Archive for the ‘Biblical Imagery’ Category

The Authority of Moses’ Intercession

August 11th, 2009 by Camden Bucey
The Authority of Moses’ Intercession

Numbers 14:1-20 presents a somewhat difficult problem for “closed theists” – those who are not open theists. Verse 20 has thrown more than a few interpreters for a loop. The people have come to the end of their wilderness wandering and are set to take possession of the promised land.  But following a fearful report from a majority of the spies sent into the land, they grumble against the LORD and the nation’s leaders and decide to elect a new leader who will take them back to Egypt.  The LORD descends to judge the people and tells Moses that He will disinherit this people, destroy them and start over with Moses’ seed.  But Moses intercedes on behalf of the people and following Moses’ intercession for the nation of Israel, the LORD responds “I have pardoned according to your word.” Moses’ word spares the people from judgment.

But we might ask How does Moses’ word have any power? God says that he has pardoned the people according to Moses’ word. Does Moses have authority over the LORD? How is this possible? This is the difficulty that open theists relish in.  Let me propose that to understand this passage we need to consider Moses’ relation to our ultimate intercessor Jesus Christ.

Though Moses’ work had a unique, historical significance, he ultimately points us to the work of Christ. Just as Moses led God’s people out of slavery from Egypt and then on a path through the wilderness to inhabit the promised land, Jesus Christ has led his people out of the slavery of sin, through the wilderness of our struggles in this world toward our ultimate rest in the new heavens and new earth.

1 Timothy 2:5 is very clear that there is one mediator between God and man and that is Jesus Christ. But insofar as Moses was a true mediator, his mediation was founded upon the true mediation of Jesus Christ. Moses was a mediator because Christ would be the mediator. So how does the LORD pardon his people according to Moses’ word? It’s because Moses was a priest who through God’s power spoke and mediated in the power of the coming Messiah.

In a somewhat Klinian sense, Moses’ office is sacramental of Christ’s office as our great high priest.  Moses’ words and actions have authority insofar as they are congruent with and anticipate the words and actions of Jesus Christ.  I’m inclined to think that this line of thinking could be developed toward a better understanding of the authority of the church’s ordained officers and particularly, the authority of the preached word.  Granted, we no longer have [earthly] priests who intercede for us, but I do believe we could learn a lesson on the source of ministerial authority from Numbers 14.

Toward an Understanding of Leviticus

July 15th, 2009 by Camden Bucey
Toward an Understanding of Leviticus

Reading the book of Leviticus can be a daunting task. We read of clean and unclean animals and all sorts of purity laws that can quickly put you to sleep.  Furthermore, much of Leviticus can seem opaque, confusing and simply not applicable to present believers.  When we approach the book of Leviticus we need to notice a few factors.

Much of the clean/unclean and holy/unholy aspects in Leviticus can be viewed in order and spatial categories. For instance, abnormalities are generally viewed as unclean. Any natural defects or things out of the ordinary were considered unclean.  For instance, animals were typically unclean for not being consistent or orderly.  Consider that Israelites could not eat monkeys because they walked on their hands and feet (Waltke, 467).  We can extend this idiom to other areas of attention in Leviticus.  Certainly diseases are unclean for health reasons, but there is an added dimension regarding leprosy and other skin diseases. These types of diseases caused the skin to turn different colors – a visual indication of abnormality.  Any spots that came up would have to be inspected.  Once declared unclean, a person was not clean again until the spot went away and the subject became normal or orderly again.

This same principle sheds light on the laws against mixing different types of fabric, mating different kinds of species [read: non-human] or planting with various types of seeds (cf Lev. 19:19).  Mixing fabric or seeds is not an inherently unholy activity.  The idea was to embed an illustration of purity within the everyday life of an Israelite.  Just as the Israelites were set apart as a holy people to remain distinct from the world, they were to keep the holy and unholy – the clean and unclean – distinct and separate.  We can see how right order is the general principle since deviations were unclean or unholy.  In his commentary, R. Laird Harris quotes Mary Douglas “holiness requires that different classes of things shall not be confused… all the rules of sexual morality exemplify the holy. Incest and adultery are against holiness, in the simple sense of right order.” (Harris, 527)

The “right order” dimension certainly starts to remove the veil from much of Leviticus for the contemporary reader, but there is another dimension.  We must consider a spatial dimension in terms of who or what is closest to God.  This spatial aspect is demonstrated in the levels of access within the tabernacle and temple. The Holy of Holies was most closely identified with God’s presence. Certainly God is omnipresent, but there is a special presence, a special holiness to the innermost part of the temple. We may then proceed out into lesser and lesser degrees of holiness. We move to the inner court, then to the outer court – then even to the city of Jerusalem. Finally we move to outside the city.  This was the worst place to be for it was the farthest from God.

