The Lost Tribes of Israel

This essay is a follow-up to the entry posted on September 19, 2005, “Found: A Lost Tribe of Israel.”  That entry stimulated much interest on the topic of the lost tribes of Israel and generated two comments from readers.  I recommend that you read the previous entry, the two comments by readers, and my response to them before you read the present article.  What follows is predicated on the previous entry and on the comments of the two readers.

It is important to define some of the terms that will be used in this article. An “Israelite” was a citizen of biblical Israel.  The Israelites were descendants of Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel.  An Israeli is a citizen of the modern state of Israel.  The word “Jew” derives from the name Judah.  It became the common name for the citizens of the province of Judea.  Today, the word “Jew” generally applies to a person who accepts the practices of Judaism.

The concept of the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel is derived from the myth of the empty land.  This view is based on the widespread conception that, as a result of the deportation of the people of the Northern Kingdom to other parts of the Assyrian empire, the land of Israel was completely depopulated.  The concept of the lost tribes presupposes that every member of the ten tribes of the Northern Kingdom was taken into exile.

The biblical evidence seems to indicate that a great majority of the population remained in the land.  The deportation of the Northern tribes occurred in different stages.  The first deportation occurred during the reign of Tiglath-pileser III, King of Assyria.  The biblical text gives a brief description of the removal of the people from Israel: “In the days of King Pekah of Israel, King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria came and captured Ijon, Abel-beth-maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali; and he carried the people captive to Assyria” (2 Kings 15:29).  Although the text does not give the number of deported people, the Assyrian records put the number at 13,520.  This number may represent only adult males; wives and children may not have been included in the total.

The second reference to the deportation of people from the Northern Kingdom occurred when the city of Samaria was conquered and Sargon deported part of the population to Assyria: “In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria captured Samaria; he carried the Israelites away to Assyria. He placed them in Halah, on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes” (2 Kings 17:6).  According to Assyrian records, Sargon II deported 27,280 people.

It is difficult to estimate the population of the Northern Kingdom in the eighth century B.C.  When Menahem levied a tax on the rich landowners to pay the tribute imposed by Tiglath-pileser in 734 B.C., he exacted the money from 60,000 men of property (2 Kings 15:19-20).  When comparing the deportation of the population of the Northern Kingdom with the deportation of 200,150 that Sennacherib, King of Assyria deported from Judah to various cities in the Assyrian empire, the deportation of the people of Israel was modest in comparison.

The biblical text also seems to indicate that a large number of people belonging to the different tribes of the Northern Kingdom were left behind.  When Hezekiah celebrated the Passover festival at the time of his religious reforms, he invited the remnant of the Northern tribes to join with the people of Judah.  Among those people who celebrated the festival in Jerusalem were many people who came from the tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh, Dan, Asher, Zebulun, and Issachar (2 Chronicles 30).  Although the Northern Kingdom had been destroyed (2 Chronicles 30:6, 9), Hezekiah extended an invitation to those inhabitants of the northern tribes who were left behind by the Assyrians.

Thus, the concept of the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel is an ideal that promotes the theological view of the united people of God.  Actually, the Northern Kingdom was composed of only nine tribes, since the tribe of Simeon had its territory within the territory of Judah (Joshua 19:1-9).  The fact is that many of the inhabitants on the northern tribes remained in the land and others survived in the regions that formed the Assyrian empire, the countries known today as Iran, Iraq, and Syria.

The above discussion brings us to our topic: are the people of Mizoram in India the remnant of the tribe of Manasseh?  The preponderance of the evidence available today seems to suggest that they are not.  Take for instance the genetic evidence.  In the Bible, the mother of Manasseh was the Egyptian Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, the priest of On (Genesis 41:50).  Thus, the mitochondrial DNA, which is passed through the mother and does not change from generation to generation, of the descendants of Manasseh, should have an African marker.  However, the genes of the Mizoram people have no such characteristic.  As one news story reports, their genes resemble the genes of their Asiatic neighbors.

Are the people of Mizoram Jews?  Since in Jewish tradition, a Jew is anyone who is born of a Jewish mother or anyone who converts to Judaism, those Mizos who went through the ritual of purification, those who went through circumcision, and those who accepted the tenet of the Jewish faith are indeed Jews.

