What is Biblical Theology? (review) · *Biblical theology is an attempt to read every passage in light of the WHOLE ... and He has become my salvation (quote from Ex. 15:2). 6 . Isaiah

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What is Biblical Theology? (review) *Biblical theology is an attempt to read every passage in light of the WHOLE biblical storyline. It is reading EVERY passage with the BIG STORY in mind.

Four approaches to biblical theology:

1. Biblical theology of individual books

2. Biblical theology of themes or concepts

3. Biblical theology of typology (similar events/persons)

4. Biblical theology of NT use of OT

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Biblical Theology of the Exodus theme

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3 defining events in Israel’s history: 1. Creation (Gen. 1-3; 12ff). 2. Exodus (redemption from Egyptian slavery) 3. Exile *These were not just defining historical events; these were also theological templates that framed God’s saving work in the world. “When the [biblical writers] rehearse what God has done for them in the past, they do so to shape the expectation that God will act the same way in the future” (James Hamilton, With the Clouds of Heaven, 227). 1. Creation/New Creation 2. Exodus/New Exodus 3. Exile/Return from Exile 4

Overview of the Exodus Theme

Previews of the Exodus (Gen. 12; 15;

20:1-18; 26:1-16)

The Exodus Event Exodus Patterns New Exodus

Prophesied New Exodus

* The Exodus is not just an event; it is a consistent theme throughout the Bible.

Old Testament New Testament

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New Exodus Prophecies

The OT prophets looked forward to a new and greater Exodus that God would one day accomplish for His people:

Isaiah 11:11-16, “Then it will happen on that day that the Lord will again recover the second time with His hand the remnant of His people…they will possess Edom and Moab, and the sons of Ammon will be subject to them. And the LORD will utterly destroy the tongue of the Sea of Egypt; and He will wave His hand over the River with His scorching wind; and He will strike it into seven streams and make men walk over dry-shod. And there will be a highway from Assyria for the remnant of His people who will be left, just as there was for Israel in the day that they came up out of the land of Egypt.”

12:1-2, “Then you will say on that day…the LORD God is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation” (quote from Ex. 15:2). 6

Isaiah 51:9-11

“Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD; Awake as in the days of old, the generations of long ago. Was it not You who cut Rahab in pieces, Who pierced the dragon? 10 Was it not You who dried up the sea, The waters of the great deep; Who made the depths of the sea a pathway For the redeemed to cross over? 11 So the ransomed of the LORD will return And come with joyful shouting to Zion, And everlasting joy will be on their heads. They will obtain gladness and joy, And sorrow and sighing will flee away.”

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Jeremiah 16:14-21 14 “Therefore behold, days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when it will no longer be said, ‘As the LORD lives, who brought up the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ 15 but, ‘As the LORD lives, who brought up the sons of Israel from the land of the north and from all the countries where He had banished them.’ For I will restore them to their own land which I gave to their fathers. 16 “Behold, I am going to send for many fishermen,” declares the LORD, “and they will fish for them; and afterwards I will send for many hunters, and they will hunt them from every mountain and every hill and from the clefts of the rocks. 17 For My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from My face, nor is their iniquity concealed from My eyes. 18 I will first doubly repay their iniquity and their sin, because they have polluted My land; they have filled My inheritance with the carcasses of their detestable idols and with their abominations.” 19 O LORD, my strength and my stronghold, And my refuge in the day of distress, To You the nations will come From the ends of the earth and say, “Our fathers have inherited nothing but falsehood, Futility and things of no profit.” 20 Can man make gods for himself? Yet they are not gods! 21 “Therefore behold, I am going to make them know— This time I will make them know My power and My might; And they shall know that My name is the LORD.”

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Theories of the Atonement

What did Christ accomplish on the cross? Why did He die on the cross?

1. Moral Influence theory

2. Penal Substitution theory

3. Christus Victor view

4. New Exodus theory

*Jesus came to this earth in order to redeem (rescue, free, deliver) His people from bondage to Satan and sin and bring them into His New Creation kingdom.

