OTHCC Chapter 79: items 1561 - 1580

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

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''Christ'' is just the Greek word for ''Messiah.'' ''Christ Jesus'' is another way of saying ''the Messiah, Jesus.'' In the Catechism the Holy Father and the bishops teach that the Jewish waiting for the Messiah ''is accompanied by the drama of not knowing or of misunderstanding Christ Jesus.'' [CCC 840] That sounds important. What does it mean?

a.   An added element of dramatic suspense in the Jewish people's waiting for the Messiah is that they do not know Jesus, nor understand that he is the Messiah.
b.   The Jewish rejection of Jesus is like a drama, in which, on the Last Day, the Jews will be condemned by the very Messiah they did not know.
c.   The real history of the world is the story of the dramatic struggle between the Old and New Covenants, until finally the Old Covenant loses.

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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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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 Sirach

a.   has no similarity to other wisdom literature in the Old Testament such as Proverbs and the book of Wisdom.
b.   is a review of the entire history of Israel from the time of Abraham to the time of the Maccabees.
c.   was used at length by the Catholic Church to present moral teachings to catechumens and to the faithful.

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Many passages from the book of Sirach are read in the liturgy of the Catholic Church.

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

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One would describe the book of Sirach as being

a.   a short book of edifying stories.
b.   a lengthy collection of short teachings.
c.   a medium-length historical account.

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Read the Prologue or Foreword to the book of Sirach. This was written by the author's grandson and is not inspired, but is usually included because of its interest and its association with the book.

The book of Sirach has been an important resource for the Catholic Church for a long time. It was used to instruct catechumens in the specifics of a moral life (catechumens are those undergoing a time of instruction, prayer, and testing before baptism into the Catholic Church), and advice from Sirach was also frequently recommended to the faithful. Many passages from Sirach are read in the Church's liturgy.

Sirach proclaims the one God, the God of Israel, the creator of everything including wisdom, which is knowledge in thought and deed of the loving order in which God sustains his creation. ''Fear'' of the LORD is the ability to know that the LORD is present and to act accordingly - with awe and reverence toward him and his law. Read Sir 1:1-20. >>

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For examples of Sirach's teachings, read Sir 3:1-9, Sir 3:29-4:10, Sir 10:6-7, Sir 17:1-14, Sir 25:1-2.

To be fair, there are also teachings of Sirach that are not very helpful in the present age. For example, read the last verse of Sir 26. Business dealings of any kind are rarely mentioned in the Old Testament. Sirach is simply suspicious of them all - not very helpful advice to people who must live in a modern economy.

Also, Sirach contains teachings, for example on the general wickedness of women, that the Catholic Church actively rejects. The most infamous of these passages is Sir 42:14, which literally reads, "Better a man's evil than a woman's goodness." Now read CCC 369-373 and CCC 489.

A ''milder'' passage in the same vein is Sir 23:22-27. An adulterous woman - no mention of the man involved - is the worst thing ever. Read Sir 23:22-27. Some scholars have noted that Jesus himself answers this attitude in John 8:1-11 - the adulterous woman is forgiven, while it is her male accusers who become ashamed and walk away. Read John
8:1-11. >>

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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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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.

One of the key findings of modern scholarship regarding the Old Testament is the scholarly consensus that the book of Isaiah

a.   could not have been written by a single author.
b.   could only have been written by one single author.
c.   had no real ''authors'' as we would understand the term.

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Read Isa 1:1. Hezekiah was king of Judah around 700 BC, before and after the fall of the northern kingdom, Samaria. Now read Isa 45:1. Cyrus was the king of Persia who released the Jews from bondage in Babylon in 538 BC (that is, over 150 years later). Is it likely that the same Isaiah is responsible for both chapter 1 and chapter 45 of the book of Isaiah?

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

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Modern scholars see three main authors in the book of Isaiah. The writings of the prophet Isaiah of Jerusalem, who lived around 700 BC, are set down (with what most scholars say is some additional material) in chapters 1-39. This part of Isaiah is known to scholars now as ''First Isaiah.'' The prophets Amos, Hosea, and Micah were contemporaries of Isaiah.

Scholars identify a second writer, ''Second Isaiah,'' as the author of chapters 40-55, and ''Third Isaiah'' as the author of chapters 56-66. Second Isaiah is thought to have been a prophet around the time of the end of the exile in Babylon. Third Isaiah is said to have originated somewhat later, as Jews faced the harsh realities of resettling and rebuilding Jerusalem after the exile. Most scholars think that while Third Isaiah might have been written by the author of Second Isaiah himself, more probably a disciple or disciples wrote it.

Most scholars also believe that the writers of Second and Third Isaiah somehow thought of themselves as being in the tradition of the original Isaiah. In other words, they see the book of Isaiah as having both unity and continuity with the prophet Isaiah, in spite of its multiple authorship. >>

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Isaiah sees God, trembles at his own lack of holiness, and is called to prophecy a coming desolation, with only a remnant to survive it. Read Isa 6. Now read in a similar vein Isa 5:1-7. However, Israel is a light to the whole world (to the nations). Read Isa 2:1-5. Also read Isa 9:2-7. The Church refers to Isa 9:6 in the Entrance Antiphon of masses on Christmas day.