According to Mizo tradition, the idea that the Mizoram people were descendants of the lost tribe of Manasseh came when a holy man had a vision in which the Holy Spirit told him that his people were descendants of the lost tribe of Manasseh.  Since many of the people in the area had accepted Christianity, it was easy for this idea to grow and become a dogma with an aura of reality.

The hope that the people of Israel will be reunited has not been lost.  Paul speaks of the restoration of Israel (Romans 11).  The author of Revelation speaks of the Twelve Tribes having a role in the events of the last days.  The interpretation of this passage is difficult, but it speaks of unity and totality.

The hopes and expectations that one of the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel has been found may not materialize.  Any human effort to restore the lost tribes into a unified people may not succeed.  The prophets speak of the Remnant of Israel.  The doctrine of the Remnant says that those who escaped the judgment and those who believed in the salvation of God would return to the Promised Land and would build a new community for the worship of God.

The Mizo Jews have become part of a new community, a community of the people of God.  Their arrival in Palestine and their integration into Israeli society will mark a new beginning for them.  The conversion of the Mizos to Judaism should be a time of rejoicing for all, because it makes the words of Isaiah come true: “I am coming to gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come and shall see my glory. And I will also take some of them as priests and as Levites, says the Lord” (Isaiah 66:18, 21).  


Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Welcome To My World

Today is the first day of class at Northern Baptist Seminary. Since the school is on the quarter system, students begin their classes during the last week of September. Today, I will welcome new students to my class on the Pentateuch.

With the start of a new quarter, students will begin their theological pilgrimage. This pilgrimage will lead them to discover the rich treasure hidden within the pages of the Bible. Christians everywhere love the Bible because it is God’s Word, and yet, most Christian’s knowledge of the Bible is limited and fragmentary.

A good seminary education will allow those who are preparing themselves to become ministers of Christ to gain a better knowledge of the Book that will become the focus of their ministry. Within the last 50 years or so, biblical scholars have developed new methods designed to help eager students to gain a better knowledge of the religious, political, economic, and social worlds of the Bible.

Students come to seminary eager to study the Old Testament. The Old Testament deals primarily with the history of the people of Israel. Other nations are also mentioned within its pages but only as they relate to Israel. The main concern of the Hebrew Scriptures is to provide the most important facts about Israel’s relationship with God.

The writers of the Old Testament were not concerned with providing neither plain facts of history nor a chronological account of the political and military events that affected the history of their nation. Rather, those who wrote the books of the Old Testament were concerned with the religious life of Israel, that is, they were attempting to understand the mighty acts of God and how Israel responded or failed to respond to God’s revelation of himself.

To study the Old Testament and to properly understand its message, takes time and effort. Over the coming months, I will keep you informed on the progress of our students. I will also provide material that will help my students and you gain a better appreciation for the Old Testament.

All along, I invite you to join us in this pilgrimage of faith. I invite you to write me with your questions and comments. Since a better understanding of the Old Testament will come through diligent study of its content, may your effort to know the Old Testament pay rich dividends. I hope you will allow me to help you in this journey of faith.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary


Tags: Bible Study, Hebrew Bible, Old Testament, Northern Seminary, Seminary Education

Found: A Lost Tribe of Israel

A few weeks ago, a group of people who live in Mizoram, a state located in the north-east section of India, bordering Burma and Bangladesh, went through a process of conversion and because Jews. The process of conversion included a ritual bath known as the Mikvah, circumcision for the men, and the recitation of the Shema: “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one” (Deuteronomy 6:4).

The population of Mizoram is about 800,000 people. Most of them are Christians, but there are 5,000-8,000 people who claim to be Jews. According to their claim, they are the descendants of the lost tribe of Manasseh. They call themselves Bnei Menashe or “the Children of Manasseh.” These Mizo Jews say their ancestors were deported by the Assyrians at the time of the conquest of the Northern Kingdom.

The deportation of the ten tribes that formed the Northern Kingdom of Israel is a fact. When Tiglath-pileser III became king of Assyria in 745 B. C., he established a policy of permanent conquest. Assyria reinforced this policy with brutal reprisal in case of revolts. The king of Assyria carried out the policy of total conquest by means of violence, pain, and suffering. At the beginning of his reign, Tiglath-pileser reintroduced the policy of mass deportation. The policy of mass deportation would force the conquered people to move in large numbers to other parts of the empire. The aim of deportation was to prevent the possibility of internal revolt by the vanquished people.

