‘Word for the Week: Whole Life, Whole Bible’, from London Institute for Contemporary Christianity, is a series of fifty emails designed to look at the main milestones of the biblical story, seeking to show how whole-life discipleship is woven through Scripture as a whole, from beginning to end. Here is the twentieth of the fifty emails.
The word came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah… ‘Because you have not listened to my words, I will summon all the peoples of the north and my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon,’ declares the LORD, ‘and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants and against all the surrounding nations. I will completely destroy them and make them an object of horror and scorn, and an everlasting ruin… This whole country will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years. But when the seventy years are fulfilled…’
Jeremiah 25:1, 8-9, 11-12
Destruction of cities, despoilation of land, deportation of people. Then, as now, whole nations are vulnerable to military defeat.
Jeremiah declares the end game of the slow decline of the southern kingdom of Judah (the northern kingdom having been laid waste 150 years earlier), with a series of invasions by Babylon, culminating in the death blow of 586 BC with the fall of Jerusalem, the destruction of the temple and royal palace, and the forced removal of much of the population.
Aside from the geographical dislocation and political breakdown, the exile was an upheaval that shook the foundations of the very existence of God’s people, calling into question major sources of significance – the land which God had promised Abraham; the throne of David which would last forever; the city of Zion which would never fall; the temple of the Lord, his dwelling-place, along with its priesthood and sacrificial apparatus – all reduced to rubble.
Small wonder that the exile forced deep reflection about matters of identity, grounds of hope, reasons for suffering, symbols of faith. What had gone wrong? Was the Lord too weak? Or had he he given up on his promises? Was there any future for them?
Small wonder, too, that the people responded in ways which disclose the intensity of the grieving experience: shock, anger, denial, guilt, nostalgia, acceptance. In fact, a substantial portion of Old Testament writings flow out of the exile, reflecting different dimensions, articulating different responses – cries of lament, curses against enemies, expressions of doubt, protests of innocence, pleas for forgiveness – all directed to God. And all of which declare that although judgment comes from him, it will not be his last word, that he remains committed to the covenant and his people.
It is sometimes said that churches today find themselves in a situation akin to ‘exile’, largely without privilege, no longer enjoying broad support, in an environment which is indifferent or hostile. But as Israel’s history demonstrates, in God’s providence, a time of exile can prove rich and fertile, where God’s people can live out an alternative lifestyle within the dominant culture, which doesn’t involve abandoning the culture. On the contrary, exiles who ‘seek the welfare of the city’ find their vocation in the here and now of the contemporary world, in the ‘secular’ sphere where the church must necessarily live. Christian identity and mission is forged in the crucible of exile.
For further reflection and action:
1. Read 2 Kings 25, the historical description of what is promised by Jeremiah.
2. ‘Cries of lament, curses against enemies, expressions of doubt, protests of innocence, pleas for forgiveness…’ When things go wrong, which response – if any – is your default mode, and why?
3. How would you assess the view that it is not the ‘monarchy in Jerusalem’ but the ‘exile in Babylon’ which should be the guiding model for contemporary Christians? Does ‘exile’ suggest a way of being the church that is more appropriate to the gospel?
4. Jeremiah’s letter to the exiles in chapter 29 calls on them to ‘seek the peace and prosperity of the city’ (29:7) to which they have been carried in exile. What might that look like for ‘exiles’ in the contemporary world? In what concrete ways might you be able do that today?
Monday, 17 August 2009
Sunday, 16 August 2009
John Stott on the Bible 3
John R.W. Stott, You Can Trust the Bible: Our Foundation for Belief and Obedience (Grand Rapids: Discovery House, 1991, first published in the UK by IVP in 1982 with the title The Bible: Book for Today).
See here for an introduction to the book.
See here for a summary of chapter 1, ‘God and the Bible’.
Chapter 2 is devoted to ‘Christ and the Bible’, for which Stott takes his cue from John 5:39-40…
‘You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you possess eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.’
