Day 44: Wisdom Chapter 8

Solomon continues his description of Wisdom. He tells us how he fell in love with her beauty, how he wanted her to be his bride. Again he stresses her closeness to God - she is loved by him, she is familiar with his mysteries and helps determine his course of action.
This is sailing dangerously close to the wind of Jewish monotheism. There is one strand of Jewish thought that wants to emphasise that God is unique and alone, no one and nothing comes close to him. “The Lord our God, the Lord is one.” This strand of thought is much closer to the Christian understanding of the Trinity, of God as a community of loving beings.
Solomon decides that what he needs in life is Wisdom. She will give him everything. He wants to take her home with him. So he pleads with God to be allowed to do this.
Again, this is dangerous language. It is coming close to the territory of idolatry. Lots of peoples like to take their gods home with them, and would be devastated if their precious gods were stolen. Remember Laban? (Genesis 31:35)
What will God say to Solomon’s bold and importunate prayer?

Day 43: Wisdom Chapter 7

Wisdom now speaks with the voice of Solomon. He is a man like everyone else, who came into the world in the same way.
What set him apart was that he valued Wisdom above everything, and she came to him. And with her came everything else - his riches, his power his fame.
He gives an almost scientific analysis of the spirit of Wisdom: “It is clear, clean, and confident; it cannot be harmed. It loves what is good. It is sharp and unconquerable, kind, and a friend of humanity. It is dependable and sure, and has no worries. It has power over everything, and sees everything. It penetrates every spirit that is intelligent and pure, no matter how delicate its substance may be.”
He describes Wisdom as “a breath of God’s power,” who can do anything, who makes everything new. Sounds like the Holy Spirit, doesn’t it?

Day 42: Wisdom Chapter 6

Now the writer turns his attention to the powerful - the rulers of the earth. What has he got to say to them?
He wants to keep them humble, by reminding them that they have their power and authority from God, and they rule on his behalf. He tells them that God will judge them more strictly than common people.
And now Wisdom herself becomes the focus, she is described in glowing terms. If you look for her, you will find her, to desire her is to love her, to love her is to keep her laws.
He wants rulers in particular to earnestly seek Wisdom. Of course, this book was written in Solomon’s name - Solomon was the legendary wise ruler. In real life he didn’t live up to it - he made all sorts of unwise decisions - but in legend he is second to none as the ruler who shows how it should be done. Speaking as Solomon, the write now offers to share his insights about Wisdom. He should know more about her than anyone, we suppose, so his revelations will be interesting indeed.

Day 41: Wisdom Chapter 5

Chapter 5 offers more comfort for the righteous. It imagines wicked people looking back on their lives from the perspective of eternity, and getting all philosophical about the error of their ways. We thought we were doing great, but now we can see our lives amounted to nothing. Like when you take your hand out of a bucket of water, there’s no sign it was ever there. That’s how much impression our wicked lives have made.
What’s happening to the righteous? Meanwhile, they are living on for ever, cheering God on as he marches out in battle to slay those evildoers once and for all.

Day 40: Wisdom Chapter 4

Having said that you can’t always tell by what happens in this life that the righteous are rewarded, Widom gains a bit of confidence today. Chapter 4 begins by extolling virtue, the most sought after of qualities. Even a person not blessed by God in having children, if they are a virtuous person, will be remembered and celebrated.
Illegitimate children are all show and no substance. They aren’t a true blessing from God, and they will fail eventually. So many of the things that people look at and say, “Oh that’s a blessing from God,” aren’t all they seem. Wisdom wants us to look deeper.
Then we turn to the example of Enoch. Genesis mentions this man who “walked with God.” One day he wasn’t there anymore, because God had taken him. Wisdom reflects on this man, saying that in as short lifetime he achieved such a level of perfection that God snatched him away before he could become corrupted.
For us Christians, there’s an obvious compare and contrast. Jesus lived a short lifetime, was tempted as we are, yet without sin, but wasn’t rescued by God before death. Instead he died in shameful agony in order to bring his righteousness to us all. This is different to the “us and them” mentality that Wisdom seems to be cultivating.  Wisdom wants its readers to be one of “us”, the good guys even if “them” the bad guys, seem to be having all the fun. So what if the good die young? That just means they’re like Enoch - God has taken them to safety.

