Bible Survey Archives - Page 12 of 25

Surveying the Text: Leviticus

Joe Harby on August 25, 2014

Introduction

The dates of this book are roughly the same as what we find for Exodus. It provides detailed instruction for worship, picking up where Exodus stopped. The name of the book comes from a Greek phrase for “pertaining to the Levites,” that phrase being levitikon, which was then run through a Latin filter. During the course of this book, Israel is still camped at the foot of Mt. Sinai, at the beginning of their 40 years in the wilderness.

The Text

“And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy: for I the Lord your God am holy” (Lev. 19:1–2).

Summary of the Text

This book is about ritual righteousness—which must never be detached from actualrighteousness. Here the laws for worship are laid out, the Holiness Code is defined, and the annual calendar for the Israelites is established.

The Levitical Code is set out in the first sixteen chapters (1-16). This is followed by what is commonly called the Holiness Code (17-25). A few miscellaneous things conclude the book (26-27)—blessings and curses, vows and tithes.

The Second Greatest Commandment

This book is where the second greatest commandment is found (Lev. 19:18). It is sometimes easy to assume that the ritual precision that is required by a book like Leviticus means that they somehow didn’t understand the main point. But that is not the case at all.

Cleansing, Consecration, Communion

Whenever someone is exiled from the camp, remember that God dwelt with them in the center of the camp. God is holy, and is in the midst of the camp. This means that the camp had to be be kept holy as well.

Because Christ has come, we no longer worship God by means of actual physical sacrifices. Because of this—even though this is a great blessing for us—we oftentimes do not pay close enough attention to the sacrifices of the Old Testament. They were not all sacrifices for sin. They had a grain offering. They had a whole burnt offering, also considered as an ascension offering. This was a consecration offering, where the entire animal ascended to God in the column of smoke. There was a fellowship offering, also known as a peace offering. A purification offering took care of accidental defilements (4:1-5:13), and the guilt offering was for sin (5:14-6:7).

When sacrifices are mentioned together in the OT, the order is guilt/ascension/peace. This is why many churches (whether intentionally or not) follow a similar pattern—resting in Christ’s fulfillment of all of this—when they confess sin (guilt), when they sing and hear sermons (ascension), and when they partake of communion (peace). The order is biblical, but it also makes natural sense. You wash the day off your hands before coming to the dinner table, and not after.

Both Kinds of Cleanliness

Leviticus focuses on ritual cleanliness, but concerns about hygiene should not be dismissed. It is pretty clear that God, in giving these rituals, also had germs in mind. Cleanliness is next to godliness—but more about that in Numbers.

Jesus in Leviticus

So this book insists on holiness. The holy God has agreed to dwell in their midst, and because He is in the camp, the camp must be holy. The people of God had to be holy because God of the people was holy. We see in this in Levitcus 11:44-5, in our text here, and in Lev. 20:7.

But this is easier said than done. The apostle Paul quotes Leviticus several times to make this point (Lev. 18:5). Obedience means actually doing it, actually being holy. Not only that, but it means doing it by raw effort. “And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them” (Gal. 3:12). And in Romans he describes the same kind of guy, climbing up to Heaven on the rope of sand—the righteousness that is of the law quotes Lev. 18:5, instead of quoting Deuteronomy 30:12 like he should have done. And Jesus paraphrases it to the same effect (Luke 10:28), talking to a man who wanted to justify himself.

Without holiness, no one will ever see the Lord (Heb. 12:14). So how do we get from the righteousness of the law to the righteousness of faith? These verses in the Old Testament are not color-coded. How are we supposed to navigate this?
In the gospel of Christ, something mysterious happens. We are transformed from “strivers” to children, children who can be obedient children (1 Pet. 1:14). And what follows on after that? “Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy” (1 Pet. 1:16).

Doing must come from being. This means that the foundation must be the absolute grace of God. If you try to attain to being by your doing, you will necessarily fail, time and time again. You can do nothing but fail. What is the problem with the strivers? They do, and they do, and they do some more. The problem is that they spend their lives doing, and nothing gets done.

Everything comes down to whether or not we see Jesus, and you can only see Jesus if you have eyes. And you can only have eyes if God gives you eyes. You can only have ears if God gives you ears.

If you have eyes, if you have God-given faith, you see Jesus everywhere in Scripture. Sometimes He speaks, but He is always present. If you do not have eyes, if you do not have God-given faith, you do not see Jesus anywhere. “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me” (John 5:39).

