Don’t Let the Bastards Grind You Down

“You know that your time is coming round,
so don’t let the bastards grind you down.” -U2

A Dream Landscape

And you hunger for the time
time to heal, desire time
and your earth moves beneath
your own dream landscape.

U2 - A Sort of Homecoming

Biblioblog Carnival April 2016

Greetings and Salutations! Welcome to the Biblioblog Carnival roundup for April 2016 - a collection of blog posts, videos, podcasts and tweets relevant to the broad field of biblical studies posted last month. These may not have been the BEST of ALL possible blog posts, videos, podcasts and tweets, but they are ones that caught my eye and captured my interest. I've hosted the biblioblog in the past, and now as then, I've utilized a more-is-more, throw the spaghetti against the wall and see what sticks kind of approach. Jim West at Zwinglius Redivivus will, no doubt, be much more selective in his own version of the Carnival.

To be merciful means to grow in a love which is courageous, generous and real.

— Pope Francis (@Pontifex) April 2, 2016

Sweaty Old Testamenty Stuff

*Marlowe at Carpe Scriptura spent some time reconsidering Amos’s “Rhetoric of Entrapment."

It seems as though God’s voice – the lion’s roar – may be a much more central theme in the book than I had initially thought. The cutting of the lines of communication comes up again and again as both Israel and God do it. It is this cutting of contact that warrants Israel’s punishment, and it is also the punishment itself. Amos’s role as intercessor in Amos 7 becomes so much more important, because it is through the prophets that Israel might “seek the Lord and live. As we move through the book, we find that God’s voice is linked to sin, punishment, and even salvation.

*Ben at Remythologized got rather snarky as he described 10 Ways Answers in Genesis Misinterprets the Bible: How to Theologize with a Hammer.

You might as well be writing feminist interpretations of an Ikea assembly manual if you’re going to publish astrophysical papers on the Psalms.

*Dr. Bruce Wells at the ASOR blog spoke about Sex Crimes in the Hebrew Bible.

*Christopher Rollston posted the first of a series of articles on gender-based violence in the bible:  Jacob’s Daughter Dinah.

… although in the recent past (e.g., just a few decades ago) violence against women was not the subject of international attention or concern, it has now “come to be recognized as a legitimate human rights issue and as a significant threat to women’s health and well-being.” The fact that there is now much more focus on gender-based violence is such a good thing, so right, so important. Of course, the witness of Scripture (and this is one of the reasons for recounting Dinah’s story here) is that gender-based violence is a very old problem.

*Deane at Remnant of Giants shared a post about literacy rates in ancient Judah: Judah’s Military Correspondence From ca. 600 BCE: Evidence of Widespread Literacy but not Evidence of the Bible 

The strength of the article lies in its identification of the extent of literacy in far-flung reaches of Judea, among various ranking members of the military and military administration. It would be not too rash to say that, given the literacy levels in the military establishment, we would expect that scribal literacy would be competent to produce more literary works of the forms which we find in the Hebrew Bible/Tanach. Indeed, the Tell Deir ‘Alla plaster inscription, written in a Hebrew dialect and located bang in the middle of Israelite territory during the period of its hegemony in the region, dates some two centuries before this. So scribes would be capable of the literary forms found in the Hebrew Bible. This doesn’t really tell us about the general literacy in the wider population, as the article implies it does. But more important is the question of literacy among the elites, which the article provides reasonable evidence for.

*And, if you'll forgive me, one of my own Biblical Limericks: That's Certainly Coitus Interrupted

Apocryphal, Pseudographical, Intertestamental and other Weirdo Type Stuff

*James Hamrick at The Ancient Bookshelf  has a reading/vocabulary guide for Ethiopic Jubilees available for you to download. Ethiopic Jubilees Reading Guide: The Creation, Part 1 

*Presidential Candidate Donald Trump told us his favorite bible verse.

*Ancient-Reformed Worship spoke to Hughes Oliphant about the Odes of Solomon

The Odes cast a spell. Something beautiful is happening here. It has a literary integrity I think that’s very important. The Odes are very unusual in the different imagery that they come up with. But that imagery is used again and again. One place where the Odes seem to have mined this imagery is the Book of Psalms. And Rendel Harris, the great scholar who really brought the Odes to the attention of the modern world, refers to these Odes as Psalm pendants. It’s as though the congregation might have sung a particular Psalm, and then, the Odes would’ve been sung as a response to it. And so many of the Odes when one reads through them one realizes that the imagery of Psalm 45 is being used or Psalm 63 is being used. And that’s one of the beautiful things about these Odes is that they’re so close to scripture.

*The Biblical Review reviewed the Testament of Moses 

Although the Testament of Moses is cut off half-way through the manuscript, it is nonetheless helpful in reconstructing ideologies and worldviews from the Levant in the 1st century C.E., and even earlier if we assume the text had previous written and oral traditions preceding it’s composition. The testament claims to be “the prophecy which was made by Moses in the book of Deuteronomy”; however, while it takes up a similar tone, the testament incorporates material relevant to the Maccabean Period, indicative of the late date of the text.

Based on the previous information, it is evident that we should read the Testament of Moses as its own piece of literary work, self-sustaining and independent. What we will consider today is Moses’ role as a divinator in the Testament of Moses.

*I'm sorry. I can't help myself. It's compulsive- Biblical Limericks: The Nothingness of  a Man

New Intestines

*James McGrath is trying to find a balance between naive credulity and extreme skepticism with respect to the Gospels and other early Christian sources in description of Jesus’ death in Philippians 2: 6 – 11. Philippians 2 and the Historical Jesus

It is striking to turn in light of this to Philippians 2:6-11. If Paul is there quoting a hymn, then this might be our earliest source of information about the death of Jesus, as well as about how Christians understood it. In that passage, Jesus’ death is nothing else but the culmination of his obedience, leading to his exaltation.

*Richard Beck at Experimental Theology wrote about the tragedy in violence- Put Away the Sword: Tragedy and Eschatology 

That's what upsets me about crowds cheering and thrilling to calls to bomb ISIS, so-called "Christians" who are viewing violence triumphalistically rather than tragically. Because Jesus said "put your sword away" Christians can never cheer violence. We must only grieve it.

*Scott McKnight at Jesus Creed  wrote about the Messianic Divine Secret of Jesus in the gospel of Mark.

...if Jesus silenced confession of him as Messiah how much more would have silenced for strategical reasons any suggestions of his deity. I find the logic solid, if not compelling.

