Day 193: The Book of Tobit (2024)

This episode delves into the Book of Tobit, exploring its narrative and theological significance, especially within the context of the Catholic tradition versus other denominations.

1. Understanding of Deuterocanonical Books: Father Mike clarifies the nature and role of these books in the Catholic tradition.
2. Historical Context: The episode provides historical insights into the canonization processes of religious texts.
3. Scriptural Reflections: Father Mike connects the readings to broader theological and moral implications.
4. Narrative of Tobit: Exploration of Tobit’s themes such as faith, suffering, and divine intervention.
5. Practical Application: Encourages reflection on personal faith and adherence to God's commandments.

1: Introduction

Father Mike Schmitz introduces the episode, explaining its focus on the Book of Tobit and its significance in the biblical canon. Father Mike Schmitz: "Today, we're diving into the Book of Tobit, a profound text with rich narratives that speak across denominations."

2: Historical and Theological Context

The historical and theological background of the Deuterocanonical books is discussed, explaining their presence in the Catholic Bible. Father Mike Schmitz: "These books were universally recognized in early Christianity and offer deep insights into our faith."

3: Reading and Reflection

Scriptural readings from Isaiah, Tobit, and Proverbs are shared, followed by reflections on their meaning and relevance. Father Mike Schmitz: "Through these readings, we see the unfolding of God’s justice and mercy."

4: Closing Thoughts

Father Mike concludes the episode with a prayer and an encouragement to reflect on the day's teachings. Father Mike Schmitz: "Let's carry these teachings into our lives, reflecting on how we can better follow God's path."

1. Daily Scripture Reading: Incorporate regular Bible reading into your daily routine to deepen your spiritual understanding.
2. Engage with Church Teachings: Explore the historical and theological context of biblical texts through church teachings to enhance comprehension.
3. Reflective Prayer: Use the insights from the episode to guide your prayers, asking for wisdom and guidance.
4. Community Discussion: Discuss episodes and scripture readings with a community group to gain diverse perspectives and deeper insights.
5. Moral Application: Apply the moral teachings from the episode, such as charity and honesty, in everyday interactions.

Fr. Mike focuses on the book of Tobit today and explains why this beautiful book is missing from non-Catholic Bibles. He dives into the history behind the arrangement of the Bible, and why the Catholic Bible includes 73 books. Todays's readings are Isaiah 3-4, Tobit 3-4, and Proverbs 9:13-18.

People

Father Mike Schmitz

Books

The Bible, specifically the Book of Tobit

Content Warnings:

None

Father Mike Schmitz
Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz, and you're listening to the Bible in e Year podcast, where we encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of scripture. The Bible in Ear podcast is brought to you by ascension using the great adventure Bible timeline. We'll read all the way from Genesis to revelation, discovering how the story of salvation unfolds and how we fit into that story. Today, it is day 193, and we are reading today from Isaiah, chapters three and four. Also tobit, chapter three and four, and proverbs, chapter nine, verses 13 through 18.

As always, the Bible translation that I am reading from is the revised Standard Version, second catholic edition, and I'm using the great Adventure Bible from Ascension. If you want to download your own Bible in a year reading plan, you can visit ascensionpress.com bibleina. You also can subscribe to this podcast by clicking on subscribe, and then you get daily episodes every single day that we put out a podcast. As I said yesterday, today we're going to talk a little bit about so where did this book of Tobit come from? Because I hear there's a rumor out there that you Catholics have, maybe, I don't know, 73 books in your Bible, whereas non Catholics have 66 books in their Bible.

And so what's the story behind that? I will do my best to recap, count that tale as best I can today. That's for today. So. But until then, well, here it is.

This is the day, dave 193. We're reading Isaiah, chapters three and four. Tobit, chapter three and four. Proverbs 913 through 18.

The Book of the prophet Isaiah, chapter three. The Lord's judgment. For behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, is taking away from Jerusalem and from Judah. Stay and staff the whole stay of bread and the whole day of water. The mighty man and the soldier, the judge and the prophet, the diviner and the elder, the captain of 50 and the man of rank, the counsellor and the skilful magician, and the expert in charms.

And I will make boys their princes, and infants shall rule over them. And the people will oppress one another, every man his fellow, and every man his neighbor. The youth will be insolent to the elder, and the base fellow to the honorable. When a man takes hold of his brother in the house of his father, saying, you have a mantle, you shall be our leader, and this heap of ruins shall be under your rule. In that day, he will speak out, saying, I will not be a healer in my house.

