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Final Flashcards
Rehearse O.P. Robertson’s Christ of the Covenants…
Introduce this with the overview of covenantal relationships and scripture references.
Scripture obviously presents a series of covenantal relationships instituted by the one true living God. Explicit references can be found to a divine covenant established with Noah (Gen. 6:18), Abraham (Gen 15:18), Israel (Ex. 24:8), and David (Ps. 89:3). Jeremiah 31:31 also references the new covenant which God would establish with his people.
Scripture doesn’t mention the word “covenant” prior to _____, but….
Scripture doesn’t mention the word “covenant” prior to Genesis 6:18, but certainly God did enter into a bond of life and death with Adam in Genesis 2:15-17. If Adam would refrain from eating the forbidden fruit, he would life. If he did not refrain, he would die. Does this bond qualify as a covenant?
Does the bond with Adam qualify as a covenant?
To clarify this question, O.P. Robertson helps by offering a clear and simple definition of a covenant as it is presented a Scripture. According to Robertson, a covenant is a bond in blood, sovereignly administered. Using this definition it becomes clear that man’s relationship to God prior to God was definitely covenantal. In full sovereignty God established a relationship which involved a commitment for life and death.
Robertson identifies this initial covenant as the Covenant of Creation and notes that man, as part of creation is responsible to…
obey the ordinances embedded in creation. He discusses three ordinances in particular. These are the Sabbath, marriage, and labor.
Discuss the ordinance of the Sabbath.
With regard to the Sabbath, it is important to note that God explicitly blessed and sanctified it (Gen 2:3) and that Jesus pointed out that “the Sabbath came into being for the sake of man” (Mark 2:27). God instituted the Sabbath because it was good for man and the whole of creation.
Discuss the ordinance of marriage.
Marriage was instituted through God’s declaration that “it is not good for man to be alone” (Gen 2:18) and the idea of a man leaving and cleaving to his wife in Genesis 2:22-24. The ordinance of labor is important as man was given the unique responsibility to “subdue” the earth and rule over every living creature (Gen. 1:27-28).
Discuss the ordinance of labor.
Labor is to be seen as the principal means by which man’s enjoyment of creation is assured. This is evidenced by Gen 2:15 where man is to cultivate and keep the garden as well as in 2 Thessalonians 3:10-12, where Paul makes clear that a proper respect for work is vital within the Christian community.
Once the covenant of creation was violated…
Once the covenant of creation was violated, the only way of relief of the death-curse was in a bloody substitution. Jesus bearing in himself the ultimate curse of the creation covenant was the only way restoration could be accomplished. The rest of the narrative of Scripture thus outlines the narrative of the covenant of redemption, administered through a gradual unfolding of the varied aspects of this single bond.
Give Robertson’s names for the administrations of the covenant of redemption.
These administrations were
with Adam in the Covenant of Commencement,
with Noah in the Covenant of Preservation,
with Abraham in the Covenant of Promise,
with Moses in the Covenant of Law,
with David in the Covenant of the kingdom, and with Christ in the Covenant of Consummation.
Describe the Covenant of Commencement with scripture references.
The Covenant of Commencement (Gen. 3:14-19)
i. This covenant was made with Adam after the Fall – “Elements of
curse and blessing are found in each address [to Satan, the woman, and
Adam], thus serving structurally to bind inseparably the covenant of
creation with the covenant of redemption” (93).
Describe The Covenant of Preservation with scripture references.
The Covenant of Preservation (Gen. 6:17-22; 8:20-22; 9:1-7; 8-17)
i. This covenant was made with Noah – “the covenant with Noah
provides the historical framework in which the Immanuel principle
may receive its full realization. God has come in judgement; but he
also has provided a context of preservation in which the grace of the
redemption may operate. From the covenant with Noah it becomes
quite obvious that God’s being ‘with us’ involves not only an
outpouring of his grace on his people; it involves also an outpouring of
his wrath on the seed of Satan” (125).
Describe The Covenant of Promise with scripture references.
The Covenant of Promise (Gen. 15, 17).
i. This covenant was made with Abraham – “God’s covenant with
Abraham may be characterized particularly as the covenant of
promise. By the solemn ceremony described in Genesis 15, God
promised redemption.” (145). God assumed all the covenantal
responsibility (146).
Describe The Covenant of Law with Scripture references.
The Covenant of Law (Exodus 19-24)
4
i. This covenant was made with Moses – and it provided an externalized
codification of God’s law. “The ‘covenant of law’ refers to a new
stage in the process of God’s unfolding the richness of the covenant of
redemption. As such, the law which came through Moses did not in
any way disannul of suspend the covenant of promise” (175).
Describe The Covenant of Kingdom with Scripture references.
The Covenant of Kingdom (2 Sam. 7)
i. This covenant was made with David – it establishes the promise of a
kingdom forever out of the house of David, “So the entire history of
monarchy in Israel hinges on the word of the Lord. Having established
the basis of his covenant relationship with David, God faithfully
demonstrates the veracity of his word.” (266).
Describe the covenant of consummation with scripture references.
The Covenant of Consummation (Jer. 31:31-34)
i. This is the New Covenant in Christ which consummates all the
covenantal dealing between God and his people.
Discuss how the Day of Atonement relates to the expulsion narrative of Gen. 3, incorporating in your answer the particular BT theme developed in class.
What is the theme of all of scripture?
The theme of all of Scripture is given in Revelation 21:3, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.” This is what Adam and Eve had resting in the garden of Eden near the summit of the mountain of God. Upon transgression, they were exiled out of the garden, east of Eden, and YHWH God set cherubim, along with a swirling flaming sword, on the eastward gateway to guard the way to the tree of life. The history of Genesis then narrates the steady eastward descent of humanity away from the face and abode of God. How was humanity to get back to the summit of the mountain of God and rest in his divine presence? Or as Psalm 24 puts it, “Who may ascend the mountain of YHWH?”
Discuss how the Day of Atonement relates to the expulsion narrative of Gen. 3, incorporating in your answer the particular BT theme developed in class.
How is this theme developed in Genesis?
This question is traced through the books of Genesis as both Noah and Abraham offer ascension offerings of atonement upon mountain summits. The whole burnt offering of a whole life as consecrated to God is pictured beautifully with Abraham and Isaac on Mount Moriah. This theme of just such a gesture of atonement is also seen in the Joseph narrative as Judah offers himself in the place of Benjamin and this is the act which triggers Joseph’s self-disclosure and the story’s reversal. But what kind of atonement can bring man back into fellowship with God?
Discuss how the Day of Atonement relates to the expulsion narrative of Gen. 3, incorporating in your answer the particular BT theme developed in class.
How is this theme developed with Moses in Exodus?
These ideas are continued with the life of Moses in Exodus as he functions as the mediator between God and Israel. Moses ascends Mt. Sinai to represent Israel before God, and then descends the mountain to represent God to Israel. In Exodus 32-34, Moses demonstrates his willingness to offer his own life on behalf of the people and while God doesn’t accept it, Moses’ mediation has its effect. And looking back, it is easier to see what the ancient near east original audience would probably have readily seen, Adam, functioning as the High Priest in Eden was responsible to offer himself as atonement for his wife. Ezekiel 28:12-16 further pictures this idea with a description of Adam in the garden, covered with all of the jewels worn on the High Priest’s ephod, placed on the holy mountain of God, walking in the midst of the stones of fire, and then sinning and being cast from the mountain of God.
Discuss how the Day of Atonement relates to the expulsion narrative of Gen. 3, incorporating in your answer the particular BT theme developed in class.
How is this all brought together in Leviticus 16 with the High Priest and tabernacle parallels?
All of this (and much more) is brought together in Leviticus 16 with the Day of Atonement. The High Priest, having inherited the roles of Adam in the garden and Moses on Mt. Sinai, is the mediator ascending toward God, westward, through the tabernacle into the Holy of Holies. That the tabernacle functions as a mountain of God like Mt. Sinai can be seen in many ways, one of the most striking being the three zones of holiness with an altar at the foot of the mountain and in the courtyard of the tabernacle, the limited group of people who could go up to a certain point on the mountain and the limited priesthood who could enter the Holy Place, and the Holy of Holies as the summit where only the High Priest could go and only once a year.
Discuss how the Day of Atonement relates to the expulsion narrative of Gen. 3, incorporating in your answer the particular BT theme developed in class.
What is the parallel to the sin of Adam and Eve in the garden?
A strong parallel to the sin of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden can be seen in that just prior to the Day of Atonement instructions given in Leviticus 16, Nadab and Abihu offered strange fire before Yahweh, resulting in the pollution of the Tabernacle. And so the Day of Atonement is given which would ensure that God’s presence could continue to dwell in an undefiled tabernacle and that God’s people could continue to come before him by atoning for any sins and transgressions which had not already been atoned for and cleanse the Israelites from the stain of sin beyond forgiveness.
Discuss how the Day of Atonement relates to the expulsion narrative of Gen. 3, incorporating in your answer the particular BT theme developed in class.
What happens on the Day of Atonement? Conclude.
