OTHCC Chapter 43: items 841 - 860

The Old Testament in the Heart of the Catholic Church < > All Chapters

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Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers Deuteronomy || Joshua Judges Ruth 1 Samuel 2 Samuel 1 Kings 2 Kings || 1 Chronicles 2 Chronicles Ezra Nehemiah || Tobit* Judith* Esther 1 Maccabees* 2 Maccabees* Job

Psalms

Proverbs Ecclesiastes Song of Songs Wisdom* Sirach* || Isaiah Jeremiah Lamentations Baruch* Ezekiel Daniel || >> Hosea << Joel Amos Obadiah Jonah Micah Nahum Habakkuk Zephaniah Haggai Zechariah Malachi

The Old Testament books with a star * are not any more or less important than the others. The star indicates that the Catholic Church definitively professes and knows these books to be part of the sacred writings, the inspired Word of God [cf. CCC 120], but that they are specifically rejected by the Jewish people, and called ''apocryphal'' (of doubtful inspiration) by Protestants.

Read Hosea, Hos 1:1. Roughly, Hosea prophesied during what time period?

a.   The early years of the northern kingdom of Israel (around 930-900 BC).
b.   The middle years of the northern kingdom of Israel (around 850-820 BC).
c.   The last years of the northern kingdom of Israel (around 750-720 BC).

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Read Hos 3. Hosea compares Israel to

a.   his own unfaithful wife.
b.   sheep without a shepherd.
c.   the vineyard of the LORD.

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Hosea calls to mind two qualities that the LORD attributed to himself while giving the Ten Commandments to Moses. Read Ex 34:6-7. Read Hos 4:1-2. What are these two qualities that Hosea says the people of Israel now lack?

a.   faithfulness and a bond of merciful love.
b.   justice and a proper sense of duty.
c.   piety and obedience.

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Read Hos 2:18-22 (in some Bibles, Hos 2:16-20). The prophet Hosea emphasizes that the covenant is like

a.   a battle.
b.   a contract.
c.   a marriage.

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Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers Deuteronomy || Joshua Judges Ruth 1 Samuel 2 Samuel 1 Kings 2 Kings || 1 Chronicles 2 Chronicles Ezra Nehemiah || Tobit* Judith* Esther 1 Maccabees* 2 Maccabees* Job

Psalms

Proverbs Ecclesiastes Song of Songs Wisdom* Sirach* || Isaiah Jeremiah Lamentations Baruch* Ezekiel Daniel || Hosea Joel Amos Obadiah Jonah Micah Nahum Habakkuk Zephaniah >> Haggai << Zechariah Malachi

The Old Testament books with a star * are not any more or less important than the others. The star indicates that the Catholic Church definitively professes and knows these books to be part of the sacred writings, the inspired Word of God [cf. CCC 120], but that they are specifically rejected by the Jewish people, and called ''apocryphal'' (of doubtful inspiration) by Protestants.

The prophet Haggai prophesied after the Exile was ended and some Jews were returning to Jerusalem. The Old Testament tells us that times were very difficult for the returnees, and that both the Temple and Jerusalem were slow to be rebuilt.

Read Haggai, Hag 2:1-9. The LORD promises that the restored Temple would be even more splendid than the first. Actually, this never came to pass. The Temple was restored, but probably not in Haggai's lifetime, and it seems to have been nowhere near as impressive as the former Temple.

Read Hag 2:20-23. The LORD promises that the line of kings descended from David will be restored. This never happened at all.

Haggai is a good example of ''failed'' prophecy. In retrospect, his prophecies were not completely accurate. However, another realistic aspect to Haggai's prophecies is that they did encourage the Jewish people to rebuild in very difficult times. Also, Haggai's prophecies were so significant that they were preserved and revered as the Word of God.

Further, beyond the 'literal sense' of Haggai (the meaning the sacred author intended) the Catholic Church sees in Haggai's prophecy of the renewal of the Davidic kingship the renewal of the promise of the coming Messiah, Jesus.

Finally, because the book of Haggai is the inspired Word of God, we know with certainty that there will always be more meaning to find in the prophecies of Haggai. We know with certainty that Haggai's prophecies can draw men of any and all ages closer to Christ. <<

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Read First Samuel, 1 Sam 16:1-13. David was

a.   the most influential man in the kingdom.
b.   the most obvious choice for King of Israel.
c.   the youngest and forgotten son of Jesse.

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David was

a.   a priest and a Levite.
b.   a prince and an inventor.
c.   a shepherd and a king.

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Read Second Samuel, 2 Sam 7:18-29. Here David

a.   is the shepherd and King who prays a joyful prayer of trust and devotion to God on behalf of the whole people.
b.   is the wrathful ruler who condemns the people in the name of the Most High God, creator of heaven and earth.
c.   prays for himself alone and has no thought of his people or their connection to the promise God made them.

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Read 1 Sam 17. David was able to defeat Goliath

a.   by God's power.
b.   by tricking Goliath.
c.   by using Saul's armor.

