Covenant is what makes the Chosen People chosen. Abraham entered into a covenant with God. At Mt Sinai Moses renewed the covenant. Upon entering the Promised Land Joshua had the entire people acknowledge acceptance of the Covenant. They would honor God and God would take care of them. The complete destruction of the nation and… Read More »

Ezekiel was in the first wave of those taken into exile. Those who remained behind in Jerusalem resented their tributary status in the Babylonian Empire and kept trying to get Egypt (the other great superpower of the time) to intervene on their behalf. Jeremiah in Jerusalem kept telling the people what a terrible idea that… Read More »

The prophet Ezekiel has a series of visions to help the Jewish exiles deal with the experience of being taken from homeland and temple. In one, the “angel” marks an “X” on the foreheads of the faithful — reminiscent of the experience of Passover in Egypt. The difference this time — it is not the… Read More »

Ezekiel is the prophet of the exile. A contemporary of Jeremiah, his family was prominent enough that they were deported to Babylon in the first wave — ten years before the final destruction of the temple and city. It was not until he was fifty years old that he received the prophetic call. He was… Read More »

Those of us of a certain age will remember a TV show from the 70s called MASH, the story of an army hospital during the Korean war. In one scene the doctors are in the operating room and Hawkeye, the main character, starts to shout, “We can’t let the enemy win.” By the enemy he… Read More »

A fable: Bill Gates was flying the Pope and the Boy Scout of the Year on his private jet when the pilot burst out of the cockpit. “The plane is going to crash and there are only three parachutes and I’m taking one of them.” He strapped one pack on, threw the other two at… Read More »

The people of Habakkuk’s time were experiencing great stress. They kept waiting for God’s intervention. The prophetic word:  The vision still has its time, presses on to fulfillment, and will not disappoint; If it delays, wait for it, it will surely come, it will not be late. Soon after this word of the Lord great catastrophe… Read More »

The prophet Nahum, one of the “twelve minor prophets,” ministered in the seventh century BC. During his time the Assyrian empire was conquered by the Babylonians and their capital, Nineveh, was destroyed. Assyria had been previously destroyed the northern kingdom of Israel and so it was with a certain satisfaction that Nahum pronounces God’s judgement.… Read More »

There is something dissonant about the remembrance of the 75th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima occurring on the the Feast of the Transfiguration. On the one hand you have Jesus appearing in the bright glory of God’s grace and peace. On the other hand you have the memory of the bright but destructive power… Read More »

The encounter between Jesus and the woman of Tyre and Sidon marks a dramatic shift in his ministry. When this pagan woman was begging for help Jesus answered:  “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” She pushes him to look at things from her perspective  and his understanding of his… Read More »