Category: Calvary Baptist Church

Note: This series comes from the notes of a course I am teaching on Biblical Theology at Calvary Baptist Church. This material is organized similar to Graeme Goldsworthy’s book According to Plan.

Prophecy is the most common means though which God has communicated with people throughout history. In fact, you could summarize the story of prophecy as ‘the story of God speaking to His people through human messengers.’ This was how God guided His people, informed them how to act in certain situations, and warned them of things to come. Now, when most people think about prophecy they think about ‘foretelling’, but in most cases it is ‘forth-telling’. Simply, proclaiming the truth. Now, when prophets are ‘foretelling’ events it is important to remember:

“The Old Testament prophets’ words are the very words of God. When a true prophet predicts events, those events surly come to pass according to the word of the Lord which he spoke to the prophet.”[1]

Since the prophets words are the very words of God[2], God’s people are obligated to believe and obey them. When Israel disbelieved or disobeyed the prophet they were held responsible as unto God.[3] The prophets were the very ‘mouth pieces’ of God.

It is also important to understand that all prophecy is grounded in God’s covenant faithfulness. All of God’s actions in the Old Testament are related to His covenant promises. In fact, the principle expression of His relationship to His people is covenant. “The existence of prophecy among [His] people was a great blessing, for it indicated that God cared about them enough, even in their sins, to speak personally to them.”[4]

God’s covenant promises stand behind the prophets, in fact, the covenant promises are the foundation for the whole process of redemption. This is important to understand as we read the prophets. The prophets pick up on themes from Israel’s past and thus imply the continuation of God’s [covenant] faithfulness.”[5] Within this context the prophets speak of the future fulfillment of all God’s purposes.

Thus, in the Old Testament God speaks through prophets in order to communicate His ruling word, governing history for His purposes. Now, there are different audiences relating to the message that God delivers through these prophets, His ‘mouth pieces.’[6] Sometimes the focus of the message is on a remnant or few[7], other times the message is directed at the whole nation. Either way, the prophetic message could be summed up in three parts:

1. Prophets identify specific ways in which God’s people have broken the covenant.

Throughout the prophets this message is delivered in several contexts. These include social injustice and oppression, insincere worship, mixing pagan religion with the true faith revealed by God, and false worship of idols.[8]

2. Prophets warn and pronounce the judgment of God on those who are unfaithful to the covenant.

The prophets call for repentance among the people or else they will experience the judgment of God.[9] Sometimes this is issued in the destruction of specific important cities.[10] Whether it’s the end of the nation or the end of the world[11] the judgment of God is immanent because Israel continually rejects God’s grace.

3. Prophets speak a message of comfort and grace to the faithful.

The comfort and grace of God was offered to those who rested in trusting that God would bring about His promises. This would have been hard for them to see in their context, but God had greater plans for redemption:

“From our perspective we can see that nothing has gone wrong with God’s plan. The problem is human sin, and it becomes even clearer that this problem cannot be dealt with by those things that God had done [thus far] for Israel in her history. [But God]…in His wisdom led His people in a series of distinct stages of revelation towards the fullness of time when salvation would come in power.”[12]

A Prophetic Warning to God’s Covenant People

“From the time God establishes Israel as His chosen people under the terms of the covenant, there exists the warning against covenant-breaking disloyalty. It was largely the prophets’ responsibility to make this warning clear…As the mouth piece of God, the human mediator of the Word of God, the prophet reveals God’s plan for salvation.”[13]

All of this should be viewed in the context of a covenant relationship. We must remember that Israel did not deserve the good favor granted to them by God. God chooses absolutely without any condition, and chooses a people who are undeserving. What we come to see as redemptive history unfolds is that God’s plan of salvation not only applies to the Israelites, but will one day in its fullness have significance for all the nations of the earth.

“From the beginning there can be no dispute that the grace of God means that election is unconditioned by any virtue in those who are chosen, and that salvation is a free gift received by faith alone.”[14] Yet, at the same time people are responsible for their actions. Therefore we cannot let unconditional election or free grace undermine God’s judgment. In redemptive history we can see God’s deserving judgment against wickedness revealed in the days of Noah, against Babel, against Sodom, against Pharaoh, and against the pagan Canaanites.

Modern skeptics often point to these events in anger in order to wage emotional war against, what they see to be, the barbaric God of Christianity. But such judgments must be understood in light of the complete biblical picture of man’s rebellion against God. As for God’s elect, all of God’s judgment must be seen in context of the covenants God had made with them. There are firm warnings against turning away from the covenants.

“Israel is saved by grace alone, but to be saved is not merely to be acquitted of guilt. It is a positive restoration to fellowship with the living God. There is always a real choice in front of the people of God: the way of life or the way of death, covenant blessings or covenant curses.”[15][16]

Basically, God makes it clear through the prophets that Israel cannot go on enjoying the blessing of the covenant while it rebels against the responsibilities of life in covenant with God. Over and over again God sends prophets to warn the people and call them back to Himself. The prophetic office from Moses to Elisha must be understood in light of God’s salvation, instructing His people how, and calling them back, to live in fellowship with Him. Here are a few examples:

Samuel has the role of helping the Israelites understand life under kingship.

Gad and Nathan function to minister to David as the kingdom develops.

Elijah and Elisha minister to Israel after the division from Judah and call the people back to true faith when infiltrated by foreign gods.[17]

Through the prophets God warns individuals that if they persist in unbelief they will be cut off from the covenant people and by implication their blessings.[18] Furthermore, if the whole nation persists in unbelief it will forfeit its blessings.[19] So, the covenants are both conditional and unconditional. “The condition is that those who reject the covenant in unbelief will find the blessings of the covenant removed from them.” But God’s promises are unconditional in the sense that He will bring about His promises in spite of His peoples unbelief. In other words, God will not allow rebellion to frustrate His purposes in fulfilling His covenant originally made to Abraham.

A Prophetic Cry on Behalf of God’s Covenant People

After the reign of Solomon there is a steady decline in the condition of Israel, which continues for another 400 years. Things continually got worse; the people lived with no regard for their long-term future. “One wonders why the people did not see their condition and do something about it?”[20] But, theologically we understand that the sinful nature of man will resist the call of continual reformation.

Another reason for the national decline is the separation of the northern tribes of Israel, which leads to syncretism with Canaanite people and their religious beliefs.[21] The southern tribes also practice unbelief by accepting some of the pagan practices.[22] “As time goes on it becomes clear that the limit is being reached”[23], and after Solomon the covenant curses become a reality. Yet, God continues to use the prophets[24] to call the people to return to Him and to covenant faithfulness.

As the nation continues to crumble one might wonder what was happening to God’s plan. Looking back from Abraham to Solomon God performed mighty acts of salvation for His people.

Israel’s denial of God’s kingdom leads to bondage in Egypt, where God mightily delivers them from captivity into freedom.

God binds them to Himself in a covenant relationship at Mount Sinai. This shows that redemption is more than release from bondage, but also a life in fellowship with God.

This freedom and fellowship is shown in Israel’s entry into the Promised Land and the establishment of their nation under the rule of God.

But after Solomon one might wonder what happened to the promises of God? The sinful people continue to deny God’s rule, the nation continues to rebel, and the kingdom disintegrates. Seemingly, God’s promises have begun to fade. But in the ministry of Elijah and Elisha there is a shift in the message proclaimed by the prophets.

Thus far, the “Books of Moses” had been the record of God’s covenant, and His acts of salvation for His people. During this time, “the main task of the prophets…is to call Israel to faithfulness to the covenant.”[25] But, as the decline of the nation progresses and the prophets begin to have new posture and a new perspective.

While the prophets continue to remind Israel of their failure to keep the covenant and threaten the judgment of God upon their sins, there is a new aspect to their ministry. What emerges is a recognition and cry for help, because Israel is incapable of true repentance and covenant fidelity. Therefore, they cry to God as the only one who can save them from total destruction. There is no tangible evidence of the promised kingdom of God.

An Unfinished Story?

As we read the message of the prophets we realize that while the Israelites are repetitively warned of God’s judgment, they are largely unrepentant.[26] So as one comes to the end of the Old Testament we find that nothing has been resolved and it becomes clear that it is a “book without an ending.”[27] But the story continues.

Looking back we see that God would ultimately save those who had faith in Him and His promises – completely, finally, and gloriously. So, from our perspective we need to understand that all of God’s dealings with Israel in the Old Testament are expressions of grace that function as ‘shadows’ of something greater to come But as we look back we see that God allows this shadow to fade so that the full light of the gospel may be revealed in its place.

