OTHCC Chapter 52: items 1021 - 1040

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

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''In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.'' [Gen 1:1]
''In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.'' [Jn 1:1]

Hidden - though certainly not directly stated - in the very first line of the Bible is the truth that God's Son was there ''in the beginning.'' We can only find this genuine truth in the words of the book of Genesis when we read the Old Testament

a.   as if the sacraments were not real and the New Testament were not true.
b.   knowing that the sacraments are real and the New Testament is true.
c.   not knowing whether the sacraments are real or the New Testament is true.

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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.

If this textbook had been written at an earlier time, it would have taught you that most scholars confidently associate the destruction prophesied by the book of Zephaniah with a raid through Assyrian territories (including Israel) by Scythians. This Scythian raid is mentioned by the ancient Greek historian Herodotus.

However, more recent scholars have been unable to find even one bit of evidence that such a raid by Scythians ever took place - no records, no bits of broken pottery, nothing. The ''Scythian raid'' never existed, though at one time experts were sure that it had.

So, when this book tells you that ''most scholars'' or ''some scholars'' or even ''all scholars'' think something about the Old Testament, it is possible that, in ten years or a hundred years, this truth held by modern scholars will turn out to be as false and nonexistent as the ''Scythian raid.''

By teaching you a few things about the findings of scholars, this book might very well be teaching you some things that as early as tomorrow will be seen to be out-of-date, silly, or even downright false.

So what should you think about all this?

a.   All the information that experts possess is wrong.
b.   Experts have a useful but limited role in Bible study.
c.   Nowadays we have real experts who are never wrong.

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The expression ''day of the LORD'' developed many different meanings within the writings of the Old Testament. Zephaniah prophesies a fearsome ''day of the LORD'' - against Judah.

Read Zephaniah, Zeph 1:1-3. Scholars tell us that repeating the words ''sweep away'' three times is meant as a solemn undoing of God's promise to Noah not to destroy all living things.

However, the covenant with Noah, which extends to all men and all living creatures, remains in force until the Gospel, the New Covenant in Christ which completes and fulfills all covenants, is universally proclaimed at the end of time. [CCC 58]

Thus the Catholic Church teaches that in the book of Zephaniah the sacred author did not literally mean that God has broken the covenant he made with Noah. Probably a literary form, 'the three curses,' was being used to convey the seriousness of the wrong Judah had done.

Read Zeph 1:14-18. This passage was the inspiration for the ''Dies Irae,'' a hymn sung or recited for hundreds of years at Catholic funeral Masses. (The Dies Irae no longer appears in the Catholic rite for the funeral Mass). Now read the whole of Zeph 1.

The remainder of Zephaniah consists of oracles against foreign nations, and then a statement of the restoration of the covenant. (Obviously, the covenant could not be restored if 'the three curses' prophecy meant that the entire world really was going to be destroyed). Read Zeph 3:19-20. <<

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Read Ex 33:7-11. The Lord, God Most High, creator of heaven and earth, would speak to Moses

a.   as a man speaks to his friend.
b.   only in very unclear images.
c.   with great and terrifying signs.

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The Protoevangelium (''first gospel'') is

a.   the first two chapters of the gospel according to St. Mathew.
b.   the account of Creation that makes up the first two chapters of Genesis.
c.   the promise of redemption made to our first parents after the Fall.

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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 Micah, Mic 1:1. The prophet Micah lived around 700 BC, at roughly the same time as

a.   Elijah.
b.   Isaiah.
c.   Jeremiah.

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Read Mic 3:1-4. Regarding the leaders of Israel, Micah is

a.   condemnatory.
b.   forgiving.
c.   unconcerned.

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Read Mic 5:1-4. This was interpreted as a prediction of the Messiah's birth in Bethlehem. Even the silence about the father of the child had significance for some early Christian writers.

Read Mic 6:3-4. These verses are echoed in the ''Improperia'' (reproaches) sung or read during the veneration of the Cross on Good Friday. <<

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Read Isaiah, Is 5:1-7. Read Hosea, Hos 10:1-2. Read Jeremiah, Jer 2:20-21. Read Ezekiel, Ez 15. In the Old Testament, a vineyard or a vine is often a symbol of

a.   faithfulness.
b.   Israel.
c.   Sodom.

