blot out

June 5, 2017

The darkening of the skies (Ezek 32:7-32:8)

“‘When I blot you out,

I will cover

The heavens.

I will make

Their stars dark.

I will cover

The sun

With a cloud.

The moon shall

Not give its light.

I will darken

Above you

All the bright lights

Of the heavens.

I will put darkness

On your land.’

Says Yahweh God.”

Yahweh God, via Ezekiel, said that he was going to blot out the Pharaoh. He was going to close off the heavens also. He was going to make the stars dark and cover the sun with a cloud. Meanwhile, the moon would not give any light. All the bright lights of the heavens would go dark over the land of Egypt.

November 20, 2016

The vicious request of Jeremiah (Jer 18:21-18:23)

“Therefore give their children

Over to famine!

Hurl them out

To the power of the sword!

Let their wives become childless!

Let their wives become widowed!

May their men meet death

By pestilence!

May their youths be slain

By the sword in battle!

May a cry be heard

From their houses,

When you bring the marauder

Suddenly upon them.

They have dug a pit

To catch me.

They laid snares

For my feet.

Yet you!

Yahweh!

Know all their plotting

To kill me.

Do not forgive their iniquity!

Do not blot out their sin

From your sight!

Let them be tripped up before you!

Deal with them

While you are angry!”

Jeremiah does not hold back his contempt for his adversaries. He is vicious in this lament to Yahweh. First, he wanted their children to die whether by famine or by the sword. He wanted their wives to be childless and widows. He hoped that they might die from a pestilence. He wanted their young men killed in battle. He wanted a marauder to suddenly attack them. They had plotted to catch him and kill him in a pit, as they laid snares for his feet. He told Yahweh not to forgive their iniquity, not to blot out their sins. They should be tripped up. He wanted Yahweh to deal with them while he was angry, so that they would receive a worse sentence. There was no sense of Jeremiah’s mercy or compassion here. He wanted his enemies completely destroyed.

September 5, 2016

The accusation at trial (Isa 43:25-43:28)

“I!

I am he!

I blot out your transgressions

For my own sake.

I will not remember your sins.

Accuse me!

Let us go to trial!

Set forth your case!

Thus you may be proven right.

Your first ancestor sinned.

Your interpreters transgressed against me.

Therefore I profaned

The princes of the sanctuary.

I delivered Jacob to utter destruction.

I delivered Israel to reviling.”

Second Isaiah has Yahweh continue with this first person singular diatribe against the Israelites. He wanted to put them on trial to see if they were innocent. He intended to blot out and forget their transgressions and sins. However, he expected them to present their case. Instead, he presented his case. Their first ancestor, perhaps Jacob in Genesis, chapter 27, sinned. Since then the interpreters or intermediaries have transgressed against God. Perhaps this is an allusion to the prophets or the kings. Then he talked about the sanctuary being profaned, which would be the Levitical priests in the Temple. As a result of this, he delivered Jacob and Israel to utter abusive destruction.

June 21, 2016

Samuel (Sir 46:13-46:20)

“Samuel was beloved by his Lord.

He was a prophet of the Lord.

He established the kingdom.

He anointed rulers over his people.

By the law of the Lord

He judged the congregation.

The Lord watched over Jacob.

By his faithfulness,

He proved to be a prophet.

By his words,

He became known as a trustworthy seer.

He called upon the Lord,

The Mighty One,

When his enemies

Pressed him on every side.

He offered in sacrifice

A sucking lamb.

Then the Lord thundered from heaven.

He made his voice heard

With a mighty sound.

He subdued the leaders of the enemy

In Tyre.

He subdued all the rulers of the Philistines.

Before the time of his eternal sleep,

Samuel bore witness before the Lord.

Samuel bore witness before his anointed.

‘No property,

Not so much as a pair of shoes,

Have I taken from anyone!’

No one accused him.

Even after he had fallen asleep,

He prophesied.

He made known to the king his death.

He lifted up his voice from the ground.

In prophecy,

He wanted to blot out

The wickedness of the people.”

Next Sirach praises Samuel, the prophet who was a judge and founder of the monarchy. There is a Hebrew biblical book called Samuel that was later divided into 2 parts. He was a beloved trustworthy faithful prophet. He called upon the Lord when the enemies surrounded him. He offered a sacrifice of a lamb. He defeated the enemies at Tyre and the Philistines. Samuel anointed 2 kings, Saul and David. He never took any property from anyone, not even a pair of shoes. Even after his death, prophecies from the grave came to the king. He continually wanted to blot out the wickedness of his people.

July 3, 2015

Job curses the night he was conceived (Job 3:2-3:10)

“Job said.

‘Let the day perish in which I was born.

Let the night perish that said,

‘A man-child is conceived.’

Let that day be darkness!

May God above not seek it

Or light shine upon it!

Let gloom and deep darkness claim it.

Let clouds settle upon it.

Let the blackness of the day terrify it.

That night

Let thick darkness seize it!

Let it not rejoice among the days of the year.

Let it not come into the number of the months.

Yes,

Let that night be barren.

Let no joyful cry be heard in it.

Let those curse it who curse the day,

Those who are skilled to rouse up Leviathan.

Let the stars of its dawn be dark.

Let it hope for light,

but have none.

May it not see the eyelids of the morning.

Because it did not shut the doors of my mother’s womb,

It did not hide trouble from my eyes.’”

Job at first blamed the day he was born, but he quickly turned to the day he was conceived. He wanted to blot out the day that he the man child was conceived. Basically, he was wishing darkness and not light on that day. This is the classic idea that light is good, dark is bad thinking that permeates most thinking. He even wanted black clouds to terrify the day and night. He wanted the days of the year and the number in the month not to be a time for rejoicing. It is interesting to me that I am working today on this concept on the day of my own birthday. I am happy to be alive. He wished that the night of his conception would have been barren. There should be no joy about his life. Rather it should be like a curse that would arouse the sea monster, the Leviathan. The17th century English philosopher Thomas Hobbes later used this biblical concept to explain society as chaotic, where we try to devour each other. Thus we needed a strong central government to maintain the common good, a Leviathan government. Clearly these ancients understood the terrible sea monster, the Leviathan, which will appear later in this work. Job wanted the stars in the sky to go dark. Why did they not shut the doors of his mother’s womb? What an image! It almost sounds like he may have preferred to have been aborted. He did not want his eyes to see the morning light or any other troubles.