Daniel 3:25-36, Genesis 15, Psalm 79, Romans 3:4, Rev 16:7
One of the dividing points between Orthodox and Protestant, and to a lesser extent, between Orthodox and Roman Catholic, is the extent of the Old Testament. If we are perfectly candid, we must admit also that among Orthodox there is not complete uniformity in this area, since the Russian and Greek collections of the so-called “extra books” slightly differ. What Orthodox believers do agree about is that we have received from apostolic times a collection of books that includes some books not originally written in Hebrew, books that the Jewish scholars eventually discarded (probably in the late first or second century AD), but that were commended to us by Church fathers as “Readable.” Protestants call these books “Apocrypha”—that is, books that are better “hidden away,” though they are seen by some as of historical value; Catholics have called them “Deuterocanonical” since the sixteenth century, affording them authority but a secondary place.
Our family name for these books, Anagignoskomena (“readable”) indicates not only that the books are of value for personal edification, but worthy to be read in the worship assembly. We are talking about these books or portions of books: Susanna, Bel and the Dragon, The Prayer of Azariah, and the Song of the Three Youths (all attached to the book of Daniel); Judith; Tobit; extra bits of Esther; the Wisdom of Solomon; Sirach (or Ecclesiasticus); Baruch; the Prayer of Manasseh found at the end of 2 Chronicles/4 Kingdoms; Psalm 151; two or three books of the Maccabees (depending on the Orthodox tradition); and in some jurisdictions a paraphrase of 2 Chronicles/4 Kingdoms called by various names, but dubbed 1 Ezra in the Orthodox Study Bible. A few of these pieces we hardly ever hear—but some are very well known, such as those parts of the book of Sirach that adorn our funeral services, or the Song of the Three Youths that is so prominent during Holy Week and Pascha.
Our family differences (for example, when the Slavic tradition accepts 1 Ezra while the Greek tradition omits it) are not so very grave, since it is not the Orthodox way to fasten upon a single book or portion of a book to establish doctrine. The Old Testament books, including these “extra” ones, are mainly intended to edify, to lead us to meditate upon God’s love and righteousness, and to point forward to Christ. We can’t imagine, in an Orthodox context, members of the Church speaking against certain books because they contain references to prayers for the dead, or the mediation of the righteous, as was the case in the battle between Reformers and Catholics. It has never been necessary, either, for us to dogmatize regarding the exact extent of the Old Testament, as the Council of Trent did in the light of Protestant denials. Yet we accept a collection of varied inspired books that is even broader (and thus richer) than that of the Catholic church.
Of course, Orthodox live in the world and must be able to speak intelligently to both Jewish people who inherited a truncated collection of holy books through their early rabbis, and also to those Protestant Christians who have reverted to the Jewish canon. We should comment that the Apocrypha is still read in Anglican and some Lutheran circles, though separated into a separate section between Old and New Testaments, while the groups influenced by Zwingli and Calvin have little use for these pieces. We want to be able to say to our Jewish friends that Esther was truly inspired by God, as is clear in the extra prayers, and that her story is not simply that of tribal victory; we want to understand with them, through the Maccabean books, the full meaning of Chanukah, which goes beyond the miracle of an unfailing lamp, to the faithfulness of those who would not give up God’s will for pagan rule. When speaking to Protestants, we want to explain how the communion of the righteous, whether living or fallen asleep, was a live thing that we can read about in these books, and that leads naturally to Jesus’ own encounter with Moses and Elijah on the mountain, and Orthodox practices of prayer. We want to show them how these books were known and loved by the New Testament writers, and indeed by Jesus Himself, and explain their worthiness.
However, for us as a family, the question of the Readable Books is not fraught. Instead, they beckon to us as a lesser-known collection that spans several centuries in origin and focus, mostly between the time of the prophet Malachi and the evangelist Matthew. In them we are treated to a number of different genres, different ways of talking about God and the world—poetry, history, saga, wisdom literature, and folk-tale—and find them gathered with other like books in the Old Testament rather than separated out. Instead of seeing them as a point of contention, we are called to know and love them because they were known and loved by Jesus and the early apostles, who clearly read them in the Old Greek Bible, and passed them down in various forms.
Even my Anglican friend, David deSilva, who does not commend these books as canonical, but writes beautifully about them in his volume Introducing the Apocrypha, aims “to move readers past seeing the Apocrypha as one more thing that separates one group of Christians from another and toward seeing these books for what they are in and of themselves and to value them on that basis.”
I hope, in this series, then, to shed light upon the Readable Books, so that they can be seen for what they are; as an Orthodox believer who has spent over 40 years teaching Scripture, I aim also to help us to value these books for the light that they shed upon the rest of the Bible and on our faith. We look now for Light both From and Upon the Readable Books. We will begin today with a passage from extended Daniel, chapter 3, that Orthodox will recognize from Holy Saturday Morning Liturgy as the prelude to the Song of the Three—the Prayer of Azariah. Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah are the Hebrew names for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, those three friends of Daniel who refused to worship the pagan king’s idol in Babylon, and who were thrown into the fiery furnace.
Who has not thrilled at the Song of these three, and the mystical sight of the One who walked with them as they were unharmed? This is one of those mysterious spots of the OT where many church fathers suggest that the Second Person of the Trinity made an appearance, even before His Incarnation. The three are, of course, encouraged by His presence. But they are also encouraged by one of their number, Azariah, who prays aloud to God with poignant words of confession for the entire exiled community. We will take only the first half of this remarkable prayer today, and consider the second half in the next installment. Here it is:
Then Azariah stood and prayed thus
and opened his mouth in the midst of the fire and said:
Blessed are You and praiseworthy, O Lord, the God of our fathers.