In order to confront the threat posed by the imperialistic dreams of Tiglath-pileser, the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Arameans (Syria) formed an alliance to fight against the Assyrians. Ahaz, king of Judah, was invited to join the coalition, but he refused.

Because of Ahaz’s refusal to join the alliance to fight against Assyria, the joint armies of Israel and Syria besieged Jerusalem with the intent of deposing Ahaz and placing on the throne of Judah another person who would be willing to fight the Assyrians.

Ahaz, in panic, sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser asking for military help. He paid a tribute to Assyria by using the gold and silver from the temple and from the royal treasury, and asked for military assistance. In response to Ahaz's invitation, Tiglath-pileser came to Palestine to help Judah.

Tiglath-pileser invaded Syria, killed Rezin, king of the Arameans, and deported the people of Syria to Kir (2 Kings 16:8-9). Tiglath-pileser also conquered several cities in Galilee and Naphtali, deporting some of the people to Assyria. The Bible says: “In the days of King Pekah of Israel, King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria came and captured Ijon, Abel-beth-maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali; and he carried the people captive to Assyria” ( 2 Kings 15:29). As for the tribe of Manasseh, the Bible says: “So the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria (that is, Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria), who took the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh into exile. He took them to Halah, Habor, Hara and the river of Gozan, where they are to this day” (1 Chronicle 5:26).

Several years after the death of his father, Shalmaneser V, the son of Tiglath-pileser conquered all the cities of the Northern Kingdom. He then besieged Samaria, the capital of the Northern Kingdom, for three years. Just before Samaria fell to Assyria, Shalmaneser V was killed in battle.

With the death of Shalmaneser, Sargon II, his brother, became king of Assyria. Sargon finished the conquest of Samaria in 722 B.C. and deported 27,290 inhabitants to other parts of the Assyrian empire. The Bible says: “In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria captured Samaria; he carried the Israelites away to Assyria. He placed them in Halah, on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes” (2 Kings 17:6).

After the people of Israel arrived in Assyria, families and clans were scattered throughout the empire and from this point on they moved from place to place and apparently lost contact with each other through assimilation into Assyrian culture. The disappearance of these deported people gave rise to the legend of the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel.

The concept of the “Lost Ten Tribes of Israel” is very controversial. The basic idea refers to the disappearance of the ten tribes of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. The people who lived in the cities of Israel and the inhabitants of Samaria, its capital, were deported to different parts of the Assyrian empire and blended in with other people and cultures present in Assyrian society and then disappeared from the pages of history.

Over the years, many groups have made claims that they are the remnants of the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel. Among these are some tribal people of Afghanistan, the Jews of the Sahara, and some people in China, Egypt, and Iran.

In this country, Herbert W. Armstrong, the founder of the Radio Church of God, believed that the Anglo-Saxons, the Scandinavians, and the Germanic peoples are the living descendants of the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel. The Mormon Church, also known as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, believes that the restoration of the Ten Lost Tribes will be in North America. The 10th article of the Mormon’s Articles of Faith states: “We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon this continent [the Americas].”

Are the Mizo Jews the descendants of the lost tribe of Manasseh? Jewish scholars are divided over the claims of the Bnei Menashe. A report by an anthropologist claiming that there are similarities between the rituals of the Jewish people prescribed in Leviticus and the cultic practices of the Mizo Jews has provided a ray of hope for those who claim that the Mizo Jews are one of the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel.

Genetic studies have not demonstrated a link between the Mizo Jews and the Jews of Israel. Both the Mitochondrial DNA, passed from mother to child, and the Y-chromosomal Aaron, the supposed chromosome that all descendants of Aaron should share, have not established an ethnic relationship between the two groups.

As for the claims of the Mizo Jews, the decision has been made. The Chief Rabbinate of Israel has declared that the people who live in Mizoram and claim to be descendants of the tribe of Manasseh are indeed the lost tribe of Manasseh.

The rabbinical court has given its blessing to the claims of the Mizo Jews. The process of conversion is complete and now, under the laws of return, these new Jews will soon immigrate to Israel and, for the first time in 3,000 years, enjoy the blessing of living in the Promised Land.

The lost tribe of Manasseh has been found. Or so they say!

