Today’s Scripture Reading (July 17,
2014): Nehemiah 2 & 3
Malcolm X
was assassinated on February 21, 1965. The celebrated orator and civil rights
leader was speaking at Manhattan’s Audubon Ballroom (originally built as a
theater and used as a vaudeville house, a movie theater and a place for
meetings of various groups – usually groups with a political nature) on the
subject of African unity and equal rights. Malcolm X had lived under death
threats from the Nation of Islam ever since he had left their ranks and
converted to being a Sunni Muslim. Before he was shot, a commotion broke out in
the ballroom and Malcolm X’s body guards left his side to try to calm the
disturbance. It was at that moment that a man rushed forward with a sawed of
shotgun in his hand and he opened fire on the civil rights leader. Malcolm X
was hit 17 times before body hit the ground. And his last words have been
reported to be “Brothers! Brothers,
please! This is a house of peace!”
If these truly word the leader’s last words, there is
a significance to them. The term “house of peace” often refers to a place of religious
significance. And strictly speaking the Audubon Ballroom was not a “house of
peace.” While it had served as a place of worship for several religious groups
over its history, the building was built as a show house and had been used
extensively for that purpose. As well, it had held political meetings where the
contents could be described as far from peaceful. But on this day Malcolm X was
totally justified in calling the Audubon Ballroom a “House of Peace” – the
ballroom was being made holy by its purpose.
As the exiles begin to rebuild the walls of the city,
the instructions begin with Eliashib the High Priest. This passage begins to
reveal the passage of time. Eliashib would have been the grandson of Joshua who
was the first High Priest to serve in Jerusalem following the return of the
exiles. This passage reveals that while the exiles had been living in the city
for a while, there was still much work to be done – and at this late date the
walls were still standing in ruin.
So the High Priest sets the example, not only for his
own priests, but for the people of the city. Eliashib was not content with just
being the spiritual advisor for the city. He was a man of action and he began to
set himself to the task of rebuilding the city’s walls. And Eliashib seems to
have started his rebuilding of the walls outside of Jerusalem’s Temple. The
Sheep Gate was right at the Temple and is so named because it is the gate through
which the sheep entered the city for sacrifice. The Tower of the Hundred was
about 100 cubits away from the sheep gate, and the Tower of Hananel was another
100 cubits on the other side of the Tower of the Hundred (and this might have
given the central Tower – the Tower of the Hundred – its name.) So Eliashib
seems to have made himself responsible for a 200 cubit segment (91.5 meters or
about 300 feet) of the wall outside of the Temple.
And then Eliashib dedicated it. The term that is
actually used is that he sanctified it – he made it holy. The term sanctified
is often used with regard to the sacrifice that is being presented or the instruments
that are used in the Temple, but this is a wall and it is not necessarily a
holy object. Except that in the eyes of the High Priest, the wall itself was made
holy by its function. The wall protected both the Temple and the Holy City of
Jerusalem, and because of this it becomes a holy object in and of itself and
worthy of sanctification.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading:
Nehemiah 4
No comments:
Post a Comment