Bible Characters Mentioned In The Christian Science Lesson-Sermon*

BIBLE CHARACTERS IN THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE BIBLE LESSON* November 12, 2006 For CSDirectory.com

Compiled by C. Norman Wood, 5440 Mt Corcoran Place, Burke, VA 22015 703-898-8818, [email protected]

SUBJECT: Mortals and Immortals

SECTION II: Jacob's Love for Rachel and Seven Years of Service for Her (Gen 29: 18 [to ;],20)

During the first month of his stay with Laban, Jacob fell deeply in love with Rachel. He loved her throughout his life with the same tenacity of purpose and complete faithfulness which Jacob reveals in everything else which concerns him.

Jacob/Israel [Jay’kuhb] (Heb. “supplanted”)

“JACOB. A corporeal mortal embracing duplicity, repentance, sensualism. Inspiration; the revelation of Science, in which the so-called material senses yield to the spiritual sense of Life and Love.” (S&H 589: 4)

TIME LINE: @2005-1958 BC (possibly 1950-1800 BC)

Isaac = Rebekah Esau Jacob (Israel) =Leah Zilpah (Leah’s maid) Reuben Gad Simeon Asher Levi Judah Issachar Zubulun Dinah =Rachel Bilhah (Rachel’s maid) Joseph Dan Benjamin Naphtali 11.12.06

“In its broadest reaches the Jacob story comprises half the book of Genesis. The account of his birth comes in ch. 25 and his burial in ch. 50.” (Interpreter’s Dictionary)

Jacob was the second twin son of Isaac and Rebekah. He is the father of Dinah and of twelve sons whose names are those of tribes. “The Bible presents Jacob in a double light. On the one hand, he is the revered ancestor of the people of Israel, and indeed the name Israel is said to have been given him by God after he had wrestled with God himself at Penuel; on the other, he is a trickster, who deceives is brother into parting with his birthright and his father into giving him the blessing of the firstborn that should have belonged to Esau.” (Oxford Guide to People & Places)

Jacob, in his 78th year, was sent from the family home to seek a wife among his kindred. As he passed through Bethel [Israel], God appeared to him at night and he dreamt he saw a ladder rising from earth up to heaven with angels going up and down a ladder. The Lord stood at the top and reaffirmed the promise to Abraham. "The vision at Bethel has all the pathos and intensity of a personal experience; the tender love for Rachel, lasting through the long years of a strenuous life, has little significance as a racial memory; but the names of the sons and the mimetic etymologies appear like the efforts of a later age to account for groupings, antipathies, and characteristics which antedated the historians memory." (Funk and Wagnalls Dictionary)

After 21 years he returned to the land of his father with two wives, Leah and Rachel; two concubines; and eleven sons and one daughter. Later, a son, Benjamin, was born to Rachel, making a total of twelve sons who became the namesakes for the twelve tribes of Israel.

Jacob wrestled along the way with the deceptive and less-than-good life he had lived. When all had crossed the Jabbok River [a river in Jordan], “Jacob was left alone,” and met man who wrestled with him until daybreak (ch.32), and at Peniel, he “saw the face of God,” and was transformed by receiving the name, Israel.

Deborah and Rachel died before he reached Hebron [southern West Bank]; Joseph, the favorite son of Jacob, was sold into Egypt eleven years before the death of Isaac.

After being reunited with his brother Esau, he went to Egypt when he was 130 years old to live for 17 years in the care of his son, Joseph.

At the end of his life, Jacob—now an aged man—gathered his 12 sons about his bed to tell them what should befall them “in the last days.”

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Words of warning were addressed to Dan, called “a serpent” and “a viper,” a life that would be marked by violence.

He died in his 147th year, and was carried back to the land of Canaan [coastal area of Israel] and was buried in the family burial ground in the cave of the field of Machpelah. Jacob not only embodies and represents the nation, Israel, but also typifies the settler-farmer, the trickster, the reverent worshiper of God, the man of gallantry, the successful émigré and herder, the penitent brother, and the benevolent father.

