Apr
11
2009
![4kingdoms 4kingdoms](http://www.bullartistry.com.au/wp/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/4kingdoms.jpg)
It was always God’s plan that Israel have a human king:
“When you come to the land which the LORD your God is giving you, and possess it and dwell in it, and say, ‘I will set a king over me like all the nations that are around me,’ you shall surely set a king over you whom the LORD your God chooses; one from among your brethren you shall set as king over you; you may not set a foreigner over you, who is not your brother.” Deut. 17:14-15
Like Adam, this dominion would only come by obedience: by servanthood to God and faithful mediatory witness to the Gentiles. But like Adam, they seized dominion and demanded “a king like the Gentiles.” With Saul, they had a king who palled around with Agag of Amalek whom Moses commanded to wipe from the face of the earth.
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Comments Off | tags: Abimelech, Amalek, Babylon, Covenant Theology, Daniel, Exile, James Jordan, Malachi, Mordecai, Temple, Zechariah | posted in Biblical Theology, The Restoration Era
Apr
10
2009
A recurring pattern throughout the Bible is this one: Called, Divided, Filled and Reunited.
We see it in the exodus. The Hebrews are divided from Egypt through a divided sacrifice and a divided sea (blood and water). In the wilderness, Israel is betrothed to God by Covenant, and fed with miraculous bread. An enormous haul of grapes brings a promise of wine, but they aren’t ready for it.* After a generation, Israel is no longer just a people but an army. She has been ‘filled.’ Through another crossing of water and blood (Jordan and Jericho), she is finally united to her Husband in the promised land.
God always divides, fills and reunites. Creation consisted of three days of dividing and three days of filling the 3 new ‘chambers.’ God divided Adam to construct Eve.
In Communion, the bread and wine are given separately. Christ’s body is dividedfrom His blood. We are filled, and His body and blood are reunited in us. As we partake, we, Greater Eve, fulfill His resurrection as a holy army (Ez. 37; John 12:24).
*We see this pattern in the garden of Eden, with a bread tree (priest) and wine tree (king). Adam wasn’t ready for the wine of kingdom. It would be another generation, Noah’s, who would drink wine before God in a new land.
Comments Off | tags: Communion, Covenant Theology, Noah, Typology | posted in Biblical Theology
Apr
10
2009
Why are females baptized?
The Bible begins with the entire physical creation in view and works its way down through a Covenantal ‘world’—Adam-Israel (the blood of circumcision)—to Jesus, in whom the entire old world is slain and resurrected. The Bible then works its way out again through a Covenantal ‘world’—Eve-Israel (the water of baptism)—to a totally redeemed physical creation at its end.
Comments Off | tags: Baptism, Covenant Theology | posted in Biblical Theology