The Makers and Teachers of Judaism Part 8

Turn to me and I will turn to you, saith Jehovah.

But ye say, 'Wherein shall we turn?'

Will a man rob G.o.d? Yet ye robbed me.

But ye say, 'Wherein have we robbed thee?' In t.i.thes and gifts.

Ye are cursed with a curse, for ye rob me.

[Sidenote: Mal. 3:10-12]

Bring ye the whole t.i.the into the store-house, That there may be provision in mine house; and test me thereby, If I will not open to you the windows of heaven, And pour you out a blessing, until there is more than enough.

I will rebuke for your sakes the devourer that he destroy not the fruit of the ground, Neither shall the vine fail to ripen its fruit in the field, And all nations shall call you happy, For ye shall be a delightsome land, saith Jehovah of hosts.

[Sidenote: Mal. 3:13-16]

Your words are hard upon me, saith Jehovah.

Ye say, 'What have we said against thee?'

Ye have said, 'It is useless to serve G.o.d, And what gain is it to us to have kept his charge, And that we have walked in funeral garb before him?

Even now we call the proud happy, Yea, those who work iniquity thrive, Yea, they tempt G.o.d and escape.'

[Sidenote Mal. 3:16-18]

Such things those who feared Jehovah spoke to one another, And Jehovah gave heed, and heard, And a book of remembrance was written before him, Regarding those who feared Jehovah, And those who keep in mind his name; And they shall be mine, saith Jehovah of hosts, In the day that I make up mine especial treasure.

And I will spare them, As a man spares his son who serves him.

Then shall ye return and discern between the righteous and the wicked, Between him who serves G.o.d and him who serves him not.

[Sidenote: Mal. 4:1-3]

For behold the day is coming that shall burn like a furnace, And all the proud and those who work iniquity shall be stubble, And the day that is coming shall burn them up, saith Jehovah of hosts, So that there shall be left them neither root nor branch.

But to you who fear my name there shall arise The sun of righteousness with healing on his wings, And ye shall go forth and leap like calves out of the stall.

And ye shall tread down the wicked, For they shall be as ashes under the soles of your feet, In the day in which I begin to execute, saith Jehovah of hosts.

[Sidenote: Ps. 22:1-5]

My G.o.d, why dost thou forsake me, Far from my salvation is my groaning By day I call, but thou answerest not, And by night there is no respite for me.

Yet thou, O my G.o.d, art the Holy One, Enthroned on Israel's songs of praise.

In thee our fathers trusted, They trusted, and thou didst deliver them; To thee they cried, and were delivered, In thee they trusted and were not ashamed.

[Sidenote: Ps. 22:6-8]

But I am a worm and no man, Reproached by men and despised by the people.

Whoever sees me derideth me, They sneer as they toss the head: "He depended upon Jehovah, let him deliver him, Let him save him, since he delighteth in him!"

[Sidenote: Ps. 22:9-11]

Yet it was thou who took me from the womb, Who made me safe on my mother's breast; On thee was I cast from birth, Thou art my G.o.d from my mother's womb.

Be not far from me, for there is distress, Draw nigh, for there is no helper.

[Sidenote: Ps. 22:12-18]

Many bulls encompa.s.s me, Mighty ones of Bashan beset me round, They open their mouths at me, Like a ravening, roaring lion.

As water I am poured out, Yea, all my bones are out of joint, My heart hath become like wax, It is melted within my body, My palate is dried up like a potsherd, And my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; In the dust of death thou dost lay me, For dogs circle me about, The a.s.sembly of evil-doers enclose me; They pierce my hands and my feet, I can count all my bones; They stare, they gloat over me.

They divide my garments among them, And for my clothing they cast lots!

I. Date of the Book of Malachi. Malachi in the Hebrew means My Messenger, and the word was apparently taken from the opening verse of the third chapter. Like many of the writings of the post-exilic period, the book, therefore, is anonymous. Its date, however, may be determined from its contents. The reference to the desolation of the land of the Edomites suggests that it was written late in the Persian period after the Edomites had been driven out from Mount Seir by the Nabateans and had found a home on the southern borders of Judah. The priests in the Judean community had become corrupt and the temple service was neglected, indicating that they had lost the early enthusiasm which followed the rebuilding of the sanctuary. The Judean community was discouraged and a spirit of doubt and questioning prevailed in the minds of those who were faithfully striving to serve Jehovah. The prophecy is an exact picture of conditions as Nehemiah found them, so that the book of Malachi may be dated not far from 445 B.C.

