INTRODUCTION

Luke’s story of the Transfiguration is a distinctively strange and mysterious event from the life of Jesus that causes the reader to first, scratch his head and second, read it again.  However, the Gospels were originally meant to be read aloud.  The option of going back and re-reading difficult sections wasn’t possible.  For this very reason the Evangelists placed literary clues, and at times traps, to help the reader understand the reason for including each event they recorded from Jesus’ life, including the Transfiguration.  However, despite the literary bread crumbs that have been left, this particular story has been interpreted in vastly different ways in the past.  It has been considered a misplaced resurrection story, an exaggerated redaction, and even pure mythology.  Luke’s account, which this paper will consider, adds some complexity to the job of the exegete as he differs significantly with Mark and Matthew with respect to the details of the event as well as adding additional information that is not found in either tradition.

Contextually there are a few points that need to be understood to properly interpret the story.  First and foremost Luke is most likely not from Palestine and it is generally understood that he was writing for a non-Jewish, Gentile Christian audience¹.  Luke’s intended readers did not have access to the same cultural “schemas” and therefore Luke makes his references to past events in Jewish history in a different way than the other authors².  Despite this fact the concept of a mountain-top encounter with God would have been recognizable by the first century Christian community as their Jewish roots were still very strong because of the continued involvement of the Jewish community in the church.  Luke’s writing as a whole tends to focus on the role of Jesus as the one who came to take the place of the law and the prophets, ushering in the hope of the coming eschaton for not only the Jew but also the Gentile.

Despite the fact that the book of Acts ends with Paul’s house arrest in Rome during the early 60’s it is generally believed that Luke’s books were written later than A.D. 70, after Jerusalem was destroyed.  This is important for the shape of the Gospel as it backgrounds the prophecies of destruction that Jesus foretells about the city.  These fulfilled prophesies give the book a sense of confidence and hope, which was critical for the early Christian communities that were suffering intense persecution.

Within the flow of the story, the placement of the transfiguration is not random.   After the feeding of the 5,000, Jesus’ most notable miracle to date, he has a very important conversation with his disciples asking them two questions: (1) who do they say I am? And (2) who do you say I am?  These two questions play an important role in backgrounding the events “some eight days later” on the mountain as in them the reader is told that, while the people think Jesus is just another prophet (perhaps even Elijah), they believe that he is the Messiah.  With this understanding Jesus predicts his rejection, suffering and death as well as the high cost of discipleship.  The prediction comes directly after the Peter’s confession and, in fact, seemed to be born out of it.  It seems that it was appropriate to reveal certain hard things to the disciples at this time since they were ready to accept him as the Messiah.  Verse 27 of Luke (Mark 9:1 NASB, Matthew 16:28) provides a transition from this story by way of a prophecy that Jesus will shortly fulfill when some of the disciples “see the kingdom of God” in the transfigured Jesus³.

The Transfiguration serves a very important role in two very different ways within Luke’s gospel account.  Just as Jesus represents both natures, “of one substance with the Father as regards his Godhead, and at the same time, of one substance with us as regards his manhood,”⁴ the story of his transfiguration deals with the heavenly, spiritual and the earthly, practical needs of those that hear the story.  On the spiritual side the reader gains both confirmation and additional insight into the nature of the person who has so recently been recognized as the Messiah.  On the practical side, the humanity of Jesus is seen on the mountain as he is ministered to in fellowship and prayer as he embarks on the difficult stage of his earthly ministry.

THE TEXT

Verse 28

Some eight days after these sayings, He took along Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray.

The Transfiguration story does not begin as an independent section of text but rather Luke immediately points the reader back around eight days to the important discussion between Jesus and his disciples where Peter recognizes Jesus as the Christ⁵.  In this conversation Jesus details his rejection, death and resurrection as well as the heavy cost of discipleship.  Luke purposefully begins this story with those revealed truths as the backdrop for what is about to happen.  With this background in place, Luke begins to introduce the cast of characters by showing Jesus personally selecting his three closest disciples Peter, James and John for a special trip up the mountain⁶ to pray.  The mountain-top theophany experience was a very real experience not only for the Jewish population but also for the Hellenistic communities as well.  Luke’s audience, traditionally believed to be more Greek than Jew, would have been open to this literary “trail of bread-crumbs” as waking-visions were a part of their religious reality.  Moreover these visions were the unique domain of those who were “beloved by the gods”⁷ a suitable description of Jesus who was declared a “beloved Son” of the Father at his baptism (Luke 3:22).  However, for the Jew the stage is more clearly set; just as Moses prepared to approach the Mountain of God with Aaron, Nadab and Abihu (Exodus 24), Jesus selects his three beloved companions and sets off to the place where God communicates with man.

Verse 29

And while He was praying, the appearance of His face became different, and His clothing became white and gleaming.

Luke immediately jumps over the details of the climb to a common scene in Luke’s writing:  Jesus in the midst of prayer.   As Jesus prays he is changed.  Luke is careful to avoid any misinterpretation of the type of change that Jesus undergoes by choosing his words carefully.  Where the other Evangelist’s choose the word μεταμορφόω to describe the transformation Jesus underwent on the mountain, Luke simply states that his face and appearance became different. The word μεταμορφόω had religious connotations that would have led to a potential misreading within the Hellenistic Roman world.⁸Luke is careful to ensure the readers understand that the change that Jesus underwent was ἕτερος, completely different, and not just an ἄλλος change in his physical characteristics.  As Jesus prays he is changed, however, his change is out of the ordinary for those that are expecting the storyline of a theophany.  In the theophany stories that we see recorded in Exodus 3, Exodus 24, and 1 Kings 19 we see a storyline that is similar.  Both Moses and Elijah, righteous men is the tradition of Israel, climb the mountain where God appears to them commissioning them for the work that he was calling them to do.  At this point it is important to keep in mind the close proximity of Peter’s confession because, though they had confessed that Jesus was the Messiah, they still did not fully understand what that meant about who Jesus was with respect to his divinity.  At the point in which God is supposed to appear in the Theophany script, Jesus is transfigured, dropping the bottom out of the readers understanding.  Luke heightens the effect of this “gotcha” by referring to Jesus in terms reserved for the divine.   Luke tells the reader that Jesus becomes λευκὸς and ἐξαστράπτων⁹; this lightning/whiteness combination which is a construct used in appearances of the divine where it is representational, showing absolute power and absolute perfection. In this case these qualities are attributed to Jesus; he is more than just a recipient of the divine blessing of God’s presence, he is the presence of God.

