Grace Evangelical-Lutheran: Deuteronomy 30,1-6. Trinity X

Deuteronomy 30,1-6 4424

10. Trinitatis. Trinity X 57

Dominic, founder of Ordo Praedicatorum (motto: praise, bless, preach) ✠ 1221

Jacob A. O. Preus III ✠ 2022

4. August 2024

1. ℣I cried to God:

℟ And He will hear my voice (Psalm 54,17a.18b vul lxx).

Ego ad Deum clamavi, et exaudiet vocem meam. lxx

Ego ad Deum clamabo, et exaudiet vocem meam. mas

Although we may stand like Mary beneath the cross, forsaken by all people in our tribulation, You, O Christ, will have mercy on us. You have acquired for us peace, joy, consolation, happiness, the crown of life and the white garment of honor. Amen. (Stark 511; English 84).

2. »And when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where Yahweh your God has driven you, and return to the Yahweh your God, you and your children, and obey His voice in all that I command you today, with all your heart and with all your soul, then the Yahweh your God will restore your fortunes and have mercy on you, and He will gather you again from all the peoples where the Yahweh your God has scattered you. If your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, then from there the Yahweh your God will gather you, and from there He will take you. And the Yahweh your God will bring you into the land that your fathers possessed, that you may possess it. And He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers. And the Yahweh your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.«

3. Trinity X is the remembrance of the destruction of the temple; the temple was destroyed twice on the exact same date on the Jewish calendar: 10 Av 587 bc and 650 years later on 10 Av ad 70. The Jewish calendar is lunar, so 10. Av falls on a different day each year in the Gregorian calendar; in 587 bc it was 3. August, in ad 70 it was 31. August and in 2024 it will be 13.-14. August.

4. The Prophet Zechariah proclaims: »For thus says Yahweh Sebaoth: „As I purposed to bring disaster to you when your fathers provoked Me to wrath, and I did not relent/regret/change My mind, so again have I purposed in these days to bring good/something beautiful to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah; fear not“« (Zechariah 8,14). The temple’s destruction both times involved idolatry. 6^th century bc Judah had forsaken Yahweh for Gentile idols, and 1^st century ad Judah had rejected their Messiah.

5. Josephus, a Jewish 1^st century Roman historian spends many pages describing the conquest and destruction of Jerusalem. He writes: „Now, if anyone consider these things, he will find that God takes care of mankind, and by all ways possible foreshows to our race what is for their preservation; but that men perish by those miseries which they madly and voluntarily bring upon themselves; for the Jews by demolishing, the tower of Antonia, had made their temple foursquare, while at the same time they had it written in their sacred oracles, – „That then should their city be taken, as well as their holy house, when once their temple should become foursquare.” But now, what did elevate them in undertaking this war, was an ambiguous oracle that was also found in their sacred writings, how, “about that time, one from their country should become governor of the habitable earth.” The Jew took this prediction to belong to themselves in particular and many of the wise men were thereby deceived in their determination. Now, this oracle certainly denoted the government of Vespasian, who was appointed emperor in Judea. However, it is not possible for men to avoid fate, although they see it beforehand. But these men interpreted some of these signals, according to their own pleasure; and some of them they utterly despised, until their madness was demonstrated, both by the taking of their city, and their own destruction“ (The War on the Jews 6.5.4 (310-15) 743).

6. The Church commemorates the temple’s destruction, first to remind ourselves that God punishes the unrepentant, even if they are His people. »You shall diligently keep the commandments of Yahweh your God, and His testimonies and His statutes, which He has commanded you. And you shall do what is right and good in the sight of Yahweh, that it may go well with you, and that you may go in and take possession of the good land that Yahweh swore to give to your fathers« (Deuteronomy 6,17-18). Like Israel, if the Church is persistent in false doctrine and idolatry, then God will discipline her with the intent to bring her back upon the path of pure doctrine. We should never allow confession and absolution of sin, both publicly in the Divine Service and privately as individuals before God, to become lax in our life. The Christian life is one of repentance. Martin Luther writes: Confession has 2 parts. 1^st that we confess our sins, and 2^nd, that we receive absolution, that is forgiveness, from the pastor as from God Himself, not doubting but firmly believing that by it our sins are forgiven before God in heaven (Small Catechism).

