WEBVTT 00:00:00.650 --> 00:00:04.049 When in the course of the study of the Bible, 00:00:04.190 --> 00:00:06.830 when we're confronted with this opposition by 00:00:06.830 --> 00:00:10.849 some Christians to really focus a study on the 00:00:10.849 --> 00:00:13.890 Hebrew Bible, the first question that we would 00:00:13.890 --> 00:00:18.629 have to ask of them is why? The rebuttal, the 00:00:18.629 --> 00:00:21.350 response to this opposition would have to be 00:00:21.350 --> 00:00:24.870 the acknowledgement that without an understanding 00:00:24.870 --> 00:00:28.190 of what's contained within the Hebrew Bible, 00:00:29.559 --> 00:00:32.500 Good news that comes in the Christian Bible would 00:00:32.500 --> 00:00:37.060 make little sense. Imagine, if you will, someone 00:00:37.060 --> 00:00:40.920 with this radically supersessionist viewpoint 00:00:40.920 --> 00:00:44.899 and one that only focuses on the canon of the 00:00:44.899 --> 00:00:48.640 Christian Bible, the New Testament only. Imagine 00:00:48.640 --> 00:00:50.960 the practice of that reader would be to completely 00:00:50.960 --> 00:00:55.119 ignore the Hebrew Bible as if it never existed. 00:00:56.329 --> 00:00:59.609 The Christian Bible would make little to no sense, 00:00:59.850 --> 00:01:04.230 and it would appear to proclaim confused news 00:01:04.230 --> 00:01:09.450 at best. The response might be that they would 00:01:09.450 --> 00:01:13.030 advocate for some awareness of Hebrew Scripture, 00:01:13.269 --> 00:01:16.469 generally those passages that will assert dominance 00:01:16.469 --> 00:01:20.409 of one group over another group, or maybe a very 00:01:20.409 --> 00:01:24.239 narrow concept. of divine action in people's 00:01:24.239 --> 00:01:27.379 lives, but then they would choose to reject the 00:01:27.379 --> 00:01:32.079 rest, especially those troublesome rules of Leviticus. 00:01:33.420 --> 00:01:37.459 We all know, however, despite our different faith 00:01:37.459 --> 00:01:40.560 traditions, that the taking and leaving from 00:01:40.560 --> 00:01:43.620 Scripture as we individually see fit, well, it 00:01:43.620 --> 00:01:48.579 never works out in the end. So Christians should 00:01:48.579 --> 00:01:54.750 embrace the Hebrew Bible as a whole. or not at 00:01:54.750 --> 00:02:00.310 all. And if that choice is not at all, well, 00:02:00.349 --> 00:02:03.430 Christianity is left without a very critical 00:02:03.430 --> 00:02:08.229 foundation. That said, like Arlo Guthrie and 00:02:08.229 --> 00:02:10.449 his telling of the story of the picking up of 00:02:10.449 --> 00:02:13.349 the trash in Alice's Restaurant, or the song 00:02:13.349 --> 00:02:16.129 by the same name, that's not what I've come here 00:02:16.129 --> 00:02:20.169 to tell you about. What I'd like to do in our 00:02:20.169 --> 00:02:22.550 time together is to illustrate the beauty of 00:02:22.550 --> 00:02:27.189 and to make an argument for the necessity in 00:02:27.189 --> 00:02:32.090 studying the Hebrew Bible this week on the Semi 00:02:32.090 --> 00:02:50.860 -Seminarium. Why study the Hebrew Bible? Well, 00:02:50.879 --> 00:02:52.759 to answer this question here in the very beginning, 00:02:52.860 --> 00:02:55.819 we have to assert what is the Hebrew Bible. Now, 00:02:55.879 --> 00:02:58.919 whenever I say what is the Hebrew Bible, I don't 00:02:58.919 --> 00:03:01.639 even mean what are the different books of the 00:03:01.639 --> 00:03:04.979 Hebrew Bible, because those opinions vary, especially 00:03:04.979 --> 00:03:08.740 