Wednesday, March 27, 2013
No Small Group for March 28
We are scheduled to meet for small group on March 28. However, small group is cancelled because of Easter. I will be out of town celebrating Easter with Tamzen's family. Hope everyone has a joyful celebration of Christ's resurrection. The second Adam, the obedient vassal has fulfilled the stipulations of the covenant and we, His subjects, are now the beneficiaries of the covenant rewards. The seed of the woman has at last crushed the head of the serpent!
Monday, March 18, 2013
Week 11 Homework
For next week read Genesis 6:9-8:22. This is the Noah story. I actually have a difficult time understanding the Noah story and so I am looking forward to the discussion to hear how you understand Noah and the flood.
Sons of God & Daughters of Men Debate
If anyone would like to continue the debate, then this is the place for it. Feel free to post any points you would like to make in the comment section.
I think the main issue that remains unresolved, is how to explain Jude 6 and 1 Corinthians 11:10 if we do not accept a supernatural interpretation of Genesis 6. How can Jude and Paul make the statements in Jude and 1 Corinthians unless they are relying on the tradition that the sons of god are angels who procreated with human women?
I think the main issue that remains unresolved, is how to explain Jude 6 and 1 Corinthians 11:10 if we do not accept a supernatural interpretation of Genesis 6. How can Jude and Paul make the statements in Jude and 1 Corinthians unless they are relying on the tradition that the sons of god are angels who procreated with human women?
Week 11 Prayer Requests
1. Samantha, one of the girls from Kids Night Out, is scheduled for brain surgery Wednesday at Duke.
2. Praise for the Howell's friend Dan, who survived a plane crash.
3. Kristen's co-workers wife was recently diagnosed with thyroid cancer.
4. Karen's brother is going through a divorce.
5. Praise for work of Grace Hill's congregational committee.
6. Ross is looking for elder's to be more actively involved in our provisional session.
7. Active involvement in Grace Hill Church by more people.
8. Meghan's trip to Ukraine.
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Week 11 The Sons of God & Daughters of Men
Small Group Week 12
Three points from last week:
1. Aaron’s point:
- I think Aaron is right to see Cain’s punishment as really bad - even worse than death.
- Cain is told in verse 11 & 12 that “and now you are cursed from the ground...when you work the ground it will no longer yield to your strength. This is much stronger than in Chapter 3 when Adam is told the “ground is cursed and in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field.”
- Adam and Eve are exiled from the garden to the east of Eden. Cain is driven even further away. Adam and Eve have each other and their children, but Cain is a fugitive and wanderer and whoever finds him will try to kill him.
- Nevertheless, God does answer at least part of Cain’s request by offering His protection and giving Cain a sign as assurance.
- The point then is to see that not only is sin become more intense but also the effect of sin is becoming more intense.
2. Mike’s Point
- Chapter 4 and 5 give us two genealogies. One is the genealogy of Cain which contains 10 names and is epitomized by Lamech, the fifth in the line. We are meant to see this line as the seed of the serpent in contrast to the Godly line of Seth which contains 10 names and is epitomized by Enoch, the fifth in the line who walks with God. We are meant to see this line as the seed of the woman.
- Mike said that he found this too nice and neat.
- The key here is to see that this as not history but a story. The author is being selective precisely so we can draw comparisons and to make a point. Matthew does the same thing with the genealogy of Jesus. The genealogy of Matthew contains 6 groups of 7 names and ends with Jesus. The point being that Jesus is the 7th. This would have been significant as Jesus being the 7th seven - the jubilee that leads to freedom. Matthew does this not by giving us an accurate genealogy but by leaving out names. Matthew does this to make a point.
- The author of Genesis is also trying to make a point and that is why it helps if we approach Genesis like a story. We are told in Genesis 3:15 to expect a child of the woman who will crush the serpent. Cain is born in Genesis and we wonder if he is the expected seed. We soon learn that he is not and now that Abel is killed we wonder what will become of this prophecy. The chapter then tells us about Cain’s children and we come to Lamech and we find no hope in the descendants of Cain. We are left wondering where will this deliverer come from. At this point at the end of chapter 4, we are introduced to Seth. Seth’s name means compensation - God has not forgot His promise, He will provide the seed.
- In contrast, to Cain and Lamech, Seth’s family will call upon the name of the Lord. This is not so much a statement of worship but a statement of identity. These people call themselves God’s people.
3. My Mistake
- Last week I said that the two things humanity lost in the fall were status and significance. I meant to say security and significance.
