Advent readings 2021 : Day 20

 

In which the exiles are restored for the healing of the nations

 

Genesis 8:8-11

And he sent out the dove to see whether the waters had abated from the surface of the ground. But the dove found no resting place for its foot and it returned to him in the ark, for the waters were over all the earth. And he reached out and took it and brought it back to him into the ark. Then he waited another seven days and again sent the dove out from the ark. And the dove came back to him at eventide and, look, a plucked olive leaf was in its bill, and Noah knew that the waters had abated from the earth.

 

Ezekiel 47:1-12

And he brought me back to the entrance of the house, and, look, water was coming out from under the threshold…When the man came out to the east, there was a line in his hand, and he measured out a thousand cubits and made me cross through the water, ankle-deep water. And he measured out a thousand cubits and made me cross through the water, knee-deep water, and he measured out a thousand cubits and made me cross through waist-deep water. And he measured out a thousand cubits—a stream which I could not cross for the water was surging, water to swim in, a stream that could not be crossed…When I came back, look, on the bank of the stream were very many trees on both sides…

“And all that enters there in the stream shall live…And by the stream, on its bank, on both sides every fruit-bearing tree shall spring up. Their leaf shall not wither, their fruit shall not cease. They shall yield new fruit month after month, for their water comes out of the sanctuary, and their fruit shall be for eating and their leaf for healing.”

 

After the Flood, the floodwaters recede, until the earth—from which the human was fashioned by God—is dry again. The ark comes to rest on the foothills of Mount Ararat, the Temple rests on Zion, raised above all other hills. From the ark, Noah receives the consoling news of the olive branch, a new beginning, a tree associated with peace and producing oil associated with joy: here is the anointing ceremony of an heir to David’s throne. And yet again, we see the Temple as the epicentre of a renewed cosmos, for, from here flows another flood, not a destructive flood of judgement but a river bringing life to the dead places; trees springing up for the healing of the nations.

Noah must send out the dove multiple times before it is time for life to spread out once more on the face of the earth. Ezekiel must wade in the river many times before it is a stream that cannot be crossed, only swum in. Don’t give up hope. As we wait with longing for the new thing God has promised, test the waters on a regular basis, and record what you observe.

 

Biblical texts: Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary

 

Advent readings 2021 : Day 19

 

In which the exiles embody peace between nations

 

Genesis 7:13-16

That very day, Noah and Shem and Ham and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah’s wife, and the three wives of his sons together with them, came into the ark, they as well as beasts of each kind and cattle of each kind and each kind of crawling thing that crawls on the earth and each kind of bird, each winged thing. They came to Noah into the ark, two by two of all flesh that has the breath of life within it. And those that came in, male and female of all flesh they came, as God had commanded him, and the LORD shut him in.

 

Isaiah 2:1-5

The word that Isaiah son of Amoz saw in a vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem.

And it shall happen in future days that the mount of the LORD’s house shall be firm-founded at the top of the mountains and lifted over the hills. And all the nations shall flow to it and many peoples shall go, and say: Come, let us go up to the mount of the LORD, to the house of Jacob’s God, that He may teach us of His ways and that we may walk in His paths. For from Zion shall teaching come forth and the LORD’s word from Jerusalem. And He shall judge among the nations and be arbiter for many peoples. And they shall grind their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not raise sword against nation nor shall they learn war anymore. O house of Jacob, let us walk in the LORD’s light.

 

The Temple is to be rebuilt in the context of a Flood that will cover the face of the earth, that will sweep away empires, one after another, within the great cradle of civilisations bounded by the Zagros Mountains to the east, the Taurus Mountains to the north, and the Hejaz Mountains to the southwest. The turbulent rise and fall of the family of nations. Above all this welter and waste is the Temple in Jerusalem, symbol of hope, resting under God’s protection, a firm-founded place given for the nations where all who will come will receive instruction in peace-making.

Let us pray for the Church, called out from every people-group, sent out to every nation, that we may embrace and model the ways that make for peace, in partnership with people of peace of all faiths and none.

 

Biblical texts: Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary

 

Undone

 

The wisdom of the wise, down the ages and around the world, is that there is a necessary undoing in middle age. That there is understanding, and even joy, that can only be found on the other side of suffering. Odin the All-Father must sacrifice an eye in order to perceive things more clearly. Having survived the sea, Odysseus must walk away from it. God, and love, and time, and chance, and our own bodies conspire together, first to raise us up—discovering who we are, and the gifts we possess, by which, when crafted into talent, we might contribute to the world—and then to bring us low—that, stripped of all our ego has constructed, we might be freed to discover that our truest self can be neither expanded nor diminished but simply is, known and loved.

