the prophets on YouTube

These are brief overviews of some of the prophets by Dr James C. Howell. They are all insightful and pastoral. He raises great questions.

Listen to him talk about how the story of Jonah might not be true. Hmmm? Interesting :)

Micah.

Isaiah.

Hosea.

Amos.

Jeremiah.

THE KiNGDOM OF GOD

I love tracing the kingdom of God through the OT with my Redemptive History students [10th grade]. Some of them totally get it and others just write stuff down to pass the next test. We've talked about how important this idea of the kingdom is to the God's story and the storyline of the Bible.

In creation, man is described in kingly terms; creation is about the kingdom [Gn 1.26-31].

When the people sing and dance after being freed from the clutches of Pharoah, the last line of their song is about YHWH as the King of the kingdom [Ex 15.18].

The covenant YHWH makes with them at Sinai is about them becoming a kingdom of priests [Ex 19.4-6].

When they finally get into the land and struggle through 200 years of deliverers [the book of Judges], the last verse in Judges is about them lacking a king and how problematic this is for them as YHWH''s people [Jdgs 21.25].

The people then beg Samuel for a king so they can be like the other nations. YHWH tells Samuel that this is because they have rejected Him as king and have lost their vision of His call to them to be a kingdom of priests [1 Sam 8.4-7].

YHWH then initiates an unconditional covenant with David in which He promises David that one of his great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandkids will be YHWH's king over His kingdom forever [2 Sam 7.8-16].

David finds these promises so sweet and good that he won't shut up about it. He wrote scores of songs rejoicing that God is King and will prove it one day in a HUGE, covenantal way! Some of these are: Ps 24.7-10, 47.5-9, 93.1-2, 95.1-5, 97.1, 99.1, 100.4, 103.19-22, 145.8-13, 149.1-14, and others.

After the kingdom split, the prophets continued to declare that God's kingship was coming in the same way David sang about. However, for those who were rebellious and did not delight in YHWH as king, His kingly coming would be judgment for them. Some of these prophetic texts are: Is 6.1-3, Is 9.6-7, Is 44.6-8, Is 52.7, Jer 23.5-6, Ezk 1-2 [the throne imagry], Ezk 34.23-24, Dan 4.34-35, Dan 7.9-22, Obad 1.21, Zeph 3.14-17, Zech 14.9-21, and others. And, like Jesus said, all the prophets prophesied until John [Mt 11.13].

But then.

He arrives.

YHWH's King. David's Son. Isaiah's Servant-King. Ezekiel's Shepherd-King.

In the NT, the first thing we have recorded from the mouth of John the Baptist and from the lips of our Lord is shattering: "Repent! The kingdom is at hand!" [Mt 3.2, Mt 4.17]

This changes everything. Roman oppression will die. YHWH's people will finally be a kingdom of priests. All covenants will be totally fulfilled. All wrongs will be righted. Justice will finally be served!

But it didn't happen exactly like they thought.

However, there is still hope [this is where it clicked for a lot of my students]. We went to Gen 1-2 and saw that in creation, the kingdom is seen in its perfection - man reigning with God, like God and for God over His created order. Then, we flipped to the end of the story in Rev 21-22. Can we see anything in the New Creation that was similair to the creation in Gen 1-2? Yes. We see man reigning and ruling with God, like God, and for God over the new heavens and the new earth.

If we know that this snapshot will be the fruit of God's gracious promises in Jesus, we must have humility and confidence to live as His kings and priests right now. This hope is the lens through which we must view the word of God and the world around us, serving the King of all kings.

liturgical hope

It was quite lovely reading through Malachi in my Jewish Study Bible this morning. The footnotes are always intriguing and generally give fun insight or some sort of historical/critical commentary.

The last chapter of Malachi [two chs in most translations] tells of YHWH's people being His treasured possession [3.17], "the sun of righteousness" rising with healing in its wings [3.20 or 4.2], and "Elijah" preparing the way [3.23 or 4.5]. These texts are richly Messianic. We can see this in Mt 11.7-15, Lk 1.76-78, and elsewhere. Despite these texts being promised-filled, the book ends on a somber note of destruction [3.24 or 4.6].