between the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible. 00:03:08.900 --> 00:03:11.259 But whenever I say what is the Hebrew Bible, 00:03:11.360 --> 00:03:15.719 what I mean to ask is what is it about? What's 00:03:15.719 --> 00:03:20.139 the ultimate point? Well, very simply, the Hebrew 00:03:20.139 --> 00:03:24.219 Bible is the story of the holy, of the divine 00:03:24.219 --> 00:03:30.439 creator in relation to its creation. Not only 00:03:30.439 --> 00:03:33.659 does the Hebrew Bible tell the story of God and 00:03:33.659 --> 00:03:37.560 of people, but when read with the right set of 00:03:37.560 --> 00:03:42.860 eyes, it can also be of the way that different 00:03:42.860 --> 00:03:46.020 people thought of God at different times in different 00:03:46.020 --> 00:03:51.610 ways. The author Stephen Geller argues this changing 00:03:51.610 --> 00:03:57.090 perspective shows us a culture that had as yet 00:03:57.090 --> 00:04:01.090 developed no theological, philosophical language 00:04:01.090 --> 00:04:04.449 adequate to describe the events around them. 00:04:05.310 --> 00:04:10.050 So, we can't read and as a result value Hebrew 00:04:10.050 --> 00:04:15.080 scripture. Simply as it's some kind of rule book 00:04:15.080 --> 00:04:19.420 or an instruction manual, the value of Hebrew 00:04:19.420 --> 00:04:24.779 Scripture is in its nuance. And the nuance within 00:04:24.779 --> 00:04:28.120 Hebrew Scripture is expressed in several ways. 00:04:28.300 --> 00:04:31.379 But in order to capture the Hebrew Bible and 00:04:31.379 --> 00:04:34.620 its main significance, we can narrow these perspectives 00:04:34.620 --> 00:04:38.709 down to just a very few. We can actually place 00:04:38.709 --> 00:04:42.970 just two lenses by which we might view the Tanakh. 00:04:43.810 --> 00:04:46.470 The Hebrew Bible can be viewed through the lens 00:04:46.470 --> 00:04:50.709 of a road map in which we in the present day 00:04:50.709 --> 00:04:54.670 can find our own failures and our own successes. 00:04:54.670 --> 00:04:59.730 Well, despite their uniqueness to us, they're 00:04:59.730 --> 00:05:03.629 not unique at all. That the Hebrew Bible also 00:05:03.629 --> 00:05:08.050 can serve as a mirror by which we also see ourselves 00:05:08.050 --> 00:05:13.529 in relation to God. These different lenses are 00:05:13.529 --> 00:05:17.129 illustrated by the various stories that we find 00:05:17.129 --> 00:05:19.310 contained within the Hebrew Bible. The beauty 00:05:19.310 --> 00:05:22.410 of the collection is that it offers times when 00:05:22.410 --> 00:05:25.089 God is the focus of the narrative and times when 00:05:25.089 --> 00:05:29.269 God, while ever present, is not in the frame. 00:05:30.379 --> 00:05:34.160 These shifting perspectives aid us, we the common 00:05:34.160 --> 00:05:38.060 everyday reader, in using Hebrew scripture as 00:05:38.060 --> 00:05:43.579 a guide, as a roadmap to our lives. And just 00:05:43.579 --> 00:05:46.240 as there are times when our present circumstances 00:05:46.240 --> 00:05:50.879 seem to overshadow the actions of God, so does 00:05:50.879 --> 00:05:54.439 the Hebrew Bible shift perspective and provide 00:05:54.439 --> 00:05:57.899 us a roadmap towards right relationship with 00:05:57.899 --> 00:06:04.339 God. And all of this is juxtaposition, which 00:06:04.339 --> 00:06:07.420 is revealed through the opening pages of Genesis, 00:06:07.540 --> 00:06:25.500 contrasted with the lessons of Job. The opening 00:06:25.500 --> 00:06:28.360 of