Day 39: Wisdom Chapter 3

What really happens to the righteous? Oh yes, they die, and pass from our sight. It looks like they’ve lost out, lived a boring life denying themselves the pleasures of the flesh. Looks like their enemies defeated them after all, and that God didn’t step in to rescue.
But Wisdom believes that they haven’t died eternally. That they will get their reward. That their earthly suffering has purified them, that the day will come when they will reign in glory.
Wisdom talks about how the wicked will suffer, how their plans will go awry, and their descendants will be under a curse. And even if that doesn’t happen, Wisdom asserts, they will never amount to anything.
This is the language of faith. You can’t see what’s really going on, you just have to believe it. You just have to trust that those living miserable but obedient lives will be rewarded, and those who are faithless and selfish will lose out in the end.

Day 38: Wisdom Chapter 2

What’s life all about? Has it got any ultimate meaning? If it hasn’t, why don’t we enjoy ourselves, grab what we can while it lasts. Live life like it’s one mad trolley dash through the cosmic supermarket. Never mind the bill, who says we’re going to have to pay, anyway?
Oh yeah, those righteous people. They’re always banging on about it. “You’ll be sorry!” they say. The only pleasure they get is in ticking us off. And they say that God will rescue them from their enemies! Well, let’s put that to the test - we’ll torment them, and when nothing happens, that will prove that there is no God, or that he isn’t interested in those po-faced pale imitations of people.
That’s how some people think, says Wisdom.
But we know better, don’t we?

Day 37: The Wisdom of Solomon Chapter 1

And now for something (completely) different. A major component of the Apocrypha is a lot of extra wisdom literature. The wisdom material that made it into the canon is very different from the rest of the Bible, hard to digest in large lumps (think of Proverbs) and contains one or two quite unique theological ideas. I’m thinking of the personification of Wisdom that occurs in Proverbs, where she sounds at one moment like the pre-incarnate Christ, and at another like the Holy Spirit. For a monotheistic religion, this sails close to the wind of introducing another deity. Am I going to find intriguing ideas like this in the Wisdom of Solomon?
The first words are aimed at foreign rulers. This is an unusual start - some of the prophets speak to foreign nations, but  you get the idea that although the prophet is talking about other countries,m it was the Jews who read his words. But Wisdom launches in with a direct command to “Love Justice.” And it’s Justice with a capital J - immediately a personification! Justice is called “He.” The second paragraph introduces Wisdom, who is a “She.”
She is identified with the Holy Spirit, said to be everywhere, and said to miss nothing.
Verse 12 is extraordinary: “God did not invent death.” This makes explicit the belief that death was not an original part of God’s creation, but entered through human sin. Paul in the New Testament picks up on this, but even he never states it as plainly as this.

Day 36: Extra bits of Esther: Addition F

Finally, the last addition to the book of Esther closes the circle. Mordecai recalls his dream, and delights to say that every detail has been fulfilled. He explains who each of the figures he dreamt about represented, and rejoices in the fact that God has saved and rescued his people from extinction. Purim is to do with the casting of lots, which to us is a way if using chance to decide something. Like tossing a coin.
But for the Jews it was different. God could influence the lots, like making a coin come down heads. So casting lots didn’t allow chance to make a decision for you, it gave an opportunity to speak. And God spoke, even though in the original test he isn’t even named. He spoke to protect his people and to thwart their enemies, and the story of Esther passed into Jewish folklore.
The last verses of the Greek version detail its provenance: it had passed through the Egyptian court as well - wherever Jews went, this story went with them.

Day 34: Extra bits of Esther: Addition D

Addition D follows straight on - Esther has finished three days of prayer, dressed in clothes of humility. She now dresses herself in her finery , and dares to go before the king. The narrative emphasises the drama of this moment. Esther looks stunning, even though she is quaking with fear; the king also looks majestic. What will he say? Will he be angry that she has broken protocol? Will he she be thrown out, as her predecessor Vashti was deposed?
He gives her a terrible look, and Esther faints with fear. This was the right thing to do, because the king (with God’s swift intervention) immediately feels sorry for her. She is overcome at his appearance and faints a second time. All very dramatic and swooning, in such a way that her swift recovery to put a cunning plan into action is a little unbelievable. But there we go. This seems to be a feature of the Apocrypha. The stories are embroidered to the point where they cease to be believable.

Day 33: Extra bits of Esther: Addition C

The story proceeds, and Esther finds out from Mordecai that she needs to act to save her people. Esther knows that she cannot appear in the king’s presence without being summoned, but after fasting and asking all the Jews to do the same, she is prepared to risk the king’s wrath and try to avert Haman’s plan.
Addition C gives us more of Mordecai’s reaction, which is to pray. The Biblical text of Esther is unique in the Scriptures: the only book that doesn’t mention God or prayer. Addition C does both, as Mordecai prays to the Lord, reminding him of his greatness in creating the universe and how nothing is beyond his power.
Mordecai’s prayer is heartfelt and beautiful. Esther too humbles herself before God and prays. She praises God for his greatness and pleads for his help. She earnestly protests that she doesn’t enjoy being queen of a gentile nation, and only wears a crown because she must.

