmel

• Ezra's plea for restoration

• Daniel's request for mercy during a time of national calamity

The temple provides the people of Israel a symbolic space to sacrifice and worship God. But of course, God is much greater than the Jerusalem temple. He is not limited to sacrifices during holy days and scheduled worship.

The prayer of Solomon demonstrates that God is equally present through sin, death, calamity, war, captivity, and sickness, most of which occurs outside the spatial confines of the temple. But thankfully, because God is transcendent and immanent, he will continue to listen to his people.

DAVID

 2 Samuel 7:1-17

Commentary on Narrative Lectionary by Roger Nam

David wishes to build a temple-house, but instead, God builds a greater dynasty-house.

One of most frequented destinations in Israel is the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem, the remaining extant portion of the wall that surrounded the Temple Mount, and the actual temple during the time of Jesus. The wall stands at the end of a large plaza, set aside for prayer, and it runs roughly 57 meters long and 19 meters high.

Herod constructed the Temple Mount in about 19 BC as a strategic project to win the favor of Jews during the Roman occupation. Since the destruction of this temple in 70 AD, the sacred status of Jerusalem among different religions has brought a disproportionately large amount of violence to this sacred space. The survival of the Western Wall is truly remarkable. It is no wonder that it remains a religious treasure for Jewish faith.

My own experiences at the Western Wall often evoke thoughts of David in 2 Samuel 7. The Bible describes the unlikely ascension of the son of Jesse as Israel's second king. After moving the royal residence to Jerusalem and transporting the Ark of the Covenant to this new royal capital, David seeks to build a temple for God. Of course, building the temple is an appropriate response for the early years of a monarchy.

In the ancient Near East, kings built extravagant residences for deities at the highest points of the royal city that would reflect the gods' splendor and majesty. In this sense, David's request was not completely self-promoting, but the suitable action for a new king looking to honor his God. David presumably reasons that with a new social reality for Israel as a unified country, he logically develops a burden to create a national temple.

But as we know, God is a surprising God. Rather than respond with approval, God gives a rather sharp reply, "Are you the one to build me a house to live in?" (2 Samuel 7:5, emphasis mine)? God explains that he has never had a temple for his entire history with Israel's ancestors, from the Egyptian captivity and the ensuing exodus (2 Samuel 7:6). God reminds David that the divine presence is with them in tents (verse 6), in the pasture (verse 8), among their sheep (verse 8), and in battle (verse 9). God is not contained within a building. His presence and his providence have been active for generations without a temple.

The divine plans for a house is magnificently more complex than David could have ever imagined. David will not build a temple (Hebrew bayt: = "house") for God. Rather, God promises to build a lasting dynasty (also Hebrew bayt) for David and his progeny. God will give David and the children of Israel long-awaited rest from enemies. Most significantly, God invokes the promise to the patriarchs, and augments it: "I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me" (2 Samuel 7:12b-14).

The temple-house will be built in time, but only through David's son. But the dynasty-house is already built and is established for the ages. God assures David that this dynasty-house will never fade: "But I will not take my steadfast love from him, as I took it from Saul...Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me; your throne shall be established forever" (2 Samuel 7:15-16).

God reminded David that physical houses are not the core of God. More than a building, God is a divine transcendent being who is faithful to the promise. And this promise to David brings hope to future generations. The promise eventually culminates in the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, when the angel declares "The Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David" (Luke 1:32b).

I absolutely love visiting the Western Wall and entering the courtyard for prayer. But it saddens me when I must pass through the security requirements at the entry. The ubiquitous presence of police is a blatant reminder of the ephemeralness of this last vestige to the biblical temple-house. But as I consider the vast legions of Christians throughout the world, I can see the greater glories of the dynasty-house as mediated through Christ:

• The Liberian economist seeks to stabilize his country's currency to alleviate poverty.

• The North Korean prays in secret in hopes that free worship may triumph oppression.

• The Peruvian farmer works the field while teaching his children about provision from God.

All are descendants of the Davidic line through Christ. We are witnesses to this dynasty-house, created as God's promise to David. Indeed, this house is much greater, much larger, more glorious than David could have ever imagined.

