Kudurru

The above photo is of a kudurru.  A kudurru is an ancient boundary stone used in Babylonia from the 16th to 12th century B.C.  This time period covers roughly the time period from the time the Israelites were in captivity in Egypt until just before the time of David.  

For our purposes, kudurru are important because they provide most of the evidence we have for the royal grant covenant.  The kudurru serve as a record of a land grant from the suzerain to his loyal vassal.   Two copies of the kudurru were made, with one placed in a temple and the other set up on the land as a boundary marker confirming legal ownership and detailing the boundaries of the land grant. Typically images of the gods who protect the covenant were inscribed on the kudurru along with a list of divine curses for anyone who broke the contract.  The kudurru of Abba-El to his servant contains an inscription that states, "may I (Abba-El) be cursed if I take back what I gave you.'

The kudurru above dates from the 12th century B.C. and records land granted from Governor Eanna-shum-iddina to his servant Gula-eres. The text at the bottom contains the names of 9 Babylonian gods who will curse any person who removes, ignores, or destroys the kudurru.  Since few people living in the ancient near east would have been literate, the top of the kudurru graphically illustrates the gods who protect the royal grant.  For example the crescent represents the moon god Sin, the 8 pointed star represents Ishtar, and the rayed disk represents the sun god Shamash.  

The Old Testament scholar, Moshe Weinfield, has done a lot of research on kudurru and shown a relationship between the royal grant arrangements detailed by the kudurru and the Abrahamic covenant.  

His conclusion is that the Abrahamic covenant differs substantially from the suzerain-vassal covenant since the Abrahamic covenant contains all the characteristic of a royal grant covenant.   According to Romans 5 and Galatians 3, Paul agrees with Weinfield that there is a difference between suzerain-covenants like the one God made with the Israelites at Sinai and royal grant covenants such as the one God made with Abraham.  

An Everlasting Covenant

In our study of the covenants, we discussed two types of covenants: the suzerain-vassal covenant and the royal grant covenant. A suzerain-vassal covenant is a covenant typically initiated by the suzerain but containing stipulations for the vassal.  The successful performance of the stipulations by the vassal results in blessing by the suzerain.   Violation of the covenant stipulation results in the curses of the covenant being enacted.   Under the suzerain-vassal covenant, the blessings and curses are dependent on the performance of the vassal and so we may term this a works based arrangement.

A royal grant covenant occurs when the suzerain grants land or possessions to a loyal servant.  In contrast to the suzerain-vassal covenant, the royal grant places no specific conditions on the vassal.  Instead, the suzerain accepts the responsibility of ensuring the grant to the servant is protected.  The grants were protected in some cases by divine curses for the person who would try to steal the grant.  In other cases, the suzerain himself would take the curses on himself if he did not guarantee the grant.  One other feature of the royal grant is that the grant was given to the future descendants of the vassal as a perpetual inheritance.  Since the royal grant is unconditional we can term this a grace based arrangement.

Interestingly, the Old Testament on several occasion uses the term everlasting to describe a covenant (berit olam in Hebrew).  Two times everlasting covenant is used to describe the covenant with Noah (Genesis 9:16. Isaiah 24:5), four times of the covenant of Abraham (Genesis 17:7, 19, Psalms 105:10, I Chronicles 16:17), twice of the covenant of David (2 Samuel 23:5, 2 Chronicles 13:5), and six times of the new covenant (Isaiah 55:3, 61:8, Jeremiah 32:40, 50:5, Ezekiel 16:60, 37:26).  The Noahic, Abrahamic, Davidic, and new covenant all fit best in the category of royal grant covenant.

The Noahic covenant is established by God shortly after the resolution of the flood.  In Genesis 9:9, God promises to never destroy the earth with a flood again.  This covenant is given by God to Noah, his sons, and to all the animals.  Noah, his sons, and the animals all benefit from God's promise.  There is no obligation on their part to earn the blessings of this covenant.