And praised and glorified is Your name unto all the ages.
For you are righteous in all You did for us, and all Your works are true.
The judgments You made are true.
According to all You brought on us and on the holy city of our fathers,
Because in truth and judgment, You did all these things on account of our sins.
For we sinned and acted lawlessly to depart from You.
We sinned in every way and did not obey your commandments.
Neither did we treasure or do as You commanded, that it might go well with us.
And all You did to us, You did in true judgment.You delivered us into the hands of lawless and rebellious enemies
And to an unjust king—the most evil in any land.
Now it is not for us to open our mouth,
For this has become a shame and a disgrace to Your servants
And to those who worship You.For Your name’s sake, do not hand us over to the end
And do not reject your covenant.
Do not withdraw Your mercy from us for the sake of Abraham
Who is loved by You, and for the sake of Isaac, Your servant,
And of Israel, Your holy one,
As You spoke to them, saying
That You would multiply their seed as the stars of heaven,
And as the sand along the seashore. (Daniel 3:25-36)
As soon as we read this, we know that we are in Biblical territory. The terrain is not alien, but wholly familiar. We bless the LORD— a rather cheeky human move (since usually the greater blesses the weaker), but enjoined everywhere through the Psalms. Once we have blessed, Azariah immediately recognizes God’s utter truthfulness and righteousness. This a common theme throughout the New Testament as well as the Old, though unfortunately sometimes marginalized today by those who fear that justice and truth are inimical to God’s love. Yet we hear of it from Jesus’ injunction that “our righteousness” exceed that of the Jewish leaders so that we will be perfect as God is (Mat 5:20, 48), through St. Paul’s affirmation in Romans 3:4 (“Let God be true though every one were a liar, as it is written, “That you may be justified in your words, and prevail when you judge”), to the great chorus of Rev 16:7 “Amen! Lord God the Almighty, true and just are your judgments!” The same God who invites us to bless Him with our lives and our mouths expects us also to be honest, and to recognize His absolutely unique righteousness: He alone is the true Judge. This was hard lesson for the exiles to learn as they languished outside of the Holy Land, and harder for the three who were literally in the fire because of their beliefs. It is also hard for us, in this tolerant age that cannot reconcile judgment with love, and so we appropriate with solemnity the closing prayers of the Divine Liturgy: “keep us in Thy holiness, that all the day we may meditate upon Thy righteousness!”
For Azariah and his friends, cleaving to the righteousness of God meant not claiming His clemency as something that they deserved, but admitting the corporate sinfulness of the chosen people to whom he belonged. “In truth and judgment, You did all these things [that is, exiled them to Babylon] on account of our sins, for we sinned and acted lawlessly to depart from You.” Azariah admits that the historical exile is a fitting divine response to a people who both broke the Law and who ceased to treasure God’s word. Justly exiled, away from the physical signs of God’s presence in the Holy Land, Azariah recognizes that he has no cause to open his mouth in complaint, nor ground to stand on in speaking about God to the pagans. His humility is not only appropriate to the historical situation, but a model for every penitent, since “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). We none of us deserve mercy, but hope for it because the righteous judge loves humankind, as is unwilling that any should perish. Azariah’s prayer sounds notes like that of Psalm 78 (LXX)/79 (Hebrew):
O God, the nations have… defiled your holy temple;
they have laid Jerusalem in ruins…
We have become a taunt to our neighbors, mocked and derided by those around us.
How long, O LORD? Will you be angry forever?…
Do not remember against us our former iniquities;
let your compassion come speedily to meet us, for we are brought very low.
Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of your name;
deliver us, and atone for our sins, for your name’s sake!
Let the groans of the prisoners come before you;
according to your great power, preserve those doomed to die!
Yes, sin has consequences; yes, God’s judgments are just. Yet it should never be said among those who don’t know Him that He cannot heal, and that He cannot meet the plight of those in bondage. For the sake of God’s name, Azariah calls upon Him for a final reprieve, recalling the promises that He made to Abraham and the other patriarchs, just as Moses (Ex 32:1-35) and Hezekiah (2 Kings/4 Kingdoms 19:15-19) did in earlier eras. God’s mercy and justice mysteriously co-exist, and the promise that Abraham would have shining and numerous offspring has never been repealed, for God “cut” that covenant entirely by Himself, and His word does not fail (Gen 15, cf. Gen 26:3-5 and Gen 35:9-15). Now, of course, we Christians see in Jesus more concretely how “Mercy and truth have met together; Righteousness and peace have kissed each other” (Psalm 84:11/85:10). Now we know the full extent of Abraham’s offspring in the reconstituted people of God, which includes baptized Gentiles as well as Christ-believing Jews, all of whom shine with the light of God. But in Azariah’s contrite and truthful prayer we see the door to that reality, and glimpse the God of glory whose promises never fail. In this ancient prayer we see, with the light shed upon it from other Biblical passages, how it powerfully illumines our way today. Both Azariah’s words and the strange fourth Figure in the furnace point forward to the truth of what the apostolic community has seen not only in poetry, in prayer, and in images, but concretely in our own world— “And because of Him [we] are in Christ Jesus, who became for us the Wisdom from God, His Righteousness and Sanctification and Redemption” (1 Cor 1:30). We will see even more of this in the second half of Azariah’s great prayer, to which we will return in two weeks.
Edith M. Humphrey 