Archive for category Bible
The Verse that Gets Forgotten in the Faith/Works Debate
Posted by thetenthleper in Bible on February 10, 2012
This post is a short one. It’s not intended to dive deep into the whole “faith vs. works” debate but rather to throw a stick in the spokes of it that often gets forgotten.
The debate is this: James says, “You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.” (James 2:24) And Paul says that “we have been justified by faith” (Rom.5:1) and that “by grace you have been saved through faith”, and action which is “not a result of works.” (Eph.2:8-9)
In the rush to conclude that these two guys are contradicting one another, we forget a couple things. First, James and Paul knew each other (see Acts 15:1-35). Second, and more importantly, is Romans 2:13-
“For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified.”
What’s significant about this verse is that it was written by the same Paul who champions justification by faith and not by works. Yet he sounds a lot like James here.
The point of all this is is to say that when something appears contradictory in Scripture, take a deeper look. Romans 2:13 does at least two things in this debate: 1) It forces us to reconcile Paul with Paul, and as a result, 2) it forces us to consider the possibility that James and Paul might be using the same words in different ways. We do that all the time in English, so the responsible thing to do is grant these authors the same courtesy.
Understanding How the Old Testament Fits Together
Posted by thetenthleper in Bible on February 8, 2012
UPDATE: Since posting this a few hours ago, I’ve done my daily counting exercises and realized that there are in fact eleven (not nine as I originally posted) basic historical books.
Like a lot of people I’m sure, the New Testament pages of my Bible have considerable more wear than the Old Testament ones, and it’s not just because of the epic coffee spill that seemed to inexplicably cover only the NT. The truth is, many of us stick primarily to the NT because the Old (minus certain parts) is, to be honest, weird and confusing.
But more than anything, I think what hinders our understanding and appreciation of the Old Testament is that we just can’t grasp how it all fits together. Even if you’re like me and have read the entire Bible, it still feels like you need a guided tour, especially when you get to books like the prophets.
Part of the problem is the order of the Old Testament. Instead of a chronological ordering of all 39 books, the books are grouped by genre. So first you have the historical books (Genesis through Esther). Next you have the poetical books (Job through Song of Solomon). Finally there are the prophetical books (Isaiah through Malachi). The difficulty with this ordering is that things Isaiah may be referring to in his prophecy are things which historically happened way back in 2 Kings. So if you’re going through the OT in a Bible reading plan, by the time you even get to Isaiah 36-39, you may have forgotten that you’re reading the same basic thing you read in 2 Kings 18-20.
My own confusion about how all the pieces of the OT fit together has led me to get passionate about how to understand it all, and I think step 1 to doing that is to get an overview of how all the books fit together historically. So here’s a pretty simple overview.
The Only Eleven Books of the Old Testament You Need to Read (To Get the History)
As I already said, the first grouping of OT books is the historical books, of which there are seventeen. Of these seventeen, you only really need to read eleven in order to cover the whole story of the Old Testament. These are:
Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, Joshua, Judges, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, Ezra, Nehemiah
These books cover the whole history from creation to the post-exilic era and are the only ones that actually advance the story. The twenty-eight remaining books fall into the OT story covered by these eleven books. Leviticus and Deuteronomy for example were books composed during the time covered by Exodus and Numbers. Ruth takes place during the time period covered in Judges. 1 and 2 Chronicles recount events that were already covered in 2 Samuel and 1 and 2 Kings. And Esther takes place during the time of the book of Ezra.
Additionally, every other book in the OT after Esther falls somewhere in the time covered by these eleven books.
Where the Poetical Books Fit
- Job- thought to be the first book of the Bible to actually be written. It fits somewhere in Genesis.
- The Psalms- in large part written by David, and thus were written during the events of 2 Samuel.
- Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon- mostly authored by Solomon, these books were written in the time of 1 Kings.
Where the Prophetical Books Fit
Since the prophets delivered messages from God concerning historical events that were going to happen, were happening, or had happened, knowing where they fit in the biblical timeline is necessary to understanding what they heck they were talking about.
The prophets spoke God’s words of warning to both the northern kingdom of Israel and to the southern kingdom of Judah in response to the great sinfulness of both. In Deuteronomy, God had promised that he would exile his people if they were unfaithful to him (Deut.28:58-68). The kingdom of Israel split after Solomon’s death, and both nations had a long string of unfaithful kings who led their respective kingdoms to be unfaithful to the Lord.
In his mercy, God spoke to his people before exiling them, during their exile, and after it. All of the prophets fall into one of those three categories:
- Hosea, Amos (prophets to Israel), Habakkuk, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Joel, Micah, Zephaniah, Lamentations (prophets to Judah), Jonah, Nahum (prophets to Assyria), Obadiah (prophet to Edom), all prophesied before the exile. Their prophecies cover events found in 2 Kings.
- Ezekiel and Daniel were prophets during exile in Babylon. They ministered after 2 Kings but before Ezra.
- Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi all prophesied after the exiles returned to Jerusalem after being captives in Babylon. Haggai and Zechariah fall into the book of Ezra, and Malachi falls into the book of Nehemiah.
In Summary:
Start with those eleven basic books that advance the story of the Old Testament, and then start placing the remaining twenty-eight books within them. In doing so, all the strands of the OT will begin to come together and start making sense. Even if you’re reading Isaiah and wondering what on earth certain phrases mean, at least knowing where he fits in the story is a huge advantage.
Here’s a chart of everything I’ve talked about, courtesy of Max Anders (from 30 Days to Understanding the Bible). Click to enlarge:
What Kind of Mountains Does our Faith Move? (Learning to Interpret Scripture Well)
Posted by thetenthleper in Bible, Interpretation & Text Criticism on January 24, 2012
“‘Honey, maybe God didn’t mean a literal flood. Maybe he meant a flood of knowledge, or emotion, or awareness.’
‘If that’s true, I’m going to be SO pissed.’”
-Evan Almighty
That’s one of two totally awesome lines I remember from an otherwise “meh” film. If I remember correctly it comes as Evan Baxter and his family are standing on a huge ark that he built amidst much despair and persecution, waiting for a flood that doesn’t seem to be coming. (Though it eventually does.) His wife is the one who suggests that maybe the flood that God (played with uncanny resemblance by Morgan Freeman) promised Evan would come was more of a metaphorical one.