Throughout the whole history of redemption God has been progressively revealing Himself and His plans. In the end we see that He is faithful to His original covenant commitment.[28] He is therefore, the savior God who restores His people and all of creation to His kingdom; He makes “all things new.”

The Gospel of Jesus Christ

a. Jesus is the true and greater Israel

We understand through the Old Testament that God’s redemption has failed to “come about” in Israel’s history since the relationship between God and man had been lost in the garden.

In the gospel we understand that God’s redemptive plan points to Christ as the only solution – for sin and unrepentant hearts. While the prophets continuously called the people to repentance, there was no covenant faithfulness. Thus the prophets called to God as the only one who can bring about true change – and He answered with Christ.

Where Israel failed, Jesus comes as the true Israel to carry out God’s purposes perfectly and “believers from all periods of history are credited with his perfection and righteousness as a gift.”

b. Jesus is the true and greater prophet.

Jesus is the true prophet heralding God’s kingdom.[29] Not only does Jesus proclaim God’s prophetic word, He is God’s Word.[30] Jesus is greater in than the Old Testament prophets because He is not a mere messenger sent to God’s people, He is God himself, come in the flesh. While Jesus is a prophet, He is more than that, He is the one to whom the Old Testament prophets pointed to. Remember, it was Christ who proclaimed to the disciples:

“And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.”[31]

So, while the Old Testament prophets were messengers who declared ‘thus says the Lord’, Jesus had the authority to declare ‘But I say to you.’[32] The life and work of Jesus in revealing God’s redemptive purposes is the climax to the prophetic office of the Old Testament. Just as we read in the book of Hebrews:

“Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.”[33]

Let us be thankful that Christ earned all the covenant blessings by living a perfect life. Christ also consumed all the covenant curses on the cross. And by placing our faith in Him we are offered eternal life and the blessings that only He deserved, and are saved from the curses we deserve.

Continue reading “Biblical Theology- Part 11: The Postexilic Prophets” →

“That’s My King” – S.M. Lockridge

Note: This series comes from the notes of a course I am teaching on Biblical Theology at Calvary Baptist Church. This material is organized similar to Graeme Goldsworthy’s book According to Plan.

“A consistent theme throughout the Old Testament is that of God as the creator, covenant-maker and redeemer.”[1] All of these themes point to God’s personal dealings with humanity. He is not a distant deity who is uncaring or unsympathetic.[2] In fact, we have the privilege of looking back over ancient redemptive history as a whole, which in many ways can be summarized as the story of ‘God saving His people’; and doing so because He loves them as His ‘son.’[3]

Now, what we often fail to consider is that the writers of the Old Testament mainly focus on key people and/or the great events of redemptive history. Goldsworthy points out the importance of noticing this point for us as we read the Old Testament:

This “easily obscures the fact that often whole generations are born, grow old and die without them [key people or great events. This perspective is important to realize that] life in Israel is not three miracles a day and a new holy war each week. Most people live their lives while God does no new thing.”[4]

Think about it, for every biblical hero there are thousands of Israelites of whom we never hear. We learn much about the life of faith in the famous figures, but what did it look like for the ordinary Israelite? Also, most of the Biblical narrative found in the Old Testament tends to focus on the nation as a whole[5], so how did these scriptures speak to individuals in everyday life? This question is answered in the wisdom literature and in the psalms. See, the questions of piety are dealt with in the Psalms, and the quest for knowledge and understanding and dealt with in the wisdom literature.

Wisdom: The Fear of the Lord

In Genesis we are told that man is created in the image of God. Being created in the image of God is significant to our relationship with God, with others, and with the rest of created order. We were created to reflect God in His creation. In order to know what this meant God gave humanity His word to guide us in these relationships. Simply put, God’s Word provides humanity with the “framework for a right understanding of the universe.” By God’s word we are able to rightly interpret reality. With this understanding humanity was given the freedom to:

“…use their God given brains and senses to gather knowledge, to classify it, to deduce relationships, to invent, to plan and to have dominion over creation.”[6]

Now, sin was an outright rejection of God’s order in creation as shown in His word. It was a refusal to accept and follow God’s revelatory word as the basis of knowledge and understanding. One of the main themes of Proverbs is seen in this principle:

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.[7]

In Solomon’s prayer to dedicate the Temple the fear of the Lord is linked to God’s covenant with His people.[8] Therefore, fear should not be understood as terror. The fear of the Lord in the context of the Old Testament is:

“… a response of reverence and awe and trust to the redemptive revelation of God. It is the Old Testament equivalent to trusting in Christ or believing in the gospel. The fear of the Lord is the response of faith to all that God has done to redeem His people, and He Himself interprets what He has done by His Word.”

Remember that God’s revelation has been progressive throughout redemptive history. In the beginning the people of God failed to gain true knowledge and understanding by not trusting God’s Word. Later, while God was still forming His people, they came under the instruction of the law to show them what it was like to live in a proper relationship with God, and show them it is something they cannot achieve. The law revealed sin, which is, in essence, failure to trust or revere God.

By the time of Solomon all of redemptive history revealed that God’s word and His saving acts provide the framework of grace, which motivates the proper response to God. The proper place of humanity in relationship to God is complete trust and reverence. Therefore, those who trust and revere God above all other things are truly wise, for they have gained understanding. In fact, this is the central principle found in Solomon’s Ecclesiastes:

The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.[9]

None of us have ever upheld this. There is only one who has lived with complete reverence for the Father. There is only one who has upheld and kept all the commandments. That one was Jesus Christ, and through His perfect obedience we are granted righteousness when we place our faith in Him. Christ has fulfilled the whole duty of man for us.

Creation Order and Disorder

In the beginning there was proper order in God’s creation. This order was expressed in the harmonious and good[10] relationships between God, man, and the rest of creation. With the entrance of sin came disorder and confusion in which all of creation was affected with terminal and destructive consequences.[11] “Human thought that reflects this rebellion is foolishness, not wisdom, and involves a deliberate and wicked suppression of the truth.”[12][13]

The situation that ancient Israel found themselves in was that of attempting to understand what their present stage of redemptive history and experience meant for their lives.

“The Israelite believer had similar problems to those we have as Christians. What is the response of faith to the secular world? How does the believer relate to other believers and to unbelievers in a creation that is yet unregenerate?”[14]

The wisdom literature[15] of the Old Testament provided knowledge for the Israelites for proper understanding and living in a world in which all relationships were in disorder and confusion because of sin. While there is disorder in creation we need to be reminded of two great truths pertaining to gracious God.

God has never let sin completely destroy all order. Creation still has order in the sense that it can support life.

God, in His goodness, lovingly chose to reveal His word for the purpose of enabling the believer to progress in wisdom and understanding for life.

Salvation, or the regeneration of order, includes ‘right thinking’ and knowledge. Remember, God is a God of order.[16] Therefore God’s people should seek to live in a way that ‘orders’ their lives with God’s purposes, understanding that it can only be done in humble submission to God, motivated by His grace, and empowered by His Spirit.

The Wisdom Books

The wisdom books[17] of the Old Testament focus in on ‘right thinking’ and the search for knowledge.[18] Each of these wisdom books are written from the standpoint of covenant believing Israelites, and are essentially explorations of human experience.

In many ways these wisdom books provide a pattern for us to grow in wisdom as we “assemble our experiences and to examine them for the underlying relationships that make life coherent and meaningful.”[19] In Ecclesiastes wisdom is portrayed as “a divine gift[20], though also something acquired gradually[21], and as beneficial[22] if esteemed and employed at the right[23] moment.”[24]

The individual proverbs are just that, reflections on life in light of God’s creation order and revelation. In revealing Himself God provides the framework by which we ought to think. For the most part, “in normal daily experience the predictable relationship between deeds and their outcomes remain the principle way we learn about life, to determine how to pursue the good life.”[25]

As we reflect on experience, with an understanding of God’s mandate to us, “we are responsible for the decisions we make as we seek to be wise (to think in a godly way) and to avoid being foolish (to think in a godless way).”[26][27] Therefore, our decisions are wise when they are made in light of God’s revelation and a proper understanding of God’s will revealed in creation order. In the Proverbs one will find that God expects humans to make wise decisions, he “expects them to use his gift of reason to interpret the circumstances and events in life”[28] with consideration of the outcome.

But, while much of experience is predictable from patterns in humanity or nature, there is also much mystery.