the Hebrew Bible, the book of Genesis, begins, 00:06:29.180 --> 00:06:33.079 with no humans in sight. Much of the story of 00:06:33.079 --> 00:06:38.139 Genesis is propelled by the actions of the divine 00:06:38.139 --> 00:06:43.100 and the reactions of creation as a result. And 00:06:43.100 --> 00:06:45.600 it's in this way, again, if we look with the 00:06:45.600 --> 00:06:48.560 right set of eyes, that we're instructed that 00:06:48.560 --> 00:06:54.819 the God that is the creator of existence is a 00:06:54.819 --> 00:07:00.060 reality. and all of that that is entailed is 00:07:00.060 --> 00:07:05.040 beyond human control. As the scholar John Levison 00:07:05.040 --> 00:07:09.480 relates, the human experience early on must take 00:07:09.480 --> 00:07:13.740 a back seat as God takes precedent over abstract 00:07:13.740 --> 00:07:19.120 theology. Just as the First Testament provides 00:07:19.120 --> 00:07:22.680 us a perspective in which the divine seems to 00:07:22.680 --> 00:07:27.360 hold center stage, and as a result, Order, then, 00:07:27.459 --> 00:07:30.259 is brought forth through the taming of chaos. 00:07:32.199 --> 00:07:35.860 However, the book of Job appears to place us 00:07:35.860 --> 00:07:39.399 in a space of experience where the action or 00:07:39.399 --> 00:07:44.779 even the inaction of God does still seem to appear 00:07:44.779 --> 00:07:49.939 to act in an orderly way. That the book of Job 00:07:49.939 --> 00:07:53.019 is one that is well -worn in our history seems 00:07:53.019 --> 00:07:56.790 to indicate, at least to me, its ability to tap 00:07:56.790 --> 00:08:00.990 into some fundamental concern of the human experience. 00:08:01.889 --> 00:08:06.290 And that is the oversimplified question of why 00:08:06.290 --> 00:08:10.009 do bad things happen to good people? With the 00:08:10.009 --> 00:08:13.790 opening pages of Genesis, we could follow along 00:08:13.790 --> 00:08:17.689 and ascertain that apparently not following God's 00:08:17.689 --> 00:08:21.800 commands was the most efficient way. for humankind 00:08:21.800 --> 00:08:25.439 to receive some form of chastisement from God. 00:08:26.800 --> 00:08:30.480 The roadmap is a very simple one for us to follow. 00:08:30.579 --> 00:08:34.100 Do what God desires, and as a result, be blessed. 00:08:34.259 --> 00:08:38.139 But Job, on the other hand, takes us down an 00:08:38.139 --> 00:08:43.039 entirely different path. Not only that, the travails 00:08:43.039 --> 00:08:47.320 that befall Job, despite his apparent piety, 00:08:48.200 --> 00:08:52.259 seems to find a receptive audience in every time 00:08:52.259 --> 00:08:56.559 and place. This despite the fact that at the 00:08:56.559 --> 00:08:59.139 end of the tale of Job, we receive little understanding 00:08:59.139 --> 00:09:04.740 as to the order of things other than as Job chapter 00:09:04.740 --> 00:09:08.559 1 verse 21 says, the Lord is given and the Lord 00:09:08.559 --> 00:09:13.320 is taken away. This realization by Job is far 00:09:13.320 --> 00:09:19.340 from the X marks the spot on our roadmap. Despite 00:09:19.340 --> 00:09:22.559 understanding the reason for his chaotic calamity, 00:09:22.580 --> 00:09:26.559 when all is taken from him, Job is able to realize 00:09:26.559 --> 00:09:31.039 that divine presence is all that he ultimately 00:09:31.039 --> 00:09:36.179 truly desires and in that way provides us today 00:09:36.179 --> 00:09:39.919 with an understanding that above material possessions, 00:09:40.179 --> 00:09:44.120 God's faithfulness is what we should desire most 00:09:44.120 --> 00:10:02.669 of all. The Hebrew Bible can also act as a mirror. 