- The key point about the genealogy of Cain is to see that humanity continued to complete the project of being fruitful and multiply and ruling and subduing the earth.
Q. What were some ways they attempted to do this?
- They built a city
- They developed agriculture, tools, and music.
- These are not presented as something illegitimate. None of these are condemned in scripture and in fact their use is part of God’s plan. If Adam had not fallen I have no doubt that the same development would occur.
- However, humanity did this without reference to God and tried to achieve security and significance apart from God.
- These attempts at security and significance will ultimately fail because of the curse. Humanity can never be secure because death will ultimately over take them and childbirth, relationships, and work have all been frustrated. The attempts to make a name for itself will ultimately fail because humanity has been demoted from its vassal status.
- Furthermore all of these attempts will be perverted because of humanity's sinful nature and as we will see, will lead to violence, exploitation, and sexual perversion. Last week we saw this personified in the person of Lamech.
- So Cain’s line far from being some dusty genealogy of the past communicates to us the human condition.
Q. What hope does humanity have in their demoted state and their loss of security and significance?
- Faith in God’s promise of the seed who will at last crush the head of the serpent. This is the faith Eve demonstrates in naming her son Seth, seeing in him the hope God has given in this deliverer.
- So even in the people of the ancient pre-Israelite Old Testament past, we can recognize that we share the same faith and the same hope - faith in a deliverer who will free us from this condition. Hope in a vassal whose obedience will accomplish what Adam could not and so free us from the seed of the serpent.
4. People began calling on the name of the Lord.
- Notice the use of the word name. This community concerned itself not with their own name but rather the name of the Lord.
- The phrase "call on the name of the Lord" probably has something to do with worship but it seems to be more than that.
- Isaiah 44:5, Deuteronomy 28:10
- Call upon the name of the Lord is probably better translated they called themselves after the name of the Lord. The idea is that they identified themselves as belonging to YHWH the same as we call ourselves Christians after the name of Christ.
- The phrase means identification with and by God’s name. They are declaring themselves as belonging to God - they are the people of God. This is the essence of a covenantal relationship. If you remember the constant phrase used throughout the Siniatic covenant is I will be your God and you will be my people.
Q. Chapter 5 is a genealogy of the Godly line of Seth. What similarities do you notice between the line of Cain and the line of Seth?
- Both groups continue to have children and descendants in the same manner. Children are a part of God’s common grace.
- “And he died” is a common refrain repeated throughout both genealogies. Death is part of God’s common curse.
5. Enoch walked with God
- Walked has a judicial connotation. Enoch may have been acting as a prophet warning of God’s judgment.
- This connection to Elijah further strengthens that assertion since both were translated into heaven.
- Hint that death may not be the final word in all cases.
6. Sons of God
Q. What are some explanations you have heard that explain who are the sons of god or the daughters of men?
1. The sons of god are angels who married human women. Their children are giant superhuman hybrids. Their sin is transgressing God’s stated boundaries between the divine and human realm.
2. The sons of god are descendants of the Godly line of Seth who married outside the covenant community. Their sin is intermarriage with the unGodly line of Cain.
- The first view dates from at least the 2nd century B.C., the book of Enoch certainly interprets this passage as referring to angels.
- The first view is difficult because there is no evidence that humans and angels can engage in sexual relations.
- Jesus says that the angels are not given to marriage. It also seems odd that God would punish humanity with the flood for the sin of angelic beings.
- Verse 3 even specifically states that “my spirit will not abide in man forever, for he is flesh.
- The second view is problematic because it makes no sense of why the offspring of Cainite and Sethite marriages would be anything special.
- The terminology makes interpretation difficult. Sons of God is used to refer to angels in some parts of the Old Testament, and humans in others.
- Nephilim is often translated as giants but there is no good reason to do that. The word literally means fallen ones or possibly those who fall (as in cause others to fall). The only other part of scripture where this term occurs is Numbers where giants are mentioned but it seems to refer to the Sons of Anak, not necessarily the nephillim.
- Gibborim is much more certain. The gibborim are warriors, soldiers, or conquerers.
- I think the key to understanding this passage is to view it in the context of the rest of Genesis.
- After the fall, the key theological point is the intensification of the sin. We see sin advancing as an avalanche, leading to the situation in Genesis 6:5 where “the wickedness was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." Even after the flood we see the avalanche of sin is not stopped and instead we have the Babel project.
- So we start with the violence of Cain and his desire to make a name for his descendants by building a city.