Verse 30

And behold, two men were talking with Him; and they were Moses and Elijah,

With the shock of the last verse still reverberating in the mind of the reader, the story takes another turn in an unexpected direction.  From out of nowhere two men appear.  Clearly their appearance is not surprise to Jesus who, the reader is informed, seems to have been already engaged in a conversation with them¹⁰>.  In the midst of the conversation the narrator is suddenly given the ability to see the true nature of the scene¹¹/a>.  Just as Elisha’s prayer opened the eyes of his servant to the reality of God’s angelic armies at Dothan (2 Kings 6:17), as Jesus prays reality is peeled back for the eyes of the reader about the divine nature of Jesus Christ.   The abruptness of the reader’s entry into the “vision” is quickly followed up by the startling revelation that the two men speaking with Jesus are none other than Moses and Elijah. This is extremely significant because only on one other occasion has scripture shown us the dead appearing to the living, when Saul sought help from Samuel by way of the witch of Endor (1 Samuel 28).  The context in 1 Samuel was negative but here it is most definitely positive; the two individuals that most represent the coming of God’s restoration now stand, speaking with the man that will usher that restoration into effect.  The appearance of these two individuals is at the center of the many diverging interpretation regarding the meaning and function of the Transfiguration within the Gospel accounts.  What does is mean that these specific figures appear here and now?  One of the most common interpretations is that these two men simply represent the law and the prophets¹². However, while there may be some validity to this assertation, to specifically see Moses as being representative of the law and Elijah of the prophets fails to take into account that Moses was, in fact, seen as the greatest prophet and a prototype for the messianic prophet that would usher in the restoration of the nation¹³.  The truth about what Moses and Elijah represent in the story of the Transfiguration is far more complex than a simple one dimensional metaphor can represent.  However, understanding their role within this event is critical to understanding its significance.  The reader must fully track each layer of meaning in its context as each of them individually provides the clues necessary to understand the story.  For non-first century readers this process is a bit cumbersome but it is important to recognize that today’s readers do not hold the appropriate cultural, historical and literary schemas.

The reader of Luke does not yet fully understand the relationship between Jesus and the “law and the prophets”.  They do not yet understand that Jesus himself came to supersede the old covenant but in this short encounter Moses and Elijah begin to show the disciples that they are to be subordinated to Jesus just as the old covenant is to be subordinated to the new.  Moses and Elijah do not individually represent the law or the prophets but rather collectively stand as symbols of the system that ended with John the Baptist (Luke 16:16). They stand as witnesses to the authority and position of Jesus, as Paul reminds us:

But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; (Romans 3:21-22a)

However, the law and the prophets are not to be thrown away as useless, they are simply to be subordinated to the more complete revelation that is manifested in Jesus Christ.   This is where the eschatological significance of the two men begins to make its presence known. Just as Moses and Elijah witness to the “righteousness of God being manifest” they also simultaneously announce the beginning of the final act in the drama that began to unfold when man rebelled against his perfect, righteous and gracious creator in the Garden of Eden. Both men will be called upon in this new period to serve as witnesses to the nature, role and authority of Jesus Christ.  With this in mind the testimony of Peter which sits contextually in the background of the event, although important, is not sufficient to serve as a confirmation of Jesus’ messiahship as it is only on the evidence of two or three witnesses that a matter is confirmed (Deuteronomy 19:15).  These two witnesses continue to play an important role in Luke’s writing, bearing witness to pivotal events in the life of Jesus: the Transfiguration, the Resurrection and the Ascension¹⁴.  Luke ensures that the reader is clear about the role of the two men in each story by constructing his own witness “script” that begins with the repetition of the phrase καὶ ἰδοὺ ἄνδρες δύο; a phrase only found in Luke’s writing in the context of the two heavenly ministers. It would be reasonable to characterize this layer of significance regarding Moses and Elijah as the “spiritual” and theological, which is notably different from the more “earthly” and practical layer that Luke codes over the theological base¹⁵.

Luke gives the reader a much more human Jesus to interact with during his gospel account.  Only in Luke are we able to see the Messiah as a child and do we see the agony of anxiety in bloody sweat before the ordeal of the cross.  Here too, Luke presents the reader with an intimate look into the personal journey of Jesus in his ministry.  Luke’s heavy emphasis on prayer throughout his gospel certainly speaks to Jesus’ (and by extension, our) need for regular spiritual nourishment.  Prayer is critical but for man it is only part of the Spirit-filled life.  By adding the presence of Moses and Elijah Luke raises the reader’s awareness of the need, even for Jesus, for fellowship and support.  These two men who had very similar life experiences to that of Jesus, are the perfect ones to encourage him in what lie ahead.  Both men “prefigure Jesus in being rejected by the people and vindicated by God: the details of the rejection and vindication differ but the structure is the same”¹⁶.  Both were rejected by Israel; both suffered extreme persecution in their ministry; and ultimately both were vindicated by God¹⁷.  Coded over the prodigious theological imagery is the warmth of Jesus’ humanity in the form of a need of fellowship and encouragement from those that had “been through it before”.

Verse 31

who, appearing in glory, were speaking of His departure which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.

Luke alone reveals to the reader the content of the conversation between the three glorified men on the mountain.   They spoke of his ἔξοδον which is rendered in the modern translations as “departure”.    According to Kittel, this word simply refers to the end of Jesus’ life and does not carry any more complex meaning¹⁸.  While ἔξοδον is used by Peter in his second epistle (2 Peter 1:15) in the context of his death, Luke’s selection of the word conveys much more than a simple reference to death.  The word is hapax legomenon for Luke and who more often opts for the more straightforward θανάτος to refer to death and it is not found in either Mark or Matthew’s account so it is a detail that is of note.  Mánek notes correctly that “it is best to leave this word in the original, untranslated”¹⁹ as the English word “exodus”.  It is important to note that this is the same Greek word used in the LXX to denote the event by the same name when Israel was led out of Egypt by God.   Exodus as a concept held great theological significance to the Jewish community.  This theological significance was integrally tied to the concept of salvation; it was not just representative of the journey from Egypt but rather the full journey from slavery to the Promised Land “the high point of Old Testament redemptive history”²⁰.

Jesus is at the height of his popularity; he has just been recognized as the long-awaited Messiah; and now, as his true divine nature is revealed, the reader also gets a glimpse of his ultimate purpose: to provide a salvation that the first Exodus only foreshadowed²¹>. Whereas Moses led the Israelites out of Egyptian bondage, Luke looks forward to Jesus’ death, resurrection and ascension as mankind’s “exodus” from the greater bondage of Satan²².  This is what Jesus is to accomplish in Jerusalem, not just the freedom from the oppression of sin but also entry into the true land of promise.

This understanding may also shed a bit of light on the timing and purpose for Elijah and Moses’ visit; as Jesus is about to begin the journey out from hope and popularity towards suffering and rejection, as a man, Jesus needs fellowship and encouragement.  With this in mind, another thing that the two prophets have in common is that they were both, in the end, vindicated by God, a fact that would have been especially encouraging to Jesus who knew the heavy price he had to pay in obedience.

Verse 32

Now Peter and his companions had been overcome with sleep; but when they were fully awake, they saw His glory and the two men standing with Him.

At this point focus again shifts back to the three disciples who, Luke tells us were “burdened down” with sleep or as we might say in our own idiomatic way, they were “sound asleep”.  As the story unfolds there is a sense that it is building towards a grand climax.   Jesus, being first transformed into his resplendent form, is then accompanied by the two greatest Jewish prophets who appear on the scene speaking with him about a great salvation that he will accomplish in Jerusalem and then, with Beethoven’s Ode to Joy playing in the background, the skies open up and Yahweh crowns Jesus with Glory and honor we find the disciples slowly come out of their deep sleep, rubbing their sleep filled eyes trying to get a grasp on what they are looking at.