The Abrahamic covenant is described in Genesis 12.  Under the terms of the Abrahamic covenant, Abraham is granted descendants, land, and a promise of blessing by God.  The grant by God to Abraham is no where said to be based on the performance of certain duties by Abraham.

In 2 Samuel 7, the Davidic covenant is announced in response to David's desire to build a house for God.  God denies David the opportunity to build a house for God, but instead promises to make a house for David.  The house God intends to make for David is a royal dynasty from David's descendants.  God promises to establish the throne of the house of David forever.  Neither David nor his descendants is bound by any stipulations in order receive the promised eternal dynasty.

The new covenant is described in Isaiah 54, Jeremiah 31, and Ezekiel 36.  Often this covenant is described in contrast to the covenant at Sinai.  Where the Sinaiatic covenant required obedience, the new covenant promises that the law of God will be written on the heart to ensure obedience.  The sins of the members of the new covenant will be forgiven.  All of the duties described in the new covenant are duties required of God.

The Mosaic covenant is never described as an eternal covenant.  Retention of the land of Canaan results from the successful performance of the Mosaic law by the Israelites,  Since the Mosaic covenant is a works based covenant, it cannot be described as a royal grant covenant but is better classified as a suzerain-vassal covenant.  

Under the terms of a suzerain-vassal covenant, the responsibility lies with the vassal.  This responsibility of the vassal is symbolized when the vassal takes an oath and subjects himself to divine retribution if he fails to uphold the covenant stipulations. The children of Israel take the oath of the Mosaic covenant.   By contrast, the suzerain is the one who upholds the royal grant covenant and it is the suzerain who takes the oath.  In Genesis 15, God Himself takes the oath of the Abrahamic covenant by passing between the severed corpses of the various animals.  This ceremony dramatically illustrated to Abraham that God himself would be under a curse if God did not fulfill his duty to bless Abraham.

Ultimately, the strength of a covenant depends on the character of the person who guarantees its fulfillment.  A vassal who cannot fulfill his obligations will break the covenant and suffer its sanctions.  Likewise a suzerain who cannot grant the promised possessions to his vassal will make a royal grant covenant meaningless.

Since the vassal in the Mosaic covenant is responsible for upholding the covenant, the Mosaic covenant cannot be termed an everlasting covenant.  The Israelites would time and time again demonstrate their inability to uphold the Mosaic law and ultimately would suffer the covenant sanction of exile from the land.   However, since God is the one who upholds the royal grant covenant, the Noahic, Davidic, and new covenant can all be properly termed everlasting covenants.  

So all the royal grant covenants in the Old Testament can be considered everlasting covenants whereas the suzerain-vassal covenants cannot make that claim.  The key difference is not just the type of covenant.  A royal grant covenant issued by an untrustworthy suzerain will fail to be everlasting.

The difference also lies in the character of the one who swears the oath.  Under a suzerain-vassal arrangement the vassal swears the oath.  In the case of the Mosaic covenant, the character of man is flawed and the covenant can only be broken.  However, because God is the guaranteer of the royal grant, its permanent nature can be assured because of the flawless character of God.  This aspect of God's character, that He upholds the terms of His covenants, is called hesed in Hebrew and will likely be the subject of a future blog post.

The Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III

Shalmaneser III was the King of Assyria from 859 - 824 B.C.  He would have ruled about the same time as when Elisha was prophet.  Shalmaneser III led a campaign from modern day Northern Iraq into Southeastern Turkey.  The black obelisk pictured above was built to commemorate that campaign.  The text of the obelisk reads as follows:

In the seventh year of my reign I marched against the cities of Khabini of Til-Abni.  Til-Abni, his stronghold, together with the cities round about it, I captured.  I marched to the source of the Tigris, the place where the water comes forth.  I cleansed the weapon of Assur therein; I took victims for my gods.  I held a joyful feast.  A mighty image of my majesty I fashioned; the glory of Assur, my lord, my deeds of valor, all I had accomplished in the lands, I inscribed thereon and I set it up there.

