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Can you preach the Gospel from the law?

Mar 5, 2012 • By David Murray • 2 Comments

I’ve been slowly blogging my way through Reclaiming the Old Testament for Christian Preaching (here and here) and now reach Christopher Wright’s chapter on “Preaching from the law.” Given the author, I was expecting this chapter to be excellent, but it’s actually outstanding – probably the best chapter in the book. Here’s a summary of the ten most important points, largely in Wright’s own words:

1. On the basis of 2 Timothy 3:15-16, write above every OT chapter, including legal chapters, “This Scripture is inspired by God and is useful…” [47].

2. “Before we preach law to people, we need to make sure they know the God who stands behind it and the story that goes before it. It is the God of grace and the story of grace” [48].
This is perhaps the most important sentence in the chapter (if not in the book), and if fully grasped would transform most people’s view of the law in particular and of the Old Testament in general.

3. “The law was given to people whom God had already redeemed” [48].
“Grace comes before the law. There are eighteen chapters of salvation before we get to Sinai and the Ten Commandments…I stress this because the idea that the difference between the Old and New Testaments is that in the OT salvation was by obeying the law, whereas in the NT it is by grace, is a terrible distortion of Scripture” [48].

4. “Obedience is the only right response to having been saved, and the way to enjoy the fruits of redemption, not to earn them” [49].
Always preach OT law on the foundation of God’s saving grace. Anything else will lead people to legalism, or to despair, or to pride [49].

5. By shaping Israel in the image of God, the law had a misional purpose [51].
“The law had the function of shaping Israel to be that representative people, making the character and requirements of God known to the nations. That is a missional function…The purpose of the law was to make Israel visibly different, in such a way that would draw interest and comment, and essentially bear witness to the God they worshipped” (Ex. 19:6; Dt. 4:6-8)” [51].

“We should preach OT law in such a way as to remind Christians not only of the grace of God to which they must respond, but also of their mission responsibility: to live distinctively as God’s people among the nations” [52].

“Imitation of God is a strong theme in OT law, but it does not stop there. It is the same basic principle that undergirds the teaching of Jesus about our behavior. We are to model what we do on what we know God is and does (Matt. 5:45-48; Lk. 6:27-36)” [54].

6. The law hangs like a hammock between the two poles of God’s past and present grace [52].
“The law is suspended like a hammock between two poles: the past grace of God’s historical redemption, and the future grace of God’s missional promise. Between these two poles Israel, and ourselves, are called to live in the present as those who know where we have come from and where we are going. The law in other words, makes sense within the whole story of redemption, past and future” [52].

7. Preach the law in a God-centered not man-centered way.
“Our preaching of OT law should not merely be moralistic – focusing on the minutiae of behavior and burdening people, as the Pharisees did. Rather we preach the law in such a way as to point to the God who stands behind it, asking what it reveals of his character, values and priorities. That seems to have been the thrust of Christ’s preaching too” [54].

8. The law was given for human benefit (Mk. 2:27; Dt. 4:40), as the Psalmists certainly appreciated (Ps. 19:7, 10; 119:45, 47) [55].
“The least one can say about people who express such enthusiastic sentiments for the law is that they were certainly not groveling along under a heavy burden of legalism. They were not anxiously striving to earn their way into salvation and a relationship with God through punctilious law-keeping. They were not puffed up with the claims of self-righteousness or exhausted with the efforts of works-righteousness. They did not, in short, fit into any of the caricatures which have been inflicted upon OT law by those who, misunderstanding Paul’s arguments with opponents who had distorted the law, attribute to the law itself the very distortions from which Paul was seeking to exonerate it” [55].

“Jesus became angry when the law was turned into a burden, instead of a benefit to the needy” [57]

“There is plenty material in the law that shows the heart of God for the needs of human beings, especially the vulnerable, those who are socially, economically, ethnically or sexually disadvantaged in our fallen world” [57].

9. “Old Testament law anticipates failure, judgment, and future grace” [57]
“We should not imagine that the failure of OT Israel to keep God’s law somehow surprised God so much that he was forced to come up with plan B…Deuteronomy 29-32 make clear that the fault is not in the law itself, but in us” [58].

10. The Old Testament preaches the Gospel [58]
In this next paragraph, I believe Wright is using “law” in the wider sense of the whole Pentateuch, or at least the Pentateuch’s exposition and application of the law.

As Deuteronomy 30 contains a powerful evangelistic appeal to return to God…”we can preach OT law, not to drive people only to despair at their failure but to lead them from the realization of failure back to the love and promises of God – as contained in the law itself. Failure is a fact. Failure is foreseen. But failure can be forgiven through the grace of God. The law itself expresses all three great Gospel truths and can be preached accordingly” [58].

Conclusion
Before giving an example sermon, Wright closes with a couple of priceless pages on how to move from OT law to a message for today, and concludes:

As I work towards a preachable sermon from the legal text with such questions in mind, I keep in mind also the above core principles: God’s grace as the starting point; the need for God’s people to live for the sake of God’s mission; the paradigmatic function of Israel’s law for future generations; what the text teaches about the character of God and the demands of human well-being; the realities of sin and failure and the need to preach all God’s Word with the profound sense of preacher and audience alike being sinners in need of forgiving grace [60].

Sermon notes on Song of Solomon

Jan 24, 2012 • By David Murray • 2 Comments

Well, I figured after four posts of theorizing on how to preach on the Song of Solomon (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4), I should bite the bullet and actually do it. So, here in pdf format are my sermon notes from Sunday evening’s sermon. I don’t usually write out my sermons in full – usually working off a one page outline – but as I was planning to post them here I thought it might be helpful to attempt this.

In the notes, you’ll notice that I follow a four-step process under each point:

Message of the Song
Message for Marriage
Message for Israel
Message for New Testament church/believer

Here’s how I followed that pattern with the first point, and if you want to take it further you can read the rest of the sermon here.

1. Love wins by returning to its roots (v. 5)

Who is this coming up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved? I awakened you under the apple tree. There your mother brought you forth; there she who bore you brought you forth (v. 5)

a. Message of the Song
The woman of the Song (let’s just call her the bride although she has been long married), is “coming up from the wilderness” leaning on her beloved (let’s call him the bridegroom). They’ve been in the wilderness, but they are coming out of the wilderness. Their relationship has gone through some dry and unfruitful days, but they are gradually putting these days behind them.

As she leans on him, we can hear him whispering in her ear: “I awakened you under the apple tree.”

“Under the apple tree.” There’s no particular significance to this tree apart from it being the location where he first began to woo and win her. He could have equally said “On that hill” or “in that house.” We can simply say that it’s the location where he initiated the relationship. “There’s where I stirred up and started your love.”

He continues to take her on a tour of old spots, old haunts; he approaches her parent’s house and says: “There your mother brought you forth.” He took her to the place of her second birth and now takes her back to the place of her first birth.

b. Message for Marriage: Love wins by regularly returning to its roots.
Sometimes love has to be taken back to its roots, to retrace it’s earliest steps, its beginnings. It helps to remember these happy and exciting days when love began to be wooed and won. Every husband and wife should do this from time to time, and not just on anniversaries. Go back to where you first met; go back to your first dinner, your first date, and your first kiss. Even go back to where you were born, your childhood before you met, and consider how the Lord was working even then to prepare you for each other.

c. Message for Israel
Through the historical books, the psalms, and the prophets, God frequently encouraged Israel to come out of the wilderness by going back to its roots, retracing God’s steps in the nation’s birth and beginnings.

d. Message for the New Testament church/believer
And, of course, this is something that the New Testament believer should also do. Maybe your relationship with the Lord is going through wilderness days. Perhaps it’s characterized by dry, dusty, unfruitfulness. Here’s how to come out of the wilderness. Return to your roots. Retrace the steps of God’s dealings with you before you were a believer, but especially when you started believing, when God awakened you “under the apple tree” (i.e. in that church, under that sermon, through that book or providence). He woke you, wooed, you and won you. Remember it, reflect on it, and come out of the wilderness.

Read the rest here.

Love Wins (no not that one)

Jan 19, 2012 • By David Murray • 1 Comment

In The Messianic Music of the Song of Songs, Dr Jim Hamilton persuasively argues that the original readers of the Song of Solomon viewed the author as the “ultimate expression of David’s royal seed…the Davidic King, with all the messianic connotations that status carries.”[1] In other words, when they read the book or sang the Song they saw more than the best human king’s best human love. They entered into God’s gracious love expressed through His anointed King to His undeserving people. Despite all their failures and faults the Song assured the Israelites that Love would win through the Messiah alone.

In that excellent article, Jim argues against the allegorical approach, but he also expresses reluctance about seeing any typology in it:

This messianic understanding of Canticles is not allegorical, nor need it even be typological, it is strictly historical and canonical. It assumes that the Song of Songs was written from the hope for an anointed king reflected in the rest of the OT, but it neither imposes foreign concepts nor imports the NT into the interpretation of the poetry.

To me it seems such a tiny step to go from the “historical and canonical” Messianic understanding of the Song to a typological understanding, that I’m not quite sure why we would would to hold back from this. Perhaps it’s because of the way the song has been “over-allegorized” or “over-typologized” in the past. But we needn’t be afraid of opening the door to this if we use a sound definition of typology to keep us on track. Try this one:

A type is a real person, place, object, or event that God ordained to act as a predictive pattern or resemblance of Christ’s person and work (or of opposition to it).

Let’s unpack that a little:

A type is a real person, place, object or event: it is true, real, and factual
That God ordained: it does not resemble Christ’s person or work by mere coincidence but by divine plan
To act as a predictive pattern or resemblance: the same truth is found in the picture and the fulfillment
Of Christ’s person and work: the truth in the picture is enlarged, heightened, and clarified in the fulfillment
(or of opposition to it): God also gave prophetic pictures of Christ’s enemies.

The Song is a little different to normal typological literature in that it is written as poetry rather than pure historical narrative. However, there is a substantial historical element to it; a true, real, and factual relationship forms the basis for it. Add that definition of typology to the contextual and genre considerations we’ve been proposing and we are well on the way to recovering a sane Christ-centered interpretation of the Song of Solomon to the Church. And it should help a few marriages along the way as well.

