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4/30/2007 Biblical theology roundaboutVery often, the crunch comes in how you do you application for an Old Testament passage. How do you go about applying the Bible using biblical theology? I usually describe it in terms of a roundabout. And here, readers from North America need to do a bit of conversion in your head - because we drive on the left-hand side of the road here in Australia, and so we drive clockwise around roundabouts.
Imagine a roundabout - and you're at the bottom of the roundabout, together with your raw Old Testament passage. You want to get over to the right, where your Bible study group is. How do you get there? Well, there are two wrong ways, and only one right way to get there...
One wrong way is to drive the wrong way around the roundabout. After all, it's the quickest and most obvious way to get there! And you will find many people doing this. In practice, people grab what seems to be direct commands in the passage, or examples to follow or avoid, and in their application they simply ask, "are we doing this?", "how can avoid that?" or "how can we be more like Moses?" Unfortunately, you will find a lot of people doing this - even studies that you can buy off-the-shelf. And you even find this in studies where the leader has done their biblical theology - it's just that they forget it when it comes to writing the application question.
The danger with this is that this is not always picking up on the big idea of the passage itself - and with Old Testament passages, you are unlikely to have properly related it to Jesus. Plus, you might hit oncoming traffic...
The second wrong way is to drive straight over the roundabout. This way you are doing the hard work of working out what the main point of the passage is - which is great, you need to do this. And then they apply that main point to the people in their Bible study group - which you must be wary of doing, if it's an Old Testament passage!
That's because the Old Testament looks forward to the cross of Christ - and we aren't Old Testament Jews waiting for the Messiah. We are New Testament Christians, and Jesus has already inaugurated the kingdom! While the Old Testament main point was right for a Jewish person in exile, it's not for Christians.
The right way is to drive around the roundabout. This way you are working out the main point (MP) of the passage, not just grabbing the most convenient verb for people to apply. Not only that, you're working out how that main point is completed in Jesus. From this you can work out the biblical theology main point (BTMP). You want to apply the BTMP, not just the MP!
Sometimes the application we therefore demand can look quite different from the passage itself - but that's the right thing to do. Because as Christians we read the Old Testament in light of the cross, and the completed work of Christ. And this is what Jesus demands that we do! This is the obedient way for Christians to read the Old Testament.
[ PS: for those who read a lot, you will recognise the terms exegesis, hermeneutics and homoletics - which are in fact the three steps around the roundabout! ] 4/23/2007 Respectable sinsHere are some of those sins in that first category. If someone is known to be guilty of these things, you won't likely see them holding any positions of responsiblity at church:
It's good that we have strong feelings about these sins - though I suspect these strong feelings come more from our cultural sensibilities, rather than being fashioned from God's word. And you can tell that this is probably the case when you observe some of the sins that fall into the second category:
These are the sins that people turn a blind eye to - and they'd much rather we focus our attention on the 'more serious' sins. But not only that, these sins are actually respectable - sometimes these sins are even encouraged, or taken as a sign of maturity and responsibility!
And for Chinese Christians like us, foremost on the list is definitely greed. When a businessman works hard and neglects his family or his church, that's just par for the course. When someone loads themselves up with part-time study in order to get ahead at work, that's just what people do. And in fact the greedy businessman is often looked up to as a model of success and respectability in the church! That is the kind of Christian we want our kids to be.
How interesting it would be if greedy people at church were treated with the same revulsion as an adulterer! Or a gossip was treated like a sexually immoral person! Instead, too often these respectable sins go unchallenged among God's people.
In Romans Paul condemns those who "not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them" (Rom 1:32). The Bible tells us that God hates all sin, not just some of them - his eyes are 'too pure to look on evil' (Hab 1:13). And we are also called to 'hate what is evil' (Rom 12:9). And we are to put off all of the sinful nature (Col 3:5-14) - not just its trousers, while keeping on the shirt of the sinful nature and hoping it's OK because everyone else is also still wearing their shirt.
No: we have to learn to bodly critique our culture, pointing out the things it's 'in season' to talk about, as well as the things it's 'out of season' to discuss. We must allow the things we accept and revile to be redefined by the Bible - and not by our culture. And we must be dreadfully careful about the things we are encouraging others to do.
