There is a very good reason why the SCOBA Orthodox jurisdictions de-emphasize the Old Testament. Because it conceptualizes the words of Christ, and adds to their meaning. Christ preached to an audience that knew the prophets and historical books well, and thus crafted his speech within this context. Hence, if one wishes to manipulate the words of Christ to conform to a modernist agenda, the Old Testament is out. Outright denial of the inspiration of the “violent and intolerant” Old Testament is common among the modernist semi-Orthodox.
The Book of Amos is a powerful work of prophesy not only in condemnation of Israel in his day, but a prediction for the same evils that will create chaos in Christ’s church, that of the Orthodox communion. King Jeroboam of Israel reigned from 786 to 746 BC. Like most kings of the era, they were more concerned with profitable trading relationships and military alliances than with the worship of the One God. The reality is, then and now, that such relationships actually mandate the public acceptance of the gods and traditions of the trading or military partner. Thus, over time, Israel was inundated with foreign gods. The prophets were the result.
The kings of Israel were rather “reasonable” people, concerned with money and national security, and armed with the belief that God certainly is not concerned with such minor details. But issues of national security, so important to Ahaz or Jeroboam, derived from the fall of Israel from the City of God, the community called and created by God, to the city of man, or the city of chaos, the lower order of nature and power. Profitable trade led immediately to concerns of national security, hence, the second reason for the prophets, the rejection of egalitarianism for the Israelites and the acceptance of a “realistic” quasi-capitalist order modeled after the Phoenicians.
The Old Testament requires a family based, egalitarian order. Not a hierarchy of wealth or aristocratic power. This is the basic social order of Christianity, and most certainly, is another powerful reason why the old law is rarely dealt with in Orthodox circles. Once Israel fell from grace and became just another minor empire, major inequalities existed among people, something taken as merely “realistic” by the ruling classes. But as always, such inequalities continued to feed to the unending quest for money and security, a state which inevitably leads to the paganization of the society. Hence, the prophets are clear: the acceptance of inequality among Israelites is the first step on the slippery slope to evolutionism and paganism.
Specifically, however, they led to what are called the “Sins of Jeroboam” and recounted regularly by the great agrarian prophet Amos. The sins are the following:
It is almost too obvious to create parallels with aspects of Orthodox history, including our present day. Here we see something that recurs in Old Testament history: groups of elites, whether religious or political, forgetting about Yahweh, or, more accurately, taking his patience for granted, and, in their “realistic” seeking for political support or lucrative trade ventures, oversee the moral disintegration of the covenant society, whose sole successor is the Orthodox church.
Prophets and other righteous arise and loudly, indeed, “unreasonably” condemn such excesses, and speak of God’s wrath and anger on such leadership. The prophets are banished, often killed, labeled and socially branded as outcasts as a result. Small communities remain, and are called, at different times, either the “remnant of Israel,” or, what can mean the same thing, the “seed of rebuilding.”
The point of the parable of the vines in the early part of Isaiah is precisely an allegorical recounting of this process. The church grows large and prosperous, her ministers, whether political or ecclesiastical, take this for granted, and soon, the crash comes. But the crashes, such as the Assyrians in Isaiah’s time, or the Russian raskol, Arianism, the Turkokratia in the Balkans, the Mongols, divisions among the Old Calendarists and Ukrainians, the Marxists, the Modernists and Masons, the ecumenists, the calendar split, in ours, etc. do not exist merely as a punishment for the proverbial “sins of Jeroboam,” but to prepare the ground for regrouping and rebuilding. These crashes pull the Orthodox from seeking solace in institutions and social dominance and thus turn (lit. convert) their eyes to heaven. Jeremiah says, “Behold, I will cast away far off the inhabitants of the Israelite land at this time: I will afflict them, so they will be found” (Jer 10:18). Orthodox are not supposed to be “socially dominant,” or our faith turned to “institutions” or the “right synod.” The Orthodox are a remnant, they live in the City of God, which, by its very definition, exists outside of the context and matrix of fallen nature and political power, ecclesiastical or otherwise.
