06.13.23 Recap - Bible Timeline & Exodus

Northern Virginia Catholic Bible Study & Apologetics House rules/notes… Online via Meetup/Zoom or In Person at St. John Neumann Catholic Church 11900 Lawyers Road, Reston, VA 20191 https://saintjn.org/ Meetup is www.meetup.com/catholicbiblestudy Zoom Meeting Logon info is the same every week: Zoom ID: 861 1782 2081 Password: 406952 I will send out Meeting Recaps the same night as our sessions – these are unedited versions without pictures. An edited version with pictures will be posted on our website https://catholiccatacombs.wixsite.com/website/recaps before the next meeting. Taylor will notify everyone at that time. 1. Questions encouraged. If you have questions about anything, you can ask in the chat box, email the Meetup group, or me at ron@hallagan.net. 2. Respectfulness. We will be discussing differences between religions and Christian denominations, and we agree to be respectful at all times. Specifically, Protestants are our friends and brothers in Christ; in fact, I personally owe part of my return to the faith to them! 3. No politics. It would be easy for us to self-destruct, but that’s not our goal. Our goal is to learn/understand/apply the Bible and our Catholic faith. 4. Catholic Prayer & Fellowship. Are you interested in praying with other Catholics during the week? Fellow member Jason Goldberg has started “Catholic Prayer, Fellowship, and Spirituality Meetup.” Sign up at: https://www.meetup.com/online-catholic-prayer-fellowship-and-spirituality/. 5. “The Chosen” TV series. All of us seek a relationship with Jesus Christ, which is not always easy. It can help if we have seen and heard Him. The Chosen captures the real Jesus as close as any show I have ever seen. Just watch the first two with Mary Magdalene and you will see what I mean. 6. RSVP Reminder: Please RSVP whether you are attending the meeting or just reading the Recaps afterwards. The more RSVPs, the more Meetup will give exposure to “Catholic Bible Study” – a good thing! Consider it your way of evangelizing! Please RSVP when you get the Meetup invite weekly. Our Bible Study Format: 5 min greeting/prayers, 10-15 min Catholic topic, 40-45 min on the main topic from weekly List below: Week 1: Gospel Week: Sermon on the Mount, cont’d Week 2: Bible Week (Gen àRev): We are in EXODUS, the 2nd book of Moses. Week 3: Topics Requested by Members: We are currently in Comparisons/World Religions.