*Phil Long at Reading Acts has been working his way though the Apocalypse of John  – Heavenly Throne Rooms in Apocalyptic Literature 

Revelation 4-5 is built first on the foundation of the Hebrew Bible. There are several texts which describe God as enthroned, such as Isaiah 6 and Ezekiel 1-2. In both of these passages the prophet sees a vision of God enthroned in heaven surrounded by otherworldly angelic creatures (seraphim in Isaiah, cherubim in Ezekiel). In both cases the prophet is stunned by the vision and eventually commissioned to a prophetic office. In Revelation 4 there is a central throne, angelic beings, but John is not a prophet as much as an observer of the impending judgment contained in the scroll given to the Lamb to open.

*Dustin R. Smith at The Dustin Martyr Blog attended the “Did Jesus Exist” debate between Craig Evans and Richard Carrier: 

I had the privilege of attending last night’s debate on “Did Jesus Exist?” between two well-versed debaters – Dr. Craig Evans and Dr. Richard Carrier. When I learned of this debate, I wanted to take advantage of listening to Carrier, who is probably the world’s foremost mythicist scholar. In other words, I felt that this debate would expose me to the best arguments scholars could put forth suggesting Jesus was simply made up in history. Now I took plenty of apologetic classes in my undergraduate and graduate studies to become convinced of the overwhelming evidence regarding Jesus’ existence, but I could not pass up the chance to listen to Richard Carrier live. So I piled up my car with a few of my bright students and we took off to witness the debate. Here are some of my observations of last night’s event:

*Pete Enns thinks that Paul was just “winging it.” 

I know that might not seem very reverent, especially since Romans is often thought of as the primo example of Paul at his difficult yet nevertheless logically consistent best, where he once and for all lays out the basics of the gospel for all to hear and for all time. Not that Romans is a jumbled mess—may it never be (see what I did there?)—but to me Romans reads more like Paul is in creative-problem-solving mode for Roman Christians facing a pressing problem (how Jews and Gentiles make up one people of God) than Paul sitting in his study writing a theological treatise intended for wider publication.

*Biblical Studies Online shared two lectures from David Noel Freedman: “Jesus as a Disciple”  (April 23, 1993)  and “The Role of Human Beings in the Bible” (April 20, 1993) 

*Ronald V. Huggins  refuted the idea that Judas didn’t actually exist: Did Judas Exist? A Friendly Critique of Dennis R. MacDonald's Easter Time Blog  

*I need help. I know it: Biblical Limericks: The Four Horsemen

Gnostical

*James McGrath at Exploring our Matrix  appeared on the online talk show: Talk Gnosis to speak about the historical Jesus and mythicism. 

*Jesus Facepalmed -Part 2 of James McGrath’s Conversation with Talk Gnosis at Gnostic Wisdom-

Is there a vast international conspiracy to convince you that Jesus was a real person? Well, not really. It’s a game of probabilities. Scholars say that, given the evidence we have, it’s more likely than not that there was an actual dude named Jesus walking around in the desert 2000 years ago. Of course, you are free to draw your own conclusions, and a belief in Gnosticism certainly does not need to include a belief in a historical Jesus.

Ecclesial Churchy Stuff

*Alexandria at Women in Theology wrote about masculine vs feminine church in Between the Binary: Is “Effeminacy”Really an Issue in Evangelical Church Culture?

Too often, Christian writers and commentators assume (or do not question) an equivalency between femininity and the female; therefore, the mere presence of female bodies within a church’s congregation is believed to engender an effeminate style of Christianity. Evangelicalism’s enduring phobia of “liberal” feminism is largely to blame, and has made its members ignorant of even the most innocuous principles of basic gender theory: namely, that there is a distinction between biological sex and gender identity, that humans are responsible for creating culturally contingent gender roles (not God), and that both men and women hardly ever conform completely to their prescribed roles.

*Pope Francis released an apostolic exhortation entitled Amoris Laetitia, Latin for “The Joy of Love.” You can read the whole 256 page document here.

*Mary E. Hunt at Religion Dispatches wasn’t impressed – Pope Francis’ Love Letter Is an Opportunity Lost 

If you are heterosexual, married, divorced, and remarried with an understanding parish priest, you have reason to be hopeful that your “irregular situation” can be fixed. If you use most forms of effective birth control, have an abortion, or are a sexually active LGBTIQ Catholic, you might as well read Dante and/or seek another denomination if you expect to be treated with equality, dignity, and respect. ... The “Joy Love Club” is members-only.

*Members of a recent Vatican council have called for Pope Francis to reject the “Just War” theory and to issue and encyclical on nonviolence 

Too often the 'just war theory' has been used to endorse rather than prevent or limit war," they continue. "Suggesting that a 'just war' is possible also undermines the moral imperative to develop tools and capacities for nonviolent transformation of conflict…We need a new framework that is consistent with Gospel nonviolence," say the participants, noting that Francis and his four predecessors have all spoken out against war often. "We propose that the Catholic Church develop and consider shifting to a Just Peace approach based on Gospel nonviolence.

*Christianity Today shared evidence that Christians did not borrow Easter from European pagans. 

Of course, even if Christians did engage in contextualization—expressing their message and worship in the language or forms of the local people—that in no way implies doctrinal compromise. Christians around the world have sought to redeem the local culture for Christ while purging it of practices antithetical to biblical norms. After all, Christians speak of "Good Friday," but they are in no way honoring the worship of the Norse/Germanic queen of the gods Freya by doing so.

But, in fact, in the case of Easter the evidence suggests otherwise: that neither the commemoration of Christ's death and resurrection nor its name are derived from paganism.

*Joel Watts at Unsettled Christianity wrote about the time that Lucifer split the church by refusing grace.

More patristic amazingness from Hans Urs von Balthsar - one long sentence on the theology of Pseudo-Dionysius pic.twitter.com/VvnnMEGYMS

— Ben Myers (@FaithTheology) April 3, 2016

Philosofical, Theologicalic Things

*The good folks at Jesus Jazz and Buddhism think that Everything We See is Past  and they have diagrams and videos about Process Theology, Alfred Whitehead and light cones. 

*Joseph P. Laycock at The Conversation  looked at Why So Many Americans Think They’re #Blessed

Today, America seems divided between those who engage with some version of the prosperity gospel and those who smugly dismiss it as fraudulent and puerile. While there are a number of problems with the gospel, it’s important to look at why this strand of religious thinking evolved in the first place, and why it persists.