Rachel [Ray'chuhl] ("ewe," from Heb. Rāhēl, "ewe")

Abraham Nahor Bethuel Rebekah Laban = ? Leah Rachel = Jacob Joseph Benjamin

"The younger daughter of Laban and wife of Jacob, Rachel is the mother of Joseph and Benjamin, who become two of the twelve tribes of Israel (Gen 35:24; 46:15-18). Her maid Bilhah is ancestor of two more (Gen 35:25; 46:23- 24)." (Women in Scripture)

Dunn, John Randall (CSB, Lecturer, 1st Reader, Editor, and President), "Christian Science and Happy Marriages," EDITORIAL, Christian Science Sentinel (3 March 1945), p. 337.

--The world in general little realizes what a stabilizing influence is Christian Science in tens of thousands of homes today. • Many are the households which are being preserved intact, and erstwhile impossible relationships bravely endured, or bettered, because of the sustaining power of divine Truth, as taught in Christian Science. --What a blessing to the whole human family is that grand chapter entitled "Marriage" in Mary Baker Eddy's "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures"! --Is it not the grand privilege of students of Christian Science to prove to humanity in these troublous days that happy homes, happy marriages, and enduring affection are possible? • To this end, Mrs. Eddy, in her God-inspired chapter on "Marriage" (p.65), breathes this prayer: " May Christ, Truth, be present at every bridal altar to turn the water into wine and to give to human life an inspiration by which man's spiritual and eternal existence may be discerned."

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Leishman, Thomas L., “Jacob’s Early Life,” THE CONTINUITY OF THE BIBLE, Christian Science Journal (December 1963), p. 652.

--The somewhat ominous name of Jacob—usually taken to mean “supplanter” or “deceiver”—indicates something of the unpromising background which the patriarch had to overcome before being hailed as Israel. --Esau and Jacob were twin sons of the patriarch Isaac and his wife, Rebekah. • Esau was considered the elder of the two and hence the heir, the recipient of the coveted birthright. ---He was described as “a cunning hunter, a man of the field”; whereas Jacob was called “a plain man, dwelling in tents.” --The Bible records two incidents in which Jacob succeeded in obtaining the blessing and rights of the firstborn. • Esau “sold his birthright unto Jacob” • Jacob later obtained his father’s blessing by deceit, much to the discomfiture of Isaac and to the anger of Esau. --Encouraged by his experience [the vision of the ladder], Jacob proceeded to Haran, where he was cordially welcomed by his uncle Laban and his uncle's family. • Quickly convinced that his beautiful cousin Rachel was destined to be his wife, Jacob agreed to serve her father seven years that he might obtain her hand (see Gen 29:10-18).

______, "Rachel and Leah," Christian Science Journal (March 1943), p. 165.

--It was in response to the urgent wishes of both Isaac and Rebekah that Jacob undertook that eventful journey which was to carry him far from the land of his birth to Haran in Mesopotamia, the home of his mother's kindred. • Haran lies a few miles beyond the northern reaches of the river Euphrates, and it was there, by the side of a well, that Jacob first encountered Rachel. ---From this moment he was eager to serve her, as later he served her father for her hand; and we find him rolling the stone from the mouth of the well and watering the sheep which she tended, just as his mother, years before, had watered the camels of Abraham's steward, Eliezer (Gen 24:46; 29:10). --Rachel is justly remembered as mother of that noble leader Joseph, the most eminent and magnanimous of Jacob's sons • In the book of Ruth, Rachel and Leah are commended jointly in that they "did build the house of Israel" (Ruth 4:11).

WAGERS, RALPH E. (CSB, Lecturer, Associate Editor, Normal Class Teacher, and President), "Turning Water into Wine," EDITORIAL, Christian Science Sentinel (25 June 1960), p. 1119.

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--Marriage is a moral state, and perhaps no institution has greater significance in society than marriage, with home and family as its natural concomitants. • One’s attitude…toward home and family, including responsibilities as well as privileges, determines the nature of the society of which these two factors are so much a part. --Marriage, home, family, can serve as laboratories in which moral and spiritual values are distilled --The attitude of Christian Science is that marriage signifies a union of hearts. • Jesus spoke of the time when, in the resurrection, there will be no marriage (see Matt. 22:30). ---Speaking of this spiritual state, which is and must be the true experience of each one of us, Mrs. Eddy writes (Science and Health, p. 64), "Then shall Soul rejoice in its own, in which passion has no part. Then white- robed purity will unite in one person masculine wisdom and feminine love, spiritual understanding and perpetual peace."