Ö 1) Jesus’ Greatest Parables Ö 2) Hell, Purgatory, Heaven 3) Christian Comparisons/World Religions 4) Great Women in the Bible 6) Book of Revelation 7) Major Heresies and Church Councils Week 4: Member Questions: 1. “Self” Questions o What does it mean to be born again? Does this change the self? o What is happiness? o Are doubts bad? What are we supposed to do with our doubts? 2. God-Questions o How do we know we are following Jesus? o Does the path get harder or easier the closer we get to God? o Is the peace of Christ different from peace of the world? o Why doesn’t God just show himself? o Jesus says in John 14:28, “The Father is greater than I.” What does this mean? I thought they were one. o In Genesis and somewhere else, it says that God changed his mind. In another place, it says God repented that he made humans. I thought God was unchangeable. Can you explain this? 3. Please provide an intro or overview of the OT books. 4. Is sex good or bad? 5. What’s the difference between Charity and Love? What are the highest forms of charity? 6. Can you provide a brief review of the origin/meaning of the (12) statements in the Creed? 7. How many Gospels have the story of Jesus’ calming the storm? They seem different. Are they the same story? 8. Why does God seem full of vengeance or violence in the OT? Is this a misinterpretation? Catholic Catacombs Website: https://catholiccatacombs.wixsite.com/website/recaps Major liturgical events in the Church - Solemnity of the Body & Blood of Christ – June 11 - Ordinary Time Opening Prayer Dear Father As we discuss the first earthly Exodus of our forebears – Moses and the Israelites In the light of the Heavenly Exodus you accomplished for us on Calvary Grant us further insights into the freedoms we have been given. We ask your blessings upon all of us here, our families and friends. And as you taught us to pray… Our Father Who art in Heaven, Hallowed be Thy Name. Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily Bread; And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us all. Amen. Reading Matthew 5:17-19 Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. For I tell you truly, until heaven and earth pass away, not a single iota, not a stroke of a pen, will disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Whoever then shall break one of the least of these commandments and shall teach others the same, he will be called least in the kingdom of the heavens; but whoever shall keep and shall teach them, he will be called great in the kingdom of the heavens. Q: What does Jesus mean by The Law and The Prophets? The OT scriptures. Nothing is being eliminated from the Old Covenant. Jesus is completing/fulfilling/elevating every single word. This is why we now say something in the OT foreshadows or prefigures events in the NT. In every case, the fulfillment, by its very definition, is higher/greater than the original OT meaning. Q: What are a few examples? · Abraham offering to sacrifice his son, Isaac, on Mt. Moriah, the same place where Jesus was crucified. · The old purification rites are no longer necessary (Jesus touching and healing the blind or diseased). · The old sacrificial system is fulfilled/ended by Jesus’ perfect sacrifice for all time. · The Passover meal that spared the lives of Israel’s firstborn is replaced by the Last Supper that spares our lives for eternity. · The Exodus from slavery in Egypt is elevated to our Exodus from slavery to this world/sin. Q: What does Jesus mean when he says, “until heaven and earth pass away, not a single iota… will disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished?” Jesus is referring to his death, resurrection, ascension, and the Pentecost. Q: What does Jesus mean by saying: “Whoever then breaks one of the least of these commandments and teach others the same, he shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whosoever does them and teaches them shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” There are Protestant denominations who say that all sins are equal, and Heaven is the same experience for all. This shows that this is not so. It clearly states that those who break lesser laws can still get into Heaven but will be in a lesser state of grace/glorification. Q: With the Easter Season over, we re-enter “Ordinary Time” What does “Ordinary” refer to? Simply how the Gospel readings are ordered/numbered. It has nothing whatsoever to do with the other meaning of ordinary (commonplace). No Scripture readings are commonplace. Here is a sample “Liturgical Calendar” of the Church. C – Christmas season, E – Easter season, O- Ordinary Time.

Week Two is Bible Timeline – We are in Exodus, The Ten Commandments at Sinai Today’s Biblical Agenda 1. The extreme importance of blood in sacrifices and covenants 2. Exodus is about freedom, but not so much physical freedom. What is spiritual freedom? 3. Why did it take 40 years for the Israelites to reach the Promised Land? 4. Brief explanation of each of the Ten Commandments (very useful to know!) 5. What is the Mosaic Covenant and how does it differ from Jesus' New Covenant at the Last Supper? The Importance of Blood in Oaths/Covenants Why is Jesus’ blood at the Mass so important? It was the seal of the New Covenant… but what does that mean? The importance of blood in all Biblical oaths/covenants (and most others) was for one reason: blood equals life. Humans are dead without blood. If your word was good and you stood by it, would you put your life/blood on the line? It was serious business. Consequently, sacrifices and Covenants were all about blood because it was the highest thing you could offer. So, let’s say one tribe made a peace or unification agreement with another tribe because the son of the chief was marrying the other tribe chief’s daughter – they would take their most prized bulls and cut them in half lengthwise, and lay them across from each other, to make an aisle. Then they would sprinkle the blood of the bulls on the grounds and walk ceremoniously between the two rows of carcasses to seal their agreement/covenant to live together, or protect each other, or at least never attack or betray one another. They were making a public pronouncement that if either party broke the covenant, then what happened to the animal should be done to them. Keeping one’s word was a very important matter! In that one sense, they were more advanced that we are today.

