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Witnesses of the Shadow

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The Purpose of the Mosaic Covenant

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.⁸I 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.

Oath & Covenant

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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

¹T. Desmond Alexander, From Paradise to the Promised Land. An Introduction to the Pentateuch. Third Edition. (Grand Rapids, Baker Academic, 2012), 289.
²Michael 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.
³Ibid. Alexander, 287.
⁴John H. Walton, The Decalogue Structure of the Deuteronomic Law. (2012), 99.
⁵Ibid. Walton, 100.
⁶Ibid. Walton, 101-104.
⁷Ibid. Walton, 105.
⁸James M. Hamilton, J. (2014). The Glory of God in Salvation through Judgment in Deuteronomy. Southern Baptist Theological Journal, 19-33.
⁹Ibid. Hamilton, 30.
¹⁰Gentry, P. J. (2014). The Relationship of Deuteronomy to the Covenant at Sinai. Southern Baptist Theological Journal, 35-57.

Deuteronomy Walkthrough

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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.

The Seed & The Serpent

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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 Gravity of Error

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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.

Explanatory Power of Reason

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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: Hebrew 1343 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).

Of Deference & Distinction

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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.

Numbers Walkthrough

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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.

The Inexorable Promise

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Background of the Abrahamic Covenant

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 ⁷as 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.

Leviticus Walkthrough

By on in Theology

Assembled here is a survey of each chapter in Leviticus. A few sentences for each chapter to summarize the core content and meaning of the third book of the Mosaic law. All twenty-seven chapters are put together here to assemble a coherent view of the Book of Leviticus 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 Leviticus:
The Lord has set apart His people to be a holy nation. Yahweh provides a way to Him through sacrifice and a method by which His people walk with Him through their separation or sanctification.

Leviticus 1:
Burnt Offering – Instructions to Moses at the tent of meeting about how to conduct animal sacrifices. Specifically, burnt unblemished animal sacrifices at the altar. Bulls, sheep, goats, and birds. Symbolic of Romans 12:1. Shadow of Christ in offering (Eph 5:2, Heb 9:14).

Leviticus 2:
Grain or Meal Offering – Burnt offerings of flour, oil, and frankincense. Baked bread unleavened with oil permitted. No honey permitted. Food offerings to the Lord and portion to Aaron and priests. Shadow of Christ in offering (John 12:24). Christ was the Corn or grain of wheat.

Leviticus 3:
Peace Offering – Laying of hands onto the head of the goat to transfer sins of the people while the animal is sacrificed. Eating fat or blood is forbidden. Christ is our peace offering (Rom 5:1, Col 1:20).

Leviticus 4:
Sin Offering – Laying of hands onto the head of a bull. Unintentional sin of the people of Israel. Shadow of Christ in offering. Christ is our sin offering (2 Cor 5:21, 1 Pet 2:24).

Leviticus 5:
Guilt or Trespass Offering – Unintentional sins and sins of omission, careless words spoken, withholding evidence, or depraved indifference, there is an atonement through the sacrifice of a lamb, doves, or pigeons. If by poverty, flour is offered. Sin is forgiven. Shadow of Christ in the offering. Christ is our trespass offering (Col 2:13-14, 2 Cor 5:19).

Leviticus 6:
More specifics about the sins addressed by burnt offerings, grain offerings, and sin offerings. The priest’s activity and responsibility in their care and handling of the offerings.

Leviticus 7:
More specifics about trespass and peace offerings. Added priestly responsibilities. Forbidden consumption of fat and blood. Portions of sacrificial offerings designated to Aaron and his sons.

Leviticus 8:
As per the Lord’s instructions to Moses, he consecrates Aaron and His Sons.

Leviticus 9:
The Lord accepts Aaron’s offerings for himself and the people and his priestly ministry begins. The glory of the Lord appeared to the people and fire came from Him to consume the burnt offering.

Leviticus 10:
Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu, bring profane fire before the Lord and He consumes them in fire. The Lord makes additional details clear about the conduct of His priests.

Leviticus 11:
Foods permitted to eat and distinctions between clean and unclean animals. Transferability of unclean (unholy) status from one being to another (animal to human).