SECTION III: A Definition of Faith: Abraham and Sarah's Faith in Having a Son (Heb 11: 1,11)

“This verse [v.1] is written in the style of Hebrew poetry (used often in Psalms), in which two parallel and nearly identical phrases are used to state the same thing….substance. This is from the same Greek word translated ‘express image’ in 1:3 and ‘confidence’ in 3:14. The faith described here involves the most solid possible conviction, the God-given present assurance of a future reality.” (MacArthur Commentary)

"[Abraham] trusted that God would yet fulfill his promise, even when age and health appeared to contradict the possibility 9vv.11-12)." (Eerdmans Commentary]

Sara/Sarai/Sarah [Sair’uh] (“princess, noble lady”)

Shem  Terah (father) = wife Abram (Abraham) = Sarai (Sarah) (Abram’s 1st wife) Isaac (2nd son)  Rebekah Jacob Esau  Hagar (Sarah’s handmaiden) Ishmael (1st son) = Keturah (2nd wife) Haran Lot = wife = (Terah’s 2nd wife)

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Sarah’s name was originally Sarai, but it was changed to Sarah by God, much as her husband’s name was changed from Abram to Abraham (Sara, the Greek form, is used in the NT). Ten years younger than Abraham, Sarah was his half-sister; they had the same father but different mothers. “Marriages with half brothers were not uncommon in her time.” (Holman Dictionary) The book of Genesis describes her as a beautiful woman, a theme elaborated by later tradition, especially in Genesis Aprocryphon from Qumran.

Sarah was about 65 years old when she and Abraham left Haran. Passing through Egypt, Abraham introduced Sarah as his sister, apparently to keep himself from being killed by those who would be attracted by Sarah’s beauty.

In spite of God’s promise to Abraham that he would become the father of a chosen nation, Sarah remained barren. When she was 75, she decided that the only way to realize God’s promise was to present to Abraham her Egyptian maidservant, Hagar, by whom he could father a child, a custom according to which Hagar’s child would be considered Sarah’s. “But the plan backfired when Hagar became pregnant and regarded Sarah with contempt.” (HarperCollins Dictionary) Hagar bore a son named Ishmael.

“When Abraham and Sarah were too old for childbearing, God reiterated the promise, changing Sarai’s named to Sarah.” (Ibid) When she was 90 years old, far beyond her childbearing years, she gave birth to a son, Isaac—the child of promise. After Isaac was born, Sarah caught Ishmael mocking the young child and, with God’s approval, sent both Ishmael and Hagar into the wilderness.

At the age of 127, Sarah passed away at Kirjath Arba (Hebron) and was buried by Abraham in the cave of Machpelah. Sarah is the only woman in the Bible whose age was recorded at death—a sign of her great importance to the early Hebrews.

“’Sarah laughed…’,” Christian Science Monitor (19 April 1988), p. 19.

--God had promised Sarah a son! • But she was old, and so was Abraham, her husband—way past the age when they could expects to have children. ---“Therefore Sarah laughed within herself….” (Gen 18: 12) • Yet, in due time, Isaac was born, and a New Testament writer, referring to this event, says, “Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised.” (Heb 11: 11) --We can draw a useful lesson from the way in which Sarah’s initial incredulity yielded to trust in God.

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--The Bible contains wonderful promises that can apply to each one of us if we, like Sarah, judge “him faithful who…promised” and expect to see them fulfilled in our lives rather than dismiss them as comforting words but hardly relevant today. --The Bible represents God as saying, "Call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me." (Ps 50:15) --Yes, Sarah laughed, but she accepted the blessing, and when she held Isaac in her arms she may well have laughed again—for joy!

Roegge, Mrs. Beulah M. (CSB, Lecturer; Associate Editor; Herald Editor; Trustee, CSPS; Publisher's Agent; Clerk; and Contributing Editor, "There are no barren years," POEM, Christian Science Sentinel (16 February 1998), p. 11.