Just as cherubim guarded the way to the Tree of Life in Eden, the cherubim on the veil as well as on the mercy seat guarded the way to the presence of God in the Holy of Holies. The High Priest, after offering the morning sacrifice would take off his priestly garments, bathe, and put on simple linen garments to offer two purification offerings, one for the high priest and his priestly house, and the other for all Israel. A bull for the priests and two male goats taken from the people of Israel were for their sin offerings respectively. After offering the bull, lots were cast for the two goats with one falling for the LORD to be killed as a sin offering and the other falling for Azazel to be presented alive and sent away into the wilderness. A censer was used to create a cloud of incense smoke, shielding his eyes from beholding the divine glory, the high priest entered the Holy of Holies, the Garden of Eden, the summit of the mountain, the cultic counterpart to the heavenly throne room of God. He sprinkled the blood of the bull and the blood of the goat eastward, indicating he would presumably be required to stand west of the ark. The movement of purgation then continues eastward from the ark with the cleansing of the holy place and then the altar in the courtyard. From the courtyard the live goat then continues the eastward movement in carrying off Israel’s sins and culpability to an uninhabited place in the wilderness.
Within the narrative progression, then, atonement, along with its elements of purification and ransom, is that which enables the return to YHWH God, a reversal of Eden’s eastward expulsion.
Outline 5 points on the theology of Mount Zion
- Zion is the Mount of Abraham’s Worship: Blessing to the Nations
- Zion is the City of David: Kingship
- Zion is YHWH’s Chosen Habitation: Inviolable
- Zion is a Copy and Reflection of the Heavenly Reality: axis mundi
- Zion is a ‘new’ Eden: Goal of Eschaton/return from exile
Give Scripture to support Zion is the Mount of Abraham’s Worship: Blessing to the Nations
Genesis 22:2; 1 Chron 21:1-22:2; 2 Chron 3:1
Genesis 22:2
English Standard Version
2 He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”
Read full chapter Genesis 22:2 in all English translations 1 Chronicles 21:1-22:2 English Standard Version David's Census Brings Pestilence 21 Then Satan stood against Israel and incited David to number Israel. 2 So David said to Joab and the commanders of the army, “Go, number Israel, from Beersheba to Dan, and bring me a report, that I may know their number.” 3 But Joab said, “May the Lord add to his people a hundred times as many as they are! Are they not, my lord the king, all of them my lord's servants? Why then should my lord require this? Why should it be a cause of guilt for Israel?” 4 But the king's word prevailed against Joab. So Joab departed and went throughout all Israel and came back to Jerusalem. 5 And Joab gave the sum of the numbering of the people to David. In all Israel there were 1,100,000 men who drew the sword, and in Judah 470,000 who drew the sword. 6 But he did not include Levi and Benjamin in the numbering, for the king's command was abhorrent to Joab.
7 But God was displeased with this thing, and he struck Israel. 8 And David said to God, “I have sinned greatly in that I have done this thing. But now, please take away the iniquity of your servant, for I have acted very foolishly.” 9 And the Lord spoke to Gad, David’s seer, saying, 10 “Go and say to David, ‘Thus says the Lord, Three things I offer you; choose one of them, that I may do it to you.’” 11 So Gad came to David and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Choose what you will: 12 either three years of famine, or three months of devastation by your foes while the sword of your enemies overtakes you, or else three days of the sword of the Lord, pestilence on the land, with the angel of the Lord destroying throughout all the territory of Israel.’ Now decide what answer I shall return to him who sent me.” 13 Then David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Let me fall into the hand of the Lord, for his mercy is very great, but do not let me fall into the hand of man.”
14 So the Lord sent a pestilence on Israel, and 70,000 men of Israel fell. 15 And God sent the angel to Jerusalem to destroy it, but as he was about to destroy it, the Lord saw, and he relented from the calamity. And he said to the angel who was working destruction, “It is enough; now stay your hand.” And the angel of the Lord was standing by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. 16 And David lifted his eyes and saw the angel of the Lord standing between earth and heaven, and in his hand a drawn sword stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces. 17 And David said to God, “Was it not I who gave command to number the people? It is I who have sinned and done great evil. But these sheep, what have they done? Please let your hand, O Lord my God, be against me and against my father’s house. But do not let the plague be on your people.”
David Builds an Altar
18 Now the angel of the Lord had commanded Gad to say to David that David should go up and raise an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. 19 So David went up at Gad’s word, which he had spoken in the name of the Lord. 20 Now Ornan was threshing wheat. He turned and saw the angel, and his four sons who were with him hid themselves. 21 As David came to Ornan, Ornan looked and saw David and went out from the threshing floor and paid homage to David with his face to the ground. 22 And David said to Ornan, “Give me the site of the threshing floor that I may build on it an altar to the Lord—give it to me at its full price—that the plague may be averted from the people.” 23 Then Ornan said to David, “Take it, and let my lord the king do what seems good to him. See, I give the oxen for burnt offerings and the threshing sledges for the wood and the wheat for a grain offering; I give it all.” 24 But King David said to Ornan, “No, but I will buy them for the full price. I will not take for the Lord what is yours, nor offer burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” 25 So David paid Ornan 600 shekels[a] of gold by weight for the site. 26 And David built there an altar to the Lord and presented burnt offerings and peace offerings and called on the Lord, and the Lord[b] answered him with fire from heaven upon the altar of burnt offering. 27 Then the Lord commanded the angel, and he put his sword back into its sheath.
28 At that time, when David saw that the Lord had answered him at the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, he sacrificed there. 29 For the tabernacle of the Lord, which Moses had made in the wilderness, and the altar of burnt offering were at that time in the high place at Gibeon, 30 but David could not go before it to inquire of God, for he was afraid of the sword of the angel of the Lord.
22 Then David said, “Here shall be the house of the Lord God and here the altar of burnt offering for Israel.”
David Prepares for Temple Building
2 David commanded to gather together the resident aliens who were in the land of Israel, and he set stonecutters to prepare dressed stones for building the house of God.
Footnotes
1 Chronicles 21:25 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams
1 Chronicles 21:26 Hebrew he
2 Chronicles 3:1
English Standard Version
Solomon Builds the Temple
3 Then Solomon began to build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord[a] had appeared to David his father, at the place that David had appointed, on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
Give Scripture to support Zion is the City of David: Kingship
2 Samuel 5:7-10; 1 Kings 8:1; Psalm 48:2
i. David’s choice of Jerusalem coincides with YHWH’s choice of Zion, and of David.
ii. Zion is associated with the Davidic Covenant and Solomonic Temple. 2 Samuel 7 (cf. 1 Kgs 8:16-26); Pss 2; 110
2 Samuel 5:7-10
English Standard Version
7 Nevertheless, David took the stronghold of Zion, that is, the city of David. 8 And David said on that day, “Whoever would strike the Jebusites, let him get up the water shaft to attack ‘the lame and the blind,’ who are hated by David’s soul.” Therefore it is said, “The blind and the lame shall not come into the house.” 9 And David lived in the stronghold and called it the city of David. And David built the city all around from the Millo inward. 10 And David became greater and greater, for the Lord, the God of hosts, was with him.
Read full chapter 1 Kings 8:1 English Standard Version The Ark Brought into the Temple 8 Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers' houses of the people of Israel, before King Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the city of David, which is Zion.
Read full chapter
1 Kings 8:1 in all English translations
Psalm 48:2
English Standard Version
2 beautiful in elevation,
is the joy of all the earth,
Mount Zion, in the far north,
the city of the great King.
2 Samuel 7
English Standard Version
The Lord’s Covenant with David
7 Now when the king lived in his house and the Lord had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies, 2 the king said to Nathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells in a tent.” 3 And Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that is in your heart, for the Lord is with you.”
4 But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan, 5 “Go and tell my servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord: Would you build me a house to dwell in? 6 I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent for my dwelling. 7 In all places where I have moved with all the people of Israel, did I speak a word with any of the judges[a] of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?”’ 8 Now, therefore, thus you shall say to my servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, that you should be prince[b] over my people Israel. 9 And I have been with you wherever you went and have cut off all your enemies from before you. And I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. 10 And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more. And violent men shall afflict them no more, as formerly, 11 from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel. And I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house. 12 When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, 15 but my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. 16 And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me.[c] Your throne shall be established forever.’” 17 In accordance with all these words, and in accordance with all this vision, Nathan spoke to David.
David’s Prayer of Gratitude
18 Then King David went in and sat before the Lord and said, “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far? 19 And yet this was a small thing in your eyes, O Lord God. You have spoken also of your servant’s house for a great while to come, and this is instruction for mankind, O Lord God! 20 And what more can David say to you? For you know your servant, O Lord God! 21 Because of your promise, and according to your own heart, you have brought about all this greatness, to make your servant know it. 22 Therefore you are great, O Lord God. For there is none like you, and there is no God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears. 23 And who is like your people Israel, the one nation on earth whom God went to redeem to be his people, making himself a name and doing for them[d] great and awesome things by driving out before your people,[e] whom you redeemed for yourself from Egypt, a nation and its gods? 24 And you established for yourself your people Israel to be your people forever. And you, O Lord, became their God. 25 And now, O Lord God, confirm forever the word that you have spoken concerning your servant and concerning his house, and do as you have spoken. 26 And your name will be magnified forever, saying, ‘The Lord of hosts is God over Israel,’ and the house of your servant David will be established before you. 27 For you, O Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, have made this revelation to your servant, saying, ‘I will build you a house.’ Therefore your servant has found courage to pray this prayer to you. 28 And now, O Lord God, you are God, and your words are true, and you have promised this good thing to your servant. 29 Now therefore may it please you to bless the house of your servant, so that it may continue forever before you. For you, O Lord God, have spoken, and with your blessing shall the house of your servant be blessed forever.”