… from which we learn two ‘profound and complementary truths about Christ and the Bible’ (25):
• The Scriptures bear witness to Christ
• Christ bears witness to the Scriptures
1. The Scriptures bear witness to Christ
The whole passage is concerned with testimony to Christ – not his self-testimony on this occasion (5:31), and not even the testimony of human beings, significant though John the Baptist is (5:32-34), but the testimony of the Father – the works the Father gave him to do (5:36) and the Father himself (5:37-38) – and the testimony of the Scriptures (5:39-40).
‘It was the consistent teaching of Jesus that Old Testament Scripture was God’s Word bearing witness to him’ (27), shown in John 8:56 and 5:46, Luke 4:21 and 24:27.
Jesus’ Jewish contemporaries diligently studied the Scriptures, imagining that they could give eternal life, ‘like getting a prescription from the doctor and then swallowing the prescription instead of getting and taking the medicine!’ (29). But there is no magic in the Bible or in reading it; rather, it points us to Jesus. We do not worship the Bible, but the Christ of the Bible.
Whenever we read the Bible, we look for Christ. The law is our ‘schoolmaster’ (Galatians 3:24, AV) which brings us to Christ; the sacrifices foreshadow his sacrifice; he is the promised king of David’s line, the seed of Abraham through whom all nations will be blessed, the suffering servant who will die for others, the Son of Man who comes on the clouds. He comes clearly into focus in the gospels, and the book of Acts tells us what he continued to do through his apostles; the letters set forth his person and work; and Revelation too is full of Christ.
2. Christ bears witness to the Scriptures
The Scriptures, says Jesus, are his father’s word (John 5:38), authenticating them as ‘possessing the authority of God’ (31). He authenticated Old and New Testament differently: ‘he looked back to the Old Testament, He looked on to the New Testament, but He authenticated them both’ (32).
• Jesus endorsed the Old Testament
Scripture is his Father’s word (John 5:38), which witnesses to him (John 5:39), and cannot be broken (John 10:35; cf. Matthew 5:17-18). Jesus submitted to it as the Father’s word, believed in its divine origin, interpreted his own mission in the light of its prophetic testimony, obeyed its moral injunctions (think of the temptations), made it the ground of appeal in his arguments with religious leaders. But, with him, the time of fulfilment had come (Mark 1:14-15), the era of anticipation over. It is thus ‘inconceivable that a Christian who looks to Jesus as his Teacher and Lord should have a lower view of the Old Testament than He had’ (34).
• Jesus made provision for the writing of the New Testament
Jesus chose apostles to be with him, hear his words and see his works, ‘and then bear witness out of what they had seen and heard’ (34). He also promised that the Holy Spirit would remind them of his teaching, supplementing it, and leading them into all truth (John 14:25-26; 16:12-13). The apostles, for their part, recognised the unique authority given to them (35-36), and the early church understood that after the apostles died they had moved into a post-apostolic era, when there was no longer anyone with the authority of a Paul or a Peter or a John. This was understood when it came for the New Testament canon to be fixed, with the test of apostolicity. ‘Had it [a book] been written by an apostle? If not, did it come from the circle of the apostles? Did it contain the teaching of the apostles? Did it have the imprimatur of the apostles?’ (37).
•••
In summary, ‘we believe the Scriptures because of Christ… our doctrine of Scripture is bound up with our loyalty to Jesus Christ’ (37-38), and ‘any preoccupation with the biblical text that does not lead to a stronger commitment to Jesus Christ, in faith, love, worship, and obedience, is seriously perverted’ (39).
See here for an introduction to the book.
See here for a summary of chapter 1, ‘God and the Bible’.
Chapter 2 is devoted to ‘Christ and the Bible’, for which Stott takes his cue from John 5:39-40…
‘You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you possess eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.’