Anyway, as I said yesterday, I’ll finish this short series of four posts (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3) on interpreting and preaching the Song of Solomon with a few sample sermon outlines that reflect the historical, canonical, and literary approaches we’ve been advocating, but which also take that extra little step to typological (not allegorical) understanding. And remember we’re trying to resist the temptation of trying to find an exact spiritual parallel or marriage parallel for every detail.

He is everything to me (1:1-17)

He is beautiful but I am damaged (1:2-7)
He is generous in praise and gifts (1:8-11)
He refreshes me (1:12-14)
He returns my love (1:15-16)
He enriches my life (1:17)

A taste of heaven on earth (2:1-17)

Love is beautiful/fragrant (2:1-2)
Love nourishes (2:3-6)
Love is patient/sensitive (2:7)
Love is enthusiastic (2:8-9)
Love invites (2:10-13)
Love is bashful (2:14)
Love is tender (2:15)
Love is possessive (2:16)
Love is imperfect on earth (2:17)

He is all-over lovely (5:10-16)

He is outstanding (5:10)
He is noble/royal (5:11)
He is tender (5:12)
He is fragrant (5:13)
He is rich (5:14)
He is strong/solid (5:14)
He is authoritative (5:15)
He is affectionate (5:16)

Love Wins (8:5-14)

Love returns to its roots (8:5)
Love reflects on its strengths (8:6-7)
Love relies on the protection and support of close friends (8:8-10)
Love re-prioritizes relationships (8:11-12)
Love recognizes that it has not yet won (8:13-14)

[1] Jim Hamilton, “The Messianic Music of the Song of Songs: A Non-Allegorical Interpretation,” 13.

How to Sing the Song of Songs

Jan 16, 2012 • By David Murray • 2 Comments

The two most important factors in interpreting any piece of literature are context and genre.

Last week I argued that the Christ-focused Old Testament context of the Song of Solomon demanded a Christ-focused interpretation.

But how do we interpret the Song in a Christ-focused way? That’s where literary genre comes in, and I want to introduce this by recounting an incident that transformed my own approach to the Song.

A few years ago, in my Old Testament exegesis class, I was working my way through the arguments about whether the Song was to be interpreted literally, allegorically, or typologically, when I noticed one of my students smiling and shaking his head – thankfully quite a rare occurrence.

Eventually I stopped and asked this usually courteous young man what was wrong. He explained a little about his Middle Eastern agricultural background (probably very close to the Song’s original location) and how he had also studied his own ancient culture’s literature at a Master’s level. He then went on to (very politely) express his horror at the way we were approaching this ancient Eastern literature with such a modern Western mindset!

He said that such love-songs were very common in his culture and that they were to be primarily interpreted by the emotions and impressions they evoke rather than by dissecting the words with dictionaries, lexicons, grammars, etc. These songs, he said, were primarily to provoke and stimulate emotions rather than be subjected to cold logical analysis.

That immediately jived with something I remembered that Vern Poythress had previously written on the similar disadvantage Western minds find themselves at when interpreting Biblical typology.

We in the West are not very much at ease with symbolism ourselves. We live in an industrialized society dominated by scientific and technological forms of knowledge. Such knowledge minimizes the play of metaphors and the personal depth dimensions of human living. For many people “real” truth means technological truth, that is, truth swept free of metaphor and symbolism…I am convinced that God does not share our general cultural aversion to metaphors and symbols. He wrote the Old Testament, which contains a good deal of poetry and many uses of metaphor. Jesus spoke in parables, which are a kind of extended metaphor. Godly Israelites of Old Testament times were able to appreciate His language, whereas we have a hard time with it. We must adapt to the fact that symbols and metaphors can speak truly and powerfully without speaking with pedantic scientific precision. A symbol may suggest a deep truth or even a cluster of related truths without blurting everything out in plain talk and making everything crystal clear…To appreciate a symbol, we must let our imaginations play a little, and ask what the symbol suggests. What does it bring to mind? What is it like? What does it remind me of in my own past experience? What does it allude to in other writings by the same author? We must explore all these questions, but endeavor to do so like an Israelite, not like a twentieth-century Westerner.^{^[i]}

Though speaking about two different kinds of biblical literature, my student and Poythress are really making the same point: if we are ever going to understand the original message of the Song, we have to make a difficult journey across cultures and centuries, and be much more imaginative and impressionistic than scientific (And who’s to say which approach is morally superior? It all depends on the divine intention.)

With the Song in particular, we have to dial down the Western academic analysis (and also the Western obsession with sex) and aim to stir up some Eastern emotions and moods. Instead of parsing every word, every tree, every flower, and every body part under a microscope, we should take a step back, let a few verses be sung, and ask ourselves, “What impression is this intended to make upon me? What emotion does this evoke? What feeling is this calling me to experience or enjoy?” And as this is a Christ-centered song, especially ask, “What emotion is it calling me to feel towards Christ?” and also, “What is it saying about Christ’s feelings towards me?”

This is not easy or comfortable for most of us Westerners who have been taught to suppress emotions and suspect impressions. But why not open the Song, “sing” a few verses and see what happens?! In the next few days I’ll come back to this and flesh it out a bit more.

[i] Vern Poythress, The Shadow of Christ in the Law of Moses (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 1991), 38-39.

Reclaiming the Old Testament for Christian Preaching: Narratives

Jan 5, 2012 • By David Murray • 1 Comment

Reclaiming the Old Testament for Christian Preaching

I’ve been pleasantly surprised by this book. The result of a 2009 Academic Study Conference in Cambridge, I wasn’t expecting too much, to be honest; but it’s far exceeded my expectations. Most of the writers have made a really good attempt at making their writing accessible and practical for preachers. I’ve just noticed that it also won the 2011 Preaching Today Magazine book award.

I’m going to post some summaries and comments on the best chapters over the next few weeks, which hopefully will motivate you to buy, read, and use.

The first chapter is by Lawrence Turner and covers the popular topic of preaching Old Testament narrative, with a specific focus on plot.

Avoid these two errors
1. Retelling the biblical account blow by blow and then appending a general moral obligation
2. Picking one point from the narrative and impaling it on the frame of Aristotelian logic

Don’t be averse to literary “criticism” (fancy word for scholarly studies)
1. Just because liberals have focused on narrative studies, doesn’t mean evangelicals should avoid them
2. Understanding the dynamics of narrative leads to theological and spiritual gains

A classic plot has a fivefold structure
1. Initial situation
2. Complication
3. Transforming action
4. Dénouement (or resolution)
5. Final situation

Look for how narratives vary
1. Consider what the narrator omits or includes
2. There can be any number of transforming actions before resolution and final situation
3. Resolutions can be full, partial, or open-ended
4. The difference between narrative time (how long a period the events take) and narration time (how much Scripture is devoted to the events) tells us what to focus on

Always connect the micro-narratives with the macro-narrative
1. How does this narrative relate to the rest of the book?
2. How does this narrative relate to redemptive history?

Use different ways to present narratives in sermons
1. Try to avoid imposing three-point sermons on narratives (I’ll come back to this)
2. Follow the five-part narrative structure (see above)
3. If following the five-part structure, connect each element of the plot with the world of the congregation (e.g move from the initial situation of the plot to the situation of the congregation, etc), resulting in two stories presented in parallel
4. Preach in the first person adopting the persona of one of the characters (please don’t do this!)
5. Identify the “big idea” in the resolution and relate it to the other parts of the plot
6. Individual micro-narratives should be preached as part of a macro-narrative series, resulting sometimes in unresolved plots in some sermons (which are also closer to reality)

Connect the plot to the overarching plot of the Bible
1. The whole message of the Bible matches the five-part narrative plot structure
2. OT narratives lead to the NT, are often resolved by the NT, and shed light on the NT
3. OT narratives should not ignore NT reflections on the OT story
4. To make a narrative sermon live, you need an understanding of other narrative elements (e.g. character – in the next chapter) and biblical theology

Comments
This chapter provides lots of practical help for preachers wanting to become better at communicating OT narratives. If I pick up one good tip from a book on preaching, I’m usually quite content. However, this one chapter alone has given me three or four things to try out in my preaching.

I agree with Lawrence, that we have much to gain from literary studies. Richard Pratt, Leland Ryken, and David Dorsey’s work in this area have greatly enhanced my appreciation for the literary characteristics of OT narrative. However, it can all get a bit over-complicated at times and the insights are often difficult to convey in a sermon, unless the congregation have some handout to follow along with.

While I understand Lawrence’s criticism of “story+moral” and “three points” approaches, he is over harsh on these older methods of preaching narratives. Although they have often been done badly, there are many excellent examples of such preaching styles in the past and the present. While we welcome new insights to freshen up our preaching, surely we don’t want to throw out all the old methods. One of the problems with the newer narrative-style approach to preaching narratives is that while it’s quite compelling at the time, it’s often difficult to remember a day or two after. Structure is so important to understanding and retention.

The fivefold structure insight is extremely helpful in working our way through the exegesis of a plot, but it shouldn’t become the regular structure of our sermons. We just become so predictable again.

I liked Lawrence’s idea of connecting the micro-narrative with the bigger OT and NT story line. But I also liked his idea that if the particular plot we are working on that week does not result in a total resolution, sometimes we should just leave it that way, because that’s what life is so often like. It’s more like people’s experience.

I would strongly advise to avoid the first-person persona idea. I know it’s novel and trendy, but as far as I can see it’s not a pattern we find in Scripture. It results in too much focus on the preacher, and virtually turns him from a herald into an actor.

I’d give the chapter 8 or 9 out of 10. A good start!

God’s Curtain

Dec 23, 2011 • By David Murray • 4 Comments

Time: March 1406 BC, 40 years after the Exodus.
Setting: The nation of Israel is encamped on the Plains of Moab, awaiting the order to enter the Promised Land.
Characters: Priest Elnathan, High Priest Ben-Levi, 10-year-old Jerusha, and her two parents, Baruch and Deborah.
Previous Episodes: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8.