7. The 2^nd reason we commemorate the temple’s destruction is to remind us that God is merciful to the repentant. Moses reminded Israel before they crossed the Jordan into the Promised Land: »And Yahweh commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear Yahweh our God, for our good always, that He might preserve us alive, as we are this day. And it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to do all this commandment before Yahweh our God, as He has commanded us. Eritque nostri misericors, si custodierimus et fecerimus omnia præcepta ejus coram Domino Deo nostro, sicut mandavit nobis« (Deuteronomy 6,24-25).

8. A 3^rd reason we commemorate the temple’s destruction is that Jesus described Himself as the Temple. One of the prophesies He refers to is: »חֶ֗רֶב עוּרִ֤י עַל־רֹעִי֙ וְעַל־גֶּ֣בֶר עֲמִיתִ֔י נְאֻ֖ם יְהוָ֣ה צְבָא֑וֹת הַ֤ךְ אֶת־הָֽרֹעֶה֙ וּתְפוּצֶ֣יןָ הַצֹּ֔אן וַהֲשִׁבֹתִ֥י יָדִ֖י עַל־הַצֹּעֲרִֽים׃ (Zechariah 13,7). Yahweh Sebaoth declares: „Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, against the Man who stands next to Me. Strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered. They will call upon My Name, and I will answer them. I will say: ‘They are My people;’ and they will say: ‘Yahweh is my God.’“« (Zechariah 13,7.9b). Jesus fulfilled this when He was crucified and resurrected.

9. Jesus is the true Temple where sin is absolved through a vicarious sacrifice. He is the Thing that makes for peace (Luke 19,42), for the Lord Jesus Christ gave Himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age (Galatians 1,3-4). The temple is where God drew near to His people, and Christ dwelt among us; though He is at the right hand of His Father, He is still near to us. His Word is preached, and we hear Him. His body and blood are given to us in the Sacrament, and we receive Him.

10. The Prophet Isaiah proclaimed: »therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion, a Stone, a tested Stone, a precious Cornerstone, of a sure Foundation: Whoever believes will not be in haste« (Isaiah 28,16). The Apostle Peter quotes Isaiah, writing: »For it stands in Scripture: Behold, I am laying in Zion a Stone, a Cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in Him will not be put to shame« (Isaiah 28,16; 1. Peter 2,6). And on account of Christ the Temple we are living stones added to Him in a glorious structure that prays, worships and receives His gifts of grace and mercy (1. Peter 2,5).

ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ἐμβαλῶ εἰς τὰ θεμέλια Σιὼν λίθον πολυτελῆ ἐκλεκτὸν ἀκρογωνιαῖον, ἔντιμον, εἰς τὰ θεμέλια αὐτῆς, καὶ ὁ πιστεύων ἐπ᾿ αὐτῷ οὐ μὴ καταισχυνθῇ (Isaiah 28,16).

Ἰδοὺ τίθημι ἐν Σιὼν λίθον ⸂ἀκρογωνιαῖον ἐκλεκτὸν⸃ ἔντιμον, καὶ ὁ πιστεύων ἐπ’ αὐτῷ οὐ μὴ καταισχυνθῇ (1. Peter 2,6).

11. O God and Father, please behold

Us poor and wretched who wickedly erred,

With heart, mouth and hands we’ve sown

The seeds of sin and strife, disturbed;

Grant us, we pray, to make amends

And in Christ’s grace, Your Son, ascend,

To salvation completed.

(Aus tiefer Not lasst uns zu Gott elkg 258,2 2021 Michael Weiße 1531).

This is most certainly true.

12. Et pax Dei, quæ exuperat omnem sensum, custodiat corda vestra, et intelligentias vestras in Christo Jesu. The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4,7). Amen.

13. Let us pray. O Lord, we beseech Thee, remember Thy holy Church that is from one end of the earth to the other, and pacify her that Thou hast purchased with Thy precious blood, and establish her even unto the end of the world; remember them that bring forth fruit and do good works in Thy holy churches and are mindful of the poor and needy; recompense them with Thy rich and heavenly gifts; remember every Christian soul, especially the afflicted and oppressed and struggling and those needing Thy mercy and helping hand, supplying return to the wanderers, health to the sick and rest to them that have fallen asleep in Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord. Amen. (Trinity X, Vespers Collect. The Daily Office).

To God alone be the Glory

Gode ealdore sy se cyneþrymm

✠

All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4. Edition © 1990 Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, Septuaginta, Vol. I and II 2. Revised Edition © 2006 Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 28. Revised Edition © 2012 Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart.

Grace Evangelical-Lutheran

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church

Monday, August 5, 2024

Deuteronomy 30,1-6. Trinity X

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