However, when this passage is read in traditional Jewish liturgy, 3.23 is repeated after 3.24. This is done so that the public reading of the text would end with hope as the horizon rather than despair as the last stanza.

Moreover, this is precisely how the last verses of Lamentations [5.21-22] and Isaiah [66.23-24] are read too. In doing this, the Jewish people know that they have not TRULY returned from exile [Neh 9.36]. They know that this Second Temple cannot fully be what YHWH promised in the Davidic covenant. They are hardwired with hope, but do not believe that this hope has come in Jesus.

But the Messiah is supposed to reign and rule. The Messiah will be the spiritual and political Jewish Superhero. Messiahs don't die naked on a Roman crucifixion stick. 

Or do they?

"the government shall be upon his shoulders"

Tom Wright on Isaiah 9.2-7 on Christmas Eve. Here.

Darrell Bock, Rob Bell, Brian McLaren, I. Howard Marshall, Scot McKnight, and Richard Hays all wrote blurbs for Wright's new book on justification. Here.

the hebrew names in isaiah 9.6

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. John Walton gives a sweet Hebrew breakdown of how to better understand those terms in Isaiah. Here. 

"ON AFFLiCTiON" [puritan excerpts]

Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep Your word. I know, O Lord, that Your judgments are righteous and that in faithfulness You have afflicted me [Psalm 119.67, 75].

• A sanctified person, like a silver bell, the harder he is smitten, the better he sounds [George Swinnock].
• Poverty and affliction take away the fuel that feeds pride [Richard Sibbes].
• We often learn more of God under the rod that strikes us, than under the staff that comforts us [Stephen Charnock].
• When I am in the cellar of affliction, I look for the Lord's choicest wines [Samuel Rutherford].
• It is said that in some countries trees will grow, but will bear no fruit, because there is no winter there [John Bunyan].

O people in Zion, inhabitants in Jerusalem, you will weep no longer. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry; when He hears it, He will answer you. Although the Lord has given you the bread of affliction and the water of oppression, He, your Teacher will no longer hide Himself, but your eyes will behold Your Teacher. Your ears will hear a word behind you saying, "This is the way. Walk in it." [Isaiah 30.19-21]

KNOWiNG GOD & iSAiAH 45.5-6

Isaiah begins with the heavens and the earth testifying to the fact the YHWH's people don't know Him [1.3]. This is not a simple "knowing" as in how you know that 2+2=4. This is an experiential knowing. This the "Adam knew Eve" kind of knowing from Gen 4.1 [KJV, from the Hebrew yada]. This theme of "knowing" can be traced throughout the whole of Isaiah.

When YHWH speaks in Isaiah 45.5-6, there is a beautiful structure that accents the significance of this knowing.

This does not merely show the importance of this intimate kind of knowledge, but this text proves, by its structure, that this knowing is rooted in YHWH's character and exclusivity. 

Many who write theology books begin with proving the existence of God, the authority of the Scriptures, or some other foundational building block. But our good, dead buddy John Calvin began his theological opus ["The Institutes of Christian Religion"] with a chapter on knowing God. I think there is a beautiful distinction there. He began with relationship.

John Frame and Esther Meek would agree with him. Calvin said, "They that know God and know themselves cannot be proud." May it be so with us also as we pursue the kind of knowing that Israel seemed to so often lack.

"for My own sake"

"You have not heard. You have not known. Even from long ago your ear has not been open because I knew that you would deal very treacherously and you have been called a rebel from birth. For the sake of My name, I delay My wrath. And for My praise, I restrain it from you in order not to cut you off. Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver. I have tested you in the furnace of affliction. For My own sake, for My own sake, I will act. For how can My name be profaned? And My glory I will not give to another" [Is 48.8-11].

