Exodus Jan 6, 2018 What Is It? What Is It About? How Do I Talk About It?
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Pastor Levi Simpson Deeper in a Day: The Exodus Jan 6, 2018 What is it? What is it about? How do I talk about it? Intro What are we reading? BIBLE OLD TESTAMENT NEW TESTAMENT TORAH PROPHETS WRITINGS EXODUS Bible - God’s Word in human words. A unique interpretation of universal history, the history of the whole creation and the history of the human race. Pastor Levi Simpson Deeper in a Day: The Exodus Jan 6, 2018 Old Testament - The story of the people of God up to and shortly after the exile in Babylon. It’s the Story of Israel, the Story of Eden/Land, the Story of Covenant. All of this serves to address how God is going to see his wise rule established in creation. Time out! So, why was it written (always a good question to ask!) The exile: arguably the most traumatic and therefore most influential historical event in Israel’s ancient history The Torah was not written at one time, in one place, by one person, but developed, grew, over several centuries In the face of incomprehensible loss, Israel gathers materials to address the questions that were at the forefront of their current crises (exile) - Who are we? - What does it mean to serve God faithfully? How did it do this? Reading scripture became a part of regular worship, day by day, week by week, Israel retold their story — God’s story — redefining themselves as God’s people I mention this because… We see in the Bible a theological process modelled for us—a “rich conversation” over who God has revealed himself to be and what it means to be the people of God Having some insight into when the Pentateuch was written has helped readers today understand something of why it was written. Pastor Levi Simpson Deeper in a Day: The Exodus Jan 6, 2018 The Problem - the Bible has been broken down into little bits and we’ve lost the bog picture The whole point of Christianity is that it offers a story which is the story of the whole world, and that story is the one that emerges from this book The Solution - Read it (like the people of God always have!) and ask the same questions as Israel did: Who is God? Who are we now? All right, back to What it is we’re reading… Torah - The story of the establishment of the Creator God’s covenant(s) and the gifts of law and presence that attended them Creator God… Covenant… Law… The consequence of ignoring or minimizing any of these three things The pieces that make up the whole: Genesis — Prologue God and the World God and Abaraham’s Family Pastor Levi Simpson Deeper in a Day: The Exodus Jan 6, 2018 Exodus — The Beginning The Promise Under Threat God’s Faithfulness and Presence Leviticus — Life as a Nation of Priests Life in God’s Presence: Worship Numbers — The People’s Response to God’s Sovereignty Rebellion, Faithfulness, and the Land Deuteronomy — Looking Back and Looking Ahead Call to Faithfulness Looking at the rest Nevi’im (Prophets: Josh-Kings, ISa, JEr, Eze, the 12) — The How did we get here? Ketuvim (Writings: Ps, Prov, Job, SoS, Eccl, Ruth, LAmen, Esther, Daniel, Ezra-Neh, Chron) — Who are we now? The NT — God’s Promises Fulfilled So, How do I Read This? Learn to read contextually Historical Literary Theological Pastor Levi Simpson Deeper in a Day: The Exodus Jan 6, 2018 Narrative involves Character Setting Events Plot (the arrangement of the events in a narrative format and it’s attendant ups and downs), Plot resolution (the conclusion of the narrative) Levels of narrative Canon Collection (Hebrew Bible, Torah) Book (Exodus) Cycles (Redemption from Egypt) Acts (Plague Narratives) Individual stories (each specific plague) Literary structures (arrangements, patterns, etc.) Old Testament Narratives are NOT, by and large… …allegories with hidden meaning (as though the meat of the story is getting in the way of the truth we have to perceive) …intended to teach moral lessons Pastor Levi Simpson Deeper in a Day: The Exodus Jan 6, 2018 Rather… They simply account for what God did and or what Israel did (or whoever), often illustrating what was /is taught elsewhere (but they often aren’t explicit) The Particulars of Hebrew Narrative Rather than build a story around a character, Hebrew narrative is scenic (like a TV series) Characters are the central element of these scenes Characters often appear in parallel (with earlier stories) or in contrast (with one another) Predominant mode of characterization is through word or deed (not description) Dialogue provides a clue to the plot and character of the speaker. Often, the narrator will use dialogue to emphasize crucial parts of the narrative Plot in Hebrew narrative moves fast! A few notes on structure Designed for hearers, not readers (made it memorable, easy to memorize) Repitition, key words, inclusion (sandwiching), foreshadowing, typological, Pastor Levi Simpson Deeper in a Day: The Exodus Jan 6, 2018 Reading Old Testament Narratives1 1. An Old Testament narrative usually does not directly teach a doctrine. 