Day 32: Extra bits of Esther: Addition B

The evil Haman begins his plot, as recorded in the Hebrew version of the book, and persuades the king to eradicate the Jews, accusing them of being like a fifth column of disloyal people within his empire. Artaxerxes gives him permission to do what he likes to them, and he arranges for letters to go out in the King’s name ordering the destruction of the Jews on a certain day.
Greek Esther now pipes up ad gives us a second addition - the wording of this malicious letter.
After saying how wonderful the king is, and how wise Haman is, the letter explains the existence of a hostile people, who ignore the ways of everybody else and refuse to conform to all the good things that the emperor wishes to do. So, on the 14th day of the month of Adar, they are all to be killed, which will leave the empire completely at peace and happy ever after.
This gives me a sense of the Jew’s self-understanding at this time. They felt they were a misunderstood people. Out of step with the rest of the world, who happily went along with whatever the current empire said, Jews refused to change and stubbornly worshipped God. Just as Daniel, who served different rulers faithfully, but still faithfully worshipped God, so the Jews refuse to conform to the latest imperial whims.
There is also a sense that the Jews are living in fear, living at least partly underground. They are hiding, which gives credence to the suggestion that they are dangerous aliens ready to destroy the empire from within. This is a different setting from Judith, where the Jews were safe in their own land. This is written from the perspective of exile - the Jews know they don’t belong in this strange empire.

Day 31: Extra bits of Esther: Addition A

Some words of explanation are needed before I start the next book. Esther is of course part of the Old Testament canon, and I read it last year, back in September. But the version of the book that I read is the Hebrew version, and there is a Greek translation of the text, found in something called the Septuagint, a Greek document of 70 books that the Jews in dispersion read during the inter-testamental period. This version has 6 extra sections, which expand on the Hebrew text, filling in a few gaps and adding one or two fantastical moments.
My NRSV gives them chapter and verse numbers that are not in order, and slots them in to the the whole text of Esther. I’m going to call them A, B, etc up to F, like my NRSV does, and read them in 6 bits, reminding myself of the rest of the story of Esther as I go.
The text of Esther that I read last year begins very abruptly: “This happened in the days of Artazerxes ...” What happened?
Addition A provides the answer. It introduces Mordecai, describing him as a “great man,” living in Susa in Artaxerxes’ court. And he has a dream. In the dream, there are dragons, and war, and tumult and confusion. In the midst of all this, the Jews cry out to God, They are called “the righteous nation” and as  result of their prayers first a tiny spring, then a great river springs forth, the horrible night is over and dawn breaks.
Next we hear how Mordecai thwarted a plot to assassinate the king, and how Haman was displeased at Mordecai’s loyalty and wishes him harm. Thus the stage is set for the first chapters of the Biblical Esther: the fall from grace of the previous queen Vashti, and the rise of Esther, chosen after a beauty contest to be her successor. Esther, like Judith, is famously beautiful.

Day 30: Judith Chapter 16

It's all gone quiet for a while. Sorry about that. Family problems, together with all these rumours floating around. It might take me a while to get properly back on track, but here is the final part of Judith.


Judith sings a song in praise of God. Like Miriam, Moses’ sister, she glorifies God for overcoming a mighty enemy. There’s some confusion about exactly who the enemy is - she sings about the Medes and the Persians, but the text has been calling them the Assyrians.
Nebuchadnezzar, of course, was Babylonian, and as for Holofernes, that’s a Persian name. Taking the confusion further, is Judith a real person, or is she the perfect Jude, or Jew?
The story strikes me as being too one-dimensional to be true. Judith is perfect, her enemies are stupid. The army is vast, the other nations’ capitulation is abject. Judah’s bravery is noble, but seems hopeless. Everything is painted in extremes, like a cartoon, or like propaganda.
So I’m not worrying about whether it actually happened. I’m enjoying a story that the Jews told themselves which reinforces their belief that though they are small, a bit strange, and very out of step with the world at large, nevertheless they have God on their side.
It’s a story I like to tell myself, too.

Nothing to see

Rev Nick Sharp, Vicar of Holy Trinity, issued a statement today denying reports that something unusual was taking place in his church this year over Easter.

"I know there have been stories circulating recently, but I want to take this opportunity to deny anything you might have heard about unusual happenings this Easter.