Shalmaneser III is the conquerer and when he conquers the land he sets up an image of himself as a marker of the glory of his god Assur.  Assur was the chief deity of the Assyrians.  Shalmaneser III as the representative of Assur builds an image of himself in order to claim the territory as belonging to Assur.  This is the ancient near eastern conception of the image of god.

In Genesis, man in created as God's image and given the task of subduing and having dominion over the earth.  As man accomplished this task, God's glory would spread throughout the earth in the same way that Assur's glory would as the image of Shalmaneser III "the glory of Assur" was set up in the newly conquered territory.

The text also states Shalmaneser III cleansed his weapon.  The cleansing of the weapon is a motif that goes back to the time of Sargon the Great way back in the 23rd century B.C.  Sargon the Great was also from modern day Northern Iraq and created the first empire by conquering all the territory to the south along the Tigris and Euphrates river.  When Sargon reached the Persian gulf, he cleansed his weapon in the water symbolized his conquest had come to in.  Similarly, the rest talked about in Genesis refers to the cessation of conflict and the beginning of the rule of the king over the conquered land.

So in the text, Shalmanesser III conquers his enemies, enters his rest, and the sets up his image to mark his rule.  In Genesis 1 we find that God does something similar.   God creates the universe, enters His Sabbath, and sets up His image by creating man.

There are some differences mostly as a result that the Genesis 1 account of creation seems to purposely challenge other Ancient Near Eastern creation accounts.  God's creation does result from battle as is common with most ancient creation stories.  Instead God effortlessly creates the universe merely by speaking it into existence.   God is pictured, not as a warrior, but as a craftsman.  As a result, God has no weapons to cleanse.  The image of God is also not limited to the king, but is extended to Adam and all Adam's descendants.

Small Group Schedule

Here is the schedule for the Beckett's Ridge small group for the next few weeks:

October 21:      No small group, Grace Hill Church will be meeting as a whole on Wednesday
October 24 to hear our own Chris Lundberg speak about sharing our faith.

October 28:      No small group, but there may be a social event.  Stay turned for more details.

November 4:    The Days of Creation: Literal, Figurative, or Something Else

November 11:   Genesis 2:4-25:  The Creation of Man and the Adamic Covenant

November 18:   Genesis 3:  The Fall of Man and the Gospel

Prayer Requests Week 4

1.  Beth's sister-in-law's cancer has returned.  This is particularly devastating because she had been cancer free until 3 months ago and the cancer is now in her lungs, liver, and colon.

2.  Gabe has a ophthalmology appointment on October 15th.

3.  Miles has an appointment with the UNC Feeding Team on October 17th.

Week 4: The Creation of the Heavens & Earth

Genesis 1:1-2:3

Q.  What strikes you most about this passage?

Q.  What does verse 1 refer to when it says God created the heavens and the earth?

Q.  If  the heavens and the earth refer only to sky and the ground, what does this leave out?

-  The angels and heaven.  The problem is Hebrew uses the same word for the sky as it does for God’s heaven.  

-  The heaven and earth is a comprehensive statement that God created everything.  

Q.  How do we know that the heaven in verse 1 does not refer to the sky?

-  The sky is not created until day 2 in verse 8  

-  However, the statement still could be taken as a summary statement of what God does on day 1-6. The verb create is in the perfect tense and then the following story is in something called the vav consecutive.  Typically a verb in the perfect tense before a vav consecutive refers to background information before the story gets under way.

-  We know that this passage refers to God’s heaven and earth because of other passages in the Bible:

1.  Colossians 1:16  Here Paul makes a direct reference to Genesis 1:1 making the argument that Christ as the image of God was also involved in the creation of the world.    Paul goes on to say in the parallel line that the heaven and earth correspond to all things visible and invisible.  He reverse the order which is actually a rhetorical way to strengthen the connection.  A B B A.  He goes on to mention thrones, dominions, rulers, and authorities which were all ancient Jewish terms for angels.  Here he is establishing that Christ is greater than the angels.  