But what of those whose youth is disrupted, by a pandemic, say, or by poor mental health, which can affect even those who have been loved as well as their parents are able? What of those whose undoing comes before they have ever known their raising up?

The closest thing I see to an answer to that question is the Song of Mary, and the Beatitudes of her son. That there is hope, and that that hope can sustain us as we wait for it to be fulfilled. But this is an even greater Mystery than the wisdom of the wise ...

 

Advent readings 2021 : Day 18

 

In which the exiles mark the Passover

 

Genesis 7:1-5

And the LORD said to Noah, “Come into the ark, you and all your household, for it is you I have seen righteous before Me in this generation. Of every clean animal take you seven pairs, each with its mate, and of every animal that is not clean, one pair, each with its mate. Of the fowl of the heavens as well seven pairs, male and female, to keep seed alive all over the earth. For in seven days’ time I will make it rain on the earth forty days and forty nights and I will wipe out from the face of the earth all existing things that I have made.” And Noah did all that the LORD commanded him.

 

Ezekiel 45:18, 21-24

Thus said the Master, the LORD: “In the first month, on the first of the month, you shall take an unblemished bull from the heard and purify the sanctuary.

In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, you shall have the Passover, a festival of seven days. Flatbread shall be eaten. And the prince shall do for himself and for all the people of the land an offense-offering bull. And the seven days of the festival he shall do a burnt offering to the LORD, seven unblemished bulls and seven unblemished rams each day of the seven days and an offense-offering of a he-goat each day. And a grain offering, an ephah for each bull and an ephah for each ram he shall do, and oil, a hin for each ephah…”

 

Noah is not just a model for the survival of biodiversity, fitting though that may be for our own time of climate crisis. He is instructed to take more of the animals that will be at the heart of the sacrificial system at the heart of the day-to-day life of the future Temple and the annual cycle of pilgrim festivals held there.

This new ark, this Temple, that the exiles are to build is to be a house of intercession and of remembrance. A place where confession is made, and stories are told, and food is shared—actual food, for the body—and whereby, through these practices, we are sustained as a priestly people interceding for the needs of the world. What do these practices look like for you, in your life?

 

Biblical texts: Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary

 

Advent readings 2021 : Day 17

 

In which the exiles take measure

 

Genesis 6:12-15

And God saw the earth and, look, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted its ways on the earth. And God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh is come before Me, for the earth is filled with outrage by them, and I am now about to destroy them, with the earth. Make yourself an ark of cypress wood, with cells you shall make the ark, and caulk it inside and out with pitch. This is how you shall make it: three hundred cubits, the ark’s length; fifty cubits, its width; thirty cubits, its height…”

 

Ezekiel 41:1, 2, 3, 5, 13, 15, 19, 21, 22

And he brought me into the great hall and measured the pillars to be six cubits wide on each side, the width of the pillar. And the width of the entrance was ten cubits, and the supports of the entrance five cubits on each side. And he measured its length to be forty cubits and its width twenty cubits…And he came within and measured…And he measured its length…And he measured the wall of the house…And he measured the house…And he measured the length…And the palm design had a human face on one side and a lion’s face on the other, fashioned for the entire house all around…and facing the sanctum a look like the look of an altar, of wood, three cubits high and twelve cubits its length, and it had corners, and its length and its walls were of wood. And he spoke to me: “That is the table that is before the LORD.”

 

The ark, with its careful measurements and attentive construction, stands first for the new Temple to be built in Jerusalem, and secondarily for the boundaries of a restored homeland for the returning exiles. Noah stands for the faithful remnant who will undertake this task and experience this blessing. The Temple is to be the place of mercy within the context of judgement, and the exiles are to fashion this space within the world as it is. It begins with careful listening, careful observation, with obedience, which is to hear and to take to heart.

The world, as we know it, is always passing away, is always in need of a sanctuary, not of our own determining but springing from divine initiative and grace. Such a space is not private, but God still looks for those who have constructed such room in their lives. What disciplines have you learnt, for building a life that holds out meaningful hope in the face of the Flood?

