Day 1 (Monday)
4 Kingdoms 21:1-26; 22:1-20 (Reigns of Mannaseh, Amon, and Josiah)
Last time, we saw Hezekiah, the righteous king of Judah, entrust himself and his city to the protection of the Lord at the last desperate point, with the great army of Assyria at the gates, and threats of utter destruction hanging over their heads. We saw the Lord give a word of assurance and comfort to Hezekiah, and of judgment to Sennacherib the king of Assyria, and then the angel of the Lord destroyed a great many of the soldiers in the Assyrian camp, and they broke the siege and departed from Judaea. That was chapter 19 of 4 Kingdoms; in chapter 20, we see the rest of Hezekiah’s life, and then his death. His son, Manasseh, succeeds him, and things turn immediately, and drastically, to the worse.
Manasseh Reigns over Judah
21 Manas′seh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Heph′zibah. 2 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to the abominable practices of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel. 3 For he rebuilt the high places which Hezeki′ah his father had destroyed; and he erected altars for Ba′al, and made an Ashe′rah, as Ahab king of Israel had done, and worshiped all the host of heaven, and served them. 4 And he built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, “In Jerusalem will I put my name.” 5 And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord.
6 And he burned his son as an offering, and practiced soothsaying and augury, and dealt with mediums and with wizards. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger. 7 And the graven image of Ashe′rah that he had made he set in the house of which the Lord said to David and to Solomon his son, “In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name for ever; 8 and I will not cause the feet of Israel to wander any more out of the land which I gave to their fathers, if only they will be careful to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the law that my servant Moses commanded them.” 9 But they did not listen, and Manas′seh seduced them to do more evil than the nations had done whom the Lord destroyed before the people of Israel.
10 And the Lord said by his servants the prophets, 11 “Because Manas′seh king of Judah has committed these abominations, and has done things more wicked than all that the Amorites did, who were before him, and has made Judah also to sin with his idols; 12 therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, Behold, I am bringing upon Jerusalem and Judah such evil that the ears of every one who hears of it will tingle.
13 And I will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line of Samar′ia, and the plummet of the house of Ahab; and I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. 14 And I will cast off the remnant of my heritage, and give them into the hand of their enemies, and they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies, 15 because they have done what is evil in my sight and have provoked me to anger, since the day their fathers came out of Egypt, even to this day.”
16 Moreover Manas′seh shed very much innocent blood, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another, besides the sin which he made Judah to sin so that they did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. 17 Now the rest of the acts of Manas′seh, and all that he did, and the sin that he committed, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 18 And Manas′seh slept with his fathers, and was buried in the garden of his house, in the garden of Uzza; and Amon his son reigned in his stead.
Amon Reigns over Judah
19 Amon was twenty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Meshul′lemeth the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah. 20 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, as Manas′seh his father had done. 21 He walked in all the way in which his father walked, and served the idols that his father served, and worshiped them; 22 he forsook the Lord, the God of his fathers, and did not walk in the way of the Lord.
23 And the servants of Amon conspired against him, and killed the king in his house. 24 But the people of the land slew all those who had conspired against King Amon, and the people of the land made Josi′ah his son king in his stead. 25 Now the rest of the acts of Amon which he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 26 And he was buried in his tomb in the garden of Uzza; and Josi′ah his son reigned in his stead.
Josiah Reigns over Judah
22 Josi′ah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jedi′dah the daughter of Adai′ah of Bozkath. 2 And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, and walked in all the way of David his father, and he did not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.
Hilkiah Finds the Book of the Law
3 In the eighteenth year of King Josi′ah, the king sent Shaphan … the secretary, to the house of the Lord [to speak with Hilkiah the high priest about the money paid into the Temple, so that it could be used to pay the workmen for its repairs. But Hilkiah said to Shaphan:] 8b“I have found the book of the law[a] in the house of the Lord.” And Hilki′ah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it. 9 And Shaphan the secretary came to the king, and reported to the king … “Hilki′ah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it before the king.
11 And when the king heard the words of the book of the law, he rent his clothes. 12 And the king commanded [his servants], saying, 13 “Go, inquire of the Lord for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found; for great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.”
14 So Hilki′ah the priest [and the others] went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum … keeper of the wardrobe (now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter); and they talked with her. 15 And she said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘Tell the man who sent you to me, 16 Thus says the Lord, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place and upon its inhabitants, all the words of the book which the king of Judah has read. 17 Because they have forsaken me and have burned incense to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the work of their hands, therefore my wrath will be kindled against this place, and it will not be quenched.
18 But as to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, thus shall you say to him, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Regarding the words which you have heard, 19 because your heart was penitent, and you humbled yourself before the Lord, when you heard how I spoke against this place, and against its inhabitants, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and you have rent your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you, says the Lord. 20 Therefore, behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace, and your eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place.’” And they brought back word to the king.
