Prelude to Nehemiah 8-10

As we move into this pivotal section of Nehemiah, I thought that maybe 20,000 feet was too low a perspective.  Let’s try 30,000 feet.  Last week, there was a comment about the Old Testament being boring and not particularly useful.  As Protestants, we have received poor instruction from the liberal establishment on the Gospel.  Therefore, the instruction of the Old Testament can only be worse.

Here is a radical statement that I heard last year that changed my view of the Old Testament.  The whole Bible from Genesis to Revelation is about Jesus.  Perhaps, more accurately, the whole Bible from Genesis to Revelation is about God’s redemption of His creation through the work of Jesus on the Cross.  While on the one hand, being told that the Bible is about Jesus seems redundant, on the other hand, I am also saying that every verse in the whole Bible is within the context of the redemptive plan of God through Jesus.  This becomes very important in how we interpret passages.

First, I’ve made a claim that bears some scrutiny.  In the realm of modern evangelicalism and protestant liberalism, the predominant view of the Old Testament is within the context of a dispensational system of eschatology.  Eschatology is the study of the redemptive history of God through mankind.  It is not just an end times discussion.  What point is there to discussing end times without some idea of how we got to that chapter of redemptive history?  In the dispensational systems, redemptive history is sort of divided into periods defined by key Biblical events.  In the most common dispensational framework, there are seven dispensations, and we are living in the sixth currently, but the number ranges from about 4 to 8.  The point is that salvation has different rules in each dispensation.

How can this be?  I do not intend to defend a position that is contrary to my own, but by way of explanation, consider this.  Between Moses and Jesus, the Jews had the Law, the full Levitical Law.  Therefore, for a Jew living in that age or dispensation, their salvation was based upon adherence to that law.  I can start in Matthew and destroy this manner of thinking by the time we get to Galatians, but what is amazing is that the Old Testament has already done this.

On the Road to Emmaus, Jesus instructs a couple of his disciples on scripture.  Later, in Jerusalem, he does more of the same.  The evidence that we have of the teaching that was given is seen in the sermons recorded by Luke in the Book of Acts.  All of the Apostles ground the historical events of the resurrection in the Old Testament scripture.  In addition, we see these sermons using all sections of the Old Testament as pointing to Jesus.  Therefore, we can infer with a high level of confidence that Jesus thought that the whole Old Testament was about Him.

When reading a particular passage in the Old Testament, the questions are these.  What is the context of that passage within the whole redemptive historical context?  What is the specific office of Jesus’ ministry that bears on that passage: prophet, priest or king?  Is the passage in question focused more upon Law or Gospel?  The corollaries of this type of thinking are boundless.

Second, one of the more difficult aspects of reading the Old Testament is its organization.  The Old Testament is more or less organized into the groupings of historical narratives, poetry and prophecy.  The original organization of the Hebrew books was somewhat different, and the idea of historical narrative was somewhat redundant with prophecy.  The Hebrew notion is that the role of the historian is to point out the failings of Israel in respect to their covenantal relationship with God, which is in no small part a prophetic office.  The result of all of this grouping and regrouping is that the chronological thread of the narrative can get very twisted.

Adding to this problem is that some of this internal chronological meandering can occur within a single book.  Jeremiah is a great example in which he witnesses the fall of the Temple in chapter 40, but continues on with pre-destruction narrative in later chapters.  We have encountered this in Ezra and Nehemiah to some degree as there is some overlap of the chapters between the books and even between chapters in Nehemiah.

Therefore, flying at altitude has many advantages in reading the Old Testament.  The primary advantage is that Jesus seems to have suggested this strategy to the Apostles, and then the Apostles delivered Old Testament scripture in their sermons in the book of Acts in this fashion.  It assists us in making sense of the jumbled timeline that results from the structural organization of the Old Testament.  It keeps us focused on why we are Christians.  Redemption is the solution to the problem of the fall.  Jesus provides all of the parts of our redemption to his remnant elect.  In the Old Testament, we learn why he did it, and why it had to happen in the way that it did.  Knowing about the resurrection without understanding the reasons behind it is knowing only half the story.  That manner of scholarship leaves the believer vulnerable to bad teachers, the wolves that mislead His sheep.

In the next post, following up on this model, I hope to compare the prophecy of Jeremiah with the actual recorded work of Ezra and Nehemiah.

--Troll--

Nehemiah 6--Prelude to something big

At the end of Bible study on Nehemiah 6, the question was what will each of us take away from the discussion and the text.  As Nehemiah builds to the great climax in Chapter 9, my thoughts are drawn to the building drama for that climactic summit.  With so much discussion about leadership and the strengthening of our hand in this week's discussion, I find myself retreating back to the high altitude vantage point.

