Ezekiel 34: 11-16, 20-24 Using familiar experiences  from everyday life, the Hebrew prophets and poets describe God as a potter (Jeremiah, Isaiah), a gardener (Jeremiah), mother (Isaiah), healer (Jeremiah) and, most frequently, a shepherd.  Writing in a time of complete … Continue reading →

Deuteronomy 8: 7-18 The Book of Deuteronomy was compiled and edited as the farewell sermon/address by Moses to God’s people in which he reviews all that God had done for God’s people with a recurring admonition– Keep all the Lord’s … Continue reading →

See The Last Sunday after the Epiphany Year C

Acts of the Apostles 1: 6-14 Luke uses language and symbolism similar to his description of the “transformation” of Jesus to now describe his “ascension.”  Both events in Luke’s language validate a direct link between the earthly life and ministry … Continue reading →

Exodus 24: 12-18 In the narrative of the Book of Exodus, the story of the Lord’s interaction with humankind reaches a highpoint.  The event is shrouded in “glory.”  A chosen leader, Moses, is the mediator and the designated recipient.  The … Continue reading →

Deuteronomy 30: 15-20 Robert Alter writes that in this thirtieth chapter of the Book of Deuteronomy, “the mythological and heroic era [which valued secret, esoteric knowledge from another world]…is at an end, for God’s word, inscribed in a book, has … Continue reading →

Isaiah 58: 1-9a, (9b-12) The text of the Book of Isaiah turns to a scathing indictment of the perversion (“rebellion”) of the purported faithfulness of God’s people.  The self-serving, self-aggrandizing religious customs and practices that humankind chooses “will not make your … Continue reading →

Micah 5:2-5a Like his contemporary, Isaiah, the prophet Micah sees in current events a reckoning day of God’s judgment fast approaching.  The fall of the Northern Kingdom was a dire warning to the South (Judah/Jerusalem).  Given his harsh judgments, the … Continue reading →

Zephaniah 3:14-20 The boy-King, Josiah, had grown into a great reformer and restorer of Temple worship in Jerusalem. (It was during his reign that the Book of Deuteronomy was ‘discovered’ in a box and read publicly on the King’s orders.)  … Continue reading →

Baruch 5:1-9 This poem included in the collection given the title “Baruch” announces to Jerusalem that now is the time to take off the drab clothing of “sorrow and affliction” and put on “the beauty of the glory from God.”  … Continue reading →