What is Biblical Theology? (review)

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What is Biblical Theology? (review) *Biblical theology is an attempt to read every passage in light of the WHOLE biblical storyline. It is reading EVERY passage with the BIG STORY in mind. Four approaches to biblical theology: 1. Biblical theology of individual books 2. Biblical theology of themes or concepts 3. Biblical theology of typology (similar events/persons) 4. Biblical theology of NT use of OT 2

Biblical Theology of the Exodus theme 3

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

Overview of the Exodus Theme Previews of the Exodus (Gen. 12; 15; 20:1-18; 26:1-16) The Exodus Event Exodus Patterns New Exodus Prophesied New Exodus Old Testament New Testament 5

Previews of the Exodus (Genesis) The book of Genesis anticipates (and foreshadows) the later Exodus event in several ways: James Hamilton: The idea [here] is that having experienced the exodus from Egypt and the Sinai covenant, Moses noticed similar events in the traditions he had received about Abraham. Understanding the significance of the parallels, Moses chose to include them; then framed and presented them to highlight the ways that Abraham s experience foreshadowed the exodus from Egypt (With the Clouds of Heaven, 225). 6

Parallels between Abraham s life and the Exodus event: Genesis 12:10-20 10 Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land. 11 When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, I know that you are a woman beautiful in appearance, 12 and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, This is his wife. Then they will kill me, but they will let you live. 13 Say you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that my life may be spared for your sake. 14 When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. 15 And when the princes of Pharaoh saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house. 16 And for her sake he dealt well with Abram; and he had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels. 17 But the Lord afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram's wife. 18 So Pharaoh called Abram and said, What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? 19 Why did you say, She is my sister, so that I took her for my wife? Now then, here is your wife; take her, and go. 20 And Pharaoh gave men orders concerning him, and they sent him away with his wife and all that he had. 7

Several similarities to notice: 1. Abram went down to Egypt because of a famine (as Israel would later do Gen. 41:54; 46:1-3) 2. Abram s wife was taken into captivity by Pharaoh (just like the sons of Israel would later be taken into captivity by the Egyptians Ex. 1:8-14) 3. YHWH visits plagues on Pharaoh to liberate Sarai (just like the LORD would visit plagues on Egypt to deliver them from slavery Ex. 7-12) 4. Abram is enriched by Pharaoh s possessions, v. 16 (just like Israel would plunder the riches of Egypt upon their deliverance Ex. 11:2-3; 12:35-36). 5. After being in Egypt, Abram left for the Promised Land (like Israel would later do after leaving Egypt). 8

Corroborating evidence: Genesis 15:1-20 1 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great. 2 But Abram said, O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus? 3 And Abram said, Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir. 4 And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir. 5 And he brought him outside and said, Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them. Then he said to him, So shall your offspring be. 6 And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness. 7 And he said to him, I am the Lord who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess. 8 But he said, O Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it? 9 He said to him, Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon. 10 And he brought him all these, cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other. But he did not cut the birds in half. 11 And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away. 12 As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him 17 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. 18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, 19 the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, 20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, 21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites. 9

Parallels between the Lord s covenant with Abraham and His later covenant with Israel: 1. After leaving Egypt, the LORD establishes a covenant with Abraham (Gen. 15:18) just like He established a covenant with Israel after they left Egypt (Ex. 20:1). 2. In both instances, the LORD speaks the same exact words, I am YHWH who brought you out (Gen. 15:7; Ex. 20:1). 3. God appears to Abraham in flame and smoke and thick darkness (Gen. 15:12,17) just like He later appeared to Israel in the same way (Ex. 19:16-18). 4. The Lord s covenant with Abraham was inaugurated with animal sacrifices (Gen. 15:9-10, 17) just like the Lord s covenant with Israel was initiated with animal sacrifices (Ex. 24:1-8). 10

The similarities between Abraham s life and the later events of the Exodus suggest that there is an intentional (God-designed) connection between the two accounts. *In other words, the events move from type to antitype : -- Abraham s exodus-type experience is the type (or pattern, preview, or picture) -- Israel s later Exodus out of Egypt is the antitype (or fulfillment) Abraham s experience foreshadows the later and greater experience of his descendants. But they are not the same in every way: 11

