rises

November 9, 2017

Praise for the Creator God (Am 9:5-9:6)

“Yahweh!

God of hosts!

He touches the earth,

So that it melts.

All who live in it

Mourn.

All of it rises

Like the Nile.

It sinks again,

Like the Nile of Egypt.

He builds his upper chambers

In the heavens.

He founds his vault

Upon the earth.

He calls for the waters

Of the sea.

He pours them out

Upon the surface

Of the earth.

Yahweh is his name.”

Amos has this praise of Yahweh, the Creator, the God of the heavenly hosts.  Yahweh merely touches the earth and it melts.  Everyone who lives on the earth mourns.  The earth itself rises and sinks like the Nile River in Egypt.  Yahweh has his upper chambers in heaven.  He has put a rounded vault over the earth.  Thus, he calls the waters from the sea and then pours them out on the earth.  He is none other than Yahweh.  Yahweh is his name, the continuing creator of the world.

June 5, 2016

The scribes (Sir 39:1-39:5)

“How different is

The one who devotes himself

To the study

Of the law of the Most High.

He seeks out the wisdom

Of all the ancients.

He is concerned with prophecies.

He preserves the sayings

Of the famous.

He penetrates the subtleties

Of the parables.

He seeks out the hidden meanings

Of proverbs.

He is at home

With the obscurities of parables.

He serves among the great men.

He appears before rulers.

He travels in foreign lands.

He learns what is good and evil

In the human lot.

He sets his heart to rise early.

He seeks the Lord who made him.

He petitions the Most High.

He opens his mouth in prayer.

He asks pardon for his sins.”

Sirach is more interested in the scholarly scribes. This seems like a defense of his own life, and what he is doing. He devotes himself to the study of the law of the Most High God. He seeks the wisdom of the ancients and the current prophecies. He preserves the ancient sayings or writings. He penetrates and finds the hidden meanings of the parables and the proverbs. He serves among and appears before the rulers. He even travels in foreign lands so that he can learn about good and evil among all humans. He rises early to seek the Lord. He prays with petitions and penitence to the Most High God. In other words, he is a great righteous man, fully dedicated to the law of God and living it out in his daily life. He is Sirach!

February 22, 2016

The earth around us (Eccl 1:4-1:7)

“A generation goes.

A generation comes.

But the earth remains forever.

The sun rises.

The sun goes down.

The sun hastens to the place

Where it rises.

The wind blows to the south.

The wind goes around to the north.

Round and round goes the wind.

On its circuits

The wind returns.

All streams run to the sea.

But the sea is not full.

They continue to flow

To the place where the streams flow.

There they continue to flow.”

This is a stunning appreciation of creation. Generations of humans come and go, but the earth remains forever in a static flat world concept. The sun rises and sets every day. There was no thought that the earth was moving around a static sun. The wind blew in from the north to south and then around and around again. The wind, as we know, blows in various directions. The streams do run to the sea, and not vice versa. However, the seas never seem to fill up because there is osmosis. No matter what, the streams continue to flow to where they want to go, usually downhill because of gravity. Thus this poetic expression of creation uses the scientific assumptions of its day, not those of the later scientific age.

November 28, 2015

Yahweh controls time (Ps 104:19-104:23)

“You have made the moon to mark the seasons.

The sun knows it’s time for setting.

You make darkness.

It is night.

Then all the animals of the forest come creeping out.

The young lions roar for their prey.

They seek their food from God.

When the sun rises,

They withdraw.

They lie down in their dens.

People go out to their work.

They labor until the evening.”

Everything has a purpose. God made the moon to mark the seasons and the sun to mark the days. Thus there is night and darkness. The sun rises and sets which is perfectly correct with a flat earth concept of the world. The earth does not move around the sun. God makes the darkness. During this darkness, the animals of the forest can creep around, while the young lions can seek their prey that is food that comes from God. It almost sounds like the lions recognize God. When the sun rises on the next day, the lions return to their dens. Then the people go out to work until the evening time.

August 25, 2015

Yahweh and the sun (Ps 19:4-19:6)

“In the heavens,

He has set a tent for the sun.

The sun comes out

Like a bridegroom

From his wedding canopy.

The sun is like a strong man

Who runs his course with joy.

Its rising is from the end of the heavens.

Its circuit is to the end of them.

There is nothing hid from its heat.”

This is almost a hymn to the sun. However, Yahweh is in control of the sun. Clearly this sun is revolving around the earth. The sun comes out like a bridegroom from a wedding canopy. What a description of a sunrise! The sun is like a strong man who cannot be deterred from his course that he runs with joy. The sun rises at one end and does a circuit to the other end of heaven or the sky. Nothing can hide from the heat of the sun.