When the church functions in the lower realm of power, money and station, schisms occur. When the church becomes a socially dominant institution, she takes God’s mercy for granted. The church becomes mere social ritual, begins to take institutions as ends in themselves, worships perfunctorily, and becomes comfortable. God has always condemned such behavior and has “shocked” the church into positions of secondary importance so the faith turns to God, not to institutions, states, governments or armies. This is the point of persecutions: the vines of Isaiah are pruned. The grapes are sour, and sometimes do not grow at all. Hence, things must change: the soil is exhausted, or the vines have not been pruned back enough. Sometimes, the leadership/husbandmen is/are incompetent. Hence, they are pruned and thrust into the fire. Isaiah spends a great deal of time using this allegory, and Orthodox people, who alone have been given the Old Testament, need to take it seriously. Today, the vines are being pruned again. The New Calendarists, the ecumenists, the schismatic Old Calendarists and so many others find psychological solace in “synods” and institutions, being part of the “right” jurisdiction, being considered “canonical” and other forms of idolatry lead them to look downwards, to this lower world of cause and effect, the world of the city of man, of those without baptism, who have neither freedom or immortal souls.
With the dilettantish obsession with “canon law” and “canonicity” few bother to worry about the podvigi of this world: raising families in a heterodox and cacodox environment, turning our houses into little monasteries, mastering the liturgical materials, living for God alone. Little of this is happening, as the Old Calendarists seem to vie with the SCOBA groups for immorality and corruption, splitting among themselves for the most minor “canonical violations,” spend money in lawsuits and personal attacks: God has already cut them off; pruned them so that the remnant can recognize themselves and continue to grow in grace. Being part of the “right” Old Calendar jurisdiction, or one that you think is “canonical” avails you nothing. In Israel, as with Judah, being part of royal society the accepting the officially promoted priesthood, while “respectable” and “realistic,” availed them slavery, destruction and eventually exile. All the while, tiny groups of “fanatics,” often without clergy, maintained the love of God under harsh circumstances, as the Book of Daniel shows.
Thus, how do we conclude, what do we do to protect ourselves from either the physical or spiritual invasion of Assyria? Here are a few ideas that apply to all of us, without distinction:
Concerning the remnant, the prophet says, “And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand the second time to possess the remnant of his people, which shall be left from the Assyrians. . .and he shall set up a standard unto the nations, and shall assemble the fugitives of Israel and shall gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four quarters of the earth” (11:11-12).
And, still, the prophets’s optimism: “And it shall come to pass. That God will give thee rest from this labor, from thy vexation, and from bondage. . .thou should take up this parable to the king of Babylon and say: How is now the oppressor come to nothing, the tribute has ceased?” (14:4). The remnant, no matter how tiny, will win in the end.
If all of us being to internalize such things, making such ideas a basic part of our mental vocabulary, one will notice radical changes: Fewer worries, the lifting of depression and anxiety, more intense loves, appreciation of simpler things, separation from sin, a feeling of lightness, feelings of accomplishment and purpose. These are just a few results of some simple lifestyle changes, changes mandated by the Law of God as manifested in the prophets. Let the OCA parish down the street build its new church, stuff their smug faces and wear fashionable clothes like Solomon: you, Orthodox man, stay at home (if there are no other options) and read the Gospel and the Psalms in silence. As Isaiah says, “Upon the dark mountain lift ye up a banner, exult the voice, life up the hand, and let the rulers go to the gates. I have commanded by sanctified ones, I have called my strong ones in my wrath, them that rejoice in my glory. The noise of the multitude in the mountains as it were of many people, the noise of the sounds of kings of nations gathered together: the Lord of hosts hath given charge to the troops of war” (13:2-5). And, “Behold, the day of the Lord shall come, a cruel day, and full of indignation, and of wrath, and fury, to lay the Israelite land desolate, and to destroy the sinners out of it.” (13:9). And Jeremiah, “Many pastors have destroyed my vineyard, they have trodden my portion underfoot; they have changed my delightful portion into a desolate wilderness. . . .they have sown wheat and reaped thorns; they have received an inheritance a d it shall not profit them; you shall be ashamed of your fruits because of the fierce wrath of the Lord.” (Jer 12: 10-13).