![]() Michelangelo's David 2 Samuel 7:3-5 (ESV) And Nathan said to the king, "Go, do all that is in your heart, for the LORD is with you." But that same night the word of the LORD came to Nathan, "Go and tell my servant David, 'Thus says the LORD: Would you build me a house to dwell in? (7:11b) Moreover, the LORD declares to you that the LORD will make you a house.” 2 Samuel 7:12-16 “When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, but my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.'”
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![]() Ark of the Covenant After the Fall, God's relationship with people has been expressed, and governed through covenants and laws. Since in the Old Testament the covenant rests on God's promise and lies at the heart of the biblical notion of history (Dyrness, 113), the interplay of covenant and Law play a crucial role within Israelite history, and therefore modern Christianity despite their “antiquated” feel to modern readers. Dyrness quickly dismisses conclusions of the Documentary Hypothesis theory that Covenants were developed later and read back into the final composition of the Law using history to show “It was seen very early that the idea of covenant was an extremely important means of regulating behavior between peoples, especially in the area of international relations” (114). ![]() God's Suzerain-Vassal Treaty Exodus 19:1-3 (ESV) On the third new moon after the people of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that day they came into the wilderness of Sinai. They set out from Rephidim and came into the wilderness of Sinai, and they encamped in the wilderness. There Israel encamped before the mountain, while Moses went up to God. The LORD called to him out of the mountain, saying, "Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel:...” Exodus 20:1 “And God spoke all these words, saying, 'I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. "You shall have no other gods before me." ![]() Kaiser continues to promote the Promise Plan of God as the constant theme of scripture throughout the prophetic books. While few words or phrases consistently characterize the promise theme throughout all the prophets as was the case in earlier Old Testament works, Kaiser reveals how the “both/and” nature of prophecy actually integrates with God's promise-plan of redemption. For prophecy was not so much prediction as it was embracing “...the historical means employed for keeping that purpose [promise] alive over the centuries while it awaited the final fulfillment” (Kaiser, 153). That is to say, prophecy was a melding of the promise, the means, and the result. ![]() clouds of heaven...one like a son of man (7:1) “In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel saw a dream and visions of his head as he lay in his bed. Then he wrote down the dream and told the sum of the matter. Daniel 7:13-14 (ESV) "I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.” ![]() (9:3) [Israelites] stood up in their place and read from the Book of the Law of the LORD their God for a quarter of the day; for another quarter of it they made confession and worshiped the LORD their God. (9:5) Then the Levites...said, "Stand up and bless the LORD your God from everlasting to everlasting. Blessed be your glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise. Nehemiah 9:7 (ESV) “You are the LORD, the God who chose Abram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and gave him the name Abraham. You found his heart faithful before you, and made with him the covenant to give to his offspring the land of the Canaanite, ...And you have kept your promise, for you are righteous." ![]() Kaiser promotes that the Promise Plan of God is the constant theme of scripture and begins by showing the origin of that theme in the primeval prologue of Genesis. There it is revealed that in the theology of the Torah, the word “blessing” (which appears in the book of Genesis 88 times alone) represents the promise. Kaiser points out that the God's plan of blessing was universal in nature even before the Genesis 12:3 announcement that “...the role of the patriarchs and their offspring would play in carrying out this mission for 'all the families of the earth'” (Kaiser, 36). ![]() The March of Abraham, by József Molnár Genesis 12:1-4 (ESV) “Now the LORD said to Abram, 'Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.' So Abram went, as the LORD had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.” ![]() Christopher Wright, an Old Testament scholar and author, has written an excellent book studying Jesus as found in the Old Testament. Here an overview will be presented of each chapter in the book:
![]() The Gospels only record Jesus speaking seven times while hanging on the cross. Since the cross was the climax and fulfillment of His mission, these words are not idle or inane. Listed chronologically and explained below, these words included: 1
Consecration occurred Thursday, with divine preparations for the Passover meal and the Upper Room Discourse where Jesus' washed His disciples' feet, identified His betrayer, redefined greatness, foretold Peter's denials, and instituted the Lord's Supper. The Discourse continued covering worldly opposition, the Holy Spirit, and prayer for all believers while walking to the Garden of Gethsemane. Once there, Jesus prayed all night asking God to change the plan, but Jesus accepted His mission as Judas arrived with soldiers to arrest Jesus.
