Day 1 (Monday)

Judges 7:24-25; 8:1-35 (Gideon Musters Israel Against the Midianites, Falls into Idolatry, Rules Israel 40 Years, then Dies)

Last time, we saw Gideon lead the men of Israel against the Midianites, and saw how God told him to send many of them home again, several times in a row, until only 300 men were left. We discussed how God was showing Gideon in this way that the victory that would be won was not Gideon’s victory, or Israel’s victory, but the Lord’s victory, His deliverance of His people from oppression. Gideon, unfortunately, seemed to miss that point, but nonetheless God gave them a great victory, and the Midianites were routed. We will pick up the story in the midst of the pursuit of the fleeing invaders.

Gideon Musters the Men of Ephraim

24 Then Gideon sent messengers throughout all the hill country of Ephraim, saying, “Come down against the Midianites and seize the waters against them, as far as Beth-barah, and also the Jordan.” So all the men of Ephraim were called out, and they seized the waters as far as Beth-barah, and also the Jordan. 25 They captured the two captains of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb; they killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb they killed at the wine press of Zeeb, as they pursued the Midianites. They brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon beyond the Jordan.

Gideon’s Triumph and Vengeance

8 Then the Ephraimites said to him, “What have you done to us, not to call us when you went to fight against the Midianites?” And they upbraided him violently. 2 So he said to them, “What have I done now in comparison with you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer? 3 God has given into your hands the captains of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb; what have I been able to do in comparison with you?” When he said this, their anger against him subsided.

4 Then Gideon came to the Jordan and crossed over, he and the three hundred who were with him, exhausted and famished. 5 So he said to the people of Succoth, “Please give some loaves of bread to my followers, for they are exhausted, and I am pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.” 6 But the officials of Succoth said, “Do you already have in your possession the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna, that we should give bread to your army?” 7 Gideon replied, “Well then, when the Lord has given Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, I will trample your flesh on the thorns of the wilderness and on briers.” 8 From there he went up to Penuel, and made the same request of them; and the people of Penuel answered him as the people of Succoth had answered. 9 So he said to the people of Penuel, “When I come back victorious, I will break down this tower.”

10 Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with their army, about fifteen thousand men, all who were left of all the army of the people of the east; for one hundred twenty thousand men bearing arms had fallen. 11 So Gideon went up by the caravan route east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and attacked the army; for the army was off its guard. 12 Zebah and Zalmunna fled; and he pursued them and took the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and threw all the army into a panic.

13 When Gideon son of Joash returned from the battle by the ascent of Heres, 14 he caught a young man, one of the people of Succoth, and questioned him; and he listed for him the officials and elders of Succoth, seventy-seven people. 15 Then he came to the people of Succoth, and said, “Here are Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you taunted me, saying, ‘Do you already have in your possession the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna, that we should give bread to your troops who are exhausted?’” 16 So he took the elders of the city and he took thorns of the wilderness and briers and with them he trampled the people of Succoth. 17 He also broke down the tower of Penuel, and killed the men of the city.

18 Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “What about the men whom you killed at Tabor?” They answered, “As you are, so were they, every one of them; they resembled the sons of a king.” 19 And he replied, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother; as the Lord lives, if you had saved them alive, I would not kill you.” 20 So he said to Jether his firstborn, “Go kill them!” But the boy did not draw his sword, for he was afraid, because he was still a boy. 21 Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, “You come and kill us; for as the man is, so is his strength.” So Gideon proceeded to kill Zebah and Zalmunna; and he took the crescents that were on the necks of their camels.

Gideon’s Idolatry

22 Then the Israelites said to Gideon, “Rule over us, you and your son and your grandson also; for you have delivered us out of the hand of Midian.” 23 Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; the Lord will rule over you.” 24 Then Gideon said to them, “Let me make a request of you; each of you give me an earring he has taken as booty.” (For the enemy had golden earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.) 25 “We will willingly give them,” they answered. So they spread a garment, and each threw into it an earring he had taken as booty.

26 The weight of the golden earrings that he requested was one thousand seven hundred shekels of gold (apart from the crescents and the pendants and the purple garments worn by the kings of Midian, and the collars that were on the necks of their camels). 27 Gideon made an ephod of it and put it in his town, in Ophrah; and all Israel prostituted themselves to it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and to his family. 28 So Midian was subdued before the Israelites, and they lifted up their heads no more. So the land had rest forty years in the days of Gideon.

Death of Gideon

29 Jerubbaal son of Joash went to live in his own house. 30 Now Gideon had seventy sons, his own offspring, for he had many wives. 31 His concubine who was in Shechem also bore him a son, and he named him Abimelech. 32 Then Gideon son of Joash died at a good old age, and was buried in the tomb of his father Joash at Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

33 As soon as Gideon died, the Israelites relapsed and prostituted themselves with the Baals, making Baal-berith their god. 34 The Israelites did not remember the Lord their God, who had rescued them from the hand of all their enemies on every side; 35 and they did not exhibit loyalty to the house of Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) in return for all the good that he had done to Israel.

Discussion questions:

1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (The Leader should point out that, almost as soon as the victory is won, Gideon begins to go wrong. He threatens and destroys what are, so far as we can tell, Israelite cities, because they are not welcoming to him, and then he creates an ephod, which is to say, a cultic object in the shape of clothing, supposedly to be used to worship the Lord. This is not the right way to worship God, however, and this ephod becomes an occasion for idolatry for the people, much like the Golden Calf at Sinai, or Jeroboam’s later golden calves at Bethel and Dan. Finally, having said that he will NOT be a king, he names his son Abimelech, the son of his concubine, a name which means: “My father is the king.” Not to mention his many wives…in all of these ways, we see that Gideon, despite having seen the Lord with his own eyes, and having been granted grace and victory, has not learned to be faithful. As soon as he dies, the people return to the worst sorts of idolatry. This is, unfortunately, only going to get worse as the book of Judges continues. Next time, however, we’ll move on to the one entirely uplifting story from this period.)

2) Where do we see Christ in this text; what is He saying or doing here?

3) Do we see ourselves and the Church in this text; what does it say about us?

4) What do you find difficult about this reading? Is there anything confusing about it, or anything that you dislike? (This is an open question, as always. )

5) Does this reading make you think that you need to change anything in your life?

Day 2 (Wednesday)

Holy Great Martyr James the Persian

On November 27th, the Orthodox Church celebrates the feast-day of St. James the Persian, often called the Mutilated. This is a saint of the early 5th century, who was martyred in 420. His death, and that of other Christian martyrs at this time, became the cause of a war between the Christian Roman Empire and the Sassanid Persian Empire. The Persian religion referred to in the story that follows is Zoroastrianism.

St. James (Jacob) the Persian (Feast Day – November 27)

James, the glorious Great Martyr of Christ, was from Persia. He lived during the years of the pious Kings Arcadius and Honorius, the sons of Theodosius the Great, who ruled in the year 395 A.D. He lived in Veethiavan of Persia, situated in the land of Elouzeesion. Then, Isdigerdis I and Bahram V, his son, ruled over the Persians. They were cruel and pitiless men. They forced the Christians (whomever they found) to worship, as they did, the senseless idols.