*Joel Watts at Unsettled Christianity shared a video contrasting the Orthodox and Protestant Explanations of Salvation. 

I believe salvation is not from hell but to good works (Eph. 2.8-10). Salvation is not a momentary conversion, but a process of ontological importance. It is found in the Creed, but never defined. However, Protestantism usually sees it in terms of avoidance of hell. You’ll here mentioned “we deserved hell” and “we aren’t worthy.” Yet, Scripture never declares these things as well as the Reformers did. For Scripture, and Orthodoxy (and Wesleyanism), Salvation begins with the love of God, ending in the positive, rather than the negative.

Archaeologicists

*James Tabor at the Tabor Blog explored the deepening mystery of The Abba Cave, Crucifixion Nails, and the Last Hasmonean King.

It was assumed back in the 1970s that these bones were buried and no longer available for analysis–but it turns out this is not the case. What is even more intriguing, the victim was arguably none other than Matitiyahu Antigonus–the last of the Hashmonean kings–who was both beheaded and crucified by Marc Anthony. in 37 BCE. And even more significant, Greg Doudna has persuasively argued that this Antigonus is none other than the famed “Teacher of Righteousness” in the Dead Sea Scrolls,

*Archaeology News Network - Reported that construction workers in Gaza have discovered ancient ruins that archaeologists say may be part of a Byzantine church dating from around 1,500 years ago, The findings include segments of marble pillars with ornate Corinthian capitals, one nearly three meters (yards) long, and a 90 cm (35 inch) foundation stone bearing a Greek symbol for Christ. Fifteen pieces have been uncovered, with excavations continuing.

*2nd Temple Era Bronze Utensils Discovered in Migdal Excavations on Sea of Galilee 

According to Dina Avshalom-Gorni, the project’s chief archaeologist on behalf of the IAA, “the incense shovel that was found is one of ten others that are known in the country from the Second Temple period. From early research in the world it was thought that the incense shovel was only used for ritual purposes, to care for the embers and incense that were burnt in ritual ceremonies. Over the years, after incense shovels were discovered in a non-cultic context, it appears they were also used as tools for daily tasks. The incense shovel and jug found in our excavation were exposed lying next to each other on the floor in one of the rooms, at the late Second Temple period storehouses that is located adjacent to the dock of the large Jewish settlement, on the shore of Sea of ​​Galilee. These implements might have been saved in the storeroom as heirlooms by a Jewish family living at Migdal, or they may have been used for daily work as well.”

“I think that people need to worship and believe in GOD regardless of their belief. This is a free country.” pic.twitter.com/VM8sY6dmlt

— Bible Students Say.. (@BibleStdntsSay) April 11, 2016

Edumacational

*Michael J. Kruger at Canon Fodder  has A Note to Ph.D. Students: Here’s What We Are Really Looking for in a Job Interview

Given that I have sat on both sides of the interview table–as both candidate looking for a post, and as President or Academic Dean looking to fill a post–I thought I might offer a few reflections on the interview process.  In particular, I want to help candidates know what we are really looking for in a potential professor. I say “really” because I think candidates often misunderstand what we are looking for. And, due to that misunderstanding, sometimes candidates are simply heading down an unhelpful path in the interview process.And when I say “we” I am thinking particularly of those leaders in the world of evangelical seminaries.  Those in university settings, or those who are not evangelical, are unlikely to offer the same advice.

*Larry Hurdato explains Scrolls and the Early Codex 

*Biblical Studies Online shared an interview with ProfessorStavrakopoulou (University of Exeter) who explains why a lot of what’s in the Bible isn’t real, but why she loves it anyway.

Movie Reviews, Book Reports, and Musical Events

*Neil Carter (no relation, so far as I know) at Godless in Dixie  wrote about the Evangelical Christian desire – need- to be persecuted and the film God's Not Dead 2 - Persecute Me, Please: God’s Not Dead 2 and the Evangelical Lust for Victimhood

It’s like they’re ripping off the plot of Miracle on 34th Street. Only this time, it’s set in Arkansas at the state capitol. And instead of trying to establish whether or not Santa Claus is real, now they are trying to determine if Jesus was real. Because that would totally happen in real life in a court of law. And it’s totally relevant to the case at hand.

*James McGrath rather likes Daniel Kirk’s New Book – A Man Attested By God 

This may be the most important book in Christology to appear in recent years. Written in an era when it has become increasingly popular to insist that Jesus is already depicted as a pre-existent figure in the Synoptic Gospels, one who is absorbed into the “divine identity,” Daniel Kirk makes a persuasive case for viewing the depiction of Jesus in Matthew, Mark, and Luke as one of idealized humanity. Unlike many other proposals, this category, and this volume in which it is proposed, does good justice to the evidence, and is likely to stand the test of time.

*Ben Witherington at the Bible and Culture reviewed Richard Hay’s new book: “Echoes of Scripture in the Gospels.”

And even when the NT writers were transforming the OT text in creative ways, for example as Paul does in Gal. 4, these improvisations presuppose a stable text to which one can return again and again, and use in a variety of ways. I would use the analogy of say John Coltrane’s famous version of the Sound of Music song ‘My Favorite Things’. ‘Trane was not trying to faithfully ‘exegete’ that song, he was rather using it as a taking off point for a creative improvisation, but at the same time he was well aware of what playing the tune straight amounted to and sounded like, and he presupposed that his audience did as well (they could look at a copy of the original sheet music or put on the recording of the Sound of Music), so they could appreciate where he was, so to speak, playing outside the lines on the staff paper. I think, in other words, that figural interpretation was only one of the tools in the hermeneutical toolbox of the Gospel writers, and it was not one they always used, certainly not to the exclusion of other ways of using the OT.

*James McGrath also shared A Service of Sacred Music and Rock Prayers 

I am not trying to make the case that no music is sacred. On the contrary, I am more inclined to make the opposite case and argue that all music is sacred. Music takes vibrations in the physical world and combines them in ways that we perceive as beautiful. And so music by definition points towards transcendence, towards the fact that there is more to life that what one perspective can do justice to. And since music is a pointer towards God, it makes sense to use music – any music – as an opportunity to talk about one’s faith and the things that are important to us.

* Knockin' on Heaven's Door: Bob Dylan and the Gospel - An evening of Gospel and music following the Jewish carpenter who renounced his father's name to sing the blues out on Highway 61.