Wednesday was a day of Conspiracy as Judas agreed to betray Jesus. Judas goes to religious leaders asking how much they will pay Him to turn Jesus over to them. They give him 30 pieces of silver and speed up their plans to take Jesus now instead of waiting until the crowds disperse.
On Tuesday, a day of Controversy, the Twelve find the cursed fig tree withered which Jesus uses an illustration for Faith, stating that even a little bit of faith can move mountains. Then Jesus' authority is questioned in the Temple courts by three groups . Deflecting questions on His authority, paying taxes and resurrection, Jesus asks questions regarding John the Baptist, and three parables on Israel's displacement when none will answer, and His relationship to David. Once silence reveals the guilty, Jesus pronounces woe oracles. Later, Christ gave the Olivet Discourse to His disciples to speak prophetically about the temple which they marveled, signs of the end times, and His own second coming as they walked to the Mt. of Olives. Jesus concluded with five parables on being watchful and faithful.
Jesus then returned from Bethany Monday morning beginning a day of Confrontation. First He cursed the fig tree for making a splashy show of leaves but not having any fruit for He was hungry. This was an enacted parable for the Temple cleansing that immediately pursued (this is actually the 2nd Temple cleansing in Jesus' ministry).
Since the gospels are Passion narratives with extended introductions, and the crux of the Christian faith occurred in this ten day span, correctly chronicling its key events is paramount. Only after piecing the Gospels together chronologically can a true picture of what transpired be accounted for. The events of Passion week began Friday, “six days before Passover” (Mark 12:1), in Bethany at the home of Lazarus and his two sisters Mary and Martha. The night Jesus arrived, probably after sunset, Mary anointed Jesus' feet with costly perfume, wiping them with her hair. Jesus' defends this act as preparation for His burial when Judas Iscariot complained of the unnecessary waste.
![]() Is Jesus A way? or THE way? “saying, 'Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.' And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground” (Luke 22:42-44). Is Jesus the only way? Or is Jesus a way among many alternatives? If paths to the Father exist other than the cross, then Jesus' anguish in Gethsemane doesn't make sense. Jesus entirely life and purpose has been about His mission, and yet now at the time of its consummation it would seem to appear that He is having second thoughts about completing it. For Jesus knows the true cost of what it will take to pay the penalty for the sin of man and to achieve justice, satisfying the wrath of God. ![]() "not just my feet..." “Peter said to him, 'You shall never wash my feet.' Jesus answered him, 'If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.' Simon Peter said to him, 'Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!' Jesus said to him, 'The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean.'“ (John 13:8-10). In the upper room where Jesus was to celebrate the historic Passover meal with His disciples and institute the Lord's supper, Jesus quelled an argument about who would be the greatest by taking the form of a menial servant and washed their feet. However, when Peter refused, the Lord's response indicates something greater is being represented than a simple foot washing, for if Peter denies being washed he'll have no part in Christ. ![]() Was it more than just silver? Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went to the chief priests in order to betray him to them. And when they heard it, they were glad and promised to give him money. And he sought an opportunity to betray him. (Mark 14:10-11) There has been much speculation regarding Judas' motives in betraying Jesus, but in the end they are just that speculation. The only reasons the Gospels record are those of greed. ![]() those in prison...for the sake of the gospel “And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.'” (Matt 25:40) “Then he will answer them, saying, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.'” (Matt 25:45) “And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." (Matt 25:46) Jesus concluded His Olivet discourse by speaking of the final judgment that will commence at His return, probably to impress “upon his disciples the gravity of the commission to be heralds of the kingdom of the rule of God” (Howell, 302). To convey such eschatological matters, Christ borrowed a well known “end of day” scene in Palestine where “shepherds commonly herded sheep and goats together but separated