2.  Psalms 115:16  Once again we see this two part division of creation into the invisible heaven which belongs to God and the visible earth where man lives.  This is also a comment on Genesis 1:1 because Genesis 1:1 is quoted in the previous verse.  

3.  Nehemiah 9:6  Nehemiah also quotes 1:1 and distinguishes between the heaven of heavens and all their hosts with the earth.  

-  The Bible does not view God’s heaven as a place that could be reached by getting in a spaceship.  Heaven is an invisible dimension coexistent with our own.  At times people are given supernatural senses to reveal this world to them.  

Q.  Can you think of examples where this happens?

1.  Genesis 28:16,17

2.  2 Kings 6:17

Q.  What does creating everything tell us about God?

-  This shows that God creates everything out of nothing including angels and heavens.  There is nothing that preexisted God and nothing that is outside His control.  This is very different from other ancient cosmogonies.  In the Enuma Elish, the Babylonian creation epic, Marduk, the creator god, first has to defeat Tiamat, a sea monster representing chaos, and then tears her body in two creating the sky and the land and forming man from the drops of her blood.  Here chaos exists before creation and in the ancient mind there was always the fear that the chaos would reassert itself.  

Q.  How does the Genesis account differ in its view of chaos?

-  Chaos comes after creation and is created by God and God effortlessly addresses it without any sort of battle or struggle.

Q.  There are two problems with creation what are they?

-  The earth is void and without form.  In Hebrew the words for void and without form are tohu and bohu.  

Deuteronomy 34:10  Here tohu is called a waste, wilderness, a desert.  

bohu is a much more rare word but means emptiness.  So the earth before creation is flat and featureless like a desert and empty.

God addresses the problem of tohu v’bohu in the creation days.  

Q.  Does God speak?  

-  God does not speak like we would know speech.  The language is a metaphor.  The image it is meant to evoke is the king issuing decrees.  The king’s power is such that when he speaks the action is performed.  Think of Pharaoh in the 10 commandments “So shall it be written, so shall it be done.”

-  Here God demonstrates his sovereignty and kingship.

Q.  What similarities or patterns did you note in the creation days?

- We can divide the 6 days of creation into 2 triads.  By doing so we can see some similarities:

         Kingdoms                              Kings

Day 1 Light & Dark     Day 4   Sun, Moon, and Stars

Day 2 Sea & Sky          Day 5 Fish & Birds

Day 3 Dry Land           Day 6 Animals, & Man

-  The first 3 days are the creation of the realms or kingdoms and the second 3 days are the kings.  

-  In verse 1:18 God says the purpose of the moon, the sun, and the star is to rule over the day and night.  

-  In verse 1:22 God commands the birds and the fish to be fruitful and multiply, the same command He gives man when he gives man dominion over the earth.

-  In verse 1:26 Man is created to have dominion over fish, birds, livestock, and over all the earth.  

-  We were told earlier that the earth was tohu v’bohu, formless and empty.  Here God solves the problem by creating the kingdoms to deal with the issue of formlessness and the He fills the kingdoms with their kings to deal with the issue of emptiness.

Q.  What is man given to rule?

-  Man is given the whole earth to rule.

Q.  What do we call this position?

-  Man is God’s vassal

-  That is the reason man is created in the image of God.  God is the Suzerain who rules over all creation.  Man is made in his image and likeness precisely to rule over the earth as God’s vassal.  

-  The Hebrew word for image tsalom is the same as used for an idol.  An idol was a physical representation of a god.  In a similar way, man is a physical representation of God’s rule and authority.

-  The Ancient Near East, kings would erect statues of themselves throughout their empire signifying the reach of their rule.  

-  Man as God’s vassal is commanded to subdue and fill the earth and have dominion over it.  Man is to complete the work of God as His obedient vassal.  