… from which we learn two ‘profound and complementary truths about Christ and the Bible’ (25):
• The Scriptures bear witness to Christ
• Christ bears witness to the Scriptures
1. The Scriptures bear witness to Christ
The whole passage is concerned with testimony to Christ – not his self-testimony on this occasion (5:31), and not even the testimony of human beings, significant though John the Baptist is (5:32-34), but the testimony of the Father – the works the Father gave him to do (5:36) and the Father himself (5:37-38) – and the testimony of the Scriptures (5:39-40).
‘It was the consistent teaching of Jesus that Old Testament Scripture was God’s Word bearing witness to him’ (27), shown in John 8:56 and 5:46, Luke 4:21 and 24:27.
Jesus’ Jewish contemporaries diligently studied the Scriptures, imagining that they could give eternal life, ‘like getting a prescription from the doctor and then swallowing the prescription instead of getting and taking the medicine!’ (29). But there is no magic in the Bible or in reading it; rather, it points us to Jesus. We do not worship the Bible, but the Christ of the Bible.
Whenever we read the Bible, we look for Christ. The law is our ‘schoolmaster’ (Galatians 3:24, AV) which brings us to Christ; the sacrifices foreshadow his sacrifice; he is the promised king of David’s line, the seed of Abraham through whom all nations will be blessed, the suffering servant who will die for others, the Son of Man who comes on the clouds. He comes clearly into focus in the gospels, and the book of Acts tells us what he continued to do through his apostles; the letters set forth his person and work; and Revelation too is full of Christ.
2. Christ bears witness to the Scriptures
The Scriptures, says Jesus, are his father’s word (John 5:38), authenticating them as ‘possessing the authority of God’ (31). He authenticated Old and New Testament differently: ‘he looked back to the Old Testament, He looked on to the New Testament, but He authenticated them both’ (32).
• Jesus endorsed the Old Testament
Scripture is his Father’s word (John 5:38), which witnesses to him (John 5:39), and cannot be broken (John 10:35; cf. Matthew 5:17-18). Jesus submitted to it as the Father’s word, believed in its divine origin, interpreted his own mission in the light of its prophetic testimony, obeyed its moral injunctions (think of the temptations), made it the ground of appeal in his arguments with religious leaders. But, with him, the time of fulfilment had come (Mark 1:14-15), the era of anticipation over. It is thus ‘inconceivable that a Christian who looks to Jesus as his Teacher and Lord should have a lower view of the Old Testament than He had’ (34).
• Jesus made provision for the writing of the New Testament
Jesus chose apostles to be with him, hear his words and see his works, ‘and then bear witness out of what they had seen and heard’ (34). He also promised that the Holy Spirit would remind them of his teaching, supplementing it, and leading them into all truth (John 14:25-26; 16:12-13). The apostles, for their part, recognised the unique authority given to them (35-36), and the early church understood that after the apostles died they had moved into a post-apostolic era, when there was no longer anyone with the authority of a Paul or a Peter or a John. This was understood when it came for the New Testament canon to be fixed, with the test of apostolicity. ‘Had it [a book] been written by an apostle? If not, did it come from the circle of the apostles? Did it contain the teaching of the apostles? Did it have the imprimatur of the apostles?’ (37).
•••
In summary, ‘we believe the Scriptures because of Christ… our doctrine of Scripture is bound up with our loyalty to Jesus Christ’ (37-38), and ‘any preoccupation with the biblical text that does not lead to a stronger commitment to Jesus Christ, in faith, love, worship, and obedience, is seriously perverted’ (39).
Friday, 14 August 2009
Themelios 34, 2 (2009)
The latest volume of Themelios is now online in several formats, with the contents as follows:
D.A. Carson
Editorial
Carl Trueman
Minority Report: A Question of Accountability
Jonathan R. Pratt
The Relationship Between Justification and Spiritual Fruit in Romans 5-8
D. Patrick Ramsey
Sola Fide Compromised? Martin Luther and the Doctrine of Baptism
Lee Gatiss
The Inexhaustible Fountain of All Good Things: Union with Christ in Calvin on Ephesians
Raymond C. Ortlund Jr.