This spatial dimension can also be applied to people.  We begin with the priests, then the ceremonially clean Jews (particularly men). Further down the chain are the ceremonially clean women, then Gentiles and the ceremonially unclean.  Each class had varying degrees of access to God and consequently possessed varying levels of holiness.  The spatial dimension encompasses much of what is not covered under the heading of orderliness.

Keeping in mind these two categories can certainly help today’s reader appreciate much more of Leviticus.  Once these basic ideas are grasped, the typological and redemptive dimensions of the book begin to open up.  The inclusion of the Gentiles, the sacrifice of the Messiah, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and many other themes are seen with greater appreciation.

Works Cited

Harris, R. Laird and Frank J. Gaebelein, ed. The Expositor’s Bible commentary Volume 2, Genesis-Numbers. The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, vol. 2. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Pub. House, 1976. 

Waltke, Bruce. An Old Testament Theology: An Exegetical, Canonical, and Thematic Approach. 1st ed. Grand Rapids Mich.: Zondervan, 2007. 

The Theocratic Sanctions in Redemptive History

March 3rd, 2009 by Nicholas T. Batzig

Identifying the precise role of the particular aspects of theocratric Israel’s legal system is difficult in any given theological system, but particularly in Covenant Theology (a system that stresses the radical unity of the Old and New Testaments). While this is the case, the difficulty does not hinder the appropriateness of the system, if the type/anti-type model is applied to the theocratic structure of the relation of the Old Covenant to the New. Geerhardus Vos, in his usual skillful manner, explained the importance of this type/anti-type principle in “The Mosaic Theocracy,” chapter 11 of The Eschatology of the Old Testament. There Vos noted:

The eschatological idea influencing the constitution of the theocracy becomes dependent on the interaction of the type and the antitype. The future state imposes its own stamp on the theocracy, an actual institution of Israel. The theocratic structure projects its own character into the picture of the future. Heaven reflected itself on Israel and Israel became part of the future. The type inevitably influences the conception of the antitype. The future is depicted in terms drawn from the present, earthly, material reality. There is somewhat of the shadowy, inadequate character of the prefiguration that passes over into the description of what the eschatological will be like when it comes. The antitype impresses its stamp upon the theocratic structure and imparts to it somewhat of its transcendent, absolute character. The theocracy has something ideal or unattainable about it. Its plan, as conceived by the law, hovers over the actual life of Israel. The theocracy in the idea transcends its embodiment in experience.1

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A Biblical Theology of the Trees of the Garden (Part 1)

February 6th, 2009 by Nicholas T. Batzig

There has been no shortage of writing on the nature of the two trees in the center of the Garden of Eden. From the earliest time in New Testament church history, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and the Tree of Life have been understood to be fundamental elements of human history. While there is no shortage of writing about these trees there is, nevertheless, much disagreement as to their precise purpose in Paradise. There is, perhaps, no more helpful treatment on the trees of the Garden than that found in Geerhardus Vos’ Biblical Theology. Read the rest of this entry »

Mountains in Redemptive-History

February 4th, 2009 by Camden Bucey
Mountains in Redemptive-History

Mountains signify many different things throughout Scripture and are an integral part of a robust understanding of God’s revelation. God has chosen to use mountains as a significant part of his relationship with creation and mountains seem to be present in the narrative of the most striking encounters between God and men. Mountains are often connected to the city of Jerusalem and with Israel’s return from Babylonian captivity (Is 56:7; 65:25; Ezek 20:40; Dan 9:16, 20; 11:45; Zeph 3:11, Zech 8:3) (Alexander, et al. 2000, 673) Mountains are also woven into the fabric of Jesus’ ministry as he often taught and prayed on mountains (Mt 21:1; 28:16; Mk 11:1; Jn 6:3, 15). Read the rest of this entry »