In other words, He came to bring about a New Exodus for the people of God. 9

N.T. Wright identifies seven themes of the Exodus:

1. Wicked tyrant (Pharaoh) (Satan and sin)

2. Chosen leader (Moses, Exodus 2) (Jesus Christ)

3. Victory of God (Judgment on Egypt, Exodus 7-12) (Overcoming Satan and sin)

4. Rescue by sacrifice (the Passover Lamb, Exodus 11-13) (The Lamb of God)

5. New Vocation/way of life (Mosaic Law, Ex. 19-20) (Law of Christ)

6. Presence of God (Glory-cloud; Tabernacle/Temple) (Holy Spirit, Church)

7. Promised Land/inherited Land (Joshua) (Kingdom of God; New Creation)

*The New Exodus is greater in significance and extent than the First Exodus because it includes all people (Jews & Gentiles) and it results in freedom from a spiritual enemy (not just a physical one).

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Wicked Tyrant: Sin and Satan

The NT writers clearly teach that just like Israel was in physical bondage to the nation of Egypt, so all human beings are in spiritual bondage to the realm of sin.

John 8:31-36

“31 So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” 33 They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never yet been enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say, ‘You will become free’?” 34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin. 35 The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever. 36 So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.”

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Hebrews 2:14-15 “14 Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, [Jesus] Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.”

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Seven themes of the Exodus:









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Chosen Leader: Jesus Christ

Just like God raised up Moses to deliver His people out of Egypt, so God also raised up the Lord Jesus Christ to deliver His people out of the kingdom of darkness. Jesus is presented as a “New (and greater) Moses throughout the NT: 1. John 1:17, “For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized

through Jesus Christ.” 2. Hebrews 3:1-6, “Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider

Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession; 2 He was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses also was in all His house. 3 For He has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, by just so much as the builder of the house has more honor than the house. 4 For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God. 5 Now Moses was faithful in all His house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken later; 6 but Christ was faithful as a Son over His house—whose house we are, if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end.”

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Victory of God: Overcoming Powers of Darkness and Defeating Sin

Just like God’s judgement was poured out on Pharaoh and the gods of Egypt, so God’s judgment was poured out on Satan and sin through the work of Jesus Christ.

Throughout His ministry Jesus performed miracles that demonstrated His power over (and defeat of) the forces of darkness:

1. Casting out demons (Luke 8:26-39; Luke 11:14-23). In casting out demons, Jesus was showing His power to deliver people from Satan’s kingdom.

2. Healing the sick and raising the dead (Matt. 4:23-25; 8:1-17; 9:18-38; John 11). In healing sickness and saving people from death, Jesus was showing His power to deliver people from the power of sin and death.

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Luke 11:14-23

14 And He was casting out a demon, and it was mute; when the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke; and the crowds were amazed. 15 But some of them said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons.” 16 Others, to test Him, were demanding of Him a sign from heaven. 17 But He knew their thoughts and said to them, “Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and a house divided against itself falls. 18 If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebul. 19 And if I by Beelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? So they will be your judges. 20 But if I cast out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. 21 When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are undisturbed. 22 But when someone stronger than he attacks him and overpowers him, he takes away from him all his armor on which he had relied and distributes his plunder. 23 He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me, scatters.

*The words “By the finger of God” are a quote from Exodus 8:19. Jesus was doing “Exodus-type” miracles in Israel to show that He was the New Moses sent to deliver God’s people from bondage.

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The greatest way that Jesus showed His power over the forces of darkness was through His death and resurrection:

John 12:30-33, “Jesus answered and said, ‘…Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.’ But He was saying this to indicate the kind of death by which He was to die.”

