his army

June 13, 2018

The king was angry (Mt 22:7-22:7)

“The king was angry.

He sent his troops.

He destroyed

Those murderers.

He burned

Their city.”

 

ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς ὠργίσθη, καὶ πέμψας τὰ στρατεύματα αὐτοῦ ἀπώλεσεν τοὺς φονεῖς ἐκείνους καὶ τὴν πόλιν αὐτῶν ἐνέπρησεν.

 

Well, yeah, the king was enraged and angry.  First, he invited them to his son’s wedding feast.  Then they would not come after two specific invitations.  Finally, they mistreated and killed his own slaves.  In the equivalent Luke parable, nobody died.  But Matthew has a different story.  Jesus said that he wanted revenge for the death of this king’s slaves.  This king was very angry, provoked, and irritated (ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς ὠργίσθη).  He sent his army of troops (καὶ πέμψας τὰ στρατεύματα αὐτοῦ) to destroy those murderers (ἀπώλεσεν τοὺς φονεῖς ἐκείνους).  Then he burned down their city (καὶ τὴν πόλιν αὐτῶν ἐνέπρησεν).  This destruction of the city may have been a veiled reference to the fall of Jerusalem.  Don’t mess with the king and his slaves!

June 24, 2017

The allies of Gog (Ezek 38:5-38:6)

“Persia,

Cush,

Put,

Are with them.

All of them

Have shields

With helmets.

Gomer

With all its troops

Are with them.

Beth-togarmah,

From the remotest parts

Of the north,

Are with them,

With all its troops.

Many people

Are with you.”

Yahweh, via Ezekiel, listed the allies of Gog. Ezekiel seemed to remind Gog who was on his side. Persia was an ally. Cush or Ethiopia was also on his side. Put or Libya was also with him. Of course, they all had their shields and helmets. Also with Gog were the people of Gomer, who was the biblical son of Japheth, the son of Noah, with his army. Beth-togarmah, the horse traders with Tyre from chapter 27, from the remote north, was also with Gog. Once again, these northern countries had lots of people in their armies.

June 6, 2017

Pharaoh in the pit (Ezek 32:31-32:32)

“‘When Pharaoh

Sees them,

He will be consoled

For all his hordes.

Pharaoh

With all his army,

Will be killed

By the sword.’

Says Yahweh God.

‘He spread terror

In the land

Of the living.

Therefore,

He shall be laid

To rest

Among the uncircumcised.

He,

Pharaoh

With all his multitude,

Shall be laid

To rest

With those

Who are slain

By the sword.’

Says Yahweh God.”

Yahweh God was clear about Pharaoh. The king of Egypt thought that he would be consoled with all his own people. However, Pharaoh with all his army would be killed by the sword. He had spread terror in the land of the living. Thus, he with all his crowd will be laid to rest among the uncircumcised and those killed by the sword, in the dishonorable area of the pit.

May 31, 2017

King Nebuchadnezzar will get the spoils of Egypt (Ezek 29:19-29:20)

“Therefore,

Thus says Yahweh God!

‘I will give the land

Of Egypt

To King Nebuchadnezzar

Of Babylon.

He shall carry off

Its wealth.

He shall despoil it.

He shall plunder it.

It shall be

The wages

For his army.

I have given him

The land

Of Egypt

As his payment

For which he labored.

Because they worked

For me.’

Says Yahweh God.”

In a perverse sort of way, Yahweh was going to give King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon the land of Egypt as a compensation for not getting much from the capture of Tyre. Thus, the king of Babylon would get the wealth of Egypt. He was going to wreck and plunder Egypt to get the wages for his army. Egypt was the payment to the king of Babylon for doing the work of Yahweh, the God of Israel.

May 31, 2017

King Nebuchadnezzar and Tyre (Ezek 29:17-29:18)

“In the twenty-seventh year,

In the first month,

On the first day

Of the month,

The word of Yahweh

Came to me.

‘Son of man!

King Nebuchadnezzar

Of Babylon

Made his army

Labor hard

Against Tyre.

Every head

Was made bald.

Every shoulder

Was rubbed bare.

Yet neither he

Nor his army

Got anything

From Tyre

To pay

For the labor

That he had expended.”

This appears to be one of the last oracles of Ezekiel. Once again, there is an exact date, the 1st day of the 1st month of the 27th year of King Zedekiah, making it 571 BCE, well after the captivity of Jerusalem. As usual, the word of Yahweh came to Ezekiel, the son of man. Yahweh explained how King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had made his army work very hard against Tyre. They were baldheaded and wore out their shoulders. However, neither he nor his army got anything out of Tyre to pay for all the energy that they had spent against it.