Leviticus 12:
The purification after childbirth and differences between an unclean period between males and females. The process of sin offering to make atonement is presented after childbirth.

Leviticus 13:
Laws concerning leprosy. Method of identification and isolation of individual who exhibit disease or skin conditions. Laws about how to recover from ailment and cleansing. How to handle garments exposed to leprosy.

Leviticus 14:
Laws for cleansing lepers who were healed. Method of identification concerning clean and unclean households.

Leviticus 15:
Laws about bodily discharges and how to cleanse from various types among males and females to prevent contamination.

Leviticus 16:
The day of atonement involving sin offerings concerning Israel and Aaron. Tabernacle sanctification, the use of the scapegoat (Azazel), and the continued observance of the day of atonement.

Leviticus 17:
The placement of sacrificial offerings and their approach within the tabernacle. Further laws against the consumption of blood.

Leviticus 18:
Unlawful sexual relations including incest, homosexuality, adultery, and bestiality. Child sacrifice, or harm, to false gods forbidden.

Leviticus 19:
Laws concerning personal and social conduct. Do not bear grudges, or hatred for others. Do not fraud or cheat others. Judge righteously and do not curse or deal harshly with the deaf, poor, or disadvantaged. Sexual relations with slave women forbidden. Various additional laws concerning food, personal grooming, tattooing, prostitution of daughters, divination, strangers, and trade with merchants.

Leviticus 20:
Punishment for child sacrifice. Punishment for sexual immorality. More penalties concerning forbidden practices, or traditions of another nation. Sanctify yourselves and be holy.

Leviticus 21:
Various laws and holiness requirements concerning priests.

Leviticus 22:
Purity requirement of priests. Laws concerning the consumption of holy foods dedicated to priests. Food consumption of freewill offerings associated with gratitude.

Leviticus 23:
The sabbath requirement reiterated. Persistent ceremonies involving feasts to represent a holy separate to walk with God. Specific about the Passover ceremony, feast of first fruits, feast of weeks, and feast of Trumpets. Holy convocation involving blowing of trumpets. Feast during the day of atonement, and the feast of booths (tabernacles / tents).

Leviticus 24:
Role of children to gather or produce oil for the lamps. Preparation of show bread for the tabernacle. Death penalty for blasphemy. An eye for an eye (equal administration of law).

Leviticus 25:
The seventh year of sabbath rest for the land. The fiftieth year of jubilee prescribed. Requirements concerning the redemption of property and the poor. Further instruction concerning trade among merchants and sojourners. Demonstrated kindness for poor brothers.

Leviticus 26:
Blessings and rewards for obedience. Severe punishments for disobedience. The Lord will remain faithful, He will remember His people and will not completely abandon them.

Leviticus 27:
Laws about vows, things devoted to the Lord, and tithes.

Of Curses & Covenants

By on in Theology

It is on this resurrection day in the year 2020 that this post is written to rediscover the meaning and relevance of Genesis 1 – 11. Specifically, about the promised seed in Genesis 3:15 that would come to redeem humanity as a result of its rebellion and fall in the Edenic garden of God. Where after the sin of Adam and Eve, God in His infinite wisdom and mercy curses the earth and the enemy to begin a series of the covenant promises to restore creation and proper order for His glory and redemptive purposes. The account in Scripture that begins our journey to recovery through Jesus and by the infinite, yet sufficient grace of God is traced all throughout the Bible. This post is a walkthrough of what occurred after Genesis 3:15 to bring about the lineage of Christ throughout the early covenants.

The Curses and Enmity of God

To set about an understanding of what occurred in the garden of Eden, it is necessary to recognize what YHWH spoke was prophetic to bring about the certainty of what was to occur in the future as a matter of judgment and enmity. As we see in Genesis 3:15, we are given anthropomorphic language to see what is to occur between Satan and the seed of the woman. The verse specifics read as follows (NASB):

After the metaphorical serpent deceived the woman (Eve) that led to the rebellion of both her and her mate (Adam), we are given a full explanation of what took place. The earliest progenitors of humanity consumed a forbidden fruit that would surely bring them death (Gen 2:17) as decreed by God. Upon the contradiction and outright lie of the enemy upon the woman, both she and Adam partook of the fruit of the forbidden tree. They ate the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil to seal their fate.