 

Biblical texts: Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary

 

Under pressure

 

I’m not a fan of F1—and I’m not interested in getting into a debate with those who are—but I heard a brilliant analysis of yesterday’s controversial end to this year’s championship, by David Croft, lead commentator for Sky. His view was that, under incredible pressure—not simply the pressure of the title race, but the burden of having kept the show on the road all season under pandemic conditions—race director Michael Masi made the wrong call. But, rather than vilify him, we should recognise that the burden is unacceptable; that this must not happen again, for Masi’s sake as well as for the sport; that the owners of F1, who make a lot of money from it, should provide Masi with a deputy to work alongside him. Croft also noted that Verstappen is a worthy champion, but that he should not have won in the way that he did—that was unfair on him as well as on Hamilton—and that the gracious magnanimity of Hamilton in congratulating Verstappen should silence his own critics—he, too, is a worthy champion of champions.

As I say, I am not a fan of F1. But I found Croft’s analysis incredibly important. Everyone who is working is working under a massive additional burden, under pressure to deliver business as usual in circumstances that are far from usual. At every level and in every sector, we are stretched to the very limit—sitting ducks on worn tyres, if you will—and under such conditions, extended over time, errors of judgement are inevitable. Some of which will have greater consequences than others.

We need to extend grace towards one another. Far more than we do. And the grumpier we all get, living with the pandemic, the more we need this.

We need to consider scaling down what we expect, at present—what we can deliver, and what we demand from others. We aren’t past this, or anywhere near past this.

And we need to have serious conversations about investment. In a society where the only value is money—where what is ‘good’ is profit (and wealth indicates virtue) and what is ‘evil’ is any constraint on profit (and not possessing more money than you can ever spend is seen as vice) and where all other values have been hollowed-out—we need to reconsider wellbeing in terms of the common good. What does it profit us if we grasp material riches, but forfeit our soul?

 

Advent readings 2021 : Day 16

 

In which the exiles are equipped for their heroic task

 

Genesis 6:4

The Nephilim were then on the earth, and afterward as well, the sons of God having come to bed with the daughters of man who bore them children: they are the heroes of yore, the men of renown.

 

Psalms 2:6-8

“And I—I appointed My king on Zion, My holy mountain.” Let me tell as is due to the LORD. He said to me: “You are My son. I Myself today did beget you. Ask of me, and I shall give nations as your estate, and your holdings, the ends of the earth.

 

The story of consolation—of Noah—does not begin with Noah but with the Nephilim. The Nephilim were demi-gods, whose fathers were fallen angels and mothers, human, heroes known by various name across classical antiquity. Yet in this context, the Nephilim represent king Solomon, forbidden son of David, the son of God in Jerusalem, and Bathsheba (wife of David’s own ‘mighty man’ Uriah the Hittite) whom he took to his bed. Solomon the Wise, who built the first Temple in Jerusalem. For the exiles, called to step up to rebuild the Temple, as Noah built the ark, this introduction is fire to their bones.

Comparison can, on occasion, be the thief of courage; but it can also inspire us, to be faithful in our day, standing on the shoulders of saints and giants. What is it that God is calling you to rebuild, that has fallen into ruin? Are there particular saints whose lives inspire you?

 

Biblical texts: Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary

 

Advent readings 2021 : Day 15

 

In which the exiles are consoled

 

Genesis 5:28-32

And Lamech lived a hundred and eighty-two years and he begot a son. And he called his name Noah, as to say, “This one will console us from the pain of our hands’ work from the soil which the LORD cursed.” And Lamech lived after he begot Noah five hundred and ninety-five years, and he begot sons and daughters. And all the days of Lamech were seven hundred and seventy-seven years. Then he died. And Noah was five hundred years old and he begot Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

 

Jeremiah 31:14-16

Thus said the LORD: A voice in Ramah is heard, lament and bitter weeping. Rachel weeps for her sons She refuses to be comforted for her sons, for they are no more. Thus said the LORD: Hold back your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for there is a reward for your labor—said the LORD—and they shall come back from the enemy’s land, and there is hope for your future—said the LORD—and the sons shall come back to their place.

 

Noah is a consolation. A word that brings comfort for our pain and healing to our bones. Noah’s story will form the longest narrative arc in the Origins stories. Drawing on codified memories of a flood that covered what today we know as Iraq, Noah’s ark becomes for the exiles the ark of the covenant—symbol of the LORD sojourning with them wherever they go—and, for the waves who will return from exile, imagination for the (re)building of the Temple as a place of sacrificial worship and a house of prayer for the nations.