Surely, Elizabeth's prayers Prepared for John, Sara's for Isaac, The Shunammite's for her son.

And Mary, Virgin-mother, Perceived God's love for all the world, Conceived His son without desiring.

O childless of today— There are no barren years. All earth's children areas yours When you pray.

SECTION V: Parable of the Lost Son (Luke 15: 11-24)

TIME LINE: The Last Months of Jesus’ Ministry

“The parable of the dissolute, sinful son, is related both to other Bible stories, for example, that of Jacob and Esau (Genesis 25-36) and of Joseph and his older brothers (Genesis 37-50), and to stories in the Greco-Roman tradition, for example, to the one told by Terence, The Brothers.” (Eerdmans Commentary)

The “prodigal son” was the younger son, who wastes his inheritance in Jesus’ parable in Luke. He experiences his father’s forgiveness while his dutiful older brother protests the father’s actions. This parable declares God’s welcome to the outcasts and, by implication, the Gentiles, and the recalcitrant attitude of the Jews. “Its significance has been variously assessed, depending upon which character is thought to be the central means of giving expression to it.” (Oxford Commentary)

To the parables of the lost sheep and lost coin Luke joins the story of the lost son. “This parable…is intended to show what joy there is in heaven at the conversion of sinners, and, therefore, how wrong the Pharisees were to murmur,

7 11.12.06 because [Jesus] consorted with sinners to convert them. The father is God; the elder son is just persons, or rather those who think themselves and are thought by others to be such, here, in particular, the Pharisees…. The younger son is all penitent sinners, here, in particular, the publicans and sinners of vv. 1, 2. The portion of goods is the whole of a man’s faculties and powers, which he ought to exercise and enjoy in his father’s house, i.e. in dependence upon God and in His service, but which the prodigal son demands to have under his own control, to use according to his own pleasure. The lack of love and apostasy of life, for not many days after, he gathers all together, i.e. deliberately resolves to devote his whole fortune and all his powers to the pursuit of pleasure, and journeys into a far country, i.e. into the world of sin where God is not, or rather where he is forgotten, and wastes his substance in riotous living, i.e. throws off even the semblance of piety and responsibility, and ruins not only his soul, but his health and fortune in extravagance and debauchery.” (Dummelow Commentary)

The fatted calf mentioned in v.23. "was reserved only for the most special of occasions—a sacrifice or a feast of great celebration." (MacArthur Commentary)

"a certain man"

Howell, Mrs. Sharon Slaton (CS, Nashville, TN), "His promises cover you," POEM, Christian Science Journal (March 1998), p. 33.

Feeling left out of good, a trifle down and blue? Take Jesus at his word: God's lovingkindness includes you.

No need to press nose to windowpane, wishing you had what others do. You are now within the Father's house, and all the good there belongs to you.

Refuse to doubt; accept with all your heart that which the Bible says is true. God loves to bless His children all. Unending good is planned for you.

"…Son, thou art ever with me" (words so reassuring, words so true) "and all that I have is thine."* Rejoice! This wonderous truth is meant for you. *Luke 15: 31

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"Insights from the parent of a prodigal," FAMILY MATTERS, Christian Science Sentinel (29 October 1990), p. 3.

--One of our boys was an absolute delight as a little fellow, bouncing through the "two's" with very few problems. • Not till early grade school did we start seeing a sensitiveness—wanting to fight for the wrong thing, losing his temper if he didn't get his own way. ---We prayed mightily, and had some success, but eventually things got out of hand. --[He] did leave home, but we kept in touch. --There was a wonderful surprise when, on his twenty-first birthday he handed us the Airman of the Year Award, which had a citation for self-discipline. --So you see I am convinced that parents can trust completely in the power of good and through prayer and divine Love uncover the destructiveness of drug abuse.

"the younger son"

Hall, Zula, "Prodigal," POEM, Christian Science Sentinel (9 December 1950), p. 2142.

Why do I sit beside the dusty road Waiting for strength to lift again This weary load of care? The weight of it is often more Than I can bear. To whom do I take it—and where? O sorrowing heart, No more shalt burdened be In futile roaming. Divine Love bids me come Unhampered, joyous, free, With footsteps homing.