“God is great and His ways are often hidden[29] from us. He does not reveal to us the whole picture of His will; indeed we could not understand it if He did. Thus, the believer may encounter suffering and tragedy that seem senseless and a denial of God’s care and control of events.”[30]

One needs to remember that there are limits to human empirical[31] wisdom. “Sometimes the normal relationship between deeds and their outcomes do not seem to exist.”[32] The book of Job illustrates this and encourages the reader to humbly recognize that God’s ways will not always be expressed in ways humanity can grasp. Consider Job’s friends who reason from effect to cause and conclude that Job must brought about his suffering by some secret sin. But this was not the case with Job, he was ‘innocent’ and did not have any empirical reason why he was suffering. At the very most we can conclude that “life can to some extent be foreseen”[33], but this is not always the case.

Thus, wisdom is not purely intellectual, but involves “trust in the sovereign will of a gracious yet mysterious God.”[34] Like Job, Jesus trusted in God when God was silent at the cross, He faced the suffering at the will of His Father, showing faith by crying to the only one who He could trust, ‘His God.’ Jesus is the true and greater Job, the truly innocent sufferer, who then intercedes for and saves his ignorant friends.

For us, we must also take into account the corruption of human understanding by sin. Sin has confused the pure and orderly relationships in creation, thus causing corruption and disorder. Sin also distorts and obscures the truth, making us prone to misunderstanding and false thinking.

Even in situations when we do not understand what God is doing, hopefully in the end we are driven to worship, namely because the fact that there is mystery in God’s ways which compels us to trust in His goodness. I think it was well said, while reflecting on the Psalms, that:

Wisdom and “understanding may wait but obedience cannot. Believers who faced trial and, although puzzled, continued in faith and obedience found their faith re-shaped in the light of their experience.”[35]

In many cases, whether the situation is out of ones hands, or has direct connection to the choices one make, one can look back and see God’s guidance in the situation.

Worship: Praise in the Psalms

There are several types of psalms within Israel’s ancient song book known as the Psalms.[36] Each type of psalm is written within different situations, and for use in different situations. The psalms are prayers, praise, and instruction within the context of a relationship with God.

“They show how individuals and congregations think about God and their relationship to Him. Like wisdom literature, the psalms take their starting point from [remembering God’s covenant and recalling salvation history]. Unlike wisdom, the psalms are much more…a response to what God has done.”[37]

The Psalms are works that focus on the history of redemption, the covenant, and encounters with the living God. Take two focuses in the psalms for example:

1. Psalms of Praise

In these specific functioning psalms the psalmist will praise God as creator[38], protector and redeemer[39], as King and Lord of history.[40] The important point is this, “worship of God is typically a recalling of the mighty saving deeds of God within the history of Israel.”[41] Remember, memory[42] plays a primary role as a theme in the Psalms. Many of the Psalms recall the prayers that have already been answered, other bring to light God’s past acts of deliverance. These Psalms remind the reader of God’s reliability to His promises, which builds faith.

We are not ancient Israelites. But we can see a pattern of response here that we should emulate. We should be draw to worship as we consider the good news of Jesus Christ. Merely remembering the fact that Christ delivered us from slavery to sin, and we find rest in Him as Savior and Lord, should be sufficient to motivate praise at anytime. (good and bad)

2. Psalms of Lament

Psalms of lamentation often compare the declared status of God’s people with their actual situation. In these psalms the people are turning to God in the midst of sorrow, suffering, or persecution.[43] Often times these psalms are found after a psalm of lament as ‘songs of re-orientation.’[44] While these psalms of lament are launched from a heart of despair, most of them are followed up by, or “finish on a note of confidence that God will yet act to save and restore them.”[45]

Again, we can find a gospel pattern here. We will all find ourselves in times of suffering, sorrow, and persecution. Sometimes inflicted by our own sin, by others, and sometimes permitted by God. In the same way we must turn to God in complete trust and re-orient ourselves to considering that Christ endured the ultimate suffering, sorrow, and persecution on our behalf so that we would have eternal life. The gospel then becomes our ultimate source of comfort in real times of despair while here on earth.

Here is the point, the great objective facts about who God is and what He has done are the foundation for, and motivate all worship and obedience. Therefore, the psalms are expressions of fellowship with God by those who know what it is to be redeemed by grace. Simply put, true worship can only be a response to God’s character and His works, as he has revealed.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ

What God has done in redemptive history provides the believer a framework to understand all of reality. With this framework the believer expresses fellowship with God by seeking wisdom and understanding from His Word and returning praise to Him alone.

“The word wisdom suggests a concern for the way we think, the way we use our minds or intellects.”[46] If we consider salvation history we understand that all of creation has been subjected to sin. Therefore we cannot assume that human understanding and knowledge are neutral: All aspects of humanity have experienced the deleterious effects of sin.[47] The natural reasoning capabilities of man only allow us to ‘see through the glass darkly.’ The Gospel alone provides salvation from the noetic effects of sin, and thus allows us to gain true wisdom.

As Christians we must remember that the Christian mindset comes about through the gospel, and so we must think of Christian wisdom as conforming of the mind to the gospel. In this sense all believers have the mind of Christ.[48] Christ is not only the wisdom of God,[49] but is also our wisdom.[50]

Our conformity to Christ is the fruit of our salvation. Therefore, “growing as a Christian really means learning[51] to apply the fact of the gospel to every aspect of our thinking and doing.”[52] It is only when we see the person and work of Jesus Christ are we able to properly understand ourselves, our experience, and the world around us. This has direct implication on what it means to be a ‘mature Christian.’ A mature Christian is:

“One who is able to look at the whole of reality through Christian eyes…He is learning to understand all things in terms of what they are in this corrupted realm and of what God intends them to be by virtue of His redeeming work. Thus, he is an integrated person who is learning daily through the gospel how to relate, not only to himself, but to all things according to the purposes of God.”[53]

We must learn to tie all wisdom and worship to three points of the Biblical narrative, namely, creation, fall, and new creation.

Continue reading “Biblical Theology- Part 10: Faith as a Life of Wisdom and Worship” →

Note: This series comes from the notes of a course I am teaching on Biblical Theology at Calvary Baptist Church. This material is organized similar to Graeme Goldsworthy’s book According to Plan.

In the Pentateuch we are continually reminded of God’s faithfulness to His covenant promises. In being brought out of Egypt and having God covenant with them, Israel, the new nation was “re-born” as the people of God. It would seem that God’s promises to the Patriarchs were now becoming reality as the Israelites looked ahead to possessing the promised land of Canaan.

The torah narrative continues in Numbers where God’s covenant people are standing in the valley of Mount Sinai headed to the Promise Land. The looming question as we read the narrative is how will God choose to fulfill His promises? We begin to see a pattern, the fulfillment and delay of fulfillment of God’s promises are the organizing principle of the reminder of the Pentateuch and of Joshua.[1]

God’s Presence among His People

Commenting Numbers Goldsworthy notes that “nothing summarizes the position of Israel and the nature of God so well as the famous blessing that God told Aaron, Moses brother, to pronounce over the people.”[2]

The Lord bless (good harvest, peace, children) you and keep you (guard and protect);
The Lord make his face to shine (a pledge of good favor) upon you and be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up his countenance (treating them with good favor) upon you and give you peace (overall ‘well-being’).

These words are very significant to Israel’s identity; they speak the people’s restoration to God and God’s provision for His people in a fallen world. More importantly, the very name of God rests upon Israel.[3] Therefore, they have been chosen to proclaim the one true God to the nations. This never changes, because it is a gift of sheer grace based on election.

The presence of God is also witnessed in God’s gift of the Tabernacle. Throughout Moses writings we continue to see that the tabernacle was central to the life, organization, and governance of Israel. In fact, the organization of Israel’s camp demonstrated this. “The layout of the camp was carefully organized: the tribes formed an outside circle and the priests an inner one, with the tabernacle at the center. This organization was maintained even as Israel moved throughout the wilderness on their journey to the Promise Land.[4] Both in camp and while marching, the tabernacle was central, just as God was central to the very heart of the nation.

Within Israel Moses continues “his unique ministry as prophet and priest”[5] as God instructs him from above the mercy seat in the tabernacle on how God’s people are to properly live in relationship with Him. The details of God’s instruction are very meaningful. “The emphasis on preparations is so strong…that the long-awaited fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham concerning the land of Canaan appears to be imminent.”[6] Furthermore, to signify the presence of God, during the day a cloud rested above the tabernacle and during the night it was fire.[7]

“The sense that God actually lives among His people is enhanced by the guidance of Israel by the cloud. Whenever it is taken up from the tabernacle the people move on until the cloud stops at the place they are to rest. This is a pilgrim people whose God goes with them.”[8]

God’s name, the tabernacle, and His very presence leading Israel signify the fulfillment of the covenant, and the relationship of grace He has initiated with them. They begin they journey from Mount Sinai to the Promise Land and all is well in the first 10 chapters of Numbers. But at the 11^th chapter there is a sudden transition to rebellion which “vividly draws attention to the fickleness of the Israelites.”[9]

Israel’s Faithlessness

Simply put, Israel did not trust God. There are several instances where “the people refused to accept difficult conditions God was making them endure.[10]”[11] There were also instances where the people refused to accept the leaders God had provided for them.[12] “Nothing is more remarkable than the grace of God, and nothing illustrates that grace more than God’s perseverance and goodness to a continually rebellious and impatient people.”[13] Here are two examples from Israel’s history of rebellion and doubt in spite of God’s promises.