- We have his descendent Lamech engaging in violence, bigamy, and declaring himself better than God.
- Now we see the sons of God engaging in the same activity. They engage in polygamy by taking as their wives any they choose. They are violent men who conquered. Gibborim is used in chapter 11 to describe Nimrod who founds Assyria and Babylon, two empires that will engage ceaselessly in conquest.
- Also, remember that I said the word name is important throughout the next few chapters in Genesis and in verse 4 we read that these Nephilim were the mighty men, the men of renown. Literally that phrase men of renown is “men of name”
- I think our best interpretation is to view them as men who are continuing on the same path as Cain and Lamech. They are violent men and conquerers who are interested in building dynasties and making a name for themselves. What was the point of the tower of Babel? Genesis 11:4 says it was to make a name for themselves in order to reach heaven. Once again we see the idea of striving for divinity as well as achieving fame for their name.
- We can think of sons of God as referring to divine kingship which fits well with the text and also fits into the Ancient Near East history. It would make sense that if someone used the phrase son of God that we being referring to individuals such as the pharaoh who claimed to be the son of Ra or the king of Bablylon who was thought of as the Son of Marduk.
- We actually have texts dating from the time of Moses from an ancient Canaanite kingdom called Ugarit that wrote in a language closely related to Hebrew that uses the exact term son of God to refer to their king.
- These sons of God then are conquerers who take what they want by force and power. They build harems for themselves, they claim resources and land as they please, they are violent, and they elevate themselves to the status of God.
- The result of their actions is judgment. God declares that man has 120 years before He will bring judgment.
- As Noah and his family were the only righteous people left, it may be that the oppression of the sons of God was such that the seed of the woman was in danger of extinction. It seems that in the holy war set up in Genesis 3:15, between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent, that the seed of the serpent is winning.
- When we looked at Revelation 12, this is exactly the type of thing that was depicted for us when the Dragon attempts to devour the child of the woman.
- We certainly see this theme repeated in the Old Testament where only a remnant is left but God always intervenes to preserve this remnant.
Q. Can you think of some occasions in the Bible where the people of God were so threatened?
- Egyptian captivity
- 7000 who would not bow down to Ba’al
- Babylonian captivity
- Herod’s massacre of the innocents.
- Peter sees the story of this time period as a paradigm of the final judgment. In 2 Peter 3:6 calls this the world that then was and sees it as parallel to the time before the second coming.
- Only the intervention of the flood can save God’s people just as only the final judgment will save God’s people according to the book of Revelation.
- What is interesting is that again we the same types repeated. In Revelation the Dragon acts through three servants:
1. The Beast of the Sea
2. The Beast of the Land
3. The Whore of Babylon
- The Beast of the Sea makes war on the saints just as Cain’s people do to the point where Noah and his family are the only righteous people left. The Beast of the Sea is a violent conquerer whose imagery is taken from Daniel 7 which describes conquering kingdoms such as Assyria, Babylon, Greece, and Rome. These are kingdoms who elevate themselves above God and rule by violence and oppression exactly as the sons of God described in Genesis 6.
- The Beast of the Land engages in economic exploitation. No one can buy or sell unless he has the number of the beast. Just as these mighty men of old take what land and resources they will by force.
- The Whore of Babylon is described as misleading the kings of the earth with sexual immorality. Here again we see echos of the sons of god taking the daughters of men “any they choose.”
- In the 19th century Nietzche saw humanity as being driven by power, Marx saw the story of humanity as one of economic exploitation, and Freud by sexuality.
- We have an alternative story to offer the world just as Enoch and Noah did. Our answer to the problems of human history, to significance and security is the seed of the woman who accepts the bruising of the serpent but ultimately will crush his head.
Monday, March 11, 2013
Week 11 The History of the World That Then Was
Small Group Week 11 Cain to the Sons of God
- The premise of our series is that Bible is best viewed as a story. That means that there is a unity and coherence to the scriptures.
Q. How does the Cain & Abel story relate to the Adam & Eve story?
- The result of the fall is sin entering the world and we see the tragic outworking of sin in the murder of evil of Abel
- Cain demonstrates that he is the seed of the serpent by his lack of regard for God in his offering. Abel by his offering shows that he is the seed of the woman. The enmity between the two groups is expressed in the murder of Abel.
- Just as Adam & Eve were judged after the sin of the fruit, Cain is also judged by God.
Q. What do you find surprising in the judgment of God on Cain?
- Once again God does not immediately kill Cain though he is certainly deserving.