Footnotes
2 Samuel 7:7 Compare 1 Chronicles 17:6; Hebrew tribes
2 Samuel 7:8 Or leader
2 Samuel 7:16 Septuagint; Hebrew you
2 Samuel 7:23 With a few Targums, Vulgate, Syriac; Hebrew you
2 Samuel 7:23 Septuagint (compare 1 Chronicles 17:21); Hebrew awesome things for your land, before your people
1 Kings 8:16-26
English Standard Version
16 ‘Since the day that I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house, that my name might be there. But I chose David to be over my people Israel.’ 17 Now it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. 18 But the Lord said to David my father, ‘Whereas it was in your heart to build a house for my name, you did well that it was in your heart. 19 Nevertheless, you shall not build the house, but your son who shall be born to you shall build the house for my name.’ 20 Now the Lord has fulfilled his promise that he made. For I have risen in the place of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised, and I have built the house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. 21 And there I have provided a place for the ark, in which is the covenant of the Lord that he made with our fathers, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.”
Solomon’s Prayer of Dedication
22 Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands toward heaven, 23 and said, “O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to your servants who walk before you with all their heart; 24 you have kept with your servant David my father what you declared to him. You spoke with your mouth, and with your hand have fulfilled it this day. 25 Now therefore, O Lord, God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father what you have promised him, saying, ‘You shall not lack a man to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your sons pay close attention to their way, to walk before me as you have walked before me.’ 26 Now therefore, O God of Israel, let your word be confirmed, which you have spoken to your servant David my father.
Read full chapter
Psalm 2
English Standard Version
The Reign of the Lord's Anointed
2 Why do the nations rage[a]
and the peoples plot in vain?
2 The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together,
against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying,
3 “Let us burst their bonds apart
and cast away their cords from us.”
4 He who sits in the heavens laughs;
the Lord holds them in derision.
5 Then he will speak to them in his wrath,
and terrify them in his fury, saying,
6 “As for me, I have set my King
on Zion, my holy hill.”
7 I will tell of the decree:
The Lord said to me, “You are my Son;
today I have begotten you.
8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,
and the ends of the earth your possession.
9 You shall break[b] them with a rod of iron
and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”
10 Now therefore, O kings, be wise;
be warned, O rulers of the earth.
11 Serve the Lord with fear,
and rejoice with trembling.
12 Kiss the Son,
lest he be angry, and you perish in the way,
for his wrath is quickly kindled.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
Footnotes
Psalm 2:1 Or nations noisily assemble
Psalm 2:9 Revocalization yields (compare Septuagint) You shall rule
Psalm 110
English Standard Version
Sit at My Right Hand
A Psalm of David.
110 The Lord says to my Lord:
“Sit at my right hand,
until I make your enemies your footstool.”
2 The Lord sends forth from Zion
your mighty scepter.
Rule in the midst of your enemies!
3 Your people will offer themselves freely
on the day of your power,[a]
in holy garments;[b]
from the womb of the morning,
the dew of your youth will be yours.[c]
4 The Lord has sworn
and will not change his mind,
“You are a priest forever
after the order of Melchizedek.”
5 The Lord is at your right hand;
he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath.
6 He will execute judgment among the nations,
filling them with corpses;
he will shatter chiefs[d]
over the wide earth.
7 He will drink from the brook by the way;
therefore he will lift up his head.
Give 4 points with scriptures under Zion is YHWH’s Chosen Habitation: Inviolable
i. His “resting place” forever
Psalm 132:13-14
English Standard Version
13 For the Lord has chosen Zion;
he has desired it for his dwelling place:
14 “This is my resting place forever;
here I will dwell, for I have desired it.
ii. He “loves” Mount Zion (Ps 78:68), and built his house there (Ps 87:2)
Psalm 78:68
English Standard Version
68 but he chose the tribe of Judah,
Mount Zion, which he loves.
Psalm 87:2
English Standard Version
2 the Lord loves the gates of Zion
more than all the dwelling places of Jacob.
iii. He singled out Zion (Ps 68:17) and dwells in her midst (Ps 46:6)
Psalm 68:17
English Standard Version
17 The chariots of God are twice ten thousand,
thousands upon thousands;
the Lord is among them; Sinai is now in the sanctuary.
Psalm 46:6
English Standard Version
6 The nations rage, the kingdoms totter;
he utters his voice, the earth melts.
iv. Zion is therefore a holy mountain (Jer 31:23; the joy of the whole earth (Ps 48:3), the perfection of beauty (Ps 50:2), the cornerstone of the new creation (Isa. 28:16)
Jeremiah 31:23
English Standard Version
23 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Once more they shall use these words in the land of Judah and in its cities, when I restore their fortunes:
“‘The Lord bless you, O habitation of righteousness,
O holy hill!’
Psalm 48:3
English Standard Version
3 Within her citadels God
has made himself known as a fortress.
Psalm 50:2
English Standard Version
2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,
God shines forth.
Isaiah 28:16
English Standard Version
16 therefore thus says the Lord God,
“Behold, I am the one who has laid[a] as a foundation in Zion,
a stone, a tested stone,
a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation:
‘Whoever believes will not be in haste.’
Give Scripture for: Zion is a Copy and Reflection of the Heavenly Reality: axis mundi
Ps. 78:68; 1 Kings 8:27-30; Ezekiel 40:1-4; Isaiah 6
Psalm 78:68
English Standard Version
68 but he chose the tribe of Judah,
Mount Zion, which he loves.
Read full chapter Psalm 78:68 in all English translations 1 Kings 8:27-30 English Standard Version 27 “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built! 28 Yet have regard to the prayer of your servant and to his plea, O Lord my God, listening to the cry and to the prayer that your servant prays before you this day, 29 that your eyes may be open night and day toward this house, the place of which you have said, ‘My name shall be there,’ that you may listen to the prayer that your servant offers toward this place. 30 And listen to the plea of your servant and of your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. And listen in heaven your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive.
Read full chapter Ezekiel 40:1-4 English Standard Version Vision of the New Temple 40 In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after the city was struck down, on that very day, the hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me to the city.[a] 2 In visions of God he brought me to the land of Israel, and set me down on a very high mountain, on which was a structure like a city to the south. 3 When he brought me there, behold, there was a man whose appearance was like bronze, with a linen cord and a measuring reed in his hand. And he was standing in the gateway. 4 And the man said to me, “Son of man, look with your eyes, and hear with your ears, and set your heart upon all that I shall show you, for you were brought here in order that I might show it to you. Declare all that you see to the house of Israel.”
Read full chapter Footnotes Ezekiel 40:1 Hebrew brought me there Isaiah 6 English Standard Version Isaiah's Vision of the Lord 6 In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train[a] of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another and said:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory!”[b]
4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”
6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”
Isaiah’s Commission from the Lord
8 And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” 9 And he said, “Go, and say to this people:
“‘Keep on hearing,[c] but do not understand;
keep on seeing,[d] but do not perceive.’
10 Make the heart of this people dull,[e]
and their ears heavy,
and blind their eyes;
lest they see with their eyes,
and hear with their ears,
and understand with their hearts,
and turn and be healed.”
11 Then I said, “How long, O Lord?”
And he said:
“Until cities lie waste
without inhabitant,
and houses without people,
and the land is a desolate waste,
12 and the Lord removes people far away,
and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.
13 And though a tenth remain in it,
it will be burned[f] again,
like a terebinth or an oak,
whose stump remains
when it is felled.”
The holy seed[g] is its stump.
Give Scripture for: Zion is a ‘new’ Eden: Goal of Eschaton/return from exile
Also summarize the quote from B.S. Childs
Isaiah 11:6-10; 51:3; 32:15-20; 65:17-25
Isaiah 11:6-10
English Standard Version
6 The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together;
and a little child shall lead them.
7 The cow and the bear shall graze;
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
8 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra,
and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den.
9 They shall not hurt or destroy
in all my holy mountain;
for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.
10 In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.
Read full chapter
Isaiah 51:3
English Standard Version
3 For the Lord comforts Zion;
he comforts all her waste places
and makes her wilderness like Eden,
her desert like the garden of the Lord;
joy and gladness will be found in her,
thanksgiving and the voice of song.
Read full chapter
Isaiah 51:3 in all English translations
Isaiah 32:15-20
English Standard Version
15 until the Spirit is poured upon us from on high,
and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field,
and the fruitful field is deemed a forest.
16 Then justice will dwell in the wilderness,
and righteousness abide in the fruitful field.
17 And the effect of righteousness will be peace,
and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust[a] forever.
18 My people will abide in a peaceful habitation,
in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places.
19 And it will hail when the forest falls down,
and the city will be utterly laid low.
