Chosen and Called Vocation Stories in the Old Testament Brian Purfield
GAUDETE ET EXULTATE (2018) The Call to Holiness Each of us is meant to “ discern his or her our own path ” and “ bring out the very best of themselves ” (GE 11)
BIBLICAL CALLS Emphasis is on GOD Not private narratives but part of a larger story Often not easy & those called resist
THE VOCATION OF THE HUMAN RACE “ God said ‘let us make man in our image, in our likeness….’ God blessed them and God said to them ‘be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth .’” (Gen 1:26, 28)
THE CALL OF NOAH
THE CALL OF ABRAHAM AND SARAH
THE CALL OF ABRAHAM AND SARAH
THE CALL OF JOSEPH Dysfunctional family Interpreter of dreams Meeting with his brothers in Egypt Judah & Benjamin
THE CALL OF MOSES Parallels between Moses and Joseph Chaos (Exodus 1-2) Early life and youth in Egypt
THE CALL OF MOSES “ Moses, Moses ,. … I have marked well the plight of my people in Egypt and I have heard their outcry and have come down to bring them out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey, the region of the Canaanites. ” (Exodus 3:4, 7-8)
WALTER ZIMMERLI Two types of OT call narratives: 1. “ Here I am. Send me!” e.g. Isaiah 6, Isaiah 40 & 1 Kings 22 2. Vigorous resistance e.g. Moses (Ex 3-4), Gideon (Judges 6), Jeremiah (Jer 1)
THE CALL OF MOSES Two phases to Moses’ call: 1. Liberation (Ex 1-15) Formation (Ex 16 – end of Pentateuch) 2.
TO BE A NATION Four elements required 1. A God 2. A king or leader 3. A land 4. Authoritative traditions
THE CALL OF HANNAH Childless Wife of Elkanah Taunts of Peninnah Eli the priest at Shiloh
THE CALL OF HANNAH Eli: “ Go in peace. The God of Israel grant your petition ” (1 Sam 1:17). Hannah: “ Let your servant find favour in your sight ” (1 Sam 1:18).
THE CALL OF THE PROPHETS Active 750-500 BC Major & Minor Prophets Consistent & disturbing message
THE CALL OF ISAIAH “ I beheld my Lord seated on a high lofty throne. Seraphs stood in attendance and one would call to the other ‘Holy, holy, holy. ’ I cried ‘Woe is me. I am lost. For I am a man of unclean lips and I live among a people of unclean lips. ’ Then one of the seraphs flew over to me with a live coal. He touched my lips and declared ‘ Now that this has touched your lips your guilt shall depart and your sin be wiped away. ’ Then I heard the voice of my Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I. Send me. ’ And he said ‘Go . Say to that people, dull that people’s minds, stop its ears and seal its eyes, lest seeing with its eyes and hearing with its ears, it also grasps with its mind and repent and save itself’ ” (Isaiah 6:1-10).
THE CALL OF JEREMIAH “ Then I said ‘Ah Lord God, truly I do not know how to speak for I am only a boy. ’ But the Lord said to me, ‘Do not say ‘I am only a boy’, for you shall go to all whom I send you and you shall speak whatever I command you. Be not afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you’ says the Lord. Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth. ‘Now I have put my words into your mouth ’” (Jeremiah 1:6-9).
THE CALL OF EZEKIEL Street theatre Acting out future events Trust in God, God will see you through
FOUR GENERAL CONCLUSIONS 1. The emphasis is on God calling. 2. The call gets a mixed reception. 3. There is a mission to be carried out. 4. Expect suffering, or at least difficulties & obstacles
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