Some of the parallels are not exact matches. For instance, the oppression and enslavement of the nation differs somewhat from Pharaoh s seizure of Sarai. Nor is the order of events exactly the same, as Pharaoh gave gifs to Abram prior to the plagues, whereas the Israelites plundered Egypt before the final plague. These differences are not major, however, and they fit with the idea that historical correspondences are being recorded as opposed to literary parallels being contrived. That is to say, Moses and other biblical authors are not inventing similarities but noticing actual historical parallels which they take pains to include (James Hamilton, With the Clouds of Heaven, 226). *Typology is not allegory; it is not a one-to-one correspondence between EVERY detail of two events or accounts. 1. General correlation between an earlier event and later event 2. Heightened escalation in the later event (which exceeds the earlier event in significance). 12

Previews of the Exodus in Abraham s descendants Remember: the [biblical writers] rehearse what God has done in the past [in order to] shape the expectation that God will act the same way in the future. Exodus previewed in the life and experience of Abraham and his son: Abraham: Genesis 20:1-18 Isaac: Genesis 26:1-18 Exodus predicted to Abraham: Genesis 15:13-18 Then the Lord said to Abram, Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. 14 But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. 15 As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. 16 And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete. 13

Exodus prepared by the betrayal of Joseph and the sons of Israel in Egypt: Genesis 37-50 sets the stage for the book of Exodus. Jacob (Israel) has 12 sons; after they betray their brother Joseph they end up going to Egypt because of a severe famine. Genesis 47:27 says, Now Israel lived in the land of Egypt, in Goshen, and they acquired property in it and were fruitful and became very numerous. Even before their captivity, Joseph and the children of Israel remembered God s promise of a future Exodus: Joseph said to his brothers, I am about to die, but God will surely take care of you and bring you up from this land [Egypt] to the land which He promised on oath to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, God will surely take care of you, and you shall carry my bones up from here. So Joseph died at the age of one hundred and ten years; and he was embalmed and placed in a coffin in Egypt (Gen. 50:24-26). 14

The Exodus Event (Exodus) And these are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob, each with his household: 2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, 3 Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, 4 Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. 5 All the descendants of Jacob were seventy persons; Joseph was already in Egypt. 6 Then Joseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation. 7 But the people of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them. Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. 9 And he said to his people, Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. 10 Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and, if war breaks out, they join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land. 11 Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with heavy burdens.13 So they ruthlessly made the people of Israel work as slaves 14 and made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and brick, and in all kinds of work in the field. In all their work they ruthlessly made them work as slaves. 15

N.T. Wright identifies seven themes of the Exodus: 1. Wicked tyrant (Pharaoh) 2. Chosen leader (Moses, Exodus 2) 3. Victory of God (through 10 plagues, Exodus 7-12) 4. Rescue by sacrifice (the Passover Lamb, Exodus 11-13) 5. New Vocation/way of life (Mosaic Law, Ex. 19-20) 6. Presence of God (Glory-cloud; Tabernacle/Temple) 7. Promised Land/inherited Land (Joshua) 16

After the LORD rescued His people from Egypt, the Exodus became a watershed event in the history of Israel, one which shaped their worship, their prayers, and their teachings. Their Worship: Psalm 105 Oh give thanks to the LORD, call upon His name; Make known His deeds among the peoples. 5 Remember His wonders which He has done, His marvels and the judgments uttered by His mouth, 6 O seed of Abraham, His servant, O sons of Jacob, His chosen ones!... 23 Israel also came into Egypt; Thus Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham. 24 And He caused His people to be very fruitful, And made them stronger than their adversaries. He turned their heart to hate His people, To deal craftily with His servants. 26 He sent Moses His servant, And Aaron, whom He had chosen. 27 They performed His wondrous acts among them, And miracles in the land of Ham. 28 He sent darkness and made it dark; And they did not rebel against His words. 29 He turned their waters into blood And caused their fish to die. 30 Their land swarmed with frogs Even in the chambers of their kings. 31 He spoke, and there came a swarm of flies And gnats in all their territory. 32 He gave them hail for rain, And flaming fire in their land. 33 He struck down their vines also and their fig trees, And shattered the trees of their territory. 34 He spoke, and locusts came, And young locusts, even without number, 35 And ate up all vegetation in their land, And ate up the fruit of their ground. 36 He also struck down all the firstborn in their land, The first fruits of all their vigor. Then He brought them out with silver and gold, And among His tribes there was not one who stumbled. 38 Egypt was glad when they departed 45 Praise the Lord. 17

