04.17.23 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: April 4 - Gospel Week: Sermon on the Mount, cont’d Week 2: April 11 – Bible Week (Gen àRev): We are in EXODUS, the 2nd book of Moses. Week 3: April 18 – Survey Topics Voted on by Members: We are currently beginning Christian Comparisons/World Religions.

Ö 1) Jesus’ Greatest Parables Ö 2) Hell, Purgatory, Heaven 3) Christian Comparisons/World Religions

4) Great Women in the Bible 5) World Religions 6) Book of Revelation 7) Major Heresies and Church Councils

Week 4: Mar 21 – Member Questions:

1. Does the path get harder the closer we get to God? Things that were bad before now look bad. Acedia. Monks/nuns

2. The History of the Mass going back to Cain & Abel, all leading to the sublime meaning of the Eucharist.

3. Can you review origin and meaning of the 12 statements of belief in the Creed?

4. “Who am I?” It seems we all ask this question at some point in our lives. Some ask it all the time. How do you answer this?

5. Are Charity and Love synonymous? How are they different? What are the 4 highest forms of Charity?

6.

7. How many Gospels have the story of Jesus’ calming the storm? Are they the same story?

8. Why was God full of vengeance and violence in the OT? Or was that simply an interpretation by those of that time?

9. Can you provide an intro/overview of the OT books?

Catholic Catacombs Website: https://catholiccatacombs.wixsite.com/website/recaps

Major upcoming events in the Church

Easter Octave – April 9-16 Pentecost – May 28

Opening Prayer

Father in Heaven, we thank you for your Word that we seek to learn from tonight.

We ask that you please be with us tonight as we celebrate the Easter season with you,

As well as your encounter with Moses at Mt. Sinai.

Enlighten us, please, in Jesus’ name, we 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.

Q: Follow up from last week: Did anyone try to go one whole day without judging anyone negatively?

Q: Why are we so inclined to judge everyone and everything?

Yes of course it has to do with our being fallen, but fallen from what?

God breathed his spirit into us, making us in His in his image and likeness. We are his spiritual children. So naturally we can’t help but want to judge just like our Father – it’s in our spiritual makeup. But before we could learn to judge like him, like rebellious children, we decided we could do it better than Him without Him. That’s our problem.

God wants to teach us, which takes relationship and practice, but first we need to lay down our judgmental weapons and surrender the ego. We practice by starting with a blank sheet, meaning we have to stop doing it our way. Start with one day – no judging – and if by the end of the week you have reduced your judging 10%, you’re doing great. Only progress is expected, not perfection. By removing some of our preconceived notions (clutter) about everything, God can begin to teach us.

Easter Reflections…

Q: Why did Jesus have to die?

He didn’t have to die. He chose to. God knew what humans would do to Him, and He came anyway. That’s what love does. Would you do the same for your children?

Furthermore, God could have chosen a different way to save us, but He didn’t. Somehow it was more important for Him to share our fallen condition, experience human suffering with us, and offer us a way through it all, not around it. This would indicate that suffering is our lot – a necessary part of our condition, of our choices, and of our spiritual growth and ultimate freedom.

Q: Why did Jesus say, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Did God really abandon Jesus? No, God didn’t abandon Jesus. However, let us not forget that Jesus had to take on the sins of the world – past, present, and future – so that we could receive forgiveness for free. What kind of burden could that have been like?

Secondly, Jesus had to experience all of his humanity, and that would include the feelings of desperation in a time of terrible pain and agony. And what could be greater than this? It was the perfect storm where the world’s greatest evil – hatred, mockery, murder, and death – meets God’s perfect love. Thank God, love wins over all of them. Part of that was Jesus asking God to forgive everyone as he hung there.

Lastly, Jesus had a fulfillment purpose. Remember, not one iota of the OT will go unfulfilled. Who knows Psalm 22? It is a “Messianic” psalm written by King David a thousand years earlier. The Jewish world knew it by heart like we know the Pledge of Allegiance or the Our Father. If someone starts saying either one, we could finish the rest in our sleep. Jesus would only need to say the first line of Psalm 22, and those listening would have known the rest of it and gotten the message. It’s accuracy is stunning.

PSALM 22

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish?

But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by everyone, despised by the people. All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads. “He trusts in the Lord,” they say, “Let the Lord rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him.”

I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted within me. My mouth is dried up like a dried clay, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death.

Dogs surround me, a pack of villains encircles me; they pierce my hands and my feet. All my bones are on display; people stare and gloat over me. They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment.

As accurate and as horrible as this is, Psalm 22 doesn’t end this way. It ends with the words of God’s saving hand!

But I will declare your name to my people; in the assembly I will praise you. You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you descendants of Jacob, honor him! Revere him, all you descendants of Israel! For he has not despised or scorned the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help.

Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord. They will proclaim his righteousness, declaring to a people yet unborn: He has done it!

By quoting this psalm, Jesus showed that he was the fulfillment of this prophecy and that he will soon be vindicated, which is illustrated in the psalm’s triumphant ending.

The question was asked, “The Jews say this Psalm just refers to other Jews suffering in the past, not to Jesus. What do you say to that?”

We would say the same thing if we were still waiting for the Messiah. Without Jesus, we would not have connected any of these dots, which Jesus started doing for us himself. Throughout his ministry, he often pointed out that he was doing what had to be done “according to the prophets” (his suffering, his death, 3 days buried before rising, etc.). Between his Resurrection and Ascension, he further taught the Apostles about these connections, starting with the two on the road to Emmaus. One of God’s genius moves was choosing Paul to become an apostle. Paul was an expert Jewish theologian, who then spent his last 20 years connecting the OT with Jesus.