1. One of the most forthright examples of the Israelites rebellion occurred while Moses was away on Mount Sinai when the people created and worshipped the golden calf. Because of Moses intercession for them, as their mediator, God did not pour out His wrath on them even though they deserved it.[14] Notice that the Levites were faithful during this episode, thus God appoints them to guard the tabernacle.
2. Another explicit rebellion of the people of Israel is their refusal to enter the Promise Land.[15] Twelve scouts are sent to spy and report on the land of Canaan. Ten of them return in fear because of the strength of the people and their large fortified city, thus incite fear among the Israelites. Yet Joshua and Caleb remind the people of God’s presence.[16] But the Israelites remain faithless arguing that obtaining the land is impossible and it would be better to return to Egypt.

In light of His people’s faithlessness God declares to Moses: “How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me?”[17] Again, Moses intercedes for the people and prevents their total destruction,[18] but they are judged. God declares that only Joshua and Caleb will enter the Promise Land with a new generation of Israelites. In other words, those who experienced the power of God in the exodus will wander for forty years in the desert and die there. Simply put, Israel would not trust God.

While in the wilderness a plague of deadly snakes is sent as judgment among God’s grumbling people. Moses cries out to God and intercedes for the people and is told to set a bronze snake on a pole in the middle of the camp. If anyone was bitten by one of these deadly snakes they were told to simply look as the bronze snake and they would be saved from death.[19] Looking at the bronze snake was simply an act of faith in the promise of God. “The brass serpent, the image of the curse upon Israel, was lifted up as a sign of God’s power over the curse and His deliverance from it.”[20]

It becomes quite clear that Israel is incapable of keeping their covenant promise. They continue to reject the paradise that God has placed before them, because they are simply afraid of completely trusting God. Near the end of Numbers[21] we are given a list of forty places where the Israelites camped after leaving Egypt, before ending up at the edge of the promise land. “The lengthy description of the long journey suggests that the people are now near their journey’s end; and if God has helped them thus far, then He will surly enable them to reach their goal, the land of Canaan.”[22] Hart reminds us of a reoccurring theme, namely, that God’s promises cannot be thwarted by circumstances or man:

“The failure of Israel to believe seemed to threaten the fulfillment of God’s promise of the land, but by the end of Numbers the picture is bright again. God has not revoked His promise; He is bringing His people into Canaan.”[23]

We continue to see that the history of God’s redemption moves from grace to grace.

Preparing to Enter the Promise Land

Forty years after the exodus event a new generation of Israelites prepare to enter the Promise Land. In the book of Deuteronomy we have the sermonic words Moses gives the Israelites before entering the land under their new leader Joshua.[24]

As the narrative continues we see a covenant renewal with the new generation that reminds and emphasizes Israel of their faithless history and God’s faithfulness to His promises.[25] In fact, much of Moses words are devoted to explaining that “even God’s people are intrinsically sinful, and the inevitability of their moral failure. Despite all God has done for His people, they will surely disobey.”[26] Yet here they stand prepared to enter the Promise Land. Moses exhorts the people to be reminded of God’s grace, and be obedient to God’s voice.[27] So, “to keep ‘moving’, Israel must keep listening and obeying.”[28] Goldsworthy explains:

“Now there is opportunity for a new beginning. The Lord…is a God who fights for His people. But, as ever, the covenant has a conditional side. Deuteronomy repeats the stipulations of the covenant that are to be obeyed…[expressing] the relationship of covenant faithfulness”[29] And the very essence of covenant faithfulness is expressed in these words: Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”

If there is only one God, and that God has chosen one people to make Himself known to all other peoples of the world, the grace shown to that people should motivate total devotion from the chosen people. These covenant stipulations, or sanctions, are graciously given to Israel to explain what it means to live in relationship with God by explaining what happens if you obey and what happens if you don’t. The focal point is God’s goodness in choosing and saving Israel, and the blessings that come from His covenant love. This points Israel to be reminded of their responsibility to live as the Holy people of God.

In Deuteronomy we find the “most eloquent expression of the kingdom of God and the purpose of creation.”[30] So, it would be a mistake to think that the reward/punishment structure simply functions to motivate covenant faithfulness by the treat of destruction. Remember, Israel’s salvation was not based on their faithfulness to God[31], but God’s sovereign grace and choice. Thus, they are stirred up to obedience ‘from the heart’[32] in response[33] to God’s redemptive love. “The goal of this election is that Israel should be His people in the good land, the new Eden.”[34][35]

This is something that the faithless Israel does not deserve. Israel may be God’s chosen nation, but not because of their moral stature.[36] In fact, God has chosen a ‘stiff-necked’[37] people who are prone to idolatry and disobedience.”[38][39]

Into the Promise Land[40]

The New Leader Joshua

After forty long years in the wilderness the Israelites are ready to face their enemy. Their new leader Joshua is reminded of God’s promise: God will give them the land and no one will be able to stop Him, and thus them.[41]

Joshua’s name literally meant ‘the Lord has delivered.’[42] Joshua was the successor to Moses and the person divinely chosen to lead the nation of Israel across the Jordan, to take the Promise Land in order to realize the covenant blessings that God had given Israel. So, Joshua gave life to Israel in that though him the covenant promises were realized and fulfilled.

Taking the Promise Land

God has given the land into the hands of the Israelites, but they must take the land in faith.[43] It is the initiative of God to give not only the land, but also the Canaanites into their hands. “As a response to this divine initiative, the first decision they must make on entering the land is to destroy all [remnants] of Canaanite civilization.”[44] There are several reasons for this command:

1. Israel is primarily acting as God’s agents of judgment upon a wicked civilization.[45]
2. God makes it clear that Israel would not be able to resist the temptations to turn and worship other gods at this stage in their national development.[46] In fact, “the general threat posed by the peoples of Canaan was so great that Israel had to [wipe out their culture] in order to avoid falling away from God and worshiping other deities.”[47]

“Israel’s conquest of the land is portrayed as a series of victories in which God directs the operation and Israel responds in obedience.”[48] Israel was called to return to God that which belonged to Him.[49] It’s important to notice that God does show grace to those outside of Israel. Rahab was an example of someone who saw the acts of God and believed in the God of Israel, similar were the Gibenonites.[50] This being an illustration of how other peoples and nations of the world could find blessing through Israel’s God.

As promised, Israel enters the land after forty years of wandering and finally finds rest.[51] There was very little that Joshua and the people had to do other than reap the rewards of victory. The prime example being Jericho, where the collapse of the walls signaled for them to enter the city and ‘take’ it.[52]

The land of Canaan was Israel’s inheritance, promised to their ancestors and given to them by their God in a covenant. Gratitude and praise were expressed by bringing the first fruits of produce to God[53], and obedience to the covenant stipulations.[54]

The only reason the promise has been fulfilled is because God has fought for them. Just as the exodus was marked with God’s hand in bringing them out of slavery so is God’s hand in bringing them into the promise land.[55] It is interesting to note that the Israelites entrance into Canaan is very similar to their exit from Egypt. In the same way that God removed obstacle of the Red Sea for the Israelites to exit Egypt, He stopped the Jordan River so that they could cross on foot.[56]

The Gospel of Jesus Christ

Gospel Living

In the Gospel accounts we see a parallel between Jesus forty days in the wilderness and Israel’s forty years in the desert. The temptations were almost identical, relating to food, protection, and idolatry. But Jesus did not give in to the temptations. Jesus is the new Israel who succeeded where Israel failed.