In a time when so many of our houses of God hold such small congregations, from where does our consolation come, and, how might we nurture God’s ‘Noah’ to us?

 

Biblical texts: Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary

 

Advent readings 2021 : Day 14

 

In which the exiles meet God beyond their exile

 

Genesis 5:21-24

And Enoch lived sixty-five years and he begot Methuselah. And Enoch walked with God after he begot Methuselah three hundred years, and he begot sons and daughters. And all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. And Enoch walked with God and he was no more, for God took him.

 

Jeremiah 31:17, 20, 21

I have surely heard Ephraim rocking with grief: You chastened me and I was chastened like an untrained calf. Bring me back, that I may come back, for You are the LORD my God.

Set yourselves markers, put up road signs for yourself, pay heed to the highway, the way where you walked, Turn back, O Virgin Israel. Turn back to these towns of yours. How long will you slip away, rebellious daughter? For the LORD has created a new thing on earth—the female goes round the male.

 

Genesis 5 is a genealogy, that moves the story on from Adam to Noah. It is a genealogy of the Jewish faith, and, later, the Christian faith, though those listed are not Jews, let alone Christians. It is, in other words, a path, a Way, back home. Markers on the road back from exile. And Enoch is a signpost, showing the way, calling us to walk with God, as God walked with Adam in the garden. Moreover, in his going around death, Enoch is a sign that God, the Sustainer, has created a new thing, for those who come back.

Why not come back this Advent? Now is the time. The kingdom of God has drawn close.

 

Biblical texts: Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary

 

Advent readings 2021 : Day 13

 

In which the exiles cry out for mercy

 

Genesis 4:25-26

And Adam again knew his wife and she bore a son and called his name Seth, as to say, “God has granted me other seed in place of Abel, for Cain has killed him. As for Seth, to him, too, a son was born, and he called his name Enosh. It was then that the name of the LORD was first invoked.

 

Job 42:7, 8

And it happened after the LORD had spoken these words to Job, that the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath has flared against you and your two companions because you have not spoken rightly of Me as did My servant Job. And now, take for yourselves seven bulls and seven rams and go to My servant Job, and offer a burnt offering for yourselves, and Job My servant will pray on your behalf. To him only I shall show favor, not to do a vile thing to you, for you have not spoken rightly of Me as did my servant Job.”

 

In place of Abel, Seth, a new seed. An exiled community brought home, in order that they might invoke the name of the LORD, rebuild the Temple as a house of prayer for all nations.

Job’s companions are companions, not enemies. And yet they bristle at the tenacity with which he insists on his place before the LORD. In the end, that place is to stand and intercede, not on Job’s own behalf but on behalf of those very companions who have not spoken rightly. Here, again, we see the relationship between the exiles, here represented by Job the righteous man from whom everything has been taken, and the surrounding nations, represented by Job’s companions. Enmity between them is absent, but empathy becomes stretched.

Advent is that renewed call to empathy towards others, that returns our heart to pray for them. For whom will you pray today?

 

Biblical texts: Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary

 

Advent readings 2021 : Day 12

 

In which the exiles are called to cry out for mercy

 

Genesis 4:9-15

And the LORD said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” And he said, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” And He said, “What have you done? Listen! your brother’s blood cries out to me from the soil. And so, cursed shall you be by the soil that gaped with its mouth to take your brother’s blood from your hand. If you till the soil, it will no longer give you its strength. A restless wanderer shall you be on the earth.” And Cain said to the LORD, “My punishment is too great to bear. Now that You have driven me this day from the soil and I must hide from your presence, I shall be a restless wanderer on the earth and whoever finds me will kill me.” And the LORD said to him, “Therefore whoever kills Cain shall suffer sevenfold vengeance.” And the LORD set a mark upon Cain so that whoever found him would not slay him.

 

Job 4:7, 8, 12-21

Recall, pray: what innocent man has died, and where were the upright demolished? As I have seen, those who plough mischief, those who plant wretchedness, reap it.

And to me came a word in secret, and my ear caught a tag end of it, in musings from nighttime’s visions when slumber falls upon men. Fear called to me, and trembling, and all my limbs it gripped with fear. And a spirit passed over my face, made the hair on my flesh stand on end. It halted, its look unfamiliar, an image before my eyes, stillness, and a sound did I hear: Can a mortal be cleared before God, can a man be made pure by his Maker? Why, His servants He does not trust, His agents He charges with blame. All the more so, the clay-house dwellers, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed more quickly than moths. From morning to eve they are shattered, unawares they are lost forever. Should their life thread be broken within them, they die, and without any wisdom.