There is neither bread nor mantle. You shall not make me leader of the people. For Jerusalem has stumbled and Judah has fallen. Because their speech and their deeds are against the lord. Defying his glorious presence, their partiality witnesses against them.

They proclaim their sin. Like Sodom, they do not hide it. Woe to them, for they have brought evil upon themselves. Tell the righteous that it shall be well with them, for they shall eat the fruit of their deeds. Woe to the wicked.

It shall be ill with them, for what his hands have done shall be done to him. My people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, your leaders mislead you and confuse the course of your paths. The Lord has taken his place to contend. He stands to judge his people.

The lord enters into judgment with the elders and princes of his people. It is you who have devoured the vineyard. The spoil of the poor is in your houses. What do you mean by crushing my people? By grinding the face of the poor, says the Lord of hosts.

The Lord said, because the daughters of Zion are haughty and walk with outstretched necks, glancing wantonly with their eyes, mincing along as they go, tinkling with their feet. The Lord will strike with a scab the heads of the daughters of Zion and the Lord will lay bare their secret parts. In that day the Lord will take away the finery of their anklets, the headbands and the crescents, the pendants, the bracelets and the scarfs, the head dresses, the armlets, the sashes, the perfume boxes and the amulets, the signet rings and nose rings, the festal robes, the mantles, the cloaks and the handbags, the garments of gauze, the linen garments, the turbans and the veils. Instead of perfume, there will be rottenness, and instead of a belt, a rope, and instead of well set hair, baldness and instead of a rich robe, a putting on of sackcloth. Instead of beauty, shame.

Your men shall fall by the sword, and your mighty men in battle and her gates shall lament and mourntain. Ravaged, she shall sit upon the ground. Chapter four and seven women shall take hold of one man in that day, saying, we will eat our own bread and wear our own clothes. Only let us be called by your name. Take away our reproach.

In that day the branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land shall be the pride and glory of the survivors of Israel. And he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy. Everyone who has been recorded for life in Jerusalem. When the Lord Shalove washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodstains of Jerusalem from its midst by a spirit of judgment and by a spirit of burning. Then the Lord will create over the whole site of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud by day and smoke and shining of a flaming fire by night.

For over all the glory there will be a canopy and a pavilion. It will be for a shade by day from the heat of and for a refuge and a shelter from the storm and rain.

The book of Tobit, chapter three. Tobit's prayer. Then in my grief I wept, and I prayed in anguish, saying, righteous are you, O Lord, all your deeds are just, and all your ways are mercy and truth, and you render true and righteous judgment forever. And now, O Lord, remember me and look favorably upon me. Do not punish me for my sins and for my unwitting offenses and those which my fathers committed before you.

For we disobeyed your commandments, and you gave us over to plunder, captivity, and death. You made us the talk, the byword, and an object of reproach in all the nations among which you have dispersed us. And now your many judgments are true in exacting penalty from me for my sins and those of my fathers, because we did not keep your commandments, for we did not walk in truth before you. And now deal with me according to your pleasure. Command my spirit to be taken up, that I may be released from the face of the earth and become dust.

For it is better for me to die than to live, because I have heard false reproaches. And great is the sorrow within me. Command that I now be released from my distress. Release me to go to the eternal abode. And do not, O Lord, turn your face away from me.

For it is better for me to die than to see so much distress in my life and listen to such insults. Sarah falsely accused on that same day, Erekbatana in media. It also happened that Sarah, the daughter of Raguel, was reproached by her father's maids because she had been given to seven husbands, and the evil demon Asmodeus had slain each of them before he had been with her as his wife. So the maids said to her, you are the one who kills your husbands. See, you have already had seven and have had no benefit from any of them.

Why do you beat us? Because your husbands are dead. Go with them. May we never see a son or daughter of yours. Sarah's prayer for death on that day, she was deeply grieved in spirit and wept when she had gone up to her father's upper room.

She intended to hang herself, but she thought it over and said, never shall they reproach my father, saying to him, you only had one beloved daughter. But she hanged herself because of her distress. And I shall bring his old age down in sorrow to the grave. It is better for me not to hang myself, but to pray the Lord that I may die. And not listen to these reproaches any more.

At that same time, with hands outstretched toward the window, she prayed and said, blessed are you, O Lord, merciful God. And blessed is your holy and honored name forever. May all your works praise you forever. And now, o Lord, I have turned my eyes and my face toward you. Command that I be released from the earth, and that I hear reproach no more.

You know, o lord, that I am innocent of any sin with man. And that I did not stain my name or the name of my father in the land of my captivity. I am my father's only child, and he has no child to be his heir, no near kinsman or kinsman's son, for whom I should keep myself as wife. Already seven husbands of mine are dead. Why should I live?

