I Will.....

  “Now therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning this city of which you say, ‘It is given into the hand of the king of Babylon by sword, by famine, and by pestilence’: Behold, I will gather them from all the countries to which I drove them in my anger and my wrath and in great indignation. I will bring them back to this place, and I will make them dwell in safety. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God.  I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their own good and the good of their children after them.  I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me.  I will rejoice in doing them good, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and all my soul."

Jeremiah 32:36-41

The marvelous news is that God has done all of this through Jesus Christ. What a promise! What a Savior! I am simply overwhelmed to be a part of this story; that God has pursued myself (along with all His people) with his whole heart and soul, and has brought me back unto himself. I want to spend my entire life mining the riches of this beautiful gospel. 

The Ruler of Israel

"But you, O Bethlehem Ephratha, 

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 origin is from of old,

from ancient days.

Therefore he shall give them up until the time

when she who is in labor has given birth;

then the rest of his brothers shall return

to the people of Israel.

And he shall stand and shepherd his 

flock in the strength of the LORD,

in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God.

And they shall dwell secure, 

for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth.

And he shall be their peace."

Micah 5:2-5

The ruler of Israel of which the prophet Micah foretells is indeed Jesus. The Son is from ancient of days. It has been predestined from before the foundations of creation that Jesus would come and save a particular people (Ephesians 1:5). By the blood of His cross, He has united a people unto himself. His wounds are their peace. He is the Good Shepherd who laid down his life for the sake of His sheep. Surely he shepherds God's children in the strength and majesty of the LORD. 

Exodus, then Law

"The covenant law comes after the exodus. That is, we have eighteen chapters of salvation in Exodus before we have a single chapter of law. Only after the story of salvation do we come to Sinai (Ex 19), the ten commandments (Ex 20) and the making of the covenant (Ex 24). The Sinai covenant, like all covenants, is founded on God's grace and motivated by God's mission. That is to say, it looks back to what God had already done for Israel out of his love and grace in delivering them from slavery, and it looks forward to God's purpose within history through Israel - to make them the instrument of his blessing to the nations."

- Christopher J.H. Wright, Salvation Belongs to Our God

....

In the same frequency, the gospel says, "I'm accepted; therefore, I obey."

The New Age

"The Messiah came to usher in the new age. But the new age meant the death of the old age. He came to achieve the restoration of Israel. But that could only come about after the fires of judgement and purging. As Jesus looked at his own society, he saw it heading for that terrifying judgement. So much of his preaching has that urgent note of warning and impending disaster. Like John, he saw a 'wrath to come'; the wrath of Rome as well as the wrath of God. But the deeper awareness of his own messiahship lay in this, that he believed himself called to take Israel's judgement on himself at another level. For the Messiah was a representative figure. He was Israel. Their destiny was therefore his, and his theirs. Yes, at one level, national and political Israel was heading for destruction. But at another level, Israel, in the Messiah, would suffer judgement and then the restoration that God planned."

Christopher Wright in 'Knowing Jesus Through the Old Testament'

Genesis 4:1-16 PART 2

One of the main purposes of Genesis 4:1-16 is that is develops the conceptual reality of sin. Up to this point in the book of Genesis, the Israelites have learned that God is the universal creator of everything and everyone. Further, God created Adam and Eve as His image bearers, and for the specific purpose of cultivating His good creation. They are to be fruitful, multiply, have dominion over God's creation. However, in Genesis 3, we all know how that goes. Adam and Eve wanted to be their own God and ate the forbidden fruit. They are kicked out of the Garden of Eden. The account of Adam and Eve depicts the fall of mankind. However, up to the story of Cain and Abel, the fall is seen as only really effecting Adam and Eve. The story of Cain and Abel reiterates the universality and depth of the fall.

Let's take a look at the first family in human history. We've got Adam and Eve, who we already know blew it. Then they have two sons (another clear sign of God's grace). The first son, Cain, murders his younger brother Abel out of jealousness and anger. As a result, Cain is banished as a wandering fugitive. Talk about a broken home. Of Adam and Eve's first children, one is dead and the other one is a criminal banished from their land. But what does this say about sin?

First, it uncovers the universality of sin. Sin can no longer be seen as just a bad decision Adam and Eve made. Rather, it has universally spread to everyone. It effects the entire community, as seen with the first family. Not only does it effect everyone, but it effects everything. In Genesis 3, God mentions the effects that Adam's fall has on our relation with nature. In Genesis 4, He highlights it again stating, "Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground......When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you" (Genesis 4:11-12). As seen with the first family, sin effects everyone and everything.