-  Man is to imitate God.  Just as God took the formlessness and emptiness of creation and created His kingdom.  Man, as God’s representative is to fill the earth and to subdue it.  

-  On the seventh day God rests.  God’s rest is not a rest of exhaustion or inactivity.  In the ancient cosmogonies, when the god defeated his opponents, he rested.  In the Enuma Elish after Marduk defeats Tiamat and her husband Kingu he builds a temple.  The god is resting from the struggle with his enemies.  For the ancients rest takes place when a king ascends his throne in order to begin his rule.  

-  God’s rest is a picture of God’s enthronement

Q.  We talked about the similarities between the true God’s rest and the ancient gods, what is the difference?

-  God never has to fight His enemies, there are no enemies for Him to defeat.  While creation is a result of the ancient gods victory over chaos, God simply commands order to come into existence.  

-  This is actually a good place to begin because this will help us with our discussion next week about the creation days.   

Week 3

Small Group Week 3

- We have been looking at the Kingdom as the central theme of the Bible and we looked at objections to this being the theme.  It seemed too broad and did not include things like Jesus, grace, and faith.

-  We saw that those ideas can be found in the concept of Kingdom if we view kingdoms like they did in the ancient near east. 

Q.  What was the key to understanding how ancient kingdoms worked?

-  They worked on 3 levels with a suzerain, a vassal, and subjects. By fulfilling the stipulations of the suzerain, the vassal earned the blessings for the subjects.

-  So the vassal earned the blessings but the subjects received it by grace.  

-  Nimrud, the simple date farmer, would receive blessings or curses of the covenant depending on how well his king kept the stipulations from the suzerain.  

-  This arrangement was formed by something known as a covenant.  We looked at an ancient Hititite covenant between Mursilli II the King of the Hittites and Dupa-Tessup the king of Amarru.  If Dupa-Tessup gave Mursilli II 300 shekels of gold each year and was loyal to Mursilli II and not to the Egyptians, then Dupa-Tessup would earn Mursilli II protection.  If not the gods were called upon to curse the Amorrites and destroy his family, his land, and his people. 

-  A covenant is an commitment divinely sanctioned.  It is not a simple contract, it is part of the divine realm.  The covenant was not enforced by some international law court like the UN, but by the gods.  

-  There are two types of covenant arrangements:

1.  Suzerain - Vassal:   The vassal must perform the duties required by the suzerain.  If the vassal fails to do so then he suffers the curse.  

2.  Royal Grant:  The suzerain promises a reward to the vassal.  There are no stipulations of the part of the vassal, it is a promise on the part of the suzerain.  

Q.  What happens if the suzerain fails to perform his responsibility?

-  The covenant is divinely sanctioned and so the suzerain would suffer the curses of the gods. 

-  The question is how do we decide when a covenant is a suzerain-vassal covenant and obligatory on the part of the vassal or a royal grant and thus obligatory on the part of the suzerain

-  With a suzerain-vassal covenant the vassal takes the oath and agrees to the sanctions of the gods.

-  WIth a royal grant covenant the suzerain takes the oath and agrees to take the sanctions of the gods.

Q. What are some examples of covenants in the Bible and how do we classify them?

1.  Abraham - God promises to give Abraham land and seed.  Genesis 15

2.  Mosaic -  The people of Israel take an oath to keep the law.  Exodus 19:8

Galatians 3:10 - 18

Q.  What two principles are contrasted in verses 10 - 12 

-  The law and faith.

Read Galatians 3:13-18

Q.  What words are concepts are associated with the law? with faith?

-  The law is a curse, it is based on the principle “do this and live”.

-  Faith is righteousness, blessing, promise

Q.  What historical period is the law associated with?

-  430 years after the law, which is the time of the Exodus.

Q.  What historical period is faith associated with?

 -  The time of Abraham.

-  So in Galatians Paul sees two time periods: the period of promise that is associated with Abraham and the period the law which is after the Exodus.  