- In fact God answers Cain’s concern about his fear of lawlessness by assuring him that he would not be hunted down.
- To confirm this promise to Cain, God even gives Cain a sign. Where did we see God giving a sign in His judgment on Adam & Eve?
- So just like with Adam & Eve, God deals with Cain not by unmitigated wrath but by a measure of grace.
- Furthermore, this is not the first time God had shown grace to Cain, in Genesis 4:6-7, God had warned Cain to resist sin and promised that he would be accepted.
Q. What does Cain do in response to God’s judgment?
- Cain builds a city. The Hebrew word for city denotes a structure with walls. Walls are built for protection. Cain rebels once again against God by rejecting His offer of protection and instead providing protection for himself.
- He names the city after his son. Cain is establishing a name for himself so he and his family will be remembered.
- The word “name” is used a lot in the next few sections of Genesis. It will become significant in the story.
- Cain demonstrates through all his action that he is indeed the seed of the serpent. He kills his brother, he denies God’s protection, and instead provides his own protection and seeks to establish a name for himself and his family.
Q. Why does someone want to make a name for themselves?
- They wanted to be remembered. It means that you in some way achieve a measure of immortality.
- A name is a substitute immortality for the immortality lost by the fall.
- A name symbolizes significance. It is a substitute for the status of vassal king that humanity lost when demoted after the fall.
- This is the age old problem of the human condition. Humanity lost both significance and security at the fall and now engages in all sorts of activities to try to get them back.
- All of these are merely substitutes. The real problem is that sin and the serpent must be defeated. God has promised He will do this through the seed of the woman who will crush the serpents head. The real solution for the people of Genesis and for our time is faith in this promise.
- The next section is the genealogy of Cain. The key to reading the genealogies is to look for places where the text deviates from the pattern.
Q. Where do we see the genealogy of Cain deviate from the pattern?
1. Jabal was the father of those who dwell in the tents and had livestock. Jubal was the father of those who play on the lyre and the pipe. Tubal-Cain was the forger of bronze and iron.
- Not only is Cain’s family known for building cities, but for cultural and technological achievements as well.
- The rest of the Bible does not view technology or culture as bad. However, like building the city, these men are seeking to make a name for themselves. They want to be remembered just as Cain wants to be remembered.
- Cain’s family is carrying on the dominion mandate of ruling and subduing the earth but without reference to God.
2. Lamech’s drunken boast
- I picture Lamech at the Wooden Nickel in Shinar after one too many drinks making this drunken boast.
- Q. In at least three points Lamech deviates from God’s ordering of the world. Where do you see this?
- He practices bigamy, he is a violent murderer, and he promises 77 fold vengeance.
- Q. What is Lamech saying by stating that if Cain was revenged 7 fold my revenge shall be 77 fold?
- Lamech believes God’s justice is inadequate and that his practice is to go beyond that. Lamech claims to be super-God.
3. Eve names her son Seth
- Q. Why is Seth’s birth important?
- Now that Abel has been murdered and Cain has been revealed as the seed of the serpent, there is no seed of the woman to crush the serpent’s head.
- The word seth means compensation. Eve had seen in Abel the hope for the one who would crush the serpent. However, God had not abandoned his promise even amidst this tragedy. Cain’s murder will not be the last word.
- Notice the use of the word offspring or seed. This is the same word used in the promise of Genesis 3:15.
- Eve’s naming of Seth, shows her faith in the promise. Seth is now seen as the hope for the champion who will at last defeat the serpent.
4. People began calling on the name of the Lord.
- Notice the use of the word name. This community concerned itself not with their own name but rather the name of the Lord.
- Call on the name of the Lord probably has something to do with worship but it seems to be more than that.
- Isaiah 44:5, Deuteronomy 28:10
- Call upon the name of the Lord is probably better translated they called themselves after the name of the Lord. The idea is that they identified themselves as belonging to YHWH the same as we call our Christians after the name of Christ.
- The phrase means identification with and by God’s name. They are declaring themselves as belonging to God, they are people of God. This is the essence of a covenantal relationship. If you remember the constant phrase used throughout the Siniatic covenant is I will be your God and you will be my people.
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Revelation 12
Revelation 12 represents the center and possibly the key to the book of Revelation. The first eleven chapters of Revelation detail the forces of the world who persecute the church. The next eleven chapters tell the same story but from a spiritual perspective. Chapter 12 forms a transition showing that ultimately Satan and his minions, such as the beast and the whore of Babylon, are the true enemies behind these forces who persecute the church.