[ PS: can you think of other 'respectable' sins? ] 4/20/2007 Not a hobbyWhen I was younger my hobby was making plastic model aeroplanes, tanks - and especially model helecopters. And so when I had some free time I would get out a model kit, I would glue the parts together, carefully paint it, and then I would proudly display it up on my shelf.
But it was only a hobby. And when life became more complicated, well you put hobbies for more serious concerns... Like studying, or paying off the mortgage.
One dictionary defines hobby as "a pursuit outside one's regular occupation engaged in especially for relaxation" It's something that you might do just for fun. Another dictionary says that a hobby is "an auxiliary activity". A hobby is something that's not central or important - it's merely auxillary.
But sometimes you come across those embarrassing people who make their hobbies into their life. Think of Comic Book Guy on The Simpsons. Or those people who dress up as Klingons, who learn Klingon, whose highlight of the whole year is to go to a Star Trek convention! It seems like foolishness to us that they have made something that's auxilary - like comic books and TV shows - the centre of their existence.
But there are those who think that what we do is like a hobby. There are those who think that what we do in ministry is just as irrelevant as a Star Trek convention, that we just as foolish to give our lives over to such a message. Well, people have always thought that about Christians... In 1 Corinthians 1 Paul says that,
The message of the cross is foolishness (v.18). It is a stumbling block (v.23). And again in verse 23, it is foolishness to the Gentiles. There's none of that flashy miraculous stuff that will wow people (v.22). That's what people think. And maybe we can start to think that as well!
But the apostle Paul says: no. Really, what we are preaching is actually God's wisdom (v.24). A wisdom that no one can do without. A wisdom that every single person needs.
You see, the ministry that we are involved in is actually about life and death! The things at stake are bigger than multi million dollar deals. Don't be fooled by appearances - the fact that many of us do ministry for no money, the fact that many people do ministry in your spare time, that's just a reflection of what this world thinks is worthwhile. Sure, what we do looks like a hobby. And to some people what we do seems just as important as collecting old comic books.
But you and I know that the work of introducing people to the Lord Jesus Christ, and turning them into disciples of him, that work is what God himself is most interested in. And so when it comes to ministry, whether paid or unpaid, there is nothing more worthwhile that you can be doing. There is nothing more significant that you can put your efforts to. There is nothing more needed than the message you will be bringing to people.
Ministry is not just our hobby!
[ PS: are you treating ministry merely as a hobby? ] 4/18/2007 Informal ministryYou can divide ministry into formal and informal ministy. Formal ministries are things like giving a talk, leading a Bible study, leading singing, playing music. It's the kind of ministry that can be found listed in rosters and official documents! Often a lot of care and preparation goes into Bible teaching in formal ministries. And of course formal ministry can do a tremendous amount of good!
Informal ministries, by contrast, are the things that happen in the unstructured time before and after a service, as someone turns to the person next to them and begins a conversation. It's the chatting before and after a Bible study, it's the casual conversations that you have in the car, or over lunch.
These things aren't rostered, or on official documents - but sometimes an unofficial word, spoken as a result of informal ministry, can have more power than that an official word spoken from the pulpit! That's because a quiet, unofficial word spoken by a friend can get under our defences. It can drive the point home that maybe this Bible verse this applies to you, not just in general.
2. The dangers of informal ministry
But informal ministry is not without its drawbacks... You see, it's really easy to have the best intentions in the world at the start of the year, and say that you're going to "focus on informal ministry this year". But then half way through the year, nothing has really happened! And you've just slipped into your old, selfish patterns of behaviour at church. That's because one danger of informal ministry is the lack of accountability. You don't report to someone else about how you're going in your informal ministry. By the very fact that it's not on a roster, or on a formal document, no one will be checking up on you and saying, "well done in this area, and I'd like to see you doing a bit more in that area."
No one checks up that it's actually happening. No one asks what you are saying to people. No one questions whether you are in fact being strategic in who you speak to! Week after week, you end up only speaking to the close friends that you sit next to all the time - and never actually make it to talk to the person on the fringe, just two rows away...
3. Doing informal ministry
Here then are some tips on doing informal ministry:
Informal ministry can be very powerful - but make sure you're actually doing it!
