Exodus 16 in 2 Corinthians 8

It's another of those 'Not sure I'd have used the OT in quite that way, Paul' passages. And with an interesting twist. A number of things are possibly worthy of comment:

i. He does not give the Exodus text a Christological focus. While all the OT speaks of Jesus, it doesn't (or so it seems) only speak of him. It can be framed to teach NT believers quite directly.

ii. In Paul's use of Exodus 16:17,18 in 2 Corinthians 8:13-15, he aligns the experience of Israel in the wilderness with the church at Corinth. He isn't so much using fulfilment language as equating the two experiences. There is a proper continuity between the two communities.

iii. But there is a twist. In Exodus 16, the implication seems to be that people didn't pick too much or too little, even though it might have seemed that they had. Somehow - and the text could almost be taken to imply God's direct intervention - they all found that they had just the amount they needed. How will such need be met in Corinth and elsewhere? Through the generosity of God's people - those with more than enough will give to those who have too little, and in that way there will be parity.

Is Paul implying that this is what actually happened in Exodus 16, that he is seeing beneath the text to an implication that may not be clear at first sight? Or is he aligning the two experiences in such a way as to suggest that, whilst God may have directly intervened in the past and could still choose to do so today, the real emphasis lies on his people sharing the generous nature of God and taking steps to ensure their brothers and sisters are provided for? Perhaps his use of 'as it is written' is designed to show that there always was intended to be progression from an Exodus 16 type of situation, to the sort of action he is advocating. In which case, it raises the possibility of similar use of the OT in other places.

Maybe.

being authentic

This piece wasn't written for pastors but it contains wisdom that is eminently transferable.

a hundredfold: patriarchal blessing

Isaac inherited God's promises to Abraham. In Genesis 26:12 we're told that he planted crops and in that same year "reaped a hundredfold because YHWH blessed him".

When Jesus spoke of the fruitfulness of his word in people's lives, he spoke of it multiplying thirty, sixty or even a hundred times.

Maybe he had in mind God's blessing of the patriarchs and his promises to them, now coming true through his transforming word.

At Jacob's well

Jesus asks for a drink from a woman. She then takes his offer of living water to the townspeople who also come to believe that he is 'the Saviour of the world'.

Way back in Genesis, Abraham's servant asked a young woman for a drink at a well. Later on, again at a well, Jacob drew water for a young woman's flock.

Maybe we're meant see feel the resonances. A woman deeply mired in shame will share the blessisngs of Rebekah and Rachel. A town of despised Samaritans will share the blessings of Abraham - not through the purity of their lineage but through faith in the Messiah.

messiah & his people: incorporation; representation

In Psalm 28:8 there is a great example of synthetic parallelism that brings out the connection between the people and the Lord's anointed one (Heb. מָשִׁיחַ; mashiakh). "YHWH is the strength of his people, a fortress of salvation for his anointed one."

He is their strength and a fortress for his Messiah. The two are bound together; what the LORD is to the King, he is to the people. He represents them and they are incorporated into him.

You get similar ideas in Psalm 84:9 and in Psalm 89:38ff, all preparing the way for the representative and incorporative language of the NT as it speaks of Messiah and his people.

the rule of faith: jesus the messiah

The claim of the NT writers was that

in light of the event of Jesus Christ, the Old Testament takes on new, unforseen significance. This depends on a very particular conviction about the identity of Jesus Christ. In the second century, Irenaeus had a nonbiblical term for it that nonetheless gets to the center of New Testament claims about Jesus: recapitulation. jesus was not just a great teacher, nor was he just God with limbs and a mouth. In Jesus, the whole history of Israel - and through Israel, humanity - was recapitulated, or lived again. But this time the one who was true Israel and true human being did not take the path of the first Adam. As the second Adam, Christ was the righteous one, the perfect human covenant partner. But this perfect covenant partner was also the Word incarnate, the one in whom the fulness of the deity dwelt. If the New Testament writers really believe claims like this about Jesus, then it is logical to apply any Old Testament passage related to the true end of Israel, humanity, and the new work of God that is hoped for in the future to one person Jesus Christ.

If the New Testament writers saw Christ as the key to Scripture, should we as followers of Christ do any different? The idea that Jesus is the road we travel on the journey of biblical interpretation has very deep biblical and christological roots.

J Todd Billings, The Word of God for the People of God: An Entryway to the Theological Interpretation of Scripture, Eerdmans 2010

the great albums (2) - kind of blue

Years ago I'd have been stunned to think I would include a jazz album in a list like this - it just wasn't on my horizon at all. But my defences were slowly taken down by exposure to Humphrey Lyttleton's Best of Jazz on Radio 2 and then this album made me realise I'd turned the corner; decisively so.