The chapter opens with the figure of the woman giving birth to a son and a dragon who attempts to devour the son. The son is born and the dragon is defeated. We are told in verse 9 that the identity of the dragon is "the ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world." It does not take a whole lot of imagination to see all of this as an allusion to Genesis 3:15 where the seed of the woman will crush the seed of the serpent. The cool thing is that John uses references from all over the Old Testament to flesh this out.
The woman is described as clothed "with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars." John draws this imagery from the dream of Joseph in Genesis 37 where the son and moon represent Jacob and his wife, and the eleven stars represent Joseph's brothers who bow down to Joseph. In Revelation Joseph is incorporated into the image as the twelfth star. Since Jacob and his twelve sons are the ancestors of the Israelites, we can identify the woman with Israel. However, since the chapter continues to use the image of the woman even after the birth of Jesus, its best to think of her as inclusive of God's people in the church age as well as before.
Her birth pains represent the persecution of God's people during the Old Testament and intertestamental times leading up to Jesus' birth. These are threats to the believing community, such as slavery to the Egyptians, the Philistines, the Babylonians, the Hellenistic empires, and Rome. Isaiah 26 and Micah 4 use labor pains to represent Israel's suffering under foreign empires and it is likely this is what John is referencing.
Dragon imagery is used throughout the Old Testament to refer to Egypt (Ezekiel 29:3, to pick one example). No doubt Pharaoh's attempt to murder the first born children of the Hebrews was a battle in the attempt of the serpent to defeat the seed of the woman. However, this image should not be limited to just Egypt. The seven heads and ten horns is taken from Daniel 7 where the fourth beast described represents the Roman empire. John wants us to make the point that behind the power of these wicked kingdoms lies Satan.
The birth of the son who is "to rule all the nations with a rod of iron" is from Psalms 2:9. Psalms 2 describes the messiah who will defeat all the world's enemies and then be enthroned as ruler over the earth. Clearly John wants us to recognize this child as Jesus, the messiah, who is the ultimate fulfillment of the seed of the woman from Genesis 3:15.
Just as Israel is protected in the desert and nourished by God before possessing the promise land, the church is nourished and protected in the wilderness. The Hebrews were freed from the bondage of Egypt, but there was still a journey that must be made before entering the promised land. They were a pilgram people who enjoyed God's provision but faced temptation. The same can be said for the church, who has been liberated from the bondage of death but still must journey in a metaphorical wilderness as a pilgram people until they reach the new heaven and new earth. So we have the image of the woman being carried into the wilderness for protection.
While ultimately protected by God, the church will face trials in the wilderness. The wilderness is not a safe place and survival depends on God's provision. John borrows Daniel's three and half years for the duration of the tribulation to communicate that this time will be limited. It will not be the destiny of God's people to face tribulation forever. The age of tribulation will come to an end with Christ's second coming.
Satan's defeat by Jesus is personified by Michael and his angels, an image John draws from Daniel 10 where Michael and the messianic Son of Man fight the demonic forces of Persia and Greece. Michael's victory in the Revelation 12 passage results in a change in the status of Satan. According to verses 8 & 9 he is exiled from heaven and thrown down to the earth. In the accounts of Satan we have in Job and Zechariah, Satan acts as a prosecuting attorney accusing God's people in the heavenly courts.
A perhaps surprising point is that Satan has a case because He can accuse God of injustice since God's people are sinful. However, because of Christ's atonement that is no longer the case, and so Satan no longer has a role in heaven. John can conclude in verse 10, "Now the salvation and power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before God." John goes on to say in verse 11 that this victory has been accomplished by "the blood of the Lamb."
Though this is a great victory and Satan's time is declared as short, Satan is still dangerous and so woe is pronounced on the earth and sea. Satan's strategy is no longer to act as a prosecutor but instead to attack the believing community. The persecution by Satan is pictured as a flood, probably a reference to the Red Sea which also represented a barrier to Israel's flight to the wilderness. God swallows the river just as He parted the Red Sea.
Revelation 12 ends with the dragon no longer making war with the woman's son, but with the woman's other offspring. This time the dragon wars with individual Christians. Notice that offspring is used in the passage at first in the singular sense to describe Christ, but later in the plural to describe Christ's followers. Once again there are echos of Genesis 3:15 where offspring has a plural as well as singular reference.