Romans 5:12-14

Q.  What are the three time periods mentioned in this passage?

-  Adam, Adam to Moses, and after Moses

Q.  Paul draws a parallel between two of these time periods, which two time periods are parallel?-  Adam and Moses

Q.  What does it mean that Adam and Moses both committed transgression?  How is that different from the sinning that the passage said happened from Adam to Moses?  

-  Adam and Moses were both under a works arrangement covenant and their transgression was not just sin it was a breaking of the covenant with God.  Adam’s sin brought death to his posteriority - the people from Adam to Moses.  

- So according to Paul, we can divide the Old Testament into three epochs.  The time of Adam, from Adam after the fall to Moses, and from Moses to Jesus.  These epochs are associated with different operating principles.  In Eden before the fall it was the works principle, from Adam to Moses it was the principle of faith, and from Moses to Jesus it was works again.  In some ways Israel can be viewed as another garden of Eden and a corporate Adam.  

- After Christ we know the faith principle returns.  However, in the last day Revelation tells us the Kingdom of God will return in power and judgment will come and separate the wheat from the chaff and the sheep from the goats.  This is a restoration of the works principle.  Christians though will be reckoned as righteous because they have identified with their vassal, Christ.  

So we have 5 epochs of redemptive history:

1.  Kingdom Offered

2.  Kingdom Promised

3.  Kingdom Prefigured

4.  Kingdom Inaugurated

5.  Kingdom Consummated

- In epochs 1,3,5 the works principle operates.  There is also a visible, tangible kingdom, where there is a defined land and the presence of God is present.  

-  In Epoch 1, the garden of Eden was a tangible kingdom that Adam was to guard and expand throughout the whole earth.  God was present in the garden and would walk in the garden.  Outside of the garden was the place of exile from God’s presence.  

-  In Epoch 3, the Kingdom of Israel was the kingdom.  It was to be a kingdom of priests where its inhabitants walked in the precepts of God.  There was a clear boundary between the land of Israel and the rest of the world.  This was symbolized by circumcision and the food laws.  God’s presence was visible in the tabernacle and later the temple.  Outside of Israel was the place of exile. 

-  In Epoch 5, the Kingdom will be the new heavens and new earth.  God’s presence will be visible throughout the Kingdom, in fact it will not need a sun or a moon because the glory of God will give it light.  Outside of the kingdom lies the lake of fire which is the second death.  

-  Epochs 2 & 4 operate differently.  There is no visible kingdom and no so distinction between clean and unclean.  The wheat and the tares grow together.  Those in this epoch are awaiting and journeying to the Kingdom of God.  They are pilgrims in a land not their own.  

Week 3 Homework

1.  Read Genesis 1:1 - 2:3

-  I think part of the point of this passage is to inspire awe in God and his creation.  What are you struck by or find really fascinating in this passage?  We will start our discussion next week by asking this question.  

-  Do you notice any patterns or similarities between the days of creation? 

Week 3 Prayer Request

1.  Gabe's eye appointment.

2.  Gary's family in the wake of his uncle's death.

3.  The Merrill's friend's daughter Adrian with the neurodegenerative disorder.

4.  Young Life's fall retreat 

Ghengis Khan Quote

Here is the Ghengis Kahn quote I referenced in small group today.  The quote gives a good idea of the ancient mentality of divine retribution.  It also would look great cross stitched and framed in my dining room.  

Your Faith Has Made You Well

During Jesus' ministry, he heals a number of people of various diseases.  The gospel writers present Jesus healings as the fulfillment of prophecy that will occur along with the restoration of Israel and the coming of the new heaven and new earth.  Most of these prophecies are found in the book of Isaiah where the prophet Isaiah predicts a future for Israel free of strife with agricultural abundance and an acknowledgement from all the nations of God and His laws.  For the gospel writers, these healings are proof that Isaiah's vision is coming to pass as God restores His kingdom and brings Israel out of exile in new, more spectacular exodus.