But if it be not pleasing to you to take my life, command that respect be shown to me, and pity be taken upon me, and that I hear reproach no more. An answer to prayer. At that very moment, the prayer of both was heard in the presence of the glory of the great God. And Raphael was sent to heal the two of them, to scale away the white films of Tobit's eyes. To give Sarah, the daughter of Raguel, in marriage to Tobias, the son of Tobitz, and to bind Asmodeus, the evil demon, because Tobias was entitled to possess her.

At that very moment, Tobit returned and entered his house, and Sarah, the daughter of Raguel, came down from her upper room. Chapter four. Tobit gives instructions to his son. On that day, Tobit remembered the money which he had left in trust with Gabael at rages in media. And he said to himself, I have asked for death.

Why do I not call my son Tobias so that I may explain to him about the money before I die? So he called him and said, my son, when I die, bury me and do not neglect your mother. Honor her all the days of your life. Do what is pleasing to her and do not grieve her. Remember, my son, that she faced many dangers for you while you were yet unborn.

When she dies, bury her beside me in the same grave. Remember the Lord our God all your days my son, and refuse to sin or to transgress his commandments. Live uprightly all the days of your life, and do not walk in the ways of wrongdoing. For if you do what is true, your ways will prosper through your deeds. Give alms from your possessions to all who live uprightly.

And do not let your eye begrudge the gift when you make it. Do not turn your face away from any poor man, and the face of God will not be turned away from you. If you have many possessions, make your gift from them in proportion. If few, do not be afraid to give according to the little you have. So you will be laying up a good treasure for yourself against the day of necessity.

For charity delivers from death and keeps you from entering the darkness. And for all who practice it, charity is an excellent offering in the presence of the most high. Beware, my son, of all immorality. First of all, take a wife from among your descendants of your fathers, and do not marry a foreign woman who is not of your father's tribe. For we are the sons of the prophets.

Remember, my son, that Noah, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, our fathers of old, all took wives from among their brethren. They were blessed in their children, and their posterity will inherit the land. So now, my son, love your brethren, and in your heart do not disdain your brethren and the sons and daughters of your people by refusing to take a wife for yourself from among them. For in pride there is ruin and great confusion, and in shiftlessness there is loss and great want, because shiftlessness is the mother of famine. Do not hold over till the next day the wages of any man who works for you, but pay him at once.

And if you serve God, you will receive payment. Watch yourself, my son, in everything you do, and be disciplined in all your conduct and what you hate, do not do to anyone. Do not drink wine to excess, or let drunkenness go with you on your way. Give of your bread to the hungry and of your clothing to the naked. Give all your surplus to charity, and do not let your eye begrudge the gift when you make it.

Place your bread on the grave of the righteous, but give none to sinners. Seek advice from every wise man, and do not despise any useful counsel. Bless the Lord on every occasion. Ask him that your ways be made straight, and that all your paths and plans may prosper. For none of the nations has understanding.

But the Lord himself gives all good things, and according to his will he humbles whomever he wishes. So, my son, remember my commands, and do not let them be blotted out of your mind. And now let me explain to you about the ten talents of silver which I left in trust with Gabael, the son of Gabrius, Arages and Mediaev. Do not be afraid, my son, because we have become poor. You have great wealth if you fear God and refrain from every sin and do what is pleasing in his sight.

The book of proverbs, chapter nine, verses 1318. A foolish woman is noisy, she is wanton, and she knows no shame. She sits at the door of her house. She takes a seat on the high places of the town, calling to those who pass by, who are going straight on their way. Whoever is simple, let him turn in here, and to him who was without sense.

She says, stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant, but he does not know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of Sheol.

The Father in heaven, we thank you and give you praise. We, ah, we know that you invite us to. No, you command us. You tell us to seek wisdom and to avoid foolishness. And so not only in the book of proverbs do we have that sense of like, okay, Lord, you remind us that.

Yeah, so many voices calling to us. So many voices saying, hello, over here. Over here. Over here. Come over here.

Give us your attention. Give us your heart. Give us your mind. Give us your life. Because everything that takes our attention is taking our life.

Everything that we give a minute of our attention to. We've given a minute of our lives to mended of our heart, too. And so, God, help us to be wise. Help us to not turn to every foolish voice, every foolish opportunity, but only help us only listen to those wise voices in our lives. Help us to only turn to the people that we know are wise, especially your word.

