May 26: The Book of Tobit: An Angel Among Us Story

Starter Questions:  What is your favorite Fairy Tale and why?

                                    Have you ever heard of an angel-among-us story?

Not meant to be a real story  -- rather it is meant to tell the tale of a good family and how they live with and conquer evil.  Also that heavenly beings walk among and with us.  You do not know who the stranger is, maybe he is from God.

Places:

Nineveh: One of the greatest cities of the ancient world.  It was 1,900 acres or about 3 square miles.  (Northern Iraq on the Tigris River).  It had been in existence for about 3,000 years before it was destroyed by the Babylonians.

Media: At the time of this story a vassal state in Northern Iran.  In a few decades they would conquer Nineveh and become the Babylonians.

Ragae:  in Media, where Gabriel lives, who kept money for Tobit.

Ecbatana: in Media, 325 miles south east of Nineveh, where Sarah, Reguel, and Edna live.                                    Ecbatana is about halfway between Nineveh and Ragae.

Themes:  Reverence for the Dead

                        Family Piety

                        Purity of Marriage

                        Intercession of Angels

                        Prayer

The book centers around Tobit and his immediate and extended family.  They are Jews living in Nineveh, after the Assyrian invasion of Israel – 750 BCE.  The extended family lived in Media.

Reverence for the Dead: Respecting the end of life is a way to respect life itself.

Tobit considers that his ministry must be to bury the dead so that they may have a respectful death.

Tobit asks his son to bury him and his mother when they die with proper funeral services.

Tobais buries not only his parents but also his parents-in-law with the proper respect.

Family Piety:

Tobias honors his Father’s requests to bring the money back.

Raphael the angel disguises himself as a kinsman, Azariah, the son of Hananiah, who is Tobit’s cousin.

Tobit commands Tobias to take a wife from his kinsman.  Sarah is a relation and therefore should marry Tobias.  Reguel accepts Tobias as a son-in-law because he is part of the family.

            (The term cousin means any relation that is in the same generation or lower.  This could be a first, second, third, or fourth cousin.)

The Bonds of family are strong and should be trusted.

There is also the speech of wisdom that Tobit gives to Tobias: Tobit talks about Charity – Living a moral life (centered around finding the right wife)—Loving and honoring kindred – Paying fair wages to workers – Serving God – Being well disciplined in conduct – Avoiding sinners – Asking advice of wise men – Blessing the Lord and asking him for guidance and help – And to not fall into heathen ways.

Purity of Marriage:

Marriage as an interconnection of families.

Marriage as a continuation of the human race.

Marriage is not built on lust, but in the desire to find the truth of living.

Marriage is a foundation for morality.  If a husband and wife are honest and moral with each other then the family will stay strong and continue.

Intercession of Angels: 3:16-17

            The intercession of the angel Raphael shows that God takes action in the lives of ordinary believers.  First, God’s action is revealed by the fact that God hears and pays attentions to people’s prayers and their distress.  Second, God acts indirectly through mediators when he sends angels or people to us to help us.  Third God acts in surprising ways.  Sarah thinks she has no chance of marriage.  Tobias isn’t thinking about marriage – only about retrieving the money for his father.  God sends us what we need but also a surprising more as a gift when he sets about to solve our problems.

            The book says, “Don’t be surprised if you see angels among us.”

The character of Raphael/Azariah is interesting.  He is described as a young man, but a little older than Tobias.

There are Six Prayers in this book:

1. Tobit after he loses his sight

2. Sarah after she loses her seventh husband to the demon.

3. Tobias and Sarah pray to God before they sleep together.

4. Raguel finds out that Tobias is alive.

5. Tobit is healed of his blindness

6.  Tobit’s final prayer of rejoicing.

Classic prayers move from God’s greatness, to God’s name, To God’s Works.  Then we get to the difficulties and the request.  The prayer usually ends with an acceptance of whatever happens in life the person will do their best with what God gives them.