them at day's end (sheep, with heavy wool, needed less shelter than goats)” (Elwell, 754). The sheep (animals of greater value and lighter color) represent those who will be redeemed while the goats represent those who will be damned. As Jesus recalls the great works of the sheep and great omissions of the goats to Him, both groups question when they ever did/didn't do these things for Jesus. Jesus then identifies that whoever served “the least of these my brothers” served Jesus. The crucial question then becomes, who are these “brothers” that we should be serving? ![]() 5-21-11 passed & we're still here “Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.” (Matt 24:42) Every generation seems to have a misguided teacher who fails to heed the teachings of Jesus when asked about the end of the Age and fulfillment of His Kingdom. Beginning the Olivet Discourse, Jesus was clear through these five parables that life would continue as normal and believers are to live “responsibly, compassionately, courageously, and expectantly during the Lord's absence...” until “the end” (Howell, 301). ![]() On Monday of Passion week, Jesus is confronted by the chief priests and elders of the people while He was teaching in the temple courts. After He deflects their question regarding whether He has authority to teach, He trounces them with three questions in parable form regarding whether they are citizens in the Kingdom community of God for they've failed “to pay attention to the initiatives taken by by God” (Nolland, 867). ![]() In biblical times when the lingua franca was koine Greek, δόξα referred to one's “reputation” in regular Greek literature. However, since the New Testament consists of Greek words filled with Hebrew meanings, δόξα took on a new meaning when the Hebrew word for the experience of God's presence (literally a form of the word “heavy” in Hebrew...one might say God's presence was a “weighty matter”) was loosely translated as “God's reputation” in the Septuagint (LXX, the Greek version of the Old Testament) (Larkin, William J.). The author John, being a good Hebrew (along with most other biblical writers), still understood the original Hebrew sense of the word “glory” and so it took on a unique concept – "manifested majesty." The “weight” of God was thought of as His essential being manifested for all to see. Since, God is hidden, or better invisible, God reveals Himself through Jesus Christ, God's literal manifested essential being of majesty. As a result, Jesus taught that He “exegetes” the Father, repeatedly stating variations of “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). Why did Jesus curse the tree which would not be expected to bear fruit at this time anyway?3/6/2012 ![]() “And seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. And he said to it, "May no one ever eat fruit from you again." And his disciples heard it.” (Mark 11:13-14). As the Lord of creation, Jesus would have known when the season for figs was, yet the tree is cursed for not producing fruit out of season. Taken by itself this story almost sounds like it came from one of the apocryphal gospels, which show a sideshow Jesus using His miracle powers for personal entertainment (or just because He can). Yet, its placement in Matthew and Mark and the historic use of a fig tree as symbolic of Israel's spiritual condition shed light on the meaning of Jesus action. The context thus reveals it to be “bookending” Christ's second cleansing of the temple. ![]() Felix Louis Leullier, 1811 All four gospel accounts record Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem during the Passover on the first Sunday of Passion week, where the crowds readily welcomed Him spreading their cloaks and palm branches on the road before Him. All four accounts also show the crowd quoting Psalm 118:26, which was unarguably a Messianic Psalm, but whose meaning had been confused as a ritualistic welcome for all pilgrims. Thus, the Truth of Christ was hidden in plain sight, as the crowds saw what they wanted to see in Jesus – a fact attested to the wide range of acclamations recorded from the crowd. ![]() Up a Tree “And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, 'Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.' And Jesus said to him, 'Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham” (Luke 19:8-9). Jesus insists on giving sinners a chance to repent. Jesus showed that “anyone” can be restored to the Father through the story of Zacchaeus when He worked the “saving transformation on a man who's situation seemed to be one of double jeopardy: he is both a chief tax collector and a man of wealth” (Nolland, 904).1 |
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