Reading 15 – 1338 words
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 how abrupt and complete this change is; during Hezekiah’s reign, a relatively long reign of almost thirty years, the kingdom of Judah was reduced almost to the point that Jerusalem only was left, but they were delivered by the Lord, and a remnant went out and re-settled the cities that Sennacherib had destroyed, and Hezekiah reigned another 15 years in peace and prosperity, and during his reign, as we saw, the people inside Jerusalem were faithful to the Lord and loyal to Hezekiah. Manasseh’s rule, conversely, was 55 years, almost twice as long as his father’s, so that only the oldest people would remember what life was like in Hezekiah’s time. Thus a great many of the people were led astray and became unfaithful to the Lord during Manasseh’s kingship, and although we know that Manasseh repented and sought forgiveness (and we use his prayer of repentance during Great Lent in the Great Compline service), nonetheless the consequences of his great sins were not taken away, and we will see that, despite Josiah’s efforts to restore righteousness, the people remain devoted to the evil gods of the Canaanites. But for now, as we leave off this week, we have a word of peace that has been given to Josiah, and next week, we will see what he does to repent, and how his reign ends.)
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)
Gregory the Theologian – On Theology and the Office of Bishops – 3
Last time we saw St. Gregory speak with clarity and strength about the Godhead, and the essential truth of the ancient Christian confession of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. He affirmed both the unity of the three Persons and the Distinct Identity of each Person, and identified the Person of the Father as the source of that union, as both the Son and the Holy Spirit have their timeless origin in Him. This time, we will see him continue on these themes.
ORATION 20 – On theology and the office of bishops – Part 3
8. If, however, you are going to claim that the Son is subject to time for the reason that bodies are too, you will in fact be attributing corporeality to the incorporeal, and if you insist that the Son too made the transition from nonexistence to existence on the grounds that whatever is generated in our world does not exist at one point but comes into being after a time, you are comparing the incomparable, God and man, corporeal and incorporeal; hence because our bodies both suffer and perish so will he too.
Your claim, then, is that, because bodies are generated in this way, so too is God; while I say that because bodies are so generated, God is not. Things that have a different kind of existence also have a different mode of generation, unless he is a slave to material influences in all other respects too, as for example pain and suffering and hunger and thirst and all the other afflictions either corporeal or corporeal and incorporeal together. But these are the things your mind does not accept; we are in fact speaking about God. So stop supposing that his generation too is anything other than of a divine sort.
9. But, someone retorts, if he is generated, what form did this generation take? Answer me, unerring dialectician that you are. If he has been created, how has he been created? And go ahead and ask me this: how was he generated? Does generation involve passion? Then so does creation. Are not mental conception and thought and the analysis of a single idea into its discrete parts a kind of passion? Is there time involved in generation? The created world also exists in time. Does space apply to this world? It does in the other too. Can generation miscarry? So too can creation. These are the arguments I have heard you make: the hand often fails to execute what the mind calls up.
But, you argue, he brought everything into existence by his word and will, for he spoke, and they were made; he commanded, and they were created.24 When you say that everything was created by God’s word, you are not positing creation in human terms. None of us makes things happen by word. Nothing would be more sublime or effortless than ourselves if statement sufficed to bring about fact; hence, although God creates what he creates by word, his creation is not of human sort. Either show me a human being who also brings something about by word, or else admit that God does not create in a human way. All you need do is picture to yourself a city and lo! have it come into being; will yourself a son, and lo! have a boy appear; wish for anything else that can possibly happen and have your will become accomplished fact.
But as surely as none of these things comes to pass as a result of our willing it so, while with God the act of will and its fulfillment are identical, man creates in one way and God, the Creator of all, in another. So if God does not create like a human being, how does it follow that he must beget like one? Once upon a time you did not exist; then you did, and now you beget. Accordingly, you bring into existence someone who did not previously exist or, in a deeper sense, perhaps it is not you at all who are doing the bringing, since Levi also, Scripture says, was still in the loins of his ancestor25 before he was born. And let no one sneer at my words. I am not suggesting that the Son derives his being from the Father in that he first existed in the Father and later made his way into being, nor that he was first unformed and was then formed, as is the case with human generation.
10. These are the views of malcontents, the views of those who are quick to jump on every word. They are not our thoughts or beliefs. We think that the ungenerated existence of the Father—he has always existed, for the mind’s reach does not extend to a time when he did not—is coextensive with the generated existence of the Son. Hence the existence of the Father is concurrent with the generation of his only-begotten Son, who takes his being both from the Father and not after him, except in the sense that the Father is the source, that is, causal agent. I am repeating myself because your crassly materialistic cast of mind frightens me.
