Samuel (150 years before 900 BC) is considered the first prophet. Credited with starting the various schools of the prophets.
The prophetic voice fell silent with Malachi at about 400 BC.
There are both writing prophets and non-writing prophets and prophetesses. The writing prophets are those who are read within Scripture.
There are three parts to the Hebrew Bible:
1.) The Law, Books of Moses, Pentateuch (Torah)
Means more instruction rather than law. Includes Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.
2.) The Prophets (Nevi’im)
a.) The former or early prophets: Joshua, Judges, 1&2 Samuel, 1&2 Kings b.) The latter prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, The Scroll of the Twelve (Amos, Hosea, Micah, Joel, Obadiah, Jonah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi)
3.) The Writings (Ketuvim)
a.) Psalms, Job, Proverbs b.) Ruth, Song of Songs (Song of Solomon), Ecclesiastes, Lamentations, Esther c.) Daniel*, Ezra-Nehemiah, 1-2 Chronicles
* Daniel was unique as a prophet in that he did not experience a call (compared to the Nevi’im).
The Jewish or Hebrew Bible is referred to as the Tanakh.
T – Torah a N – Nevi’im a K – Ketuvim h
Protestant Old Testament
Pentateuch
Historical Books
Poetry and Wisdom
Prophetic Books
Genesis
Joshua
Job
Isaiah
Exodus
Judges
Psalms
Jeremiah
Leviticus
Ruth
Proverbs
Lamentations
Numbers
1 Samuel
Ecclesiastes
Ezekiel
Deuteronomy
2 Samuel
Song of Solomon
Daniel*
1 Kings
Hosea
2 Kings
Joel
1 Chronicles
Amos
1 Chronicles
Obadiah
Ezra
Jonah
Nehemiah
Micah
Esther
Nahum
Habakkuk
Zephaniah
Haggai
Zechariah
Malachi
Definition of a Prophet
Hebrew: navi (plural nevi’im), or “one who is called” / “one who announces”
Prophets are a link between the people and God. As compared to a priest. Priests represent humanity to God whereas a Prophet represents God to humanity. See Deuteronomy 18:15-22 for details concerning initial conditions for a prophet in general as designated to assigned people.
Scriptural gives a sense of prophet functions as both deliveries of prediction and preaching. Prediction to the future generation(s) and preaching to the current generation(s). Their role was to first know and proclaim God’s will under immediate circumstances. Specifically, in a coherent fashion as understood by an appointed audience where they can respond.
Generally, the purpose of a prophet is to return people to obedience to God’s word, the Torah. Without people’s obedience, the prophet specifies punishment.
Female prophets throughout Scripture include Miriam, Deborah, Huldah, Noadiah, and non-writing (spoken) prophetesses.
Prophetic Patterns
Yahweh requires exclusive worship. There is only one God.
Yahweh can not be illustrated, carved, or sculpted as a likeness. To attempt a constructed likeness is to become guilty of idolatry.
Yahweh demands justice. He requires care for the poor, powerless, and vulnerable.
The intensity of anger among prophets was commensurate with the disobedience of people.
Prophets prior to exile into Babylon emphasized doom and gloom, while subsequent prophets delivered messages of comfort, hope, and restoration.
Prophetic Illustration
Isaiah: Wore loin cloth attire over his nudity to illustrate the shame, humiliation, and ruin of God’s people.
Jeremiah: Wore yokes of wood and iron to symbolically express coming Babylonian oppression and enslavement.
Ezekiel: Cooked meals over human dung to symbolically express the types of food God’s people will eat while in exile. Ezekiel lay bound and tied on one side for 190-days to communicate the 190 years of Israel’s exile. The 40-days on the other side show how long in years that Judah would remain in captivity.
Instructions to draw the attention of Yahweh’s people came from extreme physical illustration, demonstration, and role-play.
Prophetic Literary Forms
Poetic & Narrative
Written and oral poetic expression by meter and prose
Parallelism categories include synonymous, antithetic, and synthetic types
Simile, metaphorical, and allegorical
King James Version does not present an English translation layout in poetic format or structure
Later translations, or versions, including poems written in separate lines, bring into view parallelism. With para-graphical spaces between separate oracles
This is an open-ended posting. It will become edited and further developed over time as more research is carried out through the course of personal theological studies.
Purpose & Background
Notes, observations, and a working cumulative draft of the topic. These notes constitute the thoughts, conversations, articles, and books surrounding the subject. To include Reformed (covenant or dispensational), Catholic, and Orthodox perspectives. No consideration is given to deconstructionist (progressive) perspectives for various reasons concerning their denial of the supremacy and authority of Scripture and the original meaning intended by its authors.
There are no conclusions drawn from these notes. Only posted here is material from self-discovery that corresponds to what is roughly interpreted from Scripture and speculated by tradition, historical/literary records, teachings, and books or texts with reference to primary and secondary sources. These notes and observations are simply here to assemble a coherent set of personal reflections concerning what exists in the Spirit realm and the bearing they may have upon people. There is no claim to full credibility assumed or accepted here. This is a dangerous subject matter.
Context & Attestation
“The seventy returned with joy, saying, Lord, even the demons (daimonia; supernatural being hostile to God and anyone allied to Him) are subject to us in Your name. And He said to them:”
“I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning.
Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you. Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits (pneuma; a supernatural self-aware entity with powers) are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven.”
Christ Jesus, Luke 10:17-20
Points of Concern
Associative Thoughts
Creation of a demonic entry point where there becomes a connection between an individual and an evil spirit. A manifestation doesn’t always take place to indicate its presence as inhabitation persists.
There is no such thing as “ghosts.” A visual experience of a presence that someone has is with an evil spirit 99% of occurrences (Lampert)1.
All true magic at its core is inherently evil. Material consumed that is not consistent with the Christian faith should be filtered out (music, movies, literature).
If a person dies when possessed, the spiritual connection ends and the soul that is a free agent of its own begins disembodied eternity as such. Minors under the age of 7 (age of reason) are unable to bring about demonic possession on their own.
Demons that have nothing to gain from individuals who are already in disbelief likely would not commonly inhabit those who dismiss their existence. Evil spirits attack where they stand to gain something. Demons are understood as “happy” or content apart from where disbelief resides.
Demons can become instruments of an individual’s sanctification.
They only detract from sanctification when an individual gives in to them.
To those affected, building virtue, through prayer, the Word, fellowship, and worship work contrary to their interests.
The weakness comes from vicious persistence (vices) where they are the cause or root. They can also become contributing participants in addition to a person’s own predilections, mental health, or circumstances.
Excellence in grace (abundant sanctifying grace) is the indwelling Spirit of God in the soul of your being. This is the adornment of the soul of all of the virtues.
Building virtue and perfection in the process of sanctification can come from diabolical influences in a person’s life.
As there are differences in the genetic makeup of an individual, there are different degrees of virtue that God permits or develops. God delights in variety.
We should be working harder at those areas we’ve fallen to attain perfection.
God allows demonic activity and possession for purposes of sanctification.
Believers, those who are authentically in Christ on a path of sanctification, can become an instrument of humiliation and justice among demons. The humiliation is decreed as constant (Gen 3:14). The sin of pride brings the just punishment of the adversary in a continued and intentional way. “You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life.”
Gen 3:19 – memento homo quia pulvis es et in pulverem reverteris. “Remember, man, you are dust and to dust you will return.” Also, see Isaiah 26:19.
As with the dispersal of nations at Babel when the population’s languages were divided, the rulership of evil spirits (Eph 6:12) was appointed over them.4 So it is with the fall of humanity. Both the fallen and the adversary were to join together in suffering. Whereas, the adversary eventually becomes the object of humiliation and suffering through the redemption, justification, sanctification, and glorification of the elect (those who trust in Christ).
By denying and fighting the adversary we also become instruments of justice and punishment.
Activity Types
Infestation
Oppression
Presence (location)
Presence (object)
Vexation (physical) Self-harm, or self-inflicted suffering of some type.
Obsession (mental) Preoccupation, or persistent thought activity around evil. Its presence can fracture, rupture, or cause slippage of an individual’s mind distinct from psychological distress.
Possession (inhabitation)
Degrees of Spiritual Conflict
Temptation (Ordinary)
Evil spirits introduce into our imagination images brought together from prior visual or mental states. Demons cannot make a blind man see or imagine color (Aquinas). They have to work with something that is already there.
God permitting, demons can use what imagination or visual history exists. Demons cannot do anything that God does not permit. Demons are on a short leash (degrees and types of temptation). Restrictions exist surrounding the nature of possession. The adversary often knows when they are removed or required to leave.
God does not hear the prayers of the adversary, demons, or evil spirits.
Everyone is a slave of Christ either willingly or unwillingly.
Temptations can appear in good, bad, or innocuous forms. Demons can suggest good things to good people to cause damage. Knowing what to do and not to do during spiritual conflict is a gift (discernment, counsel). Humility is necessary to keep perspective. Suggestions that form are subtle with increasing levels of intensity. To produce fear in order for a person to fixate or ruminate about a matter to figure out how to escape.
Where a person recognizes he/she could fall within temptation, that is where the hole is. That hole is the demonic target beginning with subtlety. It is precisely here that in faith the prayer must be to call out for deliverance, confidence, and protection.