Sometimes we find ourselves in similar predicaments when reading Scripture. For those of us who uphold the Bible as God’s inspired, infallible word to man, some verses just sound awkwardly extravagant. Acting on the belief that God wouldn’t lie though, we say: “Maybe it’s a metaphor.” But then we place ourselves in this awkward position: “Well if this is just a metaphor, what else might be?” If the Bible is God’s word, we can’t just “metaphorize” the passages that make us uncomfortable.
Here’s an example verse:
[Jesus] said to them…’For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, “Move from here to there,” and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.’ (Matthew 17:20)
What do we do with this? Is Jesus being literal or metaphorical? In the past I’ve had an almost ultra-conservative approach to Scripture that might have looked at verses like this and determined that the plain reading of the text must the right one. If Jesus says that our faith can move mountains, you better believe he means that our faith can move actual, literal mountains. If he means anything less than that, you’re tampering with God’s word and are thus a jerk. Any attempt to say that moving mountains refers to moving the mountains of trial in our lives sounded a bit too fluffy for me and was the first step down the liberal theologian road where Scripture means whatever you want it to mean.
It’s worth saying at this point that this entry isn’t really about Matthew 17:20 per se. Rather, I’m using that verse as an example of how to (and how not to) approach and interpret Scripture. Today if you were to ask me how I interpret that verse, I’d say that Jesus was being metaphorical. (“What!!! Burn the witch!!” -Eight years younger version of me.) How do I believe this and still maintain my belief in the divine inspiration of Scripture?
You have to remember that nothing in the Bible was written to you. What I mean is that while the Spirit of God moved through humans to write Scripture that is authoritative and instructional for us today, Scripture was written with a specific, then-alive audience in mind. So when Paul commands believers to “[s]ee to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ”, while he would certainly command every believer for all time to follow the same rule, in the Bible he’s specifically saying this to the Colossians.
This is so important to remember when reading Scripture. When you realize that books like Colossians were written to a specific first-century audience, you’ll be mindful of the fact that the author will use terms and phrases that were familiar to them, not you. For example, if you were to read the statement “The man was gay” in a book, how would you interpret it? Depends on when the book was written, because how that statement is used today is very different from how it would have been used two centuries ago.
When we get to Jesus telling the disciples that their faith can move mountains, he’s saying it to specific people at a specific time in a specific context. In fact, he’s actually using a Jewish idiom while he’s talking to these first-century Jews. ”An idiom,” writes Robert Plummer, “is an expression whose nonliteral meanings have become customary in a language.”* So as D.A. Carson says: “Removal of mountains was proverbial for overcoming great difficulties.” Relevant verses throughout Scripture include Isaiah 40:4; 49:11; 54:10; Zechariah 14:4; Matthew 21:21-22; Mark 11:23; Luke 17:6; 1 Corinthians 13:2.
Jesus is not preparing his followers to work for coal-mining companies- moving the tops of physical mountains. Rather, through faith in God, Jesus’ followers will overcome seemingly impossible obstacles.
-Robert Plummer
This is far from being a loose interpretation of Scripture. It is in fact the most faithful interpretation of what Jesus meant, making it the interpretation we must cling to. And though the idiom he used was a first-century Jewish one, his message is one that has relevance for believers of all eras as they make their difficult pilgrimage through this world to the gates of heaven.
So be encouraged by the meaning of Matthew 17:20. But also be encouraged in your study of Scripture to widen the scope of your study when you encounter difficult or unclear passages. The more I study the Bible, the more convinced I am that one of the best defenses of Christianity is simply understanding it better. While critics will bring up alleged inconsistencies, I have always found reasonable explanations by widening my search to include contextual evidence.
Homework
For the first time ever on my blog, I’m issuing you, the reader, some homework. And if you don’t do it, I can’t really do anything about it. But it would be a good exercise in what I’ve been talking about in this entry. Here ya go:
Some critics of Christianity say that the Bible never claims that Jesus was God. How does Philippians 2:9-11 refute this claim?
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*Plummer gives the English example of telling someone to “hit the lights.” To “hit” them means to turn them off, not to literally strike them. (from 40 Questions About Interpreting the Bible)
Typology: Expanding Our View of How Biblical Prophecy is Fulfilled
Posted by thetenthleper in Bible on January 5, 2012
One of my blogging goals for 2012 is to have a special emphasis on biblical prophets, and this naturally necessitates two other goals: first, blog more. Second, provide explanatory entries where necessary to further illuminate such things like the very contexts and nature of prophecy. This entry falls in that category.
To get the most out of biblical prophecy we must first expand our Western-minded understanding of prophecy. Prophecy in our mindset is simply the foretelling or predicting of something to come. A prophecy is only “fulfilled” whenever the predicted event occurs. While we certainly do see such forms of prophecy in the scripture (for example, Genesis 15:13-16 predicting the exodus), this is only a subsection of the field of biblical prophecy. ”Prophecy” in the bible is a broader category. Consequently, so is fulfillment.
In his book 40 Questions About Interpreting the Bible, Robert Plummer (citing Henry Virkler), lists six ways the Hebrew and Greek words for the english “fulfill” were understood by their original readers:
Drawing out the full implications of something (Matt. 5:17; cf. verses 18-48).
Completion of a fixed time (Mark 1:15; Luke 21:24).
Satisfying a request or desire (Esther 5:8; Ps. 145:19; Prov. 13:19).
Carrying out what is promised (Lev. 22:21).
Conforming to or obeying a requirement (Gal.5:14; James 2:8; Matt.3:15).
Corresponding of phrases, illustrations, or events between one historical period and another (Matt. 2:23; cf. Isa.11:1; Jer.31:15; cf. Matt. 2:17-18; Isa.9:1-2; cf. Matt. 4:13-16).
The last example is the one I want to hone in on, because it’s a great example of how narrow my own understanding of prophecy and fulfillment has been. To illustrate that last example of “fulfillment,” let’s look at an example from Scripture:
“Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.’ And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, ‘Out of Egypt I called my son.’”
