terrors

June 14, 2019

Great earthquakes (Lk 21:11-21:11)

“There will be

Great earthquakes.

There will be

Famines

And plagues

In various places.

There will be

Terrors

And great signs

From heaven.”

 

σεισμοί τε μεγάλοι καὶ κατὰ τόπους λοιμοὶ καὶ λιμοὶ ἔσονται, φόβητρά τε καὶ ἀπ’ οὐρανοῦ σημεῖα μεγάλα ἔσται.

 

Luke indicated that Jesus said that there would be great earthquakes (σεισμοί τε μεγάλοι).  There would also be famines (καὶ λιμοὶ ἔσονται) and plagues (λοιμοὶ) in various places (καὶ κατὰ τόπους).  There also would be terrors (φόβητρά τε) and great signs from heaven (καὶ ἀπ’ οὐρανοῦ σημεῖα μεγάλα ἔσται).  Luke was the only Greek biblical writer to use the term φόβητρά, that means a cause of terror, a terrible sight, or an object of fear.  There is something similar in Mark, chapter 13:8, and in Matthew, chapter 24:8, almost word for word at times.  Mark indicated that Jesus said that there would be earthquakes in various places (ἔσονται σεισμοὶ κατὰ τόπους) and famines (ἔσονται λιμοί).  All of this was the mere beginning of the end (ἀρχὴ ὠδίνων ταῦτα).  Matthew indicated that Jesus said there would be famines (καὶ ἔσονται λιμοὶ) and earthquakes in various places (καὶ σεισμοὶ κατὰ τόπους).  All of this was like birth-pangs (πάντα δὲ ταῦτα ἀρχὴ ὠδίνων).  These comments and the idea of birth pains were in the Hebrew prophetic tradition of the apocalyptic literature, the Day of Yahweh, the judgment day.  Jesus was speaking like many of the ancient Israelite prophets who warned about the coming of the divine judgment at the end of days, the end times.  However, Luke did not emphasize the beginning of the end here.  What do you think that the end of the world will be like?

October 8, 2015

Terrible situation (Ps 55:4-55:7)

“My heart is in anguish within me.

The terrors of death have fallen upon me.

Fear and trembling come upon me.

Horror overwhelms me.

I say,

‘O that I had wings like a dove!

I would fly away.

I would be at rest.

Truly,

I would flee far away.

I would lodge in the wilderness.”

Selah

David was in anguish.  He feared death.  Fear and trembling came over him as horror overwhelmed him.  This concept of fear and trembling became a major concept and the name of a writing of the 19th century theologian or philosopher Soren Kierkegaard.  David finally said that he wished that he was a dove that could fly away.  He wanted to rest somewhere far away where no one knew him.  He would love to live in the wilderness.  This idea of flight from a problem is still common today.  We like to get away from our problems.  This section ended with the musical interlude meditative pause, Selah.

July 22, 2015

The fate of the wicked (Job 27:13-27:23)

“This is the portion of the wicked with God.

This is the heritage

Those oppressors receive from the Almighty, Shaddai.

If their children are multiplied,

It is for the sword.

Their offspring have not enough to eat.

Those who survive

The pestilence buries.

Their widows make no lamentation.

Although they heap up silver like dust,

Although they pile up clothing like clay,

They may pile it up.

However, the just will wear it.

The innocent will divide the silver.

They build their houses

Like nests,

Like booths made by sentinels of the vineyard.

They go to bed with wealth.

But they will do so no more.

They open their eyes.

Their wealth is gone.

Terrors overtake them like a flood.

In the night,

A whirlwind carries them off.

The east wind lifts them up.

They are gone.

It sweeps them out of their place.

It hurls at them without pity.

They flee from its power in headlong flight.

It claps its hands at them.

It hisses at them from its place.”

This section is either from Job or Zophar. However, it fits more with Zophar’s beliefs about the wicked that that of Job. He believed that the wicked would be cursed in this life or in their descendant’s lifetime. Thus this probably is the curse of Zophar, one of Job’s friends, about the fate of the wicked. This seems to explain what is going to happen to the wicked ones. If they have many children, they would die by the sword. Their children would not have food to eat and so probably die of pestilence. Their widows would not grieve for them. Their silver and clothing would disappear. Their houses would be as fragile bird’s nests and flimsy vineyard tents. They would go to bed wealthy and wake up broke. Terrors would come upon them like a whirlwind and sweep them out of their homes. They would flee the wind itself. This paints a bleak picture of the future for the wicked ones.

July 14, 2015

Eliphaz claims that Job had much and did not share it (Job 22:8-22:11)

“The powerful possess the land.

The favored people live in it.

You have sent widows away empty.

You have crushed the arms of the orphans.

Therefore snares are around you.

Sudden terror overwhelms you.

Your light is darkened.

Thus you cannot see.

A flood of water covers you.”

Eliphaz claimed that Job had land, yet he sent widows and orphans away empty handed. Thus the snares and terrors are all around him because he was not kind to others. He was now in a situation where it was dark. He could not see because a flood of water had covered him. He was in a state or personal distress.

July 4, 2015

Job responds by complaining (Job 6:1-6:7)

“Then Job answered.

‘O that my distresses were weighed.

May my entire calamity be laid in the balances!

For then it would be heavier than the sand of the sea.

Therefore my words have been rash.

For the arrows of the Almighty Shaddai are planted in me.

My spirit drinks their poison.

The terrors of God are arrayed against me.

Does the wild ass bray over its grass?

Does the ox bellow over its fodder?

Can that which is tasteless be eaten without salt?

Is there any flavor in egg white?

My appetite refuses to touch them.

They are like food that is loathsome to me.’”

Job was not consoled by the remarks of Eliphaz. Job felt that his calamity outweighed anything that had happened to anyone, heavier than the sands of the sea. The arrows of the Almighty Shaddai were in him. He felt like he had drunk poison. The terrors of God were against him. Just as the animals do not complain when they have food, however, all his food was tasteless. Without salt, there was no flavor in his food. He had no appetite because all food was disgusting to him. It was not that he could not eat, but everything was tasteless.