John likely drew some of this imagery from Isaiah 66: 7-10. In the Isaiah passage Zion is pictured as a woman suffering labor pains. In verse 7 the passage states she delivers a son, where the word son is singular. However, in verse 8 she is described as bringing forth a nation and children. So the singular and plural sense of offspring is a theme that recurs throughout scripture.
This is a great passage that ties lots of different parts of the Bible together. However, the backbone of the vision is the Genesis 3:15 passage. Hopefully, you can see how this passage is expanded upon in the rest of the Old Testament and how John ties all of these threads together in Revelation 12.
The chapter opens with the figure of the woman giving birth to a son and a dragon who attempts to devour the son. The son is born and the dragon is defeated. We are told in verse 9 that the identity of the dragon is "the ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world." It does not take a whole lot of imagination to see all of this as an allusion to Genesis 3:15 where the seed of the woman will crush the seed of the serpent. The cool thing is that John uses references from all over the Old Testament to flesh this out.
The woman is described as clothed "with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars." John draws this imagery from the dream of Joseph in Genesis 37 where the son and moon represent Jacob and his wife, and the eleven stars represent Joseph's brothers who bow down to Joseph. In Revelation Joseph is incorporated into the image as the twelfth star. Since Jacob and his twelve sons are the ancestors of the Israelites, we can identify the woman with Israel. However, since the chapter continues to use the image of the woman even after the birth of Jesus, its best to think of her as inclusive of God's people in the church age as well as before.
Her birth pains represent the persecution of God's people during the Old Testament and intertestamental times leading up to Jesus' birth. These are threats to the believing community, such as slavery to the Egyptians, the Philistines, the Babylonians, the Hellenistic empires, and Rome. Isaiah 26 and Micah 4 use labor pains to represent Israel's suffering under foreign empires and it is likely this is what John is referencing.
Dragon imagery is used throughout the Old Testament to refer to Egypt (Ezekiel 29:3, to pick one example). No doubt Pharaoh's attempt to murder the first born children of the Hebrews was a battle in the attempt of the serpent to defeat the seed of the woman. However, this image should not be limited to just Egypt. The seven heads and ten horns is taken from Daniel 7 where the fourth beast described represents the Roman empire. John wants us to make the point that behind the power of these wicked kingdoms lies Satan.
The birth of the son who is "to rule all the nations with a rod of iron" is from Psalms 2:9. Psalms 2 describes the messiah who will defeat all the world's enemies and then be enthroned as ruler over the earth. Clearly John wants us to recognize this child as Jesus, the messiah, who is the ultimate fulfillment of the seed of the woman from Genesis 3:15.
Just as Israel is protected in the desert and nourished by God before possessing the promise land, the church is nourished and protected in the wilderness. The Hebrews were freed from the bondage of Egypt, but there was still a journey that must be made before entering the promised land. They were a pilgram people who enjoyed God's provision but faced temptation. The same can be said for the church, who has been liberated from the bondage of death but still must journey in a metaphorical wilderness as a pilgram people until they reach the new heaven and new earth. So we have the image of the woman being carried into the wilderness for protection.
While ultimately protected by God, the church will face trials in the wilderness. The wilderness is not a safe place and survival depends on God's provision. John borrows Daniel's three and half years for the duration of the tribulation to communicate that this time will be limited. It will not be the destiny of God's people to face tribulation forever. The age of tribulation will come to an end with Christ's second coming.
Satan's defeat by Jesus is personified by Michael and his angels, an image John draws from Daniel 10 where Michael and the messianic Son of Man fight the demonic forces of Persia and Greece. Michael's victory in the Revelation 12 passage results in a change in the status of Satan. According to verses 8 & 9 he is exiled from heaven and thrown down to the earth. In the accounts of Satan we have in Job and Zechariah, Satan acts as a prosecuting attorney accusing God's people in the heavenly courts.
A perhaps surprising point is that Satan has a case because He can accuse God of injustice since God's people are sinful. However, because of Christ's atonement that is no longer the case, and so Satan no longer has a role in heaven. John can conclude in verse 10, "Now the salvation and power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before God." John goes on to say in verse 11 that this victory has been accomplished by "the blood of the Lamb."
Though this is a great victory and Satan's time is declared as short, Satan is still dangerous and so woe is pronounced on the earth and sea. Satan's strategy is no longer to act as a prosecutor but instead to attack the believing community. The persecution by Satan is pictured as a flood, probably a reference to the Red Sea which also represented a barrier to Israel's flight to the wilderness. God swallows the river just as He parted the Red Sea.