Elnathan the priest entered the Holy Place with the oil to replenish the golden lampstand. As his eyes adjusted to the smoky dimly-lit room he saw a shadowy male figure beside the thick veil which guarded the way into the Most Holy Place. The man was slightly bent over and seemed to be running his hand over the curtain material, as if examining it closely. He was muttering and sighing, maybe even praying. Elnathan coughed gently and who turned round but Ben-Levi, the High Priest! But why was he here, and why did he look so perplexed and puzzled?

“Shalom, Ben-Levi, are you well?” enquired Elnathan.

“O, Elnathan, you surprised me,” stuttered Ben-Levi, “Have you been standing there for long?”

“No, sir. I’ve just come to re-fill the lamp oil. But why are you here? Is there a problem with the veil? And…you’re crying! Ben-Levi, what’s wrong?”

“I’m sorry, Elnathan, I’ve been here for hours; most of the night in fact. Just after falling asleep, I had a most disturbing dream. I was in the Tabernacle’s Holy Place, and as I approached the heavy curtain guarding the way into the Most Holy Place, it ripped right down the middle, from top to bottom. Elnathan, it was so real, so vivid, that I ran down to the Tabernacle to check.”

“Ripped? But that’s impossible, Ben-Levi,” Elnathan assured him. “Only you can touch the veil, and you only do it once a year on the Day of Atonement, when you enter the Most Holy Place and sprinkle the blood upon the Ark and the mercy-seat.[i] None of the priests would dare to even touch the veil, never mind rip it.”

“I know, I know. I was just so worried because God explicitly told us to make an especially thick and substantial veil so that the ark was always covered.[ii] And it’s my responsibility to ensure that no one ever sees within the veil. Look at the embroidered cherubim on the curtain, barring the way. Do they not warn anyone even thinking about looking or entering, ‘No entry! Stay out!’”

“Of course they do, Ben-Levi. No Israelite would even think of touching that veil or looking inside. We have always taught our classes that God designed the veil to conceal from sight and prohibit from entry. But you taught us also to tell our classes that the veil was temporary, that a time would come when the veil would be removed, that at that time the Messiah would open up a new way to God for everyone, not just once a year, and not just for the High Priest.”

“That’s why I was so perplexed, Elnathan. I wondered if that wonderful day had come. When I awoke from my dream, my heart was pounding. I thought, ‘Is God revealing to me that this is the day when the concealing and the barring will be over?’ I threw on my robes, ran through the camp, quickly washed in the brass laver, sacrificed a lamb from one of the pens, and entered the Holy Place. My eyes scanned the veil from top to bottom. No rip. I examined it all over with my hands. No rip. And since then, I have been here wondering, pondering, praying for understanding.”

Elnathan edged forward and embraced his distressed mentor. “Ben-Levi, you’re a good and godly man. I know that you yearn for all Israel to experience the access to God that you enjoy on the Day of Atonement. And I know that you yourself wish you could enjoy that access every day and not just once a year. But that time is not yet. We must wait in faith and patience. Maybe we will live to see it. Maybe not. But perhaps your dream gives us a bit more light on how the veil will be removed.”

“What do you mean, Elnathan?”

“Well, in your dream the veil was ripped without human hand. I’m thinking, perhaps that indicates that whenever the veil is removed it will be an act of God alone. It won’t be you or me, or anyone else, but God alone will open up the wider way to Himself.”

“Elnathan, that is a lovely, lovely thought. God has really blessed you with an ability to see the principles behind the pictures.”

“You are my teacher, Ben-Levi! Did you have any thoughts yourself?”

“Well, I’ll tell you what my mind was working on. What came to me was ‘mourning.’ You know how we rip our robes when we mourn the death of a loved one, I wondered if the ripping of the veil would be associated with the death of the beloved Messiah we look for and long for. What do you think, Elnathan? The sacrifices point towards his suffering and death. Maybe it will be his suffering and death which finally open up the way to God for all!”

Ben-Levi’s voice trembled as he spoke, and Elnathan sensed the sacred divine presence in their midst. These were holy moments.

“O, Ben-Levi! What a day! What a day it will be when the veil is removed and I, and all, will be able to see the glory of God in an unprecedented way.”

“Yes, I know, instead of ‘Keep back!’ it will be ‘Come to me!’ Instead of ‘Let us draw back!’ we will say ‘Let us draw near!’ Instead of one priest allowed, all sinners invited. Instead of once a year, 365/24/7!”

Ben-Levi’s words faded as tears began to run down his face. Elnathan could hold back his own emotions no longer, and they both sank to their knees, in the Most Holy Place, overwhelmed with Messianic hope and anticipation. As one, and instinctively, they both prayed, “Maranatha, Come Lord!”[iii]

THE BEGINNING

[i] Leviticus 16:2-3, [ii] Exodus 40:3, [iii] 1 Corinthians 16:22

God’s Throne

Dec 22, 2011 • By David Murray • 0 Comments

A large, dark shadow moved across the canvas. The heavily breathing figure paused outside. He pulled back the tent flap and the sun streamed in momentarily. Eyes re-adjusted and focused on the mysterious visitor.

“Good morning, my dearly beloved children. My name is Ben-Levi, and I am the High Priest of Israel. Thank you for inviting me to your Tabernacle class today. I hear from your teacher, Priest Elnathan, that you’ve almost completed the Tabernacle module. Isn’t it amazing how much the Tabernacle teaches us about the Messiah we long for? Most of my priests ask me to teach the Ark of the Covenant lesson because, as the High Priest, I alone am permitted to see the Ark. And even I am only allowed to see it once a year.

Now, because I know children like pictures, I’m going to draw the Ark with these root-dyes on this goatskin. Look at my brushes. They are made out of a horse tail which an old Bedouin sold me last year!” The children began to relax. The High Priest was so friendly and kind — not at all like they feared.

The Covenant
Ben-Levi wrote four large capital C’s on the goatskin. Beside the first C, Ben Levi wrote Covenant and underneath he drew two stone tablets. “Beloved children of Abraham, 40 years ago, at Sinai, Jehovah entered into a covenant with our ancestors. We have a record of this in the second book of Moses [Exodus], chapters 19-23. Sadly, many Israelites, past and present, see this as a legalistic covenant. They think that keeping the law contained in the covenant can save them. But — please listen hard, children — they forget that divine grace and divine provision formed the foundation of this covenant. Listen to these words that introduce the covenant:

You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.[i]

At the very beginning of the covenant, the stress is on all that Jehovah did for our nation when delivering us from Egypt. It is only after emphasizing the powerful divine initiative that Jehovah then sets forth the appropriate response of obedience.

Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to me above all people. [ii]

As if to underline this, even the Ten Commandments, which summarize God’s requirements, also begin with words of divine salvation:

‘I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.’[iii]

Please, please grasp this. Whatever else you get from this class, get this: the divine redemption brings into a divine relationship, which is kept happy and healthy by divine rules. So you could sum up the covenant in three words — redemption, relationship (‘I will be your God and you shall be my people’) and then rules (‘Therefore, you shall…you shall not…’).

“Not surprisingly, my dear young friends, these covenantal ideas — redemption, relationship, then rules — are prominent in the Covenant Ark. Indeed, we might say that it was so named because nowhere else in our national life are these covenant ideas so clearly expressed. The Ark is at the focus of the annual Day of Atonement; it is the highest expression of Jehovah’s presence with us and, as we shall see, it contains the laws that guide our relationship to Him.

“But, however wonderful this is, we must always remember that this is but a picture of something, or should I say, of someone, someone even greater than this Ark. I’m sure Priest Elnathan has been teaching you to look through the Tabernacle pictures to the coming Messiah pictured in the Tabernacle. We don’t know exactly how, but we have a hope that the Messiah will be a kind of living Covenant Ark – embodying divine redemption, relationship and rules.

The Chest
“The second C is Chest. Let me draw it. It’s a wooden box, covered with gold. It’s 4 ½ feet long, 2 ½ feet wide, and 2 ½ feet high. Inside it is a copy of the commandments God gave to our forefathers at Sinai. There are two other items in the box — Aaron’s rod (signifying priestly leadership during the wilderness wanderings) and a golden pot of manna (signifying God’s provision in the wilderness).

“The presence of the commandments in the Ark explains why Moses also called it ‘the ark of testimony.’[iv] The two tablets of stone testified to the holy nature of God and His demands upon us as a people. By always putting it at the front of our marching column we are saying that we will follow Jehovah’s testimony wherever and whenever it leads. It led us when the Jordan parted [v] and when the walls of Jericho disintegrated.[vi]

“And don’t you think then that our Messiah will do all this and more? Will He not have Jehovah’s perfect law in His perfect heart? Will He not testify in an even greater way to the holy nature of Jehovah and to His demands upon His people? Will He not go before His people? Will He not lead them through the wilderness of this world and across the Jordan into the promised land of heaven? Will He not bring down the walls and idols of His enemies? Oh yes, children, He will do all this and much, much more. Put your trust in Him, and in Him alone.

The Covering
“The sun is setting; I must hurry on. The third C is Covering. If all we had was just a chest with the law in it, there would be no encouragement for sinners like us to approach Jehovah. Witnessing to our guilt and proclaiming our condemnation, the law could only thunder, condemn, and terrify.

“But, there is a covering for the law! The law in the ark is covered with a golden lid, a slab of pure gold.[vii] Some priests call this covering or lid the ‘mercy-seat,’ which explains its function. However, the literal translation is simply ‘covering’ or ‘lid.’ Being the same size as the chest, it fits perfectly, completely hiding the law contained in it. And just to be sure, a golden rim encircled the edges of the ark to make sure that the lid stayed on.

“However, children, just hiding the law out of sight is not enough. The law of Jehovah needs to be satisfied. So, once a year, on the Day of Atonement, I enter the Most Holy Place alone and sprinkle the golden lid with the sacrificial blood of atonement, thus making the lid the ‘mercy-seat.’ For me, that golden lid is the most important item of furniture in the whole Tabernacle. I wish I could draw it better than this.

