OTHCC Chapter 97: items 1921 - 1940

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

{1921}      Down

Tobit becomes blind and prays for death. The woman Sarah has no husband because a demon, wanting her for himself, has killed seven prospective bridegrooms. She also prays to God for deliverance. Read Tob 3:7-15. Now read Tob 3:16-17. The readers of Tobit now know something that the characters do not. What is it?

a.   God is sending the angel Raphael to answer both their prayers.
b.   God is sending the angel Raphael to answer Sarah's prayers.
c.   God is sending the angel Raphael to answer Tobit's prayers.

{1922}      Down       Up

Tobit asks his son Tobiah (or Tobias) to travel to Gabael's house, so that Tobiah can have the money Tobit has saved there. Before Tobiah leaves, Tobit, expecting death, tells his son how to live. Read Tob 4:1-21. Now re-read Tob 4:21. Are these words of Tobit to his son apparently inconsistent with Tobit's own condition?

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

{1923}      Down       Up

The angel Raphael becomes Tobiah's guide on the journey. Raphael tells Tobit and Tobiah that his name is Azariah (or Azarias) - a little white lie, because Azariah means ''the LORD is my help.'' (Raphael truly is there to be the LORD's help to them). Instructed by Raphael, Tobiah catches a fish that would have seized him, whose parts can heal the blind and drive away demons. Raphael also suggests that he marry Sarah, who is his relative (scholars think that at the time marriage between relatives was encouraged by some Jews). Read Tob 7-8. The wedding of Tobiah and Sarah occurs only after

a.   a wedding feast that lasted fourteen days, twice the normal time.
b.   a young lamb is sacrificed in the Temple precincts.
c.   their prayer to the God of the patriarchs and the God of Creation.

{1924}      Down       Up

Read Tob 8:3. Sarah's deliverance from the demon occurs not directly from Tobiah's burning of the fish parts but

a.   unexpectedly, without warning, and for no reason.
b.   when Raphael catches the demon and binds him.
c.   when the smoke from the fish parts rises.

{1925}      Down       Up

Read Tob 11. Tobit finally

a.   dies.
b.   is healed.
c.   suffers.

{1926}      Down       Up

Read Tob 12. Raphael reveals that he is

a.   an angel.
b.   a demon.
c.   a man.

{1927} Down Up

The Catholic Church professes with certainty that angels are real. Not only that, you really do have a guardian angel. Read CCC 328-336. <<

{1928}      Down       Up

First, you need to realize that the name ''Isaac'' means ''laughter.'' Next, you need to know that Isaac was Abraham's son, by whom God kept his promise to Abraham to give him offspring. Now you can have a little laugh when you read Gen 18:1-15 (yes, now).

Actually, the preceding sentence was also a little joke. Gen 18:12-15 says in effect that Sarah had a little ''laugh'' - and of course, she did! In this way, God had the last laugh, and when God has the last laugh, everyone else is also delighted. On the serious side, the meaning [CCC 706] is that God keeps his promise to Abraham

a.   against all human hope.
b.   as Abraham knew he would.
c.   by Abraham's powers.

{1929} Down Up

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 Lamentations appears to be a collection of five

a.   histories.
b.   poems.
c.   prophecies.

{1930}      Down       Up

Read Lam 1:1-3. Lamentations appears to be concerned with

a.   reflections on suffering not tied to any specific event.
b.   the destruction of Jerusalem and the exile in Babylon.
c.   the political context explaining why Jerusalem fell.

{1931}      Down       Up

If you read Lamentations 1 in Hebrew, you would notice that each stanza in the poem

a.   begins with the next letter in the Hebrew alphabet.
b.   has a radically different theme than the one before.
c.   rhymes with the verse just preceding it.

{1932} Down Up

The first four poems in Lamentations are acrostics - each stanza in the poem begins with the next letter in the Hebrew alphabet. Poets from many different times and cultures have sometimes combined a rigid formal structure (such as an acrostic) with expressions of overwhelming emotion. For example, read Lam 2:18-22.

Read Lam 5:16-22. When Lamentations is read in the synagogue Jews repeat 5:21 again after finishing the reading of Lamentations. In this way they emphasize the teaching of Lamentations that, in the midst of devastation, God will yet save his people. <<

{1933} Down Up

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 Joel 2:1-2, then Joel 2:12-14. Joel prophesies the ''day of the LORD,'' when he will come, but then the LORD says that the people may yet return to him

a.   by heartfelt sorrow and contrition.
b.   by making visible shows of ritual sadness.
c.   to be given their just punishments.

{1934} Down Up

Read Joel 3:1-5 (in some bibles, Joel 2:28-32). Now read Acts 2:16-21. St. Peter sees Joel predicting the coming of the Holy Spirit on the Church at Pentecost. <<

{1935}      Down       Up

What happens if the Church has made no firm judgment about the meaning of a particular passage in the Bible? As long as it does not contradict a truth known to the Church,

a.   anybody can have an opinion.
b.   only people who study the Bible for a living can have an opinion.
c.   only the Pope and bishops in union with him can have an opinion.

{1936}      Down       Up

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.

{1937}      Down       Up

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.

{1938}      Down       Up

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.

{1939} Down Up

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. <<

{1940}      Up

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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