Matthew 2:13-15
Matthew says that Jesus’ going down to Egypt and returning after Herod’s death was a fulfillment of “what the Lord had spoken by the prophet.” The prophet here is Hosea, and the quoted text is from Hosea 11:1:
“When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.”
If you uphold the innerancy and infallibility of scripture and have a modern understanding of prophecy, then this is a big problem, because Hosea isn’t predicting anything. There’s nothing about the longed-for Messiah in the verse. Rather, it’s a historical look back on God delivering the nation of Israel out of bondage from the land of Egypt. So if this verse looks back in time, in what way does Jesus coming out of Egypt “fulfill” this as Matthew says? Robert Plummer has these helpful words:
Against initial appearances, Matthew is not haphazardly citing a text from the Old Testament. Along with the other inspired authors of Scripture and the Jews of his day, Matthew affirmed a providential understanding of history. Moreover, he believed that history recorded a series of successive, corresponding saving events moving toward a divine climactic intervention in Christ. The earlier divine interventions served as types (corresponding anticipations) for the final antitype (fulfillment). Because God is completely sovereign over history, all Old Testament-era saving events, institutions, perons, offices, holidays, and ceremonies served to anticipate the final saving even, the final saving person, the final saving ceremony, etc. This style of citing the Old Testament is known as typological interpretation. It occurs frequently in Matthew and Hebrews, both originally addressed to Jewish readers, who would have shared the authors’ typological assumptions. For the original audiences, Matthew and the author of Hebrews unfolded the stereoscopic Christological depth of Old Testament history. Not only specific predictions, but also all of Israel’s history, pointed to Jesus. The two-dimensional history of Israel became a three-dimensional living reality as it found its climactic reenactment in the Messiah.
Typology is very important to understanding Scripture. The idea, simply stated, is that there is a type (a prefiguring/shadow) and an antitype (the reality/ what the type pointed to). Paul, for instance, calls Adam “a type of the one who was to come” (Rom. 5:14), who is Jesus. Adam was the head of the human race, and through this one man’s disobedience, all those whom he represented fell with him. Adam was a shadow of something, someone, greater: Jesus, the head of a new humanity. Through the obedience of this “last Adam” (1 Cor.15:45), all those whom he represents (Christians) receive the benefits of his perfectly-lived life, just as the old, sinful humanity received the condemnation of Adam’s sin.
So as far as Hosea 11:1 is concerned, Jesus fulfilled that verse “in that as the Son of God in another sense God the Father called and led Him out of Egypt when He was a child. Matthew did not mean that Hosea had Jesus Christ in mind or predicted His exodus from Egypt when he wrote but that Jesus’ experience corresponded to what Hosea had written about Israel. He saw the experience of Jesus as analogous to that of Israel. Jesus’ experience completed the full meaning of Hosea’s statement and in this sense fulfilled it.” (Tom Constable) In short, God leading his son Israel out of Egypt was a preview of him leading his true son Jesus out of Egypt. (Another example of this sort is seen in the wilderness temptations. As Israel was tempted for forty years in the wilderness and failed, Jesus was tempted for forty days in the wilderness and prevailed.)
There’s many more examples of typology in Scripture, and I don’t have the space to cover them in this entry. Rather, since my plan is to spend time in the prophets this year, my aim in this entry is merely to, a) expand our understanding of prophecy, and b) introduce the vital subject of typology. Since all of God’s promises are fulfilled in the savior Jesus Christ (see 2 Cor.1:20; Luke 24:27; 1 Pet.1:10-12), “then all of God’s prior saving work and revelations anticipate in some way the coming of this Messiah.” (Plummer) And this has enormous relevance to understanding what the different prophets were all looking forward to.
Ezekiel 2:1 – 3:15: God Loves Ezekiel and Has a Wonderful Plan to Ruin His Life
Posted by thetenthleper in Ezekiel on January 3, 2012
This section begins immediately where chapter 1 left off. Chapter 1 was about the grandeur of God, and chapter 2 begins with the nothingness of Ezekiel by comparison. Ezekiel rightly falls on his face as a result of what he’d seen: a King on his throne. But the King is calling him into his service, and for that he must stand, ready for action. To underscore the contrast between man and God, God addresses Ezekiel with the term “Son of Man,” a title which will appear over 90 times in this book. Here (as opposed to how Daniel and Jesus would later use it), it’s simply a Hebrew term that characterizes Ezekiel’s “self-conscious sense of human frailty before the aweful might and majesty of God…” (Taylor)
These chapters are ripe with accusations against the exiles. A generation earlier, God had spoken to Jeremiah, saying “the children of Israel and the children of Judah have done nothing but evil in my sight from their youth. The children of Israel have done nothing but provoke me to anger by the work of their hands, declares the LORD.” (Jer.32:30) In other words, Israel’s is one long history of disobedience (see also Psalm 106), and the exile was the result of that. As I wrote in the last entry, the fact that God is still even pursuing them is an act of immense grace. But to pursue them first includes helping them to see just how far they’ve fallen.
The Audience
God tells Ezekiel that he’s sending him to preach to these jerks, and he highlights three main areas of sin. First, they’re disloyal (Ezekiel 2:3). The language here is political language. The picture is that God is a great king who protects his subjects (the vassal state of Israel), who in return for protection were to be loyally committed to him. But instead they were disloyal. This had been their habit ever since the exodus (Num.14:9; Isa.43:27; Jer.32:30). Their whole history was one of rebellion, and thus Ezekiel shouldn’t expect all the traumas of exile to change their hearts.
Secondly, they’re defiant (2:4-5). Israel wasn’t just a political nation. They were a “house”, a family, descendants of Abraham. But instead of calling them the House of Israel, God calls them a rebellious house (see also Isa.30:19; Deut.21:18-21). They weren’t just indifferent to God’s voice. They were actively determined to resist it.