20 Happy are you who sow beside all waters,
who let the feet of the ox and the donkey range free.
Read full chapter
Footnotes
Isaiah 32:17 Or security
Isaiah 65:17-25
English Standard Version
New Heavens and a New Earth
17 “For behold, I create new heavens
and a new earth,
and the former things shall not be remembered
or come into mind.
18 But be glad and rejoice forever
in that which I create;
for behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy,
and her people to be a gladness.
19 I will rejoice in Jerusalem
and be glad in my people;
no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping
and the cry of distress.
20 No more shall there be in it
an infant who lives but a few days,
or an old man who does not fill out his days,
for the young man shall die a hundred years old,
and the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed.
21 They shall build houses and inhabit them;
they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22 They shall not build and another inhabit;
they shall not plant and another eat;
for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be,
and my chosen shall long enjoy[a] the work of their hands.
23 They shall not labor in vain
or bear children for calamity,[b]
for they shall be the offspring of the blessed of the Lord,
and their descendants with them.
24 Before they call I will answer;
while they are yet speaking I will hear.
25 The wolf and the lamb shall graze together;
the lion shall eat straw like the ox,
and dust shall be the serpent’s food.
They shall not hurt or destroy
in all my holy mountain,”
says the Lord.
“Moreover, both Zion and Eden are pictured as the world-mountain at the center of the earth. Already in
Gen 2.10-14 there was a tradition which conceived of Eden as the source of the four world rivers encircling
the earth. Ezekiel draws from a similar tradition when he describes Eden as a ‘holy mountain of God’
(28:13f). In the light of these passages the prophetic description of Zion as a world-mountain receives its
full significance. Zion has become Eden. Instead of being only some 2,500 feet high, it has become the
highest of the mountains, reaching up into the heavens, towering over all the creation around it. Zechariah
has a similar picture of the future Jerusalem elevated over all the land (14:10). Many of the other paradise
motifs return in this passage. The radical transformation of the new age abolishes the seasons and the
change of day…While Zion is pictured as a manifestation of Eden, there is never a simple identification
between the two…Zion can be pictured in terms of Eden because they both are special manifestations of
one reality, the new creation.”
Which scriptures summarize ion Theology? Give the content of those.
Psalm 48; 68:15-18; 87; 132
Psalm 48
English Standard Version
Zion, the City of Our God
A Song. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah.
48 Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised
in the city of our God!
His holy mountain, 2 beautiful in elevation,
is the joy of all the earth,
Mount Zion, in the far north,
the city of the great King.
3 Within her citadels God
has made himself known as a fortress.
4 For behold, the kings assembled;
they came on together.
5 As soon as they saw it, they were astounded;
they were in panic; they took to flight.
6 Trembling took hold of them there,
anguish as of a woman in labor.
7 By the east wind you shattered
the ships of Tarshish.
8 As we have heard, so have we seen
in the city of the Lord of hosts,
in the city of our God,
which God will establish forever. Selah
9 We have thought on your steadfast love, O God,
in the midst of your temple.
10 As your name, O God,
so your praise reaches to the ends of the earth.
Your right hand is filled with righteousness.
11 Let Mount Zion be glad!
Let the daughters of Judah rejoice
because of your judgments!
12 Walk about Zion, go around her,
number her towers,
13 consider well her ramparts,
go through her citadels,
that you may tell the next generation
14 that this is God,
our God forever and ever.
He will guide us forever.[a]
Footnotes
Psalm 48:14 Septuagint; another reading is (compare Jerome, Syriac) He will guide us beyond death
Psalm 68:15-18
English Standard Version
15 O mountain of God, mountain of Bashan;
O many-peaked[a] mountain, mountain of Bashan!
16 Why do you look with hatred, O many-peaked mountain,
at the mount that God desired for his abode,
yes, where the Lord will dwell forever?
17 The chariots of God are twice ten thousand,
thousands upon thousands;
the Lord is among them; Sinai is now in the sanctuary.
18 You ascended on high,
leading a host of captives in your train
and receiving gifts among men,
even among the rebellious, that the Lord God may dwell there.
Read full chapter
Footnotes
Psalm 68:15 Or hunch-backed; also verse 16
Psalm 87
English Standard Version
Glorious Things of You Are Spoken
A Psalm of the Sons of Korah. A Song.
87 On the holy mount stands the city he founded;
2 the Lord loves the gates of Zion
more than all the dwelling places of Jacob.
3 Glorious things of you are spoken,
O city of God. Selah
4 Among those who know me I mention Rahab and Babylon;
behold, Philistia and Tyre, with Cush[a]—
“This one was born there,” they say.
5 And of Zion it shall be said,
“This one and that one were born in her”;
for the Most High himself will establish her.
6 The Lord records as he registers the peoples,
“This one was born there.” Selah
7 Singers and dancers alike say,
“All my springs are in you.”
Footnotes
Psalm 87:4 Probably Nubia
Psalm 132
English Standard Version
The Lord Has Chosen Zion
A Song of Ascents.
132 Remember, O Lord, in David's favor,
all the hardships he endured,
2 how he swore to the Lord
and vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob,
3 “I will not enter my house
or get into my bed,
4 I will not give sleep to my eyes
or slumber to my eyelids,
5 until I find a place for the Lord,
a dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob.”
6 Behold, we heard of it in Ephrathah;
we found it in the fields of Jaar.
7 “Let us go to his dwelling place;
let us worship at his footstool!”
8 Arise, O Lord, and go to your resting place,
you and the ark of your might.
9 Let your priests be clothed with righteousness,
and let your saints shout for joy.
10 For the sake of your servant David,
do not turn away the face of your anointed one.
11 The Lord swore to David a sure oath
from which he will not turn back:
“One of the sons of your body[a]
I will set on your throne.
12 If your sons keep my covenant
and my testimonies that I shall teach them,
their sons also forever
shall sit on your throne.”
13 For the Lord has chosen Zion;
he has desired it for his dwelling place:
14 “This is my resting place forever;
here I will dwell, for I have desired it.
15 I will abundantly bless her provisions;
I will satisfy her poor with bread.
16 Her priests I will clothe with salvation,
and her saints will shout for joy.
17 There I will make a horn to sprout for David;
I have prepared a lamp for my anointed.
18 His enemies I will clothe with shame,
but on him his crown will shine.”
Give the two main points on the Davidic covenant.
- The Davidic covenant is positioned within one of the major strands in the book of Samuel, which traces the movement of God’s dwelling to Jerusalem.
- The Davidic covenant establishes the goal of redemptive history.
Where is the Davidic Covenant given? Summarize the passage.
2 Samuel 7:1-17
2 Samuel 7:1-17
English Standard Version
The Lord’s Covenant with David
7 Now when the king lived in his house and the Lord had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies, 2 the king said to Nathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells in a tent.” 3 And Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that is in your heart, for the Lord is with you.”
4 But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan, 5 “Go and tell my servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord: Would you build me a house to dwell in? 6 I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent for my dwelling. 7 In all places where I have moved with all the people of Israel, did I speak a word with any of the judges[a] of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?”’ 8 Now, therefore, thus you shall say to my servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, that you should be prince[b] over my people Israel. 9 And I have been with you wherever you went and have cut off all your enemies from before you. And I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. 10 And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more. And violent men shall afflict them no more, as formerly, 11 from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel. And I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house. 12 When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, 15 but my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. 16 And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me.[c] Your throne shall be established forever.’” 17 In accordance with all these words, and in accordance with all this vision, Nathan spoke to David.
The book of Ezekiel is richly filled with Genesis imagery…
Ezekiel 1:1-10
English Standard Version
Ezekiel in Babylon
1 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 visions of God.[a] 2 On the fifth day of the month (it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin), 3 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.
The Glory of the Lord
4 As I looked, behold, a stormy wind came out of the north, and a great cloud, with brightness around it, and fire flashing forth continually, and in the midst of the fire, as it were gleaming metal.[b] 5 And from the midst of it came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: they had a human likeness, 6 but each had four faces, and each of them had four wings. 7 Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the sole of a calf’s foot. And they sparkled like burnished bronze. 8 Under their wings on their four sides they had human hands. And the four had their faces and their wings thus: 9 their wings touched one another. Each one of them went straight forward, without turning as they went. 10 As for the likeness of their faces, each had a human face. The four had the face of a lion on the right side, the four had the face of an ox on the left side, and the four had the face of an eagle.
Read full chapter Footnotes Ezekiel 1:1 Or from God Ezekiel 1:4 Or amber; also verse 27 Ezekiel 1:22-28 English Standard Version 22 Over the heads of the living creatures there was the likeness of an expanse, shining like awe-inspiring crystal, spread out above their heads. 23 And under the expanse their wings were stretched out straight, one toward another. And each creature had two wings covering its body. 24 And when they went, I heard the sound of their wings like the sound of many waters, like the sound of the Almighty, a sound of tumult like the sound of an army. When they stood still, they let down their wings. 25 And there came a voice from above the expanse over their heads. When they stood still, they let down their wings.