[ PS: back to BT in a short while... ] 4/16/2007 Biblical theology: typologyThis means that there is a particular relationship of things across the three epochs - and this is called typology. Understanding the system of typology in the Bible will help you to know what to look for - and how to draw links across the Bible with confidence that you aren't just guessing - that this in fact is how it's meant to be done!
Here then is an explanation of how typology works. In the first epoch, God establishes types. A type is a person, a thing or an event in Israel's history that tells us something about what God will later do in the Lord Jesus Christ.
In the second epoch, God's prophets condemn the spiritual adultery of the Israelites, and warn that God will take away those persons, things and events. However as they talk about the end times ("prophetic eschatology") they also promise that God will do a greater thing in the future. It will be like what Isreal had in the past - but greater! And so what God does in the future is described using the terms of the past, but in a glowing way. This re-use of language from the past is called "recapitulation". And when we discover the propehts doing this, it is an instance of type confirmation.
In the third epoch, the Lord Jesus Christ comes along and does away with the need for the types. They were like place markers that pointed to him - and he has now arrived! And hence he is the anti-type - he stands in the place of the type. It sounds like Jesus is opposed to types, but that's not what 'anti-type' means! 'Anti-type' is actually a compound word built using the Greek preposition anti- (pronounced anti-), which means 'in the place of' (and so 'anti Christ' actually means someone who stands in the rightful place of Christ).
But how does it work out in practice? The following animation shows three examples of how types can be traced through biblical revelation, and ultimately to the Lord Jesus Christ. The examples have to do with the kings, the sacrifices, and the temple of the Old Testament. There are lots more examples as well, but these are easy to draw pictures for. And you can see how the prophets recapitulate the types from the first epoch in their type confirmation, and how Jesus fulfils these types in the New Testament.
In the past, typology has gotten a bad name, because of what is called "uncontrolled typology". There was a stage where it was almost as though any stick in the Old Testament pointed to the cross, and any splash of blood in the Old Testament pointed towards the blood of Christ shed on the cross! This was a big criticism of covenant theology.
The theology was sound, it's just that it was uncontrolled. However the typology of kingdom theology is much more sound. The type confirmation of the prophets means that we can know that yes, this is in fact a type, we aren't just making it up!
This is the general structure of biblical revelation - most things will fit in this typolgoical system. Not everything does, but by and large this is the pattern they follow!
[ PS: more on how to use BT later! ] 4/11/2007 Biblical theology: the staircase diagramToday we build on those three epochs and begin to consider how the epochs relate to one another - and how this can be used in Bible studies and talks.
In the diagram below you can see the timeline on the left hand side, and on the right hand side what's known as the "staircase diagram" - perhaps the most important diagram you will ever see. The colours in the animated gif show you how the three epochs of the timeline on the left relate to the 'steps' of the staircase diagram on the right.
In the first epoch, the pattern of the kingdom is being set up. In Genesis 12 you have the promise to Abraham that from him would come a great nation. They would have a land, and they would be a blessing to the nations. And as the arrow goes up on the staircase diagram until the end of the first epoch, these things progressively are fulfilled - in Exodus, they become a great nation (though they are in Egypt). In Joshua they conquer the land of Canaan. And in 1 Kings they build the temple - and in the climactic passage of 1 Kings 10, the Queen of the South comes to visit, and is blown away by what she sees. And she goes away praising Israel's God - they are a blessing to the nations.
During this first epoch you also have 'types' being set up - things like the sacrificial system, the kingship, the priesthood. Things that are being used by God to tell us what he would one day do in Jesus Christ. It's not very clear right now, but the types are set up in this first epoch (more about this in another post).
In the second epoch, things start to go downhill in Israel's history. And so you can see on the staircase diagram that there is a box with the arrow sloping down. Because of Israel's failure, God now judges his people by taking away the trappings of the kingdom. They lose the united kingdom. As they go into exile, they lose the land. The line of kings is cut off. And the temple is left in ruins! And in the prophets, this is the first half of their message: that God is judging his people for their sins, and will take all those things away.
