Today's Scripture Reading (July 7, 2020): Ezekiel 35
Lex Luthor was Superman's arch enemy. It was not that there weren't other enemies of the Man of Steel. There were other enemies, and some who were even more dangerous than Lex Luthor, but when you think of the enemies of Superman, Lex Luthor usually tops the list. The origin story of the villain is a convoluted one. Initially, the villain had a head full of red hair. But that head of hair mysteriously, and apparently accidentally, disappeared in the drawing of the comic, necessitating an origin story. Part of the origin story is that Luthor and Superboy were both children of Smallville. A competition developed between the two boys of the town, albeit generally one-sided, and the young Luthor could never win out over Superboy. The result was that Superboy had to continually come to the rescue of Lex, increasing Lex's sense of failure and his hatred toward the Son of Krypton. And, early on, during one of Superboy's rescues of the young Luthor, Lex lost his fiery red hair.
Maybe the importance of the Lex Luthor origin story is that we all know of childhood rivalries that have followed us through life. I have a couple of conflicts that have arisen out of my college days that seem to be still with me, sometimes confronting me when I least expect it. And I am not alone. I know a couple of retirees that attend the same church, who have maintained a feud from their college days. Over fifty years of hate revisited every Sunday morning. Somehow, those early conflicts shape and mold us more than many other battles of life.
Ezekiel sets his face against Mount Seir, the home of the Edomites. And the Edomites had an emotional connection to Israel. First, they were the descendants of Esau, the older brother of Jacob, who was renamed Israel, the father of the Israelites. So, there is a familial connection between the two peoples. And an origin story between those two brothers, which includes a tale of conflict.
But the conflict between the two people continued beyond the lifetimes of Jacob and Esau. Edom tried to block Israel's original entrance into the Promised Land (Numbers 20:14-21; 24:15-19). The Edomites also provided significant opposition to Israel during the reigns of Saul (1:Samuel 14:47), Solomon (1 Kings 11:14-22), Jehoshaphat (2 Chronicles 20:1-23), Jehoram (2 Kings 8:21), and Ahaz (2 Chronicles 28:17). Both Amos and Isaiah prophesied against the descendants of Esau. And Ezekiel likely felt the need to assure Israel that God's discipline was not only focused on them. Misery loves company, and God was up to the task of dealing with the enemies of the nation, even as he dealt with Jacob's children for their disobedience.
Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Ezekiel 36
No comments:
Post a Comment