00:10:03.250 --> 00:10:06.889 A mirror in which we can see ourselves and be 00:10:06.889 --> 00:10:10.789 confronted with the naked truth of our selfish 00:10:10.789 --> 00:10:15.509 reality. There are two particular stories within 00:10:15.509 --> 00:10:19.769 Hebrew scripture that for me most vibrantly illustrate 00:10:19.769 --> 00:10:22.590 this idea. One is through the teaching of the 00:10:22.590 --> 00:10:26.389 prophet Nathan to his friend David. And the other 00:10:26.389 --> 00:10:29.570 is through the book of Ruth. Our story of David 00:10:29.570 --> 00:10:32.690 comes from the book of 2 Samuel. Infamously, 00:10:32.830 --> 00:10:37.090 at this point in the story, David has taken Bathsheba, 00:10:37.250 --> 00:10:42.009 the wife of Uriah, in the 11th chapter as a sexual 00:10:42.009 --> 00:10:46.029 partner. The resulting assault led to Bathsheba 00:10:46.029 --> 00:10:49.309 being pregnant despite her marriage to this warrior 00:10:49.309 --> 00:10:53.090 Uriah. David, recognizing the situation that 00:10:53.090 --> 00:10:56.330 he's in, commands that Uriah be placed in harm's 00:10:56.330 --> 00:11:01.860 way until he is killed, Eventually, he is. His 00:11:01.860 --> 00:11:05.080 friend and prophet Nathan comes to the king to 00:11:05.080 --> 00:11:08.320 illustrate to him the wrong that he's done, and 00:11:08.320 --> 00:11:12.139 by doing so, tells him a story. And in the story, 00:11:12.200 --> 00:11:14.899 Nathan depicts a character that has created a 00:11:14.899 --> 00:11:19.159 grave injustice that, given his power and his 00:11:19.159 --> 00:11:23.779 ability to avoid injustice, commits it anyway. 00:11:25.129 --> 00:11:28.990 Well, upon hearing the story, David is obviously 00:11:28.990 --> 00:11:32.970 incensed at this injustice until Nathan reveals 00:11:32.970 --> 00:11:39.590 that the story is about David. Well, this story 00:11:39.590 --> 00:11:45.190 for us can serve as a mirror. While we may not 00:11:45.190 --> 00:11:49.250 be adulterous kings, we are confronted with acts 00:11:49.250 --> 00:11:53.509 of injustice that we could choose to not commit, 00:11:53.629 --> 00:12:00.690 and yet, We do every day. The book of Ruth also 00:12:00.690 --> 00:12:05.070 reflects something about us that we often refuse, 00:12:05.230 --> 00:12:10.169 just like David, to see. And that's our own xenophobia. 00:12:12.450 --> 00:12:17.129 The book of Ruth is complex. And it's complex 00:12:17.129 --> 00:12:22.750 for a number of reasons. But, as a roadmap, it 00:12:22.750 --> 00:12:26.279 can offer us an example. in our lives today, 00:12:26.460 --> 00:12:30.840 of how we should be able to see God within the 00:12:30.840 --> 00:12:34.639 faces of every person that we encounter, especially 00:12:34.639 --> 00:12:38.559 when those faces look differently or they speak 00:12:38.559 --> 00:12:42.759 differently than our own. The book was especially 00:12:42.759 --> 00:12:46.200 salient because it was written at a time when 00:12:46.200 --> 00:12:50.409 the world... that the audience lived in was rapidly 00:12:50.409 --> 00:12:54.730 changing, just as our world is today. The lessons 00:12:54.730 --> 00:12:58.490 that the book of Ruth teaches them, the audience, 00:12:58.509 --> 00:13:03.490 and us today, revolves around this understanding 00:13:03.490 --> 00:13:09.970 of the desire of all of God's creation, all of 00:13:09.970 --> 00:13:14.110 God's creation, despite their nationality, be 00:13:14.110 --> 00:13:20.820 reconciled. to God's divine presence. In the 00:13:20.820 --> 00:13:27.259 post -exilic or the post -exile period, the Hebrew 00:13:27.259 --> 00:13:32.259 world that the people faced was a new reality. 