Pastoral Pensées: Power in Preaching: Desire (1 Thessalonians 1:2–5), Part 3 of 3
Book Reviews
D.A. Carson
Editorial
Carl Trueman
Minority Report: A Question of Accountability
Jonathan R. Pratt
The Relationship Between Justification and Spiritual Fruit in Romans 5-8
D. Patrick Ramsey
Sola Fide Compromised? Martin Luther and the Doctrine of Baptism
Lee Gatiss
The Inexhaustible Fountain of All Good Things: Union with Christ in Calvin on Ephesians
Raymond C. Ortlund Jr.
Pastoral Pensées: Power in Preaching: Desire (1 Thessalonians 1:2–5), Part 3 of 3
Book Reviews
WordLive
Scripture Union are producing WordLive, which promises to help users ‘experience the Bible in a new way’, with podcasts, video, music, creative prayer, meditation, and group study. It is interactive, updated every day, easy to use, and freely available.
Thursday, 13 August 2009
Word for the Week: Whole Life, Whole Bible (19/50) – Standing Up and Speaking Out
‘Word for the Week: Whole Life, Whole Bible’, from London Institute for Contemporary Christianity, is a series of fifty emails designed to look at the main milestones of the biblical story, seeking to show how whole-life discipleship is woven through Scripture as a whole, from beginning to end. Here is the nineteenth of the fifty emails, this one written by Margaret Killingray.
The word of the LORD came to me, saying, ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations… I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.’
Jeremiah 1:4-5, 9-10
From Moses to Malachi, from John the Baptist to John in Revelation, the prophets of the Bible bring God’s words to his people. Called by God to speak his words, interpreting events, challenging and confronting, predicting and warning, speaking for their own times, speaking for all times, speaking of Christ, speaking of the final day of the Lord, the words of the prophets come across as immediately relevant, even to the 21st century.
They challenged the rich and complacent – those ‘who lie on beds of ivory, and lounge on their couches, who trample on the needy and bring to ruin the poor of the land, who practise deceit with false balances’ (Amos). They will be judged; the Lord will ‘fill the hungry with good things and send the rich away empty’.
They challenged the priests and religious leaders – ‘and now, O priests, if you will not listen, if you will not lay it to heart to give glory to my name, then I will send the curse on you. You have caused many to stumble’ (Malachi). They will be judged, and Jesus said, ‘woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, for you lock people out of the kingdom of heaven’.
They challenged kings. Nathan confronted David – ‘Thus says the Lord, I anointed you king over Israel, yet you have despised the word of the Lord to do what is evil in his sight’. Elijah confronted Ahab – ‘Because you have sold yourself to do what is evil in the sight of the Lord, I will bring disaster on you’.
They constantly repeated God’s commands against injustice and idolatry and his calls for social, economic and political righteousness. They warned Israel and Judah of the judgment that would come through foreign conquest and exile. They affirmed God’s promises and spoke of the final day of the Lord, when Jerusalem’s ‘vindication shines out like the dawn, and her salvation like a burning torch’ (Isaiah). And they also spoke of grace, repentance and forgiveness. Through Jeremiah the Lord says of his people, ‘They shall all know me from the least of them to the greatest, for I will forgive their iniquity and remember their sin no more’ (31:34).
Margaret Killingray
For further reflection and action:
1. In Acts 2:17, Peter quoted the prophecy of Joel, ‘In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh… even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my spirit; and they shall prophesy.’ Peter said that was what was happening that day of Pentecost. What should be the role of prophecy in the church today?
2. To what extent are Christians called, like the Old Testament prophets, to challenge religious leaders and political rulers when God’s laws are flouted, when injustice and economic exploitation flourishes? How do we recognise that call and support those who take this on?
3. Read Isaiah 65:17-25 and Revelation 21:1-4, 22-27, and rejoice that in the end judgment is swallowed up in glory.
The word of the LORD came to me, saying, ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations… I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.’