Verse 33

And as these were leaving Him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three tabernacles: one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah”– not realizing what he was saying

Most likely still half asleep and seeing the two prophets leaving, Peter blurts out his recommendation to build three tabernacles so that they all might remain and continue their encounter.  The narrator’s normally silent voice steps out to ensure that the reader not mistake Peter’s comments as in any way wise or appropriate.  Peter’s statement shows a continuing and deep misunderstanding of the purpose of Jesus’ coming and failure to recognize the superiority of the Messiah in relation to those that had come before.  Moses and Elijah are not here to stay; they have been superseded by one who is greater.  Peter see’s three great men of faith conferring with one another, when in all reality Moses and Elijah stand in the presence of God as they had done before on the mountain-top.  The reference to the tabernacles in this instance do not serve as a reference to the Feast of Tabernacles nor is this a reference to establishing three tabernacles like unto the one created for God at Sinai to house the men as gods as there is no other corroborating information outside of this passage to suggest these theories²³.  Rather the outburst is simply Peter’s impertinence as he interrupts the conversation in a misguided effort to show respect and keep the prophets from leaving.  Instead, the reader is confronted once again with Peter’s clear lack of understanding of the significance of the events happening around him²⁴.   But let’s be fair to Peter, the two other disciples didn’t get it either.  To be honest, neither did I; and admit it … neither did you.  We as readers collectively benefit from Peter’s mouth moving faster than his brain.  As we will see in the next verse, his mistake sheds great clarity on the situation.

Verse 34

While he was saying this, a cloud formed and began to overshadow them; and they were afraid as they entered the cloud.

Unfortunately this is not a mistake that Peter will be allowed to make publicly without correction. Cementing the references to God’s prior appearances on the mountain, the Father appears in the midst of Peter’s comment.   The scene has changed from a glorious revelation of the nature of Jesus to one of horror as the cloud falls upon the group in seeming response to the inane comments that were, at that very moment, falling from Peter’s mouth.

Verse 35

Then voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My Son, My Chosen One; listen to Him!”

The voice of God comes from the cloud to clarify to Peter and the other disciples the true order of things.  Peter’s outburst presumed to put Jesus on equal ground with the two prophets but  God, from out of eternity, comes down and informs them that it is Jesus that they need to give honor and attention to.  Jesus supersedes the law and the prophets, he is not just another prophet - he is The Chosen One, God’s Son.   As Jesus would declare shortly in Luke’s gospel:

“The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John; since that time the gospel of the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it. (Luke 16:16)

This voice silences the many questions about the identity of Jesus once and for all.  He is not John the Baptist, he is not Elijah, he is not just a prophet like Moses; he is the Messiah, the Son of the most high God.  The voice that comes from the cloud not only corrects Peter’s mischaracterization of Jesus’ preeminence but also commands them to listen to him.  The command stretches beyond simply listening to Jesus teaching and rather speaks to the position of authority that the new exodus holds over the old.  The law and the prophets are not gone but they stand subordinated, ministers of the new covenant that Jesus brings.    The panorama of Jesus’ ministry is unfolded for the reader.  The voice in the cloud hearkens back to the baptism, the beginning of Jesus’ ministry and his glorified form points towards his resurrection and parousia. The Transfiguration marks a vital stage in the revelation of Jesus as the Messiah.  It looks back to the Old Testament and points forward to the New Testament glory²⁵.

Verse 36

And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent, and reported to no one in those days any of the things which they had seen.

As suddenly as the event started, it ends, leaving Jesus and the three disciples alone on the mountain once again.  It is the final punctuating moment of the experience, the reader sees Moses and Elijah disappear while Jesus remains to finish his work.  As the Father finishes his correction of Peter, the vision ends; the law and prophets pass away as Jesus’ ministry continues. The prophets are his help, and they will continue to have a ministry in Luke’s writings but their names won’t be mentioned again because, as John the Baptist stated “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30).  The ministry of the prophets, in fact, always has been one that is a shadow of the Messiah’s ministry to come as Peter reminds us in his first epistle:

Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven–things which angels desire to look into. (1 Peter 1:10-12)

CONCLUSION

As a postscript to Luke’s Transfiguration story he makes one final redaction to his Marcan source.  He skips immediately to the story of demon possessed boy that the disciples cannot heal.  While this paper does not intend to fully exegete this encounter, it serves as an important concluding message, reminding the reader that Jesus correctly leveraged the mountain-top experience to spiritually fuel his earthly ministry.  This is also consistent with Luke’s more social theology and his concern with the disenfranchised; Jesus, though Messiah and God, still comes down from the mountain to accomplish what the Disciples cannot.

Ultimately Luke’s account succeeds in communicating to the reader the lessons that he intended:  Jesus is confirmed to be the Messiah, the Messiah is confirmed to be God, and God is confirmed, in the person of Jesus, to be man.  The mountain-top theophany form gives both effective guidance as well as a little subtle misdirection to the reader.  Where Moses went up, encountered God and came down with the old covenant, Jesus goes up and is revealed as God, the embodiment of a new covenant.  The story is not finished and the exodus is not yet complete but there is now a clearer understanding of the purpose and mission that is to be achieved.

There must have been a lot of pressure on the preachers that had to read these gospel accounts.  To tell the story with passion, bringing the language to life would have made all of the difference in the world to those listening.  If the story was told correctly the layers of meaning would have erupted in the mind of the listener confirming their suspicions about who he was while at the same time leaving them with a sense of dread of the things to come.  While it is true, the story of the Transfiguration is not an easy event to understand on the surface.  With careful consideration, and a grateful nod to Peter’s rash comment, the Spirit is faithful to keep his promise and teach us “all things” that need to know.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Best, Thomas F. “The Transfiguration: A Select Bibliography.” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 24 (1981) 157-61.

Camery-Hoggatt, Jerry. Reading the good book well. Nashville: Abington Press, 1997.

Chilton, Bruce D. “The Transfiguration: Dominical Assurance and Apostolic Vision.” New Testament Studies 27 (1980) 115-24.

Fitzmyer, Joseph A. The Gospel According to Luke I-IX. Vol. 38 The Anchor Bible. New York: Doubleday, 1981.

Garrett, S. R. “Exodus from Bondage: Luke 9:31 and Acts 12:1-24.” Catholic Biblical Quarterly 52 (1990) 656-80.

Geldenhuys, Norval. The Gospel of Luke. The New International Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1979

Hooker, Morna D. “‘What Doest Thou Here, Elijah?’: A Look at St Mark’s Account of the Transfiguration.” Pages 59-69  in The Glory of Christ in the New Testament: Studies in Christology. Edited by L. D. Hurst et al. Oxford: Clarendon, 1987.

Johnson, S. Lewis, Jr. “The Transfiguration of Christ.” Bibliotheca Sacra 124 (1967) 133-43.

Kittel, Gerhard and Friedrich, Gerhard, eds. Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1989

Lasor, William S., David A. Hubbard and Frederic Wm. Bush. Old Testament Survey: The Message, Form, and Background of the Old Testament. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1996.

Mánek, Jindřich. “The New Exodus in the Books of Luke.” Novum Testamentum, 2 (1958) 8-23.

McCurley, Foster R., Jr. “‘And after Six Days’ (Mark 9:2): A Semitic Literary Device.” Journal of Biblical Literature 93 (1974) 67-81.

Murphy-O’Connor, Jerome. “What Really Happened at the Transfiguration?” Bible Review 3 (1987) 8-21.

Pamment, Margaret. “Moses and Elijah in the Story of the Transfiguration.” Expository Times 92 (1980-81) 338-39.

Pilch, John J. “The Transfiguration of Jesus: An experience of alternate reality.” Pages 47-64 in Modeling Early Christianity: Social-scientific studies of the New Testament in its context. Edited by Philip F. Esler.  Routledge: London, 1995.

Ramsey, Arthur Michael. The Glory of God and the Transfiguration of Christ. London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1949.

