If you read the Bible as the font of all knowledge, and not
just theological truth, this blog post is for you. This is the kind of biblical
interpretation that you can only find here; I can promise you that and soon you
will be thankful for it. Without further ado, let's get down to biblical interpretation.
What does the Bible say about the San Francisco 49ers?
This passage from Leviticus 25:1-13 is most pertinent for the
49ers:
1 The Lord spoke to Moses on Mount
Sinai, saying: 2 Speak to the people of Israel and say to them: When you enter
the land that I am giving you, the land shall observe a sabbath for the Lord. 3
Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your
vineyard, and gather in their yield; 4 but in the seventh year there shall be a
sabbath of complete rest for the land, a sabbath for the Lord: you shall not
sow your field or prune your vineyard. 5 You shall not reap the aftergrowth of
your harvest or gather the grapes of your unpruned vine: it shall be a year of
complete rest for the land. 6 You may eat what the land yields during its
sabbath—you, your male and female slaves, your hired and your bound laborers
who live with you; 7 for your livestock also, and for the wild animals in your
land all its yield shall be for food. 8 You shall count off seven weeks of years, seven times seven years, so that the period of seven weeks
of years gives forty-nine years. 9 Then you shall have the trumpet sounded
loud; on the tenth day of the seventh month—on the day of atonement—you shall
have the trumpet sounded throughout all your land. 10 And you shall hallow the
fiftieth year and you shall proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its
inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you: you shall return, every one of you,
to your property and every one of you to your family. 11 That fiftieth year
shall be a jubilee for you: you shall not sow, or reap the aftergrowth, or
harvest the unpruned vines. 12 For it is a jubilee; it shall be holy to you:
you shall eat only what the field itself produces. 13 In this year of jubilee
you shall return, every one of you, to your property.
Most relevant for our discussion is 25:8, “You shall count
off seven weeks of years, seven times seven years, so that the period of seven
weeks of years gives forty-nine years.” Here we have the “49ers” mentioned by name, I
think, and not only are they mentioned by name but in the following verses it
is said that “the trumpet sounded loud” and it is called a “day of atonement”
(25:9). This could, indeed, refer to victory in the Super Bowl and “atonement”
for the loss to the Giants last year in the NFC championship. But it is then
said that “you shall hallow the fiftieth year and you shall proclaim liberty
throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you”
(25:10). This could refer to a victory parade; the hyperbole of “hallow the fiftieth year” and “proclaim
liberty throughout the land” might simply be coded language for the celebration
of the championship in the Super Bowl.
The following verses, however, in their notice of return “to your
property and every one of you to your family… you shall not sow, or reap the aftergrowth,
or harvest the unpruned vines. For it is a jubilee; it shall be holy to you:
you shall eat only what the field itself produces. In this year of jubilee you
shall return, every one of you, to your property” (25:10-13) might have more to
do with California agricultural success and the return of people to the land.
It might also have more to do with the unproductive nature of the quest for
victory, too, that the “land,” the football field, did not produce what was
necessary. It is fallow and it was intended to be fallow.
But the Bible must always be read in light of the Bible.
Before rushing in to any particular conclusions, what is said about the Ravens
in the Bible? Much more, actually, much more.
In 1 Kings 17:3-6, Elijah the prophet is instructed by God
to "Go from here and turn eastward, and hide yourself by the Wadi Cherith,
which is east of the Jordan. You shall drink from the wadi, and I have
commanded the ravens to feed you there." So he went and did according to
the word of the Lord; he went and lived by the Wadi Cherith, which is east of
the Jordan. The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and
meat in the evening; and he drank from the wadi.” The ravens, that is, carry
out the word of God, giving sustenance to his God’s prophet, Elijah. Could we see Ray Lewis as a latter day football prophet?
But not only do the ravens feed the prophet, God feeds the
ravens according to Psalm 147:9: “He gives to the animals their food, and to
the young ravens when they cry.” The crying is probably a reference to Ray
Lewis, although he is not a “young raven” according to the age of football
players, and if this is the case then the “feeding” of the ravens could be seen
as a Super Bowl victory. Jesus says much
the same thing in Luke 12:24, “Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap,
they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them.” God feeds the
ravens. How else could feeding be seen but God's desire that the Ravens win the Super Bowl? That's how much God cares about football (and American football precisely, not Canadian football, or association football, or rugby football, but American football) and that the right team win it all!
Now, things can get darker when it comes to the ravens, too,
as seen by this saying from Proverbs 30:17: “The eye that mocks a father and
scorns to obey a mother will be pecked out by the ravens of the valley and
eaten by the vultures.” This is a powerful and germane verse, of course, since
the “father and mother” of both coaches are the same! That is correct; the
teams are coached by the brothers Harbaugh, one named Jim, the other John. I
actually do not know which brother coaches which team, but the one that coaches
the 49ers will have his eyes “pecked out,” metaphorically of course, “by the
ravens!” I do not know how he might have
mocked his father or scorned to obey his mother – maybe that’s metaphorical
too! – but whichever one he is, John or Jim, his eyes are getting “pecked out,”
in a spiritual, fulfill the Bible sort of way. These ravens are said to be “of
the valley” and I do not know if Baltimore is in a valley, but north of
Baltimore is “Hunt Valley” and not only is that close enough, but what are
ravens who peck out eyes, metaphorically of course, doing if not hunting?
There seems to be an overwhelming amount of evidence here
that the Bible suggests the Ravens will win the Super Bowl. The Ravens work on
God’s behalf feeding prophets, such as Ray Lewis, and God cares for them and feeds them. They also
peck out the eyes of those who scorn and mock their mother and father and
though, as mentioned earlier, there is no actual evidence of any such scorning
and mocking, let’s just let that pass.
It is true, of course, that the 49ers passage from Leviticus
speaks of a great “Jubilee,” a celebration throughout the land, but this is
connected more with agriculture, though it is possible that “the land” could be
understood as the “land” represented by the football field, the mighty gridiron
itself. If that is the case, however, we
must say that following the 49ers will be a year that is “fallow.” As such, it
seems to me that according to the Bible the Ravens will win the Super Bowl.
It is entirely possible, I suppose, that the Bible itself
does not speak of football games, that it does not predict the outcome of
games, but that these games might be predicated on the players and coaches and
how hard they prepared for the game itself. It might be that no matter what, it
is just a game, a time for spectators to relax, enjoy the game and have fun
with friends. I suppose that the Bible is more about how we ought to live our
lives than about predicting outcomes and futures. I suppose you ought not to
bet on the outcome of a game based upon what I have written here, though I
would be remiss not to mention that there sure are a lot of passages in the
Bible that talk about “casting
lots.” Not that God cares who wins. And it is probably not best to bet too much on my biblical interpretation, even metaphorically speaking.
John W. Martens
Follow me on Twitter @BibleJunkies
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