26 And above the expanse over their heads there was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like sapphire;[a] and seated above the likeness of a throne was a likeness with a human appearance. 27 And upward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were gleaming metal, like the appearance of fire enclosed all around. And downward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and there was brightness around him.[b] 28 Like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness all around.
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.
the book of
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ezekiel is richly filled with genesis imagery i think to my mind this
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is like the dissertation being like waiting to be written uh i’ve
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there’s one uh study that i got a hold of that does talk about eden and zion it’s mainly
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about the transformation of scientist but i think it’ll be useful i haven’t
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read it yet but i have it but this is something that specifically more
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the pre-critical holistic reading exegetes throughout the history of interpretation
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have brought out there’s a lot of eden imagery there’s a lot of early genesis
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imagery let me you know just point out a few and there’s i didn’t bring
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my pen with me when i thought of another one as i was reading it
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so first of all you have the in what i’ve read the the reference to likeness the
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comes time and again and that’s uh one of the ways of course that humanity is described in the image and
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likeness of god but then also adam is everywhere not only is his name going to be bad
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you know one of the faces of each of the four creatures is the face of man of adam
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you have these four living creatures in hebrew which is one of the common
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designations for uh non-farm animals that you know we find all throughout
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genesis 1 and onward but also later on
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we allow ezekiel to interpret ezekiel does anybody remember what he says later on he runs into these four
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creatures again in chapters uh eight through eleven and he identifies them by a different
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name anybody remember gotta be
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yeah the the cherokee because that’s what they are and it seems like the way that he describes
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them later that the cherubim is primarily sort of an ox figure that’s what their feet are like
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they upright like a human being but they’ve got these four different faces and he makes that connection with the
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temple so you have these cherubim that are on the the throne chariot of god
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which reminds us of his earthly throne the
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in the holy of holies are the covenant which is not the sculpted cherubim and he’s the one who dwells between the
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cherubim so you have that and this also you have to kind of go into ezekiel some make this argument
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it’s not as strong but nevertheless a lot of the description of the fire which we didn’t read going back and forth between the creatures
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later on and did i jot it down yeah at the end of chapter 20
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god gives this parabolic judgment about fire consuming everything north south
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east and west and you know there’s uh ezekiel complains he says the people
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keep saying you know you’re speaking to us in parables well the very next chapter then
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chapter 21 god makes explicit what that fire represents and it’s the sword of the
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lord and you talk about the sword going north south east where the sword is turning every which way which should
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remind us of a story early on in genesis in fact sword is sort of the major figure for
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god’s judgment so you have likeness you have a damp adam you have cherubi you have the sword the living creatures
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then there’s um the idea the whole idea of um
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temple in ezekiel we know uh from our early work in biblical theology and probably before this class
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as well that the temple is a microcosm of the cosmos and that’s really part of the message it’s not by accident that
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ezekiel is a priest and bringing out all of this theology
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as the commentators for ezekiel but also revelation we have revelation for the same throne chariot scene uh like
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beale’s commentary for example will show you that that’s really um a temple
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picture and it’s really foreshadowing of the great temple city at the end of revelation well guess what john got that
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from ezekiel so these visions is you have the reality of what the temple is it’s mobile at this point and
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it’s a foreshadowing of the great temple city at the end of ezekiel
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another term that we did read that came up time and again is firmament so all of this creation language this eden
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language with ezekiel being called benadam continually
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i think part of it without you know turning this into an ezekiel class is
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one of ezekiel’s main messages is the fact of the exile and the destruction of the physical temple
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and this is likened to the exile out of out of eden
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but part of the good news is god is bringing his temple presence among the exiles
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there in babylon so there’s a lot of eden imagery but also notice how
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chapter one begins and ends begins with the first verse we read
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that the heavens were open does that remind you of anything
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you have to really be like high quality plus plus someone the flood
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well you just identified yourself precisely from the flood then also
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notice verse four a great cloud with raging fire uh we read about this an encroaching
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storm the world we’re coming out of the north et cetera well look at how the chapter ends verse 28
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like the appearance of a rainbow in the cloud on a rainy day
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get some of these illusions there’s already a little bit of comfort here there’s a judgment coming but there will be a
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remnant uh there will be um there will be a peace after
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the storm the other thing is the sin of israel throughout ezekiel and specifically in
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climactic places is describes the same sin as the generation of noah so it’s often
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translated violence and its basic meaning and we looked at this when we are on the flood narrative it means
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unrighteousness it’s hamas and again these are climactic places just a few places that i jotted down or
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7 23 8 17 12 19. those are all statements where god you know he takes
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ezekiel on this tour look at the abominations are doing it this part of the temple let’s come here look at these abominations then you have a climactic
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statement where it’s all described as hamas and so they’re right for
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the judgment of god you also have god talking about himself being brought to rest um plays off of
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noah’s name and then yeah the figure of noah himself shows up a few times and then a third so the eat in there the
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creation eden there’s the flood narrative you know others it’s not for our purpose we won’t go
How is Exodus 24 a play on the Tower of Babel story?
The Covenant Confirmed
24 Then he said to Moses, “Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship from afar. 2 Moses alone shall come near to the Lord, but the others shall not come near, and the people shall not come up with him.”
3 Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the rules.[a] And all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words that the Lord has spoken we will do.” 4 And Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. He rose early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 And he sent young men of the people of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the Lord. 6 And Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he threw against the altar. 7 Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.” 8 And Moses took the blood and threw it on the people and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.”
9 Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up, 10 and they saw the God of Israel. There was under his feet as it were a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness. 11 And he did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel; they beheld God, and ate and drank.
12 The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and wait there, that I may give you the tablets of stone, with the law and the commandment, which I have written for their instruction.” 13 So Moses rose with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up into the mountain of God. 14 And he said to the elders, “Wait here for us until we return to you. And behold, Aaron and Hur are with you. Whoever has a dispute, let him go to them.”
15 Then Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. 16 The glory of the Lord dwelt on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. 17 Now the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel. 18 Moses entered the cloud and went up on the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.
into it but also see in this imagery exodus 24 and make much of that
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uh this judgment is coming because israel has broken their covenant specifically it’s sign i remember in
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exodus 24 when the elders see this temple vision of god a lot of that description
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uh is echoed here but for us and specifically with biblical theology in mind there is also
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seems to be plays on the tower of babel story and of course who is it that’s bringing
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uh jerusalem to destruction is babylon and where are the people of god going to be
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exiled those who aren’t destroyed they’re going to be exiled to babylon and as we looked at genesis 11 several
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weeks months ago whatever we i mentioned that the word babel is actually babylon it’s
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a tower of babylon so the the whole theme of exile also god’s description of his
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judgment on his people he’s going to scatter them in hebrew that’s the word that is first used in
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genesis 11 and and god’s people are being likened to that same judgment but others have found more than
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this they get scattered throughout and so it’s often missed and not as convincing to some but taken as a whole
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i think it’s right uh that’s chapter 3 of ezekiel verses
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4 through 7 we read then he said to me son of man
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adam go to the house of israel speak with my words to them listen you are not
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sent to a people of unfamiliar speech and of hard language that’s using tongue
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and language like in genesis 11 but to the house of israel not to many people
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of unfamiliar speech and of hard language whose words you cannot understand all of that
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arguably is a motif of genesis 11. surely had i sent you to them
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they would have listened to you and then in chapter four the first sign that god gives him he
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says to take a brick this is translated differently you know this translation is a clean tablet
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it’s a brick and it seems again like little data but the first use of break is genesis 11 the
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last use of brick in the hebrew bible is this passage in ezekiel
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and you also have him inscribing a city on that brick which again is another one of the key terms in genesis 11. they’re
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building a city with brick so you have these scattered references that at least are
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more ancient interpreters that weren’t so skeptical about everything we’re catching and the reason why i think it’s
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important it’s not just because it’s neat or something like that but because it’s the theology
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um that god is communicating to his people through ezekiel
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you were supposed to be a light to the nations you’ve become like them so you’re going to suffer the same consequence as the
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nations and that’s got to leave one thinking where is there any hope if abraham was elected so that his sea
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would bring blessing to these scattered nations and now his seat is ending up scattered where is there any hope and that leads
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to part of the glory of of the way that the book of ezekiel ends with god doing a
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mighty work through a son of david that the true seed of abraham and he’s going to build that temple and remember the
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temple and that’s i think it’s relevant here as we make our way to zion
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today is that the temple is the antipode it’s the reversal it’s the opposite
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extreme of the tower battle come let us build a name for ourselves brick by brick our name gets bigger
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zion and the temple of god is the place where we build a
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city and temple for the sake of god for his lord and i think i’ve mentioned this before
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with with that running motif of calling upon the name of the lord as interpreted by a lot of
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people not as calling but proclaiming the name of the lord that this is what the sons of seth
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started to do this is what abraham was doing he was building an altar and proclaiming the name of the lord and
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that alters like a miniature temple through the temple when we get to solomon’s dedication prayer see that’s
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when he understands crystal clearly is the function the purpose of the temple
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to propel to proclaim to publish the glory
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of god among the nations and that’s exactly what god is saying it’s not being done and so he’s going to
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bring them to ruin and destruction we have another example
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of a prophet with a message along the same lines that
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just makes it so explicit that there’s no argument and
How does Zephaniah 3:9 show a reversal of the Tower of Babel?