*Wayne Coppins  at German for Neutestamentler is rediscovering Parables in John with Ruben Zimmerman

Ruben Zimmermann’s Puzzling the Parables of Jesus: Methods and Interpretations is a very fine work. One value of the book is that it consciously seeks to bring together current German and American research on the parables. Another important feature is that Zimmermann applies recent research on historiography and memory to the interpretation of the parables. This post will highlight a third contribution of the book, namely Zimmermann’s perceptive discussion of the genre of parable and his convincing suggestion that there are, in fact, parables in John.


In Memoriam 

*Activist Priest and Vietnam Protester Daniel Berrigan Dies at 94

“Dan was one of the great Catholics of our time, a champion of social justice and a tireless promoter of peace…His influence on the peace movement, particularly during the Vietnam War, cannot be overstated, but his aim was not simply peace in Indochina, but peace everywhere.” Berrigan was one of seven Catholic priests who used napalm to burn draft cards in 1968 in protest against the Vietnam War, according to the National Catholic Reporter. As a result, he was sentenced to three years in prison.

The great Daniel Berrigan, SJ, Jesuit priest, activist, poet and peacemaker, died today. May he rest in peace. pic.twitter.com/SYcdaF2Zqq

— James Martin, SJ (@JamesMartinSJ) April 30, 2016

*Poet and Prophet 

A literary giant in his own right, Berrigan was best known for his dramatic acts of civil disobedience against the Vietnam War and nuclear weapons. He burned draft files with homemade napalm and later hammered on nuclear weapons to enact the Isaiah prophecy to “beat swords into plowshares.” His actions challenged Americans and Catholics to reexamine their relationship with the state and reject militarism. He constantly asked himself and others: What does the Gospel demand of us?

Future Carnivals

The next several carnivals will be hosted by:

May 2016 (June 1) – Brian Renshaw, @renshaw330

June 2016 (July 1) – Kris Lyle at Old School Script, @KristopherLyle

After that there's nothing - unless you act now. Phil Long at Reading Acts, who organizes these events, would love for you to volunteer as host for upcoming biblioblog carnivals. Contact him  PLEASE! (via Twitter @plong42 ) if you're interested.

.@UnvirtuousAbbey pic.twitter.com/AumO9eRIId

— PΛVL BLΛΛVW (@pblaauw) April 6, 2016

The church too often peddles tired images of a pristine/photoshopped (white) Jesus - instead of the tortured Christ. pic.twitter.com/bmVJtEH3Am

— Jason Chesnut (@crazypastor) April 3, 2016

Destined for Love - A Sermon on Ephesians 1: 3 - 14

I attended a funeral yesterday, the funeral of a 90 (almost 91) year old woman. I didn’t know her well, but what little I did know impressed me. She was funny and sharp witted and generous. And as I sat in the funeral home, listening to the shared stories of her life and the pastor’s remarks, I began to think about those questions–you know the BIG ones. And it may be nothing more significant the changing of pages in a calendar, the shifting of a numerical digit, but the beginning of a new year feels like an appropriate time to think about those BIG questions–those existential, meaning of life and existence kind of questions. What is the meaning of life, the universe, and everything? [i]

During that funeral service I began to think about my own life and wondered: is the meaning of life something more than the sum of the individual, discrete moments that I’ve lived? Is life something more than the sum total of the times that I’ve laughed and sobbed, celebrated and despaired, triumphed and failed?  Is there significance in all of this? Is there meaning? When all the individual, discrete moments of my life have been lived, could one look at them and say “this meant something”? And if so, what will it have meant?

This kind of examination is dangerous to the ego. Because I am vain, because I am narcissistic, I want to believe that I am important. That I am heroic. That I can change the world, that I can do something of significance, that when I am dead I will be remembered. But in those moments when I can push my ego aside and my vanity away, I know that I am a little man with a little voice in a very large and noisy world.

I am not someone with great wealth. I have no political power. I am not strong. I am not influential. I am not the shaper of destinies. And this should not be construed as a passive aggressive attempt to wheedle out ego salving compliments and affirmations. It is an attempt to honestly survey myself. I am, in the face of the universe, insignificant. I have lived for 40 years, I will (likely) live something like 40 more and within 40 years after that I will be mostly forgotten.

This kind of examination can be dangerous to the ego. And this realization of my insignificance can be paralyzing, can lead to one of those ‘existential crises’ we hear about. What does it matter what I do if it will all be swallowed up in the vastness of space and time? I am only a little man with a little voice in a very large and noisy world. And this is scary. This is troubling. I rebel against it. But this too is meaningless. We can say with the Teacher from Ecclesiastes, “Meaningless, meaningless, everything is meaningless” (Ecclesiastes 1: 2)

“I have come to believe that the whole world is an enigma, a harmless enigma that is made terrible by our own mad attempt to interpret it as though it had an underlying truth.” (Eco)

And yet I do believe that there is something of value, something of merit and meaning in this life. I may be nothing more than a little man with a little voice in a large and noisy world, but this is not nothing. This may be all that there is but it is everything.

We have been chosen, us little ones, we the insignificant, the powerless, the paltry; we have been marked with a great destiny. In the brevity of our lives, in the insignificance of our existence, in the futility of our power, we were chosen–before the foundation of the world, before the fiery explosion that brought the universe with all its vast magnificence-to become the children of God, sons and daughters of the divine.

The Letter to the Ephesians (known as such despite the fact that the earliest and most important manuscripts lack the phrase “at / in Ephesus” (Furnish 535)) includes one of the longest and most complicated sentences in the entire bible. Verses 3 – 14 of chapter 1 are one long, run-on sentence, filled with pleonastic clauses and lengthy prepositional sequences. One biblical scholar said, it is “the most monstrous sentence conglomeration … I have ever seen in the Greek language” (Barth 77).

But when it is detangled and explicated we find something of existential wonder. We find that we have a destiny and a purpose.