Now James was a lord of merit, notable and of good service to the nation. He was honored and beloved by all, as he was wealthy, knowledgeable and virtuous. Wherefore, he was considered first in the palace, and the king exceedingly loved him. He bestowed on him great importance and abundant gifts. So much did Isdigerdis and his son Bahram love James, that they did not wish to be separated even one hour from him. They displayed such favor, that they had him as a brother, for he was well-mannered and his family prominent. But this was so that they could cunningly lure him to impiety.

For James was a Christian from childhood just as were his parents and wife, both pious and faithful to our Lord Jesus Christ. So, these villains tried hard to estrange him with gifts and gratuities. They chose to be good-natured and discreet, and to persuade him with benefits and flatteries, rather than with threats and torments. However, this marvelous James, who resisted at first, was defeated by the many generous favors of the ruler, and, alas!, he was captured. He denied the most sweet Christ and worshipped the demons, and became one in spirit with the king.

But do not frown; hearken and strengthen your heart, and attend to this. Because just as one drop of water drips continually onto the hard marble to perforate it, so also many gifts and favors are able to convert the gratified soul with ease and quickness; thus, did the ever-memorable one have the solid rock of his faith hollowed out. But listen to his end to receive exultation and joy, that God (Who foreknows and foresees) does not overlook but straightens the fallen and illuminates the way of the blind.

It was circulated around the land that James had denied Christ. This news came into the ears of his mother and spouse, who were wounded in their hearts upon hearing these unexpected words. Since they were not present to censure his tongue, they sent him a letter, saying thus:

"It was not proper to your nobility to exchange falsehood for the truth; to defraud the faith for the honor of men and temporary rewards, which pass by as a dream and disperse like smoke; and to love the perishable and temporary kingdom, and abandon immortality and eternity. For this violation you would elect to be cast into the inextinguishable fire and endless torment? You, who are unworthy of His love, denied Christ, in order to gain one worm-eaten man? O the mindlessness! What are you able to benefit by them, when you go together into torment? We have been greatly distressed by you and pour forth many tears and, with all our hearts, we pray to the true God not to desert you, as He is compassionate, but to receive your return.”

“So recognize the mischief that you have created to become a son of darkness, instead of light, which you were formerly. Recover and revert again to godliness. And, if you do not repent speedily, know this: you no longer have any relation with us. But we wish to be as strangers and foreigners to you, and you will inherit nothing from us, so as to be completely separated from our society. Because not one particle has the light with the darkness, and the faithful with the faithless. So make a good return. Whereas, you departed badly; but the Master, Whom you denied, will receive you with open arms and rejoicing. If you disdain our advice and tears, when you reach the divine trial, you will be punished in torments endlessly and your crying will be in vain."

These things James read in the letter, and he remained in a stupor; indeed, as if from sleep and drunkenness, he was roused, realizing the treasure of faith of which he was destitute, and the evil of error into which he had tumbled. He cried bitterly and repented from his heart of the former things and beat his breast, lamenting and crying before the Master to forgive the iniquity, as He is compassionate. In imitation of Manasseh and Peter's repentance, he studied the Holy Scriptures and recalled the bitter punishments. He was not able to cease the tears, and it was evident he repented of his former impiety. Wherefore, certain idolators perceived and learned the reason for his disquiet. They betrayed him to the king. The king's heart was wounded on hearing such things. Infuriated, he summoned him for questioning and inquired if he were a Nazarene. James answered boldly and eagerly:

"Yes, I am a servant of my Lord Jesus Christ."

The king's rage grew, but he remembered their previous friendship, so he did not make a display or an outburst of anger. As in preceding times, he tested him with flatteries and by promising gifts; but at other times, with threats of hideous punishments and torments, to see, perchance, if he would waver. But the coward was not effective, because the saint thirsted for martyrdom.

The blessed James, in order to cause the tyrant to slay him quickly, answered him thus:

"In vain you labor, attempting with feeble means to sow wheat in the guff, or to hold back the winds in a net. In this way, it is not possible any longer to change my belief from piety. So then, lay aside all hope, so as not to conceal your wrath any more. Cut my body into pieces, punish, burn it, do with it as you will, but my soul you will not be able to turn to godlessness."

Again, the king tempted him with flatteries to ensnare him. Hiding his anger, he said to him with feigned love:

"James, pity your body, your blossoming manhood, remember our immeasurable friendship. Be not deprived of any worldly pleasures in this sweet life, in order to receive harsh pains and the bitterest death for these uncertain good hopes. I promise you that you will have wealth and power in my kingdom, greater than before. Yes, my beloved and dearest friend, I entreat you not to have contempt for our great friendship and appear before me ungrateful, because, if you disobey, it is necessary – although I do not want to – that you be taught a lesson. But do not think that I will be lenient later: no, it is not true, but I will change the love that I have for you now, into hatred that is commensurate with your disobedience. And I will deliver you to unheard of, horrible torments."

James boldly replied:

"O king, do not waste time importunely. Do not frighten me with torments, nor insincerely compliment me with tributes and gifts, because I despise from my heart all temporal enjoyments, empty glory, decaying riches and bodily sensuality, in order to inherit the true wealth and the honor, inexpressible delight and bliss. Wherefore, gladly I divest myself of wealth and glory, friends and relatives, mother, wife and all the pleasures of the body. And not only these things, but I am prepared to receive 10,000 deaths, only not to injure my sweet Christ, the Beautiful One among the sons of men, Who fashioned the sun, moon and the remainder of creation, and His divine will is equal to His power. He who denies Him goes to endless death."

We will not read the remainder of his life, the account of his martyrdom, here, as it is quite long. In short, after St. James spoke what he says above, the king decided to kill him through a terrible torture, cutting him in pieces from his extremities inward. St. James was faithful to the last, and was beheaded in the end. The Christians gathered his relics in secret, and he has been venerated throughout the Christian world from that time.

From the Great Synaxaristes of the Orthodox Church, with thanks to https://www.johnsanidopoulos.com/2009/11/holy-great-martyr-james-persian.html for the original posting.

Discussion questions:

1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (The Leader should point out that the greatest priority and value for St. James’ mother and wife, and ultimately for him, was not the things of this world, but the things of God. For this reason, although we did not read the details of his martyrdom itself, the constant emphasis there is that he is exchanging things that are temporary for the good things of God that are eternal. This witness is an essential reminder for all of us, as we strive to re-order our priorities and values in this world, and truly to seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness.)

2) Where do we see Christ in this text; what is He saying or doing here?

3) Do we see ourselves and the Church in this text; what does it say about us?

4) What do you find difficult about this reading? Is there anything confusing about it, or anything that you dislike? (This is an open question, as always. )

5) Does this reading make you think that you need to change anything in your life?