It is not as though some verses are “law” and other verses are “gospel.” There is no division in the Bible this way. There is no law/grace hermeneutic. There is no way you could publish a study Bible will all the law verses in red and all the grace verses in blue. And why not?

Because the righteousness that is of the law turns everything to law. Like a King Midas of lead, every passage turns into a leaden dead weight that condemns and is obnoxious. This can even be done with passages that have GRACE written on their forehead. “For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish: To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things?” (2 Cor. 2:15–16).

And eyes that have been opened by grace can see the grace of God everywhere and in everything. “The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple” (Ps. 19:7).

There is a sharp divide between law and grace. But it does not run between this verse and that one. It runs between the sheep and the goats.

Surveying the Text: Exodus

Joe Harby on August 17, 2014

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Introduction

The three great themes of Exodus are the deliverance God brings to His people, the giving of the law, and the establishment of the tabernacle. There are other important themes as well, such as the recurring disobedience of the people. Remember as we work through the Bible, each book contributes to the grand theme of all Scripture, which is the redemption of God’s people, accomplished in the context of His reconciliation of all things in Heaven and on earth (Col. 1:20).

The Text

“And the Lord said unto Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel; and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thine hand, and go. Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the Lord, saying, Is the Lord among us, or not?” (Ex. 17:5–7).

Summary of the Text

What are the dates of the book? The book of Exodus begins with the death of Joseph (c. 1600 B.C.), but most of it centers on Israel’s encampment at the base of Mt. Sinai (c. 1440 B.C).

The first part of Exodus is simply narrative (Ex. 1-20), showing the deliverance from Egypt and culminating in the giving of the Ten Commandments. In chapters 21-24, we find a collection of assorted laws which amplify the Ten Commandments, and then the last part of the book concerns the building of the tabernacle (25-31). Woven throughout the whole thing we find the grumbling and disobedience of Israel.

The Definition of Israel

This is the book that defines Israel for us. There are three distinctives that set Israel apart from other nations. The first is their national deliverance from the tyranny of Pharaoh. They have ahistorical foundation as a people together. Second, on the basis of this deliverance, this exodus, God gives them His law as a sign of His grace to them. Note particularly the preamble to the Ten Commandments. God identifies Himself as the one who brought them out of the house of bondage, and so the law represents moral liberty. Third, God establishes His tabernacle in their midst so that His presence might be with them. This means that God delivered them, Godinstructs them, and God accompanies them.

If you look at the sweep from Genesis to Revelation, you notice the pattern—from Garden to Garden City. The biblical story summarized is Paradise, Paradise Lost, and Paradise Regained. The beginning of an Edenic reestablishment is seen in this book, when the tabernacle is built (an artificial mountain, an artificial Eden). Eden was on a mountain (four rivers had their headwaters there), and God walked with Adam and Eve there. Now cherubim again guarded the way to the mercy seat just as the way back to the tree of life was guarded.

In this book, God adopts Israel as His firstborn son (Ex. 4:22-23). The firstborn of Egypt are all slain, the firstborn of Israel are all spared, and Israel becomes the firstborn of God.

An Unlikely Deliverer

Moses began his career as a likely deliverer. Since God doesn’t work that way usually, He began by turning His likely savior into an unlikely one. When Moses was suitably unsuitable, YHWH appeared to him in the burning bush.

God loves cliffhangers. Throughout Scripture, He delivers His people at the very last moment, and in the Exodus, He does it for millions of people all at the same moment. Pharaoh’s chariots are at their back, and the Red Sea is lapping at their toes, and Moses was perhaps wondering what he had gotten himself into.

A “suitable” deliverance, according to our lights would have been for Moses to face down Pharaoh with an army at his back. Well, he did have an army there, but it was the wrong one.

Ten Plagues

The ten plagues that reduced that era’s great superpower to a smoldering ruin are interesting on various levels. The plagues are first aimed at the various gods of Egypt. Second, the plagues represent a “decreation” move—darkness instead of light, animals dying instead of being created, the first born destroyed instead of established. Third, the plagues provide a kind of counterpoint to the ways in which Israel disobeyed after their deliverance. “Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice” (Num. 14:22).

Grumbling and Complaining

Note the introduction of the grumbling motif into Scripture. After God had delivered the people wonderfully, it didn’t take them long to fall back into unbelief. Also mark the fact that you can only repent of grumbling—you can’t steer your way out of it. Look what happened when Aaron tried to “steer” the people’s apostasy in the golden calf incident. He tried to establish syncretistic worship, using an idol in a festival of YHWH. No good at all.

