April 2019 – Not From Around Here

Origins of Sin in the Dead Sea Scrolls

The significance of the Genesis 6 story in literature from this period is much clearer. The Book of Watchers and Jubilees blame the watchers for the existence of evil spirits. These evil spirits lead people to worship idols and (in Jub.) to shed human blood.
The Origin of Sin in the Dead Sea Scrolls, Stokes

Modern New Testament study generally attributes the introduction of sin in the world to the fall in Genesis 3. Judaism in the Second Temple, or intertestamental, period attributes the source of sin to multiple beings and events. Ryan Stokes (Yale Divinity School) explores the sources of sin as understood in the works of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Zechariah’s Judean and the Fringe of Jesus’ Garment – Part 2

In part 1 we explored how Matthew explicitly connected Jesus to Zechariah’s singular Judean, and in doing so he demonstrated that Jesus is Emmanuel – God with us. We’ll continue working through Amy Elizabeth Richter’s work on this topic in her dissertation The Enochic Watchers’ Template and the Gospel of Matthew (156-160).

Grasping the fringe of Jesus’ garment provided healing power. This is a common understanding, and Matthew draws attention to this again in 14:36 enforcing the point that Jesus is God with us.

³⁴And when they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret. ³⁵And when the men of that place recognized him, they sent around to all that region and brought to him all who were sick ³⁶and implored him that they might only touch the fringe of his garment. And as many as touched it were made well.
Matthew 14:34-36, ESV

For Matthew, Jesus is the Judean whose fringe is grasped in Zechariah 8. While Zechariah points to a future time in an eschatological sense for this fulfillment, Matthew’s account of the bleeding woman, and then the crowds being healed, illustrates that the future is now. “Jesus’ identity as Emmanuel, which begins in Matthew’s infancy narrative, means that eschatological righteousness has become a present reality in Jesus” (Richter 159).

Richter then points to work done by Crispin H. T. Fletcher-Louis that connects the fringe incident to a priestly tradition in Ezekiel arguing that “Jesus saw himself as the eschatological high priest, ‘the physical, human, embodiment of the divine Glory'” (Richter 159). Apparently holiness is contagious, communicated through the touch of a garment.

¹⁶They shall enter my sanctuary, and they shall approach my table, to minister to me, and they shall keep my charge. ¹⁷When they enter the gates of the inner court, they shall wear linen garments. They shall have nothing of wool on them, while they minister at the gates of the inner court, and within. ¹⁸They shall have linen turbans on their heads, and linen undergarments around their waists. They shall not bind themselves with anything that causes sweat. ¹⁹And when they go out into the outer court to the people, they shall put off the garments in which they have been ministering and lay them in the holy chambers. And they shall put on other garments, lest they transmit holiness to the people with their garments.
Ezekiel 44:16-19, ESV

We find a similar idea in Exodus with respect to the priestly instruments.

²⁵And you shall make of these a sacred anointing oil blended as by the perfumer; it shall be a holy anointing oil. ²⁶With it you shall anoint the tent of meeting and the ark of the testimony, ²⁷and the table and all its utensils, and the lampstand and its utensils, and the altar of incense, ²⁸and the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils and the basin and its stand. ²⁹You shall consecrate them, that they may be most holy. Whatever touches them will become holy.
Exodus 30:25-29, ESV

So there is this idea that simply touching even the fringes of the garment transmit contagious holiness, and this idea is held by the woman and the crowds. If a connection can be made between Jesus’ garments and those worn by the high priest that also transmitted holiness, then Jesus is the high priest – and possibly something more.

Fletcher-Louis thinks the fringe of Jesus’ garment is the tassels described in Numbers.

³⁷The Lord said to Moses, ³⁸“Speak to the people of Israel, and tell them to make tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a cord of blue on the tassel of each corner. ³⁹And it shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the Lord, to do them, not to follow after your own heart and your own eyes, which you are inclined to whore after. ⁴⁰So you shall remember and do all my commandments, and be holy to your God.
Numbers 15:37-40, ESV

These tassels are worn by the general Jewish population. In this case they are not priestly ornamentation.

In the Masoretic Text (MT), the word used for tassel is tzitzit. Here is the Numbers 15 passage in the MT.

³⁷Adonai said to Moshe, ³⁸“Speak to the people of Isra’el, instructing them to make, through all their generations, tzitziyot on the corners of their garments, and to put with the tzitzit on each corner a blue thread. ³⁹It is to be a tzitzit for you to look at and thereby remember all of Adonai’s mitzvot and obey them, so that you won’t go around wherever your own heart and eyes lead you to prostitute yourselves; ⁴⁰but it will help you remember and obey all my mitzvot and be holy for your God.
Numbers 15:37-40, Complete Jewish Bible

Fletcher-Louis points out that the tassels – the tzitzit – are the ordinary person’s “equivalent of the tsits, the rosette that bears the Name of God on the high priest’s forehead” (Richter 160). Following this line to a conclusion, the argument is that because all Israelite males wear the tassels, then the entire nation is a kingdom of priests, e.g. Exodus 19:6.