Reid, Barbara O. “Voices and Angels: What Were They Talking about at the Transfiguration? A Redaction-Critical Study of Luke 9:28-36.” Biblical Research 34 (1989) 19-31.

Rogness, Michael. “The Transfiguration of Our Lord: Luke 9:28-36.” Word & World 9 (1989) 71-75.

Stein, Robert H. “Is the Transfiguration (Mark 9:2-8) a Misplaced Resurrection-Account?” Journal Biblical Literature 95 (1976) 79-96.

Trites, Allison A. “The Transfiguration in the Theology of Luke: Some Redactional Links.” Pages 71-81  in The Glory of Christ in the New Testament: Studies in Christology. Edited by L. D. Hurst et al. Oxford: Clarendon, 1987.

_____. “The Transfiguration of Jesus: The Gospel in Microcosm.” Evangelical Quarterly 51 (1979) 67-79.

NOTES

1. Joseph A. Fitzmyer, The Gospel According to Luke I-IX. (Vol. 38 of The Anchor Bible. New York: Doubleday, 1981) 35,57-58

2. For a discussion on schemas and their role in biblical interpretation see - Jerry Camery-Hoggatt, Reading the good book well.  (Nashville: Abington, 1997), 83-97.

3. Allison A. Trites, “The Transfiguration of Jesus: The Gospel in Microcosm” EvQ 51 (1979): 69

4. Taken from the Chalcedon definition.

5. Luke’s eight days approximation and Mark and Matthew’s absolute six days are not a conflict. Luke includes the time between the two preceding incidents (about two days) adding them to the six that he most likely had from his Marcan source.  Mark and Matthew’s cultural understanding of the importance of the seventh day in Semitic literature would most likely have eluded Luke who was notably unaware of many of these types of cultural patterns.     For more information on this please see Trites “Microcosm,” 72; and  Foster R. McCurley Jr. “‘And after Six Days’ (Mark 9:2): A Semitic Literary Device.” JBL 93 (1974) 67-81.

6. Of the candidate mountains that are generally considered, two rise to the top as most likely:  Mt. Tabor and Mt. Hermon.  Although Tabor is generally considered, Josephus makes note that the top of that mountain was the location of a walled fortress at the time.  Alternately, Hermon better fits the “high” mountain as described in Mark (over 9,000 feet, while Tabor is only slightly more than 1,800 feet) and better fits in with the previous activity in and around Caesarea Philippi.  Luke most likely did not have a sufficient understanding of the geography of the reason and therefore any of these specifics would not have played a part in his rendering of the event. For Luke it was sufficient to note that this was a mountain-top experience.  Trites, “Miscrocosm,” 72.

7. For more on the subject of waking-visions as a possible parallel to the Transfiguration experience please see: John J. Pilch, “The Transfiguration of Jesus: An experience of alternate reality.” in Modeling Early Christianity: Social-scientific studies of the New Testament in its context. (ed. Philip F. Esler.  Routledge: London, 1995), 47-64.

8. “In the Hellenistic mystery religions transfiguration is a parallel idea to regeneration or deification. To be changed into a god-like being is the great goal which the initiate, moving from one stage to another, strives to reach by vision of the deity.”  Gerhard Kittel and Gerhard Friedrich, eds., “μεταμορφόω” TDNT.

9. λευκὸς and ἐξαστράπτων are unique in Lukes writing with the former being found only twice, here and at Jesus’ ascension describing the robes of the “angelic beings”, and the latter which is hapax legomenon for Luke and only found in the LXX when referring to God or angelic beings that are in the presence of God.

10. The imperfect indicative tense indicates that this was an in progress conversation, not one that started when the narrator saw they were there with Jesus.

11. Whether or not this was a waking dream or a physical transformation would not have affected the readers understanding of it as a valid experience.  The tendency to rationalize the experience as poetic description of Jesus inner enlightenment (Murphy-O’Conner “What really happened,” 18) does not take into account these vision experiences as being an understood and accepted part of ancient near-eastern  life despite the fact that western minds and conceptions of reality generally tend to disregards any such experience as unreliable and unscientific. (Pilch, “Alternate Realities,” 53-56)

12. Trites “Microcosm,” 74

13. Morna D. Hooker, “‘What Doest Thou Here, Elijah?’: A Look at St Mark’s Account of the Transfiguration.” in The Glory of Christ in the New Testament: Studies in Christology. (ed.  L. D. Hurst et al. Oxford: Clarendon, 1987), 63; Margaret Pamment, “Moses and Elijah in the Story of the Transfiguration.” ExpTim 92 (1980-81) 338.

14. Luke 9:30, 24:4 and Acts 1:10 respectively.

15. Moses and Elijah’s significance from an eschatological standpoint are not limited to Luke’s writing, nor is the concept of the two fulfilling the role of witnesses to the role Jesus plays in the last days.  John’s references to the two witnesses in the book of Revelation 11:6 is a clear reference to the two men as they are described by having the very same powers that they exhibited in their lifetime.

16. Pamment, “Moses and Elijah,” 339.

17. See Exodus 17:4, 32:32; 1 Kings 19:2

18. Kittel,  “ἔξοδον“, TDNT.

19. Jindřich Mánek, “The New Exodus in the Books of Luke,” NovT, 2 (1958), 12.

20. William S. Lasor, David A. Hubbard and Frederic Wm. Bush, Old Testament Survey: The Message, Form, and Background of the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1996) 63-64.

21. Mánek has an extreme comparison between the Exodus from Egypt and the exodus that Jesus is about to accomplish in Jerusalem.  According to Mánek, for Luke, In the light of its recent destruction, Jerusalem becomes the theological “Egypt” of the new exodus.  Instead of Egypt’s oppression and hard-hearted attitude we see Jerusalem’s; It is not Moses but Jesus that leads the captives free with the Ascension foreshadowing the entry into the promised land; and lastly, instead of the Egyptian’s being destroyed at the Red Sea we see the destruction of Jerusalem with a 40 year delay that is somehow supposed to represent the 40 years of wandering.

22. S. R. Garrett, “Exodus from Bondage: Luke 9:31 and Acts 12:1-24.” CBQ 52 (1990) 659.

23. Michael Rogness, “The Transfiguration of Our Lord: Luke 9:28-36,” WW 9 (1989) 72; Hooker, “Elijah,” 65.

24. Hooker, “Elijah,” 63-66.

25. Allison A. Trites, “The Transfiguration in the Theology of Luke: Some Redactional Links.” in The Glory of Christ in the New Testament: Studies in Christology. (ed. L. D. Hurst et al. Oxford: Clarendon, 1987) 78.

New Testament

We are BLESSED to be back.  As always these trips are profitable and very worthwhile but at the same time very draining.  The main goal of our trip was two-fold.  The first part was to take a small team to help finish some of the construction projects at the Calvary Chapel in la Chorrera.  The second part was to make a connection with the brothers at Radio Faro de David to look into getting on this great station that covers a large portion of the western part of the country. 