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By the way, a cubit is the length between your elbow and your forefinger (15-22 inches), and a span is half that. A man ''six cubits and a span'' [1 Sam 17:4] would have been 9-12 feet tall, at least twice as tall as the average man then. However, the ''literal sense'' of this passage is probably that of a hero story, in which many details are true, but exaggerated in some way. <<

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David is anointed king over all Israel, and takes Jerusalem. The Jebusites consider the city so strongly fortified that even the lame and the blind could defend it, if need be. Read 2 Sam 5:1-10. Jerusalem, the city of David, is identified with Salem, the capital of Melchizedek. What is Zion?

a.   a city.
b.   a hill.
c.   a river.

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Read Ps 9:13-14. Who is the ''daughter of Zion''?

a.   Eve.
b.   Jerusalem.
c.   Jezebel.

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Read 2 Sam 6:16-19. Where did David place the Ark of the Covenant, the place where God dwelt among his people?

a.   in a great temple.
b.   in David's castle.
c.   in Jerusalem.

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Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers Deuteronomy || Joshua Judges Ruth 1 Samuel 2 Samuel 1 Kings 2 Kings || 1 Chronicles 2 Chronicles Ezra Nehemiah || Tobit* Judith* Esther 1 Maccabees* 2 Maccabees* Job

Psalms

Proverbs Ecclesiastes Song of Songs Wisdom* Sirach* || Isaiah Jeremiah Lamentations Baruch* Ezekiel >> Daniel << || Hosea Joel Amos Obadiah Jonah Micah Nahum Habakkuk Zephaniah Haggai Zechariah Malachi

The Old Testament books with a star * are not any more or less important than the others. The star indicates that the Catholic Church definitively professes and knows these books to be part of the sacred writings, the inspired Word of God [cf. CCC 120], but that they are specifically rejected by the Jewish people, and called ''apocryphal'' (of doubtful inspiration) by Protestants.

The book of Daniel says that the Babylonian (Chaldean) king was defeated by Darius the Mede. Read Daniel, Dan 5:30-6:1. As the Old Testament itself records in several other places, Babylon was defeated by a king who (in 538 BC) issued a decree allowing the Jews to return to Jerusalem. This king was

a.   Cyrus the Persian.
b.   Darius the Persian.
c.   Darius the Mede.

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The setting of the first six chapters of Daniel is the exile in Babylon. It is likely that Jews in exile in Babylon would quickly have forgotten the name and country of the king who liberated them.

a.   Yes.
b.   No.
c.   Maybe.

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The first six chapters of Daniel are set in the exile in Babylon, but the book of Daniel doesn't even know the correct name of the king who liberated Israel from the exile. It really was Cyrus the Persian, but Daniel says it was "Darius the Mede." It is not very likely that anyone who was actually there would forget the correct name. Considering this, most scholars judge that the first six chapters of Daniel were written

a.   around the time of the exile in Babylon.
b.   at the time of the exile in Babylon.
c.   long after the time of the exile in Babylon.

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Most scholars divide the book of Daniel into three parts:

- first, stories of faithfulness to the LORD, and stories of the LORD recognized by other nations

- second, visions revealing hidden information, especially about future times

and third,

a.   an historical account of Jewish life under Greek-speaking rulers.
b.   more stories of faithfulness to the LORD, and the LORD recognized by other nations.
c.   more visions revealing hidden information about future times.

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Daniel is a relatively short book that has captured the imagination of many Catholics (and other Christians) through the ages. Three young men are shut in a furnace because of their faith. While there they sing the beautiful Song of the Three Young Men. Read Dan 3:51-90.

(Because Protestants do not accept this canticle as inspired, the RSV Catholic edition lists these with a separate numbering in the middle of chapter 3. The Song begins with verse 28, ''Then the three, as with one mouth...'').

The phrase, ''seeing the handwriting on the wall'' (meaning seeing your impending doom) comes from the famous story in Daniel 5. Read Dan 5. Innumerable artists have painted the scene of Daniel in the lion's den. Read Dan 6.

In her liturgy the Catholic Church regularly reads the story of the faithful Susanna and how the LORD stirred up the spirit in Daniel to rescue her. Read Dan 13. <<

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Here are three different strategies. None of them are ''mindless belief'' - all three use your ability to discover, to figure out, and to decide. However, the three strategies are still very different, as you will see. In CCC 119, the bishops united with the Holy Father quote St. Augustine: "But I would not believe in the Gospel, had not the authority of the Catholic Church already moved me." Using this hint, which strategy do you think St. Augustine and other Catholics might recommend as best?

a.   Decide that the sacraments are real, discover who Christ is, and then figure out what the Bible means.
b.   Discover what the Bible means, figure out who Christ is, and then decide if the sacraments are real.
c.   Figure out who Christ is, discover what the Bible means, and then decide if the sacraments are real.

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The sacraments of the Catholic Church

a.   are more important than Christ.
b.   help us to know Christ as he really is.
c.   prevent us from knowing who Christ really is.

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