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Jesse was the father of David. Read Isaiah, Isa 11. The Catholic Church sees in the branch that comes forth from the stump (or root) of Jesse

a.   an ideal but unreal king.
b.   Christ.
c.   David.

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Jesse was the father of David. Read Isaiah, Isa 11. Many modern scholars who study the Bible for a living, including many Catholic scholars, would strongly protest if you saw anything in the branch that comes forth from the stump (or root) of Jesse except

a.   an ideal but unreal king.
b.   Christ.
c.   David.

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Who decides whether a particular opinion about the meaning of a particular passage in the Bible may lead us farther from Christ?

a.   Anybody.
b.   Only people who study the Bible for a living.
c.   Only the Pope and bishops in union with him.

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Read Deut 29:1-6. Read the book of Numbers, Num 32:13. Before reaching the land God promised them, the people of Israel wandered in the desert

a.   a short time.
b.   forty days.
c.   forty years.

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Read Ex 16. Read Ps 78 [Psalm 78], especially Ps 78:1-25. Now read John 6 (Jn 6:30-35). The manna is a type of

a.   the Eucharist.
b.   the Law.
c.   Noah's Ark.

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The fact that manna is a type

a.   means that the manna itself has lost all significance.
b.   means that the manna itself has lost much significance.
c.   means that the manna itself retains its full significance.

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The Catholic Church sees the entire people of Israel as a type of the Catholic Church, led out of slavery by the new Moses, Christ, through the waters of baptism. The fact that the people of Israel are a type

a.   means that the people of Israel themselves have lost all significance.
b.   means that the people of Israel themselves have lost much significance.
c.   means that the people of Israel themselves retain their full significance.

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This textbook introduces the Old Testament to Catholics who are not familiar with it. It emphasizes passages in the Old Testament held ''in the heart of the Catholic Church.'' These are passages that historically have been particularly important to saints and to the popes and bishops as they taught about or reflected on the reality of the sacraments and the truths of the Catholic faith. The fact that these passages in the Old Testament are emphasized in this introductory course

a.   is a warning that no course can ever teach the entire Old Testament, because there will always be more to learn from it, and emphasizes that the student should continue to read and study the Old Testament.
b.   means that the student should prefer a course that teaches the Old Testament as if the sacraments were not real and the New Testament were not true, because that would give him an unbiased view of the Old Testament.
c.   shows that Old Testament passages that have not been selected by this course for study are worthless and irrelevant, because the Old Testament has no meaning except to predict the New Testament.

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The Catholic Church sees the entire Old Testament as a type of the New Testament. The fact that the entire Old Testament is a type

a.   means that the Old Testament itself has lost all significance.
b.   means that the Old Testament itself has lost much significance.
c.   means that the Old Testament itself retains its full significance.

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You are moving seriously farther from Christ if in any way you begin to think that, in revealing himself fully in his only Son, God thereby said that his prior revelations of himself were a joke, a lie, or in any way anything but just what they are, irrevocable revelations of himself.

In our time, you do need to know that far too many Catholics over the years did not take this truth seriously enough, gave the Old Testament no real meaning outside of its meaning relating directly to Christ and his Church, and oppressed, tormented, and even killed Jews. However, you also need to read CCC 128-130. Read it now.

Put simply, the Old Testament retains its own value forever, and the Jews remain the Chosen People forever, for the simple reason that, when God reveals himself, he does not lie. <<

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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.

Samuel is a prophet and a judge of Israel, the anointer of the first two kings of Israel, Saul and David. His mother dedicated him to the LORD and he became part of the household of Eli and his sons, who were priests. Read 1 Sam 2:12. Now read 1 Sam 2:35-3:19. The LORD calls Samuel

a.   to replace the priesthood of Eli and his sons.
b.   to support the priesthood of Eli and his sons.
c.   to warn the priesthood of Eli and his sons.

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copyright (c) 2001 John Kelleher. All rights reserved.
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