“On this golden, blood-spattered mercy-seat, Jehovah meets with us and communes with us.[viii] As such, it is His throne here on earth, a throne that speaks not only of Jehovah’s just demands, but also of His merciful provision. He is able to dwell among sinners because He sits on a blood-sprinkled throne of grace. On this throne, then, meet the most contrary forces: law and mercy, righteousness and peace, God and sinners.

“Oh, children, I can see more and more clearly, every time I go in to the Most Holy Place and every time I teach this subject, that the Messiah will be our golden lid, our blood-spattered golden lid, our mercy-seat. He will not only cover God’s demands upon sinners but also satisfy them. In Him will meet the most contrary forces: law and mercy, righteousness and peace, God and sinners. He will be our throne of grace to which we all can approach to find grace to help in time of need.

The Cherubim
“As usual, I have spoken too long and the poor cherubim —our fourth C — will have to be squeezed into a couple of minutes. Let me quickly draw them. On either side of the mercy-seat are two golden cherubim.[ix] Cherubim are usually associated with the administration of God’s justice. For example, they bare the flaming sword of vengeance and judgment in the aftermath of the first sin.[x] However, in the Most Holy Place, they are disarmed and their posture is not one of righteous hostility but of subdued wonder. They bow their heads as they gaze in holy contemplation upon the blood-stained golden mercy-seat covering the law of God. And, most amazingly of all, the empty, man-sized space above the mercy-seat and between the Cherubim is often filled by a symbol of the glory of God, the glory-cloud which we call the Shekinah (lit., the dwelling).

“Two quick lessons from this. First, we believe that the redemption of the church is a matter of research and study, wonder and amazement to the angels of God. Secondly, and gloriously, we believe that the Messiah will come to fill the man-sized space; that He will shine forth from between the Cherubim as the luminous and splendid glory of God.

“As you run home to your parents in the fading light, pray that He who dwells between the Cherubim would shine into your life.[xi] And as you fall on your knees tonight, remember the adoring Cherubim and join them as they adoringly ponder the mystery and the wonder of salvation for sinners such as yourself.”

Tune in tomorrow for the last episode of God’s Home.

[i] Exodus 19:1-4; [ii] Exodus 19:5; [iii] Exodus 20:1; [iv] Exodus 25:22; [v] Joshua 3; [vi] Joshua 6; [vii] Exodus 25:17– 21; [viii] Exodus 25:22; [ix] Exodus 25:18; [x] Genesis 3:24; [xi] Psalm 80:1

God’s Perfume

Dec 21, 2011 • By David Murray • 0 Comments

Time: March 1406 BC, 40 years after the Exodus.
Setting: The nation of Israel is encamped on the Plains of Moab, awaiting the order to enter the Promised Land.
Characters: Priest Elnathan, Trainee Priest Rueben, 10-year-old Jerusha, and her two parents, Baruch and Deborah.
Previous Episodes: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6.

Jerusha loved her priest, Elnathan. Every week she looked forward to his Tabernacle Class. She especially liked the way he used simple words and also tried to make each of the lesson points start with the same letter. She enjoyed the challenge of memorizing the points on her way home so that she could tell them to her family after supper each Saturday evening.

But today she couldn’t believe her ears. Elnathan introduced his lesson on the golden altar of incense by saying, “I have seven points all beginning with P.” How would she ever remember seven P’s! Elnathan read her mind, and said, “I’m sure some of you are thinking, ‘How will I ever remember seven P’s?’ Come close my beloved children and I will give you the secret formula. Here it is: Seven P’s – the palace is positioned on propitiation so that prayer will be a perfume of perpetual power.” Jerusha scribbled down the secret formula and wondered what it could possibly mean.

“First,” said Elnathan, “think of the Tabernacle as a palace. As you know, we have passed by many nations in our wilderness wanderings. Most of those nations have royal palaces for their kings. And if you walked through their palaces you would find candles, incense sticks, and slow-burning oils, filling the rooms with various fresh fragrances. These sweet aromas are expressions of honor and homage to their kings.

“As Jehovah is Israel’s King and as the Tabernacle is His Royal palace, the place He resides in, it is fitting that we should express our honor and pay our homage in a similar manner. So, in our Tabernacle, we have the golden altar of incense.

“And, remember, this earthly Tabernacle is but an example and shadow of heavenly things. Just think how many expressions of honor and homage must fill the heavenly Tabernacle of our King.

“O children let us constantly raise our minds from the stench of this God-defying world, and let us think upon and look forward to the sweet fragrance of a God-honouring heaven.

“Second, consider the golden altar’s position. As you know it is made of acacia wood, covered in gold, and crowned with a gold rim and four gold horns. It is about 1.5 feet square and 3 feet high. It is located in the Holy Place just before the veil of the Most Holy Place and the Ark of the Covenant, Jehovah’s throne. So, in contrast to the brass altar of burnt offering, which is here in the outer court, the golden altar of incense is ‘before the Lord,’ or ‘before the throne.’[i]

“And, children, like every other piece of Tabernacle furniture, this altar is a picture of the promised Messiah’s person and work. In particular it tells us that the Messiah will not only have a work on earth before men (the suffering pictured by the brass altar), but He will also have a work in heaven before the throne. We will talk more about this later, but I must say it greatly comforts me to think that the Messiah will not only come to earth for us, but will also be in heaven before the Lord for us.

“Third, we see here propitiation. You’ve probably not heard that word before, have you? To propitiate means to turn away God’s anger by sacrifice. The golden altar reminds us of the need for propitiation in various ways. The fire on this golden altar is kindled with the coals taken from the brass altar of burnt offering, where the sin offering is consumed.[ii] Also, the High Priest makes an atonement for the golden altar once every year on the Day of Atonement to cleanse and reconsecrate it.[iii] Further, the blood of the sin offerings is put on the horns of it.[iv] So, there is a very close connection between the brass altar and the golden altar, the work of the former being the basis for the work of the latter.

“Do you remember how Aaron’s ungodly sons, Nadab and Abihu, were judged by God because they offered strange fire before the Lord?[v] Some think that this was because their incense was not burned on fiery coals taken from the brass altar of atonement.[vi]

“My dear children, learn from this that propitiation must come before anything and everything. We cannot offer anything acceptable to God that has not been cleansed by blood. I think that this also suggests that the Messiah’s sacrificing work on earth for us will be the foundation of His work in heaven for us.

“Fourth, the incense is an emblem of prayer. When it is my turn to burn incense on the golden altar in the holy place, what is happening outside the curtain? Yes, that’s right, the prayer meeting is going on. Children, prayer is the true incense. Just as the smoke of the incense ascends heavenwards and Godwards so prayer rises up to God – not just our prayers but also the Messiah’s. What an encouragement to prayer!

“Fifth, think a little of the perfume. How does God describe the incense. It is “sweet.” It is “tempered together” which means that the ingredients were broken up and beaten small so that it mixes together well. It is “pure.” It is “most holy.”[vii] That doesn’t sound like a description of our prayers does it, children? Most of us feel that our prayers are the exact opposite – sour, disorganized, unclean and unholy. That brings us again to our future Messiah. Can we not hope that He will be the incense altar, that His prayers will be sweet, perfectly put together, pure and holy. And not only that, but prayers offered in His name will also be sweet and acceptable to God? That is certainly my hope as I fall on my knees each night.

“Sixth, this daily offering of incense is perpetual.[viii] It goes on and on. When it is my turn to offer the incense on the altar, the sweet fragrance lingers on me for days. Also, when the Tabernacle moves on, the coals and incense are carried separately so that the incense can continue ascending to heaven. Again this teaches us that we are to pray without ceasing, that we should have the fragrance of prayer about us every day. But above all it encourages us to think that the Messiah will ever live to make intercession for us.

“Seventh, we see power in the golden altar – in two ways. There are the four golden horns (which are biblical symbols for power) pointing to the north, south, east, and west. And there is the golden crown or rim (signifying royal power). This encourages us to think of the power of prayer – yes even of our prayers – but especially of the Messiah’s prayers for His worldwide Church. The golden crown suggests that the Messiah will pray as a powerful king. Children, let His powerful royal prayers support your weak beggar prayers.

“Now, does the secret formula make more sense? Let us end our lesson with prayer: Covenant Lord, we thank you for the golden altar of incense and all it teaches us about prayer, especially the Messiah’s prayers. And, although these children cannot see the golden altar, may they live to see the Messiah and hear His prayers. Look on the face of your Anointed.[ix] Amen.”

Jerusha ran back to her family tent repeating the secret formula again and again. She burst in the front door and said triumphantly: “Seven P’s: the palace is positioned on propitiation so that prayer will be a perfume of perpetual power.” “What are you talking about Jerusha?” asked Deborah, her surprised mother. It was then that Jerusha realized, remembering the points was the easy bit. Explaining what they meant – that was another matter…

Tune in tomorrow and Friday for the last two episodes of God’s Home.

[i] Leviticus 4:7; [ii] Leviticus 16:12, 13; Numbers 16:46; [iii] Exodus 30:10; Leviticus 16:18, 19; [iv] Leviticus 4:7,18; [v] Leviticus 10:1-2; [vi] Leviticus 10; [vii] Exodus 30:35; Leviticus 30:3, 7, 35; [viii] Exodus 30:8; [ix] Psalm 84:9

God’s Bread

Dec 9, 2011 • By David Murray • 3 Comments

Time: March 1406 BC, 40 years after the Exodus.
Setting: The nation of Israel is encamped on the Plains of Moab, awaiting the order to enter the Promised Land.
Characters: Priest Elnathan, 10-year-old Jerusha, and her two parents, Baruch and Deborah.
Previous Episodes: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4.

Jerusha’s enthusiasm for the Tabernacle had spread among her friends. Priest Elnathan’s Tabernacle class had now grown to seven students. But today Priest Elnathan had some bad news for his students. The children had been enjoying the visual aids he had been using recently to teach them. They had lingered beside the brass altar and then the brass bath as he had explained the Messiah-centered meaning of these pieces of furniture. Today the children were looking forward to seeing what was in the Holy Place, the tented room in the middle of the Tabernacle. But, as he reached the curtained entrance, Elnathan turned around and said, “I’m sorry, children, but only the priests can go into the Holy Place. I can tell you what is in it, but I can’t take you inside.”

