Fallen Into Knowledge

Oh sweet Irony:
(or maybe its plain old sarcasm)

Listen to this message,
you cows of Bashan who live on Mount Samaria.
You women oppress the poor and abuse the needy.
You say to your husbands,
“Get some wine! Let’s drink!”

The Almighty LORD has taken an oath on his holiness:
Surely, the time is going to come
when you will be taken away on hooks,
and the rest of you on fishhooks.
Each of you will leave [the city] through breaks in the wall,
one woman ahead of another.
You will be thrown into a garbage dump.
The LORD declares this.

Go to Bethel and sin.
Go to Gilgal and sin even more.
Bring your sacrifices every morning.
Bring a tenth of your income every three days.
Burn bread as a thank offering.
Brag and boast about your freewill offerings.
This is what you people of Israel love to do.
The Almighty LORD declares this.

Ouch.

Joel 2:11b-14

Truly the day of the Lord is great;
terrible indeed - who can endure it?
Yet even now, says the Lord,
return to me with all your heart,
with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning:
rend your hearts and not your clothing.
Return to the Lord, your God,
For He is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love,
and relents from punishing.
Who knows whether he will not turn and relent,
and leave a blessing behind him,
a grain offering and a drink offering
for the Lord, your God?

This is a significant chapter in the Book of the Twelve (aka, the minor prophets): Many of the themes of the Twelve show up here, and other books quote from this passage:

“the day of the Lord:” the phrase occurs 17 times in the twelve - mostly in Joel and Zephaniah
“who can endure it:” cf Amos 7:10, Malachi 3:2
“Return to the Lord your God:” cf Hosea 14:1
“Who knows? He may reconsider and change his plan:” Jonah 3:9
“He is merciful and compassionate, patient, and always ready to forgive:” Jonah 4:2
“grain offerings and wine offerings:” Amos 5:22

The book of the twelve actually functions as a literary unit: the individual books share many of the same themes, and often use the same language.

One thing I have noticed, as I have been reading the prophets especially, is that God’s relationship with Israel is most often described in the terms of a marriage. God is the Husband, who is faithful, and Israel is portrayed either as an adulterous wife, or as a whore. In these terms, faithfulness becomes the central religious issue. Faithfulness, specifically, to the exclusive relationship with God.
We (or, I) Sometimes think of “relationship with God” as primarily a New Testament idea, but it seems not to be. I must point out, though, that in the prophets its never an individual’s relationship with God, but the Community’s. (I don’t think that changes much as we move into the New Testament) It’s easy for us, those of us who grew up as humans or as Christians in America sometime during the 19th or 20th century, to read “relationship” exclusively in individual terms; such a reading seems foreign to the language of the Old testament, however.

Rhetorical function of the book of Daniel, possibly:

1. Hero Tale: How to not worship idols or be tainted by the foreign oppressors.
2. New Exodus: Daniel is the new Joseph, who - by his wisdom - obtains high position in the foreign ruler’s court. The implication is, perhaps, that soon after the people will prosper.
3. Superiority of Israel over the Nations: Even in captivity, the Israelites wield power - because of God’s favor - over the captors.
4. The narrative is a frame around with the prophesies can be hung, the narrative serves to build the prophet’s reputation for the reader.

Question: For the first half of the book at least, are we to understand Daniel as a proxy for Israel, or for the “ideal Israelite?” (cf. Jonah)