Blessed be God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who has blessed us with all the spiritual blessings of heaven in Christ.
Thus he chose us in Christ before the world was made
to be holy and faultless before him in love,
marking us out for himself beforehand, to be adopted sons, through Jesus Christ.
Such was his purpose and good pleasure,
to the praise of the glory of his grace,
his free gift to us in the Beloved,
in whom, through his blood, we gain our freedom, the forgiveness of our sins.
Such is the richness of the grace
which he has showered on us
in all wisdom and insight.
He has let us know the mystery of his purpose,
according to his good pleasure which he determined beforehand in Christ,
for him to act upon when the times had run their course:
that he would bring everything together under Christ, as head,
everything in the heavens and everything on earth.
And it is in him that we have received our heritage,
marked out beforehand as we were,
under the plan of the One who guides all things
as he decides by his own will,
chosen to be, for the praise of his glory,
the people who would put their hopes in Christ before he came.
now you too, in him,
have heard the message of truth and the gospel of your salvation,
and having put your trust in it
you have been stamped with the seal of the Holy Spirit of the Promise,
who is the pledge of our inheritance
for the freedom of the people whom God has taken for his own,
for the praise of his glory.
(Ephesians 1: 3 – 14 NJB)

Tangled up in that mess of phrases and clauses is the affirmation from Paul (or one writing in the name of Paul [ii]) that we-insignificant as we are-were chosen before the foundations of the world, chosen to become the children of God. And this is not because of anything we had done (we weren’t even created yet) or because of anything that we would do or will do. Ultimately, we are powerless in the face of the universe; what could we do to earn or create our salvation? What could we do to earn a place in God’s family, to achieve entrance into the heavenly places?

And yet, we have been chosen. We have been marked. We have been adopted and made a part of the family of God. We have been filiated. And this filiation is a gift, an extravagant demonstration of God’s gratuitous love. “Human persons exist because they are destined to be daughters and sons of God... Everything has its origin in God’s gratuitous love, a love based on God’s own goodness, not on our own merits. This is the ‘word of truth’ (v. 13): in the beginning was gratuitous love...” (Gutierrez 36).

It may not make sense of the vast indifferent universe, but it gives us a magnificence beyond our insignificance. We are called to be the sons and daughters of God, called to be the Church, the body of Christ Jesus in in this world. We are part of the great eternal plan to bring all things to unity under his rule and reign, the unity of holiness and love. We are part of God’s plan, from the timeless time before space and time, to be a part of bringing all things-in heaven and on earth-together in the unity of love.

Earth shall be fair, and all her people one;
nor till that hour shall God’s whole will be done.
Now, even now, once more from earth to sky
peals forth in joy man’s old, undaunted cry,
“Earth shall be fair and all her folk be one!”
(Bar)

We will be brilliant. We will be a reflection of the effulgent sun, the glorious son. We will be brilliant, even in our transient existence and powerlessness. We will be made brilliant by the love and holiness of God. What could we do to change the world? Love.  Powerless as I am, I can’t change the world, but I can change the world in me (U2). And this is everything.

Everything changes when I realize that I am a part of God’s vast eternal plan, that even in my nothingness I am a part of everything. Maybe I can’t change the world and maybe that’s okay. Maybe I am small and insignificant and nothing in the face of the universe, a little man with a little voice in a large and noise world, but that is everything. And I am free. You are free. We are free to live great and glorious lives because God has given us the magnificent gift of his grace in Christ Jesus, made us his children, made us a part of his cosmic plan to bring everything in existence into the unity of love and holiness. We will be brilliant in our brief and little lives and this is a wonderful, beautiful thing.

You're like some great dying planet,

Scarred by rifts, ruts, and cracks

From all the mighty collisions and the

Knives in your back.

Still there's ambrosia on your surface

And manna for the hungry,

Food for the beggar, the poor for your money.

Still you will be brilliant.

You will be brilliant;

A reflection of the sun above.

You will be brilliant, you will be brilliant,

Predestined for the sweet work of love.
 (The Lost Dogs)

And what am I to do?

Just tell me, what am I supposed to say?

I can't change the world.

But I can change the world in me

If I rejoice.

Rejoice...
(U2)

For most of us, there is only the unattended

Moment, the moment in and out of time,

The distraction fit, lost in a shaft of sunlight,

The wild thyme unseen, or the winter lightning

Or the waterfall, or music heard so deeply

That it is not heard at all, but you are the music

While the music lasts. These are only hints and guesses,

Hints followed by guesses; and the rest

Is prayer, observance, discipline, thought and action.

The hint half guessed, the gift half understood, is Incarnation.

Here the impossible union

Of spheres of existence is actual,

Here the past and future

Are conquered, and reconciled,

Where action were otherwise movement

Of that which is only moved

And has in it no source of movement—

Driven by daemonic, chthonic

Powers. And right action is freedom

From past and future also.

For most of us, this is the aim

Never here to be realised;

Who are only undefeated

Because we have gone on trying;

We, content at the last

If our temporal reversion nourish

(Not too far from the yew-tree)

The life of significant soil.

from “The Dry Salvages” – T.S. Elliot

Bar, Clifford. “Turn Back, O Man”

Barth, Markus. Ephesians 1 – 3. Garden City, NY: Doubleday. 1974.

Eco, Umberto. Foucault’s Pendulum.  1989.

Elliot, T.S. “The Dry Salvages” Four Quartets.  

Furnish, Victor Paul. “Ephesians, Epistle to” Anchor Bible Dictionary Volume II. New York, NY: Doubleday. 1992.

Gutierrez, Gustavo. Sharing the Word through the Liturgical Year. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books. 1997.

The New Jerusalem Bible. New York, NY: Doubleday. 1985.

U2. “Rejoice.” October. Island, 1981.

The Lost Dogs. “Sweet Work of Love.” The Green Room Serenade, Part 1. BAI Records, 1996.

---

[i] 42. Obviously. But what more?

[ii]  Scholarly debate is divided on whether Paul himself or a later disciple wrote this epistle

October in the Rain

"...what do I care?"

Can Iron Break Iron from the North and Bronze?

I have, for the past couple of years, been preaching from the texts of the standard lectionary. However, after last week’s reading from Jeremiah 11, I’ve decided to take a break from the lectionary, at least for a few weeks, to focus on the “confessional” passages within the book of Jeremiah.

So for the next couple of weeks we’ll be immersing ourselves in the words of the prophet Jeremiah, in the world of 7^th century BCE, a time of political and religious turmoil. It will be helpful for us to have some understanding of the situation: The Assyrian Empire had been the dominant force in the area for many years. It ruled with an iron fist, conquering territories and nations. But now the Assyrian Empire was beginning to crumble, weakening from the inside. And the leadership of the kingdom of Judah tried to take advantage of that decline. A nationalistic, pro-independence movement gathered strength in the courts of the kingdom of Judah. During the rule of Josiah, this growing nationalism was expressed in a state theology, the worship of Yahweh.

In the 18^th year of King Josiah’s reign (622 BCE) – when he was 26 – the king ordered that the temple in Jerusalem be renovated. And it was during the restoration work that Hilkiah, the priest, found “the book of the law” and brought it to the king’s attention (2 Kings 22:8 – 10 / 2 Chronicles 34: 14 – 18).