Their prayers: 2 Samuel 7:23 (A Prayer of David) And what one nation on the earth is like your people Israel, whom God went to redeem for Himself as a people and to make a great name for Himself, and to do a great thing for You and awesome things for Your land, before Your people who You have redeemed for Yourself from Egypt? Their theology: 1 Kings 8:5-21 (A Sermon of Solomon) 5 He said, Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who spoke with His mouth to my father David and has fulfilled it with His hand, saying, 16 Since the day that I brought My people Israel from Egypt, I did not choose a city out of all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house that My name might be there, but I chose David to be over My people Israel. 17 Now it was in the heart of my father David to build a house for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel. 18 But the LORD said to my father David, Because it was in your heart to build a house for My name, you did well that it was in your heart. 19 Nevertheless you shall not build the house, but your son who will be born to you, he will build the house for My name. 20 Now the LORD has fulfilled His word which He spoke; for I have risen in place of my father David and sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised, and have built the house for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel. 21 There I have set a place for the ark, in which is the covenant of the LORD, which He made with our fathers when He brought them from the land of Egypt. 18

As the preeminent saving event in their history (Deut. 4:32-40), the Exodus profoundly shaped Israel s social structures, calendars, remembrance of the ancient past, and hopes for future restoration (Rikki Watts). Israel s hopeful anticipation of a future restoration became more important in light of the exile. The exile was a reverse exodus : -- Israel (and Judah) were taken from their land -- They were taken into captivity -- Assyria and Babylon were like new Egypts *In light of the threat of exile (and in the midst of it), the OT writers of Scripture looked back to the Exodus as an encouraging reminder of God s covenant faithfulness and they also looked forward to an even greater Exodus to come when all people (not just Israel) would be rescued from a greater captivity (the bondage of sin). 19

(New) Exodus Patterns in the OT After the first Exodus (of Israel out of Egypt) there are several mini-exodus events that indicate that there will be yet another greater future exodus for God s people. Example: Nehemiah (c. 445 BC) Like Joseph (precursor to the first Exodus), Nehemiah was the King s cupbearer (Neh. 1:11) Like Joseph, Moses, Daniel, and Esther, Nehemiah was a Jew in a foreign land with access to the king (Neh. 2:1-8) Nehemiah made requests of the king that benefited the Jews and their land (like Moses did with Pharaoh). As with the hardening of the heart of Pharaoh, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia so that he released the people of Israel to go back to their land (Ez. 1:1; Neh. 2:7-8). Just like the children of Israel plundered the Egyptians in their departure, so the people of Israel rebuilt the Temple and walls of Jerusalem with foreign funds (Neh. 2:7-8; Ez. 1-6). The people of Israel were allowed to leave the land of captivity and return to the land of their forefathers (Neh. 7:73). 20

New Exodus Prophecies The OT prophets looked forward to a new and greater Exodus that God would one day accomplish for His people: Isaiah 11:11-16, Then it will happen on that day that the Lord will again recover the second time with His hand the remnant of His people they will possess Edom and Moab, and the sons of Ammon will be subject to them. And the LORD will utterly destroy the tongue of the Sea of Egypt; and He will wave His hand over the River with His scorching wind; and He will strike it into seven streams and make men walk over dry-shod. And there will be a highway from Assyria for the remnant of His people who will be left, just as there was for Israel in the day that they came up out of the land of Egypt. 12:1-2, Then you will say on that day the LORD God is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation (quote from Ex. 15:2). 21