I think the motivation for picking-up a copy of Kind of Blue, Miles Davis' masterpiece, was down to it being enthusiastically recommended by Chris Rea. I'm not sure I understand all that's going on in music like this but I really love this album. I wish I could explain it more coherently but I can't.

It just blows so cool.

the kindle app: so easy (and cheaper, too)

If you don't have a Kindle (and I, for one, don't know anyone who has) yet you do have an iPod Touch or an iPhone (and there are hordes of you out there) then the Kindle app for the iPhone is really rather good. It's so easy to get hold of a book - and sometimes (maybe often) cheaper, too. Oh yes, there's a free app for Windows PCs too. So you're not restricted to reading on the small (but entirely adequate) iPhone screen.

Take this one example. Todd Billings' book The Word of God for the People of God looks really interesting. The UK price on Amazon is £11.99. It can be had from Amazon.com for $12.99 but that's extra postage. But on Kindle it's $14.09, which is about £8.75. And delivered to my iPod in seconds.

Brilliant.

little by little

I found this post by Mike Rohde really helpful - I'm trying to take the same approach to reading big books (well, any books actually) - a little bit every day and, lo and behold, one day you get there.

But what I also liked was the emphasis on enjoying the little bit that you're doing. In the past I've been tempted to despise the enormity of the whole task which then translates into something of a dislike of the process involved. I can see now that that need not be.

And what a great sketch, too!

sulk: crazed hysteria

Friday nights are often punctuated by new discoveries on spotify; this week is an album by The Associates that spills 1982 into the air with unerring accuracy - just check out the album cover for starters.

I remember the singles - Party Fears Two in particular - they were odd, club-based songs and not my natural milieu. But something always made me want to listen to Sulk; I think something about them intrigued me.

Well, now I can and it's perplexing, rewarding, unsettling and more. Fascinating. One review said, "Extravagant yet haunted by doubt." Precisely.

lewis: the nearness of god

The relation between Creator and creature is, of course, unique, and cannot be paralleled by any relations between one creature and another. God is both further from us, and nearer to us, than any other being. He is further from us because the sheer difference between that which has It's principle of being in Itself and that to which being is communicated, is one compared with which the difference between an archangel and a worm is quite insignificant. He makes, we are made: He is original, we derivative. But at the same time, and for the same reason, the intimacy between God and even the meanest creature is closer than any that creatures can attain with one another. Our life is, at every moment, supplied by Him: our tiny, miraculous power of free will only operates on bodies which His continual energy keeps in existence - our very power to think is His power communicated to us. Such a unique relation can be apprehended only by analogies: from the various types of love known among creatures we reach an inadequate, but useful, conception of God's love for man.

C S Lewis, The Problem of Pain, p.33

psalm 21 - messiah reigns

The king rejoices in your strength, YHWH.
How great is his joy in the victories you give!

2 You have granted him his heart's desire
and have not withheld the request of his lips.

3 You came to greet him with rich blessings
and placed a crown of pure gold on his head.

4 He asked you for life, and you gave it to him—
length of days, for ever and ever.

5 Through the victories you gave, his glory is great;
you have bestowed on him splendor and majesty.

6 Surely you have granted him unending blessings
and made him glad with the joy of your presence.

7 For the king trusts in YHWH;
through the unfailing love of the Most High
he will not be shaken.

8 Your hand will lay hold on all your enemies;
your right hand will seize your foes.

9 When you appear for battle,
you will burn them up as in a blazing furnace.
YHWH will swallow them up in his wrath,
and his fire will consume them.

10 You will destroy their descendants from the earth,
their posterity from the human race.

11 Though they plot evil against you
and devise wicked schemes, they cannot succeed.

12 You will make them turn their backs
when you aim at them with drawn bow.

13 Be exalted in your strength, YHWH;
we will sing and praise your might.

excuses/uses

I was just thinking that maybe what really matters is not how much reading material I get through per se but how much thinking that reading leads to.

marked

I have no wish to
mark this day,
as though your loss was
confined because you
were coffined and
dissolved, beyond view,
all your days lost
and erased.
And so a day needs
to be raised to
resurrect you to
sight?

This is simply a
marker in the sands
of sorrow, a flag
hoisted to an unforgiving
sky. I cannot bear its
sight, and yet I'm the one
who chooses to raise it.
You'd know why.

You'd know why
I've kept it all
under wraps,
staunched the flow
and choked-off the
flood.
And in burying beyond
sight, the pain,
the unremitting
sorrow, I know
I've shown myself
your son.

You've left your mark;
deeper than you ever
knew.


(for Mam)

are we a gospel-church?

A great piece by Ray Ortlund.