Since the Jews don’t accept Jesus, they have no other way to explain these things but point elsewhere. Again, I’m sure we would have done the same.

Q: Jesus died Friday and rose on Sunday. Why is this “three” days?

1) The ancient Jews started their counting with 1, not zero. Friday would have been day one, Saturday was day 2, and Sunday day 3.

2) In Psalm 16, King David prophesies about the Messiah:

For you will not leave my soul in Sheol (the realm of the dead); nor will you let Thy Holy One see corruption. (Psalm 16:9-10)

You can see David expects Sheol to be temporary.

Decay (corruption) was thought to begin after three days. Some translations say “you will not allow Thine Holy One to be consigned to the grave” (same meaning). Either way, Jesus rising in three days meets the OT criteria.

Importance of Holy Saturday

When Jesus descended into "hell" on Holy Saturday, the Greek word used in the NT is Hades. Hades (underground, place of the dead) is translated from the Hebrew word Sheol which, similar to Hades, refers to the "Realm of the Dead." Also, the Abode of the Dead.

For the ancient Jews, Sheol had three distinct places in it: 1) Gehenna - the place of the damned, 2) a place of temporary punishment, and 3) the Bosom of Abraham - a place of peaceful waiting (where the righteous went).

When Jesus descended into "hell" on Holy Saturday, it was Hades/Sheol he went to, specifically the two areas awaiting salvation.

Jesus going there while his body lay dead in the tomb in Jerusalem tells us two important things. What are they?

1) Jesus was not finished walking in humanity’s shoes by experiencing suffering and death. There was one more human experience to have, and so his human soul traveled to the Abode of the Dead.

Of course, he didn't go there to stay, but to tell them the Gospel, the Good News, and free them for Heaven.

2) There are some (not Catholics) who believe that humans will remain dead in their graves (body and soul) until Judgement Day. However, what Jews believed long before Christ, and what Jesus confirmed on Holy Saturday, is that the soul does not lay dead or dormant in the grave but remains very much alive and moves immediately on from the body. This is the purpose of Holy Saturday and why his "descending into hell" is stated in the Creed.

3) As the Church has always taught, the three areas of the dead was never a Catholic invention, but something believed and passed on by our religious forebears, which includes Jesus and the Apostles.

Week Two is Bible Timeline – We are in Easter and Exodus – April 4

Q: What are a few of the connections between Exodus and Easter?

Moses Jesus (the new Moses) – fulfilled/elevated

The First Passover The Last Supper

Unblemished lamb/sacrifice Unblemished Lamb (Jesus)/Sacrifice (Mass/Eucharist)

Washed Aaron’s sons’ feet (Ex 40:12,32) Jesus washed Apostle’s feet

Exodus/freedom from Pharaoh/physical slavery Freedom from slavery to sin and 6th Day (this world)

Ten Commandments – justice/exterior Love – mercy/interior > exterior

Pentecost – Ten Commandments Pentecost – the Holy Spirit

Promised Land: physical/temporary Promised Land: spiritual/eternal

Today, we will see God revealing himself to his people on Mt. Sinai as He enters into a covenant with them.

A covenant is different than a contract.

A contract is an agreement to exchange goods or services based on meeting certain conditions.

A covenant is an exchange of persons in a binding relationship. A marriage is a covenant.

What Christians refer to as the “Old Covenant” is really the Mosaic Covenant, which we will be hearing about today: God establishes a covenant (Ex 19-24) with Moses and the Jewish people whereby they are freed from slavery and become God’s own people.

What is Freedom: I want to share an important note about this. When Moses and Aaron demanded that Pharaoh let their people go, it wasn’t just setting the Israelites free. God was very specific about what they were being set free for:

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

Q: From God’s standpoint – or even from the world’s standpoint – what good would setting the Hebrews free do?

Nothing. It might benefit the Hebrews for a while, but probably not long. They sure wouldn’t have gotten past the Red Sea or survived the Amalekite attack. But even if they did, so what? Have you been listening to how they already wanted to revolt against Moses 3 times before even reaching Sinai? They are selfish and have bad attitudes – what positive outcome could freeing them possibly be to the world?

God said to free them so they could worship Him. Let’s think about this.

To worship God meant they had to learn the meaning of truth, love, goodness, and a commitment to trying to live their lives this way. Whoa, now that’s an impact the world would notice – and could benefit from – if God can help them pull it off. Don’t you agree? THIS is what the covenant relationship with God was all about.

We can say the same thing about any covenant. For example, what good is a covenant marriage if neither party has a mutual desire for truth, love, goodness, and commitment?

God was creating a new kind of people and this covenant was a fundamental, essential part of his purpose to save mankind. And He had a long road ahead of Him. The Israelites were not only difficult before Sinai they were even worse afterwards. This is the only reason they spent 40 years in the desert – not because it took that long to get to Canaan!

Mt. Sinai to Jericho – 300 miles

Closing Prayer

Songs of Miriam

I will sing to the Lord, for he is highly exalted. Both horse and driver he has hurled into the sea.

The Lord is our strength and our defense; he has become our salvation. He is our God, and we will praise him, the God of our ancestors, and we will exalt him.

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.