Fat and blood are at the center of the Levitical system. Blood cleanses the altar, and opens the window of heaven so that the priest can offer the Lord’s portion, the fat, in smoke. Isaiah 1:11 places these two substances at the center of his condemnation of temple worship. . . . . Continue Reading »
Psalm 88 is a Messianic Psalm, but in indirect ways. Because the Psalm contains the words of the anointed King, it contains the words of Christ. The utter isolation and anguish of the Psalm is the utter isolation and anguish of Jesus. No matter how low we go, we’ll still find . . . . Continue Reading »
Linguists these days tell us that an author chooses one synonym over another for reasons of meaning (one may be slightly more specific or general than the other), for reasons of common usage (one of several synonyms may be used more commonly in certain contexts), or for stylistic reasons. All true. . . . . Continue Reading »
Linguists these days tell us that when a word is ambiguous (more than one lexical definition), the default option is to assume that the author intends one of the multiple meanings. Fair enough: “I rose from bed” and “I plucked a rose” clearly use “rose” in . . . . Continue Reading »
My colleague Jayson Grieser points to Calvin’s comments on Psalm 5:8: “The righteousness of God . . . in this passage, as in many others, is to be understood of his faithfulness and mercy which he shows in defending and preserving his people.” . . . . Continue Reading »
As soon as the Twelve are called, they begin to follow Jesus (Matthew 4:20, 22, 25), but until Matthew 8 we never actually see them follow Jesus somewhere. Discipleship is a large concern of chapters 8-10; the word “follow” is used 10x, climactically in 10:38, where following . . . . Continue Reading »
There are three “quakes” in Matthew. Twice the earth quakes, at the cross and at the resurrection (27:51; 28:2). The other quake is a quaking of the sea (8:24). The quake of the sea in chapter 8 foreshadows the resurrection. Jesus is in a boat, on the sea, sleeping; . . . . Continue Reading »
Webster ends his interesting Barthian discussion of the canon by noting that Christians should be grateful for the genealogies of modern thought that “trace the history, observe the corruptions of producers and their products, and so cast the mighty from their thrones.” But in the . . . . Continue Reading »
John Webster ( Word and Church: Essays in Church Dogmatics ) notes the limits of current theories of hermeneutical “virtues.” While they push in the right direction by reminding us that “fitting reading of a canonical text requires the acquisition of moral and spiritual . . . . Continue Reading »
INTRODUCTION Isaiah calls the people “hear” Yahweh’s torah (Isaiah 1:10), and the whole passage is framed by references to Yahweh’s words (vv. 10, 18, 20). His main indictment against Judah is that they refuse to listen, and He responds by refusing to listen to them (v. . . . . Continue Reading »
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