I especially appreciated the wisdom and challenge of these words:

A major part of pastoral ministry is preaching the doctrines of grace and managing an environment of grace. The latter is harder to accomplish than the former. It is more intuitive. It requires more humility and self-awareness.

(HT: Justin Taylor.)

neil young: dreamin' man

Just spotted this recently-released Neil Young live album on Spotify, Dreamin' Man Live '92.

What a treat; the old man in full-bloom. It's the more reflective, acoustic Neil (in fact, it's a live version of the Harvest Moon album, albeit with a different track order).

A perfect Friday evening chill-out.

(If you want a cheap introduction to Neil, Amazon have his re-mastered album, Harvest, available for download at the moment for 69p)

augustine: interpreting scripture

3 paragraphs from his commentary on genesis

37. In matters that are obscure and far beyond our vision, even in such as we may find treated in Holy Scripture, different Interpretations are sometimes possible without prejudice to the faith we have received. In such a case, we should not rush in headlong and so firmly take our stand on one side that, if further progress in the search of truth justly undermines this position, we too fall with it. That would be to battle not for the teaching of Holy Scripture but for our own, wishing its teaching to conform to ours, whereas we ought to wish ours to conform to that of Sacred Scripture.


38. Let us suppose that in explaining the words, “And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and light was made,” one man thinks that it was material light that was made, and another that it was spiritual. As to the actual existence of “spiritual light” in a spiritual creature, our faith leaves no doubt; as to the existence of material light, celestial or supercelestial, even existing before the heavens, a light which could have been followed by night, there will be nothing in such a supposition contrary to the faith until un-erring truth gives the lie to it. And if that should happen, this teaching was never in Holy Scripture but was an opinion pro-posed by man in his ignorance. On the other hand, if reason should prove that this opinion is unquestionably true, it will still be uncertain whether this sense was intended by the sacred writer when he used the words quoted above, or whether he meant something else no less true. And if the general drift of the passage shows that the sacred writer did not intend this teaching, the other, which he did intend, will not thereby be false; indeed, it will be true and more worth knowing. On the other hand, if the tenor of the words of Scripture does not militate against our taking this teaching as the mind of the writer, we shall still have to enquire whether he could not have meant something else besides. And if we find that he could have meant something else also, it will not be clear which of the two meanings he intended. And there is no difficulty if he is thought to have wished both interpretations if both are supported by clear indications in the context.

39. Usually, even a non-Christian knows something about the earth, the heavens, and the other elements of this world, about the motion and orbit of the stars and even their size and relative positions, about the predictable eclipses of the sun and moon, the cycles of the years and the seasons, about the kinds of animals, shrubs, stones, and so forth, and this knowledge he holds to as being certain from reason and experience. Now, it is a disgraceful and dangerous thing for an infidel to hear a Christian, presumably giving the meaning of Holy Scripture, talking non-sense on these topics; and we should take all means to prevent such an embarrassing situation, in which people show up vast ignorance in a Christian and laugh it to scorn. The shame is not so much that an ignorant individual is derided, but that people outside the household of the faith think our sacred writers held such opinions, and, to the great loss of those for whose salvation we toil, the writers of our Scripture are criticized and rejected as unlearned men. If they find a Christian mistaken in a field which they themselves know well and hear him maintaining his foolish opinions about our books, how are they going to believe those books in matters concerning the resurrection of the dead, the hope of eternal life, and the kingdom of heaven, when they think their pages are full of falsehoods on facts which they themselves have learnt from experience and the light of reason? Reckless and incompetent expounders of holy Scripture bring untold trouble and sorrow on their wiser brethren when they are caught in one of their mischievous false opinions and are taken to task by those who are not bound by the authority of our sacred books. For then, to defend their utterly foolish and obviously untrue statements, they will try to call upon Holy Scripture for proof and even recite from memory many passages which they think support their position, although “they understand neither what they say nor the things about which they make assertion.”

keller: the big questions

Some really stimulating stuff here from TK.

As a taster, here's his 3rd point:

3. The new non-western Global Christianity. The demographic center of Christian gravity has already shifted from the west to Asia, Latin America, and Africa. The rising urban churches of China may be particularly influential in the future. But the west still has the educational institutions, the money, and a great deal of power.

What should the relationship of the older western churches be to the new non-western church? How can we use our assets to serve them in ways that are not paternalistic? How can we learn from them in more than perfunctory ways?

second-hand books

Strangely, I don't normally buy them (and that isn't implying I get them by other, more devious means). But today I have - 3 of them.

REO White - A Guide To Pastoral Care
D Bonhoeffer - The Cost Of Discipleship
D Bonhoeffer - Creation and Temptation (nb: that link is to a book that only contains the first half of the book I bought)

I'll need to be careful it doesn't become a habit.

not sure what

all the BUZZ is about?

This might help.