“Therefore wait for me,” declares the Lord,
“for the day when I rise up to seize the prey.
For my decision is to gather nations,
to assemble kingdoms,
to pour out upon them my indignation,
all my burning anger;
for in the fire of my jealousy
all the earth shall be consumed.
The Conversion of the Nations
9 “For at that time I will change the speech of the peoples
to a pure speech,
that all of them may call upon the name of the Lord
and serve him with one accord.
10 From beyond the rivers of Cush
my worshipers, the daughter of my dispersed ones,
shall bring my offering.
11 “On that day you shall not be put to shame
because of the deeds by which you have rebelled against me;
for then I will remove from your midst
your proudly exultant ones,
and you shall no longer be haughty
in my holy mountain.
12 But I will leave in your midst
a people humble and lowly.
They shall seek refuge in the name of the Lord,
13 those who are left in Israel;
they shall do no injustice
and speak no lies,
nor shall there be found in their mouth
a deceitful tongue.
For they shall graze and lie down,
and none shall make them afraid.”
Israel’s Joy and Restoration
14 Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion;
shout, O Israel!
Rejoice and exult with all your heart,
O daughter of Jerusalem!
15 The Lord has taken away the judgments against you;
he has cleared away your enemies.
The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst;
you shall never again fear evil.
16 On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:
“Fear not, O Zion;
let not your hands grow weak.
17 The Lord your God is in your midst,
a mighty one who will save;
he will rejoice over you with gladness;
he will quiet you by his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing.
18 I will gather those of you who mourn for the festival,
so that you will no longer suffer reproach.[c]
19 Behold, at that time I will deal
with all your oppressors.
And I will save the lame
and gather the outcast,
and I will change their shame into praise
and renown in all the earth.
20 At that time I will bring you in,
at the time when I gather you together;
for I will make you renowned and praised
among all the peoples of the earth,
when I restore your fortunes
before your eyes,” says the Lord.
i’m thinking of zephaniah
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zephaniah chapter 3 verse
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9. so this is the close of zephaniah and this is part of the way restoration
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and salvation of the nations is described the lord says for that i
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will restore to the peoples a pure language
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that they all may call on the name of the lord now we’ve just combined just the level of genesis 12 and abraham
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calling on the name of the lord to serve him with one accord that was
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part of the description of the tower builders say one accord building for their own glory
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and so zephaniah a lot of these terms it’s that whole reversal of the tower of babel that we
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see zion becomes so we’ve looked at isaiah or i’ve mentioned isaiah 2 multiple times
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and zion is exalted the mountain of the house of the lord the nations stream to
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we have the reversal of the tower of babel and so this idea of babylon versus
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zion the tower of babel the glory of man the city of man versus the city the
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glory of god these are not just um underlying
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themes i mean this feeds into the theology of the prophets when when god in ezekiel pronounces judgment on
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the nations this uh the whole idea of the the redemption as
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well and streaming design is part and parcel of it this and this is uh prophet after prophet
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so we’re making our way to zion it’s going to become the new eden we see that a bit with ezekiel so you know we could
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have looked at other parts of ezekiel 28 it’s judgment on tyre i think we looked at that when i was arguing for eden as a
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mountain of god remember that you were uh on the mountain of god you were in eden the garden of god and then ezekiel
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47 this great temple that is likely i think best understood is this picture
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of the new heavens and earth the new mount zion remember what he how he describes
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in chapter 47 a river coming from the side of the temple
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wherever it flows brings life and healing this temple is lagging to the garden of
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eden you know commentators will look at that
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and they’ll make um a point that we’ll look at an ntb team when we look at the book of daniel in
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ntp yes we look
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why go back to eden there’s a sense where not only was that the origin what zion
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is supposed to be like but just like daniel using one like the son
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of man and the kingdom of god born adamic terms is because by this time
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the the light of david has so spoiled the idea of a messianic reign
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that god goes before that to show this is pretty political it’s also for all the nations
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and um and part of what daniel is doing is even the kingdom of david’s sons is just as
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much the city of man as any of the other nations same violence the same
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immorality the same idolatry all those things and i think this is also why jesus prefers son of man
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it’s more him as an adam figure fulfilling yes the davidic covenant but not in a way that especially in his era
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his day uh many of the jewish people were longing for was
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a political faction that is going to bring ruin to the other nations
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in a way that was politicized beyond the theology of david himself his son
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messiah being a new adam but it’s us against them as if there would be no hope for the romans etc and using
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worldly means whereas jesus you know continually the messianic
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secret some scholars think for the gospel of mark he doesn’t want to call himself messiah
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because he knows it’s just loaded with things ideas that he is not about that they
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will immediately assume and so son of man brings us more back to the eden imagery
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of zion that we’ll get into in the weeks to come
What are four fundamental assertions which Deuteronomy 12 makes about Mount Zion?
The Lord’s Chosen Place of Worship
12 “These are the statutes and rules that you shall be careful to do in the land that the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess, all the days that you live on the earth. 2 You shall surely destroy all the places where the nations whom you shall dispossess served their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree. 3 You shall tear down their altars and dash in pieces their pillars and burn their Asherim with fire. You shall chop down the carved images of their gods and destroy their name out of that place. 4 You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way. 5 But you shall seek the place that the Lord your God will choose out of all your tribes to put his name and make his habitation[a] there. There you shall go, 6 and there you shall bring your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and the contribution that you present, your vow offerings, your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herd and of your flock. 7 And there you shall eat before the Lord your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your households, in all that you undertake, in which the Lord your God has blessed you.
8 “You shall not do according to all that we are doing here today, everyone doing whatever is right in his own eyes, 9 for you have not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance that the Lord your God is giving you. 10 But when you go over the Jordan and live in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to inherit, and when he gives you rest from all your enemies around, so that you live in safety, 11 then to the place that the Lord your God will choose, to make his name dwell there, there you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and the contribution that you present, and all your finest vow offerings that you vow to the Lord. 12 And you shall rejoice before the Lord your God, you and your sons and your daughters, your male servants and your female servants, and the Levite that is within your towns, since he has no portion or inheritance with you.
(1) YHWH, the God of Israel, will choose the place.
(2) It will be chosen from within the tribal territorial allotments.
(3) It will bear YHWH’s name, which validates the place for worship.
(4) The place will be the goal of Israel’s pilgrimages.
The emphasis on ‘the place’ highlights the presence and accessibility of the One who
actually dwells in heaven (4:39), but who condescends also to reside on earth for the
purpose of communing with his people.
all right so some attributes of mount zion
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number one again these are from daniel blah the place of the place in deuteronomy’s
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vision of worship so deuteronomy 12 12 makes four fundamental assertions concerning
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the place yahweh the audit visual will choose the place and this
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is huge i mean as you know trust deuteronomy really sets the agenda for
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the history of israel all of the rest of the we call historical narrative joshua judges
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samuel kings is uh fleshing out what deuteronomy gives us here and this is a
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big part of it especially in the psalms as well that the lord chose zion
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and we’ll get into a little bit i don’t think today uh how you get the transition from the
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northern kingdom to the southern from joseph who was given you know the firstborn blessing
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uh specifically to ephraim and the tabernacle will be there in shiloh in the transition in history by
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god’s providence from there to to zion but the the language of bahar and in
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hebrew god choosing david and choosing zion almost as a package deal
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is emphatic uh also be chosen from within the tribal
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allotments i think that’s part of like the camp of israel god is calling among his people
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it will vary yahweh’s name which validates the place for worship and this place will be the goal of
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israel’s pilgrimages all of israel’s pilgrimages three times a year there’s a sense where they’re
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following the footsteps of abraham they’re going to the place that god has chosen
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that’s the place where god will accept these offerings we [Music]
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don’t think at all this way and it shows mostly in our understanding of whether
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it’s the lord’s day or what we call the relative principle of worship i remember when when i was at
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another seminary um getting a paper on worship and it was
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like one of the opening lines is you know god doesn’t care whether we worship so long as we do worship and that sounds
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there’s a worldly wisdom to that i mean it almost sounds you know spiritual and
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it’s like this is someone who hasn’t read the bible god you know here’s a place they’re like
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whoa why can’t i just do my birthday at my house um god says this is the place he also
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says leviticus 16. uh soberingly begins with god reminding
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aaron your two sons have died keeping that in mind don’t come here at just any time
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so even though aaron is authorized he’s anointed he’s the one who’s allowed him and all if aaron goes into the holy of
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holies on a day that’s not a day of atonement that god has chosen the time god has
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chosen is his life is forfeit i mean that’s what god is telling so
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god cares about these things and we like with anything we just it takes real
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discernment but i think especially biblical literacy to be able to detect
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how much of our own thinking is of the world or is it natural versus
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biblical and all of these attributes
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make zion again the antipode to the tower of babel and the scattering of the nations as
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israel is gathering to zion three times a year we’re getting a taste of fortes of
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isaiah 2 where all the nations will be gathered to zion and zechariah specifically gives us that picture
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on one of the feast days or the the feast of booths the nations
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streaming to zion that’s the way zechariah ends
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the emphasis on place highlights the presence and accessibility of the one who actually dwells in heaven
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but who condescends also to reside on earth for the purpose of communing with his people
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and then secondly the function of the place in israel’s worship and this is where i was
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talking about daniel black makes the comment
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that uh it says the lord is welcoming them it’s like he’s already there in the
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land of canaan inviting them yahweh invites israelites to do before his space various activities at the
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place to come there to see the face of yahweh
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deuteronomy 12 1-2 is an invitation to celebrate in the presence of the lord
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they’re invited to come or enter the place where yahweh resides and that’s the point i’ve been saying from the
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perspective of zion itself the lord is is he’s talking as if he’s the divine host
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israelites are invited and this is daniel block language he’s
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faced the point of being precise about this that it’s a great blessing this isn’t given as
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threatening command but it’s it’s this great invitation to rejoice so to bring all their offerings to
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yahweh israelites are invited to eat there in the presence of the lord as a ritual act of communion
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symbolizing a covenantal relationship israelites are invited to celebrate the blessing of yahweh and their work
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various forms of the verb to rejoice occur eight times in connection with appearing before yahweh
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and faithfully celebrating the presence of yahweh is a privilege open to all in zion all are welcome heads of households
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sons daughters male female servants landless levites aliens widows the fatherless within their towns
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so there’s the the vertical relationship with god and the horizontal the communal aspect of the covenant community
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being celebrated so coming before yahweh outside is characterized by total confidence
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trust security and delight at coming before it to see his space as an ongoing
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means of celebrating his saving and covenantal grace and the grand divine scheme the land of canaan was to serve
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as a new eden the israelites are a new humanity creating an island of shalom in a fallen world declaring to
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the nations what divine grace can accomplish and that’s the goal that’s set out
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before israel in deuteronomy this is how you fulfill your vocation keeping all of
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these laws and statutes which aren’t burdensome and they’re like the ten commandments not committing
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adultery not murdering uh not envying your neighbors possessions these are fleshed out as you
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uh may know deuteronomy is basically like a sermon on the ten commandments
How does Solomon’s Temple feed into Zion theology?