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Children of Manasseh, Herbert Armstrong, Lost Tribes, Mizoram, Mizo Jews

The Relevance of the Old Testament

In his article, “The Changing Face of Old Testament Studies,” (Christian Century 109 [October 21, 1992, pp. 932-35]), Christopher Seitz spoke of the problem professors face when teaching the Old Testament to new students in seminaries, divinity schools, and universities. The problem, according to Seitz, is that “students simply don't have the sort of familiarity with the content of the Bible they once had” (p. 932).

When seminary students approach the study of the Bible today, they do so lacking a “deep-seated, long-nurtured, instinctive, prerational commitment to the Old Testament in its present form.” Seitz gives several reasons for this crisis of "truly momentous importance." One of them is “the decline of mainstream Protestantism and the strong pulpit associated with it” (p. 933).

By placing some of the blame for this lack of commitment to the Old Testament on the pulpit, Seitz touched a very sensitive area affecting the ministry of the church, for today's church is facing a crisis of knowledge. This crisis is reflected in the fact that today, the majority of Christians who are involved in the work and ministry of the church, do not know the content and the message of the Old Testament. This ignorance of the content of the Old Testament could be called “a circle of incomprehension” that can severely damage the ministry of the church.

Godfrey E. Phillips, in his book The Old Testament in the World Church (London: Lutterworth Press, 1942), describes how the Old Testament was studied in China. He tells the story of a Chinese pastor who made a statement that reflects the same attitude that exists among the present generation of Christians. That pastor said: “Intending missionaries or evangelists waste their time if they spend a lot of it studying the Old Testament.... The Old Testament teaching given in theological colleges in China is, in the experience of most students, devoid of interest or value for their after work. Reading the Old Testament is like eating a large crab; it turns out to be mostly shell, with very little meat in it.... We don't need to start with Moses and Elijah. It is enough to teach men about God as Jesus taught or revealed him” (p. 23).

Several years ago, Christianity Today published an article in which Richard Morgan severely criticized the scandal of biblical illiteracy that prevails in the churches. Morgan presented the results of a test given to 150 freshmen in a Christian college. These students were selected because they were active members of evangelical churches and because they grew up going to church. The result of the test re-emphasizes the facts that today's church is facing a crisis of knowledge. What Morgan discovered almost a half century ago, has been compounded and intensified in recent times.

The answers that students gave to the questions on the test were startling. The history of Abraham was found in the book of Ruth. The greatest event described in the Old Testament was the Roman persecution. The Exodus was the return of the Jews to Palestine after World War II. Jesus gave the Ten Commandments to Israel on the Mount of Olives. Some of the Wisdom books of the Old Testament are: the Book of Acts, Paradise Lost, and The Lord of the Flies. Genesis was the first Gospel; the name of the Hebrew heroine who saved the Jews from the hands of Haman was Joan of Arc. The mother-in-law of Ruth was Mary Magdalene and her famous great-grandson was Noah. Jesus was baptized in the Red Sea, was betrayed by Samson, and died in Bethlehem.

These answers may not reflect the intellectual abilities of those students, but they reflect the crisis facing the church today. The answers indicate that there is a lack of adequate biblical knowledge among church members and this biblical illiteracy may betray the kind of religious education churches are offering to their members. In describing the problem of biblical illiteracy, Seitz asked: “What happened to Sunday School, Bible reading at home or knowing a thing by heart?” (p. 933).

What is the source of this unfamiliarity with the Old Testament found among church people today? As Seitz suggests in his article, one reason for this problem is the lack of strong pulpits in today's church. When ministers do not know the Old Testament, when they do not preach or teach from the Old Testament, then the church is in trouble, for the attitude of ministers is eventually transmitted to the people who listen to them regularly.

One of the goals of my web page is to promote an appreciation of the Old Testament as an integral part of the Bible. The Bible does not begin with the Gospel of Matthew; it begins with the Book of Genesis. In addition, I hope readers of www.claudemariottini.com will learn more about the Old Testament through interaction. Read my articles and book reviews, ask questions, react to what I write and I promise you that in the end, your knowledge of God’s Word will grow and you will come to love the Old Testament as much as I do.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Biblical Illiteracy, Christopher Seitz, Godfrey Phillips, Hebrew Bible, Old Testament

God and Hurricane Katrina - Part 3

The devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina has inflicted the kind of human suffering that is hard to express with words. Katrina produced so much suffering and misery that people feel lost and disconnected. In the midst of the tragedy in New Orleans, Mississippi, and Alabama, people have asked many times: where was God in all of these events? Why did God allow these things to happen?