It's very much business as usual here at Holy Trinity. We're asking people to stay away from the church on Easter Sunday, and not to congregate in large crowds outside the building, which might obstruct the traffic. There won't be anything worth looking at.

Our usual services will be taking place at 8am and 10am, but absolutely nothing out of the ordinary is going on.

Honestly."



...Statement ends]

Day 29: Judith Chapter 15

The Israelites pour out in pursuit of the fleeing Assyrians. The soldiers are struck with fear. The impossible has happened. If their invincible general has been killed, what hope is there for them? No one can control their stampede, organise them and make them turn and fight. The Israelites make merry with the slaughter and looting, and the Assyrians concentrate on making themselves scarce.
Judith is feted by the leaders from Jerusalem, and leads the people in their celebrations of praise to God.

Day 28: Judith Chapter 14

Holofernes is dead. There is the small matter of the rest of the army, though. Even without a general they should be able to organise themselves sufficiently to defeat a small Israelite town.
Judith’s advice is that they needn’t worry. The army will panic.
To add weight to how amazing this deed has been, Achior is brought in to identify Holofernes. He faints with amazement. He is so convinced that this is God’s work that he becomes a believer, he is circumcised, and his family remained part of Israel on into the future.
God will prevail. No one has any doubt.
Sure enough, panic begins to spread in the enemy camp.

Day 27: Judith Chapter 13

Holofernes’ self control has gone. He has drunk too much, and fallen asleep. Judith, like Sisera her ancestor before her, finds the enemy general at her mercy. Sisera killed Jael with a tent peg. Judith is more prepared than that - she uses Holofernes’ own sword and cuts off his head with two blows.
Head into the maidservant’s bag, two women walking demurely off to pray, as they have the last three nights, the guards let them pass, as usual. Judith has a trophy to wave to the people of Bethuliah.
They are delighted and impressed. God has used a woman to kill their enemy. God gets the praise.

Day 26: Judith Chapter 12

Holofernes offers Judith refreshment, which she refuses. She’s not going to eat anything that isn’t kosher, and says she’s brought enough food with her. “I have more than enough food to last until the Lord has used me to carry out his plan,” she tells him.
Judith waits demurely for three days, and Holofernes’ desire gets the better of him. He summons her to a banquet, gets drunk, and can’t wait to make love to her.
Judith calmly stays in control of herself, she has kept herself ritually pure each day, even now she only pretends to eat the foreign food, and she sits on lambskins her maidservant has brought. She may be with Gentiles, but she doesn’t allow them to defile her.

Day 25: Judith Chapter 11

Holofernes speaks gently to Judith, assuring her that he is not a barbarian, he only hurts enemies of his lord and master Nebuchadnezzar.
Judith replies by defending the wisdom of Achior, who warned Holofernes that the God of Israel was not to be trifled with. This is a high risk strategy, Achior was laughed out of town for his suggestion, and even Judith’s good looks won’t keep the general listening for long.
But Judith cleverly mixes the truth in with her words. She says truthfully that God is able to defend Judah, but also that a point will come when the people will sin by eating the food set aside for the tithe. When that happens, God will no longer protect them, and she will lead Holofernes straight to Jerusalem and crown him king!
Audacious.
And Holofernes is falling for it. He suddenly believes in the power of the God of Israel, and blithely trusts this woman, that she will know when God’s protection on Judah ceases, and can lead him, presumably, into a trap of her making.

Day 24: Judith Chapter 10

Judith makes herself beautiful, and sets out with her maidservant. “Take me to your leader,” she says to the soldiers. The soldiers’ jaws drop at her good looks and they come over all charming and offer to escort her to Holofernes right away.
In fact, no less than 100 men escort her to Holofernes, Can you imagine it!
This way madam. Allow me.
Judith’s beauty entrances everyone, and she is led into Holofernes’ tent, described in loving and opulent detail. The tent that is. Not Judith.

Day 23: Judith Chapter 9

Judith prays. She knows what time the sacrifices are being offered in the Temple in Jerusalem, and at the time of the evening incense being offered, her prayer rises with that incense.
She recalls the story of Dinah, who was raped by the foreign prince Shechem. Her brothers, Jacob’s sons, paid him back by deceit. They were outnumbered, and couldn’t carry the fight to Shechem and his people, but they persuaded Shechem that he could have Dinah as his wife if he and all his fellow men were circumcised. While they were still sore after the procedure, Jacob’s sons attacked.
Jacob was a trickster, and Judith is planning something in his honour. We don’t know what it is yet, but she prays that God, who is on the side of the humble and oppressed, will give her plans success.