8 Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers’ houses of the people of Israel, before King Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the city of David, which is Zion. 2 And all the men of Israel assembled to King Solomon at the feast in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month. 3 And all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark. 4 And they brought up the ark of the Lord, the tent of meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the tent; the priests and the Levites brought them up. 5 And King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, who had assembled before him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered. 6 Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its place in the inner sanctuary of the house, in the Most Holy Place, underneath the wings of the cherubim. 7 For the cherubim spread out their wings over the place of the ark, so that the cherubim overshadowed the ark and its poles. 8 And the poles were so long that the ends of the poles were seen from the Holy Place before the inner sanctuary; but they could not be seen from outside. And they are there to this day. 9 There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets of stone that Moses put there at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant with the people of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt. 10 And when the priests came out of the Holy Place, a cloud filled the house of the Lord, 11 so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord.
Solomon Blesses the Lord
12 Then Solomon said, “The Lord[a] has said that he would dwell in thick darkness. 13 I have indeed built you an exalted house, a place for you to dwell in forever.” 14 Then the king turned around and blessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel stood. 15 And he said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who with his hand has fulfilled what he promised with his mouth to David my father, saying, 16 ‘Since the day that I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house, that my name might be there. But I chose David to be over my people Israel.’ 17 Now it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. 18 But the Lord said to David my father, ‘Whereas it was in your heart to build a house for my name, you did well that it was in your heart. 19 Nevertheless, you shall not build the house, but your son who shall be born to you shall build the house for my name.’ 20 Now the Lord has fulfilled his promise that he made. For I have risen in the place of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised, and I have built the house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. 21 And there I have provided a place for the ark, in which is the covenant of the Lord that he made with our fathers, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.”
Solomon’s Prayer of Dedication
22 Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands toward heaven, 23 and said, “O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to your servants who walk before you with all their heart; 24 you have kept with your servant David my father what you declared to him. You spoke with your mouth, and with your hand have fulfilled it this day. 25 Now therefore, O Lord, God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father what you have promised him, saying, ‘You shall not lack a man to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your sons pay close attention to their way, to walk before me as you have walked before me.’ 26 Now therefore, O God of Israel, let your word be confirmed, which you have spoken to your servant David my father.
27 “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built! 28 Yet have regard to the prayer of your servant and to his plea, O Lord my God, listening to the cry and to the prayer that your servant prays before you this day, 29 that your eyes may be open night and day toward this house, the place of which you have said, ‘My name shall be there,’ that you may listen to the prayer that your servant offers toward this place. 30 And listen to the plea of your servant and of your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. And listen in heaven your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive.
31 “If a man sins against his neighbor and is made to take an oath and comes and swears his oath before your altar in this house, 32 then hear in heaven and act and judge your servants, condemning the guilty by bringing his conduct on his own head, and vindicating the righteous by rewarding him according to his righteousness.
33 “When your people Israel are defeated before the enemy because they have sinned against you, and if they turn again to you and acknowledge your name and pray and plead with you in this house, 34 then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and bring them again to the land that you gave to their fathers.
35 “When heaven is shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against you, if they pray toward this place and acknowledge your name and turn from their sin, when you afflict them, 36 then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel, when you teach them the good way in which they should walk, and grant rain upon your land, which you have given to your people as an inheritance.
37 “If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence or blight or mildew or locust or caterpillar, if their enemy besieges them in the land at their gates,[b] whatever plague, whatever sickness there is, 38 whatever prayer, whatever plea is made by any man or by all your people Israel, each knowing the affliction of his own heart and stretching out his hands toward this house, 39 then hear in heaven your dwelling place and forgive and act and render to each whose heart you know, according to all his ways (for you, you only, know the hearts of all the children of mankind), 40 that they may fear you all the days that they live in the land that you gave to our fathers.
41 “Likewise, when a foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, comes from a far country for your name’s sake 42 (for they shall hear of your great name and your mighty hand, and of your outstretched arm), when he comes and prays toward this house, 43 hear in heaven your dwelling place and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to you, in order that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your people Israel, and that they may know that this house that I have built is called by your name.
44 “If your people go out to battle against their enemy, by whatever way you shall send them, and they pray to the Lord toward the city that you have chosen and the house that I have built for your name, 45 then hear in heaven their prayer and their plea, and maintain their cause.
46 “If they sin against you—for there is no one who does not sin—and you are angry with them and give them to an enemy, so that they are carried away captive to the land of the enemy, far off or near, 47 yet if they turn their heart in the land to which they have been carried captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their captors, saying, ‘We have sinned and have acted perversely and wickedly,’ 48 if they repent with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies, who carried them captive, and pray to you toward their land, which you gave to their fathers, the city that you have chosen, and the house that I have built for your name, 49 then hear in heaven your dwelling place their prayer and their plea, and maintain their cause 50 and forgive your people who have sinned against you, and all their transgressions that they have committed against you, and grant them compassion in the sight of those who carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them 51 (for they are your people, and your heritage, which you brought out of Egypt, from the midst of the iron furnace). 52 Let your eyes be open to the plea of your servant and to the plea of your people Israel, giving ear to them whenever they call to you. 53 For you separated them from among all the peoples of the earth to be your heritage, as you declared through Moses your servant, when you brought our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord God.”
Solomon’s Benediction
54 Now as Solomon finished offering all this prayer and plea to the Lord, he arose from before the altar of the Lord, where he had knelt with hands outstretched toward heaven. 55 And he stood and blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice, saying, 56 “Blessed be the Lord who has given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he promised. Not one word has failed of all his good promise, which he spoke by Moses his servant. 57 The Lord our God be with us, as he was with our fathers. May he not leave us or forsake us, 58 that he may incline our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments, his statutes, and his rules, which he commanded our fathers. 59 Let these words of mine, with which I have pleaded before the Lord, be near to the Lord our God day and night, and may he maintain the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel, as each day requires, 60 that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God; there is no other. 61 Let your heart therefore be wholly true to the Lord our God, walking in his statutes and keeping his commandments, as at this day.”
Solomon’s Sacrifices
62 Then the king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifice before the Lord. 63 Solomon offered as peace offerings to the Lord 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. So the king and all the people of Israel dedicated the house of the Lord. 64 The same day the king consecrated the middle of the court that was before the house of the Lord, for there he offered the burnt offering and the grain offering and the fat pieces of the peace offerings, because the bronze altar that was before the Lord was too small to receive the burnt offering and the grain offering and the fat pieces of the peace offerings.
65 So Solomon held the feast at that time, and all Israel with him, a great assembly, from Lebo-hamath to the Brook of Egypt, before the Lord our God, seven days.[c] 66 On the eighth day he sent the people away, and they blessed the king and went to their homes joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness that the Lord had shown to David his servant and to Israel his people.
The temple prayer presents the culmination of OT redemptive history, from the exodus
by Moses to the initial fulfillment of the Davidic covenant, as the son of David builds a
temple upon Mt. Zion (see 8:14-21), praying that the temple would serve as the means by
which the nations come to the knowledge and worship of YHWH. The dedication of the
temple is portrayed “as the culmination of Israelite history since the exodus and as the
dawn of a new era for king, cult, and people” (Knoppers, 233). The main subject of the
dedication and consecration of the temple is the centrality of the new sanctuary to the
life of Israel—the national shrine will function as the heart of the nation’s covenant with
YHWH, as well as the axis of the nation’s calling among the nations.