⁵Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; ⁶and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.
Exodus 19:5-6, ESV

Fletcher-Louis’ argument goes something like this:

The tassels that the people wear are an equivalent of the rosette that the high priest wears. The people share in the priesthood as a “kingdom of priests”
Jesus mediates contagious holiness, the evidence of which is demonstrated through the touching of the fringe (tassels) of Jesus’ garments.
Perhaps Jesus was interested in the fulfillment of the call for the nation to become a nation of priests sharing the contagious restorative holiness of the high priest.

Richter concludes her ideas saying the idea of a kingdom of priests fits well with Matthew emphasizing the participation of Jesus’ followers in all aspects of his ministry, including teaching:

¹⁸And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Matthew 28:18-20, ESV

Matthew’s Jewish audience would have understood the implications of the fringe, tassels, and the transmission of holiness through priestly garments. Matthew puts an exclamation point on the identification of Jesus as the eschatological fulfillment of Zechariah’s Judean.

Bibliography

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Mt 14:34–36). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

Complete Jewish Bible: an English version of the Tanakh (Old Testament) and B’rit Hadashah (New Testament) (1st ed., Nu 15:37–40). Clarksville, MD: Jewish New Testament Publications.

Zechariah’s Judean and the Fringe of Jesus’ Garment – Part 1

she, perhaps even unwittingly, shows Jesus to be Zechariah’s Jew whose tassel is grasped because his presence mediates God’s presence.

I’ve posted a couple times about content in Amy Elizabeth Richter’s dissertation, The Enochic Watchers’ Template and the Gospel of Matthew. The details are interesting. Richter spends some time explaining the relationship of Jesus as Emmanuel, or God with us, to the singular Jew in Zechariah 8:23. This is part 1 of 2 where we’ll work through Richter’s thoughts. You can find her exposition on pages 156-160.

Matthew writes to a Jewish audience. It’s natural that he uses examples and Old Testament passages that his audience would be familiar with. In 9:20-22 Matthew recounts the story of the bleeding woman. In this case she touched the fringe of Jesus’ garment.

And behold, a woman who had suffered from a discharge of blood for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, for she said to herself, “If I only touch his garment, I will be made well.” Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And instantly the woman was made well.
Mt 9:20-22, ESV

And this detail in Matthew that a broader Jewish audience understood that those who touched the fringe of Jesus’ garments were made well.

And when the men of that place recognized him, they sent around to all that region and brought to him all who were sick ³and implored him that they might only touch the fringe of his garment. And as many as touched it were made well.
Mt 14:35-36, ESV

Matthew chooses the Septuagint (LXX) as a frame of reference for “fringes.” A Greek speaking Jewish audience would most likely be familiar with translation and phrasing, and these passages in Numbers 15:38 and Deuteronomy 22:12 would come to mind.

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying“Speak to the children of Israel and instruct them that they should make fringes for themselves upon the borders of their garments throughout their generations, and place upon the fringes of the borders a blue thread. ³⁹And so it will be for you in the borders, and you will see these things, and you will recall all of the commandments of the Lord, and you will do them; and you will not distort them according to your intentions and your eyes, by which you committed fornication by going after them, ⁴⁰so that you will recall and observe all my commandments and will be holy to your God. ⁴¹I am the Lord, your God, the one who led out you of the land of Egypt to be your God. I am the Lord, your God.”
Numbers 15:37-41, LXX

You shall make twisted braids for yourself on the four edges of your cloak that you throw around yourself.
Deuteronomy 22:12, LXX

The Numbers reference makes clear the purpose of the fringe to take the Jewish mind back to God’s commands and drive observance as a holy people (Num 15:40)

Broadly, eschatology is the study of the final events of history and the ultimate destiny of humankind. Zechariah points to “those days” (Zech 8:23) in an eschatological sense as a time when people of all nations return to Jerusalem to seek the face of the Lord.

And the word of the Lord Almighty came to me, saying, ¹⁹“The Lord Almighty says, ‘The fourth fast and the fifth fast and the seventh fast and the tenth fast will be for the house of Judah for joy and merriment, and for a good feast, so you will rejoice and love truth and peace.’ ²⁰This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Yet many people will come, even ones who dwell in many cities. ²¹And those who dwell in five cities shall come together into one city, saying, “Let us go to pray before the face of the Lord and to seek out the face of the Lord Almighty; and I myself will go.” ²²And many people and many nations will come to seek out the face of the Lord Almighty in Jerusalem and to make atonement _⌊before_⌋ the Lord.’ ²³This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘In those days if ten men from every tongue of the nations should seize, then let them seize the fringe of the garment of a Judean man, saying, “We will go with you, because we have heard that God is with you.”
Zechariah 8:18-23, LXX

The grasping of the fringe by men of all nations signifies the eschatological realization that God is with the Jews. Matthew leverages this thinking and makes the explicit connection that God is with us through a Judean man – Jesus.