Jeremiah 1:4-5, 9-10
From Moses to Malachi, from John the Baptist to John in Revelation, the prophets of the Bible bring God’s words to his people. Called by God to speak his words, interpreting events, challenging and confronting, predicting and warning, speaking for their own times, speaking for all times, speaking of Christ, speaking of the final day of the Lord, the words of the prophets come across as immediately relevant, even to the 21st century.
They challenged the rich and complacent – those ‘who lie on beds of ivory, and lounge on their couches, who trample on the needy and bring to ruin the poor of the land, who practise deceit with false balances’ (Amos). They will be judged; the Lord will ‘fill the hungry with good things and send the rich away empty’.
They challenged the priests and religious leaders – ‘and now, O priests, if you will not listen, if you will not lay it to heart to give glory to my name, then I will send the curse on you. You have caused many to stumble’ (Malachi). They will be judged, and Jesus said, ‘woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, for you lock people out of the kingdom of heaven’.
They challenged kings. Nathan confronted David – ‘Thus says the Lord, I anointed you king over Israel, yet you have despised the word of the Lord to do what is evil in his sight’. Elijah confronted Ahab – ‘Because you have sold yourself to do what is evil in the sight of the Lord, I will bring disaster on you’.
They constantly repeated God’s commands against injustice and idolatry and his calls for social, economic and political righteousness. They warned Israel and Judah of the judgment that would come through foreign conquest and exile. They affirmed God’s promises and spoke of the final day of the Lord, when Jerusalem’s ‘vindication shines out like the dawn, and her salvation like a burning torch’ (Isaiah). And they also spoke of grace, repentance and forgiveness. Through Jeremiah the Lord says of his people, ‘They shall all know me from the least of them to the greatest, for I will forgive their iniquity and remember their sin no more’ (31:34).
Margaret Killingray
For further reflection and action:
1. In Acts 2:17, Peter quoted the prophecy of Joel, ‘In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh… even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my spirit; and they shall prophesy.’ Peter said that was what was happening that day of Pentecost. What should be the role of prophecy in the church today?
2. To what extent are Christians called, like the Old Testament prophets, to challenge religious leaders and political rulers when God’s laws are flouted, when injustice and economic exploitation flourishes? How do we recognise that call and support those who take this on?
3. Read Isaiah 65:17-25 and Revelation 21:1-4, 22-27, and rejoice that in the end judgment is swallowed up in glory.
Wednesday, 12 August 2009
Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart on Ezra-Nehemiah
Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart, How to Read the Bible Book by Book: A Guided Tour (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002), 113:
‘Ezra-Nehemiah advances the biblical story by describing how the necessary reforms in Jerusalem were set in motion, which were later to serve as the basis for the Judaism out of which Jesus and the early church emerge.’
‘Ezra-Nehemiah advances the biblical story by describing how the necessary reforms in Jerusalem were set in motion, which were later to serve as the basis for the Judaism out of which Jesus and the early church emerge.’
Tuesday, 11 August 2009
W. Eugene March on Great Themes of the Bible
W. Eugene March, Great Themes of the Bible, Volume 1 (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2007), viii + 143pp., ISBN 9780664229184.
Another book in the ‘brief overview of Bible themes’ genre, this one is the first of three projected volumes which will look at thirty-nine themes that span the Old and New Testaments. The thirteen themes covered here are:
1. God
2. Covenant
3. Humanity
4. Sin
5. Law
6. Messiah
7. Spirit
8. Grace
9. Salvation
10. People of God
11. Worship
12. Service
13. Reign of God
Another book in the ‘brief overview of Bible themes’ genre, this one is the first of three projected volumes which will look at thirty-nine themes that span the Old and New Testaments. The thirteen themes covered here are:
1. God
2. Covenant
3. Humanity
4. Sin
5. Law
6. Messiah
7. Spirit
8. Grace
9. Salvation
10. People of God
11. Worship
12. Service
13. Reign of God
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