drank

November 15, 2018

Jesus prayed again (Mk 14:39-14:39)

“Again,

Jesus went away.

He prayed,

Saying

The same words.”

 

καὶ πάλιν ἀπελθὼν προσηύξατο τὸν αὐτὸν λόγον εἰπών.

 

This is similar to Matthew, chapter 26:42, but he has the actual words instead of “the same words.”  In Luke, chapter 22, and John, chapter 22, there was nothing more about these 2nd and 3rd prayers of Jesus.  Mark indicated that again, Jesus went away, for a 2nd time (καὶ πάλιν ἀπελθὼν).  He prayed to his Father (προσηύξατο) once again.  This time Mark said that Jesus used the same words that he had said the first time (τὸν αὐτὸν λόγον εἰπών).  Matthew indicated what these words were.  Jesus said that if this cannot pass unless he drank it, then his Father’s will should be done.  Clearly, Jesus would have preferred not to undergo this great suffering.  However, he subordinated his will to the will of his Father again.

December 23, 2017

Bad times (Hag 1:5-1:6)

“Now therefore thus

Says Yahweh of hosts.

‘Consider how you have fared.

You have sown much,

But you have harvested little.

You eat,

But you never have enough.

You drink,

But you never have your fill.

You clothe yourselves,

But no one is warm.

You who earn wages,

Earn wages to put them

Into a bag with holes.’”

Yahweh, via Haggai, indicated that they were suffering bad times.  They had sown much, but only harvested a little.  They never had enough food.  When they drank, they were never full.  When they put clothes on, it did not keep them warm.  When they earned wages, it went into a bag with holes in it, so that they did not get to keep their own wages.  Things were not going well.

September 24, 2017

Daniel feeds the dragon (Dan 14:27-14:27)

“Then Daniel took

Pitch,

Fat,

With hair.

He boiled them together.

He made cakes.

Then he fed them

To the dragon.

The dragon ate them.

The dragon

Burst open.

Then Daniel said.

‘See!

What you have been worshiping!’”

Once again, the theme of food appeared. First, Daniel would not eat the royal food in chapter 1. Then there was the great feast where they drank out of sacred vessels in chapter 5. Earlier in this chapter, there was the problem of the idol god Bel or his priests eating the sacrificial food. Now here, Daniel prepares a meal for the dragon that will make him burst open. Once again, Daniel put down and destroyed an object of pagan worship. This time, it was this mysterious dragon.

February 8, 2017

The fall of Babylon (Jer 51:7-51:10)

“Babylon was a

Golden cup

In Yahweh’s hand.

It made all the earth

Drunk.

The nations drank

Of her wine.

So that the nations

Went mad.

Suddenly Babylon

Has fallen.

It is shattered.

Wail for her!

Take balm

For her wound!

Perhaps she may be healed.

We tried

To heal Babylon.

But she could not be healed.

Forsake her!

Let each of us go

To our own country!

Her judgment has reached

Up to heaven.

Her judgment

Has been lifted up

Even to the skies.

Yahweh has brought forth

Our vindication.

Come!

Let us declare in Zion

The work of Yahweh

Our God.”

Babylon was like a golden cup of God’s wrath. The various nations drank this wrath from this golden cup. Thus they got drunk and went mad. Now suddenly Babylon has fallen and fell into many pieces. You can cry for her. You can try to heal her wounds, in hopes that she would be healed. Everyone tried to heal Babylon, but nothing worked. Then Yahweh said that you could cry and wail for her. Nevertheless, everyone should go to their own country. The judgment against Babylon has reached to the high heavens. Yahweh has enacted his vengeance and vindication. They were now to return to Zion, Jerusalem, to declare the works of Yahweh, their God. Bye-bye Babylon!

November 27, 2016

The comparison with his father (Jer 22:15-22:17)

“‘Are you a king

Because you compete in cedar?

Did not your father eat?

Did not your father drink?

Did not your father do justice?

Did not your father do righteousness?

Then it was well with him.

He judged the cause of the poor.

He judged the cause of the needy.

Then it was well.

Is not this to know me?’

Says Yahweh.

‘But your eyes

With your heart

Are only on your dishonest gain,

Are only for shedding innocent blood,

Are only for practicing oppression,

Are only for violence.’”

Yahweh, via Jeremiah, takes on King Jehoiakim or King Eliakim (609-598 BCE) by making a comparison with his father King Josiah (640-609 BCE). His father rightly judged the cases of the needy and the poor. He never tried to build a great house of cedar. He ate and drank, but was filled with justice and righteousness. Thus, everything went well with him. On the other hand, King Jehoiakim has turned his eyes and heart to dishonest gain, shedding innocent blood, practicing oppression, and doing violence. Which king would you rather have?

October 7, 2016

False worship (Isa 65:3-65:5)

“A people provoke me

To my face continually.

They sacrifice in gardens.

They offer incense on bricks.

They sit inside tombs.