Oppression
People are attacked from the outside, or by external means.
a.) Direct – Relationships, finances, property, health On a personal level, directly responsible for evil actions that invite demonic activity.
b.) Indirect – Policies, rules, ordinances, laws, regulations, etc.
When other people do evil things to get demons involved in culture, society, church, etc. It is necessary to be in the Word, prayer, worship, humility, and repentance to keep clear of influences in these areas.
They work in the areas of despair, distress, and disappointment
Obsession
Psychological or mental state where a person cannot think outside of fear, lust, anger, or other thoughts around pressure, harm, or the works of the flesh (Gal 5:19-25).
Consistent thoughts that are psychological and habitual become intellectual vice (e.g. mental illness). They are set in motion or effect by external means (what someone or something does or says to a person). By comparison, diabolical obsession is set on or off without external stimulus.
When or if a demonic obsession is permitted, it at times can become a form of punishment. Where a person is unwilling to repent, or wants to sin in a certain area (or will allow something to happen) that in turn provides an opening for a state of demonic affliction as a product of sin. The proper effect of every mortal sin is possession. While the numbers of people who are diabolically influenced are high, the percentage of people who are possessed is very low (less than a fraction of a percentage). So even if someone opens the door to influence or possession, it is God who permits or denies entry. It is very rare that a demon is allowed into a person as a form of punishment (Ripperger)2.
The more sin people commit, the more empowered demons become and the worse spiritual conflict can get with specific individuals, cultures, or societies.
Possession
Very rare with occurrences at a fraction of a percentage (Ripperger)3.
People have periods of lucidity, but at other times they feel or experience what the evil spirit does. Yet some others blackout the whole experience.
A confession is a form of exorcism because any legal hold the demonic has on person breaks. Every time there is a decision to sin, and the inhabited person sins, that person attaches himself/herself to the evil spirit(s) within. When a person confesses sin, repents, and draws near to God through Christ, that legal hold is broken and the removal of evil becomes certain.
People who are partially possessed can be swayed to avoid spiritual disciplines and confession through influence and suggestion. It is assumed that positive emotional reactions are of God (which is what Luther thought). Demons who have access to human emotions can wreak havoc on individuals. This is another reason emotions are untrustworthy. They are able to cause positive emotions to certain pious practices, or they can block them. So it is necessary instead to follow reason enlightened by faith.
To keep people from being willing to suffer, demons will use any and all forms of influence and cause emotions possible or at their disposal (including fear). If an individual goes about seeking the demonic in an effort to root out influence, they will find that individual. So it is necessary to avoid seeking them out. Only deal with the situation when it surfaces, not before. Don’t go looking for a fight.
It is speculated that the highest level of spiritual warfare is with persons possessed and have decided to cooperate with the will of God and fight their way through it. It is through the spiritual war that contributes to a certain level of holiness is attained (compare Eph 2:10 and elsewhere to validate).
Permanency
“If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life crippled, than, having your two hands, to go into hell, into the unquenchable fire, [where THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED.]* “If your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame, than, having your two feet, to be cast into hell, [where THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED.]* “If your eye causes you to stumble, throw it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than, having two eyes, to be cast into hell, where THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED.
– Christ Jesus, Mark 9:43-48, NASB
*Vv 44 and 46, which are identical to v 48, are not found in the early manuscripts
Citations
1. Lampert, Capturing Christianity, Interview with an Exorcist – (YouTube, October 22, 2020). Accessed 10/22/2020. https://youtu.be/nhhi7Fk3ueI 2. Ripperger, Sensus Fidelium, Levels of Spiritual Warfare – (YouTube, November 12, 2018). Accessed 10/15/2020. https://youtu.be/TMcvZaiBwe4 3. Ibid. 4. Heiser, Michael. The Unseen Realm. (Bellingham: Lexham Press, 2015), 110. Heiser, Michael. Demons. What the Bible Really Says About the Powers of Darkness. (Bellingham: Lexham Press, 2020), 213. 5. The Horrible Doctrine – Discipleship Journal Article. Issue 34. – https://exavius.com/2017/04/26/the-horrible-doctrine/. Accessed 10/15/2020.
The geographical relevance of Canaan compared to the surrounding territories of Egypt, Mesopotamia, Media, Persia, Anatolia, Crete, Cyprus, and others has often unrecognized spiritual significance throughout Scripture. To view the assembly of land and the chronologically ordered border formations as purely physical, natural, or socially constructed misses the deeper historical narrative about the emergence of the Kingdom of God and the messianic reign to come. People, places, and circumstances were supernaturally orchestrated together through geological, genealogical, and sovereign processes to bring about the fulfillment of Genesis 3:15. Where sovereign circumstances over time gradually converged at Pentecost (Acts 2:1) from since the divergence of Babel (Gen 11:8) intentionally situated within the cradle of civilization.1
As the Gentile nations surrounding Israel were first disinherited at Babel located in early Mesopotamia, they were scattered and placed under the spiritual rulership of the sons of God (Dt 32:8-9). Rulership, who were the fallen elohim,2 who became cursed (1 Enoch 6:1-8) and separated from immortality as they were to eventually die like men (Ps 82:7) due to their corruption, neglect, and harm brought to humanity. At Babel, they were given charge over the nations (Gen 11:7, Ps 82:1) with Yahweh’s reserved people as is portion or inheritance among them (Dt 4:19-20, 1 Sam 26:17-19). Through the suzerain-vassal treaty formed as the Abrahamic and Mosaic covenants of land, seed, and blessings, it becomes clear that Yahweh had chosen Canaan as Israel’s strategic location as sacred space to implement His redemptive work and replace the corrupted sons of God (Jn 1:12-13, Rm 8:14,19, Gal 4:5-6). A location set as a “land bridge” centered among surrounding nations between Asia, Europe, and African continents3 while governed by the corrupt and fallen rulers who were to eventually become adversaries judged (Gen 6:2, 1 Cor 2:6-8). With the arrival, ministry, death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and coronation of Christ, the Kingdom of God was again placed upon this earth to intersect with the Kingdom of Heaven (Heb 10:12-13).
With the Lord’s calling of Abraham, it is no coincidence that overlapping divine covenants squarely placed at the center of the nations as an intersection between natural and supernatural interests. Through what would progressively develop as a spiritual war between good and evil (Eph 6:12), the kingdom of God was to assert its position among Gentile nations as prepared territory reclaimed. Starting in Jerusalem, extending to Asia Minor, and then out to the rest of the earth (Rome, Greece, India, and beyond) before the second coming of Christ toward the fullness of time (Eph 1:10). Just as the people of Israel were by eternal covenant chosen by the Most-High and set aside as a kingdom of priests, a holy nation (Ex 19:6), they organized around their wilderness tabernacle as tribes. A temporary situation that echoed further in time as Zion in Jerusalem served as a central point in which all other tribes of Israel intentionally distributed throughout Canaan. The temple mount of Moriah became ground zero where the Gentile nation’s rulers in a spiritual sense would surrender or cede their territory (the souls of humanity) through the redemptive work of Christ. Yes, a kingdom of historical and geological relevance, but more significantly, profoundly spiritual with redemptive or damning trajectories. As the tribes of Israel were concentrically distributed, so it was with surrounding nations and beyond until they reached the entire circumference of the earth (Mt 28:18-19). With nations reclaimed (Ps 82:2-4), a harvest was made ready through the prevailing conquest of Christ, a new Joshua, as He said of His royalty over Christendom, “My kingdom is not of this world (Jn 18:36).”
Israel occupied sacred physical space or holy ground as Yahweh had chosen the land of Canaan as the territory of His people (Deut 32:49). Just as the tabernacle and the temple became designed and built to set aside and reserve space as holy to Yahweh and His people, He would dwell among them (Deut 29:46). As the Lord’s people were to be representatives of the nations, other nations governed by the corrupted sons of god were to surround Israel. So as holy people upon the holy land placed into position, a messianic king would arise through Judah4 to plunge a dagger into the heart of the spiritual enemy among nations (1 Pet 3:18-22). The chosen among the nations would become redeemed in a nonlinear fashion across millennia both backward and forward in time.
To make a punctuated distinction between holy ground and enemy territory, consider the Scriptural inferences that traverse between Naaman, the commander of the Syrian army (1 Sam 26:17-19), and two demonic encounters upon Jesus as revealed within Scripture. First, it was Namaan who recognized before Elijah that the ground he worshiped on was holy (2 Kings 5:15-19). With Elijah’s consent, Naaman gathered up dirt from holy ground and loaded a mule to carry it off with him to worship Yahweh. A worship ritual to Yahweh, before the god Rimmon under false pretenses, while in enemy territory (2 Kings 5:18). Naaman knew there was no other God in all the earth except Yahweh (2 Kings 5:15), nor was there holy ground in Syria, the country in which he resides. An idol or false god Rimmon was possibly inhabited by a corrupted son of God who craved worship (Deut 32:16-17).
What does this ancient historical narrative have to do with Jesus?