Galatians 3:10-14, “10 For as many as are of the works of the Law are under a curse; for it is written, “CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO DOES NOT ABIDE BY ALL THINGS WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF THE LAW, TO PERFORM THEM.” 11 Now that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident; for, “THE RIGHTEOUS MAN SHALL LIVE BY FAITH.” 12 However, the Law is not of faith; on the contrary, “HE WHO PRACTICES THEM SHALL LIVE BY THEM.” 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, “CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE”— 14 in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.”

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Jesus Himself knew that His death would bring about a new “Exodus”:

Luke 9:28-36, “The Transfiguration.”

28 Some eight days after these sayings, He took along Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. 29 And while He was praying, the appearance of His face became different, and His clothing became white and gleaming. 30 And behold, two men were talking with Him; and they were Moses and Elijah, 31 who, appearing in glory, were speaking of His departure [lit. “Exodus”] which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. 32 Now Peter and his companions had been overcome with sleep; but when they were fully awake, they saw His glory and the two men standing with Him. 33 And as these were leaving Him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three tabernacles: one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah”—not realizing what he was saying. 34 While he was saying this, a cloud formed and began to overshadow them; and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. 35 Then a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My Son, My Chosen One; listen to Him!” 36 And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent, and reported to no one in those days any of the things which they had seen.

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Rescue by sacrifice: Jesus, the Lamb of God Just like God’s people were spared from death through the death of the Passover Lamb, so believers are spared from death through the death of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God.

*John 1:29, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”

God sovereignly designed the death of His Son, the Lamb of God, to take place during the time of the Jewish Passover– a meal which celebrated the Exodus event.

“ [a] theme that runs prominently throughout the New Testament [is] the new Passover, the new Exodus…consider [the] centrality of Passover-reflection in early Christianity, and the way in which this decisively and permanently shaped Christian worship. Jesus himself, it appears, chose Passover as the moment to accomplish his own ‘exodus,’ his own act of new-covenant faithfulness, the act in which he loved us to the end, to the uttermost (John 13:1). All four gospels tell the story of this Passover in such a way as to lead our eyes up to it in awe and worship; the gospel traditions themselves are shaped, and their weaving together by the evangelists are shaped, in a multitude of patterns which all declare that this Passover was the weekend that changed the world, the center point of history” (N.T. Wright).

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1. Jesus transformed the Passover meal into a celebration of His sacrificial death and resurrection, the Lord’s Supper (Luke 22:1-23).

2. According to John’s Gospel account, Jesus’s death took place during the time that the Passover Lamb would have been slain in Jerusalem (John 18:28; 19:14, 31).

3. John saw Jesus’s death as a fulfillment of the Passover sacrificial ritual: “31 Then the Jews, because it was the day of preparation, so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. 32 So the soldiers came, and broke the legs of the first man and of the other who was crucified with Him; 33 but coming to Jesus, when they saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. 34 But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. 35 And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you also may believe. 36 For these things came to pass to fulfill the Scripture, “NOT A BONE OF HIM SHALL BE BROKEN.”

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Scholar Brant Pitre explains the possible significance of the “blood and water”: “According to…Jewish tradition, before the Temple was destroyed in A.D. 70, the blood of the sacrifices used to be poured into a drain that flowed down from the altar of sacrifice to merge with a spring of water that flowed out the side of the mountain on which the Temple was built: ‘At the south-western corner [of the altar] there were two holes like two narrow nostrils by which the blood that was poured over the western base and the southern base used to run down and mingle in the water-channel and flow into the brook Kidron’ (Mishnah Midroth 3:2)” (The Case for Jesus, 170).

In John 19:36, John quotes from Exodus 12:46– a verse that is about the Passover Lamb! Moses instructed the Israelites, “This is the ordinance of the Passover: it is to be eaten in a single house; you are not to bring forth any of the flesh outside of the house, nor are you to break any bone of it.” 23

4. The Apostle Paul specifically says that Jesus Christ is our Passover Lamb: “Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed” (1 Cor. 5:6-8).