Nehemiah starts with a look to Sinai and he continues to look to Sinai.  In all of this, God remains silent.  Make no mistake, the Wall is built and God's hand is behind it.  But, when Nehemiah and his people make reference to the Temple and to Sinai, God remains silent.  As we plow through another section of the Jerusalem phone book next week, the parallels to Revelation continue to mount.  We will get chapter and verse on the people who were there.  We know how long it took to finish.  We know who worked on which section of the wall.  We know about obstacles and opponents.  We know details and more details.  God is rebuilding the Temple, but the question is whether he is rebuilding the Sinai covenant.  Give Revelation 21 a look once again, and focus at the end on verse 22: And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb.  Remember that this Temple, the second temple, and this Jerusalem, the earthly Jerusalem, are mere types and shadows of something much larger.  Something totally different is looming in the historical narrative.  Redemptive history is winding towards something much larger than the walls of man.

As we move into the key passages in Chapters 8 and 9, be watching for the covenant language.  Remember about the animal pieces and sprinkling of blood that accompanied the Sinai covenant and notably also the Abrahamic covenant.  The Old Testament is all about types and shadows.  But Jerusalem is becoming a type and shadow of the type and shadow.  Looking forward to the present, Judaism today is a farther degree still removed from Temple worship.  Nehemiah is where national Israel begins to wander farther from Abraham.  Keep an eye out for how this can happen.  Only 450 years or so will pass between Nehemiah and Jesus.  How can this God lead effort of Ezra and Nehemiah go so far astray in so little time?

My answer is that the foundation is not solid.  God may indeed want this effort to further demonstrate the futility of our works.  God may indeed want this effort to further demonstrate our need for His Grace.  Nehemiah and Ezra continue to look to Moses and Sinai, to the covenant that was broken by Israel.  All along, they still had the key and overlooked it.  All along, the covenant promise that mattered was with Abraham, and subsequently with David.  Follow the Royal Grants; notice the Suzerainty treaties, but do not place faith in the conditional covenants that require the works of man.

I took away a sense of building to a climax.  The summit is in sight.  From 20,000 feet, you can see the mountain looming just over the horizon.  The mountain is Zion, not Sinai.

--Troll--

Heidelberg Catechism: The Second Part--Sacraments

I guess it is time to continue on with Heidelberg.  This is the beginning of a very important section concerning the Sacraments.  The questions before us are what is a sacrament and what does this mean?

Of The Sacraments

25. Lord's Day

Question 65. Since then we are made partakers of Christ and all his benefits by faith only, whence does this faith proceed? 

Answer: From the Holy Ghost, (Ephesians 2:8-9; Ephesians 6:23; John 3:5; Philippians 1:29) who works faith in our hearts by the preaching of the gospel, and confirms it by the use of the sacraments. (Matthew 28:19-20; 1 Peter 1:22-23)

And therefore, the first important answer of the day is that it is by faith alone that we are made partakers of Christ.  We are made partakers, we do not make ourselves partakers.  This faith comes from the Holy Ghost.  This is the job of the Holy Spirit, to give us faith in Jesus Christ and His redeeming work on the Cross. 

Question 66. What are the sacraments? 

Answer: The sacraments are holy visible signs and seals, appointed of God for this end, that by the use thereof, he may the more fully declare and seal to us the promise of the gospel, viz., that he grants us freely the remission of sin, and life eternal, for the sake of that one sacrifice of Christ, accomplished on the cross. (Genesis 17:11; Romans 4:11; Deuteronomy 30:6; Leviticus 6:25; Hebrews 9:7-9, 24; Ezekiel 20:12; Isaiah 6:6-7, 54:9)

This section is full of covenant language.  Signs and seals imply the New Covenant in Christ.  So, therefore, if the sacraments are the signs and seals of the New Covenant, they must be for the Covenant members.  This issue will be addressed later.

Question 67. Are both word and sacraments, then, ordained and appointed for this end, that they may direct our faith to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross, as the only ground of our salvation? (Romans 6:3; Galatians 3:27)

Answer: Yes, indeed: for the Holy Ghost teaches us in the gospel, and assures us by the sacraments, that the whole of our salvation depends upon that one sacrifice of Christ which he offered for us on the cross.

This is pretty straight forward.  The word and sacraments point to the cross.  Our faith and our salvation is based upon Christ's work on the cross.

Question 68. How many sacraments has Christ instituted in the new covenant, or testament?

Answer: Two: namely, holy baptism, and the holy supper.

And so, you will expect the next two sections to be about these two sacraments.  At this point, it is worth mentioning that there is a difference here between the Lutheran view and the Confessional Reformed view of sacraments.  The Lutherans believe that the Sacraments actually deliver what they promise.  In other words, the seal of the covenant delivers the promise of the covenant.  It is a very straight forward position, but it runs into practical problems with antinomian behavior, Romans 6 notwithstanding.  The Confessional Reformed view is that there is both a visible church of those within the Covenant community and an invisible church of those who are of true faith.  The external benefits of the covenant are for all visible church members, but the eternal and invisible benefits are for the true believers, the elect, the invisible church.  This is the position that I hold because it makes practical sense of the empyrical observation that not all baptized people are true believers.

--Troll-- 

Snack and a Nap

To all readers who are concerned:

A herd of unfortunate cattle wandered under a certain bridge.  Troll and Ogre have been feasting, but will return shortly.  Troll has to nap for about four days after a meal, so these things take time.  Troll has much to say and will do so soon.

--Ogre--