The eschatological significance of Matthew’s retelling of the incident becomes clearer against the retellings of Mark and Luke. Mark does not refer to the fringes of the garment.

²⁷She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. ²⁸For she said, “If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.” ²⁹
Mark 5:27-29, ESV

And Luke, while appealing to the eschatological sense of the fringe, has the woman somewhat arbitrarily touching the fringes without her statement to herself that she would be made well by doing so.

⁴³And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and though she had spent all her living on physicians, she could not be healed by anyone. ⁴⁴She came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, and immediately her discharge of blood ceased. ⁴⁵And Jesus said, “Who was it that touched me?”
Luke 8:43-45, ESV

In any case, it may be the woman does not understand the eschatological significance of her action – that “she shows Jesus to be Zacharias’ [Judean] whose fringe is grasped because his presence mediates God’s presence.” (Richter 158). But Jesus surely does. Unlike the accounts in Mark and Luke where Jesus asked who had touched him, in Matthew “Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” Jesus knows she has touched his fringe because of her faith and perceives the significance of her actions, even if the woman herself does not. Jesus is Emmanuel – God is with us, foretold in Zechariah and witnessed by the bleeding woman.

Bibliography

Brannan, R., Penner, K. M., Loken, I., Aubrey, M., & Hoogendyk, I. (Eds.). (2012). The Lexham English Septuagint (Dt 22:12). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Mk 5:27–29). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

Building Brittle Faith Through Proof-Texting: Hebrews 10:24-25

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
Hebrews 10:24-25, ESV

Mike Heiser points out in his podcast on Hebrews 10 (transcript) that common use of Hebrews 10:24-25 isn’t too damaging, and can be beneficial, but its use usually misses the critical point.

In my experience, I hear this from the pulpit when midweek attendance is down, or in a one-on-one conversation when someone hasn’t been at church for a few weeks. The gist is that you need to be at all the meetings of the church. And the implication is that if you miss a few for no good reason, or if you miss consistently, then you’re not doing too well spiritually. I’m not sure too many people could define “not doing well spiritually,” but it sounds like you really know what you’re talking about when you use the phrase.

Heiser points out that ecclesia – the word translated as church – isn’t used in this passage. He then identifies the two uses of ecclesia in Hebrews. First in Hebrews 2:11-12 where ecclesia is translated “congregation”:

That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers, ¹saying,
“I will tell of your name to my brothers;
in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise.”
Hebrews 2:11-12

and then in Hebrews 12:23 where it’s translated “assembly”:

But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
Hebrews 12:22-24

In the context of chapters 2 and 12, ecclesia describes the brothers and sisters who have made it – they’ve fought the good fight and are glorified. The author is not referencing the church on earth or its meetings.

I like how Heiser describes the point of the passage:

The point here in this passage (Hebrews 10:25)… The writer is afraid for those who habitually refuse community. It is a present active participle. “Neglecting” there is present active in Greek. The reference is to some activity that is ongoing and that is probably even habitual. Why is he worried about that? Is he worried that believers won’t get the correct number of hours in a week to keep God happy? No. He’s worried about that because the community can help encourage them to keep believing. They’re under persecution. Life is hard. It has nothing to do with meeting a quota of hours per week to keep God happy. Honestly, that is a wicked legalizing of something that’s really important, that just far and away transcends that kind of thinking, especially if you appreciate the context here. This was a big deal. Because as people would drift away and they would doubt and think, “Should I go back to Judaism?”… This is the whole focus of the book— the superiority of Christ! It would be spiritual insanity to want to go back to this.

The passage is framed in the context of the entire book of Hebrews – Jesus is superior to the Torah. Hold on to your faith! When your faith is challenged, stay plugged in to the faith community. Don’t drift away.

When the passage is used to mandate physical presence and attendance at church meetings it misses the point that being in community can strengthen your hold on your faith during persecution and the difficulties of life. If you’re bored, uncommitted, distracted, kids soccer on Wednesday night … meh … this passage isn’t the one you’re looking for. You have different issues.

The real harm in using this passage to support church meeting attendance is that it sets members up not for the intended encouragement, but for failure. The standard is no longer being in a community that strengthens you, but how many services have I missed. Or having a pastor or friend question you about your spiritual well being. You might question your ability to live up to the standard and even question your own faith. There may be guilt that keeps you away. Rigid standards are brittle. They may be strong, but when they fail they shatter and fail completely.