Day 1 (Monday)
3 Kingdoms (1 Kings) 19:1-21 (Elijah Flees from Jezebel)
Last time we saw Elijah confront Ahab and the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel, and challenge them to see whose god was true. He prepared one sacrifice, and they prepared another, and both called on their god to send fire from heaven. The prophets of Baal tried all morning and into the afternoon, but there was no fire. Elijah prayed once, and Yahweh immediately sent fire from heaven. The people who were assembled confessed that Yahweh was the true God, and the prophets of Baal were killed. It looked like a great victory had been won, and the people would return to the Lord. What we’ll see this time, however, is that it ended up very different from how Elijah hoped it would go.
Elijah Flees from Jezebel
19 Ahab told Jez′ebel all that Eli′jah had done, and how he had slain all the prophets with the sword. 2 Then Jez′ebel sent a messenger to Eli′jah, saying, “So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.” 3 Then he was afraid, and he arose and went for his life, and came to Beer-sheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.
4 But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree; and he asked that he might die, saying, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life; for I am no better than my fathers.” 5 And he lay down and slept under a broom tree; and behold, an angel touched him, and said to him, “Arise and eat.”
6 And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank, and lay down again. 7 And the angel of the Lord came again a second time, and touched him, and said, “Arise and eat, else the journey will be too great for you.” 8 And he arose, and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God.
Elijah Meets God at Horeb
9 And there he came to a cave, and lodged there; and behold, the Word of the Lord came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Eli′jah?” 10 He said, “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the people of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thy altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.”
11 And he said, “Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; 12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.
13 And when Eli′jah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him, and said, “What are you doing here, Eli′jah?” 14 He said, “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the people of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thy altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.”
15 And the Lord said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus; and when you arrive, you shall anoint Haz′ael to be king over Syria; 16 and Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint to be king over Israel; and Eli′sha the son of Shaphat of A′bel-meho′lah you shall anoint to be prophet in your place. 17 And him who escapes from the sword of Haz′ael shall Jehu slay; and him who escapes from the sword of Jehu shall Eli′sha slay. 18 Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Ba′al, and every mouth that has not kissed him.”
Elisha Becomes Elijah’s Disciple
19 So he departed from there, and found Eli′sha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing, with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he was with the twelfth. Eli′jah passed by him and cast his mantle upon him. 20 And he left the oxen, and ran after Eli′jah, and said, “Let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.” And he said to him, “Go back again; for what have I done to you?” 21 And he returned from following him, and took the yoke of oxen, and slew them, and boiled their flesh with the yokes of the oxen, and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he arose and went after Eli′jah, and ministered to him.
767 words
Discussion questions:
1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (Leader should note that Elijah was having a hard time in this chapter; perhaps he thought the victory on Mt. Carmel would change things, but it didn’t seem to change anything, and he was all alone, with Jezebel’s soldiers chasing him to kill him. What he learned in the wilderness was that he wasn’t alone, that God would bring justice to Jezebel, and that there were in fact many people in Israel who were faithful to God as well. Elijah had thought he was going to win a final victory, but what he learned was that the victory was God’s, and he only had to fulfill his part and be faithful, and others would be raised up to continue the work. This is a good lesson for all of us; we don’t need to fix the world, we just need to be faithful to God, and leave the end result in God’s hands. A couple other points; we see both the Angel of the Lord and the Word of the Lord spoken of here…both of these are Jesus Christ Himself, present and encouraging Elijah prior to His Incarnation, preparing the ground for His own coming into the world in the flesh several centuries later.)
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?
6) “What is the a) literal, b) allegorical, c) moral/ethical, d) anagogical/eschatological meaning of this text? (Think of these questions as a mountain which we can ascend, or as layers of meaning upon which we can reflect. Oftentimes, as we reflect upon a text in this way, we may find that the highest level, the anagogical reading (in which we see the text as revealing the glory of God and His kingdom in a deeper manner, opening up to us the grand scope of God’s great work of salvation in and for us) sheds new insights on the lower levels of interpretation.)
Day 2 (Wednesday)
Letter of St. Ignatius to the Ephesians – 3
Last time we saw St. Ignatius urge the Christians in Ephesus to be careful to preserve their unity with their bishop, and to make sure not to abandon the gatherings of the Church to celebrate the Eucharist. We got some hints about what sort of problems the Church in Ephesus was experiencing, and in this coming passage, we will see still more, about false teachers who were there disrupting the unity of the Church and stirring up disagreements against the bishop and the Gospel.
Warnings about Teachers of Error
For there are some who are accustomed to carrying about the Name maliciously and deceitfully while doing other things unworthy of God. You must avoid them as wild beasts. For they are mad dogs that bite by stealth; you must be on your guard against them, for their bite is hard to heal. There is only one physician, who is both flesh and spirit, born and unborn, God in man, true life in death, both from Mary and from God, first subject to suffering and then beyond it, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Therefore let no one deceive you, just as you are not now deceived, seeing that you belong entirely to God. For when no dissension capable of tormenting you is established among you, then you indeed live God’s way. I am a humble sacrifice for you and I dedicate myself to you Ephesians, a church that is famous forever. Those who belong to the flesh cannot do spiritual things, nor can those who are spiritual do fleshly things, just as faith cannot do the things of unfaithfulness, nor unfaithfulness the things of faith. Moreover, even those things that you do according to the flesh are in fact spiritual, for you do everything in Jesus Christ.