God’s proclamation of death, curses, and enmity upon recognition of sinful rebellion is an expected consequence that would bring a certain separation between Him and His creation. As it became corrupted, there were necessary outcomes that prompted God to set in motion His condemnation and justice through an adversarial relationship between humanity and spiritual forces of darkness. Namely, the evil that set itself against God and the relationship He formed with humanity to fellowship and dwell with Him. The forthcoming prophetic conflict specifically affected humanity in that as they suffer the consequences of their sin, the seed or offspring of the woman would strike against evil.

“And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel.” – Genesis 3:15

The Meta-Narrative and Formation of Covenants

Structurally, we see an overall dispensational period of covenant intervals throughout Scripture. Across epochs of time, we are gripped in Scripture by how God makes His covenant oaths to fulfill His promises. Both unconditional and conditional, we observe by the Lord’s revealed truth the Adamic covenant preceding the Noahic covenant. Whereas their distinction somewhat rests in the difference between the innocent and blameless nature of God’s people. With the post-diluvian call of Abraham and the Lord’s covenant with him, we encounter the Mosaic covenant and the dispensational period of the Law. To give context to sacrificial offerings and hold some semblance of God’s continued fellowship with the 12-tribes of Israel. The Davidic covenant, as given in 2 Samuel 7:4-17, provides insight into how the seed, as spoken about in Genesis 3:15, also extends through his royal descendants. Specifically, through Solomon as David’s “throne shall be established forever” (2 Sam 7:16).

In continuation of all covenants bestowed from God by His astonishing mercy and wisdom, we read of His new covenant promise in Jeremiah 31:31-37. A new covenant from the words of the prophet Jeremiah was spoken to reveal further yet another promise. Only this time, it is a covenant of salvation that He will bring to restore the right relationship with Him as He will forgive iniquity and remember the sin of His people no more (Jer 31:34). While this new covenant promise was written for the people of Israel, in principle, it applies to those who belong to Him as spoken about by Jesus in Luke 22:20.¹

Fulfillment of Covenant Promises

Over the course of history, the lineage of Adam and his wife Eve genealogically led to Noah, who God regarded as blameless in His view (Gen 6:9). As God would eventually destroy all of humanity in the flood of Genesis 7, Noah and his family became singled out to survive and reset the emergence of humanity throughout Mesopotamia and beyond. The formation of the Noahic covenant (Gen 8:20 – 9:17) thereafter involved the replenishment of the earth and the renewal of seasonal cycles.² As Noah’s sons Shem, Japheth, and Ham gave rise to the table of nations (Genesis 10), separate individual lineages would again run the course of history. As a kernel of hope extended through the descendants of Shem within the biblical narrative, there were continued setbacks that ran counter to God’s plans of redemptive history in an all-out effort to restore humanity. God’s covenant with Noah would further reach toward its fulfillment as a backdrop of what occurs throughout the remainder of Genesis and beyond. Namely, the Abrahamic covenant via Isaac and Jacob to the Davidic covenant that would propagate the seed of Eve in Genesis 3:15 NASB. This seed in Genesis 3:15 NASB narrows to Christ from a plural to a singular sense, who would fulfill God’s judgment on the enemy as our Messianic God in the person of Jesus.

As readers of Scripture, we recognize the progenitors of Noah through the descendants of Terah to include Shem. Namely, a foundation of individuals and families to originate nations and populations of people that grow in size and take up residence throughout the Middle East. As peoples are scattered by language and geological position from the Babel account in Genesis 11:1-9,³we come upon the life of Abram to set the stage for God’s work throughout early humanity. It was first beginning with His chosen servant Abraham and by the Hebrew people to ultimately all nations of the Earth as promised (Gen 22:18). There are numerous stories within the biblical record that continue to give us circumstances by which God operates among the nations while within the fallen state of humanity. First through the Jews of Israel and then through the Gentiles upon the blessings or fruits of the new covenant established as described by the Apostle Paul (Rom 11:26-27).