While we were in country we were able to spend a considerable amount of time with our brothers and sisters at Iglesia Cristo Vive, who have churches all over the country from the province of Chiriqui in teh west to the Darien Jungle in the east.  The day we arrived we had the honor of being invited to the one year anniversary of their church in Via Maria, San Miguelito - a very poor slum outside of Panama city.  The worship and messages were great and I was able to introduce my friend and student Aguilar who gave his very first expositional sermon.  As we have been teaching them to do, Aguilar covered part of the 1st chapter of Romans beautifully, he ”read distinctly from the book, in the Law of God; and they gave the sense, and helped them to understand the reading.” (Neh 8:8)

Our 6 hour trip the next day from Panama City to David to meet with the Radio station people served as an opportunity to take the Pastor from CC La Chorrera to take care of some documentation as well as provided a time for us to fellowship and talk about inter-fellowship opportunities between Cristo Vive and Calvary Chapel.  My good friend and brother in the faith Anselmo Avedano joined us for the long trip where we worked out schedule for conducting a New Believers/Inductive Bible Study class on Tuesday nights.  It is interesting to see how similar we are as churches - they need a bit of instruction on how to study and teach but we definately can learn about how the church needs to serve as a commnity of believers that is truly led by the Holy Spirit.  I love my church but I feel that we have some rough times ahead - my encouragement to the faithful: STAY FAITHFUL AND FULL OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.  We have the quote from the radio station and intend to move forward with the programming.  Sergio Lopez, pastor from the Logos hispanic ministry will be the first on the air.  We will inform you about when the programming comes on so that those of you interested can tune in on the internet.

We always appreciate your prayers.  We have some specific financial needs: (1) we need a consistent commitment for donations to support two fulltime ministry workers.  the cost for both is around $600 a month.  if you can help with this (or a part of it) for a minimum of a year please write me at erick@1john.com.  (2) We need a consitent flow of $500 a month for the radio progarm - this will give is 5 days a week of programming on Faro de David (www.farodedavid.com).  we intend to add other programs but want to start with this one.  (3) we are looking for help as we get the defunct KWAVE en Espanol going again as an independent ministry.  If you have web designing skills or can help with the financial aspect of this project we would be blessed. (4) we are planning two trips later this year to do construction projects - one in Honduras and one in Panama.  If you feel the call to come and help out or can help with giving, we will need around 4,000-6,000 per project to get them done.

The rest of the week provided ample opportunity for teaching, fellowship and work.  I was blessed with the opportunity to teach through teh 1st chapter of 2nd Peter, encouraging the brothers and sisters down in Panama that our calling as Christians is one of action.  We are called to respond and add diligently to the faith that we have the good works that God has prepared for us.  As you read this I pray you will also be both encouraged and motivated to respond to the call of Christ in action.  There are far more opportunities than there are people.  Truly the harvest needs workers. This economy needs to be a wake up call for those of us who have put our trust in Christ - the riches and comforts of this world are not for us, they can dissapear in a second.  You are not a Republican, you are not a Democrat, you are not for this cause or that one - you are a slave to Jesus Christ, and a slave does only what his master commands.

Your master has commanded you, as He said to the disciples before ascending:

And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. (Mat 28:18-20)

 

Panama Missions, Spanish christian living, christianity, God, Jesus Christ, Panama Missions, practical living

The book of Exodus picks up around 400 years after Genesis ends and immediately informs the reader that the descendants of Jacob had become numerous and filled the land.  Any special treatment they had during the time of Joseph is gone and their life in Egypt is now characterized by suffering and “rigor.” (Exo 1:13)  The Exodus is the primary event of redemption in the Old Testament with God delivering His people from Egypt, establishing a covenant with them and eventually bringing them into Canaan, the land of promise.  Though the book only covers the trip to Mt. Sinai, the term Exodus oftentimes refers to the whole journey from Egypt into the Promised Land.  Exodus is the story of God, by His grace and mercy, rescuing the nation of Israel from a life of slavery. But the book is also a book of beginnings, like Genesis, wherein God defines their relationship after the exodus from Egypt.  The book describes two major events:  (1) The departure from Egypt; (2) The establishment of an alliance (relationship) with God.  The Exodus took place during the “heyday” of the Egyptian empire and at a time when the socio-political conditions were perfect for the nation to enter into and settle Canaan without the threat of a dominant world power.  As the book begins, hundreds of years after Israel and his sons moved to Egypt, we see their situation has changed dramatically.  They are now slaves and suffering great oppression, including the heinous act of infanticide committed by the Egyptians in an effort to control their exploding population.

Exodus chronicles the birth and providential adoption of Moses, a Hebrew, into the Egyptian royal household to escape execution by Pharaoh.  Moses is born to Hebrew parents and raised in the Egyptian court until he kills an Egyptian in an effort to defend a Hebrew slave.  However, his chivalry is lost on his brethren and he is forced to escape to Midian to protect himself.  This shows us that Moses was well aware of his origin and race.  Outcast by both sides, Moses flees to Midian to start his life over.  Though Moses may have left the Hebrews behind and forgotten his calling, God had not forgotten and remembered His covenant with the Patriarchs at the end of second chapter of Exodus.  In Midian Moses meets his future wife Zipporah, the daughter of Jethro the “priest of Midian”, when he protects her and her sisters from a group of unruly shepherds trying to deny them water for their sheep.  The text mentions that in the years while Moses was in Midian, Pharaoh died and God heard the misery of His people and remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  As a result of this remembrance, God appeared to Moses in a burning bush on Mt. Horeb (called the Mountain of God) declaring Himself the great “I AM”, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and instructed Moses to return to Egypt to deliver a simple message to the current Pharaoh:  “let my people go.”   In calling Moses at the burning bush to go back to Egypt Moses famously objects asking God to “send someone else” (Exo 4:13).    This sudden transformation from Shepherd to deliver is so radical that it prompts Moses’ objections.  In the ensuing exchange between God and Moses several items of great theological importance are enumerated:  (1) the revelation of the divine name of God “YHWH” or “I Am who I Am”; and (2) Moses is identified as a prophet.  It is important to note that Moses represents the first of formulaic “Thus says the Lord” class of prophet that comes into its fullest use later, after the reign of Solomon in the period of the Monarchy.

Moses returns to Egypt at the age of 80 (Exo 7:7) with his family and is met by his brother Aaron along the way whom God sent to act as Moses’ spokesman to Pharaoh.  Moses gains the trust of the Israelites by demonstrating the wondrous signs God had given him for that express purpose: turning his staff into a snake and making his hand leprous.  In Exodus 5-14 we see Moses’ confrontation with Pharaoh beginning with the simple request to let the people leave to have a feast to the Lord in the desert.   Pharaoh’s response of “who is the Lord that I should obey His voice” is the beginning of the obstinate attitude that characterizes his behavior throughout these chapters.  After being denied his request to feast in the desert Moses proceeds to demonstrate God’s power through the snake staff sign that God gave him as proof of His power.  Unwilling to acquiesce God sends 10 terrible plagues which serve two distinct purposes: (1) force the Egyptians into compliance with God’s will; (2) Teach both the Egyptians ad Israelites about the sovereign character of the God of Israel.  The plagues prove beyond any shadow of a doubt that Yahweh was “in control of the cosmic order” and not the “god-king” Pharaoh.

It is worthwhile to note that some scholars erroneously believe that because the literary structure of the plagues indicates a long history of textual transmission that they are not historic fact but rather symbolic accounts.  Additionally, some, while critical of the extreme “symbolic” assessment of the plagues, do feel a compelling need to prove the historical likeliness of the events based on what they perceive as logical and rational similarities to natural phenomena of Egypt.  They conclude that the plagues 1-9 are most likely a series of natural disasters set off by the occasional extreme flooding of the Nile region.  They have no “natural” explanation for the final plague where the firstborn of every Egyptian is killed.  In spite of these theories the Bible in no way indicates that the account of the plagues is in any way symbolic, figurative, or natural in origin.  These plagues took place supernaturally in the way the Bible describes them.