God ratifies His Covenant with Abraham This view of blood wasn’t only relevant 3-4,000 years ago at the time of Abraham and Moses, but also true at the time of Christ and even into more recent times. “On my blood, I promise…” It means, “On my life, I promise…” which, again, could be both figuratively and literally true. I can recall when I was a young boy, my best friend and I cut each other’s fingers with a knife and touched them together as we declared that we were now “blood brothers.” In any event, blood was paramount. When one sacrificed an animal, it was a LIFE being given, often as a representation or substitution for the lives of those present. Q: The blood of the unblemished lamb at the first Passover – what did they do with it? They brushed it on their doorways so that death would Passover them during the 10th plague. But it was also the beginning of the Mosaic Covenant, where they would have God’s protection as long as they chose to follow Him. The blood sealed the covenant, and represented their own blood should they break the covenant. Not that God would cause them harm directly, but their veil of protection God offered was theirs to control, depending on their own fidelity and trustworthiness. Q: Now fast forward 1400 years to the Last Passover/Last Supper. What does Jesus say about blood? “This is my blood of the New Covenant, which will be poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” – Mt 26:28 Can you see the necessity of the blood? Jesus was giving his life – his blood – as the formal seal of his promise/ covenant with all of us. This New Covenant would supersede the Old Covenant because this one involved an eternal exodus from this world into Heaven.

Last month, we discussed how God freed the Israelites but that was least of all to be physically free, but spiritually free. This is so important to understanding Christianity that we should review it again. We discussed that physical freedom is the lowest of the freedoms. Important, yes, just like for any animal. No living thing wants to be confined or constricted. But, what is our higher freedom? Mistakenly, humans often think it is the freedom to do whatever we want. But if everyone gave in to their physical desires or cravings – food, alcohol, sex, power over others – would that be a good thing? Of course not. Human societies are filled with physical, mental, and emotional car wrecks everywhere. We all fight to manage our “lower appetites,” as philosophers call them. So then, what is the higher freedom? Does God give us a clue? Did God just free them to be physically free? Let’s look at what He said to Moses: Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘This is what the LORD says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me. – Ex 8:1 God wanted to free them so they could come and worship Him!

Q: Does this seem strange? Needy on God’s part? We only think so because that is how humans are. God can't be needy because He is perfect and complete. God needs nothing. Q: What does it mean “to worship God”? To worship God means to learn the meaning of truth, love, and goodness, and to commit to a life of trying to live this way which was the beginning of a relationship with God. In this way humans raise themselves up to be more like God, which is God’s purpose for giving us a spiritual intellect and free will. The more we become like God, the freer from slavery to self we become. Similarly, the more we allow ourselves to be enslaved to our animal drives and the shallow, fleeting things of this world, the more these will control us in this life, and the less free we will be after this life. Q: How shall they worship God? By learning the higher meaning of love. To get them started, God gives them Ten Commandments, which are all about love. Q: How does the outcome of a purely physical freedom compare to spiritual freedom in this life? We already saw how stubborn and ungrateful the Israelites have been since the Passover – they criticized Moses even after the miracle of the Red Sea, victory over the attacking Amorites, manna in the desert, and water from rocks. Freeing these people would not have done them much good and it would have been even less good to inflict them upon the world. (Aside from that, they probably wouldn’t have survived anyway given the attack by the Amorites and the lack of food and water in the desert.

Result: Physical freedom – 1 Benefits to themselves or the world – 0 Now, if the Israelites agree to follow God to be his chosen, protected people, then one would have to admit that will be something the world would stand up and take notice of. Wouldn’t the whole world benefit from a nation that succeeded in putting love first, in worshipping a single God-Creator who loves His creation? In honoring one’s parents, not killing, not stealing, not lying, and not coveting our neighbor’s spouses or possessions? What an incredible starting point this would be! Not only would this be a new start for the Israelites, but this life could become a light unto the world. Of course, all of this is a big IF. We have already seen how stubborn and rebellious the Israelites have been so far, and they haven’t even been out of slavery for 3 months yet. It will take 40 years before they are ready to move on.