Day 3 (Friday)

John 6:1-21 (Jesus Feed 5,000, Walks on Water)

Last time we saw the Lord finish His response to the Pharisees who attacked Him for healing on the Sabbath Day. He upbraided them for their hardness of heart, proclaimed to them His power and authority as the Son of God, and even prophesied His resurrection and His authority over the dead and the living. He also condemned them for rejecting Him, as all the Scriptures bear witness of Him. This time, we will see Him leave that place and go to the other side of the Sea of Galilee.

Feeding the Five Thousand

6 After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias. 2 A large crowd kept following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick. 3 Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. 4 Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near. 5 When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?” 6 He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do.

7 Philip answered him, “Six months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.” 8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, 9 “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?” 10 Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was a great deal of grass in the place; so they[c] sat down, about five thousand in all. 11 Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted.

12 When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, “Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.” 13 So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets. 14 When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, “This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.”

15 When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

Jesus Walks on the Water

16 When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, 17 got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. 18 The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. 19 When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were terrified. 20 But he said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” 21 Then they wanted to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the land toward which they were going.

Discussion questions:

1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (The Leader should point out that Jesus, having left the Pharisees telling them that all the Scriptures bear witness to Him, goes away from them to preach and care for the people. As He does so, His every deed continues to bear witness to His glory, His authority, and His person, as the long-awaited Messiah, the Son of God. In this feeding of the 5,000, the Lord accomplishes what no man, whether king or magician, could manage. He does so without a word of incantation, without a hint of technique or art; He simply provides bread for all, using the small amount that those who followed Him, specifically this one young boy, provided. So even there we see the Lord using the small and weak of the world to confound the wise. In all this, He refuses earthly power and authority, as we see Him reject the crown they sought to place on His head.)

2) Where do we see Christ in this text; what is He saying or doing here?

3) Do we see ourselves and the Church in this text; what does it say about us?

4) What do you find difficult about this reading? Is there anything confusing about it, or anything that you dislike? (This is an open question, as always. )

5) Does this reading make you think that you need to change anything in your life?

Day 1 (Monday)

Judges 6:33-40; 7:1-23 (Sign of the Fleece; Gideon Routs the Midianites)

Last time, we met Gideon, and saw how the children of Israel had gone astray from the Lord, and fallen under the oppression of the Midianites and Amalekites. We saw the prophet of the Lord explain to the people why they were suffering, and then saw the Angel of the Lord come to Gideon to call him to judge Israel and deliver them from this oppression. We saw Gideon go in obedience to the Lord’s command, and destroy the altar of Baal where the people were committing idolatry, and then, when the people of the land wanted to kill Gideon, his father spoke up for him, and suggested that Baal should kill Gideon…if he was able to do so. This time, we will see the nations that had been oppressing Israel gather to attack them again, and Gideon prepare to move against them.

Midianites and Amalekites Come Against Israel

33 Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the east came together, and crossing the Jordan they encamped in the Valley of Jezreel. 34 But the spirit of the Lord took possession of Gideon; and he sounded the trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called out to follow him. 35 He sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, and they too were called out to follow him. He also sent messengers to Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they went up to meet them.

The Sign of the Fleece

36 Then Gideon said to God, “In order to see whether you will deliver Israel by my hand, as you have said, 37 I am going to lay a fleece of wool on the threshing floor; if there is dew on the fleece alone, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that you will deliver Israel by my hand, as you have said.” 38 And it was so. When he rose early next morning and squeezed the fleece, he wrung enough dew from the fleece to fill a bowl with water. 39 Then Gideon said to God, “Do not let your anger burn against me, let me speak one more time; let me, please, make trial with the fleece just once more; let it be dry only on the fleece, and on all the ground let there be dew.” 40 And God did so that night. It was dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground there was dew.

Gideon Surprises and Routs the Midianites

7 Then Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the troops that were with him rose early and encamped beside the spring of Harod; and the camp of Midian was north of them, below the hill of Moreh, in the valley.

2 The Lord said to Gideon, “The troops with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand. Israel would only take the credit away from me, saying, ‘My own hand has delivered me.’ 3 Now therefore proclaim this in the hearing of the troops, ‘Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return home.’” Thus Gideon sifted them out; twenty-two thousand returned, and ten thousand remained.

4 Then the Lord said to Gideon, “The troops are still too many; take them down to the water and I will sift them out for you there. When I say, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go with you; and when I say, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.” 5 So he brought the troops down to the water; and the Lord said to Gideon, “All those who lap the water with their tongues, as a dog laps, you shall put to one side; all those who kneel down to drink, putting their hands to their mouths, you shall put to the other side.” 6 The number of those that lapped was three hundred; but all the rest of the troops knelt down to drink water. 7 Then the Lord said to Gideon, “With the three hundred that lapped I will deliver you, and give the Midianites into your hand. Let all the others go to their homes.” 8 So he took the jars of the troops from their hands, and their trumpets; and he sent all the rest of Israel back to their own tents, but retained the three hundred. The camp of Midian was below him in the valley.

9 That same night the Lord said to him, “Get up, attack the camp; for I have given it into your hand. 10 But if you fear to attack, go down to the camp with your servant Purah; 11 and you shall hear what they say, and afterward your hands shall be strengthened to attack the camp.” Then he went down with his servant Purah to the outposts of the armed men that were in the camp. 12 The Midianites and the Amalekites and all the people of the east lay along the valley as thick as locusts; and their camels were without number, countless as the sand on the seashore. 13 When Gideon arrived, there was a man telling a dream to his comrade; and he said, “I had a dream, and in it a cake of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian, and came to the tent, and struck it so that it fell; it turned upside down, and the tent collapsed.” 14 And his comrade answered, “This is no other than the sword of Gideon son of Joash, a man of Israel; into his hand God has given Midian and all the army.”

15 When Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, he worshiped; and he returned to the camp of Israel, and said, “Get up; for the Lord has given the army of Midian into your hand.” 16 After he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and put trumpets into the hands of all of them, and empty jars, with torches inside the jars, 17 he said to them, “Look at me, and do the same; when I come to the outskirts of the camp, do as I do. 18 When I blow the trumpet, I and all who are with me, then you also blow the trumpets around the whole camp, and shout, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon!’”

19 So Gideon and the hundred who were with him came to the outskirts of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, when they had just set the watch; and they blew the trumpets and smashed the jars that were in their hands. 20 So the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the jars, holding in their left hands the torches, and in their right hands the trumpets to blow; and they cried, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” 21 Every man stood in his place all around the camp, and all the men in camp ran; they cried out and fled. 22 When they blew the three hundred trumpets, the Lord set every man’s sword against his fellow and against all the army; and the army fled as far as Beth-shittah toward Zererah, as far as the border of Abel-meholah, by Tabbath. 23 And the men of Israel were called out from Naphtali and from Asher and from all Manasseh, and they pursued after the Midianites.