This is a realistic story of deliverance, not a hagiographic story of the bad guys drowned in the Red Sea, with the good guys wearing white bath robes, saying, “Lo!” and “Verily!” No, they were usually muttering in their tents with the Hebrew equivalent of razzum- scazzum.

Jesus in Exodus

The Exodus becomes a grand theme in Scripture for all manner of deliverance. It is a rich source of allusion for all subsequent biblical writers (Dt. 4:32-34). “And, behold, there talked with him two men, which were Moses and Elias: Who appeared in glory, and spake of his decease [hisExodus] which he should accomplish at Jerusalem” (Luke 9:30– 31).

With all this established, let us return to our text. The apostle Paul throws some additional light on it. “And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ” (1 Cor. 10:4). Christ was the Rock the people drank from, but this means He was also the Rock that Moses was commanded to strike.

They quarreled with Moses, and said he had to give them water. The word here would better be rendered as “lodged a complaint,” or “filed a suit,” or “laid a charge.” Meribah was Lawsuit City. They came first against Moses, but the real issue was whether God was with them or not.

The staggering thing here is not that the people brought a charge, indicting the Lord. The astonishing thing is that God accepted the indictment. Formal charges were filed. God said that Moses was to go in front of the people, with the elders of Israel accompanying him as witnesses. Take a particular rod, He said, the same one you used to turn the Nile to blood. God said that He would then stand before Moses on the Rock, identifying with it. Moses was then to take the rod ofblood, and strike the Rock, and water will flow from it. What flowed from the side of Christ when the Roman soldier struck Him with his spear? Water and blood (John 19:34).

What must the thirsty do? They must drink from the water that flows from Christ (John 7:38). But there is no water unless Moses strikes.

Surveying the Text: Genesis

Joe Harby on August 10, 2014

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INTRODUCTION

Just as Abraham walked through the land that he was promised without settling down to inherit the land, so we walk through the Bible, the land of promise, not yet in full possession of all that has been given to us. We have it already, we don’t have it yet.
As we will have occasion to repeat as we work our way through the Old Testament, the New Testament identifies some of the foundational books of the Old Testament simply by how often they are quoted. By this measurement, the most important books of the Old Testament are Genesis, Deuteronomy, Psalms, and Isaiah. This is one of many reasons why we must pay close attention to the book of Genesis.

THE TEXT

“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth . . .” (Gen. 1:1).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Our usual practice is to take a text and then drill down into it. For this series of messages, the approach will be a bit different. We will take our text as a starting point, and then walk through the rest of the book that passage is in, trying to grasp the larger picture. Our approach will be more inductive than deductive, going from the smaller to the greater.

As our text indicates, this is the book of beginnings. Genesis gives us the Creation, the Fall, the Flood, and the call of Abraham and his seed. We have the beginning of the world, the beginning of work, the beginning of marriage, the beginning of music, the beginning of cities, and the beginning of God’s covenantal dealings with mankind. Everything starts here. If you get this book wrong, there will be a great deal wrong later on.

Genesis is framed or bookended by contrasting stories. God delivers His people from a great flood near the beginning of the book, and He delivers His people from a great drought at the end of it. Consider the respective roles of Noah and Joseph.

What are the dates of Genesis? How much time does it span? The book of Genesis extends from the Creation to the death of Joseph in Egypt, which happened circa 1600 B.C. Taking the date of creation as 4004 BC, as calculated by the good Bishop Ussher— the last theologian of note who was also good at math—this gives the book a span of multiple centuries, 24 of them to be exact. One book of the Bible encompasses 40% of all human history. This means that Joseph was as close in time to Charlemagne as he was to Adam. This is a few centuries more than the time of Christ until the present, so this should give us some perspective. So we have to read this one book, Genesis, beginning to end, with a time lapse camera.

The book divides naturally and readily into two sections. The first is found in Gen. 1-11, and has to do with human origins, the Fall, the history of the antediluvians, and the story of Noah. The second section tells the story of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Jacob was renamed Israel, and the twelve tribes of Israel came from his sons. The two sections deal respectively with the beginning of everything, and with the beginning of Israel—the beginning of the world, and the beginning of God’s redemptive purpose for that world.

THE AGE OF THE EARTH

As my earlier commendation of Ussher may have indicated, my perspective on Genesis is that which is called “young earth creationism.” Whether Mahalaleel was Jared’s father, grandfather, or great-grandfather, the fact remains that Mahalaleel was 65-years-old when somebody begat Jared (Gen. 5:15). Just get out your calculators.