Prior to the fulfillment of the Abrahamic covenant concerning the land of Canaan (Deut. 29:1-30:20), we can trace the seed of Adam & Eve, Abraham & Sarah, to David & Bathsheba along 14 generations thereafter and validate the royal lineage of Christ (Matt 1:6-17).⁴ To conclude with His arrival and intent to ultimately bruise the head of the serpent by His death, resurrection, ascension, coronation, and forthcoming permanent defeat of Satan. Meanwhile, to place a New Testament capstone on God’s redemptive work, we read in Luke 22:20 that Jesus offers His blood of the new covenant. This by which YHWH speaks through the prophet Jeremiah to give certainty our iniquity and sins will be forgiven and remembered no more.

Conclusion

From creation, the fall of man, and to the flood that destroyed all of humanity except Noah and his family, the pre-patriarchal period of Genesis 1 – 11 sets the stage for scattered nations propelled throughout the Earth for thousands of years. Pivotal to this early period of formative history, Genesis 3:15 explicitly identifies the seed of Adam & Eve as carrying a redemptive purpose as a corrective and restorative action that returns creation and humanity to God’s originally intended purpose. Across numerous covenants from Adam to Christ, we have full biblical recognition of God’s mercy and wisdom beyond understanding. He has given our patriarchal and spiritual forefathers the resources, blessings, and offspring to return to Him in fulfillment of Jeremiah 31:31-37.

Citations

1. John MacArthur, The MacArthur Study Bible, 2^nd Edition, (Nashville, Thomas Nelson, 2019), 990.
2. The Noahic Covenant. Ligonier Ministries Table Talk.https://www.ligonier.org/learn/devotionals/noahic-covenant-1670/ (accessed April 11^th, 2020).
3. Michael Heiser, The Unseen Realm, The Tower of Babel (Bellingham, Lexham Press, 2015), 112-113.
4. T. Desmond Alexander, From Paradise to the Promised Land, An Introduction to the Pentateuch, 3^rd Edition (Grand Rapids, Baker Publishing Group, 2012), 144.

Bibliography

MacArthur, John. The MacArthur Study Bible – 2^nd Edition. Nashville, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2019.
Sproul, R.C. The Noahic Covenant – Ligonier Ministries Tabletalk Magazine. Ligonier Pennsylvania.
Heiser, Michael. The Unseen Realm – 1^st Edition. Bellingham, Lexham Press, 2015.
Alexander, Desmond T. From Paradise to the Promised Land. – 3^rd Edition, Grand Rapids, Baker Publishing Group, 2012.

Taking Root

By on in Theology

Today I completed a 220-page book entitled “Rooted: Connect with God, the Church, Your Purpose.” It is a workbook written by various authors for discipleship groups within local churches or small-class get-togethers. Day by day, throughout 10-weeks, time was spent in each session to return to the basics of discipleship temporarily. Initially, my time here began within a local church I am trying out. However, due to the Coronavirus lockdown, I finished the remainder of it on my own. To get an in-depth look at its substance and what it says to build or further reinforce one’s faith, relationship with the Lord, and fellowship with people.

The book originates from Mariners Church in Southern California, and the material is nearly 100% sound best I can tell as there are core topics that come from traditional biblical principles. It isn’t an in-depth look at the principles behind various topics, but it is a useful view at the surface of what new and developing Christians should largely understand and do to deepen their faith. Topics cover the importance of disciplines in the word, prayer, fellowship, giving, evangelism, baptism, communion, church commitment, worship, and others. The book also covers service in a pronounced way, both separately and interwoven throughout a number of topics given for reading, discussion, prayer, and Q&A.