SAMUEL 1 Samuel 1:9-11, 19-20; 2:1-10

Commentary on Narrative Lectionary by Roger Nam

A mother's prayer results in an unlikely beginning to kingship.

The monarchy of Israel begins with a narrative of despair and humility. Hannah, from Ephraimite country, is a childless wife, thereby making her one of the more excluded figures of ancient Israel. Unlike today, when the average child costs about $227,000 to raise, in a patriarchal, agrarian society, parents considered children as major financial assets to the families. They provided future labor from an early age, ensured the continuation of the family name, and guaranteed possession of the patriarchal estate. Children symbolized hope for the future well-being of the family.

So one can easily emphasize with Hannah's sadness, particularly as she had to share her husband with another wife, who already bore multiple sons and daughters. Hannah wept publically and plentifully. She cried so much that her husband gave her double portions to comfort her, and even pleaded with her, "Hannah, why do you weep? Why do you not eat? Why is your heart sad? Am I not more to you than ten sons?" (1 Samuel 1:8) Although Hannah does not reply, the fact that she continued weeping suggests a disappointing answer to her husband's seemingly rhetorical question.

Hannah's only option is to pray to God, but she does not merely pray. In 1 Samuel 1:11, she articulates one of the more tenacious and bold prayers in all of Scripture, "O LORD of hosts, if only you will look on the misery of your servant, and remember me, and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a male child, then I will set him before you as a nazirite until the day of his death. He shall drink neither wine nor intoxicants, and no razor shall touch his head." Initially, Hannah's prayer results in scorn from the priest, but eventually, the "LORD remembered her" (1 Samuel 1:19). Hannah had her son and named him Samuel because "God heard." And she kept her vow and brought the young child to the presence of the Lord during the period of temple offerings.

The desperate prayer, God's answer, and Hannah's response of obedience create a whirlwind of activity in 1 Samuel 1. Fittingly, Chapter 2 pauses this frenetic activity with a doxology of praise. The reader may expect that this response of Hannah would center around the concrete miracle of the miraculous birth of her child. But interestingly, Hannah does not even mention the boy. Instead, she focuses her praise on the sovereignty of God, "There is no Holy One like the LORD, no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God" (1 Samuel 2:2).

The miraculous events of 1 Samuel 1 inspire this response of praise. But as recorded in scripture, Hannah's song becomes the anthem for everyone who finds themselves in despair and hopelessness. She sings on behalf of the following kinds of people:

• "feeble" (1 Samuel 2:4)
  
• "hungry" (verse 5)
  
• "barren" (verse 5)
  
• "poor" (verses 7-8)
  
• "low" (verse 7)
  
• "needy" (verse 8)

Her song reaches a culmination with the bold proclamation in 1 Samuel 2:8:

He raises up the poor from the dust; he lifts the needy from the ash heap, to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor. For the pillars of the earth are the Lord's, and on them he has set the world.

The poor, barren, and desperate can hope exclusively in the power of God. For Hannah, divine sovereignty triumphs over the social circumstances of pre-monarchic Israel that marginalize the barren women. For Israel, the shaky conglomeration of tribes faced a mounting pressure from encroaching Philistines.

But both Hannah and Israel saw hope in God through a prayer, which following generations would continue to contextualize and apply (see Psalm 113, Luke 1:47-55). Not only does God reach out to the powerless, but God elevates them under his great strength. This is God's business since he is the creator. Barrenness turns to fruitfulness. Hopelessness transforms into hopefulness. Regret from the past moves to joy over the future. By singing this prayer, we join a community of people throughout history who have seen despair, only to be lifted by God.

In the ensuing chapters, Samuel grows up to emerge as Israel's unquestionable leader. This is quite a feat considering the chaos and fractures among tribes in the final chapters of the book of Judges. Samuel then prepares the way for institution of monarchy in Saul, and thus begins the narrative of the kings of Israel.