Finally, they are deaf (3:4-7). They didn’t listen to God because they weren’t prepared to listen. God tells Ezekiel that if he were sent to “a people of foreign speech and a hard language”, they would have listened to his message. They might not have understood it, but at least they would have given him an audience. But the same can’t be said for God’s own children. Though they can understand him, they won’t listen to him. And greater judgment awaits those who have the Word of God and reject it (Deut.30:11-14). Though God’s commandments were to reside on the foreheads of the people of Israel (Deut.6:8; 11:18), their foreheads had become hard. Joseph Blenkinsopp writes:
“”The point being made here is that [the language] barrier is far easier to overcome than the mental and spiritual block for which the biblical term is ‘hardness of heart’. The prophet and his public share the same language, concepts, traditions, and history, but his words to them will be unable to surmount that barrier.”
Ezekiel’s audience isn’t the uneducated. It’s the calloused.
The Task
Three things stand out in Ezekiel’s call to be a prophet.
First, God’s Spirit was sending him. Ezekiel had fallen on his knees at the end of the first chapter, and while on his knees he heard a voice commanding him to stand on his feet, something he did upon the Spirit entering him. Empowered by the Spirit, he then hears the words addressed to him, a creature, from his creator. God was sending him on a difficult and non-glamorous task, and because God was sending him, Ezekiel knew that he had no choice in the matter. Those sent by God must go.
Secondly, Ezekiel must preach what God puts in his mouth to preach, regardless of how it would be received by the people. ”‘And you shall speak my words to them, whether they hear or refuse to hear, for they are a rebellious house.’” (2:7; see also 3:1, 4, 10-11) It was the duty of a prophet to speak the very words of God (Deut.18:18; Exod.4:10-16; Jer.1:9). Just as he had no choice but to go where God was sending him, as a prophet he had no choice but to say what God told him to say. ”His task would be totally focused on one thing only- delivery of the words of Yahweh.” (Wright)
To ensure faithfulness to God’s word, Ezekiel is commanded to eat a scroll which contains the message he’s to preach (3:1). He was to fill himself with it, not just taste it (3:3), and by filling himself, to overflow with it. Though the scroll contained “words of lamentation and mourning and woe” (2:10), eating it was “as sweet as honey.” (3:3) Though he had a difficult task ahead of him, obedience to God’s will produced at least some peacefulness in his heart.
Thirdly, God will be with Ezekiel in his mission. There were already prophets among the exiles who were popular because they told them what they wanted to hear: that their exile would be short. But gave God gave Ezekiel the super-fun task of telling them that they would actually be there a while and that many of them would never see Jerusalem again. He knew his message would be harshly received, and naturally the thought scared him. But God addresses his fears: “‘And you, son of man, be not afraid of them, nor be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns are with you and you sit on scorpions. Be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house.’” (2:6; 3:9) ”His determination to speak must be stronger than Israel’s refusal to listen.” (Wright)
In addition to addressing his fears, God curbs any attempt of protest. The beginning of 2:8 seem to suggest this. Protest in one way or another was typical of people called by God. Moses complained of inadequacy…a lot. Isaiah complained that he was too sinful. Jeremiah said that he wasn’t experienced. Gideon played the inadequacy card too. But God preemptively rebukes any rumblings of weakness and inadequacy from Ezekiel. Though God was calling him to preach to stone walls (3:7), he reminds Ezekiel that their rejection of his message is ultimately a rejection of God himself (3:7; John 15:18). In other words, he shouldn’t take their rejection personally. ”They’re not complaining about you,” God seems to be saying. “They’re complaining about me.” As long as Ezekiel was preaching the words of God that he had digested, any opposition to his message would really be an opposition to God himself. To help with the whole not-taking-it-personally-and-getting-discouraged trap, God promises to toughen Ezekiel up (3:8-9).
The Aftermath
After his prophetic commissioning, the Spirit takes Ezekiel back to Tel-abib, to the people he was called to minister to. He went “in bitterness in the heat of my spirit, hand of the LORD being strong upon me” and he “sat there overwhelmed among them seven days.” In other words, he’s pissed. It’s possible that he’s furious at God for giving him such an undesirable task of having a lonely and unsuccessful ministry. But more likely, he’s filled with God’s own wrath against his people. Whatever the case, he’s overwhelmed and needs a week to recover.
Some Practical Observations
I love this passage. I think it contains a ton of wisdom and practical reminders. Here’s a few that jump out to me.
1. Redefine success. God didn’t call Ezekiel to convince, but to preach. God told him outright that his audience wouldn’t listen to him (3:7). If success to us means lots of people listening to our message and becoming believers, then we’re in for a rude awakening in our ministries. Christians love to quote Isaiah and say “Here am I! Send me!” and conveniently forget that what Isaiah was signing up for was nearly 38 years of ineffective preaching (Isa.6). None of us are called to convince people of what only the Holy Spirit can convince them of (John 16:7-8). God holds us accountable to preach the gospel faithfully. How it affects those we preach to is between them and God, so don’t take it personally.
2. Foreign missions can become an idol. God wasn’t calling Ezekiel to earthquake-ravaged Haiti, to war-torn Uganda, to secular Europe, or to communist China. He was calling him to stay home, to preach to the pastor who ran off with his secretary, to the friend from youth group who is now sleeping with his girlfriend, to the friend who has suffered greatly and is angry at God, and to those who in their suffering become calloused and conclude that God does not exist. Sometimes staying home is harder than going overseas (see Matthew 13:57). I’ve sometimes felt what I thought was a call to go do missions overseas. But some of those calls on closer inspection were nothing more than a desire for what I perceived to be “easier” ministry where I had greater chance of leading people to Christ and less chance of being mocked and shamed. I was avoiding discomfort. Whatever God calls us to we should obey simply because he calls us to it, whether that’s staying home or moving halfway across the world.