00:13:34.250 --> 00:13:37.090 The forced migrations of different people groups, 00:13:37.230 --> 00:13:40.289 as well as the remnant of people that remained 00:13:40.289 --> 00:13:43.549 in the land of the Israelites, created a world 00:13:43.549 --> 00:13:48.309 that was much more multicultural and multi -ethnic 00:13:48.309 --> 00:13:52.309 than before. How were the people of Israel to 00:13:52.309 --> 00:13:56.250 honor God and protect their earlier notions of 00:13:56.250 --> 00:14:02.250 sacredness as the chosen people? Well, one response, 00:14:03.120 --> 00:14:05.740 was that the people should dissolve marriages 00:14:05.740 --> 00:14:10.779 to non -Hebrew people and remain within the 12 00:14:10.779 --> 00:14:14.559 tribes. The 10th chapter of the Hebrew Bible 00:14:14.559 --> 00:14:19.679 book of Ezra illustrates this by relating that 00:14:19.679 --> 00:14:22.139 the marriage to non -Hebrew wives was offensive 00:14:22.139 --> 00:14:28.580 to God. In this recognition, the characters say 00:14:28.580 --> 00:14:32.429 that they have trespassed against God. by bringing 00:14:32.429 --> 00:14:36.710 into their own homes foreign women from the people 00:14:36.710 --> 00:14:39.549 of the land. That's the 10th chapter of Ezra, 00:14:39.610 --> 00:14:43.610 verse 2. This reflects not just a pattern of 00:14:43.610 --> 00:14:48.850 preference, but rather an act of sin by the people. 00:14:50.529 --> 00:14:53.929 This teaching in Ezra illuminates some belief 00:14:53.929 --> 00:14:57.789 that God is still only desiring to bless the 00:14:57.789 --> 00:15:01.600 people of Israel. And that those of foreign descent 00:15:01.600 --> 00:15:06.620 are, well, they're simply of no value. Well, 00:15:06.639 --> 00:15:10.039 the book of Ruth stands as a commentary against 00:15:10.039 --> 00:15:13.860 this notion. And when read with the right set 00:15:13.860 --> 00:15:17.539 of eyes can reveal that God, in fact, does care 00:15:17.539 --> 00:15:22.820 for the whole of creation and that all peoples 00:15:22.820 --> 00:15:27.460 can be used by God and blessed by the divine. 00:15:29.549 --> 00:15:32.669 The book of Ruth, by illustrating the human perspective 00:15:32.669 --> 00:15:35.909 of the characters involved, puts the reader in 00:15:35.909 --> 00:15:40.110 this very precarious position when it comes to 00:15:40.110 --> 00:15:45.289 locating the hero of the story. The emotional 00:15:45.289 --> 00:15:49.529 engagement of the characters' plight, while their 00:15:49.529 --> 00:15:52.690 plight for survival, it makes it very difficult 00:15:52.690 --> 00:15:56.690 for the objective reader to ethically somehow 00:15:56.690 --> 00:16:01.059 discern Well, that the accident of their birth, 00:16:01.279 --> 00:16:06.139 that it was outside of the chosen people, was 00:16:06.139 --> 00:16:09.820 somehow, while unfortunate, unworthy of their 00:16:09.820 --> 00:16:14.860 concern. And not only that, but the use of the 00:16:14.860 --> 00:16:21.580 law to restore Naomi and Ruth of Moabite, despite 00:16:21.580 --> 00:16:25.200 her foreign heritage, also reveals something 00:16:25.200 --> 00:16:29.230 of importance to us. It shows us. that the law 00:16:29.230 --> 00:16:32.210 can be applied and used by those that show faithfulness 00:16:32.210 --> 00:16:36.110 to God to bring blessings above their heritage. 