A few days ago, I heard a commentator on National Public Radio giving his views on events that followed Katrina. He was in a restaurant when he saw a couple holding hands to give thanks for their meal. In their prayer, the couple gave thanks to God for the food they were about to eat and for the many blessings God had bestowed upon them. Then, the couple prayed for the people suffering in New Orleans. They asked that God would provide them with food, help, and comfort.

The commentator asked himself: “What kind of God is this who blesses this couple but did not bless the people of New Orleans? What kind of God would give food to a middle class couple but would deprive thousands of poor people of food? I don’t want or need this kind of God.”

These were harsh words. How can we understand what happened in New Orleans and yet believe that God is good? For us to understand the tragedy of New Orleans, first, we must understand the nature of the God of the Bible.

The Bible says: “The Lord your God, is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity” (Joel 2:13). This description of God shows him to be a God who has a deep concern for needy people, just as parents are compassionate toward their children.

The goodness of God toward human beings is affirmed throughout the Bible: “The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made” (Psalm 145:9). The Bible also teaches that God loves us with a special love, since we are the work of his hands. The mercy of God, as displayed in his work of salvation, is manifested to those who are in distress and to those who are afflicted and in need of help.

Another fact that we must grasp, if we desire to understand the tragedy caused by hurricanes, is the reality of sin. In our days people don’t like to talk about sin; they don’t even want to discuss the possibility that sin is present in the world. But sin exists and every human being is a sinner. Because we are sinners, we also have to acknowledge that we live in a world that has been corrupted by sin.

When God created the world, he saw all that he had made and “it was very good” (Genesis 1:31). But sin affected the original creation of God, and earth came to be under a curse. The prophet Isaiah wrote: “Earth is polluted by its very own people, who have broken its laws, disrupted its order, violated the sacred and eternal covenant. Therefore a curse, like a cancer, ravages the earth. Its people pay the price of their sacrilege. They dwindle away, dying out one by one” (Isaiah 24:4-6).

The destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina seems to be inconsistent with the fact that God is loving, good, and merciful. God did not create a world in a degraded condition. The reality of sin has caused the corruption of nature and all of us who live in this world groan as a result of the sinfulness of human beings.

Sin has polluted earth and has subjected the whole creation to corruption and degradation. Today evil and misery prevail and we, together with the whole creation, are witnesses of what sin can do to God’s good creation.

The whole creation is in a state of degradation. The apostle Paul speaks of the redemption of creation: “Creation will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time” (Romans 8:21-22).

This is why the Bible says that at the second coming of Christ there will be a new heaven and a new earth. On that day of redemption, creation will be delivered from the degradation that affects every living thing in this world. Thus, when Jesus comes, creation will be restored to that ideal condition that existed when God created all things. Creation mourns because our sins have defiled God’s good creation, but God’s grace will bring healing to his creation.

But, how about Hurricane Katrina? Jesus said that before the coming of the last days there would be signs in the skies. He said: “And there will be strange events in the skies–signs in the sun, moon, and stars. And down here on earth the nations will be in turmoil, perplexed by the roaring seas and strange tides. The courage of many people will falter because of the fearful fate they see coming upon the earth, because the stability of the very heavens will be broken up” (Luke 21:25-26).

The roaring seas caused by hurricanes create anguish because people know the devastation a hurricane produces. Jesus said that roaring seas and strange tides are signs of the last days. However, if Hurricane Katrina caused all this agony today, what will happen when the seas and winds roar with much greater force before Christ’s second coming?

Jesus spoke of coming distress here on earth. He said people will faint with fear and trembling when disaster strikes. But when disasters happen, it does not mean that God has lost control over His creation. Some people believe that these natural events demonstrate that God is not in control of his creation. But in natural disasters we learn how devastating is the consequence of evil.

When confronted with the problem of evil and the pain and suffering associated with it, our greatest comfort is to discover that in Christ we meet a God who suffers with us, for us, and because of us. God is not indifferent to the hurt of the people: “I weep for the hurt of my people. I am stunned and silent, mute with grief” (Jeremiah 8:21).

