This psalm complains that God has all but forgotten the very people God had elected and redeemed. The evidence for this is that both Jerusalem and the temple have been destroyed. Clearly, this Psalm laments the exile brought about by the Babylonian military. Not only has the temple been destroyed; it has been desecrated. How can God stand to allow non-Israelites have the run of the place? Typically, we moderns may lament individual circumstances—illness, economic reverses, tough times, death etc.—but seldom lament as a community. Might this psalm teach us a different way to pray?

In this presentation, I deal with the “conservative” aspect of biblical wisdom. Wisdom is based on observing everyday life and doing what it is appropriate to succeed. Most of the advice works remarkably well. But sometimes, people conclude that doing the wise thing guarantees results. Wisdom works, arguably, most of the time. But not always. Being patient, prudent, insightful, mannerly, industrious, etc. is always to be recommended, but the results of such actions on occasion simply do not work. That is why two other Wisdom books in the Bible—Ecclesiastes and Job—challenge the viewpoint that wisdom always works.

This is a story narrated in Judges 3. It features a left-handed man, who assassinates King Eglon of Moab. His being left-handed allowed him to go undetected by having a sword under his clothing on his right side. Usually, a concealed weapon would be on the left side, thus facilitating a right-handed assassin. Ehud managed not only to kill the king, but get alone with him and carry out the deed in a manner that would delay the king’s attendants in coming to his aid. Moab had been exacting extortionate amounts of money from Israel for 18 years. That ended with Eglon’s ignominious demise.

The word is related to a Sumerian word—SA.GAZ—and an Akkadian (=Babylonian; Assyrian) word: Hap/biru. People who are designated by these names are always no longer in their original social or political setting. They have been “on the move” for a variety of reasons: (1) Social dislocation; (2) Political Oppression; (3) Economic Distress; (4) the “Grass is Greener” syndrome. Such people speak a variety of languages, are found in texts that span hundreds of years, are geographically diverse, and the like. Thus, they refer to immigrants or refugees. In one biblical text, this is suggested by Hebrews who had attached themselves to Philistines rather than Israelites, though they “switched sides” eventually (1 Samuel 14:21).

In this last segment we finally understand why Jonah did not want to go to Nineveh. He was worried that his God might actually be gracious should the citizens repent and amend their lives. Indeed, that is how the Israelite God responded to the Ninevites when they repented and resolved to improve their lives. In the last scene, Jonah gets upset when a vine that was providing relief from the hot sun withers. God had seen to it that the vine appeared and then just as quickly disappeared. God asked Jonah why he should be so concerned about a plant that lasted only a day but begrudged God for being concerned about the people living in Nineveh. On that note, the story ends.

In this episode, Jonah is in the belly of the big fish for three days and nights. The good news is that he did not drown. The bad news is that he compares his new digs to Sheol or The Pit, the world of the dead. Nevertheless, he prays during this ordeal. The prayer is alternately ironic, hypocritical, and sincere. The prayer ends not with an Amen, but with the sound of the big fish’s belch. After this, he ends in Nineveh, this time listening to God. Once there, he proclaims that in 40 days Nineveh will be “inverted,” meaning that things might go bad or good for them, depending on their response. The response is good because every last person repented from their evil or violent ways, thus prompting God’s relenting of the judgment. Even the Assyrian cows got religion!

This book focuses on Jonah, a man whom God wants to call onto the carpet Nineveh, a great Assyrian city. Jonah is not interested, so he flees God’s presence by booking passage on a ship headed for Tarshish. God has a storm threaten the ship, which eventually causes Jonah to be thrown overboard. That is when he is swallowed by a big fish. This episode contrasts Jonah’s orthodox theology but terrible religious practice with the sailors’ unorthodox theology but admirable religious practice.

This Podcast deals with the identity of the famous serpent who tempted the woman in the Garden of Eden. There is a long history of interpretation in which the serpent is identified with Satan. Yet, the text says that the Serpent was clever, not evil, and it was a creature that God made. Satan is never blamed for introducing evil anywhere in the Old Testament. Despite depictions in Christian art, the serpent was legless only after divine punishment, not when conversing with the woman. The Old Testament never justifies the phrase, “The Devil made me do it.”

These two obscure figures actually play decisive roles. However, since both names are part of genealogies, no one knows who they are. The first Lamech is a descendant of Cain who predicts an enormous increase of violence, that will outpace the vengeance Cain sought when he murdered his brother. The second Lamech was Noah’s father, who promised that Noah would eventually lessen or remove the curse on the ground (from Genesis 3). Noah accomplished just that.

Critical in this instance has to do with a systematic approach to understanding Scripture. Lower Criticism has to do with the existence of actual manuscripts, all of which differ in greater or lesser degree from each other. The higher criticism in this session will deal with the so-called W-Questions: (1) Who wrote biblical material?; (2) When was the material written?; (3) Why was the material written?; (4) To Whom was the material written?; (5) Where was the material written?