Lord God, we thank you for your word, because it's your word that gives life. It is your spirit that gives life. And so we give these minutes, we give this day. We give our heart to your word, to your life, to your spirit, and to your wisdom. Help us to always walk in your spirit, and always walk in your wisdom.

In Jesus name we pray. Amen. In the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. So yesterday, I believe I said that today was the day that I was going to try to kind of explain, okay, why is the book of Tobit in catholic Bibles?

And why is it not in non catholic bibles? And I thought, well, let's go for it. Let's give a little explanation right now. Because we might as well. So I think that in order to address this, we have to understand what are, what's called the deuterocanonical books.

So, deuterocanonical. Remember deuteronomy? So deutero meaning second, and nomos meaning word right or law. So the deuteronomos was. Deuteronomy was the second time that Moses had given the law to the people.

He did the first time in Exodus and recapitulated that at the end of the desert wanderings. In deuteronomy means second law. Doesn't mean secondary in the sense of, like, less privileged, kind of like. In the same way that Isaiah is a major prophet and some of the other prophets are minor prophets, that doesn't mean that Isaiah was more important than them, or the minor prophets were less than the major prophets. It simply is a way to distinguish between large writings, major prophets, and shorter writings, minor prophets.

Same thing with deuterocanonical books is they don't mean secondary in terms of worth. This means second in terms of when did they get established. So, a couple things to keep in mind. Okay. What are the deuterocanonical books?

Well, there's seven of them. There's tobit. We just are hearing from right now. Tobit Judith Baruch, ecclesiasticus. Ecclesiasticus, also known as Sirach wisdom, first and second Maccabees.

And also, there are certain additions to the Book of Esther and Daniel. We're going through all of those in the course of this Bible and here. And. Okay, a couple of things to keep in mind. Why are they in some bibles and not in others?

In the Catholic Bible, we have 73 books, and in the non catholic Bibles, they have 66 books. Well, it's important to understand that at the time of Jesus, there was no established canon. When I say canon, I mean list of scriptures. Right. There was no clearly established.

These are the books that belong in the writings of. That are inspired by the. By God himself. There were disagreements. And so at the time of Jesus, there were a number of different lists of.

Here's what's considered to be inspired. So one of the things we recognize is that there was no official list that Jesus had given. No official list that God had given before the era of the church, before the age of the church. Right. And so the earliest listing we have as far as in the christian age, earliest listing is in the middle of the second century, is the earliest listing of scriptures.

Now, keep this in mind. Go back to the jewish people. As I said, there was no absolute this is the list of all the inspired books of the old. They wouldn't have called the Old Testament, but of the hebrew scriptures. There was not a list to be able to go off of them.

Okay? Keep that in mind, because that's going to be very, very important that God had not previously given an exhaustive and definitive list of. These are the books of the hebrew scriptures. Okay? Why is that important?

It's important because when Jesus establishes the new covenant, the new and eternal covenant, when Jesus establishes his church, right, in Matthew, chapter 16, Jesus says, you know, you are rocking upon this rock. I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. When Jesus establishes his church, now, the church has fulfilled the role of the people of Israel. The jewish people. Remember, the jewish people are in covenant with the Lord.

They've been covenanted with him in that old covenant ever since it happened, right? But in the fulfillment of the old covenant in Jesus. Now, what the hebrew scriptures are is. I don't wanna say irrelevant, but I will. I will say that the authority has been transferred from the rabbis, from whatever levites still existed, whatever kind of temple worship still existed, has been transferred to the age of the church, right, where jesus establishes his actual church.

Okay? So in the early church, what books were they reading? Now, it's important to understand that at one point, when Alexander the Great conquered the known world, he translated. Really? He didn't do it, but he had a bunch of people do it.

He translated all the great readings of the peoples that he conquered into Greek. He did this also with the hebrew scriptures. That greek translation of the hebrew scriptures is known as the Septuagint. It's called the Septuagint because the legend was that he had 70 different translators. And those 70 translators took the hebrew versions of the scriptures, the Old Testament, and went into their own cells, right?

Their own huts or wherever. They translated. Caves, maybe, and they translated all the Old Testament, and they did it in. They all agreed, right, this all 70 translations were literally word for word, letter for letter, exact translations. And so Septuagint is known as the Septuagint because of the 70 translators.

That's a kind of a legend, but that's how it gets its name. So the Septuagint was the Bible, the Old Testament Bible, the hebrew scriptures that were used at the time of Jesus, predominantly, in fact, 60%, 67%, two thirds of the time that the New Testament authors are quoting the Old Testament, they are quoting from the Greek Septuagint. Now, here's why this is important because those seven books that we mentioned already, those seven books are included in the Greek Septuagint. This is very, very important. In fact, when the church gave us the first list of books of the Bible, that wasn't until the year 350.

