Light unto my path; Short stories in the Bible

Light unto my path. I shall light a candle of understanding in the wine heart which shall not be put. Light under my path an exploration of the books of the Old Testament from these books through the ages has come our concept of man born in the image of God and made to have dominion over all things. The

Bible is the record of man's understanding of the role of the divine in human life. We know examined that record. When it was read. How it was preserved. And why it ranks first in our literature. Light unto my path produced by radio station WAGA of the University of Wisconsin under a grant from the National Educational Television and Radio Center in cooperation with the National Association of educational broadcasters. These programs are planned and prepared by Dr. Menachem Mansoor chairman of the department of Hebrew and Semitic Studies at the University of Wisconsin. Professor Mansoor today we will talk about this short story in the Bible. First of all we must always remember that writing in the Bible whether poetry or prose is vivid.

The author makes his thoughts shine in clear colors except in some cases when the text has not come down to us in perfect condition. There is almost never any doubt of what the author wants to say. The Bible achieves its vividness by means of what might be called a picture language. It rarely resorts to abstract ideas or theoretical phrasing although the thoughts which it expresses are often profound and sometimes extremely delicate. Their language is nevertheless the visual language which is found in the simple eloquence of simple people. For example when the prophet Jeremiah once the people of Israel to be sobered by the realisation of their inevitable national sorrow he does not use the language that we would use. He does not tell them to face the future and realize the difficulties ahead. He makes a vivid

picture of a woman undergoing the ritual of mourning and say cut off the hair and cast it away and take up and lamentation on the high hills. This characteristic of the biblical narrative is ideal for the short story The magnificent stories of Joseph Esther Samson Ruth Jonah and scores of others. Let us listen to the famous story of the two women who came before King Solomon for decision on the ownership of the living and the dead babies. The story illustrates Solomon's deep insight into human nature and human motives. One day two women came before the king. Oh my lord I am this woman dwell in one house in the house I had a child three days later this woman also had a child and we were together. There was not a stranger with us in the house. Well we two were alone this

woman's child died in the night because she lay upon it. Then she rose at midnight and took my son from beside me while I slept and laid it in her bosom and laid her dead child in my bosom. When I rose in the morning to nurse my child behold it was dead. But when I looked at it closely in the morning behold I found it was not my son. No the living is my son and the dead is your son. Thus they spoke before Solomon Solomon thought. One says this living son is mine. The dead belongs to you. The other says No the dead son is yours. Mine is the living one. Then the king said Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword to Solomon Divide the living child into wouldn't give half to the one and half to the other. Then the woman who was the real mother of the living child exclaimed for she yearned for her son with all her

heart. Oh my lord give her the living child and in no way put it to death but the other said no divide it will be neither yours nor mine. Then Solomon said give the first woman the living child and in no way put it to death she is its mother. Solomon the men of wisdom in his character lies the perfect climax to the story. Solomon is wise heroically wise in a realistic drama that anyone can understand. That is the whole purpose of the story to make the wisdom of Solomon a simple and fascinating monument for all time. And so it is. His name is a byword. Even today for wisdom and justice we turn again to the First Book of Kings and another short story again about King Solomon. Here we have justice. A

profound and abstract and formless thing brought down to earth and given to man to know and to remember like a song on his lips. And the king went to get you to sacrifice. For that was the great high place. I thought I was a burnt offering as did Solomon offer upon that altar in Gideon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night and God said ask what I shall give thee. And Solomon said O LORD my God Thou hast made by servant King instead of David my father and I am but a little child and I know not how to go out or come in and thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen a great people that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude gives by servant therefore an

understanding heart to judge by people that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people and God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding beyond measure and largeness of heart like the broad sea stands so that Solomon's wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the people of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt for he was wiser than all other man and his fame was in all the nations round about. Justice Wisdom. These are mighty concepts ideas which all mankind has struggled to achieve through the long centuries of darkness and despair. And here in the Old Testament

among a people far removed from us in time and space we find recognition that wisdom surely is a divine gift and that an understanding heart is greater than riches. Who can say that the complex problems of our own time do not demand just this basic answer that in the tradition of Solomon we find a guidepost to our own dilemmas today. Let us turn now to the Book of Ruth. The Book of Ruth takes its name from its heroine a charming young woman of more. She married into one of the leading families of years and became the ancestor of David and Jesus. The narrative is one of idyllic beauty scenes of Jewish home life in a pastoral age portraying peace and established order. In the days when the judges ruled there was a famine in the land and a certain

man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab he and his wife and his two sons the name of the man was a limb alike and the name of his wife Naomi and the names of his two sons were Mala and Kilian. They went into the country of Moab and remain there but Elimelech the husband of Naomi died and she was left with her two sons. These talk more about it was the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. They live there about 10 years and both modern and Killian died so that the woman was bereft of her two sons and her husband shortly thereafter. Naomi hears that the famine has ended and sets out for Judah with her two daughters in law before they've gone too far she turns to them go return each of you to her mother's house. May the Lord deal kindly with you as you have dealt with the dead and with ME the