But the prophets have more to say than just that! And the second half of their message is a message about the future... they promise that in the future, God would do something like what he did in the past - but even greater! There would be a king - but not like the kings in the past, this time a king who would rule with righteousness and truth. There would be a remnant - but not an unfaithful one like Israel was in the past, this would be a faithful remnant. And so on the staircase diagram in the second epoch there is another box - but this time with an arrow going upwards. They foresaw an even greater kingdom than what they had in the past.
Then in the third epoch the Lord Jesus Christ comes along and inaugurates the long-expected kingdom. Those things that were foreshaddowed in type form in the first epoch, those things prophesied about in the second epoch, they start to become available to those in Christ Jesus.
If you've got a Bible passage for a Bible study, and you know where it fits on the timeline, then you can work out where it sits on the staircase diagram. This then helps you to know how your passage builds towards the Lord Jesus Christ - and therefore to us!
[ PS: next time an introduction to typology! ] 4/10/2007 The three epochs of biblical theologyThis timeline stretches from the creation (from the top), through to Joseph bringing his family out to Egypt (the pointy bit to the left), through to the Exodus and conquest of the land of Canaan (the angled bit).
Then the kingdom gets divided after Solomon's reign, and on the right hand side Israel is conquered by Assyria in 720 BC, then on the left hand side Judah is conquered by Babylon in 587 BC and exiled - then eventually returns from exile.
The dotted line is the intertestamental period, and then you have Jesus and the New Testament period, stretching all the way to the second coming of Christ (right at the bottom).
Now that's a pretty standard timeline. But how do you divide up this timeline? What are the key movements, the contours of this one long story? And how do the different movements of the story relate to each other? This is what biblical theology is all about.
And in fact there are different ways of doing biblical theology. Today, the three most common ways of doing biblical theology are: a) covenant theology; b) dispensationalism; c) kingdom theology.
Covenant theology, which was given a big boost in Calvin's Institutes during the Reformation, is today popular among Presbyterians. Covenant theology highlights unity - that there is one overarching covenant over biblical revelation.
Dispensationalism was popularised by notes in the Scofield Study Bible, and is popular in Baptist churches, many North American churches and denominations with North American links. In contrast to covenant theology, dispensationalism highlights diversity - that there are in fact seven discrete 'dispensations', or ways that God relates to humans, in biblical history (such as the dispensation of the patriarchs, the dispensation of the judges, the dispensation of the kings, the dispensation of the church, etc.).
The kingdom theology of Donald Robinson's Faith's Framework and Graeme Goldsworthy's Gospel and Kingdom however divides biblical revelation into three main 'epochs', or periods of time (see diagram below).
Theologically, the first epoch stretches from God's promise to Abraham (Gen 12), to the high point of Israel's history when Solomon's temple is built (1 Kings 10). In this period, God is revealing what he will ultimately do in Jesus Christ - but he is using the people, the things and the events of Israel's history to convey that.
The second epoch is the period of the prophets. In this period, God is revealing what he will do in Jesus Christ, and he does it in much more detail. But this time it's not so much through the people, things and events of Israel's history - it's mostly through the preaching of the prophets - and particularly as they preach about what God will do in the future, on the 'day of the Lord'. These prophets tell Israel that the things from Israel's history will be done away with (eg. the temple, the kingship, the sacrifices) - but that in the future, God would do a greater thing - and they use the elements of the past to describe the future, but in glowing terms.
And the third epoch is the New Testament period. Here the Lord Jesus Christ comes, and fulfils all the things that the Old Testament looked forward to in the first and second epochs. The fulfilment is inaugurated in his life, death and resurrection - and in Christ, we experience some of the blessings of the kingdom now, though we still await the consumation of the kingdom.
Don't believe me? I don't blame you. It's quite an unusual breakup, especially given that the old/new covenant breakup of covenant theology, or the dispensational breakup of dispensationalism seem to make more sense. Why draw the lines there?!? But here are four Bible passages - and notice the three categories that keep coming up again and again:
This is from the mount of transfiguration. And it's an interesting coincidence that here you have Moses, the key lawgiver from the first epoch, Elijah, the most famous of the prophets in the second epoch, and Jesus himself from the third epoch, all together. But maybe it's only a coincidence...
Here Jesus conducts a Bible study with two disciples after his resurrection, and interestingly, he shows how Moses (first epoch) and all the prophets (second epoch) point to himself (third epoch). Hmmm.