They spend the night in secret places.

They eat swine’s flesh.

They have broth of abominable things

In their vessels.

They say.

‘Keep to yourself.

Do not come near me.

I am too holy for you.’

These are a smoke

In my nostrils.

They are a fire

That burns all the day.”

These Israelites were practicing false worship right in front of Yahweh, instead of the true Yahweh worship. They were sacrificing in the gardens in some sort of a nature cult. They burned incense on bricks that was both a pagan and Israelite practice. Sitting inside tombs was an attempt to consult with the dead. If they spent the night in a secret place they were trying to conjure up a vision. Obviously eating pork was forbidden to the Israelites. Others drank some kind of terrible abominable broth. Some even wanted to keep Yahweh away because they were already part of some unknown rite or cult that made them holy. They were like smoke in Yahweh’s nose. They were like a continually burning fire. They really bothered Yahweh with their false worship practices.

September 22, 2016

Wakeup call to Jerusalem (Isa 51:17-51:20)

“Rouse yourself!

Rouse yourself!

Stand up!

O Jerusalem!

You have drunk

At the hand of Yahweh

The cup of his wrath.

You have drunk to the dregs

The bowl of staggering.

There is no one to guide her

Among all the children

She has borne.

There is no one to take her

By the hand

Among all the children

She has brought up.

These two things have befallen you.

Who will grieve with you

In this devastation with destruction?

Who will grieve with you

In this famine?

Who will grieve with you

Because of the sword?

Who will comfort you?

Your children have fainted.

They lie at the head of every street

Like an antelope in a net.

They are full of the wrath of Yahweh.

They are full of the rebuke of your God.”

Second Isaiah has a wakeup call for Jerusalem. They had suffered enough, since they were drunk from the cup of Yahweh’s wrath. They drank so much wrath that they were staggering around. No one was guiding them. No one was taking them by the hand, among all the children of Israel. They had been struck by more than two things, devastation, destruction, famine, and the sword. Who would comfort them? Their children have fainted on the streets, like they were antelopes caught in nets. They were filled with Yahweh’s anger and rebuke. They were in bad shape.

March 18, 2016

His response (Song 5:1-5:1)

Male lover

“I come to my garden.

My sister!

My bride!

I gather my myrrh

With my spice.

I eat my honeycomb

With my honey.

I drink my wine

With my milk.

Eat!

Friends!

Be drunk

With love.”

The male lover came to the garden of his bride. He gathered his myrrh and spice. He ate the honey in his honeycomb. He drank milk with wine. That does not sound good. He or someone else asked him and his friends to eat and be drunk with love. Surely this is a love poem.

November 5, 2015

How long will Yahweh be angry? (Ps 80:4-80:6)

“Yahweh!

God of hosts!

How long will you be angry

With your people’s prayers?

You have fed them with the bread of tears.

You have given them tears to drink in full measure.

You make us the scorn of our neighbors.

Our enemies laugh among themselves.”

The psalmist wanted to know how long Yahweh would be angry with them. Why did he not like the prayer of his people? He had sent them tears instead of bread. They ate and drank tears. They were the scorn of their neighbors as their enemies were laughing at them.

April 9, 2015

Queen Esther asks God for courage (Greek text only)

“O Lord!

Do not surrender your scepter to what has no being!

Do not let them laugh at our downfall!

Turn their plan against them!

Make an example of the man who began this against us.

Remember, O Lord!

Make yourself known in this time of our affliction.

Give me courage!

O King of the gods!

Master of all dominion!

Put eloquent speech in my mouth before the lion.

Turn his heart to hate the man who is fighting against us.

Let there be an end of him and those who agree with him!

Save us by your hand!

Help me!

I am alone

I have no helper but you, O Lord.

You have knowledge of all things.

You know that I hate the splendor of the wicked.

I abhor the bed of the uncircumcised and of any alien.

You know my necessity.

I abhor the sign of my proud position,

That which is upon my head on the days when I appear in public.

I abhor it like a filthy rag.

I do not wear it on the days when I am at leisure.

Your servant has not eaten at Haman’s table.

I have not honored the king’s feast.

I have not drunk the wine of libations.

Your servant has had no joy

Since the day that I was brought here until now,

Except in you, O Lord God of Abraham.

O God, whose might is over all,

Hear the voice of the despairing!

Save us from the hands of evildoers!

Save me from my fear!”

Queen Esther asked God to give her courage in this Greek text. She wanted to turn the plan against the man who was plotting against her and her people.   She wanted God to reveal himself. She wanted his help to give her the strength since she had no one to help her, except God. She said that she hated the uncircumcised bed and the royal position. However, she had agreed to this, in fact sought it out. She said that she had not eaten at Haman’s table or drank at the king’s libations. However, she had been queen for a few years. She proclaimed that she has had no joy since she became queen. She took her joy in the all powerful God of Abraham. In desperation, she wanted to be saved from evildoers and her own fear.