II. Neglect of the Temple Service. The prophet's method is akin to that of Zechariah. Evidently the early reverence for the word of the prophet has disappeared. Instead of bare a.s.sertions, each conclusion is supported by detailed arguments. The author of Malachi is also deeply interested in the ritual and regards the preservation of its purity as essential to the religious life of the Judean community. He charges the priests with failure to observe the ceremonial laws, especially in allowing the people to bring for sacrifice animals that are blind, lame, and sick. These acts are evidence of the religious apathy that had seized even the religious leaders of the people. The prophet declares boldly that under the guise of religion the priests are robbing Jehovah. Above all they are faithless to their responsibilities as the appointed teachers of the people. In 2:5-7 he presents the clearest picture extant of the task of the priest as teacher. His duty was to instruct the people, to help them to overcome temptation, and to make very clear to them the way of duty. This ideal, the prophet declares, was realized by earlier priests, but now those who are the appointed religious guides are misleading the people.

III. The Need of a Great Moral Awakening. The evils which the prophet denounced were not confined to the priests. The old Semitic law regarding divorce was exceedingly lax. A husband could lead his wife to the door of his tent and tell her to be gone, thereby severing their marriage relation. The Deuteronomic law sought to relieve this injustice by providing that the husband must place in the hand of his wife, as she departs, a doc.u.ment stating the grounds on which he had divorced her. By the middle of the fifth century B.C. divorce had evidently become exceedingly common in Palestine. The prophet denounced it on the basis of its injustice and cruelty. He also maintained that marriage was a solemn covenant before Jehovah between man and wife, and that he who disregarded it dealt faithlessly and was the especial object of divine displeasure.

Traces of the old heathenism still remained in Judah, and the dependent, oppressed cla.s.ses received little pity from the selfish, heartless rulers.

In the face of these evils the prophet declared that Jehovah would surely send a messenger to punish and to reform priest and people.

The prophecy was evidently based on a clear recognition that Jehovah was ever working to train and uplift his people, and that a period of degeneration must surely be followed by a period of reform. In the work of Nehemiah the prophet's hopes were in part fulfilled, but the larger fulfilment of the underlying principle was realized in the thorough-going reformatory work of John the Baptist and in that of the Great Teacher. In a later appendix to the prophecy of Malachi this theme is still further developed. The promise is made that another prophet, with the zeal of the great reformer Elijah, would come and prepare the way for a new and n.o.bler era.

IV. The Lot of the Faithful. In the prophecy of Malachi is first voiced the despairing cries and doubts of those of the faithful who failed to rise above the effect of the existing social and religious evils. They are the righteous or afflicted who also speak through certain of the earlier psalms of the Psalter (e.g., 10-17, 22). It was a period when the man who did right and was faithful to the demands of the law was thereby condemned to poverty and persecution at the hands of the corrupt priests and rulers.

Worse than that, their poverty and wretchedness were interpreted, According to the current belief of the day, as convincing evidence of Jehovah's displeasure because of their sins. It was a time when wickedness triumphed and innocence suffered, and when the question whether or not a righteous G.o.d ruled the universe rose persistently in the minds of the faithful. The author of Malachi recognizes and seeks to meet these doubts:

Ye have said, It is useless to serve G.o.d, And what gain is it to us to have kept his charge, And that we have walked in funeral garb before him?

Even now we call the proud happy, Verily those who work iniquity thrive, Yea, they tempt G.o.d and escape.

Here the problem is the same as that of the book of Job. To these doubts the prophet could only reply that Jehovah will keep a record of the faithful and in his good time will reward them.

V. The Problem of Suffering in the Literature of the Period. As was natural, this problem of innocent suffering was prominent in the literature of the period. It became especially insistent at this time, because it had ceased to be the problem of the community, and had become that of individuals or of a cla.s.s. While the nation rested under the shadow of misfortune, a solution of the problem was found in the consciousness of national guilt and in the hope that the affliction would be but temporary. The old dogma that virtue was always rewarded and wickedness punished continued to satisfy Israel's leaders. When, however, a considerable cla.s.s in the community were conscious that they had committed no crimes worthy of the bitter persecutions and calamities that overtook them, and that it was often just because of their virtue and the steadfastness with which they clung to the n.o.bler ideals of their race that they were thus a.s.sailed, the current interpretations of evil were no longer satisfactory. When in time many of them went down to the grave crushed by affliction and the objects of the taunts and revilings of their wicked pursuers, the insufficiency of the current explanation of misfortune was tragically demonstrated. To their minds Sheol or the grave offered no solution, for, as among all early Aryan and Semitic peoples, it was thought of as the dark, pa.s.sionless, joyless abode of the shades.