Here we learn about Paul's ministry in Rome, and his ministry is characterised by speaking to them from the law of Moses (first epoch) and the prophets (second epoch) about Jesus (third epoch).
This is from Romans 3, and Martin Luther described this as the most important paragraph ever written! But yet again what we find here is that the law (first epoch) and the prophets (second epoch), they are all testifying to the righteousness that is now available by faith in Jesus Christ (third epoch).
Sometimes people say, "but what about Luke 24:44?" This the exception that proves the rule! In Luke 24:44 Jesus talks about the "Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms" - and this was in fact the usual way that Jews referred to the Scriptures. Even today the Jewish Scriptures are called the 'Tanakh' (TNK), an acronym made up of the three words: 'Torah' (law), 'Navi' (prophets) and 'Katevim' (writings). In Luke 24 Jesus is saying: "the whole of the Scriptures is about me." But what's interesting is that even though the Jews naturally had the Law | Prophets | Writings division, the New Testament instead highlights the Law | Prophet | Jesus division!
While it seems unusual, the three epochs are not contrived. There is a self-conscious three-ness built in to the stucture of biblical revelation, and it's right there in the pages of the Bible!
[ PS: so what - how is all this useful? next time we get to the cash value! ] 4/7/2007 What to do at a pre-evangelistic eventWhat should you be aiming to do when you're at a pre-evangelistic event? Here are some thoughts on that.
1. Make friends comfortable People will have worked hard to build relationships with friends and colleagues, and prayed to get them to a point where they are willing to come to a church event. Don't muck it up for them by being selfish, or making them feel awkward when they turn up! Instead be friendly towards new friends. Get to know them, find out about them, connect with them, introduce them to other people.
The idea here is for them to see there are lots of Christians around (not just their friend), and that Christians are normal and nice to be around. 2. Live out a compelling witness They are used to being around people. But are they used to being around lots of Christians? Probably not, but this is an opportunitiy to live out a Christian witness as a group. Hopefully they will see in your group a real difference from other people - that we are forgiving, that we are loving, that we are waiting for a future home, that we have different priorities! We want them to say: "wow, you guys really are different - there must be something to this Christianity." 3. Be ready to share your testimony As you chat with them, if you have the opportunity to, try to share your testimony with non Christian friends. What we ultimately want to do is not just to be their friend, but to have them to become friends with God. And a non-threatening way for this to happen is for them to hear someone else's story. When you share your testimony, don't forget that your testimony should be primarily about the gospel - not about how bad you were, the crisis in your life etc. Don't make the mistake of talking about the circumstances, and then omitting the gospel itself - unfortunately, I have heard testimonies that had nothing to do with the gospel! And so make sure you highlight the elements of the gospel that particularly struck you. Pray for opportunities, watch out for them, and slide naturally into them. Be courageous, God desires that all men be saved! 4. Invite back And what you'd like is for them to come back to another event - perhaps a gospel service or a dialogue meeting. At the end of the night, if you've been able to build relationships with them, let them know that there's another thing coming up, that you're going to be there too - would they like to come? God is building his kingdom, and it's our privilege to be fellow workers with him in his great building project. We aren't alone - he is building with us! So let's be courageous and creative in our outreach! [ PS: our Bible study group held a muder mystery night as our pre evangelistic event! ] 4/3/2007 Why we singBut why do Christians in particular sing? What is going on when we sing? When we sing, we are doing several things.
Partly, we are speaking to ourselves. Songs have a way of getting the truths of the gospel under your skin. Yes, you are hopefully singing good words that reflect biblical truths. But they are words packaged together with music. And as such they can help us appreciate the truths that we are singing at an intellectual and emotional level. And so sometimes you may find it useful to sing a hymn to yourself in the car, or as part of your devotions - to drive those truths of Scripture deep into your being!
We are also speaking to one another. We are speaking the words of the gospel at our brothers and sisters at church, encouraging them that yes, I also believe that these things are true. God gives us his people to encourage us - and in part, this is what we are doing when we are singing (Eph 5:19). We are addressing ourselves to one another, exhorting those around us: "believe this!" If you've ever stood at the front of the 'tin shed' at Katoomba and heard thousands of men singing with one voice, you know how encouraging it is to know that other people also hold the precious words of the gospel to be true!
