Unless stated otherwise, my source for hymn texts and tunes is The Lutheran Service Book.

Wednesday, May 19, 2021

LSB #572 "In the Shattered Bliss of Eden"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Genesis 3:1-24, Leviticus 16:6-19, Romans 5:15-19, Revelation 7:9-17

Genesis 3:1-24:  "1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made.

"He said to the woman, 'Did God actually say, "You shall not eat of any tree in the garden"?'  2 And the woman said to the serpent, 'We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, "You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die."'  4 But the serpent said to the woman, 'You will not surely die.  5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.'  6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.  7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked.  And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

"8 And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.  9 But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, 'Where are you?'  10 And he said, 'I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.'  11 He said, 'Who told you that you were naked?  Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?'  12 The man said, 'The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.'  13 Then the LORD God said to the woman, 'What is this that you have done?'  The woman said, 'The serpent deceived me, and I ate.'

"14 The LORD God said to the serpent, 'Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beats of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. 15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.’

"16 To the woman he said, 'I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.'

"17 And to Adam he said, 'Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, "You shall not eat of it," cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; 18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field.  19 By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.'

"20 The man called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.  21 And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.

"22 Then the LORD God said, 'Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil.  Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever -'  23 therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken.  24 He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life."

Leviticus 16:6-19:  "'6 Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering for himself and shall make atonement for himself and for his house.  7 Then he shall take the two goats and set them before the LORD at the entrance of the tent of meeting.  8 And Aaron shall cast lots over the two goats, one lot for the LORD and the other lot for Azazel.  9 And Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot fell for the LORD and use it as a sin offering, 10 but the goat on which the lot fell for Azazel shall be presented alive before the LORD to make atonement over it, that it may be sent away into the wilderness to Azazel.

"'11 Aaron shall present the bull as a sin offering for himself, and shall make atonement for himself and for his house.  He shall kill the bull as a sin offering for himself.  12 And he shall take a censer full of coals of fire from the altar before the LORD, and two handfuls of sweet incense beaten small, and he shall bring it inside the veil 13 and put the incense on the fire before the LORD, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is over the testimony, so that he does not die.  14 And he shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the front of the mercy seat on the east side, and in front of the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times.

"'15 Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering that is for the people and bring its blood inside the veil and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, sprinkling it over the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat.  16 Thus he shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleannesses of the people of Israel and because of their transgressions, all their sins.  And so he shall do for the tent of meeting, which dwells with them in the midst of their uncleannesses.  17 No one may be in the tent of meeting from the time he enters to make atonement in the Holy Place until he comes out and has made atonement for himself and for his house and for all the assembly of Israel.  18 Then he shall go out to the altar that is before the LORD and make atonement for it, and shall take some of the blood of the bull and some of the blood of the goat, and put it on the horns of the altar all around.  19 And he shall sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it and consecrate it from the uncleannesses of the people of Israel.'"

Romans 5:15-19:  "15 But the free gift is not like the trespass.  For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many.  16 And the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin.  For the judgement following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification.  17 For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.

"18 Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.  19 For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous."

Revelation 7:9-17:  "9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, 'Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!'  11 And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying, 'Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.'

"13 Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, 'Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?'  14 I said to him, 'Sir, you know.'  And he said to me, 'These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation.  They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

"15 'Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence.  16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat.  17 For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.'"

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These citations are easy to find in the hymn, although the hymn doesn't draw as much from them as their lengths would suggest.  The text from Genesis (particularly verses 7 and 21) is referred to in the first verse (and, to a lesser extent, in the sixth), and the text from Leviticus in the second.  The passage from Romans appears in the third verse, and the passage from Revelation in the fifth.  The white robes from Revelation 7:14 are mentioned in the fifth verse, and in the sixth, they're contrasted with the "leafy garments" from the hymn's first verse and Genesis 3:7.

The fourth verse calls Jesus the "Lamb of God," which comes from John 1:29, and talks about the Lord's Supper and quotes the Words of Institution, which could be cited from Matthew 26:26-28, Mark 14:22-24, Luke 22:19-20, or 1 Corinthians 11:23-25.