As recorded by the author of Matthew, Jesus and His apostles encounter a man inhabited by many demons from Bashan (Mt 17:14, Mk 5:1). They were from Gentile territory (spiritual enemy), and they as Legion accordingly referred to Jesus as “Son of the Most High God” (Mk 5:7). In relativistic parlance, they address Jesus to acknowledge Him as above the sons of God. Both in rank and incomparability. They were in East Galilee in the territory of Bashan, known as the abode of the dead and territory of evil spirits.5 Specifically, the spirits of the dead Rephaim written about during the conquest led by Joshua.
Shortly after, by comparison, when Jesus and His Apostles arrived in Capernaum, they again encountered another man possessed by numerous demons. This time, they were located in Israel, on holy ground where the demon-possessed man called our Lord, “Jesus of Nazareth (Mk 1:24).” A subtle difference between “Son of the Most High God,” and “Jesus of Nazareth” as theological distinctions concerning the origination and status of spiritual beings within the separate territories they occupied and recognized.
Jesus is Lord of Lords and King of Kings. The Kingdom of God is here, now. We have our marching orders, and they are to share the gospel and make disciples. To recover humanity wherever it is claimed within a world that is governed by corrupted rule until reconciliation, or final judgment.
Citations
[1] Dr. Michael Grisanti, BTS512 History of the Covenant People Course Notes, 9. [2] Dr. Michael Heiser, Reversing Hermon: Enoch, The Watchers & the Forgotten Mission of Jesus Christ. (Crane: Defender Publishing), 38-43. [3] Dr. Paul Lee Tan, Hal Lindsay, Section 3394 Strategic Importance inEncyclopedia of 7,700 Illustrations: Signs of the Times. (Bible Communications, 1996), 796. [4] Dr. Michael Grisanti, BTS512 History of the Covenant People Course Notes, 37. [5] Karel van der Toorn, et.al., Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible, 2nd Ed. (Boston: Eerdmans Publishing, 1999), 161.
In continuity with the Adamic and Abrahamic covenants, the Mosaic covenant was formed by God to accomplish several outcomes. First, it was to further the Abrahamic covenant in fulfillment of given offspring (seed), land, and blessings. Second, it was delivered to implement the Mosaic Law, where the eventual redemption of Christ would come about (Hebrews 10:1-18). Third, the Mosaic covenant was to bring awareness about an increasing abundance of sin (Rom 5:20, Rom 7:7) and to imprison people in sin until Christ so that we could become justified by faith in Him (Gal 3:19-24).1 Finally, the Mosaic covenant was formed and implemented to demonstrate that it is impossible to achieve salvation by the works of obedience, worship, and service. The Mosaic covenant was a precursor to the new covenant of grace put into place by God through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
What occurred at Mt Sinai, brought about the law of Yahweh to His people as mediated through Moses. The Ten Commandments served as the basis of the moral law by which the right conduct was of obedience before God and others. The Ten Commandments, also known as the Decalogue, were distinct from the civil and ceremonial law. They were written about in Scripture to identify them as words of the covenant, also referred to as the “tablets of the covenant (Dt. 9:9, 11, 15)” and “testimony” of the covenant (Ex. 31.18; 32:15; 34:29), they were universally recognized as integral to the covenant delivered by Yahweh at Mt Sinai. Namely, the Decalogue says what worshipers of Yahweh are not to do while the Deuteronomic Law is in contrast about what they are to do.2
The Structure of the Mosaic Covenant
Formed was the conditional nature of the Mosaic covenant to provide a comprehensive view of its kind and effect. William D. Barrick, Professor of Old Testament, at The Master’s Seminary, presented a compilation of two separate structural outlines of the Mosaic covenant to compare ancient near eastern suzerainty treaties. Both drafts were introduced by John J. Davis3 and Paul R. House4, to become merged into two structures of the Mosaic covenant forming a single interpretation as follows:5
Mosaic Covenant Outline & Structure
#
Section
Scripture
1.
Historical Prologue
Exodus 19:1-4
2.
Preamble
Exodus 19:5-6
3.
Stipulations
Exodus 20:3-23:19
4.
Provision for Reading
Exodus 24:4-7
5.
Blessing & Curses
Exodus 23:20-23
Central to this interpreted outline, the stipulations of the covenant appear to suggest that it was conditional upon the obedience of Israel. Necessary for obtaining the blessings of God through their obedience to the Mosaic Law, it was upon them to attain their well-being, prosperity, and safety by acceptable moral conduct according to the Ten Commandments, including the civil and ceremonial laws at the time. Central to their blessings and inherited promised land, their obedience was paramount as they were to begin their journey to Canaan.
While Yahweh’s ability to fulfill His promises to the forefathers of Moses was not limited to the obedience or moral performance of the Israelites during the Exodus, He would undoubtedly accomplish His perfect will either through blessings or curses upon His people. As we later read in the following books of the law, the original exodus population does not enter into the promised land. Instead, they were left in the wilderness to perish due to their distrust of God. It would not be until the next generation of Israelites they would enter the land of Canaan to demonstrate that Yahweh’s plan remained perpetually on course toward fulfillment. So, either way, even while the Mosaic covenant is more conditional compared to other covenants in the Old Testament, His purposes remain unthwarted with a covenant renewal to follow in the Book of Deuteronomy.
It must be recognized that while Israel demonstrated a rebellious nature, they were unfaithful and cantankerous during their time in the wilderness while Yahweh traveled with them and gave them His care, protection, and guidance. Throughout Exodus, the Mosaic covenant carried with it the presence of the law among God’s people. Disobedience to that law would eventually require a permanent recognition of their desperate and perilous status before God as the people of Israel became more aware of their sinful behavior and their need for God to attain blessings. Not to mention what they were unable to demonstrate trust and a sincere love relationship with Him and each other. As experienced by Yahweh, Moses, Aaron, and others throughout the covenant in effect, the failure of the Israelite people was made clear and sure by the terms of the covenant itself. As a covenant people, they needed One who would circumcise their hearts to make it possible for them to trust and obey their God. Necessary to make that clear, Yahweh’s divine sovereignty placed into effect a set of requirements that set them apart as a holy nation of priests to draw His people to Him eventually.
The Purpose of the Deuteronomic Covenant
The forthcoming capture and occupation of Canaan required a renewal of the Mosaic covenant. Life in Canaan was expectedly different due to the peoples inhabiting the land and what dangers they put upon Israel. Since the children of the exodus generation were to face the pressures and risks of idolatry and cohabitation, it was necessary to set before them a covenant to keep the original agreement made at Mt. Sinai. To renew the Mosaic covenant, with refinements to include the Decalogue. The renewal was with the children of the exodus generation, and they agreed to abide by the agreement formed and offered by Yahweh.
The Structure of the Deuteronomic Covenant
Once again, as with the prior Mosaic covenant, stipulations were at the core of the Deuteronomic agreement. This time it is a renewal of the first covenant because of the next generation’s presence before the land of Canaan. They were about to enter the land promised to them from many generations before their arrival, and it was necessary to reiterate the Decalogue and various laws concerning civil matters and justice. The prior generation were the parents of the people who were before Yahweh to enter into a renewed second covenant. The title of the tome is relevant because the actual name of the Book of Deuteronomy is a mistranslation from the Septuagint with the phrase “a copy of this law” (Dt. 17:18) where the Greek phrase deuteronomion touto refers more accurately to “this second law.” According to a more traditional Hebrew interpretation, the name devārîm translates into English as “words,” after: “These are the words which Moses spoke” (Dt. 1:1). 6
The structural outline of Deuteronomy still follows a suzerainty type of covenant or treaty as earlier compared to the Mosaic Covenant. The Suzerain, in this instance, is Yahweh, who is over the vassal-nation of Israel. Through the vassal-lord, Moses, the covenant, or treaty as mediated whereby the all-powerful God governs and controls His people. The nation of Israel, as a subservient people obligated through the agreement to Yahweh and abide by His statutes. In exchange for blessings, and the fulfillment of His covenant promises. As follows within the table below, the covenant structure of Deuteronomy lists in sequential order according to the historically documented series of events. As terms and conditions formed throughout the biblical account in the Book of Deuteronomy, but what I offer in this table is distinct from the sections proposed by Alexander7 and Gentry.8 I suggest a final section of Witnesses.
Deuteronomic Covenant Outline
#
Section
Scripture
1.
Preamble
Deuteronomy 1:1-5
2.
Historical Prologue
Deuteronomy 1:6 – 3:29
3.
General Stipulations
Deuteronomy 4:1-40; 5:1-11:32
4
Detailed Stipulations
Deuteronomy 12:1-26:19
5.
Document Clause
Deuteronomy 27:1-26
6.
Blessings & Curses
Deuteronomy 28:1-68
7.