And we are also speaking to God himself. Some songs are written addressing God - and through them we are thanking and praising him with our lips, much as you might do in your own quiet prayers (Col 3:16). It's just at church, you're doing it together with other Christians. And when you're by yourself, you're singing those words of thanks and priase instead of saying them. And a song with good words can lead us in addressing ourselves to God in an appropriate way.
No other group in Australian society sings as frequently and as much as Christians do. That's because Christians really do have a lot to sing about! In one of his famous hymns, Charles Wesley called for "a thousand tongues" to help him sing his redeemer's praise, to proclaim the glories of his king, and the triumphs of his grace. As redeemed people then, let us sing!
[ PS: this is a modified version of the introduction in EFCA East Lindfield's songbook, that I put together back in 2002! ] 4/2/2007 The Biblical Theology building
Biblical theology is like a three story building. At each level of the building, you have a different level of complexity about biblical theology.
And in my experience, while a lot of people think they know all about biblical theology, they often are mostly working with the lowest levels of biblical theology, possibly with a sketchy understanding of the second level. Very few people actually operate at the top level - but this is the level you want to be on. Your Bible study groups will get the most out of your studies if you are proficient at this top level.
So what are these three levels?
The first level is basically knowing that the Bible is one long story. Sure, there are lots of Bible stories that you will remember from Sunday School - but an important realisation that people make after a while is that these are not discrete, random events. Instead, they are all tied together in one very big and long story that stretches from Genesis all the way to Revelation. You can think of this as a biblical chronology - a timeline of all the different things that take place in biblical revelation.
This is obviously a very useful level to get to know - but a lot of people make the mistake of confusing biblical chronology with biblical theology. Biblical theology is much more than just knowing that Saul came before David, and that Isaiah came before Ezekiel - although biblical theology is built on a sound biblical chronology. Those who didn't have the privilege of going to Sunday School as a child will struggle a lot at this level, but the best thing to do is to keep reading your Bible, and perhaps pick up a book like Graeme Goldsworthy's According to Plan.
The second level realises that the long story from Genesis to Revelation is not just a meandering story with lots of bumps and twists along the way. It's actually a story about something - and this story is in fact is one long story all about the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the level that many people come to understand after a while. They notice that the Old Testament seems to point towards the cross of Christ with eager expectation, and the New Testament looks back on the cross of Christ and draws out its implications. At the theological centre of the Bible is Jesus.
But in my observation, while many people understand this point intellectually, it very rarely comes out in people's actual teaching. Yes they know intellectually that the Old Testament is actually about Jesus, but when they teach Exodus, it's actually about the character of Moses. When they teach 1 Samuel it's about the charcter of David - rather than about Jesus! However this is what Jesus actually insists in passages like John 5:39 - "these are the Scriptures that testify about me." And so while I think people may know about this level, not many people actually live on it...
The third level realises that the long story about Jesus actually unfolds in a particular manner. There is a definite structure that God's revelation about Jesus takes as it unfolds from Genesis to Revelation. It is in fact one long story about Jesus Christ that unfolds over three epochs (or periods of time). On this level we're aware of the mechanics of how that revelation about Jesus is taking place. I'll write more about this in a later post, but it's not simply a matter of Old Testament / New Testament - there's more to it than that! In the first epoch, God is revealing what he will do in Jesus, but by using people, things or events in Israel's history. In the second epoch, God is again revealing what he will do in Jesus, but this time it's in the teaching of the prophets. They speak about the future in terms of the people, things or events in Israel's past. And in the third epoch, the Lord Jesus Christ arrives, and fulfils all the expectations of the first and second epochs.
Very few people actually understand this third level - it wasn't until I went to Bible college that the penny finally dropped. And all along, I thought I knew biblical theology! But it's this level of complexity of biblical theology that you actually want to arrive at. And being proficient at this third level will mean you are much better equipped to handle any passage in the Bible, and show how God is telling us about Jesus - and consequently, how that passage relates to us today. A good read here is Graeme Goldsworthy's classic, Gospel and Kingdom.
This third level is what biblical theology is really all about!
[ PS: more about biblical theology in a short while! ] |
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