Pharaoh’s magicians are able to mimic the snake staff, the plague of blood, and the plague of frogs but none of the other plagues.  Each of the plagues affects the Egyptians but not the Hebrews, who are spared from each horrible judgment.  The following is a list of the plagues God sent into Egypt: (1) God turned all the water in Egypt into blood; (2) God sent swarms of frogs to overrun the land; (3) God sent clouds of lice to cover Egypt; (4) God sent swarms of flies; (5) God sent a pestilence that afflicted and killed the livestock and animals; (6) God sent a pestilence of painful boils that affected all creatures both man and animal; (7) God sent large hail stones, which would kill anyone caught out in the open; (8) God sent a plague of locusts which ate every plant; (9) God covered the land of Egypt with a darkness that could “be felt” (Exo 10:21); (10) Finally, God took the firstborn of every Egyptian including Pharaoh’s heir.  As an extra instruction to protect the Children of Israel from the final, horrible plague, God implements the Passover ritual, a ritual that points very clearly to the substitutionary work of salvation performed by Jesus on the Cross at Calvary.

God established the memorial of the Passover to commemorate where God miraculously freed them from the bondage of the Egyptians.  Again, it is worthy of mention that some believe that this is an adaptation of a spring festival practiced by shepherd people during the time, which does not reduce or negate its significance in anyway.  The Passover changed throughout the history of Israel several times from an in-home personal celebration to a public festival.  The “Last Supper” that Jesus celebrated with His disciples was patterned after the Passover and through this event the Passover was transformed from the Jewish ritual into the Christian “Lord’s Supper” also called the “Eucharist” or “Communion”.  In the Passover ritual described in Exodus 12, each Israelite household was to prepare a lamb as a sacrifice, using the blood to mark the door of their homes as marker for the Lord to “pass-over” that house, sparing the people within from the wrath of God that was unleashed on Egypt.   Additionally, out of this ritual the people developed their “feast of unleavened bread” wherein they ate the sacrificed lamb with unleavened bread, fully clothed and ready for a quick departure as God knew that this last plague would be the “last straw” for Pharaoh and that they would be released from captivity shortly thereafter.  In a climactic finale to the encounter with Pharaoh, the Israelites are released from captivity, carrying with them many riches that were ironically given as gifts from the Egyptians.  However, Pharaoh, changing his mind and hardening his heart one final time and pursued the Israelites. To save the fleeing Israelites God miraculously parted the Red Sea allowing them to pass through.  However, when Pharaoh tries to chase the people through the open path, God caused the waters to cover the Egyptians up, killing them all.

After being delivered from Pharaoh’s army miraculously at the Red Sea, or more literally the “Sea of Reeds”, Moses composed a song of victory and praise uniquely about God solidifying the fact that the Exodus story is the standard of divine redemption only to be exceeded by the work of Jesus Christ on the Cross of Calvary.  After escaping Egypt the Israelites traveled across the “Wilderness of Shur”, the “Wilderness of Sin”, and into the “Wilderness of Sinai” over a period of three months.  During this period the people surprisingly began to question God and complain about their circumstances.  As one theologian puts it, “sin and rebellion often fly in the face of the facts”.  During these months God showed His faithfulness and power by miraculously preserving the Israelites from thirst, hunger and defeat at the hands of the Amalakites before eventually leading them Sinai where He intended to give them the most precious gift they would receive, the Sinai Covenant.

The last section of Exodus records the arrival and time spent at Mt. Sinai where God, through Moses delivers to them the His covenant.  The Sinai covenant was anchored in the 10 commandments and followed up with a casuistic law showing specific examples of how the principles of the covenant laws are applied to life.  The giving of the law was concluded with Moses leading the nation in a highly symbolic ceremony where blood was used to sanctify the people for the service of God.  This ceremony points forward towards Jesus and His redemptive work and nature of His blood.  However, before revealing the actual details of the covenant with them, God informs them of the purpose of the covenant they are about to receive.  He tells them they will be a “special treasure” to Him among all the peoples of the Earth and a holy kingdom of priests IF they indeed obey and keep His covenant (Exo 19:5-6).  Unlike the Covenant with Abraham which was given without condition, the Mosaic Covenant is clearly established as a conditionally based contact that is dependent on the faithfulness of the Israelites.  The nation accepts the Covenant, sanctifies themselves God speaks to them directly to which they respond by requesting to Moses that he deal with God because He is too awesome and they are afraid they will die if they hear His voice anymore.  After Moses agrees to be the intermediary he delivers the commandments of the Covenant starting with the 10 commandments in chapter 20.  In chapters 20-31 the covenant regulations are presented and cover social, moral, religious, military and diplomatic themes as well as outline detailed instructions on how to construct the Tabernacle, the specific place of worship for the one true God.  The purpose of the Tabernacle is clear from the beginning.  Instead of primarily being a place of gathering for the people, like a modern day church or arena, it was God’s way of living in the midst of His people.  The word tabernacle in the Hebrew literally means “dwelling place”.
In the midst of the godly obedience shown in receiving the law and building the Tabernacle, the people disappointingly rebel, creating a golden calf idol to worship as a representation of God they have fashioned out of collected jewelry.  While Yahweh was creating a nation that would reflect His moral likeness, the Israelites were trying to create God in their image.   It has been said that the failure of the people could be attributed to the fact that they felt leaderless during Moses’ long absence on the mountain.  Regardless of the reason for their grievous transgression, Moses responded by: (1) destroying the calf; (2) making them drink the ground-up idol; and then (3) killing all of those (around 3,000 people) who were not on the “Lord’s side” (Exo 32:26).  After the debacle with the calf, God judged Israel.   There is an important message about the power of Intercessory prayer held within the pleading of Moses for God to spare the people after this incident with the calf.  God granted Moses’ petitions and reestablished His Covenant with the people, helping Moses to re-create the stone tablets.   After all was said and done Israel brought an abundance of offerings, builds the Tabernacle and in the culmination of the book of Exodus, God fills/inhabits the newly built Tabernacle with His glory.

While there is no direct historical evidence (outside of the Biblical account) for the events of Exodus, the conviction that they became a nation at the Exodus event is deeply rooted in Israelite tradition.  Furthermore it is unlikely that the Israelites would invent a story about being slaves in a foreign land as this would not be a likely beginning for a group that thought as highly of itself as Israel has throughout the ages.   On the subject of the date of the Exodus many scholars are quite convinced that the real date lie in the 13th century BC instead of the 15th century, which is the other likely date.  The dates cannot be exactly and precisely determined to the lack of external historical references in the text. On the subject of the route of the Exodus it is, once again, impossible to exactly determine the route.  However the most plausible route, given the information, is most likely a southern route with the traditional location for Mt. Sinai being in a southerly location at the tip of the Sinai Peninsula.  Generally speaking if a scholar has a problem with the book of Exodus it is in one of three areas:  (1) the historicity of the account; (2) the date of the Exodus; (3) the route of the Exodus.  On the first there is little reason to doubt the historicity of the document because the account is so central to later Israelite thought and theology and so uncomplimentary in its nature that it is inconceivable that the events have no basis in the reality of their national history.  On the issue of dating the Exodus, is difficult due to the lack of extrabiblical evidence and references to other more well-know historical events.  The  Bible itself in 1 Kings 6:1 and Judges 11:26 indicates a date in the 15th century though some scholars date the Exodus in the 13th century one of the reasons being because the Israelites worked on the city of Ramesses , which is believed to have been built by Ramesses II who lived in the 13th century.  In the end whether the event happened in the 15th or 13th centuries makes little difference with respect to the narrative and theological components of the book.  The third issue has to do with the route the nation took after leaving Egypt en route to Mt. Sinai.  There are three potential routes that have been proposed: a northern, central and southern.  The southern route is the most traditional and answers more of the questions than the others.  This southern route has the nation traveling across the “Reed Sea”, just north of the Gulf of Suez, down through the wilderness along the Gulf of Suez and eventually to Mt. Sinai, located on the southern end of the Sinai Peninsula.  Again, whichever route the nation took has little to no bearing on the narrative or the theological message of the book.
 Theologically, there are three main points within the book of Exodus:  (1) deliverance, (2) Covenant, (3) Presence of God.  The first 18 chapters of the text deal with the concept of deliverance, with the people of God suffering under the bondage of the Egyptians.  The Israelites were freed through no merit of their own God as showed mercy and grace becoming their deliverer and savior.