Remember, in the wilderness the people of Israel were humbled, tested, taught that God was faithful, and shown His provision. God’s feeding them with manna showed His children that they are given nourishment from God. We see Jesus speak of Himself as the true sustaining nourishment from God:

“Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”[57]

The writer of Hebrews uses the imagery of Israel’s journey to describe the Christian life. Reflecting on Hebrews 11 Millar writes: “life with God is always a journey, in which people respond to His grace…faith throughout the Bible involves an initial commitment/repentance followed by a lifetime of similar decisions to submit to the sovereign Lord.”[58]

Gospel Obedience

In the narrative of Genesis-Joshua we continually see God’s people disobey, rebel, and doubt God. This problem points to ‘the problem underneath the problem’, human beings are intrinsically sinful and it is inevitable that we will morally fail. But God continually shows grace to the Israelites even when they fail. What we understand now it that the grace which God had shown to Israel in the past would be surpassed by His provision of a lasting solution to the problem of human sin.[59] Man’s sinfulness is what brings condemnation before God, which is revealed by the law and expressed in Israel’s inability to keep the covenant.

“The ultimate function of the law is not to enable obedience, but to expose disobedience, paving the way for the divine intervention which will eventually enable real obedience, and a new intimacy with God Himself.”

Yet Christ was without sin, upholding the law perfectly, and made a new covenant of faith with us. God intervenes for us and makes obedience a real possibility through Christ. In other words, Christ upholds the law and we are righteous through His obedience. Again, Christ is the true and greater Israel to which we are grafted in.[60]

Gospel Relationships

We see God’s grace and its implications of the exodus event in the lives of the Israelites.

“The nation has been redeemed, and now belongs to God. As His unique people, they must submit to Him in worship. He has redeemed them from Egypt to enjoy a relationship with Him, and to do so in His land. They must not treat one another in a way that is incompatible with how He has treated them in redeeming them.”[61]

What we see in this quote is the correlation between Israel’s obedience to worship, the land, and to human relationships.[62] How does this relate to us now? First, the proper response to God’s grace shown in salvation through Jesus Christ should be shown in our everyday life as worship.[63] Next, the land is no longer the locus of God’s relationship with His people, Christ is.[64] In other words, Christ is the promise land through which spiritual nomads find rest and nourishment.[65] Last, in view of the mercy God has shown us in redeeming us from slavery to sin, we extend that same mercy to others.[66]

The Gospel of Salvation

During the wanderings of the second generation of the Israelites we see a beautiful contrast to the gospel of Jesus Christ. They rebelled against God’s directing word and God judged them by sending poisonous snakes among them. In doing this God turned their hearts back to Him for help. The Israelites cried out for mercy and God answered by commanding Moses to make a serpent out of brass and lift it up for the people to see.

The people were only commanded to look at the serpent of brass, and those who did were healed and lived.[67] Jesus said of Himself:

“As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.”

What was Jesus saying? Remember that the brass serpent was an ‘image’ of the curse upon Israel, in brining healing to those who looked at the serpent lifted up God was showing His power over the curse by delivering His people from it. This is profound.

Jesus said, “I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”[68] Jesus was lifted up and exposed on the cross as the one accursed.[69] Just as Paul wrote, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree.”[70] See, Jesus bore the curse of sin n the cross for us. “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”[71]

Continue reading “Biblical Theology- Part 8: God’s Faithfulness and Israel’s Faithlessness” →

Note: This series comes from the notes of a course I am teaching on Biblical Theology at Calvary Baptist Church. This material is organized similar to Graeme Goldsworthy’s book According to Plan.

Israel’s New Life

Israel was given a new life after God delivered them out of Egypt. The journey[1] from the Red Sea to Mount Sinai takes Israel “through inhospitable country where they immediately learn the faithfulness of God to provide for their needs, even though they murmur their discontent.”[2] Goldsworthy is right in writing that we learn about the ‘quality of the redeemed life’ in this episode. See, as Christians we have been redeemed and we are being redeemed, so we must learn, like the Israelites, to “live by faith and not by sight.”[3] This is a key concept:

“As Abraham did before them, Israel discovers that there is an element of not yet having what is promised. Thus they must look to the future in hope, and live by the promises of God.”

To begin with, the people were led by Moses to the very place where God had spoken from the flaming bush before the exodus event. As Israel reaches Mount Sinai and stands[4] before the living God the first words they hear concern the covenant. Many argue that Israel’s redemption and new life is summed up in Exodus 19:4-6:

1. God has executed judgment against His enemies, and the enemies of His people. (4a)
2. God has redeemed His people out of Egypt and reconciled them to Himself. (4b)
3. If God’s people show faith through obedience they will be God’s treasured possession of all other people groups. (5)
4. They will exist in a unique relationship to God and represent Him as a kingdom of priests to the whole world. (6)

Early in Genesis Abraham is told that all nations of the world will be blessed through his descendants.[5] We begin to understand how his works here in Exodus 19 when God calls Israel to be a ‘kingdom of priests.’ See, it is the function of a priest to approach God on behalf of others and approach people on behalf of God. Therefore, the blessings of God would overflow through them to the whole world.

The Law – Living as God’s People

One of the things often disputed among thinking Christians is the place of the Old Testament Law in the Christian life.[6] In trying to make sense of the nature and meaning of the law many Christians get bogged down on the details or particulars of the law. What we often fail to see is the context from which the law was given, and thus we fail to overlook the relationship of the law to the grace of God.

When thinking through these issues one must consider the function of the law ‘within Ancient Israel.’ Notice, the very first word at Mount Sinai is a word about grace and redemption; God declares “you yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians.”[7] God saved the Israelites while they were totally helpless in slavery to be His people. We must remember that “all the commandments of God’s covenant focus on the heart of covenant relation, the bond between God and His people.”[8]

God was true to His word and now asks Israel to “obey His voice and keep His covenant,” and this thankful and obedient response seems absolutely appropriate. Goldsworthy notes that the same pattern is expressed in the giving of the Ten Commandments when God begins by stating “I am the Lord your God (YHWH), who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.”[9]

“He is their God, and He has saved them. On this basis the law is given…the law is given to those who have already experienced the grace of God in salvation, and it [the law] is not the basis upon which they will be saved.”

This was the situation in which the law[10] was given to the Israelites, their status as God’s people had already been established. The privileges of such a relationship would be maintained by obedience to the stipulations. “God’s commandments call His people to acknowledge Him as their Savior and Lord.”[11] Think about it, “to claim to have received the gift of [this relationship] with God while persisting in a life marked by alienation and enmity is clearly nonsense.”[12] The task of obedience was given because they already existed in an undeserved relationship with God, therefore obedience is in response to God’s salvation.

The first stipulation of the Ten Commandments has direct implications on, and is inclusive of, all the commands that follow. ““You shall have no other gods before me.”[13] This is an exclusive claim to sovereign power and rule over the people. So, in the first commandment we see the central principle, from which the other nine flow out of as direct implications.[14] Goldsworthy writes:

“Sinful and ignorant human beings cannot know what this means in every area of life. The Israelites were dependant on God’s revelation for a proper understanding of the appropriate responses to the command.”

In giving His people the law God was expressing what it looks like for the Israelites to live in relationship to the one true God, their king. The laws given are not arbitrary; they “stem from and reflect the character of God and his purpose for mankind in creation.”[15] The purpose of Israel’s obedience was to reflect God’s nature to the world around them. “How Israelites act toward each other is a concrete expression of their devotion to the God of the Exodus.”[16]

1. Morally these laws reflect the pure relationship dynamics that God built into creation which was disrupted by human sin.
2. Some of the laws reflected the actual situation of Israel as in their historical experience.
3. Others seem to relate to certain aspects of Israel’s ritual life.

As a whole these commands include the principles which govern all the laws of God. The implications of upholding or breaking these commands “spread out like ripples in a pond for all other aspects of the Israelites’ lives.”[17]

Now it is important to understand that the law was given at a certain point in history, and it was important at that point for God to detail it out in the way he did. Remember, God has revealed Himself progressively over time. “The Bible sees God’s revelation as progressive, moving through stages until it is completed in Christ.”[18] Redemption from slavery ultimately foreshadows the saving work of Christ. So, while these events contain the ‘structure’ of the gospel they do not reveal the fullness of it yet. “Because the revelation in the exodus is incomplete it requires more detailed exposition of what it means to live as redeemed people. In their spiritual infancy the Israelites needed to be tutored much more directly[19] in holy living.”[20]

The Tabernacle – A Way for God to Dwell with Man

God’s covenant with His people is characterized by the willingness of God fellowship with an undeserving people. The establishment of a covenant with Israel reflects what was intended to be in God’s relationship with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden before the fall. In other words, the covenant is an act of love by God to restore His rebellious, sinful, God-denying people back to Himself. But we cannot miss the most important aspect of this transaction.