Second Isaiah is a collection of short poems proclaiming the liberation of Israel and the restoration of Israel. Read Isa 40:1-5. This famous poem is the beginning of Second Isaiah. Even in translation you may notice differences in style between it and First Isaiah. Second Isaiah contains the Servant Songs particularly treasured by the Catholic Church as showing forth the reality of Jesus the Messiah. >>

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Many scholars say that Third Isaiah, chapters 56-66, may have been compiled from several sources but at least in part portrays a post-exilic community having returned to Jerusalem and now in conflict and disarray. Read Isa 58:12. The problem evidently was that the ''ancient ruins'' were not being rebuilt quickly, and that there was much poverty. Isaiah links the two. Helping the needy will create what is needed to restore Jerusalem. Read Isa 58:1-12.

The prophet Haggai, prophesying around the same time and seeing the exact same situation, takes a completely different view: God is punishing the people for neglecting his Temple. Rebuild the Temple, and prosperity will follow. Read Haggai 1:2-11. The Old Testament preserved both viewpoints.

Third Isaiah ends (Isa 66:24) with a grisly image of doom for the enemies of the LORD (if you must know, their dead bodies are consumed by fire and eaten by worms for all eternity), but prior to that is a message of great hope which is picked up in the book of Revelation. Read Isa 65:17-25. Finally, read Isa 61:1-2, which Jesus taught referred to himself (read Luke 4:16-21). <<

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The Bible, including the Old Testament, was not written all at once. The writings that eventually were recognized by the Catholic Church as the true Word of God were probably written over many hundreds of years. The historically more recent writings in the Bible

a.   infrequently depend upon earlier ones.
b.   never depend upon earlier ones.
c.   often depend upon earlier ones.

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When later writings in the Bible refer to earlier ones, they

a.   always quote the earlier passage directly.
b.   may not quote the earlier passage directly.
c.   never give the earlier passage a new meaning.

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When later writings in the Bible refer to earlier ones, they

a.   always give the earlier passage a new meaning.
b.   may give the earlier passage a new meaning.
c.   refute the meaning of the earlier passage.

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In a sense, the Bible often remembers itself, and deepens and expands its own meaning. Here are some passages, just in the Old Testament, that refer to the house of David, and which gradually look forward to the coming of a universal kingdom, secure forever.

Nathan prophesies that David will have a ''house;'' that is, a dynastic succession, ''secure forever.'' Read 2 Sam 7:1-16. Read 1 Chron 17:1-15 - the same prophecy, in a slightly different form. Now read Ps 89 in its entirety. The prophecy is recalled, but with a considerable change from the original, as the psalmist reflects on the promise in the light of the extinction of the kingdom of Judah at the Exile.

Read Jer 30:4-9, which announces the return of the kingdom of David. Read the book of Daniel, Dan 2:31-45, paying special attention to verse 44. Here the kingdom promised has become universal.

That the Old Testament reads, and in a sense re-reads, itself in the cited passages is not disputed by most scholars. Of course, what these readings and re-readings mean is only fully available to Catholics, for whom the sacraments are real and the New Testament is true.

The Catholic Church professes that the Old Testament has a history in which God gradually reveals that the completion of his promise to David is the promise of a universal kingdom in Christ for all men.

Jesus is the ''King of the Jews'' [Mark 15:26], from the tribe of Judah and a true son of David [Mathew 1:1], the King who from the Cross establishes the New Covenant, the union of Christ and his one and only Bride and Body, the Catholic Church.

In the New Covenant in his blood, the Catholic Church is the sacrament of the universal kingdom, secure forever. In this kingdom all men may in Christ find a perfect intimacy with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit.

This kingdom of mankind's full intimacy with Christ will come to completion at the end of time, but the Lord makes it really present even now, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to all Christians of all times and places [CCC 1368], especially and in the fullest sense in the Eucharist. [CCC 1374]<<

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The books

First and Second Chronicles
Ezra
Nehemiah

are often thought of as a unit because

a.   they give the history of the people of Israel after Moses's death until the Exile.
b.   they give the history of the people of Israel from Abraham to Moses's death.
c.   they trace Israel's history from King David until the rebuilding of the Temple.

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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 Ezekiel, Ezek 1:1. Ezekiel is the first Old Testament prophet to prophesy

a.   after having a vision from God.
b.   in vivid and highly poetic language.
c.   outside of the land of the Jewish people.

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The ''glory of the LORD'' is the luminous cloud, God's presence, that normally dwelt in the Temple. Read Ezek 1:26-29. Most scholars agree that, whatever the full meaning of the awesome vision Ezekiel had when God called him, it does confirm that

a.   the LORD is not tied to Jerusalem and could follow his people into exile.
b.   the LORD is pleased with his people and knows that they will listen to him.
c.   the time spent in exile in Babylon will be of a very short duration.

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