Discussion questions:

1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (The Leader should point out above all how the Lord makes sure that Gideon understands that it is the Lord Himself that grants the victory, pruning down the mustered soldiers until only 300 are left. Despite this, Gideon seems already set to take credit for the victory, as we can see by the battle cry he gives to his soldiers. Besides this, it is also worth noting one element from the Fathers of the Church in their commentaries about the sign of the fleece; Origin (in his Homilies on Judges, the early Patristic age’s great commentator on the Old Testament, sees this sign as showing first the place of Israel among the other nations (when the fleece alone was bedewed, and the ground around was dry), and then as showing the place of Rabbinic Judaism after Christ’s coming (when the ground around was bedewed, and the fleece alone was dry). He cites Psalm 71 for this, which says of the Messiah that “He shall come down like rain upon the fleece” and water the entire world. Of course, those who continue to practice Judaism in rejection of Christianity are not bereft of grace by God; they have only to turn and embrace their Messiah. But as they remain, then their altars and their worship remain bereft of the active and visible grace of God which they have been seeking since the 1st Temple was destroyed. Augustine and other Fathers follow after Origin in this; Augustine makes the particular point that all those who resist visible grace are in this same position (in his sermon 81.9). The Jews, he says, have a particular allowance, but what about so-called Christian people who resist the grace and the call of the Lord. The dry fleece in the midst of the wet is a sobering image of our state when we resist and reject the grace and love of the Lord.)

2) Where do we see Christ in this text; what is He saying or doing here?

3) Do we see ourselves and the Church in this text; what does it say about us?

4) What do you find difficult about this reading? Is there anything confusing about it, or anything that you dislike? (This is an open question, as always. )

5) Does this reading make you think that you need to change anything in your life?

Day 2 (Wednesday)

Anaphora of St. John Chrysostom

In these last several weeks, in our Day 1 Readings, we have been reading about how God called Jacob, and brought him through trials and hardships back to the Promised Land. We have then jumped several hundred years forward in time, to the period of the Judges, when Jacob’s descendants, the children of Israel, were residents in the Promised Land, but continually rebelled against God, called upon Him for help, and were delivered. This is a constant pattern throughout the Old Testament (and into this time of the New Covenant in which we live). The entire scope of the matter is summed up by St. John Chrysostom in his Anaphora Prayers (from the Divine Liturgy we celebrate every Sunday), and it is this that we will read today. These prayers begin immediately after the Faithful have completed confessing the Creed.

The Holy Anaphora begins with a dialogue between the Priest and the People:

Priest: Let us stand well. Let us stand in awe. Let us be attentive, that we may present the holy offering in peace.
People: A mercy of peace; a sacrifice of praise.
Priest: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God the Father, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, be with you all.
People: And with your spirit
Priest: Let us lift up our hearts.
People: We lift them up to the Lord
Priest: Let us give thanks to the Lord
People: It is proper and right.

Prayer of the Anaphora (this prayer is said by the Priest)

It is proper and right to hymn You, to bless You, to praise You, to give thanks to You, and to worship You in every place of Your dominion. For You, O God, are ineffable, inconceivable, invisible, incomprehensible, existing forever, forever the same, You and Your only-begotten Son and Your Holy Spirit. You brought us out of nothing into being, and when we had fallen away, You raised us up again. You left nothing undone until you had led us up to heaven and granted us Your Kingdom, which is to come.

For all these things, we thank You and Your only-begotten Son and Your Holy Spirit: for all things we know and do not know, for blessings manifest and hidden that have been bestowed on us. We thank You also for this Liturgy, which You have deigned to receive from our hands, even though thousands of archangels and tens of thousands of angels stand around You, the Cherubim and Seraphim, six-winged, many-eyed, soaring aloft upon their wings, Singing the triumphal hymn, exclaiming, proclaiming, and saying,

The Choir & People sing the following hymn:

Holy, holy, holy, Lord Sabaoth, heaven and earth are filled with Your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is He Who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.

Meanwhile the Priest continues with the Prayer of the Anaphora

Together with these blessed powers, Master, Who loves mankind, we also exclaim and say: Holy are You and most holy, You and Your only-begotten Son and Your Holy Spirit. Holy are You and most holy, and sublime is Your glory. You so loved Your world that You gave Your only-begotten Son so that everyone who believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.

When He had come and fulfilled for our sake the entire plan of salvation, on the night in which He was delivered up, or rather when He delivered Himself up for the life of the world, He took bread in His holy, pure, and blameless hands, and, giving thanks and blessing, He hallowed and broke it, and gave it to His holy disciples and apostles, saying:
Take, eat, this is My Body, which is broken for you for the remission of sins.

Likewise, after partaking of the supper, He took the cup, saying,
Drink of this, all of you; this is My Blood of the new covenant, which is shed for you and for many for the remission of sins.

Epiclesis

Remembering, therefore, this saving commandment and all that has been done for our sake: the Cross, the tomb, the Resurrection on the third day, the Ascension into heaven, the enthronement at the right hand, and the second and glorious coming again.
Your own of Your own we offer to You, in all and for all.
We praise You, we bless You, we give thanks to You, and we pray to You, Lord our God.

Consecration of the Gifts

Once again we offer to You this spiritual worship without the shedding of blood, and we ask, pray, and entreat You: send down Your Holy Spirit upon us and upon these gifts here presented.
And make this bread the precious Body of Your Christ.
And that which is in this cup the precious Blood of Your Christ.
Changing them by Your Holy Spirit.

So that they may be to those who partake of them for vigilance of soul, forgiveness of sins, communion of Your Holy Spirit, fulfillment of the kingdom of heaven, confidence before You, and not in judgment or condemnation. Again, we offer this spiritual worship for those who repose in the faith, forefathers, fathers, patriarchs, prophets, apostles, preachers, evangelists, martyrs, confessors, ascetics, and for every righteous spirit made perfect in faith.
Especially for our all-holy, pure, most blessed and glorious Lady, the Theotokos and ever-virgin Mary.

Discussion questions:

1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (The Leader should note the essential narrative of these prayers; St. John begins by speaking of Who God is and what He has done, how He has done everything necessary for our salvation, from the beginning up to the end, and finally and most perfectly gave us His Only-Begotten Son, Who showed us how to celebrate the Eucharist, and completed the work of our salvation in His Passion, Resurrection, Ascension, and Second Coming. It is for all this that we offer ourselves as an offering of thanksgiving to God, truly celebrating the Eucharist, and asking the Father to send down the Holy Spirit upon us and the Gifts that we offer, to make us truly the Body of Christ, so that we may be transformed and healed and counted among the number of the Saints whom we commemorate as well, and so that through us, the Church, all the Creation may be sanctified and saved.)

2) Where do we see Christ in this text; what is He saying or doing here?

3) Do we see ourselves and the Church in this text; what does it say about us?

4) What do you find difficult about this reading? Is there anything confusing about it, or anything that you dislike? (This is an open question, as always. )

5) Does this reading make you think that you need to change anything in your life?

