OTHCC Chapter 54: items 1061 - 1080

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

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The Catholic Church has always found much to commend in Sirach, but she also always realizes that only her Lord, Jesus Christ himself, is the fulfillment of God's law, and that only the Holy Spirit that he sent is the law's perfect interpreter. The Holy Spirit enlightens the world with the truth in many ways, but especially and most clearly in and through the Lord's Bride and Body, his Catholic Church, and definitively in the judgments of the Holy Father and bishops in communion with him.

According to many modern scholars, the author of Sirach may have been a well-off, pious scholar giving advice to well-off young men who would grow up to be scribes and administrators. The advice: how to live a life faithful to God. It is very interesting that many young people in the advanced technological economies of today will also grow up to be the equivalent of well-off ''scribes and administrators.''

Indeed, the modern world would be a much better place if everyone from secretaries to heads of large corporations actually heeded Sirach's basic message of faithfulness to God, self-discipline, almsgiving, devotion to spouse and family, and moderation.

The Holy Spirit has led the Catholic Church to discern that Sirach is the Word of God. You can be sure that Christ himself is present to you as you read it and try to understand what it teaches. <<

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First recall that 10,000 BC is farther back in time than 1 BC. When the Babylonians conquered Israel they completely destroyed the Temple and (to stifle all resistance) killed or carried off every person of power, prominence, or influence. The Exile in Babylon lasted about 50 years and it can be dated with precision from records. The Exile of about 50 years occurred in the period

a.   800 to 700 BC.
b.   700 to 600 BC.
c.   600 to 500 BC.

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There are - literally - hundreds of references to Jerusalem in the Bible. It is the city of the great king David, the capital of David's kingdom, the city where the wise king Solomon built the great Temple of God, the place where God dwells among his people, the center of the worship of the people of Israel.

Jerusalem, the holy city, was destroyed, and its inhabitants were exiled for generations. This destruction, exile, return, and rebuilding, especially of the Temple and of religious practices, is also a very important part of what ''Jerusalem'' means in the Old Testament.

This theme of ''exile and return'' is seen by the Church as a type or figure of our journey from the fallen world to the New Creation in Christ. By the Fall man was exiled from the Garden. He is given a new home, sacramentally already real in the Catholic Church, which is fulfilled in the kingdom Christ will initiate when he comes again.

Now read in the New Testament, the book of Revelation, Rev 21:1-4, to see that our Lord's death and resurrection has created not only a new heaven and a new earth, but a new Jerusalem, the holy city where God will now dwell among his people forever, without fear of any further destruction. Here Jerusalem is a type both of the present sacramental reality of the Bride and Body of Christ, the Catholic Church, and what she will become on the last day, the kingdom of God's people. [CCC 117] <<

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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 Habakkuk, Hab 1:1-3. Habbakuk, like Jeremiah, shows a new form of prophecy:

a.   delivering God's word.
b.   foretelling the downfall of enemies.
c.   questioning God.

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Habbakuk asks, why does God use Babylon, which is more wicked than Jerusalem, to punish Jerusalem? Read Hab 1:13.

Read Hab 2:1-3 - God's answer to Habakkuk.

Read Hab 3. It is a beautiful canticle of the LORD's saving deeds, linked awesomely with his power over the whole of creation. <<

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Read Ex 33-34 (Yes, two whole chapters, now). In response to Moses's prayer (re-read Ex 33:12-16), God

a.   does not relent.
b.   renews his covenant.
c.   takes back sin.

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Re-read Ex 32:7-14 and Ex 33:7-16. Apostasy is forsaking God, after you have known him and believed in him. Now read CCC 2576-2577 to learn what the Catechism teaches about Moses's prayer. <<

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The books

Joshua
Judges
(Ruth)
First and Second Samuel
First and Second Kings

have traditionally been thought of as a unit because

a.   they carefully record the over six hundred laws that establish the Covenant.
b.   they give the history of the people of Israel after Moses's death until the Exile.
c.   they give the history of the people of Israel from Abraham to Moses's death.

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Here is an account of when the Ark of the Covenant was brought from the ''tent of meeting'' (the Tabernacle) to the Temple that Solomon had built in Jerusalem. Read First Kings, 1 Kings 8. The prayer at the dedication of the Temple

a.   ignores God's promise and covenant.
b.   relies on God's promise and covenant.
c.   spurns God's promise and covenant.

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Read 1 Kings 8. The prayer at the dedication of the Temple

a.   ignores God's mighty deeds at the Exodus.
b.   recalls God's mighty deeds at the Exodus.
c.   rejects God's mighty deeds at the Exodus.

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In 1 Kings 8, the prayer at the dedication of the Temple is made by

a.   the high priest.
b.   the king.
c.   the people.

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In 1 Kings 8, the prayer at the dedication of the Temple is made

a.   not on behalf of the king, but of the entire people, and the generations to come.
b.   on behalf of the king and the entire people, but not the generations to come.
c.   on behalf of the king, the entire people, and the generations to come.

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In 1 Kings 8, the prayer at the dedication of the Temple is made

a.   for the forgiveness of sins and for daily needs.
b.   for the forgiveness of sins but not for daily needs.
c.   not for the forgiveness of sins but for daily needs.

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In 1 Kings 8, in the prayer at the dedication of the Temple, the Lord is asked to maintain the cause of his servant, Israel, so that

a.   all the nations can know God and Israel can remain faithful to him.
b.   all the nations can know God even if Israel can not remain faithful to him.
c.   Israel can remain faithful to him and defeat the nations who do not know God.

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The Temple is the place where God dwells on earth with his people. Our Lord referred to his own body as the temple, which would be destroyed, but raised up in three days. [John 2:18-22]

Secondly, by the power of the Holy Spirit, at Mass Jesus Christ is really present as the King who prays on behalf of his people, and as the High Priest who makes present the offering of his own body as a perfect sacrifice to the Father. [compare CCC 1367]

Thus the Church sees, in the prayer and sacrifices Solomon made to God at the Temple for and on behalf of the people, a type of the Mass and of Christ. <<

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The books

First and Second Chronicles
Ezra
Nehemiah

occur before or after the Psalms?

a.   before
b.   after

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Read Ex 6:2-9. This is obviously a pivotal moment, with rich, complex meaning - much of which should be clear to you now. Here we focus on a different matter. In this passage, for what purpose does God want his people Israel to be free from Pharaoh? So that they can

a.   go into the wilderness a short while and hold a feast to him.
b.   occupy the land he promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
c.   receive gifts of jewelry and clothing from the Egyptians.

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Read Ex 5:1-3. In this passage, for what purpose does God want his people Israel to be free from Pharaoh? So that they can

a.   go into the wilderness a short while and hold a feast to him.
b.   occupy the land he promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
c.   receive gifts of jewelry and clothing from the Egyptians.

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Modern scholars think that the book of Exodus combines several traditions, some perhaps written, others oral. Ex 5 and Ex 6 show this well. It is also pretty clear to these scholars that the book of Exodus is not a newspaper. All senses of Sacred Scripture are based on the literal sense [CCC 116]. However, the literal sense is what the human authors intended to convey, and the human authors of Exodus probably did not intend to convey a newspaper - that is probably not the ''literal sense'' of Exodus. <<

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Because the book of Exodus probably conveys what the human authors intended through traditional forms, not in the form of a modern newspaper,

a.   there is no need to conclude that the Exodus itself was made-up.
b.   we should be wary of assigning the Exodus itself any reality.
c.   we should remember that the Exodus itself was unreal.

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