Michael Morales (The Tabernacle Pre-Figured, 277) argues that “the narrative arc from Gen 1-3 to Exod 40 may be traced as the expulsion from the divine presence to the gained re-entry into the divine presence via the tabernacle cultus, from the profound descent of Adam to the dramatic . . . . Continue Reading »
Mary Douglas (Leviticus as Literature) argued that the book of Leviticus is constructed as a texual tour of the tabernacle. Moshe Kline agrees: “This structure can be interpreted as an analogical representation of the Tabernacle with chapter 19 parallel to the Ark of the Covenant, . . . . Continue Reading »
Ezekiel tells a parable of exile (Ezekiel 17) involving a cedar in Lebanon, two eagles, and a vine.The great eagle plucks twigs off the top of a cedar and takes them away to a “city of traders” (vv. 3-4). The eagle also takes some of the seed from the land (apparently Lebanon) and plants . . . . Continue Reading »
While David is in the midst of his enemies, the Lord spreads a table, anoints him with oil, gives him a cup (Psalm 23). It’s a symbol of communion in the midst of danger.But the full cup is not just a cup of joy. It’s a cup of judgment. The word for “overflow” means . . . . Continue Reading »
Moses ascends (‘alah) again and again into the cloud on Sinai (Exodus 19:3; 20:21), but nobody else does. As Morales says, this marks Moses as the “ascender” to God (The Tabernacle Pre-Figured, 219). He adds, “As mediator between God and the people, he is able to . . . . Continue Reading »
Yahweh enters into covenant with Israel at Sinai. It is a kind of wedding event. Yahweh commits Himself to Israel, Israel to Yahweh, and they end with a wedding feast on the mountain.Then Yahweh gives instructions for a bridal house - the tabernacle, a home where He can dwell with His bride, in the . . . . Continue Reading »
With income inequality and social mobility in the air, two articles in the Economist challenge the conventional wisdom. One is a report on a study conducted by economists at Harvard and Berkeley that concludes, in the Economist’s words, “Despite huge increases in inequality, . . . . Continue Reading »
Andrew Solomon begins his NYTBR review of Jennifer Senior’s All Joy and No Fun with the arresting claim that “parenting as we know it—predicated on the unconditional exaltation of our children—is no more than 70 years old.”The key shift in the past century has been, . . . . Continue Reading »
When Jeroboam I split the northern tribes from the house of David, he secured the unity of his area by establishing shrines for golden calf worship at the northern and southern borders of his territory—at Dan and Bethel respectively.Both were obvious choices. Bethel had been a holy place since . . . . Continue Reading »
Memoria passionis is a central feature of Johann Baptist Metz’s “postidealist theology,” a theology that is founded in practice and knows its own historical embeddedness. For Metz, this doesn’t just involve memory of Christ. For moderns, it’s equally the memory of . . . . Continue Reading »
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