February 13, 2017

The attack of King Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 52:4-52:5)

“In the ninth year

Of King Zedekiah’s reign,

In the tenth month,

On the tenth day of the month,

King Nebuchadnezzar

Of Babylon

Came with all his army

Against Jerusalem.

They laid siege to it.

They built siege works

Against it

All around.

So the city was besieged

Until the eleventh year

Of King Zedekiah.”

Once again, this is an exact date, word for word as in 2 Kings, chapter 25 and earlier in this book of Jeremiah, in chapter 39. It is rare that we have exact dating, but here it is very specific, not some vague “at that time.” In the 9th year of King Zedekiah, in the 10th month on the 10th day, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came with his army to Jerusalem in order to besiege the city. King Zedekiah had probably began to plot with the Egyptians and rebelled against the king of Babylon. This siege of Jerusalem began in 588 BCE and lasted about 18 months to 2 years

January 6, 2017

The flight and capture of King Zedekiah (Jer 39:4-39:5)

“When King Zedekiah

Of Judah,

With all the soldiers

Saw the Babylonians,

They fled.

They went out of the city

At night

By way of the king’s garden

Through the gate

Between the two walls.

They went toward the Arabah.

But the army of the Chaldeans

Pursued them.

They overtook King Zedekiah

In the plains of Jericho.

When they had taken him,

They brought him up

To King Nebuchadnezzar

Of Babylon,

At Riblah,

In the land of Hamath.

He passed sentence on him.”

This is pretty much the same as in 2 Kings, chapter 25. The king and his army escaped through a hole in the wall via the king’s garden. They were headed for Arabah, the Jordan River valley, but the Chaldeans caught them in the plains of Jericho, about 5 miles from Jerusalem. In 2 Kings, chapter 24, the Judean troops scattered and deserted the king, but there is no mention of that here.  They then brought the king and his army officials to King Nebuchadnezzar, who was at Riblah in Hamath, north of Jerusalem, almost on the Syrian border.

January 6, 2017

The siege of Jerusalem (Jer 39:1-39:1)

“In the ninth year

Of King Zedekiah

Of Judah,

In the tenth month,

King Nebuchadnezzar

Of Babylon

With all his army

Came against Jerusalem.

He besieged it.”

Once again, there is an exact date, almost the same as in 2 Kings, chapter 25. It is rare that we have exact dating, but here it is very specific, not some vague “at that time.” In the 9th year of King Zedekiah, in the 10th month, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came with his army to Jerusalem in order to besiege the city. King Zedekiah had probably began to plot with the Egyptians and rebelled against the king of Babylon.   This siege of Jerusalem probably began in 588 BCE. Like the preceding chapter, this is a different numbered chapter in the Greek translation of the Septuagint, since they are the latter part of chapter 45 and chapter 46, not chapter 39 as here.

September 11, 2016

Yahweh and Judah (Isa 48:1-48:2)

“Hear this!

O house of Jacob!

You are called

By the name of Israel.

You came forth

From the loins of Judah.

You swear by the name of Yahweh.

You confess the God of Israel.

But not in truth or right.

They call themselves

After the holy city.

They lean on the God of Israel.

Yahweh of hosts is his name.”

This chapter concludes the first section or first chant of Second Isaiah. Second Isaiah has this continual call to listen. This is directed at the house of Jacob, the Israelites, who come from Judah, a clear distinction about the house of Judah compared to all the other tribes. They swear by the name of Yahweh. They confess him as the God of Israel, but not truly or rightly in good faith. They seem to call themselves after their holy city. They lean on the God of Israel, Yahweh, and his army.

September 10, 2016

Lamentation over Babylon (Isa 47:1-47:4)

“Come down!

Sit in the dust!

O virgin daughter Babylon!

Sit on the ground

Without a throne!

O daughter Chaldea!

You shall no more

Be called tender!

You shall no more

Be called delicate!

Take the millstones!

Grind the meal!

Remove your veil!

Strip off your robe!

Uncover your legs!

Pass through the rivers!

Your nakedness shall be uncovered.

Your shame shall be seen.

I will take vengeance.

I will spare no one.

Our Redeemer

Is the Holy One of Israel.

Yahweh of hosts

Is his name!”                                     

This is a unique kind of Hebrew lamentation. Yahweh God has stripped the unconquered virgin Babylon of its royal throne. The Chaldeans, who were from the southern part of Babylon, would no longer be considered tender and delicate. Now they were to do the work of slaves, grinding the meal with millstones. On top of that, they were to strip down, taking their veils off and removing their robes, so that their legs would be uncovered. They would be shamefully naked as washing in a river. Yahweh with his army was going to take vengeance on them, so that no one would be spared. Yahweh is the redeemer and the Holy One of Israel.