 

Chapter 4 introduces a recurring theme in Genesis, that of two brothers who struggle to live peaceably together—Cain and Abel, Ishmael and Isaac, Esau and Jacob—the younger being chosen by God. Here, Abel represents the line of kings, descended from the shepherd David, cut off in violence; and, by association, the blameless (or, purified, made blameless) community carried off into exile. Abel’s offering is acceptable, but this does not preclude the possibility of Cain bringing acceptable offerings. But how is a community to hold on the one hand, a particular sense of calling while acknowledging, on the other, the struggles of their ‘brother’ peoples? Jewish, Christian and Muslim communities wrestle with the same question today, as do nations navigating sovereign place within an international community.

Abel cries out for justice, but also for mercy. In response to Abel’s cry, the LORD places Cain under His protection. Abel is a community of exiles called to intercede on behalf of their masters, pleading the Master, Lord have mercy. May our Advent intercessions reflect this hope.

 

Biblical texts: Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary

 

Advent readings 2021 : Day 11

 

In which the exiles are shown the court of heaven

 

Genesis 3:22-24

And the LORD God said, “Now that the human has become like one of us, knowing good and evil, he may reach out and take as well from the tree of life and live forever.” And the LORD God sent him from the garden of Eden to till the soil from which he had been taken. And He drove out the human and set up east of the garden of Eden the cherubim and the flame of the whirling sword to guard the way to the tree of life.

 

Daniel 7:1, 9-12

In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylonia Daniel saw a dream and the visions in his head on his couch.

I was looking, until thrones were cast down and the Ancient of Days took his seat. His garment was like white snow and the hair of His head like pure wool, His throne tongues of flame, its wheels burning fire. A river of fire was flowing and went out before Him. Thousands upon thousands ministered to Him, and myriad upon myriad stood before Him. The court was seated and the books were opened…As to the remaining beasts, their dominion was taken over, and an extension of life was given to them for a time and season.

 

Genesis 3 ends with the LORD God sitting in judgement in the court of heaven from where fiery ministers are sent to take over dominion of the garden. Babylon’s rule is to come to an end, its limits have been set. A remnant from among the exiles shall be restored. Even so, the way to the tree of life is to be guarded: to keep the surrounding nations from attempting to take it by force as they had done the fruit of the tree of knowledge, yes, but also, perhaps, to guard it for them, in the hope that one day they might find it again, transplanted from Babylon to mount Zion?

For whom do you pray, that the tree of life might be guarded for them, until they are ready?

 

Biblical texts: Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary

 

Advent readings 2021 : Day 10

 

In which the exiles are called to bless even those who would curse them

 

Genesis 3:1-3

Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the beasts of the field that the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Though God said, you shall not eat from any tree of the garden—” And the woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the garden’s trees we may eat, but from the fruit of the tree in the midst of the garden God has said, “You shall not eat from it and you shall not touch it, lest you die.”

 

Daniel 6:4-7

Then was this Daniel preeminent among the overseers and the satraps, for there was exceptional spirit in him, and the king thought to raise him up over the whole kingdom, Then the overlords and the satraps were seeking to find some pretext against Daniel in regard to the kingdom, but no pretext nor corruption could they find, for he was faithful, and no fault nor corruption was found in him. Then these men said that “no pretext was found against this Daniel, but we have found one against him in the law of his god.” Then did these overseers and satraps come in a crowd to the king and thus said to him, “King Darius, live forever!...”

 

The god of Babylon had a sidekick who was a talking dragon. The exiles are planted in Babylon as the tree of knowledge, civil servants such as Daniel of exceptional discernment, sustained by the life-giving presence of the god of the exiles right at the heart of the garden. Indeed, through the presence of the exiles, this God was Life to their conquering hosts. This god may have a chosen people but is not partisan. Nonetheless, the presence of Daniel is a threat that must be devoured one way or another. But each time men of evil intent lay hands on the fruit of the tree of knowledge, though the fruit is not eaten, those men and their families—their seed—are put to death at the order of a king who is brought to acknowledge the Most High.

To set oneself against the plans of God to form a people through whom all peoples shall be blessed is to choose death, to trade fleeting glory for no immortal memory. Even so, God raises up a people to bless even those who would seek them harm. That is at times an unwelcome calling. Advent calls us back to it again.