The real answer to tragedies such as Katrina is the cross of Calvary because there our pain and suffering meet divine love. There, as we look at the one who was an innocent sufferer, we hear the words that bring healing to our broken hearts: “I care.” Jesus’ loving care is expressed in the poem written by Frank E. Graeff:

Does Jesus care when my heart is pained,
Too deeply for mirth and song;
As the burdens press and the cares distress,
And the way grows weary and long?

Does Jesus care when my way is dark
With a nameless dread and fear?
As the daylight fades into deep night shades,
Does He care enough to be near?

O yes, He cares; I know He cares,
His heart is touched by my grief;
When the days are weary, the long nights dreary,
I know my Savior cares.


Other Posts on Hurricane Katrina:

God and Hurricane Katrina - Part 1

God and Hurricane Katrina - Part 2

God and Hurricane Katrina - Part 3

The Looting of New Orleans


Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary


Tags: Evil, Flood, Judgment, Hurricane Katrina, Natural Disaster, New Orleans, Pain, Suffering

The Five Books of Moses

Our Fall Quarter is just around the corner. In a few days, I will have an infusion of new students who will begin their seminary education, eager to learn more about God’s Word and how to prepare themselves to serve the Lord as good ministers of Jesus Christ.

Most new students will begin their seminary education with my class on the “Pentateuch.” The Pentateuch is the name given to the first five books of the Old Testament. The word "Pentateuch" is composed of two Greek words: Penta (five) and teuchos (scrolls). The Pentateuch then, is another name for the five books of Moses found in the first section of the Old Testament.

The five books of Moses are Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. The name Pentateuch was first used by Tertullian, a leader of the Christian church and a prolific writer who lived in the second and third centuries of the Christian era. In one of his writings, Tertullian used the expression ha pentateuchos biblos, "the book of five scrolls," and this name has been used widely to identify the writings of Moses.

The Pentateuch is also known as "The Book of the Law of Moses," or "The Law of Moses." The Pentateuch was divided into five books of equal length which could be fit on one scroll each. The Law of Moses served as the spiritual and legal basis for the religion of Israel.

In my course on the Pentateuch, I will be using four textbooks. The primary textbook of the Pentateuch is the Bible. Students are expected to read the five books of Moses during the quarter. In addition, students are expected to read the following books: Henry J. Flanders, Robert W. Crapps, and David A. Smith, People of the Covenant, 4th ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1996), John Bright, A History of Israel, 4th ed. (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2000), and John Bright, The Kingdom of God (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1981). These are important books because they offer a good overview of the Old Testament. In future entries, I will provide more information detailing the reasons I selected these books for my course.

My students also will be required to read the following articles I wrote for the Biblical Illustrator: "The Anakim and the Nephilim,” “Ur and Haran: Abraham’s Background,” “Pharaoh's Army,” and “Mount Nebo.” These four articles are available on my web page. Read these articles, and if you have questions on the topics being discussed in them, write your question and send it to me. I will give you an answer on my web page and provide you with additional information to help you understand the topic being discussed.

The Pentateuch is known as the five books of Moses because it contains a collection of laws, historical facts, and traditions of the past that reflect the teachings of Moses. What God taught His people through the five books of Moses was God’s Word for Israel and it is God’s Word for the church of the twenty-first century.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary.

God and Hurricane Katrina - Part 2

The destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina has devastated thousands of lives in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. Despair and hopelessness are present in the lives of those people most affected by the storm. The effort at helping the victims to deal with the emotional crisis caused by this tragedy shows the compassion of the American people. Most of us will never be fully aware of the hidden tragedies faced by the thousands of people affected by Hurricane Katrina. One question lingers: where was God in this tragedy?

The Bible says that God is good and that he has determined things that will come to pass. The Bible also teaches that in His sovereignty, God controls all things in the world He created. But if God created all things, then is God the author of evil? In other words, how can evil exist in the good world that a loving and caring God has created? How do we justify the evil, suffering, and pain caused by Hurricane Katrina? These questions are related to the issue of “theodicy.” In dealing with the problems of evil and suffering, theodicy is an attempt at justifying the goodness and righteousness of God in the face of evil in the world

Several answers have been proposed to explain tragedies such as Katrina. Some people believe that after God created the world, God established permanent laws, which we call the laws of nature, and allowed the created order to work by itself according to these laws. Under this view, God is separated from the world and exercises limited powers over the created orders and is bound by the laws He established in the beginning.