What is clear from Solomon’s prayer, especially in regards the temple and its purpose, is
that he is praying all people of the earth may come to know and worship the name of the
LORD God of Israel. If the Lord answers the prayer of the foreigner, and does for him
what he asks, and they be converted, or at least have reverence and awe for what the
Lord has done, if and when they return home, they may share with others their
experience with the God of Israel and give glory to His name. This is the vision of
Solomon: that the LORD’s name would go forth from “His house” into the world, from
the temple in Jerusalem to all of creation, and not this only, but also that all peoples of
the world might come to the temple, and that, through His Name. It is quite plain: from
the temple to the world and from the world to the temple, “the name of the LORD is to
be praised.”
Rehearse the ‘kingship’ theme through the OT as per your Dempster reading, Dominion & Dynasty, incorporating his arguments and insights.
Introduction and Adam
Stephen Dempster, in his book Dominion and Dynasty, through an exploration of the Hebrew Bible in the order of the Tanakh, develops the storyline from the creation of the world to the building of the temple, which will give new life to the world and from which the divine rule will extend to the ends of the earth. Beginning with Adam, Dempster points out the role Adam and Eve were to have as king and queen of creation exercising rule over their dominion. He points out that the rest of the canon assumes the royal overtones of Genesis 1 and particularly notes Psalm 8, the creation psalm which clearly describes frail and weak humanity as crowned with glory and honour ruling over all the works of nature with everything placed under its feet. For disobeying the divine word and eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, the man and woman are exiled from their geographical home to live east of Eden as dispossessed royalty. Adam is now placed under the foot of Adamah (the ground) rather than vice versa.
Talk about the cosmic battle between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent.
Throughout his book, Dempster returns many times to the theme of the cosmic battle between the human and the serpent, between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. This is a battle about who will have dominion over the created order. This is returned to in Exodus 1 when Pharaoh tries to destroy Hebrew babies, during the plagues when God demonstrates that the firstborn son of Yahweh (Israel) has dominion over the firstborn son of the Egyptian god (Pharaoh), the battle between Jehosheba and Queen Athaliah when baby Joash is preserved from his wicked grandmother, and of course ultimately when Christ completely crushes the serpent and reigns over a new world order. Dempster returns to this theme again and again, seeing it in every bit of the storyline of the Tanakh.
Rehearse the ‘kingship’ theme through the OT as per your Dempster reading, Dominion & Dynasty, incorporating his arguments and insights.
Abram
Moving forward from Adam in the narrative, Dempster points out the importance of Abram who is told to leave the world of Babel so that God can make of him a great nation through whom all nations on the earth will be blessed (reversing Babel). This promise to become a great nation assumes a political and regal destiny. Unlike the builders of Babel, who sought a great name by constructing a colossal building, Abram’s name will be made great by God’s building him into a great nation that will bless the nations. His name is changed to Abraham (“father of multitudes”) and Sarai is given the royal name of Sarah (meaning “princess”). She is to be the mother of many nations as well as the mother of a royal dynasty (Gen. 17:16). God tells Abraham that he will possess the gate of his enemies thus striking a blow to the serpent’s head, the real enemy.
Rehearse the ‘kingship’ theme through the OT as per your Dempster reading, Dominion & Dynasty, incorporating his arguments and insights.
Genesis after Abram
These promises are passed down through Isaac and Jacob (Israel) and then Abraham’s grandson, Joseph, has dreams of dominion and sovereignty which come to fruition as those dreams show that Yahweh is determined to bless the nations. As part of that narrative, an aged Israel meets the powerful Pharaoh and blesses him. The irony is impossible to miss as the embryonic nation of Israel is blessing the mightiest nation on earth before it falls. And in the middle of this narrative, a seeming interruption is there through the story of the royal line through Judah and the Canaanite woman, Tamar. Judah leaves his staff with Tamar as a pledge of payment, but another great irony is seen as the staff also symbolizes Judah’s rule of the nations in the future through their seed. Judah is singled out as the warrior-king who will place his hand on the neck of his enemies and whose rule will encompass, one day, all the peoples of the earth. Expectation is also laid for a descendant from Judah whose dominion will encompass the world.
Rehearse the ‘kingship’ theme through the OT as per your Dempster reading, Dominion & Dynasty, incorporating his arguments and insights.
Egypt and Israel in the wilderness
The nation of Israel multiplies in Egypt and following the display of power in the plagues mentioned above, God lets Israel know what kind of nation they are destined to be, “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” They will “image” God to the nations. It will be a kingdom marked by priesthood; that is, service of God on behalf of people and vice versa. They will be a serving nation rather than a ruling nation, thus they will redefine dominion as service. Balaam’s oracle in Numbers 24 envisions a king emerging from Israel to destroy its enemies, ultimately to bring blessing to the nations, in fulfilment of the promise to the woman in the Garden of Eden.
Rehearse the ‘kingship’ theme through the OT as per your Dempster reading, Dominion & Dynasty, incorporating his arguments and insights.
Joshua and Judges
Israel than exercises dominion over creation through their possession of the land of Canaan under Joshua and then in Judges as the royal-conquest motifs in Genesis 1 find fulfillment as the seed of the woman establishes dominion by defeating oppression. Judges also portrays a blind and autonomous Israel desperately in need of the leadership of kingship. The idea of kingship in Israel seems complicated to understand at first, for while Deuteronomy 17 includes laws pertaining to kingship, it is clear that when Israel does ask for a king, it is seen as a rejection of divine rule. But it’s important to note the kind of king Israel needs and how that is very different from the king they requested. Israel needed an individual like the ruler mentioned in Genesis 49 and in the Balaam oracles, an individual who would not only defeat Israel’s enemies but be a model of virtue as well. They needed a king who would lead the people to do what is right in God’s eyes.
Rehearse the ‘kingship’ theme through the OT as per your Dempster reading, Dominion & Dynasty, incorporating his arguments and insights.
Samuel - Saul
The book of Samuel opens with the story of Hannah and her song looks to the future for the overthrow of a tyrannical dominion that will be replaced by a just king, a Messiah, who will bring justice beyond Israel to the ends of the earth. Just as the reversal of her personal misery if found in the birth of a child, the birth of children, leading up to a particular person – a king – will help Israel and the world to reach their destiny. But that is not the king Israel is looking for. They want a king ‘like all the other nations’ who will be ‘tall’ (geboha) and represent worldly kingship. God gives them Saul, from Gibeah (gib’a), a head taller (geboha) than every man, who dies in battle on the mountains of Gilboa (gilboa’a).
Rehearse the ‘kingship’ theme through the OT as per your Dempster reading, Dominion & Dynasty, incorporating his arguments and insights.
David and Solomon
As Saul represents a kingship that will not be transformed by the divine will, David, the man after God’s own heart, enters the scene to exercise the dominion and authority given to humanity at the beginning. He finishes the job Joshua had started in finally defeating all the enemies in the land and quite significantly, conquering Jerusalem. David is the anointed one, and in his son Solomon’s worldwide stature is seen a partial fulfillment of some of the royal messianic hopes found in earlier passages of the Hebrew Bible. Solomon’s prayer as the temple is dedicated has universal implications. It is not to be a nationalistic icon, but a conduit of blessing to the entire world.
Rehearse the ‘kingship’ theme through the OT as per your Dempster reading, Dominion & Dynasty, incorporating his arguments and insights.
Jehoiachin
Dempster brings out more through the kings, particularly in the prophesied reign of Josiah. But as the nation of Judah is taken into captivity, and all seems lost, an earth-shaking passage notes that the king of Babylon graciously freed Jehoiachin and gave him a seat above the seats of the king who were with him in Babylon. Even in exile, a Davidide still has a throne.
Rehearse the ‘kingship’ theme through the OT as per your Dempster reading, Dominion & Dynasty, incorporating his arguments and insights.
Branch
Through the writings of the latter prophets, Dempster brings out many things, but the key idea is certainly the branch from the stump of Jesse whose coming was predicted from long ago, who would come to power through relative obscurity, planted on Mount Zion to grow into a huge tree, bearing fruit and providing shade. There will be no limit to the extent of his shalom-producing rule. He is distinguished by his suffering and humility as well as by regal majesty. He combines regal and priestly roles, bringing healing and hope to the marginalized and crowning his work by offering himself as an atonement for the sins of many.
Rehearse the ‘kingship’ theme through the OT as per your Dempster reading, Dominion & Dynasty, incorporating his arguments and insights.
Conclude
Dempster brings out through his discussion of the rest of the Tanakh that David emerges as the focus of the Bible. The theme of kingship is throughout the Psalms. And in the wisdom literature, Solomon bodies in part what it means to fulfill the call to be human, to rule the creation and to exercise dominion over it. Daniel brings out many themes of dominion and authority and points to the coming of a kingdom which will endure forever. Dempster shows quite clearly how the entire Tanakh is really about the coming of the kingdom of God, and it is yet unfinished.