Mt. Sinai to Jericho – 300 miles (~ 1 month) Order of the Commandments Last month, we discussed the difference in the ordering of the Ten Commandments between Catholics and Jews/Protestants. This is partly because they are not ordered in the Bible – they are just a running narrative; and partly because neither Catholics nor Jews decided on giving them a set order until several centuries after Christ. (The Protestants decided to follow the Jews a thousand years later.) Q: Who remembers the differences? The Jewish version breaks the first Commandment into two, and then combines our last two commandments into one.

Review of the Ten Commandments

First Commandment: I AM the Lord thy God, thou shalt not have strange gods before Me. You shall not make yourself any graven images (idols) of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea.

This commandment gives the world the precept of monotheism. In fact, the renunciation of all Egypt’s gods vs the one LORD is at the heart of the conflict between God and Pharaoh.

The second part is a prohibition against graven images. Other pagan religions – like the Egyptians – worshipped many created things as divine, and they created and worshipped physical icons. If you noticed, the plagues God sent the Egyptians were designed specifically to prove the meaninglessness of these gods that were actually just part of God’s creation.

The Catholic Church considers this second statement about graven images to just be a further emphasis of the first statement, to help drive a very clear wedge between the Israelites and their past association with worshipping the many Egyptian idols.

Second Commandment: Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.

This probably has less to do with “swearing” than to teach us that to invoke the name of God is to call upon his presence.

We have been invited into a relationship with the Creator of the Universe who lets us call upon Him. If we throw His name around at our whim, we lower Him and make ourselves equal to Him. To use his name vainly is to call on Him when we don’t need Him and, worse, to belittle His name to others when we should be elevating it.

Like Moses at the burning bush, we are walking on holy ground when we encounter Him.

Third Commandment: Remember to keep holy the LORD’S Day

Honoring the Sabbath once a week is central to the Jewish and Christian faiths. It is our home base, our touchpoint in this lifetime, our recharging station, our closest connection to God and Heaven. The CCC calls the Mass/Last Supper, and above all the Eucharist, the Source and Summit of the Christian faith. It is the portal of God’s access to us, and our eternal Exodus from this life.

· It is a call to renew our “exodus” once a week – meaning our exodus from slavery to self and this world.

· Keeping it holy: “Holy” means “separate,” as in separating ourselves once a week from our everyday activities that God gave us six other days for.

· Worship means a time for God, a time for family, a time to reflect on our spiritual progress in our material lives, and a time to do good (i.e., help others).

· Jesus calls us to be “in the world but not of the world.” How will we know how this applies in our lives if we don’t at least practice doing it on Sundays?

The first three commandments are about loving God, just as Jesus’ Our Father begins with God. All prayer should begin with lifting our minds to God.

This next commandment is the hinge commandment, linking the Commandments about loving God and the remaining Commandments about loving our neighbor.

Our parents and family is the closest earthly resemblance we have to the Trinity, and we should cherish it that way.

Fourth Commandment: Honor your father and mother.

To honor one’s father and mother carries with it promises of life and prosperity (Ex 20:12). Jesus set an example by his obedience to Mary and Joseph and care for his mother’s life before he died on the cross.

Elders are to be respected not only because they are repositories of tradition and therefore important to the social fabric of a healthy society, but also because it is difficult. Yes, this is a spiritual, loving sacrifice that we shall require ourselves one day.

This commandment also emphasized God’s teaching that the human family is the most foundational and necessary unit of a healthy human society.

We will continue with the Fifth Commandment next month!

Closing Prayer

Hear O Israel

O Body of Christ, I Communion of Saints,

O Universal/Catholic Church:

The Lord is God and the Lord is One

Whom we love with all our hearts, all our minds, all our souls, and all our strength (Deut 6:4-5, 11:13).

We love our neighbors as ourselves (Lev 19:18), and this includes praying for our enemies (Mt 5).

Lord, for this we need You to bless us all, forgive us our sins,

and grant us the light of your wisdom

as we work to become united as one people in the Holy Spirit.

MYWNOBD (may your will not ours be done)

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.

Amen.