1st November, 2010

BRUCE C. WEARNE

Read Hebrews 6: 4-8

So the letter writer changes metaphor from diet (milk and meat) to agriculture (the cultivation of crops and the burning of thorns and thistles in curséd ground deemed fit for fire because it has proved unproductive), to encourage the view that Christ's Kingly Priesthood calls forth "the crops" of maturity. We need to "work the ground" which means that this is a matter of wise stewardship of everyday living with the expectation that God is busy fulfilling His purposes - also "today". These are people who are sometimes called upon to exercise a circumspect commitment, holding fast to their hope, just like Christ Jesus (5: 4), and just like Abram.

CALLING FORTH THE "CROPS" OF MATURITY: Land that produces thorns and thistles is "worthless and is in danger of being cursed", says the passage from Hebrews. PICTURE: SP Veres (www.sxc.hu) "We need to 'work the ground' which means that this is a matter of wise stewardship of everyday living with the expectation that God is busy fulfilling His purposes - also 'today'."

This complex passage, which we have divided into parts, hangs together in terms of an explanation that is given a few sentences later: "For in giving His guarantee to Abraham, God swore by Himself, because there was no one greater that He could swear by" (6: 13).

Keep that in mind as we note here that the writer is referring to the account of how Abram, because he was Lot's uncle, came to have dealings with the King of Sodom (Genesis 12-15). Abram had given Lot first choice of lands when the time came for their clans to separate, so they could then be independently settled. Lot chose to pitch his tents in the well-watered plain of the Jordan toward Sodom. Meanwhile, Abram settled in the land of Canaan (Genesis 13).

In terms that this letter ascribes to Christ Jesus, Abram was able to maintain a "circumspect commitment" (5: 4), his heart was set on honouring the Lord (Genesis 12: 4 and also 14: 22). But he had to learn, sometimes through bitter experiences which he shared with Sarai in Egypt and then also later, what honouring the Lord meant with respect to his marital and familial commitments (Genesis 12: 10-20). Here we encounter Abram remaining responsible, before the Most High, for his brother's son even though he had earlier given him leave to separate (Genesis 14). But then came the time when Uncle Abram was faced with the need to join a military alliance after Sodom and Gomorrah were routed with Lot and his family carried off into captivity.

Consider what happened in the midst of a post-war division of spoils, when the bread and wine nourishment were shared and a blessing was conferred upon Abram by King Melchizedek of Salem, priest of God Most High. Abram received this priest's blessing and the Most High was thanked and praised for His deliverance. It was a solemn moment.

But it did not stop there. Abram's faith was active and he paid tithes from his rightful share from the successful campaign to this King-Priest Melchizedek. But then we read the King of Sodom's invited Abram to help himself further to the spoils. Abram refused to do so. Why? What was to prevent him? Clearly it was his oath sworn to the Lord. Would not such booty cede to the King of Sodom sovereignty over "the people", including Lot and his family?

Abram's faith was such that he would only receive as reward whatever was rightfully his, whatever the Lord allowed him to have. The bread and wine and the solemn blessing pronounced by Melchizedek had confirmed to Abram that it was the Lord who gave the victory. The Lord had blessed Abram in the exercise of his uncle's duty and that was why he was given success by Lot's deliverance from his captors. So, when he took his share of the booty, he paid tithes to Melchizedek. And that was all. He would have no part of the King of Sodom's "sweetener" - tithes had already been paid for his rightful share. Abram does not enter into any negotiation with respect to that King's ambit claim. Abram would not trade his responsibility as uncle - coming to the aid of his nephew and his family - in exchange for extra booty. Abram did not consent to the King of Sodom viewing "the people" as booty.

Abram maintained his responsibility. He would not be levered into renouncing his duty just because Lot lived in the region of Sodom. No further co-operation with these Kings was called for. This then is background to the later account in Genesis when Sodom and Gomorrah are destroyed.

But what about the account given here of the Priest King Melchizedek? Was he a mighty, gleaming presence bringing refreshment after a bloody battle, riding a shining white charger with all the earthly glory of a King or Queen in the pomp and majesty of a military victory? If so, Moses wasn't impressed to include such details in his account.

Instead, the reference to Melchizedek is oblique - in our Bibles a mere three verses. For us now the ancient writer might even appear to "take off his literary shoes" - is not the story a kind of "holy ground", an event of solemn significance before the Living God? The writer of the Letter to the Hebrews confirms that this "strange" intervention by the Priest-King of Salem meant Abram had a priest to stand by him when he sought to remain true to God's promises and honour his God-given responsibilities in the midst of that situation in which he found himself. Unlike previously, Abram's "circumspect commitment" now held firm (Genesis 12: 10-20), and the writer of the letter tells us that those who believe still stand in need of a priest "with the compassionate ability to work with the ignorant and the wayward" (5: 2).

So it was not just Lot who was delivered by a "close shave":  "Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the Lord; and he looked down towards Sodom and Gomorrah and towards all the land of the Plain, and saw the smoke of the land going up like the smoke of a furnace" (Genesis 19: 27-28).

So, we note that when Lot, and any other righteous who were to be found in Sodom, needed an intercessor, to plead on their behalf unto the Lord in the face of impending judgement, it was Abraham who had taken up this most important duty.

The interpretation I have developed here would lead us to the view that Moses is telling us that when Abraham stood there in front of the smoking land, which had previously been a well-watered plain, he understood with greater clarity the meaning of what had happened earlier when Lot had been rescued from his captors. It was as Melchizedek had said: "God Most High has delivered your enemies into your hands".

But it was also a case that he would not have been standing there, his own prayers for Lot's deliverance heard, his hindsight on these events clarified, had Abram not been blessed by "God Most High, maker of heaven and earth".

We now read the following paragraph from the Letter and note that it could be inserted as a footnote to the ancient text precisely at this point: "For earth which often drinks the rains that falls upon it, receiving the blessing of God, will spring forth crops for those who have cultivated it. But when it brings forth thorns and thistles it shows that it is unfit (for cultivation) and near to being condemned, fit (only) for burning."

Our discussion here has been rather complex. That cannot be helped. It is a difficult passage. But it confirms the importance for us, reading this letter now, of reading and carefully re-reading the document before us, and to consult the Old Testament in order to clarify the nature of the discussion that is developed here between the writer and his readers.

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