Isaiah 51:9-11 Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD; Awake as in the days of old, the generations of long ago. Was it not You who cut Rahab in pieces, Who pierced the dragon? 10 Was it not You who dried up the sea, The waters of the great deep; Who made the depths of the sea a pathway For the redeemed to cross over? 11 So the ransomed of the LORD will return And come with joyful shouting to Zion, And everlasting joy will be on their heads. They will obtain gladness and joy, And sorrow and sighing will flee away. 22

Isaiah 63:7-14 I shall make mention of the lovingkindnesses of the LORD, the praises of the LORD, According to all that the LORD has granted us, And the great goodness toward the house of Israel 9 In all their affliction He was afflicted, And the angel of His presence saved them; In His love and in His mercy He redeemed them, And He lifted them and carried them all the days of old. 10 But they rebelled And grieved His Holy Spirit; Therefore He turned Himself to become their enemy, He fought against them. 11 Then His people remembered the days of old, of Moses. Where is He who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of His flock? Where is He who put His Holy Spirit in the midst of them, 12 Who caused His glorious arm to go at the right hand of Moses, Who divided the waters before them to make for Himself an everlasting name, 13 Who led them through the depths? Like the horse in the wilderness, they did not stumble; 14 As the cattle which go down into the valley, The Spirit of the LORD gave them rest. So You led Your people, To make for Yourself a glorious name You, O LORD, are our Father, Our Redeemer from of old is Your name. 17 Why, O LORD, do You cause us to stray from Your ways And harden our heart from fearing You? Return for the sake of Your servants, the tribes of Your heritage. 23

Jeremiah 16:14-21 14 Therefore behold, days are coming, declares the LORD, when it will no longer be said, As the LORD lives, who brought up the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt, 15 but, As the LORD lives, who brought up the sons of Israel from the land of the north and from all the countries where He had banished them. For I will restore them to their own land which I gave to their fathers. 16 Behold, I am going to send for many fishermen, declares the LORD, and they will fish for them; and afterwards I will send for many hunters, and they will hunt them from every mountain and every hill and from the clefts of the rocks. 17 For My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from My face, nor is their iniquity concealed from My eyes. 18 I will first doubly repay their iniquity and their sin, because they have polluted My land; they have filled My inheritance with the carcasses of their detestable idols and with their abominations. 19 O LORD, my strength and my stronghold, And my refuge in the day of distress, To You the nations will come From the ends of the earth and say, Our fathers have inherited nothing but falsehood, Futility and things of no profit. 20 Can man make gods for himself? Yet they are not gods! 21 Therefore behold, I am going to make them know This time I will make them know My power and My might; And they shall know that My name is the LORD. 24

Jeremiah 23:7-8 7 Therefore behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when they will no longer say, As the LORD lives, who brought up the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt, 8 but, As the LORD lives, who brought up and led back the descendants of the household of Israel from the north land and from all the countries where I had driven them. Then they will live on their own soil. *When the LORD accomplishes a New Exodus, then there will also be a Return from Exile (i.e. Israel s exile will be over). 25

Jeremiah 31:10-11 Hear the word of the LORD, O nations, And declare in the coastlands afar off, And say, He who scattered Israel will gather him And keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock. 11 For the LORD has ransomed Jacob And redeemed him from the hand of him who was stronger than he. 26

Jeremiah 31:31-34 31 Behold, days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them, declares the LORD. 33 But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD, I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 34 They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, Know the LORD, for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, declares the LORD, for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more. Quoted in Hebrews 8:7-13 27

Haggai 2:5-9 5 As for the promise which I made you when you came out of Egypt, My Spirit is abiding in your midst; do not fear! 6 For thus says the LORD of hosts, Once more in a little while, I am going to shake the heavens and the earth, the sea also and the dry land. 7 I will shake all the nations; and they will come with the wealth of all nations, and I will fill this house with glory, says the LORD of hosts. 8 The silver is Mine and the gold is Mine, declares the LORD of hosts. 9 The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former, says the LORD of hosts, and in this place I will give peace, declares the LORD of hosts. *God s future saving work will resemble (and surpass!) His past work there will be a New Exodus for the people of God. 28