Those who accept this view believe that the world functions like a machine that has been set in motion and cannot be stopped. Thus, the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina is part of the laws of nature God set in motion in this inflexible system in which the natural laws cannot be changed. Under this view, God gave nature independence and power and placed nature under inflexible laws, and then left the world and allowed nature to function by itself, devoid of divine direction.

Another view has been developed by Gregory A. Boyd, in his book God at War: The Bible and Spiritual Conflict (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1997). Boyd said that natural disasters are caused by the work of an evil agent whose work is to inflict evil and suffering upon the world. According to Boyd, “the earth is virtually engulfed by cosmic forces of destruction, and that evil and suffering are ultimately due to his diabolical siege” (p. 55). Boyd concludes that even though the Book of Genesis emphasizes that creation is good, there is evidence in the structural foundation of the cosmos that demonstrates open hostility against the creator. Because of spiritual rebellion against God, creation has fallen into a state of war against God and it is expressed in the Old Testament by the personification of the hostile waters (p. 85).

This cosmic struggle means that something about the environment of the earth was and still is hostile toward God and toward human beings. John Levenson, in his book Creation and the Persistence of Evil (San Francisco: Harper and Row, Publishers, 1988), has taken a similar position. He says that although God has mastery over these forces of chaos, “creation itself offers no ground for the optimistic belief that the malign powers will not deprive the human community of its friendly and supportive environment” (pp. 47-48). For Levenson, these adversarial forces were not vanquished in primordial times, but continue to pose a challenge to the creator. Thus, as in the days of Noah when a flood destroyed the world, the destructive force of Katrina came as a defiance of God, not as a manifestation of God’s will.

A third view is that God is limited in what He can do. Harold S. Kushner, in his book When Bad Things Happen to Good People (New York: Schocken Books, 1981), said that we cannot ask God “to change laws of nature for our own benefit, to make fatal conditions less fatal” (p. 116).

According to Kushner, people cannot pray for the impossible or the unnatural. He also believes that pockets of the chaos present in Genesis still remain today. Events in nature follow fixed natural laws but once in a while events happen that follow outside of the natural order. A hurricane does not reflect God’s choice. Hurricanes happen at random and this is another form of chaos. Thus a hurricane is not “the will of God, but represents that aspect of reality which stands independent of His will, and which angers and saddens God even as it angers and saddens us” (p. 55).

A fourth view accepted by many people is that the hurricane was a punishment of God upon the sins of the people of New Orleans. In the same way that God punished the generation of Noah with the great flood and punished the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah with an earthquake, God was punishing the people of Louisiana (or our nation) for their sins.

The Old Testament teaches that natural disasters can be understood as punishment for sins against God. In his prayer at the dedication of the temple, Solomon gave several reasons for people praying in the temple. In his prayer to God, Solomon said: “When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because your people have sinned against you, and . . . when famine or plague comes to the land, or blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers . . . and when a prayer or plea is made by any of your people, then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Forgive and act. When they sin against you–for there is no one who does not sin–and you become angry with them and if they have a change of heart . . . and say, ‘We have sinned, we have done wrong, we have acted wickedly;’ and if they turn back to you . . . then from heaven . . . hear their prayer and their plea, and . . . forgive your people, who have sinned against you; forgive all the offenses they have committed against you” (1 Kings 8:35-50).

Natural disasters can be understood as divine punishment. But how should we understand what happened in New Orleans and the communities in the Gulf States? The arguments presented above may be valid ways of understanding the devastation caused by Katrina, but are these views the right answer to what happened? I believe there is another way of understanding the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina. Next week I will present another way of understanding the work of God and the tragedy caused by Katrina.


Other Posts on Hurricane Katrina:

God and Hurricane Katrina - Part 1

God and Hurricane Katrina - Part 2

God and Hurricane Katrina - Part 3

The Looting of New Orleans


Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary


Tags: Evil, Flood, Judgment, Hurricane Katrina, Natural Disaster, New Orleans, Pain, Suffering

The Looting of New Orleans

The devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina was worse than projected. The graphic images of people struggling for survival are heart-wrenching. The destruction of the communities along the Gulf Coast is overwhelming. People everywhere have been touched by the suffering, the despair, and the depth of misery faced by the victims of Katrina.