This story also uncovers the depth of the sin problem. Think about it. Cain straight up murders his younger brother. Worse, it was premeditated. He led Abel out to the field for the specific purpose of homocide. Even before that, we sin the depth of Cain's wicked heart in his sacrifice to God. We know that Cain's offering was not accepted by God. The text doesn't exactly say why, but it is most likely that it had to do with his heart. Cain did not offer his sacrifice in the right spirit. He held something back. He wanted something of what God rightly deserved (hmmm sounds a lot like his dad). Plunging further into sin, Cain has the audacity to lie directly to God about his actions. There are many other places in this story where the widespread problem of sin is seen. Another quick example, when Eve gives birth to Cain, she responds by saying, "I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord." Now, this doesn't seem so bad. But, the language used here signifies that Eve is implying that she played an equal part in bringing forth her son. In essence, she is saying that she created a man......with God's help. She wants a 50/50 split on credit for this one.

Moving on, What does this story tell the Israelites? Why would Moses want the Israelites to know the true universality and depth of sin. I think because he wanted the exodus community to know that true religion must be redemptive. They are all effected by the curse. They are all sinful. Because of this, they need redemption, a redemption that only comes from God. The only response to this depth of sin is trusting in their Creator and the covenant He has made with them.

After Cain's disregarded sacrifice, God challenges Cain to not let sin master him. That didn't go so well. But, Moses is telling this story that Israel might not let sin master it. They are all sinners, yes. Letting sin master them would be them turning from God. However, mastering sin would look like them trusting in God and His covenant. Moses is urging the Israelites to recognize their sin, and to trust in God.

Despite all the disobedience, God remains faithful to His purpose and His people. When Cain cries out that his punishment is too much for him to bear, God mercifully puts a mark of protection on Cain's life. Also, as we'll see in next post, God graciously provides Adam and Eve with another son to replace Abel. If anything, this story shows God's relentless pursuit of sinners. His desire is not for us to perish, but to live in our intended purpose, which is fellowship with Him. He desires for us to know Him and to turn to Him. Despite our disobedience, God is faithful.

Genesis 4:1-16 PART 1

Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten [1] a man with the help of theLord.” 2 And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground. 3 In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, 4 and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, 5 but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. 6 The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? 7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? [2] And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for [3] you, but you must rule over it.”

8 Cain spoke to Abel his brother. [4] And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. 9 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother's keeper?” 10 And the Lord said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground. 11 And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. 12 When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.” 13 Cain said to theLord, “My punishment is greater than I can bear. [5] 14 Behold, you have driven me today away from the ground, and from your face I shall be hidden. I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.” 15 Then theLord said to him, “Not so! If anyone kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.” And the Lord put a mark on Cain, lest any who found him should attack him. 16 Then Cain went away from the presence of the Lord and settled in the land of Nod, [6] east of Eden.

Genesis 4:1-16

Over the past week, I've had the pleasure of studying this passage as part of a research paper for my covenant theology class. I am thankful for this opportunity because through it, I am starting to realize how amazing God's Word is in its complete coherence and inexhaustibility. In this post, I want to highlight some summarizing thoughts on the passage. I am going to start by talking about the context of the passage. Next, I want to focus on a few of the main purposes behind the passage. Lastly, I want to show how it relates to Christ.

CONTEXT:

In order to rightly understand any passage of Scripture, it is imperative to have a solid grasp on the context in which it was written. A few helpful questions to uncover a texts proper context include, 'who wrote it' 'who was it written to' 'why did they write it'. In other words, what is the situation.

Briefly, Genesis was written by Moses. It was written after the Israelites had fled Egypt. They have crossed the Red Sea and were now wandering in the wilderness. It was then that Moses wrote the book of Genesis. Therefore, the original audience of this book would have been the exodus community. To read this passage correctly, we must interpret it through this contextual lens. Moses is writing to the exodus community of Israel.

Moreover, why would Moses write this book. Wandering in the wilderness, the Israelites are left with several questions. What is God's purpose in this? Who are we as a nation? Who is YHWH? What is next? Can we trust this God? Moses is recalling to the Israelites the story of their origin. He is retelling them their history in order to highlight the nature of their God and the covenant that He has made with them. By recalling their history, he is making sense of the Israelites present situation. In doing this, Moses is challenging the exodus community to respond in faith to what God has done. Moses is reminding the Israelites of who they are, where the came from and what God has promised them.

In creation, God is reminding the Israelites that He is the sovereign creator, ruler of all things. More so, it reminds the Israelites the purpose as God's creatures; to have dominion over the earth and to bless creation as God's treasured people. In the fall, the exodus community is made aware of their deep-rooted problem of sin. In the flood, the Israelites see God's judgment on sin, but also His desire to restore all things to their intended, original, good purpose. In the calling of Abraham, the Israelites are reminded of their election as God's chosen people, beloved for His sake.

So, this leaves us at the story of Cain and Abel. What is this stories purpose in the context of the exodus community? Generally, the book is written that the exodus community would trust in God and be faithful to the covenant. This purpose is uncovered in two ways. First, the book shows the deep-seeded problem of sin. Also, the story shows God's unwavering commitment to the promised Seed. I will elaborate on these two ideas in a later post.