Day 3 (Friday)

John 5:31-47 (Witnesses to Jesus)

Last time, we saw Jesus speaking to the Pharisees about His authority to heal on the Sabbath Day, after they confronted and attacked Him on this matter. Specifically, He asserted His authority over even the dead, establishing a connection between the Sabbath Day itself, and His own coming rest on the day after His Crucifixion, that Great and Holy Sabbath Day. This time, He will continue with His rebuttal of their criticisms, and give them a warning that they stand in peril of their souls, as they are rejecting the fulfillment of the very Scriptures they claim to protect and teach.

Witnesses to Jesus

30 “I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge; and my judgment is just, because I seek to do not my own will but the will of him who sent me. 31 “If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true. 32 There is another who testifies on my behalf, and I know that his testimony to me is true. 33 You sent messengers to John, and he testified to the truth. 34 Not that I accept such human testimony, but I say these things so that you may be saved. 35 He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.

36 But I have a testimony greater than John’s. The works that the Father has given me to complete, the very works that I am doing, testify on my behalf that the Father has sent me. 37 And the Father who sent me has himself testified on my behalf. You have never heard his voice or seen his form, 38 and you do not have his word abiding in you, because you do not believe him whom he has sent.

39 “You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that testify on my behalf. 40 Yet you refuse to come to me to have life. 41 I do not accept glory from human beings. 42 But I know that you do not have the love of God in you. 43 I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; if another comes in his own name, you will accept him.

44 How can you believe when you accept glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the one who alone is God? 45 Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; your accuser is Moses, on whom you have set your hope. 46 If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. 47 But if you do not believe what he wrote, how will you believe what I say?”

Discussion questions:

1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (The Leader should point out the essence of what Jesus is saying. Last time, having been accused of healing on the day reserved for rest, He told the Pharisees that His Father was still working, and He was still working, and that He does what the Father tells Him to do, and that the hour was coming, and indeed was arrived, when even the dead would hear His voice and live, foretelling the actual Great Day of Rest when He would lie bodily in the tomb, but descend to Hades and call the dead to arise. But here, He tells them that they don’t need to listen to Him speaking about this, because John the Baptist has already proclaimed Him. But He then goes further, and warns them that all the Scriptures bear witness to His coming, and that they are therefore without defense if they persist in rejecting Him.)

2) Where do we see Christ in this text; what is He saying or doing here?

3) Do we see ourselves and the Church in this text; what does it say about us?

4) What do you find difficult about this reading? Is there anything confusing about it, or anything that you dislike? (This is an open question, as always. )

5) Does this reading make you think that you need to change anything in your life?

Day 1 (Monday)

Judges 6:1-32 (The Lord Calls Gideon)

Last time we saw Jacob return to Bethel, and then proceed further south to Hebron, where he buried his father Isaac. This concludes the story of Jacob as well as that of Isaac; when we return to this story next year, we will see Jacob’s sons take the stage, as Joseph becomes the object of jealousy for his brothers until they sell him into slavery into Egypt. That isn’t the end of the story, of course; God blesses Joseph in Egypt, until he becomes the right hand of Pharaoh, and through God’s revelation saves Egypt (and the surrounding areas) by storing up food in preparation for a time of famine. Ultimately Jacob and all his family join Joseph in Egypt, where they multiply greatly, are enslaved by the Egyptians, and are finally delivered from slavery by God through Moses. Moses leads them out of Egypt to Mt. Sinai, where God makes His covenant with them, and calls them to be His Royal Priesthood to reconcile all nations to Himself. Once they arrive in the Promised Land, however, they fall into great evils. We will see one example of this, and of the Lord’s deliverance of them when they called upon Him, over the next month.

The Midianite Oppression

6 The Israelites did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord gave them into the hand of Midian seven years. 2 The hand of Midian prevailed over Israel; and because of Midian the Israelites provided for themselves hiding places in the mountains, caves and strongholds. 3 For whenever the Israelites put in seed, the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the east would come up against them.

4 They would encamp against them and destroy the produce of the land, as far as the neighborhood of Gaza, and leave no sustenance in Israel, and no sheep or ox or donkey. 5 For they and their livestock would come up, and they would even bring their tents, as thick as locusts; neither they nor their camels could be counted; so they wasted the land as they came in. 6 Thus Israel was greatly impoverished because of Midian; and the Israelites cried out to the Lord for help.

7 When the Israelites cried to the Lord on account of the Midianites, 8 the Lord sent a prophet to the Israelites; and he said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I led you up from Egypt, and brought you out of the house of slavery; 9 and I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians, and from the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out before you, and gave you their land; 10 and I said to you, ‘I am the Lord your God; you shall not pay reverence to the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you live.’ But you have not given heed to my voice.”

The Call of Gideon

11 Now the angel of the Lord came and sat under the oak at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, as his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the wine press, to hide it from the Midianites. 12 The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, “The Lord is with you, you mighty warrior.” 13 Gideon answered him, “But sir, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our ancestors recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has cast us off, and given us into the hand of Midian.”

14 Then the Lord turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours and deliver Israel from the hand of Midian; I hereby commission you.” 15 He responded, “But sir, how can I deliver Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.” 16 The Lord said to him, “But I will be with you, and you shall strike down the Midianites, every one of them.” 17 Then he said to him, “If now I have found favor with you, then show me a sign that it is you who speak with me. 18 Do not depart from here until I come to you, and bring out my present, and set it before you.” And he said, “I will stay until you return.”

19 So Gideon went into his house and prepared a kid, and unleavened cakes from an ephah of flour; the meat he put in a basket, and the broth he put in a pot, and brought them to him under the oak and presented them. 20 The angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened cakes, and put them on this rock, and pour out the broth.” And he did so. 21 Then the angel of the Lord reached out the tip of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the meat and the unleavened cakes; and fire sprang up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened cakes; and the angel of the Lord vanished from his sight.

22 Then Gideon perceived that it was the angel of the Lord; and Gideon said, “Help me, Lord God! For I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face.” 23 But the Lord said to him, “Peace be to you; do not fear, you shall not die.” 24 Then Gideon built an altar there to the Lord, and called it, The Lord is peace. To this day it still stands at Ophrah, which belongs to the Abiezrites.

25 That night the Lord said to him, “Take your father’s bull, the second bull seven years old, and pull down the altar of Baal that belongs to your father, and cut down the sacred pole that is beside it; 26 and build an altar to the Lord your God on the top of the stronghold here, in proper order; then take the second bull, and offer it as a burnt offering with the wood of the sacred pole that you shall cut down.” 27 So Gideon took ten of his servants, and did as the Lord had told him; but because he was too afraid of his family and the townspeople to do it by day, he did it by night.

Gideon Destroys the Altar of Baal

28 When the townspeople rose early in the morning, the altar of Baal was broken down, and the sacred pole beside it was cut down, and the second bull was offered on the altar that had been built. 29 So they said to one another, “Who has done this?” After searching and inquiring, they were told, “Gideon son of Joash did it.” 30 Then the townspeople said to Joash, “Bring out your son, so that he may die, for he has pulled down the altar of Baal and cut down the sacred pole beside it.”