The second section of Exodus, chapters 19-40, focuses on the covenant that God would establish with the nation.  This covenant was to be built on top of the patriarchal covenant with one big difference; there would now be a condition and requirement for ethical behavior to maintain their relationship with God.  Though the covenant promises are in a sense permanent due the promises God mad to Abraham, the covenant itself now required faithful obedience. This obedience was for their own good as the laws were all for their well-being and moreover obedience to them was a response to the salvation God had ALREADY provided them.  This is to say that the covenant was not a means by which they would be afforded salvation in the future; their salvation was given to them first.  In the Abrahamic covenant God places Himself under an oath and this He is bound irrevocably to Abraham and his posterity;  whereas , in the case of the Sinai covenant Israel takes the oath and there is now an obligation to obedience to the covenant stipulations.  Moreover, the structure of this covenant is very similar to the structure of the international treaty used in the ancient Near East between an overlord and his people.  This is important because it shows that the Ten Commandments were never intended to institute a system of legal observances by which one could earn God’s acceptance but rather they are stipulations of a covenant relationship anchored in grace.  While an overlord could crush and dominate the general populace they would graciously use these covenants to establish the terms under which they would afford protection and prosperity to the people.  While deliverance and covenant are the themes of the two largest sections of Exodus, the undercurrent for the whole book is the preparation of the nation for the arrival of the presence of God in their midst.  The Patriarchal covenant had Promised Land and descendents but also had the intrinsic promise of living in the presence of Yahweh through the statement “I am with you”.  The Exodus and events on Mt Sinai are central to the Old Testament in the way that the Cross is central to the New Testament.

General Information, Old Testament Survey Bible, christianity, Covenant, Exodus, God, Jesus Christ, Old Testament, Sinai

Genesis 12-50 focuses on the lives of three primary individuals, Abraham, Jacob and Joseph. Despite the fact that Isaac is a Patriarch and Joseph is not, his inclusion in this section is minimal and grouped in with the history of Abraham.  After the Tower of Babel the genealogy leading to Abram is detailed. Abram is called out of Ur to go to the land of Canaan where God has promised to bless him and give him the land He will show him.  Abram takes Lot, his nephew, with him on his journey.  Additionally, his father Terah dies along the way in the northern town of Haran.

Abraham and his son Isaac are covered in Genesis 12-25.  As important as Abraham is we know very little about the first 75 years of his life.  The Bible is less concerned about his history than it is with his obedience to God’s call on his life.  This call on Abram, as he was known before chapter 17, held three promises:  land, descendents, and the blessing  His presence   Abram was called out of Ur in southern Babylonia to travel to Canaan to reestablish his family there.  Having no children and no family in the area, this was an extremely risky move that required a lot of faith on his part. This section recounts the story of Abram’s failures but also of his recurring success in God’s eyes by believing in the promises that God was making to him.  This faith is foundational for Christians and is referenced by Paul in Romans 4 as a perfect example of saving faith.  Genesis 15 also holds a key event that shows God’s commitment to His promises.  God performs a covenant ritual with Abram, in effect invoking a curse on Himself if He should fail to keep the promises He has made to Abram.  This section also includes the story Sarai’s failure in giving Hagar to Abram thus producing Ishmael.  Though Abram and Sarai attempt to help God by providing Hagar as a surrogate mother, Ishmael would not be the son spoken of by God in His promises to Abram.  While God established His covenant with Abram in Genesis 15 He actually brings that covenant to life in Genesis 17 where He reiterates the importance of the faith that Abram has and that it is the basis for the covenant relationship that they have.  The covenant ritual of circumcision is also introduced as a physical sign of this special relationship.  Additionally, in this same section Abram and Sarai both are renamed to the more familiar names Abraham and Sarah.  This section also chronicles the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and the moral decay of Lot, Abraham’s nephew, and his family.  Eventually God miraculously gives Abraham and Sarah the child He promised, Isaac, who grows to manhood in Canaan.   Surprisingly in chapter 22 God tests Abraham’s faith by calling him unambiguously to sacrifice Isaac to Him.  Isaac was not a child at this time but rather a young adult.  By faith Abraham passes this test, trusting that God would bring him back from the dead (Heb 11:19).  God eventually “provided for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering” (Gen 22:8), Isaac is spared and Abrahams faith is proven.  At every turn Abraham quickly and quietly obeyed the word of God, first giving up his past by leaving his home and lastly by giving up his future by willingly offering Isaac up in sacrifice.   Abraham’s servant (most likely Eliazar) is sent to Mesopotamia to get a wife from his own peoples where he providentially encounters Rebekah, a not too distant relative of Abraham. 

Although Isaac is a Patriarch and the son of the covenant he soon fades from view after his twin sons, Jacob and Esau, are born.  Despite the fact that Esau is the firstborn, Jacob supplants his position.  This is a seemingly common occurrence in the OT.  Privilege position by birth has little to do with our standing before God. Chapters 25-36 chronicle the story of Jacob.  Isaac’s wife Rebekah has twins, Esau and Jacob.  Esau is the elder but God tells Rebekah that Jacob will be the one to inherit the promise and blessing from God.  In a very deceptive set of circumstances Jacob purchases Esau’s birthright for a bowl of stew and steals the paternal blessing from Jacob by pretending to be Esau.  For this reason Jacob flees for his life to Padan Aram to hide out and seek a wife from the relatives of his mother Rebekah.  The question of the Jacob stories is “what will become of God’s covenant promises?”  God answers that question unequivocally in a dream that He gives to Jacob while he is fleeing from his bother Esau.  On his way to Haran God confirms in a dream that He is with Jacob and that the covenant promises He made to Abraham and Isaac, He would continue to keep through Jacob.  After many years of service to his deceitful relative Laban, Jacob returns to Canaan a wealthy man with two wives and two concubines:  Leah, Rachel, Bilhah and Zilpah.  After one of the most enigmatic sections of Scripture within the Bible wherein Jacob wrestles with God, most likely a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus (also known as a christophony).  In this encounter Jacob fights hard to recieve the blessing from God and as a result not only was he permanently crippledbut his name is changed to Israel,marking a significant change in his character.  He was no longer “cheater” and “heel catcher” but now he was one who “strives with God” or another translation “soldier (or prince) with God.”  Once back in Canaan, Jacob is reconciled with Esau.   Jacob has 13 offspring by these women: From Leah there were Ruben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulon; from Rachel there were Joseph and Benjamin; from Bilhah there were Dan and Naphtali; from Zilpah there where Gad and Asher.  Leah also bore Jacob a daughter, Dinah. 