5. It is for this reason that God’s people sing “the song of Moses…and the song of the Lamb” in Revelation 15:3-4, ““Great and marvelous are Your works, O Lord God, the Almighty; Righteous and true are Your ways, King of the nations! 4 “Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy; For ALL THE NATIONS WILL COME AND WORSHIP BEFORE YOU, FOR YOUR RIGHTEOUS ACTS HAVE BEEN REVEALED.”

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New Vocation/New Way of Life

Just like Israel was given God’s Law after they were redeemed from Egypt, so Christians are given the “law of Christ” after being redeemed from sin.

1. The OT law was fulfilled in Christ (Matt. 5:17). It all pointed to Him and ultimately is fully realized in His perfect life.

2. The NT writers indicate that Jesus, as the new and greater Moses, transforms the OT into the “law of Christ” (Gal. 6:2).

3. Because of the Holy Spirit, those who believe in Jesus are given the ability and power to obey Christ’s law (Rom. 6:12-23). “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit” (Rom. 8:2-4).

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Presence of God: The Holy Spirit fills the NT Church

Just like God’s presence accompanied Israel (and was experienced in the Tabernacle), so the Holy Spirit accompanies us and fills us as the New Temple. 2 Corinthians 6:14-18, “14 Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? 15 Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? 16 Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, “I WILL DWELL IN THEM AND WALK AMONG THEM; AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE. 17 “Therefore, COME OUT FROM THEIR MIDST AND BE SEPARATE,” says the Lord. “AND DO NOT TOUCH WHAT IS UNCLEAN; And I will welcome you. 18 “And I will be a father to you, And you shall be sons and daughters to Me,” Says the Lord Almighty.”

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Promised Land/Inheritance Just like Israel was brought out of Egypt so that they could enter into the Promised Land, so Christians are brought from the kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of God.

Colossians 1:13, “For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

* The “in Christ” language of the NT replaces the “in the Land” language of the OT:

• In the Land Israel had rest; in Christ, we have “rest for our souls” (Matt. 11:29).

• In the Land Israel had peace from conflict; in Christ we have “peace with God” (Rom. 5:1)

• In the Land Israel received an “inheritance” (Josh. 11:23); In Christ we have an “inheritance in heaven” (1 Pet. 1:4).

• In the Land Israel experienced God’s blessing; In Christ we possess “every blessing in the spiritual realms” (Eph. 1:3).

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Application: The New Exodus in our conversion experience

*Not only did Christ bring about a New Exodus for us, but we also experience the blessings of His work in our lives in a “New Exodus” pattern:

Romans 5-8 from 30,000 feet:

• Chapter 5: Adam and his descendants are in bondage to sin: “…Death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come” (5:14).

• Chapter 6: We are rescued out of bondage and pass through water into new life:

“Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? There we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead…we too might walk in newness of life….we have become united with Him…so that we would no longer be slaves of sin” (6:2-7).

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• Chapter 7: We leave the land of bondage and are brought into a “wilderness-like” experience before the Law of God.

“Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the law through the body of Christ…in order that we might bear fruit for God…But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter” (7:4-6).

“For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh…for what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate…Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! (7:14-15, 24-25).

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• Chapter 8: We are guided through our “wilderness” experience (having been redeemed, but still struggling with sin) by God’s presence (the Holy Spirit) and are being led to our inheritance in the Promised Land– the New Creation.

“Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death…you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you [and] if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you” (8:1, 9-11).

“For all who are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption…The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ…” (8:14-17).

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“18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. 23 And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. 24 For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.”

Summary of Romans 5-8: Like Israel, we are brought from the land of slavery to sin through water into the wilderness to encounter God’s law. But His presence guides us so that we are guaranteed to arrive at the place of our inheritance, the New Creation.

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Documents

What is Biblical Theology? (review) · *Biblical theology is an attempt to read every passage in light of the WHOLE ... and He has become my salvation (quote from Ex. 15:2). 6 . Isaiah