31 But Joash said to all who were arrayed against him, “Will you contend for Baal? Or will you defend his cause? Whoever contends for him shall be put to death by morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself, because his altar has been pulled down.” 32 Therefore on that day Gideon was called Jerubbaal, that is to say, “Let Baal contend against him,” because he pulled down his altar.

Discussion questions:

1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (The Leader should point out a few things: first, that the people of God have rebelled against Him, and that God’s response to this is not to punish them, but simply to remove His protection of them. When they experience defeat and oppression, then they call out for help, and He sends them a prophet explaining why they are suffering, reminding them of what they have been called to do. But then, the Angel of the Lord Himself comes to Gideon, and calls him to deliver the people. This Angel of the Lord is our Lord Jesus Christ, active and present with His people, granting them deliverance and calling them to repentance. Gideon’s doubt, his success, and his failures that we will see, must all be understood in the context of this, that he has received a call and authority from our Lord Himself. Whether he remains faithful to the end is a matter to which we should pay attention as the story goes on.)

2) Where do we see Christ in this text; what is He saying or doing here?

3) Do we see ourselves and the Church in this text; what does it say about us?

4) What do you find difficult about this reading? Is there anything confusing about it, or anything that you dislike? (This is an open question, as always. )

5) Does this reading make you think that you need to change anything in your life?

Day 2 (Wednesday)

Hymns from the Feast of the Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple (November 21)

Every year on November 21st, we celebrate the Feast of the Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple. This feast is coming up on Tuesday of next week, so we will talk about it this week. The story of this feast is that when the Virgin Mary was three years old, her parents dedicated her to serve in the Temple. When she was brought to the Temple, the Priest Zacharias (the father of St. John the Baptist) greeted her, but she walked straight into the Temple by herself, and went straight into the Holy Place, and beyond the curtain into the Holy of Holies, which is where the Ark of the Covenant had used to be, until it was lost. The Holy of Holies had therefore been empty for hundreds of years, since the Temple was rebuilt, and along with its absence, the people of God understood that God’s Presence had never returned to the Temple. With the Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple, the Fathers of the Church understand a transition, from the Temple of the Old Covenant, in which God had been pleased to dwell with His people, to the Temple of the New Covenant, as the Lord dwells in the Faithful, and first of all, of course, in His All-holy Mother. The following hymns reflect on this.

6th Hymn of the Kekragaria

With great joy did the venerable * aged Anna cry out and say, * "Zacharias, welcome today the Virgin, whom * inspired Prophets of God announced; * and bring her into the Lord's * holy Temple, there to dwell * and be sacredly fed and reared, so that she become * the divine throne and palace and the royal bed and brightly shining dwelling * of the Master of the universe."

Doxastikon of the Aposticha

As the congregations of believers assemble today, let us spiritually celebrate the feast; and let us reverently extol the Mother of God, the Virgin Theotokos, as she is brought to the temple of the Lord. She had been selected in advance, from all generations, to be the dwelling of Christ the supreme King and God of all. O virgins, lead the way with ceremonial lamps, and honor the solemn procession of the ever-virgin. O mothers, forget your labor pains, and joyfully come as well, and extol her who became the Mother of God and the agent of joy for the world. And let us all, with joy and delight, salute her as did the Angel and sing, "Rejoice!" to her who is full of grace, and who ever intercedes for our souls.

2nd Kathisma Hymn for the Feast

Consecrated unto God * were you before you were conceived; * being born on earth, to Him * you now are offered as a gift, * O pure one, filling the promise made by your parents. * In purity returned unto the Temple divine * from infancy with lamps brightly shining, in truth * you were a temple divine and a vessel * of the divine unapproachable Light. * How truly great is your sacred entrance, * O only ever-virgin Bride of God.

Idiomelon after the 50th Psalm

Today the Theotokos, the temple that contains God, is led into the Temple of God; and Zacharias welcomes her. Today the Holy of Holies is exultant, and the chorus of Angels mystically celebrates. Together with them let us also keep the feast today, and with Gabriel let us cry aloud: Rejoice, O Maiden full of grace, the Lord is with you; and He has the great mercy.

Hymn from Ode 8, Canon 1 of the Feast

Leading the undefiled Temple into the House of God, ⁄ Anna cried aloud, saying with faith to the priest: ⁄ take the child given me by God, ⁄ lead her into the Temple of your Creator, and sing to Him with joy: ⁄ All works of the Lord, bless the Lord!

Hymn from Ode 8, Canon 1 of the Feast

When he saw Anna, Zachariah said to her in spirit: ⁄ You are bringing the true Mother of Life ⁄ whom the prophets of God heralded from afar as the Theotokos. ⁄ And how shall the Temple contain her? ⁄ Therefore in wonder I cry: ⁄ All works of the Lord, bless the Lord!

Hymn from Ode 8, Canon 1 of the Feast

Anna replied to him: ⁄ I stand here as the suppliant of God, ⁄ calling upon Him with faith and prayer ⁄ to receive the fruit of my travail. ⁄ For I promised that after childbirth ⁄ I would present my child to Him Who gave her to me. ⁄ Therefore I leap for joy and cry: ⁄ All works of the Lord, bless the Lord!

Discussion questions:

1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (The Leader should point out that all the promises that God has been making to Jacob in the Day 1 readings these past several weeks, about how all the nations of the world would be blessed by his descendants, and especially the image of the ladder reaching from heaven to earth, on which the angels of God ascend and descend, are fulfilled precisely in the Virgin Mary, for she is the one through whom our Jesus Christ has come into the world, and in Him heaven and earth are united. It is a marvelous and amazing thing, that all the stories of the Old Testament, all the promises and mistakes, all the hopes and the doubts, arrive at their end point here, with this little girl walking into the Temple, to become herself the Temple of the Most High God, the vessel of His Presence in the world, the Mother of God-with-us, Jesus Christ, our Emmanuel. We should also note that this feastday is a perfect and fitting beginning to our Advent season, as we begin fasting this week, in preparation for the Feast of the Lord’s Nativity, which is to say, in preparation for Christmas.)

2) Where do we see Christ in this text; what is He saying or doing here?

3) Do we see ourselves and the Church in this text; what does it say about us?

4) What do you find difficult about this reading? Is there anything confusing about it, or anything that you dislike? (This is an open question, as always. )

5) Does this reading make you think that you need to change anything in your life?

Day 3 (Friday)

John 5:19-30 (The Authority of the Son)

Last time we saw Jesus heal the Paralytic at the pool of Bethesda; being in Jerusalem, He is under scrutiny from the religious leaders there, especially since He just healed on the Sabbath Day. When they came and criticized Him, telling Him that the Sabbath Day was supposed to be a day of rest, His response was that “My Father is still working, and I am still working,” making an explicit claim to be the Son of God, and making Himself equal with God the Father. From this point they sought to kill Him; this is His response.

