Exegesis and Theology

The Blog of Brian Collins

Archives for August 2008

John Frame on the Fall

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“God intended human beings to have dominion over the animals, the man to have authority over his wife, and all human beings to be subordinate to him. In the narrative of the fall, Satan inhabits an animal, who takes dominion of the woman, who usurps the authority of the man, who blames it all on God (Gen. 3:1). So Satan seeks an exact reversal of the authority structure.”

John Frame, Doctrine of the Christian Life, 257.

[Note: At the link above you can view a 30 page PDF that includes the extensive table of contents and the book’s preface. Full diclosure: I’m participating the WTS Bookstore Blog Partners Program.]

The Threefold Office of Christ – Part 7

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With the failure of the king to right Israel’s (and the world’s) sin problem, the focus turns to the prophets. The book of Kings contains more references to the prophet or the man of God than any other book of the Bible. Kings emphasizes the sure fulfillment of the prophetic word, and this emphasis should have reminded the people that God would fulfill the covenant curses prophesied by Moses if they continued in their disobedience.

The account of Elijah, the greatest of the prophets during the time of the divided kingdom, echoes in many ways the ministry of Moses. It is possible that attentive Israelites looking for a prophet like Moses (Deut. 18:18) thought Elijah was that man.

Just as Yahweh demonstrated through Moses that the gods of Egypt were no gods, through Elijah Yahweh demonstrated Baal was no god. The three year drought challenged the belief that Baal brought fertility to the land, and the miraculous provision of food in Sidon, Jezebel’s homeland, demonstrated that Yahweh could do what Baal was supposed to be able to do. In Baal mythology, during the dry season the god Mot held Baal captive in the world of the dead. Each year Anath rescued Baal and together they would restore fertility to the land. By raising the widow’s son from the dead during the drought, Yahweh demonstrated that even though Baal could not rise from the dead, as it were, Yahweh had power to raise people from the dead.

This contest climaxed on Mount Carmel. Elijah’s prayer was the same as the oft repeated purpose of God in the Exodus (Ex 6:7; 10:1; 16:6, 12; 29:46): “that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back” (1.18:37). The last part of the prayer is a request for the fulfillment of Deuteronomy 30:1-10.

Elijah may have realized the many ways in which his ministry was like Moses’, but after the climatic confrontation on Mount Carmel he saw that Jezebel was going to kill him just as she had killed Yahweh’s other prophets. [It is better to read וַיַּרְא with the KJV rather than repointing to וַיִּרָא. Keil perceptively notes, “For it is obvious that Elijah did not flee from any fear of the vain threat of Jezebel, from the fact that he did not merely withdrawn into the kingdom of Judah, where he would have been safe under Jehoshaphat from all the persecutions of Jezebel, but went to Beersheba, and thence onwards into the desert” C. F. Keil, 1 and 2 Kings, 1 and 2 Chronicles, (Reprint, Hendrickson, 1996), 178. Note also Ronald B. Allen, “Elijah, the Broken Prophet,” JETS 22 (Sep. 1979): 198-99.] So despite the fiery response from God and the immediate confession of the people, in the next chapter Elijah is found taking a forty-day journey to Mount Sinai. But Elijah realized that instead of being a prophet like Moses, he was “no better than [his] fathers” (1.19:4). He was not about to let Jezebel kill him, but he would be happy if God would simply take his life (like he did with Moses?). God did not take his life, but, interestingly, before Elijah is taken from earth he crossed the Jordan in a manner reminiscent of Moses’ crossing of the Red Sea.

In some ways Elijah surpassed Moses since, unlike Moses, who died and was buried by the Lord, Elijah was caught up to heaven in a fiery chariot. [Interestingly, it is Moses and Elijah who appear with Christ at the Transfiguration.] Even so, Elijah was not the prophet like Moses. That Prophet was still to come.

The Threefold Office of Christ – Part 6

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The Davidic covenant promised great things for David’s son. The ascent of Solomon to Israel’s throne appeared to be the fulfillment of many covenant promises. In Solomon’s day the people of Israel had become as numerous as the sand of the sea (1 Kgs. 4:20; Gen. 22:17). The boundaries of Solomon’s rule matched those promised to Abraham (1 Kgs. 4:21; Gen. 15:18). Solomon was also a blessing to the nations; people from all the nations came to hear Solomon’s wisdom (1 Kgs 4:34; Gen. 22:18). Solomon embodied the goal that Israel would become a priest to the nations (1 Kgs 10:6-9; Deut. 4:6-8). First Kings 5 begins the account of the Temple construction. This immediately brings to mind the promises of the Davidic Covenant: “I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever” (2 Sam. 7:12-13). The benefits of his reign are even described in language that is used later to describe the Millennium (1 Kgs. 4:25; Mic. 4:4; Zech. 3:10).

A cursory look at Solomon might lead one to think that he was the promised king, but a careful examination reveals numerous unsettling failures. Though Solomon loved the Lord, he worshipped him at high places contrary to the Law (1 Kgs. 3:3; Deut. 12:5-6; cf. Provan, 45). He married Pharaoh’s daughter (1.3:1) contrary to Exodus 34:16 and Deuteronomy 7:3. He apparently placed more emphasis on building his own palace than on building God’s temple (1.7:1-12; cf. Provan, 70). He broke all three of the regulations for kings in Deuteronomy 17:14-20. He imported horses from Egypt (1 Kgs. 10:26; Deut. 17:16). He married many foreign women (1 Kgs. 11:1-3; Deut. 17:17; cf. Deut. 7:3-4). He acquired a great amount of gold (1 Kgs. 9:14; 10:11, 14-22). [Some tension exists between God’s promise to bless Solomon with riches (1 Kings 3:13) and Deuteronomy 17:17’s prohibition of gathering up wealth. This tension can be resolved by comparing 1 Kings 4:21-25 in which Solomon uses his great wealth to benefit his people (note the Millennial language in 4:25) and 1 Kings 10:14-22 in which he made himself a golden throne and filled his house with golden goblets and shields.] In the end, Solomon turned his heart from Yahweh to other gods. Instead of being the promised king, Solomon’s sin brought Israel under the covenant curses. The hope for the promised Davidic king was not extinguished, but the expectation was delayed (1.11:12, 32, 34-36, 39).

Soucres:
Provan, Iain W. 1 and 2 Kings. New International Biblical Commentary. Edited by Robert L. Hubbard Jr. and Robert K. Johnston. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1995.