 

Biblical texts: Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary

 

Advent readings 2021 : Day 9

 

In which the exiles learn about the Sustainer

 

Genesis 2:18-25

And the LORD God said, “It is not good for the human to be alone, I shall make him a sustainer beside him.” And the LORD God fashioned from the soil each beast of the field and each fowl of the heavens and brought each to the human to see what he would call it, and whatever the human called a living creature, that was its name. And the human called names to all the cattle and to the fowl of the heavens and to all the beasts of the field, but for the human no sustainer beside him was found. And the LORD God cast a deep slumber on the human, and he slept, and He took one of his ribs and closed over the flesh where it had been, and the LORD God built the rib He had taken from the human into a woman and He brought her to the human. And the human said:

“This one at last, bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh,

“This one shall be called Woman, for from man was this one taken.”

Therefore does a man leave his father and his mother and cling to his wife and they become one flesh. And the two of them were naked, the human and his woman, and they were not ashamed.

 

Daniel 4:21-23, 30, 31, 33

…this is its meaning, O king, and the decree of the Most High that is to come upon my lord the king. And you shall they banish from men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and grass like the ox shall they feed you, and from the dew of the heavens shall they give you drink. And seven seasons shall pass over you until you know that the Most High rules over the kingdom of man and to whom He chooses He gives it. And as to their saying to leave one of the roots of the tree, your kingdom shall endure for you once you know that the heavens rule.

At that very moment the word was fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar, and from man he was banished and he ate grass like the ox, and from the dew of the heavens his body was moistened until his hair grew like eagles and his nails like birds. And at the end of many days: “I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes to the heavens and my mind returned to me, and I blessed the Most High and praised and extolled the Eternal One…

At that very moment my mind returned to me, and the glory of my kingdom, my grandeur and my splendor, returned to me, and me did my councillors and my nobles seek out, and I was set up over my kingdom, and exceeding greatness was added to me…”

 

In Genesis 2 and 3, Adam stands for Babylonia, and Eve for Media, the sustainer. Yet the very presence of a sustainer reveals the work of God that takes place as Adam is cast into deep slumber, the exiles deported, Nebuchadnezzar banished, in which we are laid bare and see God as our deliverer in times of trouble.

Sleep is essential for our wellbeing, time when our body resets itself and our subconscious processes what our conscious mind cannot bear. Yet sleep deprivation is endemic in our electrified world, chased away by the energy consumption that is so dangerously overheating our planet. The whole world is presented before us, but no sustainer is found. In Advent, we trust that God is yet not distant when we call out in alarm.

 

Biblical texts: Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary

 

Avent readings 2021 : Day 8

 

In which the exiles are planted in Babylon

 

Genesis 2:5-17

On the day the LORD God made earth and heavens, no shrub of the field being yet on the earth and no plant of the field yet sprouted, for the LORD God had not caused rain to fall on the earth and there was no human to till the soil, and wetness would well from the earth to water all the surface of the soil, then the LORD God fashioned the human, humus from the soil, and blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and the human became a living creature. And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, to the east, and He placed there the human He had fashioned. And the LORD God caused to sprout from the soil every tree lovely to look at and good for food, and the tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge, good and evil. Now a river runs out of Eden to water the garden and from there splits off into four streams. The name of the first is Pishon, the one that winds through the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. And the gold of that land is goodly, bdellium is there, and lapis lazuli. And the name of the second river is Gihon, the one that winds through all the land of Cush. And the name of the third river is Tigris, the one that goes to the east of Ashur. And the fourth river is Euphrates. And the LORD God took the human and set him down in the garden of Eden to till it and watch it. And the LORD God commanded the human, saying, “From every tree of the garden you may surely eat. But from the tree of knowledge, good and evil, you shall not eat, for on the day you eat from it, you are doomed to die.”

 

Daniel 2:36-44

This is the dream, and its meaning we shall say before the king. You are king, even king of kings, to whom the God of the heavens has given power and might and honour. And wherever human beings, beasts of the field, and fowl of the heavens live, He has given them in your hand and caused you to rule over them all. You are the head of gold. And after you shall arise another kingdom, inferior to yours, and a third kingdom, of bronze, that shall rule over all the earth. And a fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron because iron shatters and splinters all things, and like smashing iron, all these shall it shatter and smash. And as to the feet and the toes you saw, part potter’s clay and part iron, the kingdom shall be split, and it shall have the strength of iron because you saw iron mixed with clay from the soil. And as to the toes, part iron and part clay, some of the kingdom shall be strong and some of it fragile. And as to your seeing iron mixed with clay from the soil, they shall be mixed with human seed and shall not hold together just as iron does not mix with clay. And in the days of these kings the God of the heavens shall establish a kingdom that shall never be destroyed. To another people it shall not be abandoned. It shall shatter and put an end to all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.

