Dec
3
2013
“John was not a court prophet but a man in skins, like Adam, representing both the goodness (covering) and severity (death) of God. John’s food and shelter, like his ministry, came directly from God, and was not the result of the wisdom of men.”
Matthew 10-15: HIERARCHY
The theme of the second major cycle of Matthew is the Hierarchy phase of the Covenant, which concerns the delegation of authority. This section contains seven cycles, a complete “week.” Identification of the structure answers some interesting questions concerning Jesus’ directives.
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Comments Off | tags: Covenant Theology, Herod, Herodias, John the Baptist, Literary Structure, Matthew | posted in Bible Matrix, Biblical Theology, The Last Days
Nov
29
2013
“…we tend to read the parables as if Jesus’ ministry is at the beginning of the parables… I’m suggesting that we think about Jesus coming at the end of the story instead.”
Peter Leithart puts Jesus’ parables where they belong — in the context of Israel’s history.
Parables thus teach us about God’s ways and help us to anticipate what happens next. Whenever a field is planted with wheat, whenever we see the word spreading out through the world, we can expect the devil to spread his own seed, and the two grow up until a harvest. These are mysteries of God’s dealings throughout the ages. By learning to interpret parables, God forms us into prophets who know the times and can see God’s trajectories.
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Comments Off | tags: Matthew, Peter Leithart | posted in Biblical Theology, The Last Days
Nov
28
2013
I guess this series should be called “A Structure of Matthew,” since there are so many interesting resources available. But of course, as usual, I reckon everyone else is wrong because the Bible Matrix is “the killer hermeneutic.” Ha! See what you think.
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Comments Off | tags: Covenant Theology, Literary Structure, Matthew | posted in Bible Matrix, Biblical Theology, The Last Days
Nov
26
2013
or Nailed to the Mast
Rachel Held Evans is a writer who likes the challenge of “asking tough questions about Christianity in the context of the Bible Belt” while consulting the howling void of modern culture for the answers. That is indeed a challenge. She takes Christians to task for referring to the de-Christianizing of Christmas as “persecution”, offering a helpful chart.
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Comments Off | tags: AD70, Christmas, Doug Wilson, Esther, Mordecai, Paul, Persecution | posted in Apologetics, Christian Life, Ethics, Quotes
Nov
21
2013
“Things ain’t cookin’ in my kitchen
Strange affliction wash over me
Julius Caesar and the Roman Empire
Couldn’t conquer the blue sky…” [1]
Today, the Australian government’s carbon tax repeal bills cleared Parliament’s lower house. They will be voted upon in the Senate next year. To see this reported as an act of climate vandalism by the media isn’t a surprise. What is surprising is the consternation of many Christians.
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5 comments | tags: Covenant Theology, Culture, Economics, Flood, Gary North, Genesis, Postmillennialism, Tas Walker | posted in Biblical Theology, Christian Life, Creation, Ethics
Nov
19
2013
Part III – The Feast of Clouds
“But Peter said, ‘I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you.”’ (Acts 3:6)
Israel consistently failed to keep the final feast, the Feast of Sukkot, because she took her calling to be elitist rather than priestly. She thought her calling, gifts and purification were for herself, rather than for the healing of the nations.
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Comments Off | tags: Acts, Babylon, Baptism, Covenant Theology, Daniel, Esther, Feasts, Lampstand, Paul, Pentecost, Tabernacles | posted in Bible Matrix, Biblical Theology, The Last Days, The Restoration Era
Nov
17
2013
Who are the dogs and pigs whom Jesus warns His hearers against in Matthew 7?
[This post has been refined and included in Sweet Counsel: Essays to Brighten the Eyes.]
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1 comment | tags: Communion, Covenant Theology, Lampstand, Matthew, Sermon on the Mount, Tabernacle | posted in Bible Matrix, Biblical Theology
Nov
16
2013
How to Fulfill the Law
“…men are enthroned as elohim (judicial ‘gods’) but not as God intended. Those who sit in the seat of Moses often lack his meekness before God, and their rule is like that of Lamech. Their seventy times seven ‘fulfilling of the Law’ is vengeance not forgiveness.”
We continue with the Deuteronomy section of Galatians, which has seven cycles. Paul moves from an Ascension/Firstfruits motif to an Testing/Pentecost motif. Being the center of this final group of cycles, and at the center of its Ethics cycles, here we have its turning point. The first half of this cycle is about sacrificial binding. The last half is about being loosed on account of the sacrifice.
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Comments Off | tags: Galatians, Literary Structure, Paul | posted in Bible Matrix, Biblical Theology, Christian Life, Ethics
Nov
11
2013
“The Lord’s Table is for dangerous people.”
If you are going to baptize infants, it makes sense that you would also allow them to take Communion. Baptism brings one into the priesthood (through the Laver) to the court of God, and Communion is fellowship in the priestly kingdom. To unite the two is consistent—as consistent as the two pillars flanking the threshold of Solomon’s Temple.
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Comments Off | tags: Baptism, Circumcision, Communion, Ecclesiology, Federal Vision, God's Kitchen, James Jordan, John, Lampstand, Passover, Sacraments, Tim Gallant | posted in Biblical Theology