But God cannot ignore sin. It spits in the face of His goodness and makes His character as mud caked in shoe tracks. Our pride and rebellion fly in the face of His beauty and holiness. Just as He chose to restrain His wrath under the Old Covenant, He chooses to do so now as well. The reason for His restraint, however, is the same. It is the cross. For everyone who is believing, Jesus bore the wrath of God that belonged to them.

"This [the atonement] was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed for the demonstration of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus" [Rom 3.25-26].

And lest we think that we're worth dying for, we must remember - He did this for the sake of His name. How humbling?

You know, if you're a Jew, you don't have exclamation points, bold, caps-lock, or italics. So, when you want to emphasize something, you say it twice. Like "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" in Acts 4.4. Or like Jesus' words from the cross, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" in Mt 27.46. Thus, in Isaiah 48, when YHWH repeats Himself concerning His intentionality in restraining His wrath, it is most assuredly and undeniably for His great name and fame.

MARK and ISAIAH

I was recently challenged to see how Mark's gospel account draws from Isaiah. This is especially true in how Mark portrays Jesus as the YHWH's servant, just like Isaiah does. Also notable is that Mark's gospel opens not with a genealogy, but by quoting Isaiah 40, which is the beginning of new covenant comfort in Isaiah 40-66. Here is a list of Markan texts that I believe have some of their thematic background in Isaiah.

isaiah 9 [my vote for president]

The Apostle John understood that he was wonderful counselor [Jn 14.16, 1 Jn 2.1], mighty God [Jn 1.1-3], everlasting father [Jn 10.30], and prince of peace [Jn 16.33].

These Messianic promises from Isaiah 9 are hugely trinitarian. The Holy Spirit is likewise our counselor and God is our Father. Isaiah said this because he knew that all of God was going to redeem all of his people by giving them all the fullness of himself.

And this child, this kid – the government is going to be on his shoulders. It is a government of peace. It is a government that cannot and will not end. It's not that his government will just not stop, but it will always increase. I'm voting for him. "His truth abideth still. His kingdom is forever."

ROMANS 1 [just thinking?]

How do "power of God" in 1.16, "righteousness of God" in 1.17, and "wrath of God" in 1.18 all relate? All have the same structure in Greek. The gospel is the key here. Power is unto salvation through the gospel. In the the gospel, the righteousness of God is revelaed. So, does wrath come upon those who have no power or righteousness through the gospel? I believe so. Those recipients of the wrath of God in 1.18 have stiff-armed the "truth of God" in 1.18 and 1.25. The immediate need here is righteousnes [or a righteouesness] because the wrath of God comes upon all unrighteousness in 1.18. The gospel grants power unto this end.

Pardon my Pauline keyboard-brainstorming. See the gospel in Isaiah 52.7 and Nahum 1.15.

"shall the potter be considered as equal with the clay?” [isaiah 29.16]

All befuddling and unanswerable questions concerning theology, theodicy, philosophy, psychology, biology, quantum physics and every realm of study must be duly discerned in view of God’s wisdom, His multi-dimensional eternality, His providence, His power, our sin, our finitude, and our limited knowledge on the truth of everything in this list. However, this must not and will not deter us in pursuing His glory in each of these disciplines. If anything, it should cause us to dig deeper, study harder, think broader, and live more humbly.

Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became His counselor? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, be the glory forever. Amen [Ro 11.33-34, 36; 16.27].

iSAiAH 40-66 [perpetual promises]

One can see the substitution of the suffering servant, the freeness of grace in the gospel, and the new heavens and new earth all in Isaiah 40-66. Within these chapters, it is unique to note all the things that are modified with the Hebrew word olam, usually translated “everlasting.” These descriptions show the unending nature of the New Covenant in Jesus.

40.28... everlasting God
45.17... everlasting salvation [also 51.6]
51.8.... everlasting righteousness
51.11... everlasting joy [also 61.7]
54.8.... everlasting lovingkindness
55.3.... everlasting covenant [also 61.8]
55.13... everlasting sign
56.5.... everlasting name [also 63.12]
60.15... everlasting majesty/pride
60.19... everlasting light [also 60.20]