It never ceases to amaze me how the Bible interacts with current events. That is, a long-planned out series of scripture studies seems to be just the right passage for what is happening in the news. The first rector I served under spoke of "God's Word interpreting God's world", and that's been my experience.
In the autumn, a series of discussions were planned on the Wisdom literature in the Bible, and it happened that Proverbs on the subject of wealth, identity and justice in society were lined up right with the market crash. This week, a series on the book of Judges began with troops moving into Gaza as today's news describes, too.
It proved helpful to discuss how the descriptions of Israel in the Old Testament relate today, and particularly how they do not relate in a direct manner to modern nation states (of Israel, America or (in days of Empire) Great Britain) but rather to the Church, primarily.
Turns out the book is really about the faithfulness of God to a faithless people. There's nothing new under the sun...
(In a slightly incongruous video linkage, click the title of this post to listen to Bruce Cockburn's Lord of the Starfields)