Witnesses
Deuteronomy 30:19, 33:1-4
In contrast, they both offer two different alternatives concerning those who experienced what occurred at Sinai and Moab during the dispensing of both the Mosaic and Deuteronomic covenants. Including the Ten Commandments before the nation of Israel across both generations. Separately on both occasions, the Ten Commandments and the Mosaic law were delivered before the people of Israel. At Sinai before the exodus generation, then at Moab before their children. From Exodus 24:9-11, at the delivery of the Mosaic law on Sinai, we are presented with a supernatural scene of God’s presence. Along with Moses, Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, the 70 elders who witnessed the Lord there in human form, I propose the angels or divine beings served as witnesses to the dispensing of the law. As third-party witnesses, even in the tradition of the ANE vassal-treaty format, they served as a separate group of beings before Yahweh and His people. 9
Just as the Lord Yahweh’s domain intersected between His dwelling place and the Edenic garden during the delivery of the Adamic covenant, I also suggest that we encounter a similar intersection at Sinai during the birth of the Mosaic law (Ex. 24:9-11). The same on the plains of Moab (Dt. 30:19, 33:1-4) referring back to the first covenant, we have again ratified through the witness of “his holy ones” (v.2). These holy ones “was probably a reference to the angels who assisted God.” 10 So just as the angels, or elohim, who were witnesses to the sealing of the covenant were at Sinai, there were witnesses there at Moab as Moses references back to the Sinaitic occurrence in Dt 33:1-4. Moreover, the reference of Moses calling heaven and earth as witnesses of the covenant brings further clarity about the presence of holy ones to the Deuteronomic agreement (Dt. 30:19).
To further reinforce this proposal, consider the revealing of Jesus’s divine nature on top of Mt Hermon (or traditional Mt Tabor) during His transfiguration. A meeting place, again, between Moses, Elijah, and the Apostles, Peter, James, and John, they were witnesses of the new covenant as Jesus was the new Moses. Atop Mt Hermon, a place of intersection where the Savior, Messiah, King, and God Most High delivers the new covenant and brings the Kingdom of God and His redemptive path to humanity. The eventual indwelling of the Holy Spirit from Pentecost and afterward is the seal of the new covenant of grace after the death, resurrection, ascension, and coronation of Christ (2 Cor. 1:21-22). All covenants in succession where Yahweh delivers on His promises. To redeem His creation for this glory and to demonstrate His nature. As written within the Book of Deuteronomy, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one” (Dt. 6:4), He has through His covenants fulfilled His promises to return His people to Him.
Conclusion
Between the Mosaic and Deuteronomic covenants, it is clear that the people of God were unable to fulfill their obligations as stipulated. From Sinai to the renewal at Moab, Israel was propelled forward to their promised land. From out of slavery in Egypt to captivity of another sort. Generations became captive to the obligations of the Mosaic law before their received inheritance of Canaan. While delivered from bondage, they were unable to fulfill their end of the agreement until Yahweh was to bring about a new kind of covenant. Not of the law structured for obedience and loyalty, but of grace and a “circumcision of the heart” to enable His people to love, honor, worship, and serve Him for their well-being, and as He desires.
As we today abide by the moral law, the Ten Commandments, we are no longer bound by the civil and ceremonial laws set in place. However, the covenants that precede the covenant of grace today, we are given a necessary depth of conviction about our inability to satisfy the requirements of the law, or the agreements set about by Yahweh. Through grace, because of the Mosaic law and its renewal, we are given a new kind of freedom and capability. To meet our Lord where He is and know that He is God by all that He has done.
Citations
1. Brian Collins, Lexham Survey of Theology, The Abrahamic Covenant (Bellingham, Lexham Press, 2018). 2. John H. Walton, The Decalogue Structure of the Deuteronomic Law. (2012), 99. 3. John J. Davis, Moses, and the Gods of Egypt: Studies in the Book of Exodus. (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1971). 4. Paul R. House, Old Testament Theology. (Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2018). 5. William D. Barrick, The Mosaic Covenant, The Master’s Seminary Journal, 1999: 223. 6. Kline, Meredith G. Treaty of the Great King: The Covenant Structure of Deuteronomy: Studies and Commentary (Eugene: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2012), 47. 7. Alexander, T. Desmond. From Paradise to the Promised Land. (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2012). 289. 8. Peter J. Gentry, “The Relationship of Deuteronomy to the Covenant at Sinai.” (Southern Baptist Journal of Theology, 2014), 39. 9. Michael Heiser, The Unseen Realm. (Bellingham: Lexham Press, 2015), 166-169. 10. MacArthur, John. MacArthur Study Bible NASB. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2006. Dt. 33:2 Commentary.
Bibliography
Alexander, T. Desmond. From Paradise to the Promised Land. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2012. Barrick, William D. “The Mosaic Covenant.” The Master’s Seminary Journal, 1999: 213-232. Collins, Brian. Lexham Survey of Theology. Bellingham: Lexham Press, 2018. Davis, John J. Moses and the Gods of Egypt: Studies in the Book of Exodus. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1971. Gentry, Peter J. “The Relationship of Deuteronomy to the Covenant at Sinai.” Southern Baptist Journal of Theology, 2014: 35-57. Heiser, Michael. The Unseen Realm. Bellingham: Lexham Press, 2015. House, Paul R. Old Testament Theology. Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2018. Kline, Meredith G. Treaty of the Great King: The Covenant Structure of Deuteronomy: Studies and Commentary. Eugene: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2012. MacArthur, John. MacArthur Study Bible NASB. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2006. Walton, John H. Interpreting Deuteronomy: Issues and Approaches. Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2012.
The following post is about the framework and structure of Deuteronomy with highlighted details concerning the Sinaitic and Mosaic covenants among His people from the adults of the exodus who perished in the wilderness to their children; there is a renewal of the covenant. Specifically for them and to codify the covenant agreement pertinent to the circumstances before the new generation entering Canaan.
Theological Highlights of Deuteronomy Concerning Structure & Total Method of Salvation
Probably the most amazing text of Gentry’s paper concerning the Deuteronomic Law is this quote from within the Solemn Oath Ceremony section of Deuteronomy (Dt. 28:69-30:20).
“This tension is described by the meta-comment on the whole section in Deuteronomy 29:29: “The hidden things belong to the Lord our God, but the revealed things belong to us and our children forever, so that we may follow all the words of this tôrâ.” According to this meta-comment, there is a tension between divine sovereignty and human responsibility. Israel is called to absolute loyalty to Yahweh in the Covenant, but the plot structure to this point in the OT shows that the human partner is incapable of faithfulness, something that will be given by divine grace at a future time.” – Gentry, P. J. (2014). The Relationship of Deuteronomy to the Covenant at Sinai. Southern Baptist Journal of Theology, 35-57.
The Wilderness Sanctuary – The Tabernacle / Portable Temple.
Ancient Near Eastern suzerain-vassal treaty in structure and format.1
Two participants, one strong and one weak emulate the relationship between God and Israel.
The ‘gods’ as witnesses, according to the divine council worldview, corresponds to the Vassal treaty contrary to what Alexander outlines on page 289.1 The Septuagint includes the witnesses of gods or divine beings at the giving of the law whereas the Hebrew text does not.2
The book of Deuteronomy often reads like a sermon. 3
The relationship between God and Israel resembles a marriage. Whereas love and loyalty are the substance of the marriage rather than the ceremony, or the ratified agreement between them.
The Decalogue says what worshipers of Yahweh are not to do; The Deuteronomic Law is in contrast to what they are to do.4
Scholars have noted the close relationship between Deut. 13 and the Vassal Treaties of Esarhaddon.5
The Deuteronomic Law reads more like a covenant than a legal document modeled after parallel ANE legal texts.6
Worshipers forbidden to worship or offer gifts and sacrifices through mediating imagery and icons are instead given a ‘name theology’ to accomplish worship, honor, and duty to Yahweh only at the central sanctuary.7
“At the core of Deuteronomy is a theology of the supremacy of Yahweh, expressed in the life of Israel through adherence to Torah (Hamilton, 27; quoting Peter Vogt in Deuteronomic Theology, 5-6).” 8
Deuteronomy is an exposition of the Ten Commandments. Through judgment comes salvation.9 These are instructions by which Israel carries out its love of Yahweh, according to the SHEMA.
The covenant formulation of Deuteronomy involves a “circumcision of the heart” (Deut. 30:6). To which there is the tension described in Deuteronomy 29:29, “The hidden things belong to the Lord our God, but the revealed things belong to us and our children forever, so that we may follow all the words of this tôrâ.” —Israel was unable to completely fulfill Covenant obligations without circumcision of the heart that comes from Yahweh at a future time as written in Deuteronomy 30:6).
Deuteronomy is laid out in literary structure patterned by a Hittite treaty from the Fourteenth to Thirteenth centuries B.C.10
Citations
1 T. Desmond Alexander, From Paradise to the Promised Land. An Introduction to the Pentateuch. Third Edition. (Grand Rapids, Baker Academic, 2012), 289. 2 Michael Heiser, The Unseen Realm. (Bellingham, Lexham Press, 2015), 165-166. For a survey of ancient Jewish texts (before and after the New Testament) relating to the connection of the law and angels, see Terrance Callan, “Pauline Midrash: The Exegetical Background of Gal. 3:19b,” Journal of Biblical Literature 99.4 (December 1980): 549-67. 3 Ibid. Alexander, 287. 4 John H. Walton, The Decalogue Structure of the Deuteronomic Law. (2012), 99. 5 Ibid. Walton, 100. 6 Ibid. Walton, 101-104. 7 Ibid. Walton, 105. 8 James M. Hamilton, J. (2014). The Glory of God in Salvation through Judgment in Deuteronomy. Southern Baptist Theological Journal, 19-33. 9 Ibid. Hamilton, 30. 10 Gentry, P. J. (2014). The Relationship of Deuteronomy to the Covenant at Sinai. Southern Baptist Theological Journal, 35-57.