So the year 350 was the first time that the church actually said, these are the books of the Old Testament. These are the books of the New Testament in an official way. It was a council of Rome back in the year 350 where the church said, oh, people are now challenging. See, this is the thing is, whenever someone challenges something, then the church has to respond by saying, oh, here's the definition of this thing. For example, in the year 325, there was a thing called the Council of Nicaea that established clearly Jesus is truly fully God and fully man in one divine person.

So why did the church have to establish this and clarify this? Because people were saying, he's not really human or Jesus isn't really God. And so the church and council of Nicaea 325, in response to this challenge, had to say, oh, no, no, here is Jesus, fully God, fully man, in one divine person. And later on in the council of Constantinople, and I believe 381, where you have, again, the challenge is the Holy Spirit. Is the Holy Spirit equally God?

And so the church had to respond in that. And so in the year 350, in response to the question, what are the books of the actual Bible, the canon of the Bible, the council of Rome in the year 350 had established. These are the 73 books of the Old and New Testaments. Together. They reiterated that in the council of Carthage in the year 398.

And that was how it was for the next 1200 years. The next 1200 years, every Christian, if you're a Christian, you believe that. Yeah. All 73 books are part of the Old and New Testaments. They are inspired by God, including these seven books, including these extra parts of Esther, extra parts of Daniel.

But they weren't considered extra parts, they were just considered, that's the Bible. Until a gentleman named Martin Luther had come along. And Martin Luther, because he had some doctrinal differences. In fact, the doctrinal difference that Martin Luther had had was about the doctrine of purgatory. And he did not believe in praying for the dead because he did not believe in purgatory.

And I remember there was this debate that he was having with a guy named Cardinal Cajetan. And in the midst of this debate, Martin Luther says he doesn't believe in prayer for the dead, doesn't believe in purgatory. And Cajetan says, what about second maccabees? Twelve talks about praying for the dead. And Martin Luther says, I don't accept two maccabees, chapter twelve, because I don't accept second maccabees, and I don't accept those other seven books.

And with that, Martin Luther had ordered the removal of those seven books from the Christian Bible. And this is the key. In the 15 hundreds, Martin Luther removed those seven books that had been accepted by every Christian. So recognize that the orthodox and the catholic traditions in Christianity go back the furthest. They go back all the way to the apostles, and both Orthodox and Catholic accept all 73 books of the Old and New Testament.

And it wasn't until the 15 hundreds when Martin Luther had come along and he had said, I reject these seven books that every Christian up to this point has accepted that, then he had them removed from his Bible. And so the reason why, maybe if you're listening to this and you're not Catholic and you haven't, you've been denied this, because these seven books, you guys, I have to tell you, are phenomenal. They're incredible. Not only are they great stories, like, we're in the midst of the book of Tobit, this incredible story, then think about the wisdom that Tobit is giving to his son there in chapter four. Just this.

So wise and so good. But not only that, you guys, when we get to sirach, oh, it's gonna blow your mind. Book of wisdom, it's gonna just. It's gonna knock your socks off. It is.

It's a gift. And so many of our brothers and sisters who aren't Catholic, who aren't orthodox, have been denied this gift for their entire lives. Your parents have been denied this gift for their entire lives. Like, imagine. Imagine realizing you have seven siblings you had no idea about.

You know, imagine you have these seven people in your life who were supposed to be in your life. They're in there for your entire life. You're just finding out about them now. Well, unfortunately, that is what happened when a certain individual in the 15 hundreds, Martin Luther, removed them from the canon of scripture. But thankfully, in this Bible, in a year, you're going to be exposed and introduced to these seven books, these seven siblings.

We'll call them seven friends that I am telling you, it's going to bless your life. It's going to bless your life. The Septuagint, the greek translation, that was the translation that Jesus used. It's the translation the apostles used. It's the translation the early church used.

And so with all those seven books, those are the translations and those are the versions that the early church used. And so now you get to be in company, not just with the last 500 years of Christianity. You get to be in company with the first 1500 years, get to be in company with the great holy men and women who walked with Jesus, holy men and women who were taught by them and established the church in the world. And I can't wait for you to be able to not just experience the 66 books of the Bible that you already have experienced, but these seven, seven strangers that will become, I'm guaranteeing you. You're very, very good friends, your dear brothers and sisters.

So Tobit is the first we're getting exposed to, and then we're going from all of them. So keep praying for each other, you guys, because I'm praying for you. My name's father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.