While the book does well at honoring the tenants of the faith and guides believers in the basics, it, at times, emphasizes community development with subtle unwanted attention concerning social justice. Correctly, the book doesn’t make heretical attempts to attach the meaning of the gospel to assumed activist “obligations” of workmanship as an extension of faith. The book is very good but watch for any subtle emphasis on ideas of corrective and necessary actions to make good on “inequality” as a matter of activism opportunities or requirements within the Christian faith. If during discussions within Rooted sessions, it appears that the social justice worldview is somehow attached to the doctrines of justification and sanctification, the Rooted course you’re in is guided by principles harmful to you while also hostile to the gospel.

It is time well-spent within the book as a companion to fellowship and outreach for the Kingdom. Especially if you’re with like-hearted people, it is an essential reference for newcomers and for people who wish to become more grounded. It goes quite a distance in honoring Christ’s great commission (Matt 28:19-20), and it reaches quite far toward the service of people to originate volunteers for purposes of community development. So there is a noticeable distinction there as compared to more focused discipleship in service of the Kingdom of God. While both are not necessarily mutually exclusive, primary attention appears placed upon secondary people’s interests rather than interests centering on Christ, the gospel, obedience, and His Lordship, among others. Fruitful and deeply cultivated groundwork provides for more rooted discipleship that yields a rightful service to the community as a byproduct of Kingdom service. Most especially within the body of believers. The effort should be, First God, then people, whereas the Rooted book is first people, and “partner with God” for His desired outcomes.

Notice what Jesus Himself said in the book of Matthew. “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey (observe or conform; τηρέω) all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” – Matt 28:19-20. While this command can include community service and development, the disciple is to become rooted in obedience and the Lordship of Christ and thereafter multiply or serve from there. Far too many Christ-followers do not know God’s word nor do they adhere to their commitments and precepts of Scripture because they are not well-grounded. With practice and consistency to build strength to have a persistent and powerful impact for God’s glory, His Kingdom, the needs of believers, and finally the community. The end outcome is not the advancement, prosperity, or well-being of the community, but it is to honor God the Most High and His interests. Which happens to include an authentic love for all people.

Various topics are reminiscent of the Navigator’s Wheel Illustration. Concerning the Lordship of Christ and the Christian lifestyle. This conventional and more historical illustration provides a comparative structure to build a balanced and concentrated effort concerning discipleship to accompany specific Scriptural support.

Scripture should be more interspersed throughout the Rooted lessons, especially when it comes to assertions made that are easily countered with other contexts of Scripture. I often found myself wanting to see a verse citation where instead, a reader is presented with meaningful opinions and views of influential church leaders. It’s good to see the comments of well-published leaders in the faith, but Scripture carries far more weight to validate and drive home points of interest in the workbook.

Overall, I recommend the book and the Rooted program for a basic introduction to early discipleship. It is time well invested and I really loved the lessons. However, check ideas, illustrations, and principles discussed in your small group with Scripture and be watchful about social justice advocacy or pressures that do not have a Kingdom-focused bearing on God’s purpose and mission for His glory, His Church, and everyone’s well-being.

In my experience, the Design for Discipleship (DFD) series for the development of Christ-followers is much better comparatively speaking. It is far more engaging, robust, comprehensive, and Scriptural. The DFD series is suitable for all new believers without undue divisiveness. The Rooted book is easy to complete without a lot of thought or effort, so it might be more suitable for groups and leadership that do not want to commit any time in God’s word along their growth trajectory. Moreover, the Rooted book does not require or involve the Bible as a companion. Design for Discipleship is rooted well below the surface with a biblical outcome for growth that lasts a lifetime.

Rooted Book Authors:
Kenton Beshore (Sr Pastor Mariners, MA at Talbot School of Theology), Muriithi Wanjau (Sr. Pastor Mavuno Church Nairobi Kenya, M.Div Fuller Seminary), Peter Kasirivu (Founding Pastor, Gaba Community Church in Uganda), Samuel Metelus (Pastor, Church of God in Haiti), Camile and Esther Ntoto (Africa New Day Ministries in Democratic Republic of Congo, B.A. Intercultural Studies), Daniel Nunez (Sr. Pastor Ministerios Transformation El Nino, church planter), Adrian DeVisser (Sr. Pastor Kithu Sevana Ministries in Sri Lanka, M.A. in Missions from Columbia).