The Authority of the Son

19 Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise. 20 The Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing; and he will show him greater works than these, so that you will be astonished. 21 Indeed, just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whomever he wishes. 22 The Father judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son, 23 so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Anyone who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.

24 Very truly, I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life, and does not come under judgment, but has passed from death to life. 25 “Very truly, I tell you, the hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. 26 For just as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself; 27 and he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. 28 Do not be astonished at this; for the hour is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice 29 and will come out—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.

Witnesses to Jesus

30 “I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge; and my judgment is just, because I seek to do not my own will but the will of him who sent me.

Discussion questions:

1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (The Leader should point out that this reading, from verse 24 on, is the standard Gospel reading at an Orthodox Funeral service. It is helpful to see the context here; Jesus has just revealed Himself to the religious leaders, and responds to their desire to kill Him with this statement that He is in perfect one accord with the Father, and that the Father has given Him authority over death itself, and over all the dead. Thus, His response to their plan to kill Him is to prophesy to them that they will succeed, but that this will only accomplish His purpose, which is to speak words of life to those who are dead.)

2) Where do we see Christ in this text; what is He saying or doing here?

3) Do we see ourselves and the Church in this text; what does it say about us?

4) What do you find difficult about this reading? Is there anything confusing about it, or anything that you dislike? (This is an open question, as always. )

5) Does this reading make you think that you need to change anything in your life?

Day 1 (Monday)

Genesis 35:1-29 (Jacob Returns to Bethel, Death of Rachel, Death of Isaac)

Last time, we saw Jacob receive a new name, Israel, the one who wrestles with God, and make peace with his brother Esau, and then finally arrive back in the Promised Land where he settled down, built a house, and purchased property.

Families with younger children should not read this, as what follows in chapter 34 is a troubling and difficult incident, and we will not read it here. Nonetheless, some households may find it instructive to read and discuss; this story closes the loop on some things we have seen before, and will see again. In this chapter, one of the men of the place (Shechem, which is near Samaria) assaults his daughter Dinah and then asks to marry her, and in response his sons Simeon and Levi first pretend to make peace, demanding that all the men there become circumcised, and then enter the city and slaughter them while they are recovering from that surgery. This is a troubling reading, and is relevant to us, because in this story we see what both Abraham and Isaac feared for their wives finally come to pass for a daughter of the household. The men of Shechem plan to use the “marriage” to absorb Jacob and his household into their society, which cannot and must not happen to the people called by the name of the Lord. This being the case, Simeon and Levi’s action is seen later as God’s judgment upon the evildoers of Canaan; at the time, however, Jacob sees it as simply a betrayal, making his household seem like a threat to the people around them. In Genesis 49:5-7, Jacob speaks about this, and says: “Simeon and Levi are brothers; weapons of violence are their swords. May I never come into their council; may I not be joined to their company—for in their anger they killed men, and at their whim they hamstrung oxen. Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce, and their wrath, for it is cruel! I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.” What this story reveals, then, is both God’s protection of His people, even through troubled and imperfect instruments, and at the same time how the sins of anger and violence nonetheless harms those who wield them.

At any rate, with this story, we will finish the story of Jacob, and see the death of his father Isaac. Note that there is one italicized line that parents may wish to omit for the sake of their younger children.

Jacob Returns to Bethel

35 God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel, and settle there. Make an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.” 2 So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods that are among you, and purify yourselves, and change your clothes; 3 then come, let us go up to Bethel, that I may make an altar there to the God who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone.” 4 So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods that they had, and the rings that were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak that was near Shechem.

5 As they journeyed, a terror from God fell upon the cities all around them, so that no one pursued them. 6 Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him, 7 and there he built an altar and called the place El-bethel, because it was there that God had revealed himself to him when he fled from his brother. 8 And Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died, and she was buried under an oak below Bethel. So it was called Allon-bacuth.

9 God appeared to Jacob again when he came from Paddan-aram, and he blessed him. 10 God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; no longer shall you be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name.” So he was called Israel. 11 God said to him, “I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall spring from you. 12 The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and I will give the land to your offspring after you.” 13 Then God went up from him at the place where he had spoken with him. 14 Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he had spoken with him, a pillar of stone; and he poured out a drink offering on it, and poured oil on it. 15 So Jacob called the place where God had spoken with him Bethel.

The Birth of Benjamin and the Death of Rachel

16 Then they journeyed from Bethel; and when they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel was in childbirth, and she had hard labor. 17 When she was in her hard labor, the midwife said to her, “Do not be afraid; for now you will have another son.” 18 As her soul was departing (for she died), she named him Ben-oni; but his father called him Benjamin. 19 So Rachel died, and she was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem), 20 and Jacob set up a pillar at her grave; it is the pillar of Rachel’s tomb, which is there to this day. 21 Israel journeyed on, and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder.

22 While Israel lived in that land, Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine; and Israel heard of it.

Now the sons of Jacob were twelve. 23 The sons of Leah: Reuben (Jacob’s firstborn), Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. 24 The sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin. 25 The sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s maid: Dan and Naphtali. 26 The sons of Zilpah, Leah’s maid: Gad and Asher. These were the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Paddan-aram.

The Death of Isaac

27 Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre, or Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had resided as aliens. 28 Now the days of Isaac were one hundred eighty years. 29 And Isaac breathed his last; he died and was gathered to his people, old and full of days; and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

Discussion questions:

1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (The Leader should note that here in this passage, we see the final resting place for Laban’s gods; they are buried as Jacob’s household puts aside any other gods and dedicates themselves to the Lord alone. We see, too, the consequences of Rachel’s theft, as some commentators have noted that Jacob called a curse of death upon anyone in his household who had taken Laban’s household gods. She dies in childbirth, giving birth to Jacob’s 12th and youngest son, Benjamin. So in this reading, we see the reason that neither Reuben, nor Simeon nor Levi, were the heir of their father Israel, and also finally see the full number of the twelve tribes of Israel completed. When we resume the story next year, we will see what happens as the twelve patriarchs come to adulthood, and how the tensions and anger within the household are used by God to accomplish their deliverance, and to set the stage for the people of God to finally receive the Promised Land. Besides all this, however, we DO see here Jacob finally return to Bethel, where he had first received God's promise, and fulfill his own vow that the Lord would be his God. )  

2) Where do we see Christ in this text; what is He saying or doing here?

3) Do we see ourselves and the Church in this text; what does it say about us?

4) What do you find difficult about this reading? Is there anything confusing about it, or anything that you dislike? (This is an open question, as always. )

5) Does this reading make you think that you need to change anything in your life?

Day 2 (Wednesday)

St. Gregory Palamas on Knowledge of God

With everything that we have seen in the life of Jacob the Patriarch, and all the pain and conflict that has proliferated since we saw him born several weeks ago, the most important point that we have seen remains the vision by which the Lord called him to be the vessel of the Covenant, the heir of God’s promise to Abraham, when he saw the ladder from heaven to earth at Bethel. This question, of how it can possibly be that human beings can encounter God, is a central matter for the Orthodox Christian Faith in practice. As it happens, one of the pivotal Fathers of the Church on this subject is St. Gregory Palamas, whose feast we celebrate next week, on November 14th. St. Gregory was arguing with a certain Barlaam, who claimed that God could only be understood with the educated and rational mind; in opposition to him, Gregory affirms that God can be known in truth, in His energies, but not His essence. We will read some of his words today.