In most of the psalms of this period the poets who speak in behalf of the afflicted cla.s.s, like the author of Malachi, expressed the hope that Jehovah would speedily come to their deliverance and signally vindicate and reward them. The heroism and fidelity that they represent can only be fully appreciated in the light of this discouraging period when evil was regnant. It was apparently at this time that the great poet, who speaks through the book of Job, presented, with the spirit and method of a modern philosopher, the lot of these innocent sufferers. He also proved for all time that misfortune is not always the evidence of guilt, and that the current doctrine of proportionate rewards and the explanations that were adduced to support it were in certain cases absolutely untenable.

Section XCVIII. THE PROBLEM AND TEACHINGS OF THE BOOK OF JOB

[Sidenote: Job 1:1-5]

There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job. And that man was blameless and upright; he feared G.o.d and turned away from evil. And seven sons and three daughters were born to him. His possessions also included seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred she a.s.ses, and an exceedingly large number of servants; so that this man was the greatest of all the peoples of Palestine. And his sons were accustomed to hold a feast in one another's house each on his day. And they were wont to send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. And when the days of their feasting were over, Job used to send and sanctify them, and he rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt-offerings according to the number of them all; for Job said, Perhaps my sons have sinned, and renounced G.o.d in their hearts. Thus Job did continually.

[Sidenote: Job 1:6-11]

Now on a certain day when the sons of G.o.d came to present themselves before Jehovah, Satan also came among them. And Jehovah said to Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered Jehovah, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and walking up and down on it. And Jehovah said to Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job? for there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears G.o.d, and turns away from evil. Then Satan answered Jehovah, and said, Doth Job fear G.o.d for nought?

Hast thou not made a hedge about him, and about his household, and about all that he hath, on every side? Thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions are increased in the land. But put forth thy hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.

[Sidenote: Job 1:12]

Then Jehovah said to Satan, Behold all that he hath is in thy power; only put not forth thy hand upon him. So Satan went forth from the presence of Jehovah.

[Sidenote: Job 1:13-19]

Now on a certain day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking in their eldest brother's house, a messenger came to Job and said, The oxen were plowing and the a.s.ses were feeding beside them, when the Sabeans suddenly attacked and captured them, and they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I alone have escaped to tell you. While that one was yet speaking, another came and said, The fire of G.o.d has fallen from heaven, and has burned up the sheep and the servants, and consumed them; and I alone have escaped to tell you. While that one was yet speaking, another came and said, The Chaldeans made three bands, and raided the camels and took them away, and they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword; I alone have escaped to tell you. While that one was yet speaking, another came and said, Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking in their eldest brother's house, when there came a great wind from over the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead. I alone have escaped to tell you.

[Sidenote: Job 1:20-22]

Then Job arose, and tore his robe, and shaved his head, and fell upon the ground and wors.h.i.+pped; and he said:

Naked I came from my mother's womb, And naked shall I return thither!

Jehovah gave and he hath taken away; Blessed be the name of Jehovah!

In all this Job sinned not, nor reviled G.o.d.

[Sidenote: Job 2:1-6]

And on a certain day when the sons of G.o.d came to present themselves before Jehovah, Satan came also to present himself before Jehovah. And Jehovah said to Satan, Whence comest thou? And Satan answered Jehovah, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down on it. And Jehovah said to Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job? For there is none like him in the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears G.o.d, and turns away from evil; and he still remains steadfast in his piety, although thou incitest me against him, to destroy him without cause. And Satan answered Jehovah, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life. But put forth thy hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh; surely he will curse thee to thy face. And Jehovah said to Satan, Behold, he is in thy power: only spare his life.

[Sidenote: Job 2:7, 8]

So Satan went forth from the presence of Jehovah, and smote Job with a malignant eruption from the sole of his foot to his crown. And he took a potsherd with which to sc.r.a.pe himself; and he sat among the ashes.

[Sidenote: Job 2:9, 10]

Then said his wife to him, Do you still remain steadfast in your piety?