2. An Old Testament narrative usually illustrates a doctrine or doctrines taught propositionally elsewhere. 3. Narratives record what happened--not necessarily what should have happened or what ought to happen every time. Therefore, not every narrative has an individual identifiable moral of the story. 4. What people do in narratives is not necessarily a good example for us. Frequently, it is just the opposite. 5. Most of the characters in Old Testament narratives are far from perfect and their actions are, too. 6. We are not always told at the end of a narrative whether what happened was good or bad. We are expected to be able to judge that on the basis of what God has taught us directly and categorically elsewhere in the Scripture. 7. All narratives are selective and incomplete. Not all the relevant details are always given (cf. John 21:25). What does appear in the narrative is everything that the inspired author thought important for us to know. 8. Narratives are not written to answer all our theological questions. They have particular, specific limited purposes and deal with certain issues, leaving others to be dealt with elsewhere, in other ways. 9. Narratives may teach either explicitly (by clearly stating something) or implicitly (by clearly implying something without actually stating it). 10. In the final analysis, God is the hero of all biblical narratives. 1 List comes from Fee and Stuart’s How to Read the Bible for All it’s Worth, 106. Pastor Levi Simpson Deeper in a Day: The Exodus Jan 6, 2018 Old Testatment Law: Some Do’s and Don’ts2 1. Do see the Old Testament law as God’s fully inspired word for you, but don’t always see it as God’s direct command to you. Ultimately see God’s law as an expression of his character interpreted in a specific cultural context, recorded to encourage us to wisdom. 2. Do see the Old Testament law as the rules and obligations for the Old Covenant, and therefore Israel’s history. However, don’t see the law as binding in its specifics on Christians in the New Covenant. 3. Do see God’s justice, love, and high standards revealed in the Old Testament law, but don’t forget to see that God’s mercy is made equal to the severity of the standards (Ex 34.6-7). 4. Don’t see the Old Testament law as complete. It is not technically comprehensive. Do see the Old Testament law as a paradigm — providing examples for the full range of expected behaviour. 5. Don’t expect the Old Testament law to be cited frequently by the prophets or the New Testament. Do remember that the law is about living out the calling to be a nation of priests and a holy kingdom and this principle (seen in love of God and, in turn, love of neighbour) is repeated in the prophets and the New Testament (reflect God’s character [love, justice, grace, mercy] in the world). 6. Do see the Old Testament laws as a generous gift from God to the Israelites, and don’t see them as an annoying group of arbitrary regulations limiting people’s freedom. 2 List comes from Fee and Stuart’s How to Read the Bible for All it’s Worth,180. Pastor Levi Simpson Deeper in a Day: Exodus Jan 6, 2018 What is it? What is it about? How do I talk about it? Emphases: God’s miraculous rescue of Israel; Covenant law given at Sinai; The tabernacle as the place of God’s presence and Israel’s proper worship; God’s revelation of himself and his character; Israel’s tendency to complain and rebel against God; God’s judgement and mercy toward his people when they rebel Remember: Exodus is about the crucial matters that define Israel in their relationship with God: deliverance (hence, Egypt, plagues, the sea), presence (so, the tabernacle), and law (thus, Sinai, the 10 commandments, the law); and all this under the greater umbrella of who is God and who are we to be in light of that? Deliverance — Remember that the context of the recognition of Torah as scripture was the exile in Babylon! Theme is explored all throughout the OT. Watch how the narrative highlights this event, especially its focus on the power of God, but also in how it echoes Genesis and foreshadows the rest of Torah, the Prophets, and the writings. Presence — Lost at Eden in Genesis, but here to be restored.