St. Gregory Palamas on Hesychasm

Part 2, Section iii of The Triads – excerpts

8. […] The monks know that the essence of God transcends the fact of being inaccessible to the senses, since God is not only above all created things, but is even beyond Godhead. The excellence of him who surpasses all things is not only beyond all affirmation, but also beyond all negation; it exceeds all excellence that is attainable by the mind. This hypostatic light, seen spiritually by the saints, they know by experience to exist, as they tell us, and to exist not symbolically only, as do manifestations produced by fortuitous events: but it is an illumination immaterial and divine, a grace invisibly seen and ignorantly known. What it is, they do not pretend to know:

[…]This light is not the essence of God, for that is inaccessible and incommunicable; it is not an angel, for it bears the marks of the master. Sometimes it makes a man go out from the body or else, without separating him from the body, it elevates him to an ineffable height. At other times, it transforms the body, and communicates its own splendor to it when, miraculously, the light that deifies the body becomes accessible to the bodily eyes. Thus indeed did the great Arsenius appear when engaged in hesychastic combat; similarly Stephen, while being stoned, and Moses, when he descended from the mountain. [.. .]

11. […) But hesychasts know that the purified and illuminated mind, when clearly participating in the grace of God, also beholds other mystical and supernatural visions—for in seeing itself, it sees more than itself: it does not simply contemplate some other object, or simply its own image, but rather the glory impressed on its own image by the grace of God. This radiance reinforces the mind's power to transcend itself, and accomplish that union with those better things that is beyond understanding. By this union, the mind sees God in the Spirit in a manner transcending human powers.

[…]You claim that the mind can see God only when purified not only of the passions but of ignorance as well: yet the saints make no notion of the latter. They purify themselves of evil passions and transcend all knowledge by uninterrupted and immaterial prayer, and it is then that they begin to see God. […]

16. […] Let us not, then, turn aside incredulous before the superabundance of these blessings; but let us have faith in him who has participated in our nature and granted it in return the glory of his own nature, and let us seek how to acquire this glory and see it. How? By keeping the divine commandments. For the Lord has promised to manifest himself to the man who keeps them, a manifestation he calls his own indwelling and that of the Father, saying, "If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and will make our abode with him," and "I will manifest myself to him." […]

17. We have here a proof (…] that this contemplation of God is not a form of knowledge, even though Barlaam's greatest desire is that the opposite should be true. For our own part, if we refuse to call this contemplation "knowledge," it is by reason of its transcendence—just as we also say that God is not being, for we believe him to be above being. […]

33. Since the reality that transcends every intellectual power is impossible to comprehend, it is beyond all beings; such union with God is thus beyond all knowledge, even if it be called "knowledge" metaphorically, nor is it intelligible, even if it be called so. For how can what is beyond all intellect be called intelligible? In respect of its transcendence, it might better be called ignorance than knowledge. It cannot be a part or aspect of knowledge, just as the super-essential is not an aspect of the essential. Knowledge as a whole could not contain it, nor could this knowledge, when subdivided, possess it as one of its parts. […]

68. It is time to repeat those divine words: "We give thanks to you, Father, Lord of Heaven and earth, because,” uniting yourself to us and making yourself manifest to us by yourself, “you have hidden these thigns from the wise and prudent,” who are prudent only by their own account and learned only in their own eyes. […]
We must transcend ourselves altogether, and give ourselves entirely to God, for it is better to belong to God, and not to ourselves. It is thus that divine things are bestowed on those who have attained to fellowship with God.

From Eastern Orthodox Christianity: The Essential Texts, edited by Bryn Geffert & Theofanis G. Stavrou. Yale University Press, 2016.

Discussion questions:

1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (Leader should explain that St. Gregory is describing something of what it is like to encounter God, and how this is a knowledge that transcends understanding and intelligence. This reality of encounter with God in His energies, but not His essence, is a vital element of the Orthodox Christian spiritual life.)

2) Where do we see Christ in this text; what is He saying or doing here?

3) Do we see ourselves and the Church in this text; what does it say about us?

4) What do you find difficult about this reading? Is there anything confusing about it, or anything that you dislike? (This is an open question, as always. )

5) Does this reading make you think that you need to change anything in your life?

Day 3 (Friday)

John 5:1-18 (Jesus Heals Paralytic at Bethesda)

Last time we saw the Lord leave the city of the Samaritans and arrive in Galilee, where He healed the child of a royal official. What was notable about the healing was that He did not go to accomplish the healing in person; He simply promised the official that His child would recover, and when the official returned home, he was told that the child had become well at the same hour that the Lord had spoken with him. This was the second miracle which St. John has shown to us. This time, we will see the Lord return again to Jerusalem for one of the pilgrimage festivals.

Jesus Heals on the Sabbath

5 After this there was a festival of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

2 Now in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate there is a pool, called in Hebrew Beth-zatha, which has five porticoes. 3 In these lay many invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. 5 One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be made well?” 7 The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; and while I am making my way, someone else steps down ahead of me.” 8 Jesus said to him, “Stand up, take your mat and walk.” 9 At once the man was made well, and he took up his mat and began to walk.

Now that day was a sabbath. 10 So the Jews said to the man who had been cured, “It is the sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your mat.” 11 But he answered them, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Take up your mat and walk.’” 12 They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Take it up and walk’?” 13 Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had disappeared in the crowd that was there. 14 Later Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you have been made well! Do not sin any more, so that nothing worse happens to you.”

15 The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. 16 Therefore the Jews started persecuting Jesus, because he was doing such things on the sabbath. 17 But Jesus answered them, “My Father is still working, and I also am working.” 18 For this reason the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because he was not only breaking the sabbath, but was also calling God his own Father, thereby making himself equal to God.

Discussion questions:

1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (Leader should point out how remarkable the Lord’s statement is, that His Father is still working, and that He Himself is still working. This is the Lord’s response, the first that we see Him make in John Gospel, to the Pharisees’ concerns about His healing on the Sabbath Day. They understand the Sabbath to be a mandatory day of rest, because God rests on the Sabbath Day in the Creation account. Jesus’ response is that the Sabbath Day hasn’t actually arrived yet for Him; He is still working, and His Father is still working. In this He claims effectively to be outside of time, He makes Himself equal with God the Father, and He utterly confounds their understanding of the Law. )

2) Where do we see Christ in this text; what is He saying or doing here?

3) Do we see ourselves and the Church in this text; what does it say about us?

4) What do you find difficult about this reading? Is there anything confusing about it, or anything that you dislike? (This is an open question, as always. )

5) Does this reading make you think that you need to change anything in your life?