(Photo by Laura Brain on Unsplash)
I had a visit from one of our Licensed Lay Ministers (LLMs) this week, who wanted to ask for some more of my thoughts concerning Mary Magdalene (Mary, “The Tower,” in Aramaic). She did this because she intends to preach this coming Sunday (the Fifth after Trinity), not from the Lectionary for this weekend but from next Tuesday’s, 22 July, “Feast of Mary Magdalene.” And not because I am a specialist in such matters, but since I preached on Mary last year, on the same weekend, and she wanted my “follow-up” thoughts about some of the questions raised by what I had shared back then. (You can read and listen, here.)
No one who knows the stories about Mary M will be ignorant of the many malicious rumours going around about her for some 1500 years now, and which really date to the time of Jesus’ ministry, and especially, Peter’s dismissive treatment of her. There are also many, many stories circulating about the Church, about present-day Israel, and amalgamations of the same, most of which are as stupid, misinformed and even malicious as those concerning Mary.
So, when I reflect on this Sunday just gone (Fourth After Trinity), I am inclined towards an optional text, that being Amos 7:7-end. My primary focus, though, is on Amos 7: 7-8 -
Thus He showed me: Behold, the Lord stood on a wall made with a plumb line, with a plumb line in His hand. And the Lord said to me, “Amos, what do you see?”
And I said, “A plumb line.”
Then the Lord said:
“Behold, I am setting a plumb line
In the midst of My people Israel;
I will not pass by [cf. Pass over, sic] them anymore.
From the point of view of textual analysis, the term “plumb line” is, effectively, the translators’ best shot at rendering in English what in Hebrew looks like ’ă·nāḵ (ענק), which basically means ‘vertical’ (also used in the Hebrew for Giraffe!), or ‘weight’ (for a ‘plumbline’,) or might have another derivation that would read ‘tin,’ which doesn’t help anyone. More interestingly, it also means ‘ornament,’ ‘ornamental,’ and ‘necklace,’ as in the Anakim who were a tall race, specialising in neck-jewellery adorning their ‘tall’ necks!
(Myanmar and the ‘long-neck’ ornaments of their people.)
Now you know why we have so many translations of the Bible!
Seriously, though: we need to dig down into what the prophetic message is here in Amos, to extract some spiritual fuel.
Firstly, the context here tells us that this part of Amos is not a “catastrophic” text, in the sense that a terrible judgment of annihilation is coming, because it will not be destructive but discriminatory, not retributive but restorative. Already, in a vision, Amos sees YHWH call up a plague of locusts and he pleads with Him to stop and forgive, because [Israel] is so small. YHWH reassures him it will not take place (vv1-3)
(Image: Photo by Mike Newbry on Unsplash )
Then YHWH envisions an all-consuming fire that evaporates even the underground water sources and begins to ‘consume’ the land. Amos intervenes on ‘Jacob’s’ behalf, citing, again, that Israel is “so small, he cannot endure this.” YHWH, once more, reassures him this will not happen after all.
The third vision shows YHWH standing beside a ‘tottering wall’ (See Psalm 62:3, below) with a plumbline in His hand which speaks of the deviation of Israel from the ‘true’ and ‘vertical’ integrity of what had been built on the twin pillars of Law (Torah) and Grace (Ḥeseḏ) – the everlasting lovingkindness of YHWH. (See Exodus 20:2ff, and Ex,24:8). Ignoring, or denying the Covenant relationship with all that it implies leaves Israel open to judgment and, no longer able to plead in mitigation the smallness (“insignificance,” “infancy,” “immaturity”) of Israel, Amos does not intercede this time. The text goes on to explain YHWH’s judgment against the idolatry and religiosity of the people, as well as the political and economic corruption of the Royal government. The sanctuaries (‘temples,’ ‘cathedrals,’ ‘churches’ etc) will be in ruins (actually, and metaphorically) as a result.
Do you need me to draw you a picture?
No, I didn’t think so.
