“Lamech said to his wives, ‘Adah and Zillah, listen to me; wives of Lamech, hear my words. I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for injuring me. If Cain is avenged seven times, then Lamech seventy-seven times.’” (Genesis 4:23-24)
“Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, ‘Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?’ Jesus answered, ‘I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.” (Matthew 18:21-22)
“Blessed are the peacemakers” (Matthew 5:9)
The Swiss theologian Karl Barth is usually credited as originator of the suggestion that our preaching should be with a Bible in one hand and a newspaper in the other, with the newspaper interpreted by the Bible. In my regular quiet time reading I am back in Genesis. Lamech’s words (Gen.4:23-24) caught my eye on the same day that my news feed reported both the judgement of the International Court of Justice on Israeli action in Palestinian territories and the potential escalation of conflict between Israel and Hamas/Hezbollah. As I turned to prayer – scripture in one hand and news story in the other – the words of Jesus to Peter also came to mind (Matt.18:21-22). While other references to seventy-sevens also seemed to have some relevance (notably in Judges 8 and Daniel 9), it was the sharp contrast between Lamech’s and Jesus’s words that shaped my prayers that day.
We do not know what specific incident prompted Peter to speak to Jesus, but the response of Jesus leapt out at me as strikingly relevant, subversive, and powerful in the context of that day’s news. But Jesus’s words sit uneasily alongside the newspaper reports. His words are clear enough, but it quickly becomes messy and disturbing when I imagine them being spoken to any participant or victim in the current Middle East situation. His words would provoke visceral emotions and prompt difficult questions. How on earth are His words to be interpreted and applied there? Where does faith fit in the fractured realities of our world?
I do not know. I have no answers. But I know my prayers that day focussed on the need for peacemakers and reconcilers of supreme courage and integrity and faith. And not in the Middle East alone. I only know I must keep on reading my bible and my newspaper together and keep on striving to live in the space between them.
May God help us to be His people and to live His Word in His world.