Disappointment spread across every face. But Elnathan knew from previous classes that this disappointment could be turned to his advantage. If there was one way to arouse children’s curiosity about something, it was to tell them they could not see it! So, as the children tried to squint between the curtains, Elnathan began to describe what was on the other side.

“My beloved students,” Elnathan began, “Although the outside of the tent looks very plain, the inside is very different. There, on the roof and walls, hang blue, purple, and scarlet curtains covered with beautifully embroidered, golden cherubim. There is no sound in this sacred place; silence reigns. A large, golden lamp casts its yellow light on a golden altar and a golden table. The table is 3 feet long, 18 inches broad, and 2 feet 3 inches high. Around the edge of the table are two handbreadth-high golden rims — they look like crowns and stop things from falling off the table. And what is on the table, children? Does anyone know?”

Just at that point, a group of twelve priests arrived. They were each carrying a large loaf of unleavened bread. Others carried bowls of wine.

One of the older children shot up his hand and asked, “Mr. Elnathan, do these loaves go on the table?” “That’s right, Benjamin,” Elnathan smiled. “On the table are twelve large loaves of unleavened bread, set out in two rows. Every Sabbath the priests put fresh bread on the table. But what does all this mean, children?” The children’s eyes widened as the priests passed through the curtain and into the Holy Place with their bread and bowls. They peered in, trying to catch a glimpse of this mysterious place. Elnathan had timed the lesson perfectly. He now had the children captivated with rapt attention. “My dear students, let me tell you about the ‘Four Fs.’”

For God
“First of all, this bread is for God. It is an offering from our nation to God.[i] Although this is only a small part of our crops and produce, we offer it as a sample of all we have, and so acknowledge that all we have is for God. Why twelve loaves? Well, they represent everyone in the twelve tribes. So, when the priests put the twelve loaves on the golden table and sprinkle them with the sweet rising fragrance of frankincense, we are acknowledging that we are all for God. We exist for Him and live to Him.

“Now, as you know, this bread has a special name. It is called ‘Shewbread,’ which means ‘the bread of presence.’ And, just as the shewbread is continually on show in His presence, so our twelve tribes are reminded that we too and we all are continually before Him. This theme of remembering is underlined by the frankincense, which is on the bread for ‘a memorial.’[ii] Its sweet fragrance rises up to heaven and reminds us that we are constantly in the heavenly presence of God.

“Some of you look a bit worried about always being in God’s presence. Maybe you should be! However, if you are living a life for God, the ‘bread of presence’ should actually bring you much comfort. Remember what is around the table? A protective crown of gold rims the table and makes sure that nothing falls off. My dear believing children, no man shall be able to pluck you out of the Lord’s hand.[iii] His presence is your protection.

“And, don’t forget, the Tabernacle and its furniture ultimately pictures the Messiah. He will be the Bread of Presence. When He comes, He will live with God and for God perfectly. I sometimes wonder if the fine flour we use to bake this bread tells us something about the Messiah. We sift it eleven times to make sure it is free from grit and imperfection. Could that tell us something about the Savior? And what about the bread being baked in a hot oven — does that contain any lessons? I don’t have all the answers, children. A day will come when these things will become clearer. May our gracious God hasten the day!”

From God
“But we must hurry on. Your parents will soon be here to pick you up. The second ‘F’ is from God. People in the nations beside us regularly bring produce to supply their kings’ tables. This is their way of acknowledging that their piece of land and its resulting produce is the king’s gift to them, as is the security and peace of the land.

“Likewise, by offering the shewbread to God, we are acknowledging that all our bread is from our heavenly King. We are returning to God what He has given us. We are saying that all our support and sustenance is from Him. The twelve loaves always in God’s presence signify that all twelve tribes are always dependent on Him.

“But, there is a spiritual lesson here, too, my little ones. Just as God provides for Israel’s physical needs, so He provides for the believer’s spiritual needs. And God’s ultimate provision for His people’s spiritual nourishment is the Messiah who will be ‘of and from God.’ Let us look in faith towards the bread of God who will come down from heaven, and give life to the world.[iv]

Fellowship with God
“Thirdly, the shewbread represents fellowship with God. As you know, our family tables are places of fellowship, places where our families gather to talk and share. But here we have a golden table, a symbol of royal fellowship. And it’s fitting, isn’t it, that in God’s royal palace and dwelling place there should be a royal table?

“Some of you are wondering why the priests are taking so long in there, aren’t you? Do you know what is keeping them? They are eating the old shewbread before replacing it with the new bread. This again underlines the link between fellowship and the shewbread. I love it when my name is on the roster to change the shewbread. My best times of spiritual fellowship have been in the Holy Place, eating the sacred bread of presence, drinking the wine from the bowls, and discussing the meaning of the bread, the wine, and the table with some of the older priests. I can’t wait until it’s my turn again!

“Are some of you thinking that it’s a bit unfair that only the priests are allowed this privilege? Well, you’ll be glad to know that the older priests believe that when the Messiah comes, all of God’s people will be priests, and they will all eat of the bread of God. What a table of love and fellowship that will be!”[v]

Future with God
“Finally, the shewbread speaks of the future with God. God’s gracious supply of physical and spiritual nourishment on earth encourages the believer to look forward to heaven, when he will eat and drink at Messiah’s table in His heavenly Temple. Is this not what we sing of in the Psalms, ‘In your presence is fullness of joy; at your right hand there are pleasures for evermore’?[vi]

“I see your parents at the door of the Tabernacle. But, before you run off, take down the following words and memorize them for next week.

‘How precious is your lovingkindness, O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of your wings. They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of your house, And you give them drink from the river of your pleasures. For with you is the fountain of life; In your light we see light..’[vii]

“And…there is a prize for anyone who can tell me how many pieces of Tabernacle furniture are hinted at in these words!

“Let us conclude with prayer: Our heavenly Provider, we thank you for all your provision for our physical and spiritual needs. We thank you for the shewbread which reminds us of the source of all our bread on earth, and which makes us long for the bread of God to come down from heaven. Please give us deeper and wider and longer fellowship with you on earth. And increase our desires for eternal fellowship with you in heaven. Look on the face of your Anointed and hear our prayers. Amen.”

Tune in next week for the remaining four episodes of God’s Home.

[i] Leviticus 24:9, [ii] Leviticus 24:7, [iii] John 10:29, [iv] John 6:33, [v] Luke 22:19-22, [vi] Psalm 16:11, [vii] Psalm 36:7-9

God’s Fireplace

Dec 7, 2011 • By David Murray • 0 Comments

Time: March 1406 BC, 40 years after the Exodus.
Setting: The nation of Israel is encamped on the Plains of Moab, awaiting the order to enter the Promised Land.
Characters: Priest Elnathan, 10-year-old Jerusha, and her two parents, Baruch and Deborah.
Previous Episodes: Part 1, Part 2.

Jerusha had waited a long time for this moment — her first visit to the Tabernacle with her father, Baruch. She had heard so much about it from her parents and from the friendly priest who visited them every week to talk and pray with the family. She had seen its distant smoke above the camp during the day and the strange glow in the distance at night. When the wind came from the west, she could even smell some of the burning animals. Now the long-promised day had arrived.

Baruch and little Jerusha quickly covered the few miles from their tent on the camp’s outskirts to the Tabernacle at the center. As they entered the outer court, Jerusha saw a sight she would never ever forget — a big, black, blazing altar. She could feel the heat even from the Tabernacle door. She was so overwhelmed by the sights, the sounds, and the smells that she suddenly forgot all she had been taught by her parents and her priest. Her mind blanked. “Father, what…what…what’s that?” she stammered.

Baruch had suspected this would happen and was prepared. He had arranged for their priest to meet them at the altar this morning to explain it all to her in a simple way. And there he was, Priest Elnathan. “Good morning, Baruch. And my dear Jerusha, welcome to the Tabernacle — God’s picture gallery. As you can appreciate, there is too much to see in one visit; I thought that today we would simply look at one of these pictures of truth — this big brass altar. Do you remember the three S’s I taught you about the altar? No? Don’t worry, that happens to most children on their first visit. Let me remind you. The three S’s are: sanctification, support, and salvation.”

Sanctification
“Sanctification is a big word, isn’t it, Jerusha? What does it mean? Well, it can mean two things. First, it describes how God removes the weeds of sin and waters the seeds of grace in the believer’s soul. But it can also mean ‘set apart’ or ‘consecrated.’ For example, when I became a priest, I was ‘sanctified.’ Now, that does not mean I was made sinless — I wish it did! No, it meant that I was taken away from common and everyday work, and dedicated, or set apart, to God’s service. This is what we mean when we say, ‘The altar sanctifies the gift.’[i] Our sacrifices and offerings are sanctified by the altar. They are made acceptable and effective through contact with the altar. Without that contact, they would have had no value whatsoever. You might ask, what gives the altar this power? Is it magic? No. It’s mainly because God simply says it is so. But it might also be related to how it’s made. Underneath the brass is shittim wood from the acacia tree. This is the most beautiful and valuable wood in the world. Some call it incorruptible wood because it does not rot. So, our sacrifices are made beautiful and holy and acceptable when offered on this altar because God says so, and because they come into contact with something beautiful, holy, and incorruptible.

“But, precious Jerusha, remember this altar is only a picture of truth. Like every picture, it should make us want to see what is pictured. And do you know what is pictured here? It is the future Messiah. He is the real altar behind this picture altar. We don’t know everything there is to know about Him yet. But what the picture teaches us is that ‘whatever touches the altar shall be holy.’ Only through Him can our gifts and sacrifices be accepted. Every song, prayer, sermon, and service must be sanctified by contact with His beautiful, valuable, and incorruptible person.

Support
“The second ‘S’ is support. As well as sanctifying the sacrifice, the altar supports it. You will notice, Jerusha, that the altar is covered with brass, a metal that is associated with strength and endurance. In its hollow middle is a brass grate, which sustains and supports the sacrifice while the fire eats it up. Being made of brass, the altar and the grating are strong and firm enough to endure the constant blazing fire and burning heat until the sacrifice is completely burned up.