3. Obedience is sweet. When Ezekiel ate the scroll that contained lamentation and mourning and woe, it was “as sweet as honey.” (3:3) Though it may be very painful, there is a peace that comes from obedience to God quite unlike any other kind of peace. It’s the peace of a good conscience before your God and King (see Psa.19:10-11; Rev.10:9-10). Tom Constable writes that the “word of God has an intrinsically pleasing and satisfying quality to those who, like Ezekiel, receive it gladly…” God loves his children and has a wonderful plan for their lives: that they would know him and look more like his Son. And this happens on the difficult road of obedience that Jesus himself walked. (Hebrews 5:8)
Ezekiel 1: Light in the Darkness
Posted by thetenthleper in Bible, Ezekiel on November 7, 2011
Ezekiel 1 is one of those chapters you pretend to like because when you were a kid you learned that all Scripture is breathed out by God, but in your heart of hearts it lies in a theological wastebasket along with pretty much all the Old Testament (minus Psalms, Proverbs, and- because it’s about sex- the Song of Solomon). Yet it is here that we must begin.
If you’ve never heard the term “theophany” before, now is a good time to learn it. A theophany is simply a manifestation of God. While it’s assumed in Scripture that no one can literally see God (John 1:18, 1 Timothy 6:16), there are many incidents in which God does somehow display his glory. Several examples of God manifesting himself are seen in the book of Exodus, like in the burning bush (3:2), in the storm and smoke which surrounded Mount Sinai (19:16-18), and in the cloud which led the Israelites by day and the pillar of fire which led them by night (13:21-22). Throughout Scripture, God was “seen” in storms (for example, Psalm 18:7-15, and the previously mentioned Exodus 19:16-18), and as sitting upon a throne (Psalm 80:1, 99:1; Isaiah 6:1). In this first chapter, Ezekiel sees both of these images (vv. 4, 26-28): the throne signifying authority, the storm of free movement. And sandwiched between the two are the things which make this chapter so trippy. In the storm, Ezekiel sees three things: four living creatures, wheels, and the throne far above them.
The Four Living Creatures (vv.5-14)
The living creatures were cherubim (spoiler alert) according to Ezekiel’s own words in chapter 10. Cherubim have fallen on hard times in the art world. We see them as cute little baby angels with the most pinchable wittle cheeks you’ve ever seen. But searching for a biblical depiction of cherubim would probably lead you to the black light poster section at Spencer Gifts before it would the Thomas Kincaid section at the Christian bookstore four doors down. Cherubim eat Thomas Kincaid whole. They were the real deal. They had power. Giant statues of them stood outside temples in Mesopotamia as guardians, and they were also depicted as the creatures who held up the sky, where the gods lived. Solomon even put up two in his temple (1 Kings 6:23-28).
The cherubim Ezekiel saw resembled the depictions he had seen of them in his own time: they had a human form (v.5), several faces and wings (v.6), the feet of a bull (v.7), and the heads of a lion, ox, and eagle in addition to a human head (v.10). These winged bull-men were common in ancient near eastern cultures, usually in the important role of supporting a deity’s throne or guarding his temple. ”They were attendants of deity, supporting his majesty and defending his empire. From his cultural surroundings, Ezekiel would have recognized such creatures as indicating the presence of deity, even if it did not immediately dawn on his terrified mind that it was indeed Yahweh they were attending (not until v.28 is this indentification made).” (Christopher Wright)
As to the details of these creatures, they seem to be formed into a square. Their wings are raised high and touch the others’ wings. Their backs are to each other. The eagle face was at the back of each head facing the inside of the square. The lion’s head faced right and the ox’s head faced left. This imagery, while crazy to us, would have been familiar to Ezekiel and his contemporaries. As Chris Wright observes:”Individually or in combination, these four creatures are to be found in religious art and statuary all across the ancient world, and in Israel too they had symbolic or proverbial significance.” For example,
-the lion was known for its strength, ferocity, and courage. It was also a symbol of royalty.
-the eagle was the most stately of birds, as well as the fastest.
-the ox was domestically very valuable and served as a symbol of fertility and divinity.
-the human is created in God’s image and thus is the most dignified and noble of all.
(D.I. Block- The Book of Ezekiel, 1-24)
Taken together, these four creatures express the divine attributes of God’s omniscience (he is all-knowing) and his omnipresence (he is all-powerful). Block concludes, “Yahweh has the strength and majesty of the lion, the swiftness and mobility of the eagle, the procreative power of the bull, and the wisdom and reason of humankind.”
If the creatures themselves are as powerful as the imagery suggests, what must that say about the deity they serve? In short: that he is in complete control over all the earth, and that he is everywhere (the lightning in verse 14).
The Wheels (vv.15-21)
A quick word on this. The creatures are said to have moved by “the spirit”, and each one, though in a square formation would constantly be moving forward (v.12). Their ability to go in any direction without swiveling or turning is explained by the fact that each creature had a wheel that interlocked with another wheel. Though they had wings, the wheels within wheels, moved by the spirit (v.20), were their primary source of movement. Don’t get hung up on this part trying to figure out the engineering of it all. This has baffled readers for thousands of years, and I’m not about to help it make sense in your mind. The main point of the wheels is that they enabled the creatures to move in any direction without turning.
The Throne (vv.22-28)
Ezekiel’s vision now leaves the living creatures and looks far above them where he saw “an expanse, shining like awe-inspiring crystal, spread out above their heads.” (v.22) As it was a crystal (and thus transparent) expanse, he was able to see through it to what lay beyond, which was “the likeness of a throne, in appearance like sapphire; and seated above the likeness of a throne was a likeness with a human appearance.” (v.26) The Hebrew word Ezekiel uses for the human likeness of this enthroned being is the same word used in Genesis 1:26 when God is said to have created man in his likeness. And this seems to be the point at which Ezekiel realizes who he’s looking at: the God who made man in his likeness, manifesting himself in the likeness of man. ”Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard the voice of one speaking.” (v.28)
What Does This Mean?
I think one of most significant words in this chapter is the word “there.” It’s found in verse 3, at the end of the prologue to Ezekiel’s vision. It’s written that the hand of the LORD was upon Ezekiel there. Where? In Babylon. In the land where God seemed absent. In the land of the peoples whose gods appeared to have devastated Israel’s God, with the captivity of his people to show for it. Yet there he was in Babylon, very much alive, and very much still in charge. He is still sovereign over all things (the throne), and he is present at all times and in all places (the wheels/the spirit). In light of this vision, the idea that God can ever been defeated or thwarted in his plans is a joke.