Revelation 12 ends with the dragon no longer making war with the woman's son, but with the woman's other offspring. This time the dragon wars with individual Christians. Notice that offspring is used in the passage at first in the singular sense to describe Christ, but later in the plural to describe Christ's followers. Once again there are echos of Genesis 3:15 where offspring has a plural as well as singular reference.
John likely drew some of this imagery from Isaiah 66: 7-10. In the Isaiah passage Zion is pictured as a woman suffering labor pains. In verse 7 the passage states she delivers a son, where the word son is singular. However, in verse 8 she is described as bringing forth a nation and children. So the singular and plural sense of offspring is a theme that recurs throughout scripture.
This is a great passage that ties lots of different parts of the Bible together. However, the backbone of the vision is the Genesis 3:15 passage. Hopefully, you can see how this passage is expanded upon in the rest of the Old Testament and how John ties all of these threads together in Revelation 12.
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Judah and Tamar Challenge
Genesis 37-50 contains the Joseph story. In contrast to the mostly episodic narrative in the first 36 chapters of Genesis, the Joseph story is a tight, cohesive story. That is except for the tale of Judah and Tamar. The story of Judah and Tamar in chapter 38 seems an interruption in the narrative flow. In addition, the material covered is salacious and seems at odds with the story of Joseph with its high moral tone. So why is the story of Judah and Tamar included in the Joseph story?
The key to answering this question is to understand that the royal line of Israel and thus the Messiah will come from the tribe of Judah. We actually learn this in Genesis 49 when Jacob blesses all his sons and prophesies about the future of each of their descendants. Genesis 49:10 says, "The scepter shall not depart from Judah nor the ruler's staff from between his feet until tribute comes to him who it belongs and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples." The scepter and ruler's staff are images associated with kingship.
So the kingship of Israel will be of Judah's line. When we think about a royal line we think of a succession of kings as in a dynasty. An interesting point here is that this kingship come to an individual since we see the pronoun him used twice. So ultimately an individual is referred to here. This is similar to the issue we noted in Genesis 3:15 where there was an ambiguity about whether the seed of the woman was plural but the pronouns led us to the conclusion that the seed of the woman must be an individual.
This prophecy is a reference to the Messiah who will come from the line of David of the tribe of Judah. The Messiah is also the seed of the woman who will crush the serpent so its no surprise that we find a parallel with the wording of Genesis 3:15. For all these reasons, Judah's descendants are very important.
The idea of the seed is also very important to the theology of Genesis. After all, the solution to the fall is the the defeat of the serpent by the seed of the woman. The word seed is repeated throughout the entire book and the concern for seed is why Genesis dwells on things like genealogies, birthrights, and the birth of children. Genesis carefully traces the line of the seed through Seth, Enoch, Noah, Shem, and to the family of Abraham.
Judah is heir to this history and yet he shows a complete disregard for his seed. Judah has taught his sons no better, since the first son offends God so badly God puts him to death. Judah's next oldest son, Onan, has no more regard for his family's position than his father, since he actively tries to prevent Tamar from becoming pregnant and is also put to death by God.
Onan's disregard is made clear by the repetition of the Hebrew word zera which means seed or offspring in the verses concerning Onan:
Then Judah said to Onan, "Go in to your brother's wife and perform the duty of a brother-in-law
to her, and raise up seed for your brother." But Onan knew that the seed would not be his. So
whenever he went in to his brother's wife he would waste the it on the ground, so as not to
give seed to his brother.
Onan does not care that his family has been chosen by God. He does not care about the prophecies given to his great-grandfather Abraham. All Onan knows is that a child born Tamar will be considered his brother's child and not his own. Onan tries to thwart the purpose of God just as the pharaoh did by trying to kill the Hebrew first born and just as Herod did by executing the children in Bethlehem.
When his first two sons die, Judah prevents his third son from marrying Tamar. If his third son does not marry and produce an heir, then Judah's line dies out. Tamar, through her guile and self-interest, seduces Judah and becomes pregnant with Judah's child and thus continues Judah's line. His descendent will be King David for which the kingly line of Israel will be established. From this line will come the messiah, Jesus, who will crush the head of the serpent.