Assembled here is a survey of each chapter in Deuteronomy. A few sentences for each chapter to summarize the core content and meaning of the fourth and final book of the Mosaic law. All thirty-four chapters are put together here to assemble a coherent view of the Book of Deuteronomy as a whole. These summaries were not written from a historical, poetic, literal, or figurative interpretative view. These summaries are merely content produced within the valid, authoritative, sufficient, infallible, and inerrant strength of God’s word.
The Theme of Deuteronomy: The appeal of Moses for Israel to form an everlasting covenant with Yahweh and to remain faithful to Him. Numerous reminders about God’s protection and faithfulness urge Israel to choose life and the Lord. To choose blessings rather than curses through loving God as evidenced by obedience to the law.
Deuteronomy 1: Moses reviews with the Israeli people what had occurred in their history leading up to the conquest of Canaan. A review of God’s command to enter Canaan in addition to additional historical details. Leaders appointed, spies return from Canaan with a mixed report, Israel refuses to enter Canaan, Israel generation condemned to remain in the wilderness, Israel decides to enter Canaan on their own and is defeated.
Deuteronomy 2: Moses’ review continues. Israel remained in the wilderness and was instructed not to war with Moab. The conquest begins, and Israel defeats Sihon. Tribes begin to claim land East of the Jordan river outside Canaan.
Deuteronomy 3: Israel defeats the territory of Bashan. Joshua was introduced as the new leader of Israel.
Deuteronomy 4: Israel exhorted to obey God. Idolatry was declared forbidden as the Lord alone is God. Moses introduced the law to Israel.
Deuteronomy 5: Moses reminds Israel of the ten commandments as delivered to Israel. Israel has seen the glory of the Lord.
Deuteronomy 6: The SHEMA is introduced to Israel. A command to love God with all their heart, mind, soul, and strength. Israel is required to serve and fear the Lord.
Deuteronomy 7: The Lord has chosen Israel as His people and commands them to destroy all occupants of the land given to them. The Lord commands His people to destroy all carved images of the occupants.
Deuteronomy 8: Israel was reminded to remember God and all He has done for Israel from Egypt onward. Man shall live by every word of the Lord.
Deuteronomy 9: The nation of Israel passes over into the promised land. A recollection of the golden calf the Israelite people made for themselves to worship.
Deuteronomy 10: New tablets of stone cut for the ten commandments and God writes His law on them. The Lord requires His people to keep His commandments, serve Him, and hold fast to Him.
Deuteronomy 11: Further instruction to love and serve the Lord. Set before His people a blessing through obedience and a curse through disobedience.
Deuteronomy 12: Further instructions were given to Israel that they must destroy foreign objects of worship. With a follow-up warning about idolatry.
Deuteronomy 13: Israel was given further instructions that they must destroy false prophets and idolatrous cities.
Deuteronomy 14: Reiteration of laws detailing clean and unclean foods. Further laws about tithing.
Deuteronomy 15: Laws concerning the sabbatical year as creditors release debtors—instructions concerning the poor and the freedom of servants.
Deuteronomy 16: Observance of Passover plus feast of weeks and feast of booths. Further instructions about judges over the people of Israel.
Deuteronomy 17: Reserved portion of inheritances for Priest and Levites. Laws about the forbidden practices of divination.
Deuteronomy 18: Notice is given of a new prophet to supersede Moses. Warnings about listening to prophets of false gods or imposters who attempt to speak on Moses’ behalf.
Deuteronomy 19: Laws concerning cities of refuge for protection against avengers of accidental killings. Requirements of multiple witnesses about crimes committed among the people.
Deuteronomy 20: Given laws about how to engage in war, exemptions, wars with nations outside of Canaan, and populations of peoples among cities within Canaan. Occupants of Canaan were to be utterly destroyed.
Deuteronomy 21: Various civil laws and regulations about murder, marriage, inheritance, rebellious children and capital punishment are outlined.
Deuteronomy 22: Numerous additional laws concerning property, female attire, male and female relationships, sexual immorality, and others.
Deuteronomy 23: Additional laws about the isolation of foreigners, uncleanness in the camp, usuries, and vows outlined.
Deuteronomy 24: Additional laws about divorce and domestic relations.
Deuteronomy 25: Further laws about people relationships, familial responsibilities of a deceased husband’s brother. Additional regulations concerning fights between men and a wife’s involvement. Laws about cheating or fraud. A requirement to destroy Amalek and any trace of its identity.
Deuteronomy 26: Requirements to offer first of produce and livestock. A further requirement to offer a tithe of income.
Deuteronomy 27: Moses’ command to build an altar upon Mt Ebal. Moses commands a separation of tribes on top of Mt Gerizim and Mt Ebal to proclaim blessings and curses centered around the Mosaic moral code.
Deuteronomy 28: Yahweh has promised to bless Israel if they observe and obey His commandments. He will give blessings and protection to them. There are curses, plagues, pestilence, famine, enslavement, and exile for the people who reject God and what He requires. Without peace or rest, they will sink into sorry without any peace or rest.
Deuteronomy 29: Further reinforced is God’s covenant with Israel. The Lord’s people Israel enters into a covenant with Him. Knowing that there will be curses to follow if and when they abandon Him and the covenant.
Deuteronomy 30: A choice of life and death is set before the people of Israel. Moses urges the people to choose life by loving and honoring God. With repentance, there is mercy and forgiveness in God who loves His people.
Deuteronomy 31: Moses encourages Israel and assures them of God’s promise to remain faithful to His covenant with His people. Moses encourages Israel. He and Joshua appear before God to hand leadership over to Joshua. The Lord commands Moses to write a song for Israel for it to be a witness against them when they forsake their God.
Deuteronomy 32: The song of Moses is recited concerning a just and right God, His jealousy, and the pride of Israel’s future captors. Yahweh is a God of vengeance, but also a God of Mercy. Moses is sent to Mt. Nebo to die.
Deuteronomy 33: Moses gives his final blessing to the tribes is Israel. The nation of Israel is granted peace and safety for a time while they remain faithful to their covenant.
Deuteronomy 34: Moses was permitted to view the promised land before he died on Mt Nebo. The Lord buried Moses in the land of Moab. Joshua took leadership of Israel full of the spirit of wisdom. The Lord was with him.
Through craft and subtly, Satan led Adam and Eve to their physical and spiritual death. In the form of a serpent that he inhabited in literal or literary form, the enemy spoke these words to them along these lines: “Is it true that God has restricted you from the delights of this place? This is not like one who is truly good and kind. There must be some mistake.”1 While it is explicit that Satan lied to both the man and woman created by God (“you shall not die” – Gen 3:4), it is within the realm of deception that this enemy is capable of seducing you to lie to yourself and others. Leading yourself and others to unwanted outcomes or horrific consequences.
Sin & Suffering
Notice in Genesis 3 that God did not curse Adam and Eve. He cursed Satan and the ground that they both walked upon. The consequences for their sin were physical and spiritual death which includes separation from God their maker. Their eyes were opened and their existence fundamentally changed, but they were both corrupted. They were the first of billions of people who would experience death through sin and suffering because of the betrayal and disobedience that entered into God’s creation. The Lord YHWH permitted the damage Satan has caused yet provided a way and certainty of recovery to demonstrate the all-powerful sovereignty and dominion of God Most High.
Within the proclamation of judgment and curses, Genesis gives us the very first look at how God provided a way of recovery for mankind and His creation. The promised messiah first appears in Genesis 3:15 to reveal the supreme goodness, mercy, and love of God. Even as He was betrayed by people He formed to walk with Him and abide with Him, He chose to provide us a way back to Him.
Facts & Observations
• Genesis 3:15 is a messianic prophecy where the entire biblical narrative of redemption begins from there. A prophecy about the rescue from the consequences of sin.2
• The seed of the woman is mankind’s only hope.3
• The singular form of “he” in the verse, is a reference to an individual who represents the seed (Gen 3:15 KJV).4 This is a literal historical reference to the offspring (ESV) of a woman.
• Jesus crushes the head of the serpent, while the servant bruises His heel. God, in His judgment, mercy, and wisdom bestowed upon His creation, gave a pronouncement concerning the coming messiah through the seed of the woman.5
• The Lord God Himself brings enmity between the seed of Satan and the woman and her seed (or offspring).6
• The descendants of Adam and Eve, throughout biblical history, are opposed to the serpent (Satan) through the seed of the woman.
• Jesus, the seed of the woman and the second Adam overcomes sin and death to defeat Satan.7
Key Messianic Prophecies in the Old Testament
REFERENCE
PROPHECY
VERSE TEXT (ESV)
Gen 3:15
Messiah to reconcile men to God; fully human, born of woman, He will utterly defeat Satan.
"I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
Gen 22:18
He will be of the family of Abraham.
"and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.”
Gen 49:10
He will be of the kingly tribe of Judah.
"The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples."
Deut. 18:15
He will be a prophet who, like Moses, revealed the Word of God.
“The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen—"
Ps. 2:1-2
He will be tried by Gentile rulers and condemned by His own Jewish people.
Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying,"
Ps. 16:10
Through resurrection, by the Father, Jesus' body will not see corruption.
"For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption."