“Look at the fire, Jerusha. You wouldn’t last long if you fell in there, would you? That fire burns every day and every night, yet the altar is never burned up. Some of our older priests believe that this pictures the amazing strength of the coming Messiah. They say that when He comes, He will bear the burning wrath of God as He offers Himself, the ultimate sacrifice for sin, and yet He Himself will not be burned up. He will be like this altar — able to support the sacrifice for sin, able to lift it up from earth to heaven, until the sacrifice is consumed. I am inclined more and more to agree with these experienced, old men. They’ve been studying these things and praying over them for longer than I have. Jerusha, wouldn’t you love to be alive when our Messiah comes, when these pictures will come alive? When the altar will come alive! What a great day that will be!

Salvation
“I see you are getting tired. Let me give you the last ‘S’— salvation. The altar teaches us about the importance of salvation. Do you see how this altar dominates the Tabernacle? It was the first thing you saw when you came through the entrance, wasn’t it? It overshadows everything else. It is about eight feet wide, eight feet long, and five feet high. You can’t get anywhere else in the Tabernacle without passing it. Our national life centers upon it. Daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, and festival sacrifices are made on it. By all these things, God is telling us that salvation from sin is the most important thing in the world. Our whole lives must center upon it and revolve around it. Jerusha, this is far more important than friends or play or school. The Messiah must be the most important person in your life — even more important than your mother or father.

“The brass altar also teaches us the uniqueness of salvation. How many sacrificial altars has God authorized, Jerusha? Yes, that’s right, only one. You must remember that, especially when you enter Canaan. There you may meet people who say that there are many ways to God. Please remember, Jerusha, that there is only one divinely authorized altar. God has appointed and approved of only one way of salvation. There is no other way to God, except through the Messiah who is pictured in this altar. There is no other name under heaven by which anyone can be saved.[ii]

“Lastly, the brass altar teaches us about the power of salvation. What do you see on the four corners, Jerusha? Horns! That’s right, one on each corner. The animals with the largest horns are usually the strongest. That’s why God often uses horns as symbols of strength. So here God is calling to the four corners of the earth, ‘Come to my powerful altar for a powerful salvation.’ That’s Israel’s role in the world, Jerusha. We are to call the nations to the one true God and the mighty salvation He offers through the coming Savior. We have an altar![iii]

“Anyway, you look very tired. There is an awful lot to take in, isn’t there? You have seen plenty to keep you thinking for many days. Talk to your father about the altar, and seek out the fellowship of God’s people. Above all, speak of the altar to God in your prayers, and ask Him to show you the Savior and the way of salvation He has pictured here. And, as He is revealed to you, whether suddenly or slowly, put your whole faith and confidence in Him and in Him alone. We will talk again.”

Tomorrow: Part 4 – God’s Bath

[i] Exodus 29:37; Matthew 23:19
[ii] Acts 4:12
[iii] Hebrews 13:10

The world’s largest visual aid

Dec 5, 2011 • By David Murray • 4 Comments

Time: March 1406 BC, 40 years after the Exodus.
Setting: The nation of Israel is encamped on the Plains of Moab, awaiting the order to enter the Promised Land.
Characters: Priest Elnathan, 10-year-old Jerusha, and her two parents, Baruch and Deborah.

“Jerusha, my dear young student, you have been blessed with godly parents who have taught you about the God of Israel. But imagine going to a primitive people with little or no education and with little or no knowledge of God. How would you begin to teach them the way of salvation? What lessons would you begin with? What teaching methods would you use?” queried Priest Elnathan.

“Eh… I’d teach them the Bible,” suggested Jerusha.

Priest Elnathan looked over at Jerusha’s parents, Baruch and Deborah, who were trying to stifle their smiles.

“To make things even more difficult,” added Priest Elnathan, “imagine there was no Bible available, not even one book of Scripture. What would you do in that situation? Then, as if you were not facing enough problems, you find out that there are over two million people to teach, they live in a desert, and they are constantly on the move.

“That’s impossible!” exclaimed Jerusha. “You can’t teach all these people if you don’t even have a Bible.”

“Well, yes, Jerusha. It’s impossible for us, but not for God. For with God all things are possible. Deborah, you love history. Tell Jerusha a little of our nation’s history.”

“Well,” began Deborah, “God faced exactly this situation, this seemingly impossible situation, when we came out of Egypt about 40 years ago and camped in the desert at Mount Sinai. There were two million of us – mostly uneducated and spiritually ‘Egyptianized.’ And we did not have one book of Scripture between us! Genesis had not even been written yet. What was the Lord’s solution to this ‘impossibility’? It was, ‘Make me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them.’’[i]

“Yes, God started a building project!” interrupted Baruch, Jerusha’s father. “He ordered the construction of the Tabernacle and its furniture to serve as a huge ‘visual aid,’ probably the world’s largest ever visual aid! These ‘holy places made with hands,’ were ‘figures of the true,’[ii] or ‘pictures of truth.’ God pictured the truth to preach the truth. This divine method of teaching is sometimes called ‘typology,’ or more simply ‘pictures of truth.’”

Priest Elnathan stepped in and said, “Jerusha, today I’m going to teach you four lessons about these pictures. And soon you will see the pictures for yourself.”

“I can hardly wait, Priest Elnathan. It’s tomorrow I go to the Tabernacle, isn’t it?”

“No, Jerusha. I’m sorry to disappoint you,” said Priest Elnathan. “It’s next week we go. Unless Joshua gives the command to pack up and move from the Plains of Moab into the Promised Land, next Thursday I will teach you one last lesson, just to review and summarize all we’ve been learning. And the day after that is Tabernacle day.”

Jerusha looked sadly at her mother.

“I told you,” said Deborah. “You have to be a bit more patient. Now listen to the Priest.”

Simple Picture
“Jerusha,” said Priest Elnathan, “If you asked your Father, ‘What is Egypt like?’ your Father wouldn’t read you every line and word on the thousands of Nile Library scrolls that describe that powerful nation’s geography, would he? No. He would sit you down and draw a simple sand-picture of that country. Mountains here, big river there, pyramids everywhere, etc! He would show rather than tell. The sand-drawing does not say everything there is to say about Egypt, but it does say something – something that is true, understandable, and memorable. By putting it in simple picture form, your Father communicates truth in a far more effective way than thousands of scrolls would in this situation.

“Your Father told me a few weeks ago that you asked him “Father, what is God?” That’s when your Father came to me and asked me to get you ready for your first Tabernacle visit. I said to him, ‘Baruch, this is a wonderful moment in every Israelite Father’s life. When our children ask the most important question of all, isn’t it wonderful that we can say to them, ‘Hold my hand and I’ll take you to God’s Tent. There I will show you what God is like.’

“God’s Tent, the Tabernacle, does not tell us everything there is to say about God, but it says something – something that is true, understandable, and memorable. It is really Israel’s first ‘Bible.’ As such, it shows us God and His way of salvation in a series of simple, stepping-stone pictures.

Important Picture
“But, though the Tabernacle has simple pictures, they are also very important pictures. Jerusha, your Father gets the Weekly Camp News doesn’t he? Yes, I thought he was on the delivery rota. When that scroll arrives, what does he do?”

Jerusha thought for a moment. “He always seems to read the long stories first.”

“Yes, that’s right. But why?”

Jerusha was stumped. “I don’t know.”

“Let me tell you,” said Priest Elnathan. “Your Father reads the long stories first because these are the most important stories. There are other stories in the scroll, and they are important, but not as important as the ones with the most writing. The Camp News editor decides what is most important and we trust him to make the right choices.

“When we pick up our Bibles, we know that all its contents are important. But we may also ask, ‘What is especially important?’ One way of deciding this is by looking at how much space is given to the various stories. For example, the creation of the world has about two chapters. That’s clearly important. But, how many chapters are given to the Tabernacle? Half of Exodus and all of Leviticus are devoted to it. What is the ‘Editor’ saying to us? He is saying, ‘This is very, very, very important. This is one of the chief ways I reveal Myself.’ Indeed, God reveals far more of Himself through the Tabernacle than through the creation. And, if we trust the ‘Editor,’ our preaching, teaching, and witnessing would reflect that far more.

Theological Picture
“Now, do you remember the main question we ask when we walk around the Tabernacle?”

“Yes, I do,” Jerusha responded. “What does this teach me about God?”

“That’s right. The Tabernacle’s furniture, and its rituals, are like painted theological pictures.[iii] These ‘figures of the true’ are God-centered ‘pictures of truth.’ That’s why anyone who wants to know what God is like spends many hours in the Tabernacle. When you go there next week, you will see people walking around with a priest to answer their questions about these pictures of truth. You will also see like-minded seekers discussing and fellowshipping together around the big bronze altar.

“God recognized that theological truth (truth about God) in sentence form would be very difficult for us Israelites to grasp. So, He gave us theological truth in sense form. He gave us things we can see, hear, touch, smell, and taste. And every touch, sight, sound, smell, and even taste conveys truth about God’s character, especially His mercy and grace. This is the most vital truth to grasp about the Tabernacle. It sets forth, in picture form, the only way of salvation. And Jerusha, remember, remember, remember: no Israelite was ever saved by making the Tabernacle, serving in the Tabernacle, or trusting in the Tabernacle. The Tabernacle never saved anyone. What it pictures does! And what does it picture?”

“The coming Messiah!” Jerusha shouted.

Prophetic Picture
“Yes! That’s right. I love your enthusiasm, my young friend. But – and this is a big but – although the Tabernacle reveals much about God and His way of salvation, there is also something unsatisfying about it.[iv] God designed the Tabernacle in such a way that, while it taught much, it also taught that there was much more to learn. That’s why, while the Tabernacle does reveal God and His salvation to us, it also creates a longing and a hope for an even greater future revelation of God and His way of salvation.