“How can people who are still sinful approach a Holy God? The Biblical answer is through a go-between, a mediator. Moses is the mediator of God’s saving acts in the exodus, and also of the word of God that interprets the redeemed existence brought about by the saving acts of God in the exodus.”[21]

While Moses served as a mediator for Israel, there was also another means by which God dwelled with His people, namely, through the tabernacle system which God gives His people.[22] God gives Moses the details of the tabernacle and the function of the priests within the tabernacle system.[23] God also gives Moses an intricate description of the construction of the tabernacle.[24] In Leviticus God gives the various sacrifices that are to be performed in the tabernacle system. Simply put, the people are still totally dependant on God for showing them how to live in proper relationship with Him, and God gives them every detail.

The layout of the tabernacle has theological significance. “It provides a graphic expression of the spiritual state of Israel as the covenant and redeemed people who are [still] sinful.”[25] In other words, the tabernacle conveyed a sense of “heavenly order amid earthly chaos.”[26]

1. Remember, the tabernacle was build to symbolize God’s presence in their midst. A courtyard with a high fence around the tent indicates the separation that sin causes between sinners and a holy God. The courtyard fence has one entrance at one end facing the door of the tent. This presents a ‘double image.’ “On the one hand, there were barriers that [blocked] off God’s holiness; on the other, a way of access was opened by His grace.”[27]
2. Inside the entrance lies the altar of sacrifice. The shedding of blood gains entrance for the repentant worshiper. “As the first act of the sacrificial ritual, the Israelite lays a hand on the animal to be offered, thereby symbolizing that the animal is going to take his/her place.”[28] The animal’s blood becomes representative of that person. Leviticus 17:11 is an important passage for understanding the importance of blood in the sacrifices. God has provided animal blood, which contains life, so that the atonement might be made for the sins of the Israelites. Blood can serve as an element of atonement because it is the carrier and symbol of life.[29]
3. The Israelite priest represents the people and can move into the tent on their behalf, but only after cleansing himself in the bath for ritual washing which is before the tent because any contact between holy and unclean would be fatal. The priests’ work at the altar is primarily to ‘atone, or make atonement’[30] on behalf of the people.
4. Inside the tent are a lampstand, a table, and an altar for burning incense, different instruments symbolizing some aspect of the divine grace God has shown to the Israelites. The far end of the tent is partitioned with a curtain to screen off the glory of the Lord’s presence, and behind this, in a cubic room, is the Ark of the Covenant.[31]

What we see in God’s design for the tabernacle is that God desires to dwell among His people and fellowship with them. Sin separates His people from Him, but God provides a way of reconciliation through sacrifice and the mediation of the priest. The Israelites are shown that the faithful and proper application of the sacrificial system is acceptable before God and works the pardon of sin. This is explicitly seen in Leviticus 1-6 where the sacrificial offerings express reconciliation and restore fellowship with God.[32]

Holy is the Lord

In the Scripture on of the words most often used to describe God is holy. God reveals his holiness in his saving acts, and calls upon those he has saved to be conformed to that standard. “What may appear to us to be rather arbitrary and irrelevant laws of clean and unclean foods[33] are commanded on the basis of the covenant, which is the chief revelation of the character of God.”[34]

For I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy…For I am the Lord who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.[35]

Simply put, the covenant people of God are to be marked with the character of God as revealed in His word and acts.[36] The law was that which highlighted the nature of the new creation which was being formed around God’s covenant people while they remained within the old, fallen, confused, sinful world. In Leviticus 26 we see a summary of the law.

1. God has saved Israel because He is faithful to the promises He made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. His promises are irrevocable; God cannot go back on His word. He would be their God, and they would be His people. By redeeming them out of Egypt he has openly declared that they belong to Him.[37]
2. In His law God informs Israel how this new relationship to God should be expressed in their lives. Their real desire to live according to His word is the indication that they are redeemed. As the redeemed they will know the blessings of the new Eden.[38]
3. Apostasy will lead to disqualification from the blessings, and the curses will become a reality.[39] But, if they repent and turn back to the Lord, they shall again know the blessings of the covenant.[40] Yet, as the story continues we will see that Israel will always fall short of the glory of God.

The law consistently reminds God’s people of their “inability to achieve God’s standard of holiness and to love him with all their heart, soul, and strength.”[41] So we begin to see that there is the reality of the continuing effects of sin, which is experienced along with the blessings of the covenant. See, the Law expresses God’s holiness and in turn expects perfect obedience from God’s people. In this respect, the law can only condemn. But, God’s purpose was to save His people. So, from the very outset, “it was clear that atonement must be made.”[42]

“It is precisely then that the law also instructs them to avail themselves of the laws of sacrifice as they repent and cast themselves on God’s mercy. Thus they learn that they cannot keep the law only be recognizing their inability to keep it, and by receiving forgiveness of sins and their acceptance with God as a gift.”[43]

Here is the paradox, although the people of Israel had been chosen by God and formally recognized as the people of God, the history of Israel is a history of failure. But God provided a way of salvation through sacrifice because God’s righteous requirements could not be satisfied by human effort.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ

The Gospel and the Law

The giving of the law was, in many ways, an act of re-creation. In the giving of the law God was declaring that the Israelites were to “behave as new-creation beings, conforming themselves to God’s standards”[44] in all areas of life. In the context we learn that:

“The Mosaic Law was seen to be God’s fatherly instruction, and in it he decreed that the people should love God and love their neighbors. There is no doubt that the aim of the law was to establish mutual love relationships. Yet the history of Israel demonstrates that this ideal cannot be achieved without God’s divine intervention.”[45]

As we know from scripture the law could not save the people. In fact, the laws inability to save people was its deficiency.[46] The law not only reflected God’s holiness but also revealed sin in humanity, and even stirred up sin, thus showing the power of sin to enslave.[47] Thus, when one is saved through faith in Jesus Christ they are released from the power of sin and the condemnation of the law.

In salvation we are given new hearts to know and understand God’s order for creation and be committed to brining it about. The spirit of rebellion against the authority and rule of God is replaced by a spirit of obedience. Therefore, internal motivation replaces external constraint.[48]

Jesus came to fulfill all righteousness for us. By faith we receive the gift of Jesus law keeping, which was perfectly achieved on our behalf, and in Him we become the righteousness of God…We uphold[49] the law by turning our backs on our own warped efforts to keep the law and by putting all our confidence and trust in the one who satisfied all the laws demands on our behalf.”[50] So, Jesus did not so much replace the Old Testament law as make explicit its proper application, through Him to the heart and not just external behavior.[51]

The Gospel and the Tabernacle

There is a seven fold instruction to Moses concerning the building of the tabernacle in chapters 25-31. What is significant about this is the sevenfold repetition of the phrase “the Lord said to Moses”, making the connection between the building of the tabernacle and the seven days of creation. In the midst of a fallen world, in exile from the Garden of Eden, God undertakes another act of re-creation in establishing the tabernacle system.[52] The tabernacle is “a piece of holy ground in a world that has lost its way.”[53] Jesus is the reality to which the tabernacle pointed. This is why the Apostle John wrote of Christ’s incarnation in these terms, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt (tabernacle) among us.”[54]

“Jesus embodies more clearly what the Old Testament structures did truly but only partially.”[55] Christ himself is holy and sacred ground in whom God’s glory resides. “The true and abiding Tabernacle is not a tent…but the incarnate Lord.”[56] Jesus is the high priest[57]; Jesus is also the sacrifice for sin.[58] In Christ we are able to “approach God boldly and with full assurance, knowing that the sin question has been dealt with once and for all.”[59] Thus, God dwells with us through the mediation of Christ.

Appendix: Israel’s Law and the Christian

Christian’s disagree on how to answer the question: ‘How does Israel’s law relate to the Christian?’[60] On the surface, this can be a difficult discussion when reading through some of the laws that do not seem to apply to us in our situation in time.[61]

Sometimes people attempt to argue that only the moral aspects of the law are relevant for the Christian life today. In other words, they take the three different types of law given ‘moral, civic, ceremonial, and argue that the civic and ceremonial laws are no longer relevant and can be discarded. But, the old covenant is seen as a distinct unified package with different aspects all working in harmony. These various aspects cannot be unraveled and treated as parts.[62]

We need to acknowledge that the Law of Moses does not “provide a complete and binding guide to Christian morality. But, on the other hand it should not be dismissed as irrelevant.”[63] The reason many people have problems with understanding the law in the context of the Christian faith it simple, they are looking at the rule rather than the principle. In other words, “they take the moral commands and instructions from the Bible and obey them, but they do not go behind the command to see the reasons for them.”[64] So, we are not aiming for right behavior or action by itself, but to understand the purpose or goal behind the rule that calls for right behavior.