 

This second origins story circles around the great cradle of civilisation that throws up successive empires, circling as an aeroplane in holding pattern until it comes to land in Babylon, that great kingdom on the Euphrates, with its fabled (did they exist at all?) terraced gardens recreating the mountains on the plain. And here, the god of the exiles is the one who has planted the exiles there, and He with them: God, the tree of life; the exiles, tree of knowledge. The humbling of God’s people is not a defeat for their God, but part of God’s own plan.

It is possible, indeed, likely, that you find yourself in a place of trauma following loss. It could be a strange city in a foreign land far from home, as it is for the asylum seekers I minister alongside. It could be the reality of bereavement following the death of a loved one, or a communal trauma such as Covid-19 or climate crisis. Yet that place does not take God by surprise. In what way are you aware of God’s sustaining, life-giving presence alongside you?

 

Biblical texts: Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary

 

Advent readings 2021 : Day 7

In which the exiles come to (a) completion

 

Genesis 2:1-4

Then the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their array. And God completed on the seventh day the task He had done, and He ceased on the seventh day from all the task He had done. And God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, for on it He had ceased from all His task that He had created to do. This is the tale of the heavens and the earth when they were created.

 

Daniel 9:1-3, 20-23

In the first year of Darius son of Ahasuerus from the seed of Media, who was made king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans, in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, came to understand in the books the number of years that according to the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet were to fulfil the devastation of Jerusalem—seventy years. And I turned to the Master God to petition in prayer and supplication, in fasting and sackcloth and ashes…

I was still speaking and praying and confessing…when the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision before, glided down in flight, reaching me at the hour of the evening offering. And he imparted understanding and spoke to me and said, “Daniel, now have I come out to convey wisdom to you. At the beginning of your supplication the word was issued and I have come to tell you that you are beloved…”

 

The opening verses of Genesis 2 form a pivot and a bridge between the first origins story, focused on Jerusalem and her destruction and restoration, and a second origins story, focused on Babylon and her role in the shaping of God’s people. Each story converges on this point, at the completion of God’s task, on the seventh day or seventh decade, from opposite directions. And this cessation is hallowed, made holy, just as the task of exile is also a holy activity. It is hallowed, by the longing of God’s people for God, and of God for God’s people, coming together; and it happens in time, according to the very fabric and rhythms of the cosmos God has established.

Advent is standing on the bridge that joins heaven and earth, Jerusalem and Babylon, where the unseen is rendered visible, and what was once separated is joined together.

 

Biblical texts: Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary

 

Advent readings 2021 : Day 6

 

In which the exiles rejoice in a coming new order of justice and peace

 

Genesis 1:24-31

And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures of each kind, cattle and crawling things and wild beasts of each kind. And so it was. And God made wild beasts of each kind and cattle of every kind and all crawling things on the ground of each kind, and God saw that it was good. And God said, “Let us make a human in our image, by our likeness, to hold sway over the fish of the sea and the fowl of the heavens and the cattle and the wild beasts and all the crawling things that crawl upon the earth.

And God created the human in his image, in the image of God He created him, male and female He created them.

And God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and conquer it, and hold sway over the fish of the sea and the fowl of the heavens and every beast that crawls upon the earth.” And God said, “Look, I have given you every seed-bearing plant on the face of all the earth and every tree that has fruit bearing seed, yours they will be for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and to all the fowl of the heavens and to all that crawls on the earth, which has the breath of life within it, the green plants for food.” And so it was. And God saw all that He had done, and, look, it was very good. And it was evening and it was morning, the sixth day.

 

Isaiah 65:17-19, 25

For I am about to create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be recalled and shall not come to mind. But rejoice and exalt for all times, that I am creating, for I am about to create in Jerusalem exultation and with it rejoicing. And I will exult in Jerusalem and rejoice in My people, and no longer shall be heard within it the sound of weeping and the sound of screams.

The wolf and the lamb shall graze as one, and the lion like cattle eat hay and the serpent—dust, its food. They shall do no evil and do no harm on all My holy mountain, said the LORD.