00:16:37.830 --> 00:16:41.929 The book of Ruth shows an evolution of theology 00:16:41.929 --> 00:16:46.070 within the Hebrew Bible, which is represented 00:16:46.070 --> 00:16:49.889 by this expansion of an understanding of who 00:16:49.889 --> 00:16:53.909 it is that God wants a relationship and how God 00:16:53.909 --> 00:16:59.389 works in the world. And for we, the modern Christian 00:16:59.389 --> 00:17:03.690 reader that wants to perpetuate a narrow view 00:17:03.690 --> 00:17:07.910 of who are God's people, well, that book stands 00:17:07.910 --> 00:17:13.250 as a remarkable example of God's love and grace 00:17:13.250 --> 00:17:19.750 for all of us. Why should we study the Hebrew 00:17:19.750 --> 00:17:25.599 Bible? Because in so many ways the lives... depicted 00:17:25.599 --> 00:17:31.559 on those pages are just like ours. The stories 00:17:31.559 --> 00:17:34.180 of the Hebrew Bible reflect the people trying 00:17:34.180 --> 00:17:38.339 to make sense of the world around them and how 00:17:38.339 --> 00:17:41.279 they made sense of God. They tell the stories 00:17:41.279 --> 00:17:44.299 of people trying to come to grips with a divine 00:17:44.299 --> 00:17:47.640 creator that wishes a relationship with them. 00:17:49.140 --> 00:17:53.220 And they show people continuing to mess up in 00:17:53.220 --> 00:17:57.079 their pursuit of that relationship. They reflect 00:17:57.079 --> 00:18:00.440 the joys and the sorrows of the human experience. 00:18:02.140 --> 00:18:07.500 They're us. And if we choose to read these stories 00:18:07.500 --> 00:18:11.519 with the right set of eyes, we can see them as 00:18:11.519 --> 00:18:15.980 a roadmap for our own lives and, at a time, a 00:18:15.980 --> 00:18:19.920 reflection of our best and our worst selves. 00:18:21.769 --> 00:18:25.430 The Hebrew Bible shows us that despite all of 00:18:25.430 --> 00:18:28.829 the changes to human civilization over the millennia, 00:18:28.829 --> 00:18:33.950 the story is still the same. That God loves us. 00:18:35.009 --> 00:18:39.450 And he wants us to be in relationship with the 00:18:39.450 --> 00:18:49.470 holy. Well, there you have it. As you can imagine, 00:18:50.170 --> 00:18:54.670 I would find it hard for anyone to believe that 00:18:54.670 --> 00:18:57.730 there is not incredible significance and beauty 00:18:57.730 --> 00:19:00.789 within the Christian study of the Hebrew Bible 00:19:00.789 --> 00:19:04.990 in its right context and for the right reasons. 00:19:06.230 --> 00:19:10.049 I want to particularly thank Dr. Lisa Davidson, 00:19:10.289 --> 00:19:13.470 my Introduction to Hebrew Bible professor, whom 00:19:13.470 --> 00:19:18.880 I cribbed. several of my points from her lectures. 00:19:18.980 --> 00:19:22.900 Thank you, Dr. Davidson. Hey, listen, if you 00:19:22.900 --> 00:19:24.779 like what we're doing here at the Semi -Seminarian, 00:19:24.779 --> 00:19:27.859 if you don't mind taking the second to subscribe, 00:19:28.000 --> 00:19:30.259 that way you'll know whenever new discussions 00:19:30.259 --> 00:19:33.079 like the one that we've just had here might come 00:19:33.079 --> 00:19:37.180 out. Also, it helps to improve our rating so 00:19:37.180 --> 00:19:40.220 other people of like minds might also find this 00:19:40.220 --> 00:19:44.359 podcast and contribute. Until next time, friends, 00:19:44.500 --> 00:19:49.619 be blessed and please be a blessing. Shalom.