While many of the rules in the Bible are applicable today, some are not. Rules that are very particular in nature become inapplicable when the context changes. We must learn to look beyond the rule itself to see the principle behind it, which is still binding. The rules are particular applications of a principle to a specific context. Now, just to be clear I am not arguing that the rules do not matter, because they do, the moral life would be difficult, it not impossible without rules. But, rules are simply appropriate applications of a principle.

We also have to understand the principle behind the rules and how that principle relates to both God’s character and the old covenant context so that we can understand how it applies in our new covenant context.

Jesus argued in Matthew 22: 34-40 that the two greatest commandments were to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind”, and to “love your neighbor as yourself.” In many ways these function as the bigger principles[65] by which the rest of the law hangs.[66]

Continue reading “Biblical Theology- Part 7: God’s Covenant with Moses” →

Note: This series comes from the notes of a course I am teaching on Biblical Theology at Calvary Baptist Church. This material is organized similar to Graeme Goldsworthy’s book According to Plan.

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. [1]

“The figure of Abraham, or Abram as he is initially known, dominates the book of Genesis and casts a shadow that extends across the whole Bible.”[2] In fact, after chapter 11 the rest of Genesis deals with four generations of one family: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. As we will see, the members of this lineage had a significant role in the plan of God for human redemption.

God progresses his purposes of redemption in “his call of Abraham to found a new nation.”[3] In fact, “all of world history is related to the promises that God makes to Abraham. “The prime motive behind the call of Abraham is God’s intention to bless humanity and reverse the disastrous consequences of Adam and Eve’s rebellion in the Garden of Eden.”[4] The final meaning of history will be found in the person of Jesus, a descendant of Abraham.”[5]

Abraham

First and foremost we must establish a foundational understanding of how God chooses to work. God does not begin with working on Abraham as if he were a ‘subject for reform.’ He begins with giving a promise. So the focus is not on what Abraham has to do for God, but what God will do for Abraham. Then, in response to this, faith that changes the inner and outer life is cultivated. This is central to understanding the absolute sovereignty of God in accomplishing the things He has promised.

It is with this foundation of a ‘promise giving God’ that we understand why, in obedience to God, Abram left his home in Haran and traveled to Canaan with his nephew Lot and their families plus households. Abram learns to live by faith in the promises of God against the background of events that seem to threaten the fulfillment of those very promises. But God appears to Abram and establishes a covenant with him. It is at this crucial point that:

“God changes the name of the patriarch from Abram[6] to Abraham[7], thus signifying a prominent aspect of the covenant: Abraham will be the father of many nations. At the same time[8] God indicates that the covenant is signed with the sign of circumcision.[9] This mark in the flesh of every Hebrew child is to signify the special relationship that the covenant established between God and His people.”[10]

This is a significant shift in the narrative drama of the Bible story. It is interesting to note that “God’s desire to bless Abraham, and through him bless others stands in sharp contrast to the events described in Genesis 3. Whereas these earlier chapters are dominated by the effects of divine punishment as a result of human disobedience, the Abraham narrative emphasizes the theme of divine blessing.”[11]

Notice that directly after the account of Babel the author places the genealogy of Shem’s Descendants[12] before the narrative of Abraham. Remember that Shem was the son that Noah blessed and declared that Canaan (the land God promised to Abraham) would be his servant. Shem’s[13] lineage is traced to Abraham, whom God promises to ‘make his name great’[14] through a covenant promise. The author of Genesis places the genealogy in-between these accounts so that the reader would consider the importance of this promise to Abraham compared to the narrative of Babel. God promised to ‘make Abraham’s name great’, this stands in direct contrast to the people of Babel, who desired ‘to make a great name for themselves’ apart from God.

In establishing His covenant with Abraham God promises to make his name great. Goldsworthy[15] presents the covenant as fourfold, showing that the objective action of God’s blessing was interlinked with the following promises:

1. God will give Abraham many descendants, who will become a great nation.[16]
2. Abraham’s descendants will possess the promised land of Canaan.[17]
3. God will be their God.[18]
4. Through Abraham’s descendants all Nations of the World will be blessed.[19]

What is striking and points to the absolute sovereignty of God is that the fulfillment of these promises is not within the control of man, nor is it simply a matter of natural events. As you follow the narrative it becomes apparent that fulfillment can only be achieved by the supernatural work of God. Circumstances exist or develop which threaten the fulfillment of these promises.

1. God calls Abraham to leave the security of his home in Haran and become a nomad towards a foreign land, not knowing where he was going.
2. The land God promised was under the possession of the Canaanites.
3. Sarah is barren, which is a major source of doubt that Abraham’s family line will actually be continued.
4. Sarah is almost taken as a wife by Pharaoh. If she had remained there, Abraham could have never has the child of promise.
5. When Abraham and Lot settle in Canaan they are forced to split because their flocks and herds are too large.
6. When Abraham and Sarah was very old, and beyond their childbearing years they were still childless.

It was “at critical times [like these] during that period God reminds[20] Abraham of his promises to sustain him in the face of seemingly impossible odds against their coming true.”[21] This is seen most fully when God makes an oath with Abraham in the ceremony of walking through the divided parts of an animal sacrifice. In essence God is declaring “if I do not keep the oath that I swear, may I be divided as this animal has been.”[22][23] God swears to Abraham by His own life that He will do what He has promised.

Themes in the Life of Abraham

1. Grace

There was nothing special about Abraham that made him deserving of God calling him into these blessings. We know nothing of Abraham’s faith before God calls him. So it is not as if God is responding to Abrahams obedience, more properly Abraham is responding to God’s grace.

Remember, Abraham is not perfect. On many occasions we see him either lie to preserve his life,[24] or take hard situations into his own hands in doubt of God’s promise.

1. He lied and said that Sarah was his sister so that Pharaoh would not murder him in order to have Sarah as a harem.[25] In doing this Abraham puts his wife Sarah at risk and shows a lack of faith in God’s promises. He does the same thing later to Abimelech, the Canaanite King.[26]
2. Abraham also attempted to have a son by Hagar, his wife’s chief servant.[27] This was an act contrary to God’s promise that he would bear a child with Sarah.[28]

The author of Genesis wants us to know “in recounting these sins…that Abraham was a fallible person.”[29] In other words, grace shows us that “whenever God acts for the good of the people, he is acting against what they deserve as rebellious sinners.”[30] God’s grace shown to Abraham[31] is important because it was the basis for all the other blessings God promised and gave to him.

2. Election

Election means that God chooses to show His grace to certain people. “It is no use in asking why we find a godly line and a godless line in the early chapters of Genesis, or why Noah and not someone else finds grace, or why Abraham and not some other person is chosen to be the father of a blessed race.”[32] What we can say is that these actions are in accordance with His plan, demonstrate His sovereignty, and are done for His glory.[33] Vos writes about Abraham and his descendants, “here one family is taken out of the number of existing families, and with it, within it, the redemptive, revelatory work of God is carried forward.”[34]

3. Faith

“Abrahams faith is certainly not perfect, not always strong, and sometimes boarders on disbelief. Yet at the crucial times he takes God at His word and believes in his promises.”[35] In fact, “from beginning to end, faith expressed in obedience is the hallmark of Abraham’s relationship with the Lord.”[36]

Abraham learns that God is absolutely faithful to His word, and is thus reliable to follow through. Since Abraham deserves nothing that is promised to him, it is all seen as unmerited gift. This is why Abraham is counted as righteous before God by simply believing His word.[37] The focus is not on the reliability and strength of Abraham’s faith, but on the reliability and strength of God’s word.

Obedience is motivated by faith in the promises of God. We see this in the life of Abraham who lives in obedience that comes from faith, which is “obedience motivated by Abraham’s confidence that what God had promised, he would do. And in such obedience God receives all the glory.”[38]

Abraham’s Son Isaac

Abraham had tried to get around being childless by taking matters into his own hands and producing children[39] through the servant Hagar, and others, but Isaac is God’s chosen. Isaac is the promised child of God, born when Abraham is one hundred years old and fully incapable of conceiving by natural means. “Isaac is a gift of grace, and his birth to extremely aged parents signifies the supernatural element in the birth of the covenant people. Against all odds God is shown to be absolutely faithful to his promises.”[40]

“The most significant challenge to Abrahams trust in the God of the covenant comes with the demand that he offer the boy as a sacrifice.[41] Clowney makes an important observation here:

“We must remember that God did not ask him to murder his son, but to offer him as a sacrifice. The difference is important. In the Old Testament, it is evident that the lives of all sinful men are forfeit before God; God can require the death of any sinner. Further, the demand of God’s judgment is directed against the firstborn as the representative[42] of all [in the family].”[43]

See, God can and must require of Abraham not only the dedication of all that he has and is, but also the full satisfaction due to God’s holy justice. For Abraham, “to trust in God means to look to Him alone, to find in Him all our hope, to hold nothing back, no reserve.”[44] If Isaac dies, how can the promises of God be fulfilled through him?”[45]

We learn in the narrative that Isaac does not die. While the cost of redemption was total, what God required He also provided. We see that God provides a substitute in the form of a ram caught in a bush. This was to show Abraham by symbol that God would pay the price of redemption. This becomes clear as the Bible story unfolds. We see that God did what Abraham did not have to do: He made His Son an offering for sin.