This is not the sort of beginning that fits the ancient Near East. Royal origins of Mesopotamia and Egypt typically begin with kings descending from the heavenly deities, placed on the thrones of earth to steward the will of the gods. But for ancient Israel, the beginnings of monarchy emerge with the earnest, desperate prayer of a powerless second wife. But of course, this will not be the last time when greatness begins with a birth narrative of humility.

1 Samuel 1:9-11, 19-20; 2:1-10

JOSEPH 37:3-8, 26-34; 50:15-21

Commentary on Narrative Lectionary by Dennis Olson

The story of Joseph and his brothers in Genesis 37-50 is a story of jealousy and sibling rivalry...

... a story of dramatic changes of fortune, revenge and forgiveness, and God working behind the scenes to make good out of human suffering. The story touches on human realities that touch all of our lives, whether in families, congregations, or nations. 

Playing Favorites

The Joseph story begins with a familiar theme in the book of Genesis. In the ancient world, the oldest son was usually the one favored by parents. The eldest child would typically grow up to lead the family and inherit the largest share of the family resources. In Genesis, however, it is the younger child who is repeatedly favored over the elder (4:1-16; 17:20-21; 25:23-26; 29:16-18; 37:2-8; 48:1-22).

Joseph and Benjamin were two sons born to Jacob and Jacob's favored wife, Rachel (30:22-24); they were the youngest of Jacob's twelve sons. The story reports that Jacob [also known as Israel] loved Joseph "more than any other of his children" (37:3). To make matters worse, Jacob made his affection for the seventeen-year-old Joseph very public by giving Joseph a special "long robe with sleeves."  Not surprisingly, the other brothers "hated him" (verse 4). 

Dreams of Greatness, Feelings of Hatred

To add insult to injury, Joseph shares a dream with his brothers, implying that all of them would one day bow down to Joseph (37:5-8). Joseph has a second dream that reinforces the first one (37:9-11; see 50:18). Dreams were understood in the ancient world to be one way by which the divine realm could communicate with certain individuals.

Elsewhere in Genesis, Abraham, Abimelech, Laban and Jacob all received messages from God through a dream (15:12-16; 20:3-6; 28:10-22; 31:24; 46:1-4). Three dream sequences play an important role in the Joseph story (37:5-11; 40:5-23; 41:1-36). Each sequence has two paired dreams with similar messages, demonstrating that they are not random but divinely sent and reliable predictors of the future (41:32). The older brothers respond to their young brat of a brother: "they hated him even more" (37:8). 

The Brothers' Revenge: Murder or Slavery?

The older brothers first contemplate murdering young Joseph (37:19-20). The eldest brother Reuben (with a twinge of regret and responsibility to his father) steps in and convinces the other brothers not to kill Joseph but to throw him into a pit instead (37:21-24). Another brother Judah suggests that the best scenario would be to sell Joseph off to some caravan traders as a slave and the brothers could then pocket the money (37:26-28). Judah's plan is adopted. Joseph is sent off with traders on their way to Egypt. While in Egypt, Joseph will rise from a lowly slave and a prisoner to second-in-command of all Egypt next to Pharaoh (41:37-45).

The brothers cover up their deed of human trafficking into slavery by soaking Joseph's special coat with goat's blood and giving it to their father Jacob. Clothing works as a motif throughout the Joseph narrative, marking significant transitions in Joseph's life (37:3, 31-33; 39:12, 15-18; 41:14, 42). Jacob draws the conclusion (incorrectly) that Joseph has been attacked and killed by wild animals. Jacob is devastated and "mourned for his son many days" (37:34). Only many years later will Jacob learn that in fact Joseph is alive and well in Egypt. Jacob will eventually move all his sons and their families to join Joseph in Egypt during a time of worldwide famine (45:25-28; 46:28-30).

Joseph's Forgiveness of His Brothers

At the end of the Joseph story (50:15-21), Jacob the father dies. Joseph's brothers fear that the now powerful Joseph may take revenge upon his brothers who had sold him into slavery many years earlier (37:25-28). The brothers report to Joseph that their father Jacob had instructed them to urge Joseph to "forgive the crime of your brothers" (50:17). Joseph is touched by their words and weeps (50:17). Interestingly, Joseph may take the prize as the one person in all of Scripture who weeps the most; he seems to have developed a tender heart (42:24; 43:30; 45:2; 45:14-15; 46:29; 50:1). For the first time in the story, Joseph's brothers join in weeping with Joseph, evidence of their deep remorse for their earlier actions (50:18; see 44:16).