Many of the Israelites in exile felt abandoned and hopeless, for in their mind God was defeated and distant, and their captors felt bigger than him. We’re not so different from them. Through sufferings, addictions, and other trials, it’s easy to forget that God is bigger than our problems and that he has the power to free us from them. Sometimes it’s hard to remember that he cares about us, because he seems to be so far away. Ezekiel 1 reminds us that in the darkest pits of despair, God is still sovereign and near. In Paul’s words, we all once had “no hope and [were] without God in the world.” (Ephesians 2:12) The difference-maker that reversed that condition though was that God sent his Son to shine as a light in a dark world, to destroy the works of the devil, and to set free those who had been captive to him. (John 1:4, 1 John 3:8, 2 Timothy 2:26)
To be a part of God’s people means that he will never abandon you. (Matthew 28:20, Hebrews 13:5) It’s to remember that whatever darkness you face, you never face it alone. (Psalm 139:7-12, Psalm 23:4, Acts 7:55-56) It’s to remember that his purposes for you are only good, even though they may be difficult. (Romans 8:28, Hebrews 12:7) It’s to be comforted by the awareness that any feelings you ever have about God not being with you are lies.
The comforting aspect of this passage is only one aspect though, and I’ve definitely treated it from a long-range perspective. It is comforting that God is sovereign and loving and that he does not give up on his people. But in Ezekiel’s context, while God may have been gloriously active and present, he first had some harsh words of judgment for the exiles. (See “The Ministry of Ezekiel the Prophet“) Yet even so, that God did not just abandon the Israelites forever is a remarkable show of grace. He may have come with a harsh message, but he has come nonetheless. God’s love pursues. And it rebukes when necessary.
So there we are. One chapter down. Forty-seven to go.
(Gulp.)
Introduction to Ezekiel: The Ministry of Ezekiel the Prophet
Posted by thetenthleper in Ezekiel on August 10, 2011
My next entry in this whole Ezekiel series will be cover the first chapter of the book. But before we get there, I wanted to note a few things about Ezekiel’s ministry, particularly the climate he was called to minister in and the roles God called him to take on as a prophet.
The Climate of His Ministry
I’ve already covered some of this a couple entries back, but it’s worth revisiting. Ezekiel had been carried off to Babylon in 597 BC as part of the first deportation (second if you count the smaller deportation in 605 which included the prophet Daniel). There was another deportation in 587 when Babylon finally crushed the southern kingdom of Judah and destroyed the temple of the Lord. The first part of Ezekiel’s ministry was from about 593-587 and was directed to the exiles who had been taken in 597. These people had naturally suffered much trauma. They had been relocated far away from their homes and from loved ones who had been left behind. Yet amidst such harsh realities, there was still a glimmer of hope in some. No matter how bad things were for them, Jerusalem could never fully be destroyed. Or so they thought. When the city was destroyed with many more exiles to show for it, that glimmer of hope was shattered.
The fall of Jerusalem resulted in spiritual and psychological trauma for the exiles. They simply couldn’t believe it. The temple and city of their God had been destroyed. Were the Babylonian gods more powerful than the God of Israel? Had he been shamed as they had by a superior force? Was there any future left for them as a people? Where was God? Does he even have the ability to rescue them from the apparently superior Babylonian deities? How should they make sense of this catastrophe? ”Ezekiel, then, was called to serve God in the midst of a shattered and shell-shocked people, a context not far removed from many contexts of mission today.” (Christopher Wright) Psalm 137 remembers Jewish life in exile:
By the water of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion.
On the willows there we hung up our lyres.
For there our captors required of us songs, and our tormentors, mirth, saying “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”
How shall we sing the LORD’s song in a foreign land?
If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill!
Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember you, if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy!
Remember, O LORD, against the Edomites the day of Jerusalem, how they said, “Lay it bare, lay it bare, down to its foundations!”
O daughter of Babylon, doomed to be destroyed, blessed shall he be who repays you with what you have done to us!
Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones and dashes them against the rock!
Ezekiel’s call was to preach to people who felt abandoned by their God.
The Roles of His Ministry
Ezekiel was called to be a pastor to his people. The trauma of exile and of Jerusalem’s fall took many forms for the displaced people of God. Some rejected their faith outright. Others maintained baseless optimism. There were those who protested that God’s judgment was unfair. And some sank into despair. As pastor, Ezekiel labored to bring his people to a right understanding of their situation. They needed to understand that they were going to be in exile for a while, that their judgment was just, yet also that God’s judgment would one day end. A restoration would come. ”The emphasis on newness is overwhelming: a new shepherd, new hearts, a new spirit, new breath, new unity. Ultimately only the language of resurrection (37:1-14) can really do justice to the river of hope being poured out over the languishing dead bones of the exiles.” (Christopher Wright)
Ezekiel was also called to be an evangelist. As a watchmen meant to warn the people, his warnings were to prompt them into repentant action. Aspects of this included:
-Conviction of sin. Ezekiel was ministering a very entitled people who felt proud of their heritage and who felt that they had “an absolute and eternal right to the privileges of land, city and temple.” (Wright) Some of the people adamantly refused to acknowledge that they were sinners and thus had brought judgment upon themselves. Because of this, Ezekiel gives perhaps the most graphic depictions of sin found in Scripture (chapters 16, 20, 23) in order to shock them out of their false innocence.
-Apologetics. Particularly, Ezekiel engaged in what’s called theodicy, or the field of apologetics that addresses the seemingly unjust actions of God. (A classic example of theodicy is answering why a good God would allow evil in the world.) Many of the exiles were grumbling and complaining that God was not fair to inflict such judgment upon them. Ezekiel needed to correct these false assumptions.
-Divine Grace. Ezekiel complements his horrific depictions of sin with some absolutely beautiful depictions of grace. Israel had continually sought to be like the nations around them (20:32), but God would have none of it. Through his judgment, he would redeem them. For his own sake he be merciful to his people. Christopher Wright beautifully sums this up: “Yahweh will gather and cleanse his people, do some radical heart surgery, and grant his own Spirit to enable full obedience. The great gospel language of the New Testament is hardly more inspiring, and indeed owes some of its most precious imagery to Ezekiel’s eloquence.”
-Appeal for Repentance. When conviction of sin has settled in the heart, the next step is to repent. Ezekiel reminds the exiles that repentance will result in salvation. (18:21-23) Confessed sins are sins that will not be remembered.
-Assurance of Life. God’s grace is freely and abundantly offered for all who turn to him and repent. For those who did, God promised to bring them back to life. (37:12-14)
The darkness was great for the exiles, but the God who spoke brought light into the darkness at creation wouldn’t let the story end there for the people he loved. This kind of darkness needs a greater light than stars can give, and he was prepared to give it. When God speaks, darkness scatters. That brings us to the first chapter of Ezekiel’s prophecy.
Introduction to Ezekiel: A Little Bit About Ezekiel
Posted by thetenthleper in Ezekiel on July 28, 2011
When we think of Ezekiel we tend to think of a prophet. Rightly so. After all, he is included in the prophetic section of the Old Testament. But in Ezekiel 1:3 we learn that before he was called by God to be a prophet, he was a priest-in-training. Up to this point, his life would have been one of rigorous training, including matters of animal sacrifice as well as teaching and administering the Torah. His writings also display a broad knowledge of international affairs, politics, and ancient near-eastern mythology.
As a priest, Ezekiel’s role was to represent God to the people, and the people to God. God stood at the center of his existence and utterly defined his life. Thus, the glory of God is a huge theme in his ministry, and this God-centeredness colored the way he saw everything around him. For example, some of the most graphic language used to describe sin in the Bible is found in this book. As a priest who was deeply concerned with seeing things through God’s eyes, Ezekiel boldly proclaimed the filthiness and disgust of sin, especially idolatry.
In addition to seeing sin through God’s eyes, Ezekiel saw salvation from the same perspective. What is it that motivates God to save sinful human beings? Two common (and biblically supported) responses are that of “human need” and “divine emotion.” A classic example of this is the exodus when God saw the suffering of his people in Egypt and intervened (Exodus 3:7-8). But for Ezekiel, the ultimate motive for God to save sinful human beings is the desire for his own glory. God will glorify himself, and he will do so through the salvation of his people who are in exile.
As someone who was in training to be a priest, God’s call for Ezekiel to be a prophet was a radical career change. It was, in Christopher Wright’s words, “disorienting” and was a major theological and professional shift for him. As a priest, his theological worldview saw everything through the lens of Zion’s temple. After all, Jerusalem was God’s city, where he had chosen to dwell. And as a priest, his profession was to serve in that temple. He would offer sacrifices and represent the people before God. The problem with a guy like this being called to be a prophet was…well, priests and prophets weren’t exactly getting invited to each others’ parties. Whereas the priests were to take care of all the sacrifices, the prophets were the guys who had the God-given audacity to call out corrupt priestly practices. Or to say it another way, God’s true prophets were the guys always standing over the corrupt priests’ shoulders saying “You’re doing it wrong.” Annoying? You bet. Jeremiah does this is Jeremiah 2:8 (though to be fair he also called out false prophets there). In Jeremiah 20:1-9 we see the tension between prophets and priests when Pashur the priest had Jeremiah beaten and put in stocks. And in 26:20-23, we read of Uriah the prophet who spoke “in words like those of Jeremiah” and was killed by King Johoiakim.
In light of the schism between prophets and priests, it’s worth appreciating Ezekiel’s sudden career change from a priest to the “lonely, friendless, unpopular role of being a prophet, the mouthpiece of Yahweh.” (Wright) He’d been preparing his whole life for priesthood and in his thirtieth year, the year that he would have been eligible to begin his priestly duties (Numbers 4:3), not only was Ezekiel far from the temple in Jerusalem, but God called him to a different task, proving that in God’s economy it’s never too late for a career change. God would certainly use all that he had prepared him for in his priestly training, but he would use it in a far different way than Ezekiel could have anticipated.
Oh, and he had a wife who died ten years into the exile. (Ezekiel 24:18) That’s all.
Introduction to Ezekiel: The Structure and Scope of the Book
Posted by thetenthleper in Ezekiel on July 21, 2011
Structure
For all its weirdness, the Book of Ezekiel has a mercifully easy structure to follow. There’s basically two to three-ish categories to divide up the 48 chapters into: before Jerusalem’s fall, after it, and a few chapters during it. Chapters 1-24 chronicle the first five years of Ezekiel’s ministry, from his calling in 593-592 to the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem in 587. There’s an interlude section of the book (chapters 25-32) which are directed against the nations at large, and this was delivered mostly during the Jerusalem siege, though some of it came after. The remaining chapters (33-48) cover the last fifteen years of Ezzy’s ministry. Here’s two very basic structures of the book-
Super Easy Outline:
1. Ezekiel 1-24 Oracles of judgment before Jerusalem’s fall in 587
2. Ezekiel 25-32 Oracles against the foreign nations
3. Ezekiel 33-48 Oracles of hope after Jerusalem’s fall (587 – 571)
(Adapted from Christopher Wright, The Message of Ezekiel)
Slightly Less Easy Outline:
1. Ezekiel 1-3 Ezekiel’s call/ The first vision
2. Ezekiel 4-24 Judgment on Jerusalem and Judah
3. Ezekiel 25-32 Oracles against the foreign nations
4. Ezekiel 33-39 After the fall of Jerusalem
5. Ezekiel 40-48 Vision of restoration
(Adapted from the ESV Study Bible)
Easy enough, right?