In response to John the Baptist's question if Jesus was the one who was to come, Luke says in 7:21-23, "In that hour, he (Jesus) healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind, he bestowed sight.  And he answered them, 'Go and tell John what you have seen and heard; the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them.  And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.'"

Here Jesus is quoting Isaiah 29, a passage that describes Israel personified as a besieged city.  The city is suddenly relieved by the Lord and the armies opposing it are defeated.  God promises to do wonderful things despite the fact that the hearts of His people are far from Him.  Among these wonders are the healing of physical ailments.  In this passage Jesus is confirming to John the Baptist the glorious vision of Isaiah's new Exodus has begun.

However, Jesus' healings are but a foretaste of the more spectacular reality of the new heavens and new earth.  The people he healed will eventually be afflicted with other ailments.  One days Lazarus will die again.  They are signs that in some ways the new kingdom has come but it is not here its full reality yet.  That must wait for the second coming.   Nevertheless, they do point to the coming reality that Isaiah describes in the last 15 chapters of his book.

We can apply our suzerain-vassal model to Jesus' healings.  As the obedient vassal, Jesus will earn the blessings of the Suzerain.  Among those blessings are fully restored bodies and the new reality that John described in Revelation in which every tear will be wiped away, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.

As subjects of the obedient Vassal we too will receive this blessing.  We become subjects of the Vassal by professing our loyalty to Jesus as the Vassal who will earn these blessings.  This abandoning of our own efforts and acknowledging of the Lordship of Christ as our vassal is what is contained in the concept of faith. That is why Jesus tells those He has healed "your faith has made you well."  Jesus heals only those who place their faith in Him, demonstrating they are the subjects of the Vassal and thus inheriting the blessings of the Suzerain.

Repentance and Faith

I mentioned in small group that one of the things that I really like about viewing faith and grace using the covenant structure we looked at last Sunday, is that it make grace and faith more concrete ideas.  Faith and grace have become theologically charged words that have become so abstracted that they have almost lost their meaning.  This is a problem because it makes it difficult for us to wrap our heads around these important concepts.

We have faith in Christ as the obedient Vassal and because Christ is obedient he merits the blessings of the Suzerain.  As the subjects of the Vassal, we receive the blessings of the Suzerain despite the fact that we have done nothing ourselves to earn the blessings.  Here faith and grace are not mere theological buzzwords.

One of the points I have been making is that God communicates His plan in the form of a story that takes place in history for a good reason.  God could have communicated to us in the form of a systematic theology and precisely defined faith and grace for us.  However, the terms become alive and real when we see them played out in history.

N.T. Wright made an interesting observation from one of the works of Josephus about the words repentance and faith that I find helpful in making those concepts more concrete.  Josephus was a Jew who lived in the first century A.D. and was born around the time of Paul's conversion.  In 66 B.C. he was in Galilee when a zealous Jewish revolutionary tried to assassinate him.  Josephus managed to evade the attempt on his life and subdue his assassin and then taking the man aside he says:

     that I was not ignorant of the plot which he had contrived against me... I would,
     nevertheless forgive his actions if he would show repentance and have
     faith in me.

The words Josephus uses for repentance and faith in the above quote are the same words that the Gospels use for repentance and faith.  As Josephus is writing at almost the same time as the Gospels were written, we can be reasonable sure that this tells us what the words meant at that time.

For Josephus, repentance means that the man should give up his ideas of revolutions.  Instead Josephus wants the revolutionary to have faith in his own ideas and show loyalty to him as a leader.  In the same way Jesus asks us to abandon our own agenda and our ideas.  Jesus wants us to see Him as a leader and to show loyalty to Him.

Applying this to the suzerain-vassal relationship, we should abandon our own ideas of how to please the Suzerain.  We should also abandon our loyalty to other vassals who cannot possibly earn the blessings of the Suzerain.  Instead we should have faith that Jesus' agenda is the correct one and that He can satisfy the demands of the Suzerain.