So, Psalm 62:3 “How long will you attack a man? You shall be slain, all of you, like a leaning wall and a tottering fence.” (NKJV) This is an interesting departure from most modern translations, in that it reverses the direction of destruction. Most imply the man is the ‘tottering wall’ so NASB gives: “How long will you assail a man that you may murder him, all of you, like a leaning wall, like a tottering fence…”
In his commentary on this Psalm, Charles Spurgeon preferred the idea that attacking the LORD’S anointed is pointless and self-destructive; but he also recognised both interpretations had merit for our meditation:
“This passage is thought to be more correctly rendered:- “How long will ye press on one man, that you may crush him in a body, like a toppling wall, a sinking fence.?” We have, however, kept to our own version as yielding a good and profitable meaning. Both senses may blend in our meditations; for if David’s enemies battered him as though they could throw him down like a bulging wall, he, on the other hand, foresaw that they themselves would by retributive justice be overthrown like and old, crumbling, leaning, yielding fence.”[1]
John Calvin asserts (as he would!) that, “David predicts that they [the ‘wicked’] would be brought to unexpected and utter destruction, like a wall badly constructed, and hollow in the interior, which falls with a sudden crash, and is broken by its own weight into a thousand pieces.[2]
So, whether the Church, or the enemies of the Church, either the dry rot of the church will weaken and destabilise it; or those who persecute her, insult her, attack her in books, or on social media will collapse under the weight of their own corruption.
Nevertheless, the vision of the “plumbline” acts as a warning to us, today.
In 1 Peter 4:17-18 [15-19] we read,
‘Indeed, none of you should suffer as a murderer or thief or wrongdoer, or even as a meddler. [Sic!] But if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but glorify God that you bear that name. For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who disobey the gospel of God? And, “If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”
So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should entrust their souls to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.’
In our day we are experiencing the recovery of the True Gospel and the revelation of the overwhelming love and grace (Ḥeseḏ) of God the Father, Son, and Holy Mothering Spirit; that ‘separation’ is a lie, long embedded in our doctrines, and ‘delay’ a delusion.
“NOW is the acceptable time of the LORD!”
Even so, those “7000 who have not bowed the knee to Baal” (the god of man-made religion) find themselves cancelled on social media, labelled as heretics and excommunicated from their local churches into the lonely wilderness of the prophetic experience.
How can we stand – we are so small?!
Fortunately, the clemency of God is always for us as it is written in Psalm 130: 3-4,
“If you never overlooked our sins, Yahweh, Lord, could anyone survive? But you do forgive us: and for that we revere you.”
Nevertheless, the truth remains: ‘a mystery,’ Paul wrote, ‘now revealed to everyone [even Gentiles!] that is “Christ in [and as] you, the hope of glory.”’
IN EVERYONE! (“As in Adam all die, so in Christ all are made alive.”)
Moreover, as John wrote,
Behold what manner of love the Father has given to us, that we [all] should be called children of God. And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him. 2Beloved, we are now children of God, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when Christ appears, we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He is. 3And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as Christ is pure. (1 John 3:3, Berean Standard Bible)
May we, then, be encouraged by the spirit of Mary, “The Tower,” as we pursue righteousness, joy, and peace in the Holy Spirit – the Kingdom of God within us!
Go well, Wayfarers.
[1] Spurgeon, Charles. The Treasury of David – Classic Reflections on the Wisdom of the Psalms. (Vol.2 Hendrickson, p.49)
[2] Ibid. (P.55)
(Jacob wrestling with the Angel. By Salvator Rosa (1615–1673) )
THE WRESTLE
I found you
beyond
the ‘why’
Far from
the ‘why not’
Worlds from the ‘why me’
You held a space for me
beyond answers
to questions
my pain had
as if you knew
information was
never
going
to
heal
or resolve
or fix
my suffering.
Instead,
you agreed to wrestle
through many nights.
Never letting me go.
Always with me
just like you promised.
Refusing to surrender,
I eventually realised
that wrestling with God
was not a crime.
That I was, in fact,
being held.
Being healed.
Being transformed by finding
you beyond answers.
Being blessed
by holding on to you
in my doubt and frustration
and never letting go.
And you never let go.
And you overcame me in the end.
And we both won.
(David Tensen, from The Wrestle 2020, St Macrina Press)