 

Advent is a season of longing, as we wait for what we do not yet see: for God to come, in Jesus, and establish that reign of justice, mercy and peace.

Hold on. The kingdom of God has drawn near. A new day is coming.

Biblical texts: Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary

 

Advent readings 2021 : Day 5

 

In which the exiles exult in God’s blessing for all peoples

 

Genesis 1:20-23

And God said, “Let the waters swarm with the swarm of living creatures and let fowl fly over the earth across the vault of the heavens.” And God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that crawls, which the water had swarmed forth of each kind, and the winged fowl of each kind, and God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the water in the seas and let the fowl multiply in the earth.” And it was evening and it was morning, fifth day.

 

Isaiah 54:1-5, 9

Sing gladly, O barren one who has not given birth, burst out in glad song, exult, who has not been in labor, for the desolate one’s children number more than the children of the one with a husband. Spread wide the place of your tent, and let the curtains of your dwelling place stretch out—do not stint. Lengthen your cords, and strengthen your tent pegs. For to the north and the south you shall burst forth, and your seed shall take hold of nations and shall settle desolate towns. Do not fear, for you shall not be shamed, and you shall not be disgraced, for you shall not be dishonored. For the shame of your youth you shall forget, and the dishonor of your widowhood you shall no longer recall. For he who takes you to bed is your Maker, the LORD of Armies is His name, and your redeemer is Israel’s Holy One.

“For as Noah’s waters is this to Me, as I vowed not to let Noah’s waters go over the earth again, so have I vowed not to be furious with you nor to rebuke you.

 

In biblical imagery, the fish of the sea represent the nations of the earth; the sea monsters, gods, beings we might know as angels or demons, created by God and appointed to guard over nations; the fowl who fly over the earth, messengers from God, guardian angels. Though we shall see, as this great myth unfolds, that some such beings rebel against God, here God is reestablishing an order in which even former enemies are blessed. An order within which there can be a release of blessing for God’s people, in no way restricted to God’s people.

As we hear of wars and rumours of wars and as we see the plight of displaced peoples looking for asylum—for a welcome and a place to build a new life, in which their family can flourish and by which they can contribute to the flourishing of their new neighbours—let us lift to God all those in danger, who yet hope for blessing.

May we speak out in support of angels who have been labelled demons.

Biblical texts: Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary

 

Advent readings 2021 : Day 4

 

In which the exiles acknowledge the leaders God raises up for the nations among whom they live, and for God’s own people

 

Genesis 1:14-19

And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the heavens to divide the day from the night, and they shall be signs for the fixed times and for days and years, and they shall be lights in the vault of the heavens to light up the earth.” And so it was. And God made the two great lights, the great light for dominion of day and the small light for dominion of night, and the stars. And God placed them in the vault of the heavens to light up the earth and to have dominion over day and night and to divide the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And it was evening and it was morning, fourth day.

 

Haggai 2:1-9

In the second year of Darius in the seventh month, on the twenty-first of the month, the word of the LORD came through Haggai the prophet, saying, “Say, pray to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel the prefect of Judah and to Joshua son of Jehozadak the high priest and to the remnant of the people, saying, ‘Who among you remains who saw this house in its former glory? And how do you see it now? Is it not as nothing in your eyes?’ And now, be strong, Zerubbabel, said the LORD, and be strong, Joshua son of Jehozadak the high priest, and be strong, all the people, said the LORD, and act, for I am with you, said the LORD of Armies. Remember this word that I sealed with you when you came out of Egypt and My spirit was standing in your midst. Do not fear. For thus said the LORD of Armies: Soon I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land. And I will shake the nations, and the precious things of all the nations shall come, and I will fill this house with glory, said the LORD of Armies. Mine is the silver and mine the gold, said the LORD of Armies. Great shall be the glory of this house, the latter more than the former, said the LORD of Armies, and in this place I will bestow peace, said the LORD of Armies.”

 

Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar, Darius, Cyrus. Ezra, Nehemiah, Zerubbabel, Joshua. Lights to have dominion of the darkness, the exile (ordained by God, and proclaimed good) and lights to have dominion over day, the restoration of Judah and Jerusalem.

Those who declare that God is King of the Universe are also called to see God’s hand in the ascent, and the giving way, of leaders of the nations, and the Church. In our time of unprecedented climate crisis, we lift our present leaders to God asking that they may have courage to do what is right, and pray that God would raise up future leaders who will exercise their delegated dominion with integrity, trusting in God’s promises.

Biblical texts: Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary