5 theo interp_israel (part 2)

THE THEOLOGICAL
INTERPRETATION OF
SCRIPTURE
LECTURE FIVE: ISRAEL (PART 2)

Review
The Metanarrative:
Creation Fall Israel Jesus Church New Creation

Israel:
An outline of the Torah (Torah as Journey)
Genesis
Eden
Exodus
Egypt
Leviticus
Sinai
Numbers Deuteronomy
Plains of Moab

Israel:
Israel at Sinai —The giving of the Law

Exodus 19
1 On the first day of the third month after the Israelites
left Egypt—on that very day—they came to the Desert of
Sinai. 2 After they set out from Rephidim, they entered
the Desert of Sinai, and Israel camped there in the
desert in front of the mountain.

Exodus 19
3 Then Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to
him from the mountain and said, “This is what you are to
say to the descendants of Jacob and what you are to tell
the people of Israel: 4 ‘You yourselves have seen what I
did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and
brought you to myself. 5 Now if you obey me fully and
keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my
treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine,
6 you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy
nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the
Israelites.”

Israel:
- Gordan Wenham, Four Keys about the Covenant
1.It starts with God’s saving Grace.
‣I brought you out of Egypt…on eagle’s wings (This is
the “Historical Prologue”)
‣Remember this the next time you’re tempted to think
that the Old Testament is about “works.”
Phrase to Remember: “Covenantal Nomism”

Israel:
1.It starts with God’s saving Grace.
‣I brought you out of Egypt…on eagle’s wings (This is
the “Historical Prologue”)
‣Remember this the next time you’re tempted to think
that the Old Testament is about “works.”
2.The People are expected to respond in obedience.
‣This represents the “Stipulations”

Israel:
4.Obedience will be rewarded with greater intimacy.
‣“You will be my treasured possession.”
‣The reward is God (See John Piper, “Christian Hedonism”)
5.The covenant relationship is intended to benefit
the world (i.e. those not in the covenant).
‣Q: Evidence?

Israel:
‣Q: Evidence? A: “Kingdom of Priests” (19.6)

Israel:
‣Q: Evidence? A: “Kingdom of Priests” (19.6)
‣Priests mediate the divine to non-priests

Israel:
- Prior to the Golden Calf, the Law is not particularly
complicated…
‣The Ten Words and the Book of the Covenant (see
Exod. 20-23; cf. 24.7).
- Yet if the Exodus is form of new creation, the golden calf
is kind of second fall.

Israel:
- Prior to the Golden Calf, the Law is not particularly
complicated-Ten Words and the Book of Covenant.
(see Exod. 20-23; cf. 24.7).
- Yet if the Exodus is form of new creation, the golden
calf is kind of second fall.
‣Evidence suggests that the calf is an image of
YHWH.
- After this, the Law becomes more complex (What then
is/are the purpose(s) of the Law?)

Israel:
- Some functions of the Law in (Biblical) Theology:
‣Three TYPES of law in Reformed Theology:
1.Civil—Restrains evil and evil persons.
2.Ceremonial—E.g. sacrifices, etc.
3.Moral—The so-called “moral law” shows us how
to live (even after salvation).
Caveat: These categories do NOT necessarily exist in the Torah!

Israel:
Not for us, because we are
not Israel.
In a non-nomadic 21st c. setting,
our civil laws may differ.

Israel:
Fulfilled in Christ
(E.g. Hebrews)

Israel:
Remains “for us” but for our
sanctification, not our salvation.

Israel:
‣Three Uses of the law in Reformed Theology:
2.Pedagogical—Teaches God’s moral character
and our own inability to live up.
3.Normative—The so-called “moral law” shows us
how to live (even after salvation).

Israel:
‣What about the “odd” laws (e.g., Leviticus)
1.Health/Hygiene—(perhaps some…)
2.Prevent Idolatry—(more questionable…)
3.To crush self-sufficiency—(See Luther)
4.To preserve Israel culturally even while she
remained no different spiritually.
The Boat Analogy + Paul’s understanding of Law

Israel:
Questions on the Law?
Break.

Israel:
Tabernacle:
- The culmination of the Book of Exodus is the
construction of the Tabernacle.

Israel:
Tabernacle:
- Nearly 1/3 of Exodus is taken up with it’s construction
- A microcosm of the cosmos.
- Perhaps patterned after the movable throne room of
Rameses II (KEY: YHWH is ruling as King).
- A Place of Sacrificial Worship:
- Key Texts:

Leviticus 17
11 …the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have
given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the
altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life.
Hebrews 9.22
…the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it
to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it
is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life.

Israel:
Sacrifices:
- Why sacrifices? Does God “need” them?
‣Our Atonement class has covered this extensively.
- In the OT, sacrifices (perhaps excluding Yom Kippur)
were only for unintentional or minor sins.
‣Yet God clearly “forgives” (e.g. Ps. 32.5).
๏“Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not
cover up my iniquity. I said, ‘I will confess my
transgressions to the Lord.’ And you forgave the
guilt of my sin.”

Israel:
Sacrifices:
- Why sacrifices? Does God “need” them?
‣God does not need them (Hos. 6.6).
‣They teach the severity of sin (e.g. Lev. 17)
‣They point forward to Christ (Heb.).
‣More on this later…

Israel:
Kingship:
- What we learn in the wake of Joshua and Judges…
‣Israel does not want YHWH as her only King.
- Key Text: 1 Samuel 8 (Samuel is last Judge)

1 Samuel 8
4 So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came
to Samuel at Ramah. 5 They said to him, “You are old,
and your sons do not follow your ways; now appoint a
king to lead us, such as all the other nations have.”
6 But when they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this
displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the Lord. 7 And the
Lord told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to
you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have
rejected me as their king. 8 As they have done from the
day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day,
forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing
to you.

1 Samuel 8
10 Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people
who were asking him for a king. 11 He said, “This is what
the king who will reign over you will claim as his rights:
He will take your sons and make them serve with his
chariots and horses…13 He will take your daughters to
be perfumers and cooks and bakers. 14 He will take the
best of your fields and vineyards…15 He will take a tenth
of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his
officials and attendants…17 He will take a tenth of your
flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves.
18 When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from
the king you have chosen, but the Lord will not answer
you in that day.”
19 But the people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they

1 Samuel 8
10 Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people
who were asking him for a king. 11 He said, “This is what
the king who will reign over you will claim as his rights:
He will take your sons and make them serve with his
chariots and horses…13 He will take your daughters to
be perfumers and cooks and bakers. 14 He will take the
best of your fields and vineyards…15 He will take a tenth
of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his
officials and attendants…17 He will take a tenth of your
flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves.
18 When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from
the king you have chosen, but the Lord will not answer
you in that day.”
19 But the people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they
It ends as Exodus begins.
Israel in slavery / “Crying out”
But this time, no answer.

Israel:
Kingship:
‣The problem is NOT that Israel wanted a king.
‣The problem that YHWH was their king, and they
rejected him.

Israel:
Kingship:
- Gordon Hugenberger sees Kingship as the key to all
Biblical theology (Some claims).
‣Adam and Eve as God’s vassal kings.
‣Sanctuary in fact a kind of palace.
๏No Heb. word for “temple,” only palace/house.
‣Covenant modeled on Suzerain-vassal docs.
๏Two tablets, one for Suzerain, one for vassal
‣Tithing and Worship Gestures (e.g. shoe-less
priests) patterned after royalty, not religion.

Israel:
Kingship:
- Gordon Hugenberger sees Kingship as the key to all
Biblical theology (Some claims).
‣Adam and Eve as God’s vassal kings.
‣Sanctuary in fact a kind of palace.
๏No Heb. word for “temple,” only palace/house.
‣Covenant modeled on Suzerain-vassal docs.
๏Two tablets, one for Suzerain, one for vassal
‣Tithing and Worship Gestures (e.g. shoe-less
priests) patterned after royalty, not religion.
Hugenberger may go too far,
but the theme is surely
important.

Israel:
Kingship:
‣The problem is NOT that Israel wanted a king.
‣The problem that YHWH was their king, and they
rejected him.
- With kingship comes desire for a temple.

Israel:
Temple (promised to David):
- Key Text: 2 Samuel 7

2 Samuel 7
1After the king was settled in his palace and the Lord
had given him rest from all his enemies around him, 2 he
said to Nathan the prophet, “Here I am, living in a house
of cedar, while the ark of God remains in a tent.”
3 Nathan replied to the king, “Whatever you have in
mind, go ahead and do it, for the Lord is with you.”

2 Samuel 7
4 But that night the word of the Lord came to Nathan,
saying:
5 “Go and tell my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord
says: Are you the one to build me a house to dwell in?
6 I have not dwelt in a house from the day I brought the
Israelites up out of Egypt to this day. I have been moving
from place to place with a tent as my dwelling.
7 Wherever I have moved with all the Israelites, did I
ever say to any of their rulers whom I commanded to
shepherd my people Israel, “Why have you not built me a
house of cedar?”’
Brueggemann sees this as a denunciation of the temple
and the “royal consciousness.”

WALTER
BRUEGGEM
ANN
B. 1933
ONE OF THE PREEMINENT
OT SCHOLARS OF
RECENT DECADES

WALTER
BRUEGGEM
ANN
B. 1933
ONE OF THE PREEMINENT
OT SCHOLARS OF
RECENT DECADES
Possible Term Paper Project.

Walter Brueggemann:
The economics of affluence and the politics of
oppression are the most characteristic marks of the
Solomonic achievement. But these by themselves could
not have prospered and endured as they did had they
not received theological sanction.
[With] the establishment of a controlled, static
religion…God and his temple have become part of the
royal landscape, in which the sovereignty of God is fully
subordinated to the purpose of the king. In Jerusalem in
this period there is a radical revision of the character or
God. […] It is almost inconceivable that the God
domiciled in Jerusalem would ever say anything
substantive or abrasive [to the king].

Walter Brueggemann:
Two observations must be made here. First, I agree with
those scholars who stress the tension between the
Mosaic and royal traditions… they have different roots
and foster quite different visions of reality. Second, the
reasons for the disastrous religious achievement of
Solomon…are sociological and not historical. That
is…Solomon had this kind of shrine…because it served
his social ideology…
“I have built thee an exalted house… (1 Kgs 8.13).”
God is now “on call,” and access to him is controlled by
the royal court.
(The Prophetic Imagination, 28-9).

2 Samuel 7
4 But that night the word of the Lord came to Nathan,
saying:
5 “Go and tell my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord
says: Are you the one to build me a house to dwell in?
6 I have not dwelt in a house from the day I brought the
Israelites up out of Egypt to this day. I have been moving
from place to place with a tent as my dwelling.
7 Wherever I have moved with all the Israelites, did I
ever say to any of their rulers whom I commanded to
shepherd my people Israel, “Why have you not built me a
house of cedar?”’
Brueggemann sees this as a denunciation of the temple
and the “royal consciousness.”
Bruggemann’s desire to
critique modern power and
affluence likely causes him to
go a bit too far.

2 Samuel 7
8 “Now then, tell my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord
Almighty says: I took you from the pasture, from tending
the flock, and appointed you ruler over my people Israel.
9 I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I
have cut off all your enemies from before you. Now I will
make your name great, like the names of the greatest
men on earth. 10 And I will provide a place for my people
Israel and will plant them so that they can have a home
of their own and no longer be disturbed. Wicked people
will not oppress them anymore, as they did at the
beginning 11 and have done ever since the time I
appointed leaders over my people Israel. I will also give
you rest from all your enemies.

2 Samuel 7
“‘The LORD declares to you that the LORD himself will
establish a house for you: 12 When your days are over
and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your
offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I
will establish his kingdom.
13 He is the one who will build a house for my Name,
and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I
will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does
wrong, I will punish him with a rod wielded by men, with
floggings inflicted by human hands.

2 Samuel 7
15 But my love will never be taken away from him, as I
took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before
you. 16 Your house and your kingdom will endure
forever before me; your throne will be established
forever.’”

Israel:
Temple (promised)
- Key Text: 2 Samuel 7: The Davidic Covenant

Israel:
Temple (promised)
‣Promises:
1.To make David’s name great.
2.Plant Israel and give rest from enemies.
3.Establish David’s dynasty forever.
4.King will have a father-son relationship with God.
5.David’s son will build God’s House.
What’s new with the Davidic covenant is that Kingship is
joined with the Law of Sinai.

Israel:
Temple (promised)
‣Promises:
What’s new with the Davidic covenant is that Kingship is
joined with the Law of Sinai.
Still, kingship is not
entirely new: Abraham
Gen 17—“Kings will come
from you.”

Israel:
Temple (promised)
‣Promises:
An example of how prophecies can have a plurality of
fulfillments—Solomon, later kings(?), Jesus (son of
David).

Israel:
David as the archetypal King: (Three keys)
1.David conquers Zion (old city of Jerusalem), the
Jebusite hill-top fortress; it becomes “City of David.”

During the time of Herod’s temple.

Israel:
2.Returns the ark to Zion (possible project).

WALTER
BRUEGGEM
ANN
“ICHABOD TOWARD
HOME”
(FASCINATING
COMPARISON OF 1 SAM.
4-6 AND THE CHRISTIAN
EASTER STORY). Possible Term Paper Project.

Israel:
2.Returns the ark to Zion.
3.Like Melchizedek, the ancient king of Salem, David
performs both priestly and Kingly functions.
‣2 Samuel 6

2 Samuel 6
17 They brought the ark of the Lord and set it in its place
inside the tent that David had pitched for it, and David
sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings before
the Lord. 18 After he had finished sacrificing the burnt
offerings and fellowship offerings, he blessed the people
in the name of the Lord Almighty.

Israel:
2.Returns the ark to Zion.
3.Like Melchizedek, the ancient king of Salem, David
performs both priestly and Kingly functions.
‣2 Samuel 6
Questions?

Israel:
Solomon as an example of Kingship gone wrong.
- Starting well does not mean finishing well…
- Hints from the tradition: 2 Chron. 9.13 (“666”).

2 Chronicles 9
13 Now the weight of gold which came to Solomon in
one year was 666 talents of gold, 14 besides that which
the traders and merchants brought; and all the kings of
Arabia and the governors of the country brought gold
and silver to Solomon.…

2 Chronicles 9
13 Now the weight of gold which came to Solomon in
one year was 666 talents of gold, 14 besides that which
the traders and merchants brought; and all the kings of
Arabia and the governors of the country brought gold
and silver to Solomon.…
Revelation 13 seems to draw on this to speak of
the Beast’s false and exploitative rule.

Israel:
Solomon as an example of Kingship gone wrong.
- Starting well does not mean finishing well…
- Hints from the tradition: 2 Chron. 9.13 (“666”).
- Solomon’s sins will ultimately split the Kingdoms.
‣Israel in North
‣Judah in South

Israel:
Prophets + Exile
- As King and Temple take an exploitative turn with
Solomon and his successors, the Prophets become
the prosecutors of God’s covenant.
‣Herein lies the value in Brueggemann’s sometimes
overblown contrast (Prophets vs. Royals).

Walter Brueggemann
The prophetic imagination [offers] a genuine alternative
to the royal consciousness.
We also are children of the royal consciousness. All of us
in one way or another, have deep commitments to it (39)
The prophet is engaged in a battle for language, in an
effort to create a different epistemology out of which
another community might emerge. […] He has only the
hope that the ache of God could penetrate the numbness
of history. He engages not in scare or threat but only in a
yearning that grows with and out of pain (55) - The
Prophetic Imagination.

Israel:
Prophets + Exile
- As King and Temple take an exploitative turn with
Solomon and his successors, the Prophets become
the prosecutors of God’s covenant.
‣Herein lies the value in Brueggemann’s sometimes
overblown contrast (Prophets vs. Royals).
- All prophetic books come in the time of the monarchy
or after its demise.
- No dynasty of prophets; they are called by God.
Some Prophetic Snapshots…

Israel:
Elijah + Elisha
- Jesus’ ministry most resembles that of Elisha.
‣Called himself a “prophet” (Mk. 6.4).
‣Wrote nothing.
‣Saw John the Baptist as Elijah (see also Mal. 4.5).
‣Emphasis on miracles as well as oracles.
‣Both will help foreigners as Israel turns away.
๏E.g. Luke 4

Luke 4 - Jesus’ first sermon (Nazareth).

Luke 4
24 “Truly I tell you,” he continued, “no prophet is
accepted in his hometown. 25 I assure you that there
were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the
sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a
severe famine throughout the land. 26 Yet Elijah was not
sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the
region of Sidon. 27 And there were many in Israel with
leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of
them was cleansed—only Naaman the Syrian.”
28 All the people in the synagogue were furious when
they heard this.

Israel:
Elijah + Elisha
- Jesus’ ministry most resembles that of Elisha.
‣Called himself a “prophet” (Mk. 6.4).
‣Wrote nothing.
‣Saw John the Baptist as Elijah (see also Mal. 4.5).
‣Emphasis on miracles as well as oracles.
‣Both will help foreigners as Israel turns away.
While Jesus would later be seen as both Priest and King,
Wright argues that he would have been seen primarily as a
PROPHET in his own day.

Israel:
Isaiah:
- The greatest writing prophet.
- Most important NT theme—The Suffering Servant.

Isaiah 53
1Who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by mankind,
a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces
he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.

Isaiah 53
4Surely he took up our pain
and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
stricken by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Israel:
Isaiah:
- The greatest writing prophet.
- The Suffering Servant (Is. 53)
‣Originally, the servant was seen as Israel.
‣A clear example of substitutionary atonement.
‣Jesus likely sees himself as assuming this vocation.

Jeremiah, amid the rubble of fallen Jerusalem.

Israel:
Jeremiah:
- Prophesies and experiences (e.g. Lamentations) the
fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians.
‣Two Key Dates in Israel’s History
๏722 BC, Northern Kingdom falls to Assyria
๏586 BC, Southern Kingdom falls to Babylon
- Amid this despair, he also speaks of New Covenant.
- Key text: Jeremiah 31

Jeremiah 31
27 “The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will
plant the kingdoms of Israel and Judah with the offspring
of people and of animals. 28 Just as I watched over them
to uproot and tear down, and to overthrow, destroy and
bring disaster, so I will watch over them to build and to
plant,” declares the Lord. 29 “In those days people will
no longer say,
‘The parents have eaten sour grapes,
and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’
30 Instead, everyone will die for their own sin; whoever
eats sour grapes—their own teeth will be set on edge.

Jeremiah 31
31 “The days are coming,” declares the Lord,
“when I will make a new covenant
with the people of Israel
and with the people of Judah.
32 It will not be like the covenant
I made with their ancestors
when I took them by the hand
to lead them out of Egypt,
because they broke my covenant,
though I was a husband to them,”
declares the Lord.

Jeremiah 31
33 “This is the covenant I will make with the people of
Israel after that time,” declares the Lord.
“I will put my law in their minds
and write it on their hearts.
I will be their God, and they will be my people.
34 No longer will they teach their neighbor,
or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’
because they will all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the
Lord.“For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more.”

Israel:
Jeremiah:
- Key text: Jeremiah 31 (The New Covenant)
‣How this New Covenant Differs:
๏It will be kept, because it is written on the heart.
๏Each dies for own sin (vs. 30).
‣Covenant membership is less familial - thus the
New Covenant family will be of all nations.
๏This is all made possible because of “David’s
righteous Branch —The LORD our
Righteousness”(!)

Jeremiah 23
3 “I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all
the countries where I have driven them and will bring
them back to their pasture, where they will be fruitful and
increase in number. 4 I will place shepherds over them
who will tend them, and they will no longer be afraid or
terrified, nor will any be missing,” declares the Lord.
5 “The days are coming,” declares the Lord,
“when I will raise up from David a righteous Branch,
a King who will reign wisely
and do what is just and right in the land.
In his days Judah will be saved

Jeremiah 23
In his days Judah will be saved
and Israel will live in safety.
This is the name by which he will be called:
The Lord Our Righteous Savior.

Israel:
Exile and Return
- While some do return to the land after exile; the OT
ends with Israel still waiting for such prophecies to be
fulfilled.

Review
Next Time:
Creation Fall Israel Jesus Church New Creation

5 theo interp_israel (part 2)

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