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Every Day Bible

Telemachus

telemachusTelemachus was a monk who lived in a small monastic community near the end of the fourth century. He had a peaceful life of Bible study, prayer, and gardening for the cloister. His peaceful life was interrupted by the sense that God wanted him to move from the country to the distant city of Rome. Telemachus didn’t want to move. He loved his simple life, but he believed it was what God wanted, and so he left.

When he arrived at Rome, he found everything he feared. Political corruption, pleasure gone amuck, wild and godless living abounded. He followed the crowds into the Coliseum.

He was shocked when he saw the gladiators stand and salute the emperor, saying, “We who are about to die salute you!”  It turned his stomach to see crowds watching men slaughter each other for pleasure.

Telemachus had enough. He climbed a wall and shouted out, “In the name of Christ stop this! Stop this now!” but nobody listened. The gore continued.

Finally he jumped down into the arena and approached the gladiators, yelling, “In the name of Christ, stop this! Stop it!” Generally, they ignored him, pushing him out of the way, but the crowd grew agitated that this little monk dared to interfere with the sport. Someone in the crowd shouted “Run him through! Kill him!” and the rest of the crowd joined in.

A gladiator listened to the crowds and struck Telemachus with a mortal wound. Telemachus fell to his knees, and with his last breaths, gasped, “In the name of Christ…stop this!”

Then something strange happened. The soldiers and spectators stopped, watching this monk die. His death wasn’t like the deaths that entertained them moments ago. It was different. There was no roar for the victor. Silence overtook the arena. Then one onlooker walked away. Then another. And another, until the spectators deserted the Coliseum, never to return. Tradition says that the death of the little country monk brought an end to the spectacle of organized murder for entertainment.

There is much to admire and learn from the life and death of Telemachus. What principles of scripture does he remind you of?

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Every Day Bible

How Old Was Isaac?

In Wednesday night’s class, in review, the question was asked: “How old was Isaac when Abraham nearly sacrified him?”

I don’t expect to come up with a firm answer to this question, because I didn’t see any reference points in the text that would help direct me towards an absolute answer. Here’s what I’ve found…please leave a comment on this message if you have any ideas…
The Sacrifice of Isaac: 1590 painting by Empoli.

  • Isaac had been weaned. He was old enough to take off on a journey with his father and carry enough firewood to roast himself. His reasoning had developed enough to deduce the realization that there was wood and knife, but no sacrificial lamb. In my mind, that’d rule out anything below 8-10ish?
  • One author estimates Abaham’s age at ~125 here, putting Isaac at ~25. The histories of Josephus agree with this aging in “The Antiquities of the Jews” Book 1, Chapter 13, Paragraphs 3-4 In fact, Josephus recods a traditional rendeing of what Abraham said when Isaac questioned him further:

    As soon as the altar was prepared, and Abraham had laid on the wood, and all things were entirely ready, he said to his son, “O son, I poured out a vast number of prayers that I might have thee for my son; when thou wast come into the world, there was nothing that could contribute to thy support for which I was not greatly solicitous, nor any thing wherein I thought myself happier than to see thee grown up to man’s estate, and that I might leave thee at my death the successor to my dominion; but since it was by God’s will that I became thy father, and it is now his will that I relinquish thee, bear this consecration to God with a generous mind; for I resign thee up to God who has thought fit now to require this testimony of honor to himself, on account of the favors he hath conferred on me, in being to me a supporter and defender. Accordingly thou, my son, wilt now die, not in any common way of going out of the world, but sent to God, the Father of all men, beforehand, by thy own father, in the nature of a sacrifice. I suppose he thinks thee worthy to get clear of this world neither by disease, neither by war, nor by any other severe way, by which death usually comes upon men, but so that he will receive thy soul with prayers and holy offices of religion, and will place thee near to himself, and thou wilt there be to me a succorer and supporter in my old age; on which account I principally brought thee up, and thou wilt thereby procure me God for my Comforter instead of thyself.”

    4. Now Isaac was of such a generous disposition as became the son of such a father, and was pleased with this discourse; and said, “That he was not worthy to be born at first, if he should reject the determination of God and of his father, and should not resign himself up readily to both their pleasures; since it would have been unjust if he had not obeyed, even if his father alone had so resolved.” So he went immediately to the altar to be sacrificed.

    I don’t know if this story is entirely accurate, but it sure gives pause for thought!

  • Another blogger cites Talmud writings in support of age 37.

    Though the text does not state Isaac age at the sacrifice, Jewish tradition (ie: Talmudic scholars) teach that Isaac was 37 years old.

    Wikipedia suggests this is because the next recorded story (Genesis 22-23) is the death of Sarah, at 127. She was 90 at his birth, so the oldest he could have been would be 37. The Talmud adds a bit of (likely exaggerated) detail to the story as well: dialogue between Abraham and Isaac on this journey:

    “By the life of God, my father, I know no evil, I am conscious of no regret. Blessed be the Lord who has desired me this day.”

Talk about trust! Yikes!

This is the exact opposite of the story of the young man Jesus met (Matthew 19:22). He asked what to do to inherit eternal life. Jesus said he’d done well so far in his keeping of the commandments, even from his childhood, but he lacked one thing: sell all he had, and give it to the poor.

Jesus wants every bit of me. I’m truly blessed when I learn to give him what he asks. See Hebrews 11:17-19.