Reading 3 – 782 words
Gregory Nazianzus, Select Orations, ed. Thomas P. Halton, trans. Martha Vinson, vol. 107, The Fathers of the Church (Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press, 2003), 107–116.
Footnotes
24 Ps 148:5 LXX.
25 Heb 7:10.
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 how St. Gregory effectively reduces the Arian heresy to the fundamental point of insisting that words must mean the same thing for God as they do for human beings, and then utterly refutes it by pointing out how utterly different limited, created, and weak human beings are from the infinite Almighty Creator God. And if the begetting of the only-begotten Son of God ought indeed to be understood as something different from human begetting, then the entire case of the Arians falls apart, exposed as just so much over-logical, but poorly reasoned sophistry. We must remember again the context in which St. Gregory is preaching, to the capital city of the empire, under the rule of a new emperor, an Orthodox emperor, after almost half a century of domination by Arian rulers. He has the technical authority over the churches in the city, with the backing of the emperor (Theodosios the Great), but he is fighting here for the minds and the hearts of his flock with every tool he can muster for the salvation of their souls and the unity of the Church.)
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)
Acts 27:1-20 (Paul Sails for Rome, Storm at Sea)
Last time, we saw the conclusion of St. Paul's words before Herod Agrippa II and the Roman governor Festus, and how the rulers concluded that there was no reason for Paul even to be imprisoned at all, and that he might be and should be released, except that he had already appealed to Caesar. They intend this as a reflection on Paul's foolishness and the ridiculousness of the situation, but Paul does not grieve this, as his goal is to preach even to the emperor as he had been able to do to Agrippa, urging even the ruler of the known world to submit himself to Christ the Ruler and Creator of all. This time, we will see Paul set out on his journey to Rome. This will be rather more eventful than the journeys we have seen him take before.
Paul Sails for Rome
27 When it was decided that we were to sail for Italy, they transferred Paul and some other prisoners to a centurion of the Augustan Cohort, named Julius. 2 Embarking on a ship of Adramyttium that was about to set sail to the ports along the coast of Asia, we put to sea, accompanied by Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica. 3 The next day we put in at Sidon; and Julius treated Paul kindly, and allowed him to go to his friends to be cared for. '
4 Putting out to sea from there, we sailed under the lee of Cyprus, because the winds were against us. 5 After we had sailed across the sea that is off Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra in Lycia. 6 There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship bound for Italy and put us on board. 7 We sailed slowly for a number of days and arrived with difficulty off Cnidus, and as the wind was against us, we sailed under the lee of Crete off Salmone. 8 Sailing past it with difficulty, we came to a place called Fair Havens, near the city of Lasea.
9 Since much time had been lost and sailing was now dangerous, because even the Fast had already gone by, Paul advised them, 10 saying, “Sirs, I can see that the voyage will be with danger and much heavy loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives.” 11 But the centurion paid more attention to the pilot and to the owner of the ship than to what Paul said. 12 Since the harbor was not suitable for spending the winter, the majority was in favor of putting to sea from there, on the chance that somehow they could reach Phoenix, where they could spend the winter. It was a harbor of Crete, facing southwest and northwest.
The Storm at Sea
13 When a moderate south wind began to blow, they thought they could achieve their purpose; so they weighed anchor and began to sail past Crete, close to the shore. 14 But soon a violent wind, called the northeaster, rushed down from Crete. 15 Since the ship was caught and could not be turned head-on into the wind, we gave way to it and were driven. 16 By running under the lee of a small island called Cauda we were scarcely able to get the ship’s boat under control. 17 After hoisting it up they took measures to undergird the ship; then, fearing that they would run on the Syrtis, they lowered the sea anchor and so were driven. 18 We were being pounded by the storm so violently that on the next day they began to throw the cargo overboard, 19 and on the third day with their own hands they threw the ship’s tackle overboard. 20 When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest raged, all hope of our being saved was at last abandoned.
Reading 49 – 507 words
Discussion questions:
1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (The Leader should explain that the Fast referred to in verse 9 is the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, which happens in the fall, in September or October, depending on how the Hebrew calendar falls that year. The point here is that winter is quickly approaching, and it is not safe to sail the open waters of the Mediterranean during the winter. The other thing that should be noted, in advance of our reading next week, is that the storm overtakes them while they are trying to sail past Crete…when they are shipwrecked, they find themselves on the island of Malta, some 600 miles away. This is not unreasonable; considering they've been driven for at least two full days, they only need to have maintained a speed of 12 or 13 miles per hour, but…it's an impressive distance to travel at the time, effectively from the eastern Mediterranean to the west, just south of Sicily. We should note, as well, that St. Paul is given by God to know that things will turn out poorly, and warns those in charge, but they ignore him; he will make reference to this in next week's reading.)
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?