The point of this exercise is to see that the story of Judah and Tamar fits quite well into the story of Genesis. Though Joseph is important and saves his family, ultimately the point of Genesis is fulfilled in Judah whose seed will produce Israel's kings and the Messiah who will crush the serpent's head. Judah's role is so important it is necessary to interrupt the story of Joseph and include this tale in all its sordid detail. Judah shows himself worthy of this role by later in the story offering to sacrifice himself in order to save his father's beloved son Benjamin. No doubt Judah is a flawed individual, but Judah models self sacrifice that will find its ultimate expression in Judah's descendant Jesus.
The key to answering this question is to understand that the royal line of Israel and thus the Messiah will come from the tribe of Judah. We actually learn this in Genesis 49 when Jacob blesses all his sons and prophesies about the future of each of their descendants. Genesis 49:10 says, "The scepter shall not depart from Judah nor the ruler's staff from between his feet until tribute comes to him who it belongs and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples." The scepter and ruler's staff are images associated with kingship.
So the kingship of Israel will be of Judah's line. When we think about a royal line we think of a succession of kings as in a dynasty. An interesting point here is that this kingship come to an individual since we see the pronoun him used twice. So ultimately an individual is referred to here. This is similar to the issue we noted in Genesis 3:15 where there was an ambiguity about whether the seed of the woman was plural but the pronouns led us to the conclusion that the seed of the woman must be an individual.
This prophecy is a reference to the Messiah who will come from the line of David of the tribe of Judah. The Messiah is also the seed of the woman who will crush the serpent so its no surprise that we find a parallel with the wording of Genesis 3:15. For all these reasons, Judah's descendants are very important.
The idea of the seed is also very important to the theology of Genesis. After all, the solution to the fall is the the defeat of the serpent by the seed of the woman. The word seed is repeated throughout the entire book and the concern for seed is why Genesis dwells on things like genealogies, birthrights, and the birth of children. Genesis carefully traces the line of the seed through Seth, Enoch, Noah, Shem, and to the family of Abraham.
Judah is heir to this history and yet he shows a complete disregard for his seed. Judah has taught his sons no better, since the first son offends God so badly God puts him to death. Judah's next oldest son, Onan, has no more regard for his family's position than his father, since he actively tries to prevent Tamar from becoming pregnant and is also put to death by God.
Onan's disregard is made clear by the repetition of the Hebrew word zera which means seed or offspring in the verses concerning Onan:
Then Judah said to Onan, "Go in to your brother's wife and perform the duty of a brother-in-law
to her, and raise up seed for your brother." But Onan knew that the seed would not be his. So
whenever he went in to his brother's wife he would waste the it on the ground, so as not to
give seed to his brother.
Onan does not care that his family has been chosen by God. He does not care about the prophecies given to his great-grandfather Abraham. All Onan knows is that a child born Tamar will be considered his brother's child and not his own. Onan tries to thwart the purpose of God just as the pharaoh did by trying to kill the Hebrew first born and just as Herod did by executing the children in Bethlehem.
When his first two sons die, Judah prevents his third son from marrying Tamar. If his third son does not marry and produce an heir, then Judah's line dies out. Tamar, through her guile and self-interest, seduces Judah and becomes pregnant with Judah's child and thus continues Judah's line. His descendent will be King David for which the kingly line of Israel will be established. From this line will come the messiah, Jesus, who will crush the head of the serpent.
The point of this exercise is to see that the story of Judah and Tamar fits quite well into the story of Genesis. Though Joseph is important and saves his family, ultimately the point of Genesis is fulfilled in Judah whose seed will produce Israel's kings and the Messiah who will crush the serpent's head. Judah's role is so important it is necessary to interrupt the story of Joseph and include this tale in all its sordid detail. Judah shows himself worthy of this role by later in the story offering to sacrifice himself in order to save his father's beloved son Benjamin. No doubt Judah is a flawed individual, but Judah models self sacrifice that will find its ultimate expression in Judah's descendant Jesus.
Week 11 Prayer Requests
1. Kristen Merrill's work situation
2. Alicia had good news from her work. She received a pay raise that matches up better with the amount of work she is doing and she can continue to work at home.
3. Tamzen's good friend from college, Ashley, lost her husband to a tragic accident this weekend. They have three kids including a 6 month old.
2. Alicia had good news from her work. She received a pay raise that matches up better with the amount of work she is doing and she can continue to work at home.
3. Tamzen's good friend from college, Ashley, lost her husband to a tragic accident this weekend. They have three kids including a 6 month old.
Week 11 No New Material
Attendance was limited at our last small group and since I structured the material to be more discussion oriented we decided to talk, pray, and watch the NC State basketball game. We did go over the challenges and I will post some thoughts on both of those as I have time this week.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)