Ps. 22:1
He will experience the rejection of the Father at His death.
"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?
Ps. 22:6-7
He will be mocked at His crucifixion.
"But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by the people. All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads;"
Ps. 22:22
Christ will glorify God in His church after His resurrection.
"I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:"
Ps. 40:6-8
Christ delight in all the Father's will.
"In sacrifice and offering you have not delighted, but you have given me an open ear. Burnt offering and sin offering you have not required. Then I said, “Behold, I have come; in the scroll of the book it is written of me: I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.”
Ps. 69:7-12
Christ would be rejected by men.
"For it is for your sake that I have borne reproach, that dishonor has covered my face. I have become a stranger to my brothers, an alien to my mother’s sons. For zeal for your house has consumed me, and the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me. When I wept and humbled my soul with fasting, it became my reproach. When I made sackcloth my clothing, I became a byword to them. I am the talk of those who sit in the gate, and the drunkards make songs about me."
Ps. 69:21
Christ would drink gall at His crucifixion.
"They gave me poison for food, and for my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink."
Ps. 89:4
Christ will be of the eternal seed of David.
‘I will establish your offspring forever, and build your throne for all generations.’ ”
Ps. 89:26-28
Christ will be God's eternal son, His unique firstborn.
"He shall cry to me, ‘You are my Father, my God, and the Rock of my salvation.’ And I will make him the firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth. My steadfast love I will keep for him forever, and my covenant will stand firm for him."
Ps. 110:1
He will ascend to the right hand of the Father and be coronated.
"The LORD says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.”
Ps. 110:4
His priesthood will be eternal, after the manner of Melchizedek.
"The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind, “You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.”
Ps. 132.11
He will be of the lineage of David.
"The LORD swore to David a sure oath from which he will not turn back: “One of the sons of your body I will set on your throne."
Isa. 7:14
Christ will have a virgin birth; He will be called Immanuel.
"Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel."
Isa. 7:15-16
He will grow up in a land dominated by a foreign power.
"He shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be deserted."
Isa. 9:1-2
He will minister in Galilee.
"But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone."
Isa. 9:7
He will be of the line of David, but His kingship will be eternal and He will be the Son of God.
"Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this."
Isa. 11:2
He will be anointed with The Holy Spirit
"And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD."
Isa. 11:4
He will minister perfect justice regarding the poor and he meek.
"but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked."
Isa. 24:16
Christ will offer salvation to the entire world.
"From the ends of the earth we hear songs of praise, of glory to the Righteous One. But I say, “I waste away, I waste away. Woe is me! For the traitors have betrayed, with betrayal the traitors have betrayed.”
Isa. 40:3
He will have a forerunner.
"A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God."
Isa. 42:1
Christ will be the great anointed Servant of Yahweh.
"Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations."
Isa. 42:2
His ministry will be gentle.
"He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street;"
Isa. 42:6
Christ will be the fulfillment of God's covenant.
“I am the LORD; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations,"
Isa. 49:6
Christ will be a light to the Gentile.
"he says: “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”
Isa. 52:14
He would be disfigured by the abuses He suffered prior to crucifixion.
"As many were astonished at you— his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind—"
Isa. 53:4
Christ will bear all our diseases.
"Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted."
Isa. 53:5
He will provide atonement for sin.
"But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed."
Isa. 53:9
He will be buried in a rich man's tomb.
"And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth."
Isa. 53:10
The Father will prolong Christ's days by resurrecting Him from the dead.
"Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand."
Dan. 9:24
His public ministr to begin in A.D. 26, which would be 483 years after the decree to Ezra to rebuild Jerusalem; 3 1/2 years later (in the middle of the seven year "week") the Messiah would be crucified while atoning for sin as the "Most Holy" One.
“Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place."
Mic. 5:2
Jesus would be born in Bethlehem.
"But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days."
Zech. 9:9
He would enter Jerusalem on a donkey's colt.
"Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey."
Zech. 11:12
Christ would be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver.
"Then I said to them, “If it seems good to you, give me my wages; but if not, keep them.” And they weighed out as my wages thirty pieces of silver."
Zech. 12:10
He would be pierced for our transgressions
“And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn."
Citations
1. John F. MacArthur Jr., The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Bible. (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2006), Ge 3:1. 2. William Varner, The Seed and Schaeffer, What Happened in the Garden, (Grand Rapids, Kregel Academic, 2016), 155. 3. Ibid. 159. 4. Ibid. 159. 5. Ibid. 163. 6. Ibid. 155. 7. Ibid. 167. 8. Gleason Archer, Jr., A Survey of the Old Testament Introduction, (Chicago, Moody Publishers, 2007), 326.
The following outline provides a shortlist of specifics concerning the significance and outcomes of the fall of humanity in Genesis 3. Throughout Scripture, from the Old Testament to the New, several facts about the catastrophic consequences are listed one-by-one:
Genesis 3 is about the fall of mankind as a result of standing against God in disobedience. Original sin.1
The original sin extends throughout humanity as narrated throughout the Pentateuch. Disruption of created order, consequences to descendants, reign of death, prevailing power within human nature, and thereafter judgment with condemnation.2
Prophets Ezekiel, Jeremiah, and Isaiah point back to Eden. With parallels to Babylonian captivity.3
Apostle Paul writes about the fall of humanity in Genesis 3. Specifically, a fall resulting in disobedience and separation from God the Creator as a result. Sin pervades the world, and sin brings death as an outcome. All men die from sin (Rom 5:12).
Augustine affirms the rationale of Apostle Paul about the transmission, shared guilt, and moral corruption of every human.4
Over the course of biblical history, after Genesis 3, death reigns and continues from the sin of Adam and Eve to everyone today.5
Citations
1. Paul R. Thorsell, Genesis 3 and Original Sin, What Happened in the Garden, (Grand Rapids, Kregel Academic, 2016), 121-122. 2. Ibid. 137. 3. Ibid. 136. 4. Ibid. 126, 134. 5. Ibid. 129.
A significant number of biblical scholars hold to a view of Scripture where the creation account in Genesis is interpreted as a historical narrative compared to figurative poetry. By contrast, those with a figurative, poetic reading of Creation often presuppose from a naturalistic worldview a storyline or framework of Creation made to fit human perspective or rationale. While there is plenty of symbolism in Scripture, the tension between the two can rest upon having explanatory power corresponding to what “makes sense” from human sensory perception and reason as validated by the scientific method. Or just by what makes sense to humanity as compared to what is given by revelatory explanation from the God of ancient historical record and Scripture. Where it can feel like a prevailing view centers around what humanity can perceive and produce as an individual or its social acceptance and reliance of observation on the scientific method to support a sensible position of normalcy. At least in terms of natural law or the laws of physics.
Even though the words of Genesis are delivered or settled according to authorial intent, the meaning of original manuscripts according to historical reference, tradition, and culture bears significant weight to many as a matter of contrast and comparison about how existence came to be. So, at face value, rationale about the Creation narrative provides for a surface-level view of meaning from a Creator. Then by looking deeper at root languages across the entire text of Scripture, a fuller and more comprehensive interpretation emerges with a clearer understanding and deeper significance. Especially with respect to how the Creation account in Genesis 1:1 through 2:3 communicates speech-actions in terms of what was revealed by associated methods and sequence or timeline.
Interpretation Rests Upon Authorial Intent
It is the difference between a narrow view and a broad view in terms of four-dimensional thinking. So as to rest upon available and reasoned faith in what God has communicated through the authors of Scripture (2 Tim 3:16). If anyone can surmise that an extra-natural existence beyond our confines of space and time is possible without scientific evidence that satisfies humanity, then new questions can form around the metaphysical nature of reality.
As a few questions lead to several more questions, just maybe there becomes a willingness beyond speculation to see and hear what theologians for thousands of years have been saying about what the prophets and apostles wrote. Namely, for example, in Romans 1:19 – 23, where God has explained that He has revealed Himself in what is observed or perceived through Created reality in the everyday world around us. Yet even further throughout the Universe itself.
New Testament Recognition of Creation & Its Origin
“19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.”
Romans 1:19–23 (ESV)
Literal Narrative Argumentation
So to further draw a contrast between figurative poetry and historical narrative, I have outlined here a few notes from theological texts that advocate a historical narrative perspective. Much of it literal while some of it symbolic.
Argument from Statistical Process Analysis Produced and demonstrated to parse and quantify the Hebrew language and its grammatical details about how the Genesis written account is formed and expressed. The form of the written creation account in Hebrew supports a literal historical narrative as compared to a poetic framework.
Argument from Literary Development Author intended written work as reference to real events. Examples produced from customs, ancient names, monuments, pronouncements, historical references, cited sources and records, chronological references, genealogies, prophetic utterances, time anchored words, and historical trajectories.
Argument from Doctrine The doctrine of Scripture requires readers to accept by authorial intent that the Genesis account originated from God. A historical narrative description of real events as revealed by God in Scripture through the author of Genesis. The Bible compels the reader to a belief in the past of actual events as narrated.