But to take this position is not to argue that there are no literary or poetic elements in the first chapters of Genesis. Quite obviously, the first two chapters tell the story of creation from two different vantages, and in two different ways. This is a topic that needs far more time to treat it in adequate detail, but let me just say now that the presence of poetry does not automatically necessitate the presence of extended eons of time.

The issues involved are much greater than how many moments or years have ticked by. Obviously, by itself it is a matter of indifference how much time has elapsed or ticked by. It is nota matter of indifference to say that Scripture is mistaken, or that God used blood- soaked eons to create man, when the Bible plainly teaches that man was the one who created all the blood-soaked eons (Rom. 5:12). So do not, for the sake of a false peace with infidel geologists, give away the biblical answer to the problem of evil.

THE ANTITHESES

We have the foundation of what may be called the antithesis (3:14-15). Throughout all human history, we have a long war—perpetual antipathy between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman.

COVENANTAL ANTITHESES

That antithesis takes shape through covenants, covenants on both sides (Gal. 4:24). Throughout Scripture, God is a covenant making God, and He begins making them with His people in Genesis. He makes a covenant with Noah (9:8-17), and through him, with all mankind. He makes a covenant with Abraham (12:2-7; 15:1-21; 17:3-8), which He renews with Isaac (26:3-5), and again with Jacob (28:13-15).

THE COVENANTAL JUKE MOVE

But the covenant is never made out of clunkity clunkity two by fours. Genesis also establishes God’s pattern of what we might call “election and a twist.” God calls out Abraham from Ur of the Chaldees. This shows God’s sovereign authority to recruit His

children from the children of idolaters. But then Genesis also shows God’s sovereign authority to recruit His heirs from unlikely places among His own children—Isaac, not Ishmael, Jacob, not Esau, Joseph, not Reuben, but then Judah, not Joseph. This pattern started at the very beginning—Abel, not Cain, and then Seth instead of Cain. Another riff on this same kind of pattern is His way—which begins in Genesis—of choosing barren women in order to accomplish this. Remember Sarah.

With this in mind, it is important to follow Judah’s story line. It does not begin in a promising way, but it ends with a promise (49:8-12). Judah starts out with his sins well exposed, but he ends by offering himself for his brother Benjamin (43:8-9).

YET ANOTHER COVENANTAL REVERSAL

One important story in Genesis links to another story in Joshua. Tamar tricked her father- in-law Judah into sleeping with her, and she conceived twins as a result. The first one out had a scarlet thread tied to his wrist (Zarah, 38:28), but his brother Pharez still got out first. Years later, at the battle of Jericho, Achan was executed for his treachery, and he was a descendant of Zarah. Rahab was delivered from the destruction of Jericho because she put a scarlet rope out her window. She and her household were saved, and she then married Salmon, a descendant of Pharez. The scarlet marker of the messianic line was transferred.

JESUS IN GENESIS

A preacher is tasked with the proclamation of Jesus. However valuable Bible survey courses might be, they have no place in the pulpit unless it culminates in the proclamation of Christ. Fortunately, every page of the Bible provides us with material, including every page of Genesis.

The book of Genesis ends with the set-up for the enslavement of the Jews in Egypt. Jacob’s household goes down into Egypt as part of a great deliverance. But however great the crop was this year, there will always be weeds in it the following spring. God always delivers His people, which means He always has to get them into a jam first. God always tells death and resurrection stories.
We have the same death and resurrection pattern in the Genesis flood—and this flood, Peter tells us, is a type of Christian baptism (1 Pet. 3:20-21).

Hagar and Sarah represent two covenants, Paul tells us in Galatians. One represents flesh- service rendered to God while the other represents evangelical heart-service (Gal. 4:24).

There are many ways to do this, but let me finish with the first great gospel promise, found in Genesis, just a few pages in from the beginning of the world. We learn a wonderful thing as we overhear what God said to the devil.

“And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel” (Gen. 3:15).

The Lovingkindness of God #4

Joe Harby on July 13, 2014

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4:1-2 In the Gates with Peloni Almoni

As a chokepoint for all coming and going, the gates became the center of business deals in the ancient world. Here Boaz runs into the man who is the nearer kinsman-redeemer. We are not given his name. He is simply referred to as Peloni Almoni, which translates as “old so-and-so,” or perhaps “what’s his face.”

3-4 The First Part of the Deal

Either Peloni was not expecting his role as kinsman-redeemer to also include the obligation of the levirate marriage or (and more likely) he expected the levirate marriage to be with the elderly Naomi, who would not be capable of having children. Either way, Peloni expected his role as kinsman-redeemer to be something that actually enriched his own line rather than as something that gave away to others. There is a long tradition of men turning charity into a profitable racket.