We don’t know specifically what this “book of the law” was. Some have suggested that it was the Torah, the Pentateuch – that is, the first five books of the Hebrew Bible. Others suggest that it was just the single book of Deuteronomy. It seems likely to many biblical scholars that the “book of the law” was an early version of part the book Deuteronomy, which would eventually be completed during the years of Babylonian exile, along with the rest of the Torah. Others of a more suspicious nature suggest that the ‘discovery’ of this book was a convenient way for Josiah’s administration to introduce their political and religious reforms (and in that time and place, the two were nearly indistinguishable) in a way that validated them in the minds of the people.

Whatever this “book of the law” was, it certainly motivated King Josiah to a vigorous religious reform program in his kingdom (and even a bit outside of his own borders). The altars of Ba’al were torn down, incense altars were smashed, Asherah poles (sacred trees or poles set up near Canaanite religious sites, dedicated to the worship of the fertility goddess, Asherah , the consort of Ba’al (or sometimes, Yahweh...)) were pulled down. Idols were shattered, ground them to powder. His agents toppled the high places dedicated to the child sacrifices for Molech, and destroyed the places of worship of Ashtoreth and Chemosh that had been built by King Solomon. The priests who served at these religious sites were killed and their bones were burned in those places in order to defile and desecrate them. (2 Kings 23: 1 – 24 / 2 Chronicles 34: 1 – 33. Chronicles describes Josiah’s purification program as beginning before the discovery of the book of the law, but continuing and increasing afterwards…)

While we have no specific archaeological evidence of King Josiah reforms, seals and seal impressions found from that period show a transition from pictures relating to the astral cult - stars and the moon -  to names and dates – which may be evidence of Josiah’s reform away from polytheism to monotheism (Finklestein 288).

A side note here: If we are honest with ourselves and our reading of these passages we might have to admit that this religious / political reform program sounds very much like that of ISIS / ISIL. If we condemn the radical Islamic sect of our time, we may have to be willing to condemn Josiah and his administration. If we justify Josiah and his violent reformation, we may have to reconsider our denunciations of the violence perpetrated by ISIS.

Jeremiah was a young man when he was first called to prophecy, indeed he first objected, “I am only a boy,” (Jeremiah 1: 6) – though the Hebrew word “boy” here is somewhat more fluid than the English word. It can mean a young man of marriageable age, or old enough to serve as a soldier. Solomon referred to himself with the same word after he became king and was married (1 Kings 3:7). Jeremiah was probably about 13 years old when he was called to be the prophet of Yahweh (Lundbom 233).

The young prophet would then have been about 17 years old when “the book of the law” was discovered in the Temple and King Josiah launched his religious and political reforms. And while Josiah and his administration and the rest of the country celebrated the discovery of this book with an elaborate Passover festival, young Jeremiah found that he could not join with the rest of the revelers.

“Your words were found and I ate them,” said the prophet, referring (probably) to the discovery of the “book of the law.” “I ate them and your word was to me for joy.” I imagine that Jeremiah felt energized and lifted up by the discovery. The words of that book seemed to confirm his calling to “uproot and to break down, and to destroy and to overthrow, and to build up and to plant… “(Jeremiah 1:10) but even with that joy, he knew he couldn’t join in with Josiah and the other celebrants. Even though Josiah’s reforms and Jeremiah’s message overlapped somewhat, Jeremiah could not join in country’s enthusiastic celebrations.

“I sat not in the happy crowd and acted jolly
because of your hand, all alone I sat
for with indignation you filled me.” (Jeremiah 15:17 – Anchor Bible)

“I have not sat in the company of revelers
and made merry!
I have sat lonely because of Your hand upon me,
for You have filled me with gloom.”  (JPS)

And Jeremiah’s reluctance to join the celebration seems, in historical hindsight, a wise and cautious approach. Josiah’s religious and political reforms were enthusiastic and vigorously violent, but they were short lived. In the year 609 BCE, 13 years after the discovery of the “book of the law” during the Temple renovations, King Josiah went out to the battlefield at Megiddo to confront the army of Pharaoh Necho of Egypt, who was rising as a potential power against Assyria. And there, in a confrontation that historians and biblical scholars don’t fully understand, Josiah was killed, shot by Pharaoh Necho’s archers.

2 Chronicles tells us that: “Jeremiah composed laments for Josiah which all the singers, male and female, recited in their laments, as is done to this day; they became customary in Israel and were incorporated into the laments” (2 Chronicles 35: 25 – JPS).

Josiah was succeeded by his son Jehoaz, who was immediately deposed and exiled by Egypt and replaced by his brother, Jehoiakim. The political and religious reforms that Josiah launched were undone. The idols returned; the high places were rebuilt. Josiah’s work was overturned, and the prophet Jeremiah, who continued to speak his message in the name of Yahweh, became a persona non grata within the kingdom of Judah.

He begins this confessional passage with a pronunciation of woe for himself and his mother: “Woe to me, my mother, because you have bore me, a man of contention and a man of dispute for the whole earth “(15: 10 – Anchor Bible). Perhaps the prophet felt the weight of proverbial judgment weighing on him. “A shifty man stirs up strife, And a querulous one alienates his friends” (Proverbs 16:28 JPS). And he certainly felt alienated. He was aloof. He was cut off. His friends and family plotted to kill him. His co-workers among the priesthood beat him and had him arrested. He was a “man of contention,” causing trouble and stirring up resentment. He was a “man of sorrows.” Jeremiah complains that he is cut off from everyone.

It is helpful at this point to remember that Judaism marks things as holy by separating them; to be holy is to be different, to be separated from others. The Sabbath day is marked as a holy day by separating it from the rest of the week (Gerwitz). And in this same way Jeremiah was separated from the rest of the people.

“Yahweh said;
Have I not set you free for good?” (Jeremiah 15: 11 – Anchor Bible)

“Surely I will deliver you for a good purpose.” (NIV)

Jeremiah had been set apart– yes – cut off from the rest of the community. He had a work to do. He had a holy mission to accomplish. But this prophetic mission set him against the rest of the world, made him a man of contention. He was alone. Always alone. And though it can be helpful and restorative to be alone for a period of time, to get away from the noise and demands of social interaction, prolonged social isolation is a dangerous thing –physically and mentally. “Chronically lonely people have higher blood pressure, are more vulnerable to infection, and are also more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. Loneliness also interferes with a whole range of everyday functioning, such as sleep patterns, attention and logical and verbal reasoning” (Bond). Prisoners held in prolonged isolation begin to experience hallucinations and suffer mental breakdowns.