Kadish, Joyce, "When we feel like the prodigal," Christian Science Sentinel (1 August 1988), p. 9.

--Challenges become blessings in disguise because they impel us to leave a false sense of ourselves as suffering, sinning mortals and to recognize that we are actually the beloved sons and daughters of God. • Christ Jesus' parable of the prodigal son pinpoints this fact. ---We read that although the prodigal had lived in the presence of a loving father, he "took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living." (Luke 15:13) --Many of us may feel at times as if we're taking a "journey into a far country."

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• When we believe in the substantiality of matter with its false pleasures and pains—when we express resentment, criticism, anger, animosity, animality, and fear—it could be said that we, too, are wandering from our Father's house, from the consciousness of Spirit's allness.

SECTION VI: Healing of Simon's (Peter) Wife's Mother (Luke 4: 38,39)

TIME LINE: Year of Popularity and Fundamental Principles (Jesus’ 2nd year of ministry) 28 AD in April or May in Capernaum.

PARALLEL GOSPELS: Matt 8:14-17; Mark 1:29-34

“The healing of Peter’s mother-in-law follows and leads into a general ministry of healing and casting out of demons.” (Oxford Bible Commentary)

According to Luke, Matthew, and Mark this miracle took place on the Sabbath, after the synagogue service at which Jesus preached and healed a demoniac. After Simon’s mother was healed of the fever, she immediately waited on them testifying to the fact that the fever did not leave her in a weakened state.

All we know of Simon’s wife’s mother is recorded in the Gospels. “The healing…(14-15; Mk 1:29-31) is given in short sentences.” (Peake’s Commentary) “Luke’s version of Jesus’ healing of the mother-in-law of Simon is closer to Mark’s narrative than is Matthew’s.” (Women in Scripture) “Matthew sees in the healing ministry of Jesus a striking fulfillment of Isa. 53:4, one of his happiest OT quotations.” (Abingdon Commentary)

Luke: “And he arose out of the synagogue, and entered into Simon's house. And Simon's wife's mother was taken with a great fever; and they besought him for her.” Matthew: “And when Jesus was come into Peter's house, he saw his wife's mother laid, and sick of a fever.” Mark: “But Simon's wife's mother lay sick of a fever, and anon they tell him of her.”

Simon's wife's mother

"The gospels do not say whether Andrew, Peter's brother was married, but evidently the brothers had a house in Bethsaida or Capernaum, probably their father's legacy, and that this was the home the mother of Peter's wife shared after the death of her husband." (All the Women of the Bible)

Richardson, Isla Paschal, “’And she arose and ministered unto them’,” POEM, Christian Science Sentinel (24 November 1945), p. 1856.

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Perhaps it was her custom to express Her love in little kindly acts; to fill Her busy hours with daily thoughtfulness Of those about her. She, the mother of The wife of Peter, lay with fever spent And they besought the Master. “He rebuked The fever; and it left her.” Suddenly Released, “immediately she arose And ministered unto them.” Was it not Her way of showing gratitude to God? No need for convalescence and no space For pampering of self. She was made whole And freed from false beliefs that fell away Like outworn garments when the Christ appeared. Activity became a natural thing….

"Healing of Fever and Convulsions," HOW CHRISTIAN SCIENCE HEALS: Radio Program No. 213, Christian Science Sentinel (19 October 1957), p. 1836.

--I went to bed with a very high fever and convulsions. --[A co-worker] said that the symptoms indicated Malta fever --I remember that Mother sang hymns from the Christian Science Hymnal and read the weekly Bible Lesson from the Christian Science Quarterly. --Soon I fell asleep and awoke the next morning completely well. --Christian Science healing is actually a matter of awakening, awakening to the fact that man is spiritual and perfect. • Health and harmony are his birthright. ---This awakening can come as soon as we are willing to accept fresh views of od and our true relationship to Him.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

The Bibliography is provided only in the notes of the first Sunday of each month.

*The weekly Bible Lessons are made up of selections from the King James Version of the Bible and the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, who discovered Christian Science.