The promise to Abraham now rests on Isaac. So, Isaac is shown to be the descendant of Abraham through whom the promises of God will be fulfilled. His birth, and life illustrates the faithfulness of God to those promises.

Abraham’s Grandson Jacob

Isaac’s wife Rebekah is infertile, but God grants them the ability to have children when Isaac is sixty years old.[46] Again, the conception and birth of their twins Jacob and Esau is supernatural just as their father Isaacs was.

“Before their birth the two struggle in the womb, and God tells Rebekah that they will be fathers of two nations, and the older shall serve the younger. Esau is the first to be born, but it is soon clear that the other, Jacob, is the one chosen by God.”[47]

Now, Esau “despised” his birthright. While Jacob may be criticized for exploiting his brother’s dismissive attitude towards being the first born, it is true that Esau was indifferent and did not care about the importance of his birthright. So, Jacob deceives his feeble and nearly blind father Isaac, tricking him into giving him the blessing that belonged to Esau. “If there is any doubt that God will confirm this arrangement it is soon dispelled.”[48] On Jacobs way out of the Promised Land to find a wife God speaks to Jacob in a dream affirming that all the promises of Abraham belong to him.

Once Jacob enters into Mesopotamia he meets his cousin Rachel and wises to marry her. Rachel’s father Laben employs Jacob for seven years to earn the hand of his daughter. Once the seven years is up Laben gives Jacob Rachel’s older sister Leah instead. Therefore Jacob must work seven more years to earn the hand of Rachel. This trial is nothing more than another challenge to the fulfillment of God’s covenant promises, but God is with Jacob, and eventually Jacob leaves the employment of Laben and returns to Canaan. If anything, it becomes “quite clear that Jacob’s election is grace and not what he deserves.”[49]

Upon returning to Canaan Jacob prepares for a confrontation with his brother Esau. “He is armed only with the promises of God[50].”[51] Yet it is not Esau who confronts Jacob but an ‘unnamed man’ who is a messenger of God.[52] Jacob wrestles with this man who appears to be hindering his return to the Promise Land.

“The last thing Jacob expects, as this point in his life, is to find that God is his [opponent.] He is deeply afraid of his brother Esau, because of his theft of Isaac’s blessing years before, and is doing his best to show Esau his deep repentance[53]…Why does God suddenly…wrestle him into submission?…God has been wrestling with him throughout the story[54], ever since he obtained the blessing by trickery. Now, at last he is seeking it the right way, as a gift from God with desperate determination[55]…He recognizes that his [opponent] has something he wants, something that he can receive only as a gift.”[56]

What we see is that God’s fourteen year strategy with Jacob climaxes in this wrestling match. The point was to develop Jacob the self sufficient schemer into the man who is totally dependant on God.[57] See, Jacob was consumed with a desire for blessing, for which he was willing to sacrifice his fathers respect, lose his place in the family, and incur his brother’s hatred. It is not until this wrestling match that Jacob abandons his own resources, and clings with desperation to his God.

The blessing is granted and Jacobs name is changed to Israel, signifying that he ‘has struggled with God.’[58] From that point on Jacob was a different man, a godly patriarch. God’s hand is on Jacob, “as to confirm this, he is received by Esau” and “his name is linked to the covenant promises. Thus God is known as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob[59].”[60]

This is the paradox, while God is the enemy of His people, opposing them in sin, He is also their savior, granting blessing to them. Ultimately we see this culminate in the cross where Christ defeats sin and judges wickedness, while also extending blessing to all who are dependant on Him for salvation through faith.

Abraham’s Great Grandson Joseph

The covenant established with Abraham is reaffirmed and developed with each of the succeeding generations. God continues this process with Joseph the eleventh son born to Jacob and Rachel.[61] Because of envy his brothers sell him into slavery to the Ishmaelite traders, who in turn deliver him to an official in Egypt. “He is jailed on false charges but released some time later as he interprets the Pharaoh’s dreams.”[62] Joseph rises in power and is later reconciled with his brothers. The significance of this episode is heard in Joseph’s words to his brothers: “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.”[63] Josephs dependence on God is notable:

“He regards the action of God within the destructive, sinful behavior of the brothers as decisive. It is surly this liberating perspective that saves Joseph from [surrendering] to temptations such as anger, resentment, and bitterness.”[64]

In the same way that Joseph trusted in God’s saving presence, and redemptive purposes in the midst of trial so did Christ in the shadow of the cross. Jesus, the true and greater Joseph, chose the path of reconciliation rather than retribution. Joseph serves as a great reminder to look beyond the present circumstances in trust that God is providentially in control of redemptive history.

The Death of Jacob

After the reunion of Joseph with his family it becomes time for Jacob’s death. Before he dies two significant events take place. Goldsworthy describes them as follows:

1. Jacob accepts two sons of Joseph as his own, Ephraim and Manasseh.[65] He makes them heads of ‘half-tribes’ which numbers them with the tribes of Israel. Jacob makes it clear that this adoption is integral to the fulfillment of the covenant promises.[66] Jacob also places his blessing on the head of Ephraim the younger.[67]
2. Jacob then gathers his twelve sons and makes a prophetic blessing on each one of them. Above all Jacob declares a special blessing on Judah by declaring: “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet.”[68] “Out of Judah (the Jews) would come David and his royal line leading eventually to Jesus of Nazareth[69]

The Gospel of Jesus Christ

We know that the divine promises made to Abraham ultimately find their fulfillment in Jesus Christ. There are certain things we can reflect on about the narrative of Abraham’s family that would encourage our trust in God.

1. Forgiveness

The calling of Abraham is foundational to the remainder of redemption history since the covenant established with him “provides the baseline along which God brings to pass the crucial steps in completing His plan for the world.”[70]

“God credited [Abraham] as righteous while he was sinful so that God could proceed with the work of imparting the great blessings he had promised to Abraham and his seed.”[71] So Abraham was forgiven, despite his continual falling short of sinlessness.[72]

The object of the Christian’s faith is the same as Abrahams. Both believe in the promise of forgiveness and redemption through the promised seed, Jesus Christ.

2. Faith

Paul[73] describes the faith of Abraham in these terms: “In hope he believed against hope… He was fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.” Abrahams faith is an example of “assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”[74]

Fuller is right when he argues: “we need to emulate this man who, against the darkness of visible circumstances, nevertheless rejoiced in the way God would (has) glorify himself” in the promise of the Christ.[75] We have a much greater encouragement to trust God’s promises than did Abraham, who had no idea how God would fulfill His promises.[76] So, the Divine promises of Abraham anticipate the coming of a royal descendant who will impart God’s blessing to all the nations of the earth.

Abraham was justified by faith and his obedient actions were visible expressions of this inner faith. This is faith’s power to motivate obedience. Abraham obeyed because he believed God. See, “genuine faith carries with it the power to do righteous works.”[77][78]

3. Fulfillment

In Genesis 17:5 we read that Abraham would become the “the father of a multitude of nations.” So, the seed of Abraham extends beyond the boundaries of physical descendants. Essentially, the account of Abraham in Genesis clears the way for him to become the father of those from “every tribe and language and people and nation.”[79] Just as it was with Abraham, “what is decisive in making men and woman the true seed of Abraham is God’s work.”[80] There was nothing in Abraham himself that qualified Him to receive God’s call and blessing, so it is with us. Fuller rightly highlights the fact that:

“The attainment of this great blessing comes not through the flesh but through God’s purpose; not through works but through God’s purpose and calling.”[81] Since no one possesses any distinctive[82] that brings about God’s calling, the riches of His grace are available to anyone[83] who calls upon Him for mercy.

This is why Paul argues in Galatians 3:28-29 that “there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.” So, God Himself would be the inheritance and portion of Abram and his seed.

Continue reading “Biblical Theology- Part 5: God’s Covenant with Abraham” →