So, the Tabernacle serves the present, but also points to the future. It pictures truth for the present, but also predicts more truth for the future. Wherever we look in the Tabernacle, our response should be, ‘That’s a great truth, but there is a greater revelation of that truth to come. God has shown the way of salvation, but there is a more glorious manifestation of salvation to come.’ Jerusha, an even greater Tabernacle of God will yet appear that will fully satisfy all our longings. God will tabernacle among us, full of grace and truth.” [v]

“Oh, Priest Elnathan,” exclaimed Jerusha, “I hope I’m alive to see that Tabernacle.”

Tomorrow: Part 2 – God’s Tent.

[i] Exodus 25:8
[ii] Hebrews 9:24
[iii] Hebrews 8:5
[iv] Hebrews 9:8
[v] John 1:14

God’s Face

Oct 24, 2011 • By David Murray • 5 Comments

A couple of weeks ago a friend asked me to do some Puritan Pods on how to preach Christ from Old Testament passages that were not obviously Christ-centered. So, bravely rising to the challenge, here are a few minutes of my thoughts on how to preach Christ from 2 Chronicles 7v14 :

If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves, and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

I don’t usually write out a full manuscript, but here’s what you might call a 75% manuscript (the main substance of my sermon) and here is my summary note, that I re-read a few times just before preaching.

Email and RSS readers may have to click through here to view the video.

Preaching Christ from Redemptive History

May 7, 2011 • By David Murray • 0 Comments

Here’s the pdf and audio (here and here) of my lectures on the strengths and weaknesses of redemptive-historical preaching. I also propose Jonathan Edwards as the ideal model of redemptive-historical preaching; someone who sees Christ not just in the big picture but in the small pictures, not just in the last chapter but in every chapter of redemptive history.

For more lectures in the series, click on the “Preaching Christ from OT” tab below.

Christ tried on the clothes of his incarnation

May 6, 2011 • By David Murray • 0 Comments

Yesterday we looked at the biblical presuppositions we need to hold if we are to understand and profit from Christ’s Old Testament appearances. Today, we will highlight four lessons that these appearances teach us.

1. The appearances reveal constant activity
As the Angel of the Lord, Christ was continually at work throughout the Old Testament – revealing (Ex. 3), redeeming (1 Kings 19:35), covenanting (Gen. 15:8-21), interceding (Zech. 12:1-13), protecting (Ps. 34:7), comforting (Gen. 16:7-13), commissioning (Judg. 6:11-23), judging (1 Chron. 21:1, 14-15), etc. John Walvoord sums it up.

The combined testimony of these passages portrays the Son of God as exceedingly active in the Old Testament, dealing with sin, providing for those in need, guiding in the path of the will of God, protecting His people from their enemies and, in general, executing the providence of God. The references make plain that this ministry is not occasional or exceptional but rather the common and continual ministry of God to His people. The revelation of the person of the Son of God thus afforded is in complete harmony with the New Testament revelation.[1]

According to Anthony Hanson, the New Testament writers central affirmation “is that the preexistent Jesus was present in much of Old Testament history, and that therefore it is not a question of tracing types in the Old Testament for New Testament events, but rather of tracing the activity of the same Jesus in the old and new dispensations.”[2] Hanson argues that wherever the Septuagint reads kurios, Paul reads Christ, and he criticizes the following statement by C. H. Dodd as both too sweeping and too tame. Dodd said:

Wherever the term kurios, Lord, is applied to Jehovah in the OT. Paul seems to hold that it points forward to the coming revelation of God in the Lord Jesus Christ.[3]

This statement is too sweeping because Paul does not always follow this rule (Rom. 9:28). It is too tame, says Hanson, because, for Paul, kurios does not only point forward to Christ, but actually claims Christ present as Lord in the Old Testament. Irenaeus, one of the early Church fathers wrote of the Son’s constant Old Testament activity:

The Scripture is full of the Son of God’s appearing: sometimes to talk and eat with Abraham, at other times to instruct Noah about the measures of the ark; at another time to seek Adam; at another time to bring down judgment upon Sodom; then again, to direct Jacob in the way; and again, to converse with Moses out of the bush.[4]

2. The appearances diminish as the Word increases
The appearances of the Son are especially prominent in the early part of redemptive history, and then gradually diminish with the passage of time. Why? Partly because as revelations of the written Word increased, revelations of the pre-incarnate Word were less necessary. But the rarer and rarer appearances also created a growing longing in God’s people for a fuller and longer-lasting revelation of the Son on earth. And that brings us to our third reason.

3. The appearances prepare the Church for Christ
Alec Motyer wrote that “the anthropomorphic stresses of the Old Testament climax in the supreme anthropomorphism, the incarnation.”[5] This is referring to the frequent figurative references to God having eyes, ears, mouth, etc. Whether or not that is true, it is certainly true that by these repeated appearances of the Son of God in human form, the church of Christ was prepared for His arrival in human flesh. Michael Barrett argues that these appearances “helped to generate the theological mindset that expected and anticipated the visible manifestation of God.”[6]

Charles Drew graphically illustrates how these appearances of the Son aroused love and longing in His people’s hearts:

Lovers cannot bear to be apart. Phone calls and long letters do not satisfy the longing to be together; they only intensify it. The Old Testament appearances of the eternal Son are like those phone calls and letters. They are temporary, incomplete, and distant, designed to awaken in us a longing for God’s permanent, intimate, full, and gracious appearing in the Incarnation.[7]

4. The appearances prepared Christ for his saving work
As well as preparing the Church and giving believers a foretaste of the Messiah’s mission, the Christophanies also prepared Christ and gave Him a foretaste, an appetizer of His own messianic mission. He had a foretaste of His prophetic ministry by delivering God’s messages to needy humanity (Gen. 16:10). What delight He had in delivering these messages of hope and assurance and in seeing the response of the recipients. He had a foretaste of His priestly ministry by His glorious presence in the Tabernacle and by His ascending to heaven in the flames of Manoah’s sacrifice (Judg. 13:19-20). He had a foretaste of His kingly ministry by judging the heathen (Gen. 19), and by leading and ruling His people (Ex. 23:20-23). So, in the Old Testament, we see Christ longing to fully take up His roles of prophet, priest, and king. Arthur Pink said:

He graciously adopted such methods to indicate how much he longed for the fullness of time when he should put away their sins and bring in an everlasting righteousness for them.[8]

The pre-incarnate appearances of Christ have been portrayed as expressions of holy impatience. They give an insight into the earnest desire of Christ to be involved with the sons of men. As the old Christians in the Scottish Highlands used to say to me, “Christ was enjoying trying on the clothes of his incarnation.”

For further study, see the DVD and Study Guide series on the Angel of the Lord from HeadHeartHand Media.
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[1] John F. Walvoord, Jesus Christ Our Lord (Chicago: Moody Press, 1969), p. 53.
[2] Anthony T. Hanson, Jesus Christ in the Old Testament (London SPCK, 1965), 172.
[3] Charles H. Dodd, Romans (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1942).
[4] Irenaeus, quoted in Richard Watson, Evidences, Doctrines, Morals and Institutions of Christianity, (New York: T. Mason and G. Lane, 1836), 1:501
[5] Alec Motyer, Look to the Rock (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel, 1996), 78.
[6] Michael Barrett, Beginning at Moses, 154.
[7] Charles D. Drew, The Ancient Love Song (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R, 2000), 28.
[8] Arthur W. Pink, Gleanings in Joshua, (Moody Press), 143.

What was Jesus doing in the OT?

May 5, 2011 • By David Murray • 1 Comment

What was Jesus doing throughout the 4,000 years of Old Testament history? Was He just idling His time away while waiting for His incarnation? Did He have no interest in or involvement with Old Testament believers? Of course he did. In fact, on numerous occasions, He broke into Old Testament history by way of Theophanies (“God-appearances”), also called Christophanies (“Christ-appearances”). These were appearances of the Son of God in human form, or some other symbolic form.

Today I’d like to introduce the biblical assumptions that must undergird our study of these Old Testament appearances of the Son of God. Tomorrow, we will look at some of the lessons we can learn from the appearances themselves. But first, the biblical presuppositions.

1. The Son of God is the eternal Son of God
As the second person of the Godhead, equal in power and glory with the Father and the Holy Spirit, the Son of God is identified with all God’s purposes, messages, and actions. Therefore, when we are preaching from any of God’s Old Testament thoughts, words and deeds, we may legitimately infer the association and identification of Christ with them. He was not just a silent, detached observer throughout the Old Testament.

Also, specific Old Testament actions are ascribed to the Son in particular. For example, the Son of God had a special role in the creation of the world (John 1:3; Col. 1:16; Heb. 1:2), and also in “holding together” that creation afterwards (Col. 1:17, Heb. 1:3). Therefore, when preaching on creation, or on the laws found in nature, and the suspension of them (e.g. in the Old Testament miracles), we may preach Christ’s role in such Old Testament passages.

2. The Son of God is the usual way God speaks to humanity
God communicates with sinners through both general and special revelation. General revelation describes the universal communication of divine truth through creation, providence (Rom. 1:19-20), and conscience (Rom. 2:13-15). General revelation cannot save, as it cannot reveal the Savior – only our need of Him.

Special revelation is the more selective communication of divine truth through visions, dreams, voices, etc., much of which has been written down in the Bible by the process of inspiration. Special revelation has a saving purpose, as it reveals not only our need of a Savior, but also God’s provision of one.

The Son of God is the communicator of God’s special revelation. Behind every vision, dream, voice, and every word of Scripture was the Son of God. This is why He is called the eternal Word (John 1:1,14). He has always been God’s chosen communicator of special revelation, sometimes via the Holy Spirit, to humanity. He has always been the one mediator between God and man, even before He assumed human flesh. God has never spoken directly to mankind, but only and ever through the Son. John Calvin wrote:

Holy men of old knew God only by beholding him in his Son as in a mirror (cf. 2 Cor. 3:18). When I say this, I mean that God has never manifested himself to men in any other way than through the Son, that is, his sole wisdom, light, and truth. From this fountain Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and others drank all that they had of heavenly teaching. From the same fountain, all the prophets have also drawn every heavenly oracle that they have given forth.[1]

Some have concluded from Hebrews 1:1-2, that God only started to speak to humanity through His Son when He came to this world. However, these verses are not saying that until God sent his Son into the world, the Son did not speak to us. Rather, the Apostle is contrasting the indirect way the Son spoke to us through the prophets in the Old Testament, with the direct way He spoke to us in His earthly life.