5-6 The Second Part of the Deal

Boaz presents a surprise part of the deal. Instead of marrying Naomi, the man must marry Ruth. Peloni hadn’t seen this coming. If he marries Ruth, she is likely to have a son and the redeemed land will go to that line instead of to Peloni’s existing line. And so Peloni backs out of the deal.

7-10 Sealing the Deal

In the ancient world the foot stood for power, might, dominance, and ownership ( Josh. 10:24, Ps. 8:7, Deut. 11:24, Josh. 1:3, 14:9). The shoe came to represent this same power and authority (Ps. 60:8, 108:10, Ex. 3:5, 2 Sam. 15:30). If a man refused to act as kinsman-redeemer, the widow that he was supposed to marry was to remove his sandal to indicate his abdication, namely his failure to use his power as it ought to be used (Deut. 25:9-10).

So the man’s sandal was a picture of both his power and authority, as well as a symbol of his obligation to act as redeemer. Rather than having it removed and getting slapped with it by Naomi or Ruth, Boaz is gives Peloni
an out by offering to trade positions with him. That is why they trade sandals. Boaz now declares before the men his marriage to Ruth, fulfilling the promise that he made to Ruth on the threshing floor.

11-12 The Blessing of Men

The men give Boaz two blessings. May Ruth be like Rachel and Leah, the founding mothers of Israel. And may she be like Tamar, a woman who demonstrated the same sort of faith as Ruth by committing herself to this family line.

13-17 The Blessing of the Women

Now God supplies the thing that had been missing all along, the birth of the son. The women praise God for his deliverance through this boy.

18-22 The Genealogy of David

So now we see the fulfilment of all these blessings. It turns out that Ruth’s son from Boaz is Obed, grandfather of king David. Peloni ditched this because he wanted to preserve his name. And in doing so, he lost his name.

Whose name is listed in Mt. 1:5 and Lk. 3:32? What Peloni tried to save, he lost. Ruth did not have the genealogy. But she did have faith.

The Lovingkindness of God #3

Joe Harby on June 29, 2014

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3:1-5 Naomi Hatches a Plan

The attention that Ruth received from Boaz opens up a possibility of deliverance that Naomi had not expected – the existence of a redeemer. There are two legal principles at work here.

One is the right to redeem land (Lev. 25:23-34, see also the right to redeem an Israelite from slavery Lev. 25:39-55). This was a right that was given to someone who was near of kin (Lev. 25:48-49), which is why we call him the kinsman redeemer. The other is the duty to keep a family line alive (Deut. 25:5-10). Again, this was a duty that fell on the close relative to keep a family name alive.

In the story of Ruth, these two principles are both at work. Naomi and Ruth need to have their land redeemed, but they also need a line to receive this inheritance, because it can’t be passed on outside of the family (Num. 36:9).

The plan is for Ruth to be deliberately seductive towards Boaz. She is going to wait for the right moment to approach Boaz, but part of this is that she is bypassing any interaction with other men so that she can focus solely on Boaz.

6-9 The Threshing Floor

The threshing of the grain is accompanied by a celebration of feasting. Naomi chooses this moment, ripe with innuendo, for Ruth to approach Boaz. Ruth calls Boaz to fulfil the role of redeemer. The request to cover her with his wing, is a request for him to be her husband (Ez. 16:8 and the prohibitions of sexual infidelity – Deut. 22:30, 27:20, etc.). But it is also a reminder that Ruth’s seeking of refuge with Boaz is her seeking refuge with Yahweh (2:12).

10-11 The Blessing of Boaz

Boaz recognizes Ruth’s faithfulness for what it is. Her faithfulness gets better and better ( John 2:10). He grants her request and then Boaz pays her a very high compliment, calling her “a virtuous woman.” This corresponds with the description of Boaz (2:1) and sets Ruth as the embodiment of the perfect woman (Prov. 31:10-31). Ruth stands for two things here, the first is what real biblical femininity looks like. The second is what real biblical faith looks like (without regard to gender).

12-13 A Nearer Kinsman

But Boaz notes that there is still a kinsman that is nearer to Naomi than himself. The duty of being the redeemer falls first to this nearer kinsman and then to Boaz. Ruth will have to be patient while he sorts this matter out.

14-18 Ruth Returns to Naomi

Ruth returns to Naomi with the news that Boaz will act. But she also brings back a gift of barley from Boaz. But remember that the barley is just a token of a much larger and more significant provision.