One sad thing in this wretched situation was the inadequate preparation of local, state, and federal agencies to deal with the situation. After disaster struck, the governmental agencies were ill-prepared for the unprecedented chaos that followed. If one lesson can be discerned from this tragedy, is that the local, state, and federal governments must learn how to prepare better for emergencies, those created either by natural events such as Katrina or by man-made catastrophes caused by terrorists. We were caught unprepared on 9/11 and in New Orleans. The lessons taught by the chaos in New Orleans should be learned, discussed, and incorporated into any planning for future emergencies.

The devastation left behind by Katrina created what an editorial in The New York Times called “a total breakdown of organized society.” As a result of the lawlessness in New Orleans, the city descended into a condition that can only be classified as anarchy. Women are being raped, citizens are being attacked, people are being killed, and groups of destructive individuals are plundering stores and ransacking homes already devastated by the storm.

In the chaotic situation that followed Katrina, people were taking food, water, medicine, and clothes from stores. When men, women, and children are confronted with the pains of hunger and thirst, people will forgive those who are forced to commit larceny just to survive. But when armed marauding mobs go on a rampage and loot stores for plasma televisions, arms, jewelry, and other things that are not a necessity for survival, people cringe.

The seeds of violence and anarchy seen on the streets of New Orleans were planted long ago by people who reject the notion that moral values should be taught in school. To many people, the notion of morality has to do with poverty, homelessness, AIDS, racism, and other social evils. The truth is, none of these social evils should exist in our country. Americans are a compassionate people, willing to help the needy in our midst.

The moral values that change people come from another direction. The Bible says: “When people do not accept divine guidance, they run wild” (Proverbs 29:18). The same Hebrew word translated “run wild” also can be translated “become ungovernable.” This verse in Proverbs expresses the truth that when people do not live by God’s Word they cast off restraint, and this is what is happening in New Orleans.

Walter Kaiser, in his book Preaching and Teaching from the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2003), commenting on this passage in Proverbs said: “Can we in our day and generation recognize that the very same results come from biblical and theological illiteracy? Surely, there is deep concern about a society that seems to have lost its moorings. Our cities and towns have become more like human jungles in which we devour each other for little or no apparent reason. Only a word from God can save us from the path of self-destruction that we seem to be on” (p. 78). Kaiser also said: “The price for allowing a famine of the word of God to fester is that an outbreak of evil appears in almost all the other areas of life” (p. 82).

What word from God can “save us from the path of self-destruction that we seem to be on?” How about some of the words found in the Ten Commandments? But some people in our society do not want our population to hear the words of the Ten Commandments. In the debate about the Ten Commandments people ask: which version should we teach: the Catholic, the Protestant, or the Jewish version?

The fact is, when it comes to “You shall not steal” (Exodus 20:15), this commandment is in all three versions. The same is true with ”You shall not covet anything that belongs to your neighbor (Exodus 20:17). The commandment dealing with coveting is concerned with the actions of the heart and mind, those actions that lead to the possession of that which does not belong to one’s self. The prohibition against coveting another person’s property is intended to prevent envy, greed, or lust, the kinds of behavior that lead to abuse and crime.

How unfortunate that our society has lost those principles that made our nation great. The desire to possess what belongs to another person cannot be regulated by the government or be enforced by the good will of human beings. The truth of the Commandment against coveting can only be inculcated in the hearts of people when the Commandment is taught and learned.

Terence Fretheim in his book Exodus (Louisville: John Knox Press, 1991) wrote: “Only God can look upon the heart, can observe the presence or absence of obedience within the human spirit. In the commandments one has to do most basically with one’s relationship with God. Or to put it in other terms, sin against one’s neighbor is not simply an interhuman matter. It involves God, and the passion with which God can respond is soon to be noted” (p.239).

There is no other solution to the looting of New Orleans. Unless our hearts and minds are transformed by God’s Word, the looting will go on until we learn that we do “not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord” (Deuteronomy 8:3).


Other Posts on Hurricane Katrina:

God and Hurricane Katrina - Part 1

God and Hurricane Katrina - Part 2

God and Hurricane Katrina - Part 3

The Looting of New Orleans


Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary


Tags: Evil, Flood, Judgment, Hurricane Katrina, Natural Disaster, New Orleans, Pain, Suffering