Another possible objection is the baptism of Christ (Matt. 3:17), where the Father’s voice was heard. This is one of the very rare exceptions to the rule of God’s normal way of working, probably due to the unprecedented and unrepeatable occasion of Christ beginning His public ministry. The exceptional nature of some other similar occasions can also be easily proved. But these rare exceptions do not undermine the biblical presupposition we began with: the Son of God is the usual way God speaks to humanity (Update: see here for another helpful explanation of these “exceptions”).

So, we can preach Christ from the Old Testament, by highlighting that it is His Word; it was He who communicated it from God to man. The Old Testament is as much Christ’s message to us as the New Testament. As the Apostle John wrote: “The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy” (Rev. 19:10).

3. The Son of God is the usual way God appears to humanity
Just as the Son of God is the usual way God speaks to humanity, so also the Son of God is the usual way God appears to humanity. As no man can see God the Father and live (Ex. 33:20), no one has seen Him at any time. Rather, the Son makes Him known safely (John 1:18).

We must, therefore, conclude that every appearance of God in the Old Testament was the Son of God, the pre-incarnate Christ. This is confirmed by John 12:38-41, which expressly identifies the appearance of God in Isaiah 6:1 as the Son of God.

The form of the divine appearance varied – sometimes it was in angelic form, sometimes in human form, sometimes in the form of fire, etc. But each time it was the Son of God who was appearing. Not only was the second person of the Godhead the audible voice of God, but He was also the visible face of God, the Father and the Spirit remaining invisible to man. He is the way Moses saw “him who is invisible” (Heb. 11:27). Jonathan Edwards explained:

And therefore, when we read in sacred history what God did from time to time towards his church and people, and what he said to them, and how he revealed himself to them, we are to understand it especially of the second Person of the Trinity. When we read of God’s appearing after the Fall, from time to time, in some visible form or outward symbol of his presence, we are ordinarily, if not universally, to understand it of the second Person of the Trinity…He is therefore called, ‘the image of the invisible God’ (Col. 1:15), intimating, that though God the Father be invisible, yet Christ is his image or representation, by which He is seen, or by which the church of God hath often had a representation of him that is not invisible, and in particular that Christ has after appeared in a human form.[2]

The early Church Father, Tertullian, put it like this:

It was the Son who judged men from the beginning, destroying that lofty tower, and confounding their languages, punishing the whole world with a flood of waters, and raining fire and brimstone upon Sodom and Gomorrah, the Lord pouring it down from the Lord: for he always descended to hold converse with men, from Adam even to the patriarchs and prophets, in visions, in dreams, in mirrors, in dark sentences, always preparing his way from the beginning: neither was it possible, that God who conversed with men upon earth, could be any other than that Word which was to be made flesh.[3]

Again the only exception to this was at that unique event of Christ’s baptism when “the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove” (Luke 3:22).

4. The Son of God is the Angel of the Lord
The term “Angel of the LORD” occurs 59x in the Old Testament, and “Angel of God” occurs 9x. The word translated “angel” in our Bibles means “a messenger” in both the Greek and the Hebrew. Angels, then, are primarily God’s messengers, sent forth by Him to minister to the heirs of salvation (Heb. 1:14). However, there would appear to be a special Angel who appears from time to time in the Old Testament, an Angel who is given divine titles, performs divine functions, and accepts divine worship. In the light of our previous discussion, we must conclude that this Angel is the pre-incarnate Christ, God’s special Angel, or messenger, for special people at special times. Malachi, who used angelic or messenger language to predict the coming of the incarnate Christ, confirms this (Mal. 3:1; Luke 7:27).

This Angel, the Son of God, was sent to reveal God and can equally say with the incarnate Christ, “He that has seen me, has seen the Father” (John 14:9). Also, like the incarnate Christ, the Angel of the Lord is the brightness of the Father’s glory, the express image of his person (Heb. 1:3). Hengstenberg wrote:

Wherever appearances of Jehovah are mentioned, we must conceive of them as effected by the mediation of His Angel. There is no substantial difference betwixt the passages in which Jehovah himself is mentioned, and those in which the Angel of Jehovah is spoken of. They serve to supplement and explain one another.[4]

To prove that this visible and audible “Angel of the Lord” was the pre-incarnate Christ, we need only prove the Angel’s deity. If the Angel was divine, he was the Son of God. For, as we have seen above, God was only made audible or visible through the Son of God. Here are six proofs of this Angel’s deity.

(i) He claims divine authority: He speaks as only God can (Gen. 16:10) and swears by Himself (Gen. 22:15-16),

(ii) He is a distinct divine person: At times He is identified with Jehovah. There are other times, though, where there is a clear differentiation, to highlight the distinct individual persons of the Godhead (2 Sam. 24:16; Zech. 1:12)

(iii) He exhibits divine attributes: For example, Hagar realized that this Angel had an omniscient awareness of her personal circumstances: her name, occupation, and location (Gen. 16:7-8). He also knew her current status of being pregnant, the gender of the child, and even directed the selection of his personal name (16:11). Consequently, she designates Him as “the God who sees” (Gen. 16:13)

(iv) He performs divine actions: He utters curses of divine judgment (Jdg. 5:23), judges and destroys sinners (2 Kings 19:35), redeems sinners (Gen. 48:15-16)

(v) He receives divine homage: God says that the Angel is to be treated as God (Ex. 23:20-21). He receives sacrifice from Gideon (Judg. 6:20-21), and is there called Jehovah Shalom, the LORD is peace (v. 24).

(vi) He is identified as God: The literal translation of Hagar’s words in Gen. 16:13 is, “Then she called (the) name of the Lord, the one speaking to her ‘You (are) (the) God of appearance’ for she said ‘Have even I seen here after (the) one who sees me?’” In Genesis 22, the Angel of the Lord and the Lord are spoken of as one and the same person (Gen. 22:12, 15-16). In Genesis 31:13 the Angel identifies Himself as God (Gen. 31:13). Manoah confirms this identification (Jdg. 13:21-22)

Charles Hodge points out the uniqueness of this Angel:

If this were a casual matter, if in one or two instances the messenger spoke in the name of him who sent him, we might assume that the person thus designated was an ordinary angel or minister of God. But when this is a pervading representation of the Bible; when we find that these terms are applied, not first to one, and then to another angel indiscriminately, but to one particular angel; that the person so designated is also called the Son of God, the Mighty God; that the work attributed to him is elsewhere attributed to God himself; and that in the New Testament, this manifested Jehovah, who led his people under the Old Testament economy, is declared to be the Son of God, the λογος, who was manifested in the flesh, it becomes certain that by the angel of Jehovah in the early books of Scripture, we are to understand a divine person, distinct from the Father. [5]

So, as this Angel is God, and as God usually reveals Himself through His Son, we must conclude that this Angel is the pre-incarnate Son of God in angelic or human form. And in answer to our question, the Son of God was very busy throughout the Old Testament. We’ll look at what that tells us about Him tomorrow.

For further study, see the DVD and Study Guide series on the Angel of the Lord from HeadHeartHand Media.
________________________________

[1] John Calvin, Inst. 4.8.5

[2] Jonathan Edwards, The History of Redemption (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 2003), 23.

[3] Tertullian, quoted in Richard Watson, Evidences, Doctrines, Morals and Institutions of Christianity, (New York: T. Mason and G. Lane, 1836), 1:501.

[4] Ernst W. Hengstenberg, Christology of the Old Testament (Florida: Macdonald Publishing, 1854) 82.

[5] Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Originally Published 1872. (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997), 1:485.

Preaching Christ from the Covenants

Mar 18, 2011 • By David Murray • 0 Comments

Here’s another lecture (audio and pdf) from my “Preaching Christ in the Old Testament” class at PRTS. In this lecture we look at 8 themes shared by the five Old Testament covenants and the New Covenant:

1. The Sin
2. The Start
3. The Sacrifice
4. The Speech
5. The Sign
6. The Scope
7. The Steward
8. The Sharing

We also look at seven unique features of the New Covenant:

1. New Universality
2. New Personality
3. New Clarity
4. New Immediacy
5. New Efficacy
6. New Spirituality
7. New Finality

You can find the previous lectures by clicking on the “Preaching Christ from OT” tab below.

Preaching Christ from the Law

Mar 10, 2011 • By David Murray • 0 Comments

Here’s another lecture (audio and pdf) from my “Preaching Christ in the Old Testament” class at PRTS. In this lecture I suggest ten ways to preach Christ from the Law.

1. An Exhibition of Christ’s Character
2. An Exposition of Christ’s Life
3. An Example of Christ’s Teaching
4. An Examination in Christ’s Light
5. An Explanation of Christ’s Death
6. The Extent of Christ’s Salvation
7. The Execution of Christ’s Justice
8. The Enjoyment of Christ’s Presence
9. An Entrance into Christ’s Home
10. The Exaltation of Christ’s Glory

You can find the previous lectures by clicking on the “Preaching Christ from OT” tab below.

Typology: A step-by-step guide

Mar 1, 2011 • By David Murray • 0 Comments

Here’s the pdf and audio (here and here) of my lecture on Typology: Preaching Christ from His Pictures. I try to provide a step-by-step guide to preparing a sermon on the Old Testament types. For previous lectures in this series, click on “Preaching Christ from OT” tab below.

Preaching Christ from His Prophets

Feb 14, 2011 • By David Murray • 0 Comments

In the last three lectures on Preaching Christ from the Old Testament we covered four topics:

1. The Ministry of the Prophets
2. The Men who were Prophets
3. The Mechanics of preaching the Prophets
4. The Message of the Prophets

Audio here and pdf here. For previous lectures, click on “Preaching Christ from OT” tab below.

Preaching Christ from the Old Testament

Feb 7, 2011 • By David Murray • 2 Comments

Here’s the audio of the first two weeks of lectures in my Preaching Christ from the Old Testament Course at PRTS. And here’s a pdf of the lectures.

Informing Minds. Moving Hearts. Directing Hands.