Argument from Exegetical Hermeneutics Scholars attempt to show that the Genesis creation account is about the form of the text as if it were akin to a parable. With reference to ANE comparisons, their view is that ancient readers would have never viewed the ancient account as a literal historical account. Contrary to scholars’ view that the text is figurative, in that creation was a formative effort. By contrast and effective exegesis, the Hebrew term בָּרָא for “created” (Gen 1:1), is to bring into existence, or the verb, “bā·rā” according to the Hebrew-Aramaic dictionary.
Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains: Hebrew1343 I. בָּרָא (bā·rā(ʾ)): v.; ≡ Str 1254; TWOT 278—1. LN 42.29–42.40 (qal) create, i.e., make something that has not been in existence before (Ge 1:1); (nif) be created (Ge 2:4); 2. LN 42.29–42.40 make, form or fashion something out of elements that exist (Ge 6:7; Jer 31:22; Is 65:18).
In an effort to produce a running list of differences between the biblical record in Genesis of creation and various Ancient Near Eastern (ANE) accounts, this is a beginning comparison among others to follow if they should arise during the course of study. These are only a small collection of major differences to help dismiss outright ANE mythology as a source of comparative truth as written in Genesis.
The Lord’s Aseity stands separate from the “deities” who were created by Him.
The Lord is assumed in the ANE texts rather than proved or asserted as compared to the origin and function of the gods.
The Lord exists and operates outside His creation whereas the gods were formed of natural forces that assumed a status of divinity.
The Lord is unopposed as compared to deities in ANE myths in conflict.
Earth and heavens formed in Enuma Elish through violence related to goddess Tiamat. Where Genesis explicitly specifies creation’s existence by what the Lord spoke.
Tiamat, the goddess is a character (tĕhôm; תְּהוֹם) of Enuma Elish, whereas the “deep” (tĕhôm; תְּהוֹם) in Genesis 1 refers to the depths of the waters.
Agriculture development by irrigation appears both in Scripture and in ANE myths. Genesis explicitly informs us that irrigation originates from God, while from ANE myths (such as Eridu Genesis) it originates from humanity.
The gods in ANE myths Atrahasis and Eridu Genesis are angered over the noise of the population of those on the Earth. In Genesis, there is no population to produce objectionable noise, but rebellion instead.
The Gilgamesh Epic refers to a snake and a plant submerged in an ocean as the source of eternal life, or immortality. Whereas the Bible informs us that there is no death present with Adam and Eve until after their disobedience.
ANE myth Enuma Elish shows Marduk suspends Tiamat’s body up like the sky. Where upper and lower waters become separated. In Genesis, the waters are divided above and beneath the firmament.
Marduk makes humans from the mud and blood of Tiamat’s monster to serve the gods and bring them comfort.
There are numerous Enuma Elish references to the creation account that have no corresponding relevance or approximate comparative inference.
Assembled here is a survey of each chapter in Numbers. A few sentences for each chapter to summarize the core content and meaning of the fourth book of the Mosaic law. All thirty-six chapters are put together here to assemble a coherent view of the Book of Numbers as a whole. These summaries were not written from a historical, poetic, literal, or figurative interpretative view. These summaries are merely of content produced within the valid, authoritative, sufficient, infallible, and inerrant strength of God’s word.
Theme of Numbers: The travels of Israel in the wilderness and their rebellion before the Lord. Yahweh remains faithful and remains true to His covenant. God leads His holy nation to the promised land and provides for His people along the way with lessons for generations to follow.
Numbers 1: Yahweh instructs Moses to take a census of the people of Israel. All people among the population of tribes throughout Israel are counted except for the Levites.
Numbers 2: Assigned camp positions of Israelite tribes according to cartesian coordinates. All situated around the tabernacle with the captains of the tribes named.
Numbers 3: The identity and role of Aaron’s sons as Levites to include duties and responsibilities. Additional encampment details with Yahweh’s redemption and consecration of the Levites for Him.
Numbers 4: The quantity and duties concerning sons of Kohath, Gershon, Merari, and the total number of Levites.
Numbers 5: Laws concerning unclean people, restitution, and jealousy. A test for an act of adultery.
Numbers 6: Laws concerning a Nazirite and associated vow(s). Blessings upon Aaron and the children of Israel.
Numbers 7: Offerings to Yahweh at the consecration of the tabernacle by tribal chiefs of Israel.
Numbers 8: Details concerning tabernacle operations involving lighting, rituals of the Levites, purification, and age limitations.
Numbers 9: Methods, timing, and restrictions concerning Passover observance. Presence and guidance of Yahweh among His people during worship, service, and travel. Yahweh is in a cloud by day and a fire by night.
Numbers 10: Yahweh instructs Moses to make two trumpets of silver to summon the people of Israel. To assemble, offer sacrifices, perform celebrations, and make ready for travel.
Numbers 11: Israelites complain about hardships and Yahweh kills some of them. Moses is overwhelmed and gets help from seventy elders as Yahweh places His spirit upon them. God supplies quail (meat) from the sky (nature) and feeds the Israelites. According to their cravings, they hoard the quail, and Yahweh kills them with a great plague.
Numbers 12: Aaron and Miriam have a dispute with Moses and upsets Yahweh. God inflicts Miriam with leprosy, and she is set outside the camp for 7-days before recovery.
Numbers 13: Yahweh instructs Moses to send spies into Canaan. The spies return with news about what they found.
Numbers 14: Except for Joshua and Caleb, Israel refuses to enter Canaan. Yahweh becomes angered at the people due to their unbelief, grumbling, and sour attitudes. All people 20-years of age and older consigned to death in the wilderness.
Numbers 15: Laws about sacrifices and unintentional sins spoke to the people to Moses. A person gathering sticks on the sabbath was stoned to death by the Lord’s instructions to Moses.
Numbers 16: Korah and his congregation of 250 men rebel against Moses, Aaron, and the Lord. Korah, Dathan, and Abiram were all swallowed up into the earth. The 250 men before the glory of the Lord were burned alive by Yahweh.
Numbers 17: Yahweh instructed Moses to have the staves of the people marked by with their name. The staff the Lord chooses shall be the priestly head over the people. The staff of Aaron sprouts with buds and almonds as a sign the Lord has chosen Aaron.
Numbers 18: Duties, responsibilities, offerings, and inheritances of Levite priests.
Numbers 19: Laws for the purification of sin and the usage of sacrificial ashes. Specifics about unclean men that defile the tabernacle sanctuary.
Numbers 20: Moses’s older sister Miriam dies. Moses does not follow the Lord’s instructions to speak to a rock for it to yield water. He strikes the rock instead. Edom refuses the passage of Israel through their land. Aaron dies.
Numbers 21: Israel complains about hardship. The Lord sends serpents to kill them. Upon confession, they are healed by looking upon a bronze serpent. Israel destroys Canaanites and remaining cities were devoted to destruction. Israel destroys the Amorites. Israel destroys the people of Bashan.
Numbers 22: Balak, king of Moab, summons Balaam to curse Israel. An angel of the Lord intercepts Balaam’s travels to Israel with a talking donkey and returns him to Balak.
Numbers 23: Balaam speaks the words of the Lord Yahweh to Balak’s consternation.
Numbers 24: Balaam again utters oracles concerning the blessings of Israel.
Numbers 25: Israel yokes itself to the false god Baal through Zimri’s relationship with a Midianite woman (Cozbi). Phinehas kills them both and gains Yahweh’s blessings and stops the plague that killed 24,000 people.
Numbers 26: A new census was taken after the plague to count the populations of the tribes of Israel. A new generation formed since Sinai and the land of Canaan was divided by lot and size among the tribes of Israel.
Numbers 27: The daughters of Zelophehad petition Moses for their inheritance. From their father who was killed due to his sin. Joshua is named by Yahweh as the successor to Moses.
Numbers 28: Various periodic offerings to Yahweh are explicitly defined with instructions concerning their composition and purpose.
Numbers 29: Additional requirements concerning offerings. Feast of trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Booths are described as having their unique requirements.
Numbers 30: Requirements and instructions concerning vows made by men and women.
Numbers 31: Yahweh instructs Moses to command Israel to attack and destroy Midian. Property and people captured with restrictions to keep Israel a holy nation.
Numbers 32: The tribes Reuben and Gad prefer Gilead East of the Jordan. Terms are negotiated for their return to this region to remain blameless before Yahweh.
Numbers 33: Moses records wilderness journeys of the Israelites during the Exodus from Egypt. The Lord gives added instructions concerning the inhabitants of Canaan. They shall be driven out with their idols, altars, and high places destroyed.
Numbers 34: The borders of Israel are defined by Yahweh. The tribal names and their chiefs are identified and pronounced by the Lord.
Numbers 35: The cities of Levites and refugees are named with their defined purpose.
Numbers 36: Final instructions were given concerning the daughters of Zelophehad and the distribution of their inheritances.
Interwoven throughout Scripture are echoes of what God has historically accomplished through His covenant with Abraham. That in a broader sense, there is the Doctrine of the Works of God1 that includes various covenants with His people down through the ages. Ultimately to accomplish His purposes stemming from the Genesis 3:15 proclamation, there would become a long series of events that testify to who the Lord is and what He means to everything He has created. The spiritual and physical realms, sentient and non-sentient beings, both alive and dead, living matter, and His creation in full are witness to what He has done back through the corridors of time.