Joseph reassures his brothers and asks a rhetorical question: "Am I in the place of God?" Unlike Adam and Eve who desired to "become like God" (Genesis 3:5), Joseph does not presume to take over God's role as judge. Instead, Joseph offers his brothers forgiveness. Joseph looks over the struggles and difficulties of his life -- the threat of violence, slavery, and imprisonment. Joseph sees that through all the remarkable ups and downs of his life, God was with him: "Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended it for good" (50:20).

It needs to be said that this response to tragedy may not be appropriate in every instance of human suffering. It is sometimes impossible for humans to understand what good could come out of certain experiences of intense suffering and loss (see the book of Job). Nor should such a response ("God meant it for good") be imposed upon a sufferer by someone else from the outside; it is a response that is best self-discovered by those who have suffered. Joseph sits in a secure place in his life and is able to look back and see in his long struggles the hand of a gracious and loving God (45:5-7).

Interrupting the Cycle of Violence in Genesis

The Joseph story has clear echoes back to the Cain and Abel story at the beginning of Genesis. Genesis 4 tells the story of one brother favored over another, the resulting jealousy, and the vengeful murder of one brother by another. At the end of Genesis, Joseph's life story offers an alternative possibility that interrupts the spiral of envy and violence that plagues humanity's story in Genesis (Genesis 4:8, 23; 6:11, 13; 12:12; 14:1-16; 20:11; 26:7; 27:41; 32:11; 34:2, 25-31; 37:18).

Beginning as a privileged, bratty seventeen-year-old, Joseph endured a long series of humiliations, struggles, threats, and injustices over his lifetime. Along the way Joseph developed empathy, humility, a tender heart, and, most of all, a deep faith and trust in God's guidance of his life over the long haul. Repeatedly, the story informs the reader: the LORD "was with Joseph" (39:2-3, 21, 23). It was the LORD who blessed Joseph and caused him to prosper in the midst of his difficulties (39:3, 5, 21, 23). Joseph came to know that what he accomplished was not his work but God working through him (41:16, 39; 45:8, 9). God took the evil that humans did and made it into something good and life-giving (45:5, 7; 50:20). Through it all, God molded Joseph into a new person who learned to forgive, to let go, and to work for life and not death.

ABRAHAM Genesis 15:1-6

Commentary on Narrative Lectionary by Dennis Olson
 

In Genesis 1-11, the LORD struggled with all humanity to redeem a sinful and violent world. Beginning in Genesis 12, the LORD tried a new approach.

God selected and focused on one unlikely family among all the families of humankind: the family of Abraham and Sarah.

Abram (the name later changed to Abraham -- Genesis 17:5) was 75 years old (Genesis 12:4), and his wife Sarai (later changed to Sarah -- 17:15) "was barren; she had no child" (11:30). God chose to focus special attention upon this elderly man and this barren woman. God promised this unpromising couple that they would become a "great nation" (12:2). The LORD would give them the land of Canaan (12:7), and descendants as numerous as the grains of dust on the earth (13:14-17). The LORD would bless them so that "in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed" (12:3).

Abraham, a Model of Unquestioning Faith?

The New Testament portrays Abraham as a model of faith (Romans 4:3; Galatians 3:6; James 2:23; Hebrews 11:8-11). But what was Abraham's faith like?  Unquestioning trust? Blind faith? Never complaining? Is that what biblical faith looks like?  Well, not exactly, if we take Genesis 15 as our example.

Faith Lesson #1: God Keeps Promising.

