Exodus 12:42: “It is a night to be guarded for Yahweh for having brought them out of the land of Egypt; this night is for Yahweh, to be guarded by all the sons of Israel throughout their generations. Exodus 12 cannot remind us often enough that the Passover took place at night. Eat the flesh . . . . Continue Reading »
Exodus 12:43, 45, 48: This is the ordinance of the Passover: no son of a stranger is to eat of it. A sojourner or hired servant shall not eat of it. But if a stranger sojourns with you, and celebrates the Passover to Yahweh, let all his males be circumcised. Passover is for Israel and for Israel . . . . Continue Reading »
Armies travel on their stomachs, and, as Pastor Sumpter will show today, Israel marches out of Egypt as an army. But the exodus is a haphazard operation if there ever was one. The Israelites leave with the unleavened bread cakes that they baked before leaving, but they have no traveling provisions . . . . Continue Reading »
Pharaoh drives Israel out of Egypt (Exodus 12:39), just as Yahweh drove Adam and Eve from Eden (Genesis 3:24) and Cain from the land (Genesis 4:14). The analogy could work in several directions. Israel has eaten forbidden fruit in Egypt, and Yahweh drives them from the good land of Goshen into the . . . . Continue Reading »
INTRODUCTION: STRUCTURE There are five identified collections of Proverbs in the book. The choices are set up in the opening section, identified as “proverbs of Solomon, the son of David” (chapter 1-9). Chapter 10 begins another section, also identified as “proverbs of . . . . Continue Reading »
1 Corinthians 10:14-22 forms a paragraph of its own. Prior to this section of 1 Corinthians 10, Paul is drawing out an extended comparison between Israel’s exodus and wilderness wanderings and the state of the Corinthian church. After verse 23, he draws the conclusion that eating and drinking . . . . Continue Reading »
Paul’s hymn(s) to Christ in Colossians 1-2 are constructed as a large chiasm: A. 1:16-20: head; “rulers and authorities” B. 1:19-20: fullness of deity in Christ; reconcile through cross C. 1:21-23: formerly hostile, now established and steadfast D. 1:24: rejoice, flesh E. 1:26-27: . . . . Continue Reading »
In Genesis, circumcision is a sign of the weakness of flesh. Abraham’s flesh is a good as dead, and Sarah’s womb is barren. Yahweh’s promise will be fulfilled only if Yahweh does something that flesh cannot do. Circumcision is a renunciation of hope in flesh, a confession of . . . . Continue Reading »
In his commentary on Genesis (Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible) , Rusty Reno cites a number of patristic sources to support his claim that the new covenant does not mean a rejection of circumcision but rather its expansion. Ambrose: “Circumcision of the past ceases when circumcision . . . . Continue Reading »
Assmann points out that monotheisms of various sorts arose in the ancient world along various paths. Gods might be translated from one religion to another, from one nation to another. Gods might take on an ever-expanding list of hyphenated names. Gods might eb re-imagined as the soul of the cosmos. . . . . Continue Reading »
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