Lord grant that you may find a home. Each of you in the house of her husband or papa kisses her mother in law and returns home. But Ruth will not go. Him treat me not to leave you or to return from following you know where you go I will go and where you lodge I will lodge your people shall be my people and your God my God where you die. I will die and there will I be buried. May the Lord do so to me and more also if even death parts me from you. The two women destitute and weary reach Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest since their without means of support. Ruth goes to glean in the fields after the reapers she happens to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz who was of the family of a limb a lack. Boaz sees her and invites her to remain in his field under his protection. Astonished she asks why have I found favor in your eyes that you should take notice of me when I am a foreigner.

To which Boaz replies the Lord recompense you for what you have done and a full reward be given you by the Lord the God of Israel under whose wing you have come to take refuge. Ruth tells Naomi of her good fortune. Naomi is very interested since Boaz is a close relative. By the end of the harvest almost three months later she's formulated a plan and confronts Ruth with it. My daughter should I not seek a home for you that it may be well with you. No it's not Boaz are kinsmen with HUS maidens you were see his winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor wash there for an annoying yourself and put on your best clothes and go down to the threshing floor. But do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. But when he lies down observe the place where he lies. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down and he will tell you what to do.

And she said to her. All that you say to me I will do. And she went down to the floor and did according to all that her mother in law told her. And when Boaz had eaten and drunk and his heart was merry he went to lie down at the end of the heap of corn and she came softly and then covered his feet and laid her down. At midnight the man was startled and turned over and behold a woman lay at his feet. He said. Who are you. And she answered I am Ruth your maid servant. So Boaz took Ruth and she was his wife and when he went in on to her the Lord gave her conception and she bear a son. And the women said to Naomi let it be the Lord which hath not left me this day without a kinsman that his name may be famous in Israel and he should be unto thee a restorer of thy life and the nourisher of thine old age

provide daughter in law which love of the which is better to the than seven sons have borne him. And Naomi took the child and laid it in her bosom and became nurse to it. And the women her neighbors gave it a name saying there is a son born to Naomi and they called his name Ovid and obit begat Jesse. And Jesse begat David. The son born by it woman Ruth becomes the father of Jessica and Jesse father says King David Frum Whose Line Springs to Jesus. A daring conclusion to a well-told story. Here indeed we have the roots of religious tolerance. Another aspect of construction bordering on spiritual import is

what we might call a tabla of social relationships love between two human beings. Person overrides the nationality difference between Ruth and know me. Ruth and Boaz love throws a sensible cast on the village scene. This story which by its setting in the hazy past of the judges and by its royal chronology sets itself into the flow of biblical history shares a leading concept of that history. The hand of God in human affairs. One prominent aspect of the story is Ruth's kindness followed by a road through Ward's roots kindness leads to the wish of boy as the Lord recompense you for what you have done and a full reward be given you by the Lord the God of Israel under whose wings you have come to take refuge. What follows is the fulfillment of that wish. Presumably

under God's guiding hand. The Book of Ruth has been described as the greatest short story in literature. It has been praised throughout the centuries both as the superb work of short story writing and for its message of personal faith and religious tolerance. Two main pillars in our society and civilization today. It is perhaps a protest against chauvinism and ultra nationalism. In the period after the exile a protest indicating that David and Jesus are after all the descendants of that great more biased woman. Israel better calls the book one of the rarest in our sacred literature. Because it borders for the law of kindness. It breathes the religion of love. Without disparaging other evidences of religious devotion. It exalts the magnanimous

spirit without scorning the fumbling efforts of the common man it chooses to pay high honor to the uncommon the noble and heroic in our nature. It glorifies the larger heart the kindly our hand. Now let us turn to one more story that of Jonah the prophet Jonah lived in northern Palestine during the reign of Jeroboam the second and the eighth century B.C. But there is general agreement among the scholars based on the language and contents of the book that it was written much later. Probably about the fourth century B.C. during the days when the Jews returned from the Babylonian exile. It is therefore understandable that after the suffering and humiliation of the exile many Jews became hostile to the heathen world because of their national tragedy. This attitude however was in itself

incompatible with true Judaism for the whole spirit of Judaism and large and enriched by the prophets of Israel. Was that all men are God's children and therefore are capable of knowing God and worthy of receiving his blessings. It was to teach this lesson that the Book of Jonah was written. This it in our story of the Prophet was Nineveh near its ruins are important oilfields today another city in the story is the great seaport of Jaffa. You may remember Jaffa as the scene of Har and Greek legends. It was on the rocks near Jaffa that the Greeks believed a beautiful maiden and Romita was chained as a sacrifice to a sea monster. There is a creature of the sea in our Old Testament story too. Only here we find no har but rather an instrument of God bringing about

an act of salvation and instead of her maiden screams of fear we are given a prophets of Thanksgiving. But now let's hear the story as given in the Bible. Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amitai saying Arise go to Nineveh that great city and cry against it for their wickedness has come up before me. But Jonah rose to flee from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went on board to go with them to Tarshish away from the presence of the Lord. But the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea and there was a mighty tempest on the sea so that the ship threatened to break up.

