Bully's Blog

Doug Wilson writes:

“The Levitical administration brought strong curses for disobedience (Heb. 2:2-3); the New Covenant administration brings much greater curses (Heb. 10:29; Heb. 12:25). Christians commonly assume that the really terrifying curses for disobedience were given in the Old Testament, and that under the New Testament all is grace. But this is precisely the opposite of the New Testament’s teaching on the subject” (To a Thousand Generations, pp. 28-29).

This is certainly a side of the New Covenant that Christians are never taught. The first time I ever heard of it was in David Chilton’s Revelation commentary The Days of Vengeance in 1989. But along with baptism (just had to throw that in), a rediscovery of the Old Covenant hammer makes everything in the New Covenant look like a nail. The Revelation is, after all, a book about the end of the Old Covenant.

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There is great advantage in tracking the shape of God’s work in history through the Old Testament. This is because God is consistent. Everything He does has the same shape, even though He does it in new and surprising (and sometimes devastating) ways.

One of the big handles in Scripture is the five-fold Covenant pattern, described by Ray Sutton in his book, “That You May Prosper: Dominion by Covenant.” Continue reading

Here’s the contents of The Covenant Key. A bit gratuitous, but it may help some to see the logic in the arrangement before reading it.

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In his ground-breaking and fascinating The Handwriting on the Wall, [1] James Jordan writes:

God intends to teach Nebuchadnezzar what true wisdom is, by giving him advisors who have genuine knowledge of good and evil, men who call evil “evil” and good “good” (Isaiah 5:20–21). In Daniel 2-5, we shall repeatedly see the false wisdom of the Chaldeans fail, and the true wisdom of God’s people triumph.

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Have been chewing on Covenant renewal in Communion a lot. I’m starting to think the emphasis on the Table is not so much nourishment as resurrection and commission under oath.

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Doug Wilson writes:

“When it comes to child-rearing, between the Old and New Testaments there is total and complete continuity on the subject of godly parenting. There is no discontinuity. It needs to be emphasized again that there is continuity in the promises of God with regard to parenting. Not surprisingly, this has ramifications for the subject of infant baptism” (To a Thousand Generations, p. 10).

I am currently reading this book. Lots of good stuff in there, even for a Baptist. BUT…

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and The Bible’s Genome Stability

The third stanza of Matthew 28.

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[Part 1 is here.] Here’s the next matrix cycle in Matthew 28:

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Psalm 11 seems a simple one to break down. As usual, once the structure is parsed, the author’s allusions are allowed to shine. The odd progression of the subject matter of the song suddenly makes sense. Now, remember we are dealing with poetry. All those silly rules you learnt at Bible college don’t apply. But all those good rules you learnt in English class do apply. The context is the Covenant, and Covenant breakers, and all the allusions are drawn from the history of the Covenant so far. It all takes place inside the tent of God and the Land of God, because that is where judgment begins.

Genesis – Creation – Day 1 – Sabbath
In the LORD (Transcendence)
…..I put my trust; (Hierarchy)
……….How can you say to my soul, (Ethics)
…..“Flee as a bird (Sanctions)
to your mountain”? (Continuity)

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Kellen Carroll, a friend of commenter Greg Fields, has had a look at John 17 with the Bible Matrix.

“My pastor has been going through the book of John for the past six years or so. We just recently finished chapter 17, at the same time I came to the section in Totus Christus where you mentioned the Covenantal Treaty.

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