­­It is this isolated Jeremiah who calls upon God to remember and to take account of him and his suffering. There’s no one else he can turn to.

“You, you know, Yahweh,
remember me and take account of me
and take vengeance for me on my pursuers.
Do not, in your slowness to anger, take me away.
Know that on your account I bear reproach.” (Jeremiah 15: 15 – Anchor Bible)

“Why has my pain become continual
and my blow desperate,
refusing to be healed?” (Jeremiah 15:18a – Anchor Bible)

Jeremiah may have begun his work in joy, saying: “Your words were found and I ate them, and your word was to me for joy,”– the words of God were sweet, yes sweeter than honey (Psalm 119: 103), but those sweet words soon turned bitter in his belly (Revelation 10: 9 – 10).

Jeremiah’s book is the longest book of the prophets, indeed, the longest book in the Bible (if we’re keeping the separation of Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles into two volumes each). It is 21,835 words (Lundbom 57). Jeremiah was a prophet for 40 long years, during the reign of five successive kings – and yet, this is the only time, the only point in the entire book, that Jeremiah speaks of having any joy in his service. And even here, that joy is muted by the “indignation,” and “bitterness (LXX)” that fills his soul because of the heavy hand of God that presses down on him. In the Salvation Army we like to sing, “Joy! Joy! Joy! There is joy in the Salvation Army!” (Pearson) Perhaps Jeremiah would be like those irreverent ones among us who follow that line with “Try and find it…” because it just doesn’t seem to be there for him.

All his work, all his teaching, all his prophecy was done without a sense of accomplishment, without a sense of joy. There was no sense of fulfillment. No joy. He made few converts. He preached repentance but saw little. He argued for change, but saw none. If we were judging the prophet by quantifiable, identifiable, statistical measurements, we would have to say that he was, from start to finish, a failure.  

I recently had a meeting with our Divisional Commander (something like a bishop in other denominations), and it wasn’t exactly a pleasant meeting. Accusations were made. It was hostile. It was confrontational, painful. In the course of that meeting the DC asked if I could identify any high points of my 17 years as an officer in The Salvation Army, if I could point to anything like a success in my work. Like Jeremiah, I had to confess that there have been very few. It has been, for me, a long painful time, and there are few ‘successes’ that I can identify to justify my work. I sometimes (often times) feel like I understand that man of contention.

If I may interrupt the prophet’s confession to make one of my own: it is disappointing and frustrating to preach and not see the church grow. It is tiring to plan programs and events, and not have much of anything to show on the statistical reports. And it is distressing, painful to have one’s commitment and effort questioned because of one line of statistics. Whatever accomplishments I’ve had are reduced to a single line on the monthly reports and they disappear. My faith and my commitment to the Army are questioned because of this failure. I feel beaten down.

I’ve never doubted my calling to be an officer in The Salvation Army (though I’ve had plenty of others who have doubted it for me…) but like the prophet, I sometimes distrust God because of it. Jeremiah said to God:

“Will you really be for me a deceptive stream,
waters that are not sure?” (Jeremiah 15: 18b – Anchor Bible)

Jeremiah compares God to either a mirage in the desert (waters that disappear when you need them most) or a dry desert riverbed, one of the wadis of the Palestinian landscape that flow with cool, refreshing water one day and are dust dry the next. Jeremiah, pushed to the edge by his isolation, by his suffering, by his failure begins to wonder if God can actually be trusted. “God is good,” the preacher says, and the people respond “all the time!” But Jeremiah isn’t convinced.

Jeremiah’s confession here, begins in a joyful recollection but moves toward bitter complaint. But as we begin now to track Yahweh’s response to the prophet that emotional movement is reversed. God begins his response to the discouraged prophet with a strongly worded (angry, even…) rebuke, but moves into assurance and a reaffirmation of his promises to Jeremiah.

“Assuredly, thus says the LORD:
If you turn back, I shall take you back” (Jeremiah 15: 19 – JPS)

The message that Jeremiah preached to Judah is now turned back upon him: You need to repent.  You need to turn back. Biblical scholars are divided as to what it was that Jeremiah needed to repent of, but the suggestion that “they, they will return to you, but you, you will not turn to them…” (Jeremiah 19 – Anchor Bible) is taken by some to suggest that perhaps Jeremiah had gone soft – had softened his message and acquiesced to the people (Lundbom 750).

The suggestion is that after years and years of fruitless teaching and strongly worded messages, and after his prolonged isolation from the rest of the community, Jeremiah had tried to find his way back into acceptance among the people by softening the edges of his message. That he had “turned to them…”

Other interpreters suggest that Jeremiah needed to repent for suggesting that God could not be trusted, calling him “deceptive waters” was a cheap shot, and that the prophet should have known better. Whatever it was, Yahweh bluntly tells Jeremiah that he needs to stop, to turn and start again.

“If you turn back, I shall take you back
And you shall stand before Me;
If you produce what is noble
Out of the worthless,
You shall be My spokesman.” (Jeremiah 15: 19 – JPS)

If the prophet wanted comfort, if the prophet wanted affirmation for work well done – he found none. Only rebuke. If the prophet wanted warm-fuzzies and a sense of fulfillment, he got none. He received his own message turned against him. But God moves quickly from this cold rebuke to assurance and reaffirmation of the promises that he gave to the prophet at the beginning of his call:

“I will make you to this people
a fortified wall of bronze;
they will fight against you
but will not overcome you,
for I am with you,
to save and rescue you,
                -oracle of Yahweh -
Yes I will rescue you from the hand of evildoers
and I will redeem you from the grasp of the ruthless.” (Jeremiah 15: 20 – 21 – Anchor Bible)

Earlier in this confessional passage there is an obscure and difficult to translate line that, in one rendering says, “Can iron break iron from the north and bronze?”  (Jeremiah 15: 12) It seems to be a rhetorical question addressed to the distressed prophet: Can iron-clad enemies break an even stronger iron and bronze Jeremiah?” (Lundbom 734).

But the question isn’t answered by Yahweh; it’s left to the prophet to find the answer.

Will you be beaten down by their repeated blows? Will you be broken? Will you fall? Or will you find the strength that God has given you? Will you be a fortified wall of bronze, not overcome by those enemies throwing themselves against you?