Then the Mariners were afraid and each cried to his God. But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain and was fast asleep. So the captain came and said to him What do you mean sleeper. All right I call upon your god. Perhaps the god will give a thought to us that we do not perish. And they said to one another. Come let us cast lots that we may know on whose account this evil has come upon us. So they cast lots and the lot fell upon Jonah. Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him What is this that you have done for the man knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord because he had told them. And they said to him What shall we do to you who have to see me quiet down for us for the sea

grew more and more tempestuous. He said to them take me up and throw me into the sea. Then the sea will quiet down for you. Nevertheless the men rode hard to bring the ship back to land but they could not for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them. So they took up Jonah and threw him into the sea and the sea ceased from its raging. Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows and the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days AND three nights. Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish. And the Lord spoke to the fish and it vomited out upon the dry land.

Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time saying. I write I go to Nineveh that great city and proclaim to it the message that I tell you. So Jonah rose and went to Nineveh. According to the word of the Lord. No none of it was an exceedingly great city three days journey and great Jonah began to go into the city going a day's journey. And he cried. Yet forty days and Nineveh shall be overthrown and the people of Nineveh believed God they proclaimed a fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest of them to the least of them. When God saw what they did how they turned from their evil way. God repented of the evil which he had said he would do to them. And he did not do it

but it displeased Jonah exceedingly and he was angry. And he prayed to the Lord and he said I pray The Lord is not this what I said when I was yet in my country. That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish where I knew that dart a gracious God and merciful slow to anger and a bonding and steadfast love been repented of evil. Therefore not take my life from me I beseech thee for it is better for me to die than to live. And the Lord said Do you have to be angry then Jonah went out of the city and sat to the east of the city and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade till he should see what would become of the city and the Lord God appointed a plan and made it come up over Jonah that it might be a shade over his

head to save him from his discomfort. So John I was exceedingly glad because of the plan. But when dawn came up the next day God appointed a worm which attacked the plant so that it withered when the sun rose God appointed a sultry east wind and the sun beat upon the head of Jonas so that he was faint and he asked that he might die and said it is better for me to die than to live. But God said to Jonah do you have to be angry for the plant and Jonah said I do well to be angry angry enough to die. And the Lord saying you pity the plan which you did not labor nor did you make it grow. Which came into being in a night and perished in the night. And should not

I pity Nineveh that great city in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who do not know their right hand from their left. A simple story of an ancient prophet. But in it the seeds of understanding modern man. It is an outcry against intolerance against prejudice. It affirms the universality of God His compassion for the heathen even to the extent of discrediting his own prophet. And of course in showing the impossibility of escape from the will of God. This story reminds us of the modern poem by Francis THOMPSON The Hound of Heaven with its memorable lines. I followed him down the knights and down the days I fled him down the labyrinth in ways of my own mind. Yes

it is indeed time that the twentieth century man read the story of Jonah not as a worthless myth but as a message of human nature and the constant stream of struggle to free itself from Betty prejudice and the narrow isolated and insolent view of mankind. It is significant that this book of the Old Testament with its message of the universal God loving and forgiving Jews and Gentiles alike. This message in the Book of Jonah is part of the synagogue service on the most solemn day of the Jewish calendar namely the Day of Atonement one eminent biblical scholar Cornell has called it one of the grandest and deepest thing ever written. If it were truly understood today we might see the fulfillment of the prophecy. He shall not judge by what his eyes see. Or decide by

what his ears hear. But with the righteousness he shall judge the poor. And decide with equity for the meek. Righteousness shall be the girdle of his ways and faithfulness. The girdle of his mind. The womb shall dwell with the lamb. And the leopard shall lie down with the kid and the calf and the lion and the fatling together and a little child shall lead them. Light unto my path. Radio programs exploring the Old Testament. The series is planned prepared and narrated by Dr Menachem Mansoor chairman of the department of Hebrew and Semitic Studies at the University of Wisconsin. Light unto my path is

produced by radio station WAGA of the University of Wisconsin under a grant from the National Educational Television and Radio Center in cooperation with the National Association of educational broadcasters. This is the end of the Radio Network.