One consistent feature throughout all the stories of Abraham and Sarah is that the LORD keeps repeating the word of promise to them over and over again (Genesis 12:1-3, 7; 13:14-17; 17:1-8, 15-21; 18:10; 21:12-13; 22:15-18). Thus, God's promise in Genesis 15:1 is one of a long series of such reassuring promises, "Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great." The central task of preaching the gospel promise Sunday after Sunday has its Old Testament roots here. Keep announcing God's powerful words of promise over and over again.

Faith Lesson #2: Complaint and Lament are Part of the Life of Faith. 

Abram hears the promise but is not satisfied. He laments that God has given him no child, no biological offspring. So how can his reward be great and how can he become a great nation if he does not have even one child to carry on after him? This lament tradition runs wide and deep in the Old Testament in times when God's promises seem unfulfilled and remote (for example, numerous lament psalms like Psalm 13, 89; Lamentations; Job; Jeremiah 11:18-23; 12:1-6; 15:10-21; 17:14-18; 18:18-23; 20:7-18 and many other texts). 

The life of faith is a constant back and forth dialogue between God and us. God makes promises. We hope and trust. But we also get disappointed or impatient or desperate or angry when the promises don't seem to be coming true. Lament offers a way to keep our relationship with God alive in difficult times.

Faith Lesson #3: God Gives Us What We Need to Carry On.

The LORD reassures Abram that he will have his own biological child as his offspring. More than that, God takes Abram out into the night air and invites him "to count the stars if you are able to count them" (15:5). Is there a little divine humor here? Go on, count the billions upon billions of stars, if you think you can! "So shall your descendants be." God gives Abram the gift of a nightly visual aid, a tangible reminder of the promise. Every night, Abram can step outside his tent, raise his eyes to the galaxies, and be amazed that his descendants will be as numerous as all those uncountable stars.

Faith Lesson #4: There is a Complex Relationship of Faith and Works. 

Our text ends with one of the most important Old Testament texts for the New Testament and its discussion of the relationship of faith and works, the relationship of believing and obeying. The NRSV translates the verse as "he [Abram] believed the LORD, and the LORD reckoned it to him as righteousness" (Genesis 15:6).

The original Hebrew is somewhat more ambiguous, reading as follows: "he [Abram] believed the LORD, and he [the LORD or Abram?] reckoned it to him/for himself as righteousness." The most straightforward way of translating the Hebrew may suggest that Abram believed God's promises and then Abram [not the LORD] counted what the LORD had done as putting their relationship back into good order, into righteousness. Abram was now satisfied, given how the LORD had reaffirmed the promise.

This verse was translated from its original Hebrew into the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint) as "Abram believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness." The Greek translation takes some of the ambiguity of the Hebrew away and opens it up to the way in which the apostle Paul (Romans 4:3; Galatians 3:6) and the writer of the letter of James (2:23) use this verse to discuss the relationship of faith and works.  It was the LORD who reckoned Abram's faith as righteousness. 

Note how Paul and James use the same verse to come to somewhat different conclusions. For Paul, Abram's trust in God's promise and thus his righteousness before God in Genesis 15:6 comes sequentially before Abram obeys God's command to circumcise his household (Genesis 17:9-14, 23). For the apostle Paul, the sequence demonstrates that righteousness through faith in God's promises (Genesis 15) comes before and apart from works of obedience (Genesis 17). 

For James, one should read the whole Abraham story from beginning to end as one piece. James argues that righteousness by faith (Genesis 15:6) is always accompanied by works and obedience (Abraham's willingness to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice in Genesis 22). Same text in Genesis 15:6, but somewhat different conclusions!

Read the rest of Genesis 15 (verses 7-21) as further background for your sermon. Note that God makes another promise (this time, about the land of Canaan -- verse 7). Abram raises yet another objection (verse 8). God offers a dramatic and one-sided covenant ritual binding God to make good on God's promise, on pain of God being split in two like the animal carcasses through which the divine fire pot and smoke move (Gen 15:17; see Jeremiah 34:18).

Remarkably, God puts God's own self on the line as assurance that God's promises will indeed be fulfilled. That assurance will be important when God "tests" Abraham in Genesis 22 and asks him to give up his child Isaac who is the one link to the promises of God and Abraham's future.