Scope
A brief word here about the reaches of this book. Ezekiel’s ministry was to a small community of his fellow exiles in Mesopotamia, but theologically speaking, his message was vast in that was aimed toward all nations. He stands firmly on God’s promise to Abraham to bless all the nations through him (Genesis 12:1-3). But if this was Israel’s purpose then the exile created some pretty weighty questions. How could they still fulfill this role? How could God bless the nations through Abraham’s descendants when those descendants themselves didn’t know him? As Christopher Wright observes, “This question lies behind one of Ezekiel’s most characteristic expressions…’Then you will know that I am Yahweh’…”
Even more weighty than this question is the question of God’s glory. The exile seemed to spit on the honor and reputation of the God of Israel. When Babylon besieged Jerusalem and carried off captives in 597, and especially after the fall of Jerusalem a decade later, it looked like the gods of Babylon had defeated the God of Israel. His name apparently had been disgraced. But as we’ll see in this book, God wasn’t defeated. In fact, he was the reason his people were exiled. The honor of God’s name is a theme that gets taken up frequently in Ezekiel as a response to the crisis of faith many of the Israelites were having (for example, see Ezekiel 20:9,14,22; 38:23; 39:7, 21-23). God cares about his glory, and he glorifies himself in the welfare of his people- a truth that is immensely comforting for believers today. To glorify himself by making himself known among the nations, God must first restore his people who are to be the means of such world-wide salvation. D.A. Williams says it very well:
“Ezekiel is true to the broad thrust of the Old Testament in developing a concern for the foreign nations that depends upon a covenantally obedient Israel…[He] can only offer hope to the nations through the restoration of Israel, a restoration that itself seems almost impossible. Ezekiel stresses the importance of Yahweh’s reputation in the sight of the nations, and then points towards the restoration of Israel as the means by which Yahweh’s reputation in the eyes of the world will be restored…Ezekiel echoes the broad sweep of the Old Testament in pointing towards the restoration of Israel as Yahweh’s means of honouring his name amongst the nations.”
In short: God needs to fix the owies on Israel’s heart so that he can in turn fix the owies on the world’s heart. Bam. That last sentence just summed up the entire book for you.
Introduction to Ezekiel: The Historical Context
Posted by thetenthleper in Ezekiel on July 20, 2011
“In the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I was among the exiles by the Chebar canal, the heavens were opened, and I saw vision of God. On the fifth day of the month (it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin), the word of the LORD came to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the Chebar canal, and the hand of the LORD was upon him there.“
-Ezekiel 1:1-3
The book of Ezekiel opens with two time references which provide a ton a contextual clues. The first reference, “the thirtieth year”, is believed by many to refer to Ezekiel’s age. The second (“the fifth day of the month” and “the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin”) provides us with enough info to say that this thirtieth year is referring to either 593 or 592 BC. If Ezekiel is indeed referring to his thirtieth birthday, that would place his birthday somewhere in 623 or 622, which was a significant time for the southern kingdom of Judah. 622 was the year that the book of the law was discovered in the temple. King Josiah, who had been ruling for eighteen years at that point, had begun religious reforms five years earlier, and the discovery of the law intensified those reforms (see 2 Kings 22 and 2 Chronicles 34:1-21).
It was an exciting time for Judah. For over a century (735 BC) they had been a vassal state of the Assyrian empire. During Isaiah’s time, King Ahaz had made an alliance with Assyria in order to protect Judah from an alliance between the northern Kindgom of Israel and Syria. By King Josiah’s time, the Assyrian empire was beginning to show cracks, and many of the empire’s western states were getting restless and beginning to desire independence. So while there was legitimate, heartfelt desire on Josiah’s part for religious reform, nationalistic reform was also sweeping throughout the land as Judah sought freedom from Assyria.
King Josiah was killed in action at Megiddo in 609 when his army intercepted the Egyptian armies of Pharaoh Neco, who were on their way to help Assyria against the rising threat of Babylon. Josiah’s son Jehoahaz took his father’s place on the throne and reigned a whopping three months before Neco deposed him and exiled him to Egypt. In his place Neco installed another son of Josiah, Jehoiakim, thus ushering in a brief period of time in which Judah was under Egyptian control. Jehoiakim fully complied with Egypt and reversed Josiah’s earlier reforms, and he was frequently the prophetic punching bag of Jeremiah. In 605 he burned a scroll of Jeremiah’s prophecies (Jeremiah 36). Ezekiel would have been a teenager at this point, and his writings indicate that he was familiar with Jeremiah’s prophecies.
In the same year, 605 BC, Egypt and Babylon, who were both in a power grab over the collapsing Assyrian empire, met in battle. Under Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonians defeated Egypt. Nebuchadnezzar seized control of Judah and other smaller states and took some of the nobles of Judah into captivity in Babylon (Daniel 1:1) and made Judah a vassal state. Jehoiakim rebelled in 598-597, prompting a seige of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar. (2 Kings 24:1-2) Sometime during the seige, Jehoiakim mysteriously died, and his son Jehoiachin ascended to his father’s throne only to surrender the city to Babylon three months later. Nebuchadnezzar didn’t destroy Jerusalem, though he did cart off to Babylon the temple treasures, Jehoiachin himself, the royal family, and many important people. (2 Kings 24:8-17) The Babylonians installed Jehoiachin’s uncle Matthaniah as a puppet king and changed his name to Zedekiah. Though Nebuchadnezzar had already deported some Jews like Daniel in 605, 597 is generally referred to as the first deportation. Among this group was a 25-year-old priest-in-training named Ezekiel.
The prophet Jeremiah’s ministry continued through the reign of Zedekiah. During Zedekiah’s reign anti-Babylonian sentiment grew strong, and despite the prophet’s warnings, the king (who had been instilled by Nebuchadnezzar himself) started another rebellion against Babylon. Finally fed up, Nebuchadnezzar launched a massive seige against the city which lasted eighteen long months. Eventually the walls were breached, the army was killed, and much of the city, including God’s temple, was burned to the ground. Zedekiah’s sons were executed in front of him, and then he was blinded. He and most of the population of the city were carried off in disgrace to Mesopotamia to join the exiles who had already been there for ten years. (2 Kings 25:1-12) As Christopher Wright says, “[t]he year was 587, the beginning of the most traumatic event in Israel’s whole biblical history.”
By the time Jerusalem fell, Ezekiel had been ministering to his fellow exiles in Babylon for five years. He’d been ministering to people who never, ever believed that Jerusalem could finally fall. When it did, with many new exiles to show for it, Ezekiel then spent the next fifteen years ministering to people who were completely and utterly demoralized, shattered, and hopeless.