But I have learned that certain people from elsewhere have passed your way with evil doctrine, but you did not allow them to sow it among you. You covered up your ears in order to avoid receiving the things being sown by them, because you are stones of a temple, prepared beforehand for the building of God the Father, hoisted up to the heights by the crane of Jesus Christ, which is the cross, using as a rope the Holy Spirit; your faith is what lifts you up, and love is the way that leads up to God. So you are all participants together in a shared worship, God-bearers and temple-bearers, Christ-bearers, bearers of holy things, adorned in every respect with the commandments of Jesus Christ. I too celebrate with you, since I have been judged worthy to speak with you through this letter, and to rejoice with you because you love nothing in human life, only God.
369 words
Discussion questions:
1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (Leader should note that Ignatius is warning the Christians in Ephesus about a real danger, people who claim to be teaching about God, but are in fact wrong. The language he uses about them is strong: “mad dogs, whose bite is hard to heal.” The point is that, both then, and now, there are many people who claim to be preaching the truth about Jesus Christ, and many of the things they say will seem true, and right, and reasonable…or at least very appealing to us. But if they contradict the Faith we have received, we have to reject them, and hold fast to the Faith the Lord delivered to the Apostles, and take time to learn the truth about what we have heard. He is, in short, making a strong argument for Orthodoxy, the right and correct way of thinking and living and being, and for the dangers of being led astray by teaching that is not Orthodox. Besides this, if no one else has commented on it, the leader should make sure to make note of the metaphor of the building, with the Cross as the construction crane of Jesus Christ. It’s an unusual, but vivid, and beautiful image.)
2) What do we learn about God in this reading?
3) What do we learn about human beings in this reading?
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)
Luke 11:45-54; 12:1-12 (Jesus Denounces Pharisees & Lawyers, Warning against Hypocrisy, Exhortation to Fearless Confession)
Last time, we saw the Lord preaching to the people on His way to Jerusalem, speaking about the sign of Jonah, a prophecy of His Resurrection, and urging His disciples to walk in the light. He also began to denounce the Pharisees for their hypocrisy, teaching others to do things that they did not do themselves. In what follows, we will see Him continue to speak of the consequence of the faithlessness of the teachers of the Law, and to warn His disciples not to imitate them.
Jesus Denounces Pharisees & Lawyers continued
45 One of the lawyers answered him, “Teacher, in saying this you reproach us also.” 46 And he said, “Woe to you lawyers also! for you load men with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers. 47 Woe to you! for you build the tombs of the prophets whom your fathers killed. 48 So you are witnesses and consent to the deeds of your fathers; for they killed them, and you build their tombs.”
49 “Therefore also the Wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute,’ 50 that the blood of all the prophets, shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation, 51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechari′ah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, it shall be required of this generation. 52 Woe to you lawyers! for you have taken away the key of knowledge; you did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering.”
53 As he went away from there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to press him hard, and to provoke him to speak of many things, 54 lying in wait for him, to catch at something he might say.
A Warning against Hypocrisy
12 In the meantime, when so many thousands of the multitude had gathered together that they trod upon one another, he began to say to his disciples first, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. 2 Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. 3 Whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed upon the housetops.
Exhortation to Fearless Confession
4 “I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. 5 But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I tell you, fear him! 6 Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. 7 Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.
8 “And I tell you, every one who acknowledges me before men, the Son of man also will acknowledge before the angels of God; 9 but he who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God. 10 And every one who speaks a word against the Son of man will be forgiven; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. 11 And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious how or what you are to answer or what you are to say; 12 for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”
Reading 27
530 words
Discussion Questions
1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (Leader should point out that Jesus is really making two essential points in this passage. First, He is continuing to speak to the leaders of the people in particular, calling them to account for their arrogance and faithlessness, fixating on particular elements of the Torah but neglecting the core point of communion with God, in continuation from what He was saying to the Pharisees last time. Second, He is first telling His disciples not to worry about what other people think, since that is the source of hypocrisy and self-righteousness, but that they should focus on what is pleasing to God, who knows everything, and that they only need to be faithful to Him. And to all of them, when He speaks of how those who blaspheme against the Son of man will be forgiven, but those who blaspheme against the Holy Spirit will not, He is saying that, for all that this warning to them is true and real, this is not in fact their last chance; they will be forgiven for rejecting Him (as He will pray to the Father from up on the Cross that those who crucify Him will be forgiven)…but when the Holy Spirit comes, then that will in fact be the last chance for the religious leaders and for the people of God as they have been up to that point. Those who reject Him then, and refuse the offer of forgiveness from the Holy Spirit in the first decades of the Church after Pentecost, will finally come to destruction and judgment, as we see actually happened in A.D. 70 with the destruction of Jerusalem.)
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?
6) “What is the a) literal, b) allegorical, c) moral/ethical, d) anagogical/eschatological meaning of this text? (Think of these questions as a mountain which we can ascend, or as layers of meaning upon which we can reflect. Oftentimes, as we reflect upon a text in this way, we may find that the anagogical reading, in which we see the text as revealing the glory of God and His kingdom in a deeper manner, sheds new insights on the lower levels of interpretation.)
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