As a continuation of the Noahic covenant, Noah’s descendant Abraham came through the lineage of Shem. Whereupon recovery of the great flood (Gen 7-8), Noah and his family survived the earliest form of Semitic nations emerged to grow sizeable in number prior to their dispersal at the tower of Babel (Gen 10). The nations were disinherited, turned over to the governance of the sons of God (lesser elohim)2, and were subjected to isolation before future reclamation as a matter of eschatological reference and interest. The means by which the nations would become the reclaimed center around God’s own people chosen for himself. A nation among the others governed by lesser deities that were originated and chosen through Abraham to further His covenant oath in fulfillment of the Adamic proclamation. The Abrahamic covenant would become an anchor point between both Old and New Testaments that serves as a source of confidence and certainty about God’s redemptive work for His purposes and glory.
The LORD orchestrated conditions and circumstances to which we observe in Scripture a coherent view of the Abrahamic covenant. A covenant meaning that traverses Scripture to form an overall biblical theology that reveals our LORD’s work, accomplishments, and overall intent with the Kingdom of God now present upon the Earth. A Kingdom that originates from the first patriarch Abraham to those in Christ today who will in time occupy a new Heaven and Earth (Rev. 21:1) to gain a type of Edenic fellowship with the Most High.
Purpose of the Abrahamic Covenant
In fulfillment of God’s covenant with Abraham, the Lord originates an inexorable march toward recovery to what rightfully belongs to Him. He will have His creation and people in fellowship with Him, and there is nothing that will ever put a stop to that either in this life or the next. With the Earth that serves as a geographical canvas of Abraham and his descendants, the Lord’s chosen people will grow in population. They will occupy a chosen land with prosperity and blessings. Ultimately leading to a messianic outcome that far surpasses traditional and cultural expectations. First to the Jew and then to the Gentile (Rom 1:16), people born anew among nations will beckon back to Abraham’s time to recognize what the Lord has accomplished and worship Him for it. The Lord’s purpose in calling Abraham was to begin a covenant of grace3 as his status by faith was counted to him as righteousness (Gen 15:6). Abraham, the friend of God (Is 41:8), was called to become our first human model of a relationship with God that was rooted in belief, trust, faith, obedience, honor, and love. The Lord Yahweh of all Heaven and Earth treasured Abraham as His own possession and promised him blessings beyond full comprehension. It was in the high calling of Abraham that shepherded His people to eventually become a kingdom of Priests who would usher back to the Lord the nations of people who held a common view of Yahweh. People who would believe, trust, obey, honor, and love the Lord as He so deservedly wants (Deut. 6:5).
Nature of the Abrahamic Covenant
Throughout a series of dispensational periods in Scripture 4, there is a sequence of adjacent covenants that interface with one another through Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, and Jesus. From beginning to end, most of these covenants overlap with one another over time. Not one abrogates another.5 Their purpose in the fulfillment of God’s redemptive work serves to bring forward promises to Adam and Noah plus the offspring that originate from Abraham. Without the patriarch fathers knowing any of the specific details, it was recognized that the LORD would bless Abraham with children and land to begin the nations.
Depending upon your perspective between covenant and dispensational theology, there are a different number of periodic intervals according to Scripture and the Doctrine of the Works of God. While some people only recognize a few dispensations, others see as many as eight in total that transpires across time.6 However, both historically and eschatologically, we see a common overlap between them to illustrate their interconnected relationships with one another.
While dispensations are linear in sequence across time, covenants from beginning to end are both linear and nonlinear according to the intentions and promises of God. Both perspectives are not mutually exclusive but instead appear complimentary. Where dispensational thought provides a mechanical or wooden method of functional recognition across conditional and unconditional covenants between the Lord Yahweh and His people. As they are the difference between mechanistic and organic expression, the Abrahamic covenant begins the unique, unilateral, and unconditional covenant of blessings, offspring, and territory.
The Abrahamic Covenant is situated among major biblical covenants sequentially formed and initiated 7 as follows:
a. Edenic Covenant Genesis 2:16 b. Adamic Covenant Genesis 3:15 c. Noahic Covenant Genesis 9:16 d. Abrahamic Covenant Genesis 12:2 e. Mosaic Covenant Exodus 19:5 f. Palestinian Covenant* Deuteronomy 30:3 g. Davidic Covenant 2 Samuel 7:16 h. New Covenant Hebrews 8:8
* Note: Literary analysis from Peter J. Gentry, “The Relationship of Deuteronomy to the Covenant at Sinai” concludes there is no such thing as a Palestinian Covenant. This is a dispensationalist idea that does not understand the literary structure and function of Deuteronomy 29-30 as a “Covenant Conclusion Ceremony and of the relationship of the Moab Covenant to that of Sinai.”
As all covenants carry considerable weight in meaning, the Abrahamic covenant was the beginning of a subsequent conditionality through the Mosaic covenant.8 The unconditional nature of the Abrahamic covenant was attached to the timing and participants of fulfillment and not conditional as a matter of comparison with specific individuals. The benefits of those who were to receive the unconditional and unilaterally delivered and fulfilled promises were those recognized as Abraham and his descendants. Like Abraham, they are those who would walk with God, trust Him, love Him, honor Him, and regard Him above all else who would receive the unconditional benefit of blessings befitting a friend of God (John 15:15, James 2:23). The highest of blessings among them as His presence and relationship with His people throughout the existence of humanity.
The Relevance of the Abrahamic Covenant Today
While the Abrahamic covenant was intended for the people of ancient Israel, it still bears meaningful continuity concerning God’s people today as a matter of theological principle for salvific purposes. The Abrahamic covenant was settled in redemptive history to establish a Covenant of Grace through a messianic future involving Christ through the Davidic covenant extending all the way to the fulfillment of all promises and prophetic records.9 Where this Covenant of Grace serves as a theological bridge from the ancient Hebrew people of God to Gentiles throughout the Greco-Roman empire and even to all people today who want to know, love, and serve the God of Abraham today through Christ (Rom. 4:23-25). With careful attention to the genealogical account in the gospel of Matthew, anyone can trace the lineage of Christ to Abraham (Matt. 1:1-16) in an effort to fully grasp Jesus’s role of Messiah. That while the Lord’s people are redeemed from sin and death; we have a righteousness of Christ through a Covenant of Grace. A covenant that is not conditional, but contingent upon a heart relationship with Him modeled for us by Abraham.
Conclusion
The closer one gets to understand the work of God through His covenants, the more it becomes clear that the being of Yahweh is unspeakably beyond what creation can attempt to describe, measure, or express. It either flees toward Him or away from Him in reverence or dread. What He has done through the covenants among His chosen and throughout the nations to bring upon us His kingdom goes to His glory and overwhelming reign. What becomes abundantly clear through Yahweh’s covenant with Abraham is how He fulfills it far beyond the blessings of prosperity, land, and offspring. There is a promise we have in Christ, by our God, who is a descendant of Abraham to attain fellowship with Him. As Abraham was in the presence of God as His friend, we are able to enjoy His presence as He wants. Where we are able to walk with Him, talk with Him, pitch tents with Him, love others on His behalf, gaze upon the wonder of His workmanship, and ultimately worship Him. The life of Abraham and the Lord’s covenant with Him and through Him gives us a way to see through the lens of our condition more clearly. So as because of the Lord and His friendship with Abraham, we can permanently aspire and attain His regard as a companion, a servant, and a loyal saint that He delights upon.
Citations
1. Brian Collins, Lexham Survey of Theology, The Abrahamic Covenant (Bellingham, Lexham Press, 2018). 2. The Unseen Realm. Divine Allotment (Bellingham, Lexham Press, 2015) 114 3. Brian Collins, Lexham Survey of Theology, The Covenants of Grace (Bellingham, Lexham Press, 2018). 4. Clarence Larkin, Dispensational Truth: The Covenants (Larkin, 1920). The Blue Letter Bible Website: https://www.blueletterbible.org/study/larkin/dt/26.cfm, Accessed 04/25/2020. 5. William Barrick. The Eschatological Significance of Leviticus 26 The Master’s Seminary Journal, 2005), 121. 6. Paul S. Karleen, The Handbook to Bible Study: With a Guide to the Scofield Study System (New York: Oxford University Press, 1987), 35. 7. Ibid, 35. 8. Keith Essex, The Abrahamic Covenant (The Master’s Seminary Journal, 1999), 210. 9. Meredith G. Kline, Kingdom Prologue: Genesis Foundations for a Covenantal Worldview (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock Publishers, 2006), 292.
Bibliography
Barrick, William D. “The Eschatological Significance of Leviticus 26.” The Master’s Seminary Journal, 2005: 32. Collins, Brian. Lexham Survey of Theology. Bellingham: Lexham Press, 2018. Essex, Keith. “The Abrahamic Covenant.” The Master’s Seminary Journal, 1999: 210. Heiser, Michael. The Unseen Realm. Bellingham: Lexham Press, 2015. Karleen, Paul S. The Handbook to Bible Study: With a Guide to the Scofield Study System. New York: Oxford University Press, 1987. Kline, Meredith G. Kingdom Prologue: Genesis Foundations for a Covenantal Worldview. Eugene: Wipf & Stock Publishers, 2006. Larkin, Clarence. Dispensational Truth. Philadelphia: Rev. Clarence Larkin Est., 1920.