So you, gird up your loins,
Arise and speak to them
all that I command you.
Do not break down before them,
lest I break you before them.
I make you this day
a fortified city,
and an iron pillar,
and bronze walls,
against the whole land …
they will attack you,
but they shall not overcome you;
For I am with you – declares the LORD -
to save you.” (Jeremiah 1: 17 – 19 – JPS)

Bond, Michael. How Extreme Isolation Warps the Mind. BBC website. 2014 

Finkelstein, Israel; Silberman, Neil Asher. The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts Simon and Schuster. 2001.

Gerwitz, Matthew D. Simple in Definition;Complex in Action. Reformjudaism.org. 2013. 

JPS Hebrew – English Tanakh. Philadelphia, PA: The Jewish Publication Society,

1999.

Lundbom, Jack R. Jeremiah 1 – 20: Anchor Bible Vol. 21A. New York, NY. Doubleday. 1999.

Person, William James. “Joy in the Salvation Army” The Salvation Army Songbook, The Salvation Army, London.

And I’m a long, long way from your Hill of Calvary

And I’m a long way from where I was and where I need to be

If there is a light you can’t always see

And there is a world we can’t always be

If there is a kiss I stole from your mouth

And there is a light, don’t let it go out.
“A Song for Someone” – U2

Will I Get in Trouble for Having an Opinion?

I don’t know when it happened, but apparently I have become the old respectable guy that the youngsters call at 11:30 to ask troubling questions. When did that happen?  When did I become… respectable? 

And don’t these young pups know that my answers are likely to get them in trouble?

The other night one of my friends, my younger friends, called me up in the middle of the night to ask a number of fearful questions. 

One of the questions was this:  “Will I get in trouble for having an opinion?”

I nearly wept.

How sad, that we have to be afraid of opinions How tragic it is that we should even have to ask the question.  I answered truthfully, “Yes. Probably.” Having an opinion, especially a dissenting opinion is likely to stir up trouble.  But, then again, that’s where a lot of the good work gets done.

I don’t often give advice; I’m not very good at it, and people don’t really like being given advice, so instead I offered up some words of wisdom from Saint Bono. Yes. Have an opinion. God gave you that great thinking organ, and that loving heart that beats within you.  Have an opinion and share it boldly and don't let the bastards grind you down.

Virgil, Salad, Augustine, U2 and National Mottos

This year I have made it a challenge to myself to read (or re-read) some of the classics of western civilization – books like The Iliad and The Odyssey by the Greek poet Homer, and The Aeneid by the Roman, Virgil. 

I recently finished Virgil’s work, but before I move on to something else, I wanted to make note of the fact that Latin phrase E Pluribus Unum “Out of many, one” found on the Seal of the United States

may be attributed to Virgil.

It is found in his poem Moretum – which on the surface reading is about preparing type of cheese spread (sort of like pesto) eaten by the ancient Romans on breads and salads.  (Though the poem is attributed to Virgil, the actual authorship may be up for debate…)

…with his right [hand] he first

The reeking garlic with the pestle breaks,

Then everything he equally doth rub

I' th' mingled juice. His hand in circles move:

Till by degrees they one by one do lose

Their proper powers, and out of many comes

A single color, not entirely green

Because the milky fragments this forbid,

Nor showing white as from the milk because

That color's altered by so many herbs.

Another early use of the phrase, though in a slight variation – ex pluribus unum - can be found in the writings of St. Augustine.  In his Confessions he wrote:

These and similar tokens of friendship, which spring spontaneously from the hearts of those who love and are loved in return—in countenance, tongue, eyes, and a thousand ingratiating gestures--were all so much fuel to melt our souls together, and out of the many made us one. (Book 4, Chapter 8)

And though it’s not Latin, and ‘classic rock’ is hardly ‘classics of western civilization’ – I also include in this little list the song, I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For, by U2 because it resonates with Virgil’s many colors mixing into one...

I believe in the kingdom come,
Then all the colors will bleed into one,
Bleed into one,
Well, yes, I'm still running.

Having finished The Aeneid, I was planning to continue with Pharsalia by Lucan, and it was going to be a collaborative reading / blog writing with a friend of mine. But something has come up, and that will be put on hold for a while.  I'll do some other reading - but will keep the plan to come back to the classics throughout this year.... 

I Feel So Helpless - Rejoice

I feel so helpless.  Completely utterly.

Gaza, Iraq, Ferguson.  I can’t go.  I can’t stop missiles. I can’t stop riots. I can’t stop the evil that men do.  The greed, the violence. I can’t fix B.’s deep depression, or his binge drinking.  I can’t sooth J.’s anxiety.  Powerless.  Useless.  I can’t make it better.  I can’t change the world. God damn it, I can’t change the world.

Sleet in the Pines and a Sort of Homecoming

A rainy, sleety, snowy day in February shouldn't be wasted - so after dismissing my employees and making sure they could get home safely "through the sleet and driving snow"  I started home myself, stopping along the way to take some photos.

My socks and shoes got soaked, my feet were cold, but ...

And you know it's time to go
Through the sleet and driving snow
Across the fields of mourning
Light in the distance
-A Sort of Homecoming - U2

The Scripture in Song

Torah

 

 and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. - Genesis 1: 2

 

Adam made love to his wife, Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. - Genesis 4:1

  

Caught up in the fable I watched the tower grow …
 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens – Genesis 11: 4

 The Prophets 



Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes and took him down to Gaza. - Judges 16: 21

  

Uriah hit the crapper, the crapper, dead… 
Moreover, your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead. -2 Samuel 11: 24


 

Go, post a lookout and have him report what he sees. -Isaiah 21: 6

 

My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge… -Hosea 4: 6

 Writings 



 I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry. -Psalm 40: 1




 A psalm of David. When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba. -Psalm 51:1



 
…and the Ancient of Days took his seat. His clothing was as white as snow – Daniel 7: 9

The Gospels 



 I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. -Luke 22:14

  

 While he was still speaking a crowd came up, and the man who was called Judas, one of the Twelve, was leading them. He approached Jesus to kiss him. – Luke 22:47

The Epistles

 

 Speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit – Ephesians 5: 19





For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. - Romans 7: 19

 The Apocalypse

 

 She has become a dwelling for demons and a haunt for every impure spirit.-Revelation 18:2





Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done. – Revelation 22: 12



Obviously, this list could be greatly expanded.  Do you have any suggestions?
(The Spotify player may not show up in Feed Readers... )