The final section of Genesis, chapters 37-50, focuses on the life of the last major character detailed in Genesis, Joseph.  Joseph was the eldest son of Rachel, the wife that Jacob oved most.  Unlike the Patriarchs, Joseph is not in the direct, Messianic line of the covenant. In a sense he is a peripheral character but his story is important for two reasons:  (1) He is a superb example of how to live a life dedicated to God in the face of extreme temptation and persecution; (2) The story of Joseph explains his the Israelites came to be in Egypt instead of Palestine where God had called Abraham to go.  God gives Joseph dreams foretelling his eventual position of prominence over the whole family.  These prognostications and the favoritism shown by Jacob incite intense jealousy among Jacobs’s brothers who eventually capture him and sell him to Ishmaelite slave traders who take him to Egypt and sell him.  Genesis chronicles Josephs patient and humble rise to power in Egypt where he suffers many wrongs only to eventually become the second most powerful many in Egypt.  By God blessing Joseph with the ability to interpret dreams and the wisdom to administrate He puts Joseph in a position where he is capable of blessing not only the Egyptians during a severe famine but also his own family.  Eventually is able to bring his family down to live in Egypt where a great theological truth about the providence of is revealed in Gen 50:19-20.  The book ends with Both Jacob and subsequently Joseph dying.  Jacob is carried back up to Canaan for burial but Joseph makes the children of Israel swear an oath to eventually carry his bones back to Canaan for burial.

Genesis 12-50 is the story of the Patriarchs.  The term Patriarch refers to the individuals who stand at the “fountainhead” of the faith:  Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  Many biblical scholars cover the Patriarchal History by looking it from four perspectives:  the historical background, the date and historicity of the narratives, the literary genre of the text, the religion of the Patriarchs, and finally the theology of the narratives.  On the subject of the historical background of the texts there are some scholars that have come to view the Patriarchal narratives as having almost no historical worth.  These critics view the Patriarchs as figures of Canaanite deities, heroes drawn from folklore, or personifications of tribes from the area represented in the texts.  However, when these critics developed their views, the history and culture of the 3rd and 2nd millennium were virtually unknown.  The subsequent discoveries that have been made have transformed the period from a “dark ages” into a period of time that is well known and documented.  We can break this time in the Ancient Near East into three distinct time periods:  Prehistory (before 3000), Third Millennium (3000-2000), and the Patriarchal Age (2000-1500).  The Patriarchal Age is the timeframe that is of primary importance to readers of Genesis 12-50.  This timeframe is considered the Middle Bronze Age II (MBII) and includes important figures as Hammurabi (1728-1626) who developed a code of laws very similar to the Law of Moses that was given by God at Sinai somewhere between 15th and 13th century BC. This section of Scripture describes events that occurred over centuries of time but since there is such a lack of references to concurrent historical events in other ancient Near Eastern nations it is difficult at best to date this section.  Scholars suggest a date range somewhere between 2200 BC and 1200 BC and the descriptions (archeological, cultural and literary) seem to fit well into the Middle Bronze Age.  It is imporant to note, as ridiculous as it is, there are those that deny the very existence of these Patriarchs claiming that they were simply created to explain the Hebrew’s own existence.  Despite this skepticism, this does not disprove the existence of the Patriarchs and Christians have every reason to believe the narrative as archeologists and historians have corroborated many of the features and accounts of the text and will undoubtedly continue to make discoveries that back the text up to even greater degrees in the future.  On the subject of the date and historicity of the Patriarchal narratives we first see that a literary study of these texts reveals a historical focus even though the message is primarily theological. Many hististonians make the distinction that since these texts have been delivered through a long process of oral and written transmission the resulting narratives are neither basic messaging nor history in the modern sense of the word.  We can say with absolute clarity that due to the similarities in the names of biblical character to Amorite names, the descriptions of the stable and peaceful way of life experienced by the Patriarchs, the naems of the cities mentioned within the texts, the nomadic lifestyles of the Patriarchs, and finally the general picture of Patriarchal religion (God being the personal God of the Abraham and his clan) that this places the narratives within the 2nd millennium BC.  One point of contention that is often raised is the fact that there is a the lack of evidence that the Negev, an area frequented by Abraham, was occupied in MBII though it is well known that by the Middle Bronze I it was extensively inhabited.

With respect to literary genre in Genesis 12-50, it is important to remember the aims of the biblical authors were primarily theological.  For this reason the accounts are of events and incidents showing how God acted to bring about His desires and what God has done to inspire faith in His followers.  The narratives in no way falsify history but are highly selective about what they represent because of the purpose of the narratives.  Although there are some accounts in Genesis 12-50 that are difficult to harmonize with history, they are only problematic if interpreted as history in the modern sense as opposed to “remembered past”.  While there is not enough information to gather a complete picture of the religious life of the Patriarchs, we do have enough information to gain a general knowledge of their religion in its cultural context.  It is clear that when Abraham left Haran for Canaan, he left his old religious traditions to follow God with  a single-minded devotion. This same god appeared to each of the Patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob), choosing them and promising to be with them; thus God was identified in relation to the family, “the God of Abraham”, “the God of Isaac”, and “the God of Jacob”. This important section of Scripture reveals God to be a personal God, one who desires to have a relationship with individuals  which is in stark contrast to the Canaanite gods, who were primarily associated with places and uninterested in individuals.  This section marks a change in the way that this personal God deals with the problem of His ruined creation.  Before the Patriarchs came onto the scene God dealt with the world in a very universal way and scale.  However starting in Genesis 12 God begins to deal with the problem of sin by way of the faith of a single man, a very unique and interesting change.  A cornerstone truth held in this section is “how the faithful obedience of a single individual has universal significance.  The Patriarchal history begins with the call of Abraham (know as Abram at the time).  This call represents a demonstration of grace in the face of the disobedience and judgment of the first 11 chapters of Genesis. These chapters theologically answer the question about God’s relationship to fallen and scattered humanity.  As mentioned previously, Genesis 12-50 is primarily a theological text and several key points are dealt with within its chapters:  Election and the promises of God; Faith and Righteousness; and the concept of Covenant.  .  The promises of Abraham, while stated in a grandiose fashion  in both Gen 13:16 and 15:5, come in conflict with his real life journey:  (1) he is to be a great nation but Sarah is barren; (2) the land belongs to his descendents but the Canaanites occupy it.  Despite the odds being against him, God comes through and proves His faithfulness; and not just for Abraham but also for all of the Patriarchs, each of which receive the promise that is eventually fulfilled (at least in part) by God’s deliverance of Israel from the Egyptians in the book of Exodus.  The story of Joseph is important in this area as we see the first stage in the transition from a patriarchal family to an independent nation upon which God can enact His promises.  The theme of salvation in Genesis is a forward looking one, pointing to the book of Exodus and eventually to the ultimate salvation provided by Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Faith and Righteousness is the cornerstone of the Patriarchal stories, especially when having to do with Abraham. As a precedent, at the point of Abrahams’ call, we see the simple and terse response of “So Abraham went, as the Lord told him” (Gen 22:4).  This simple verse serves as a paradigm of faith for the rest of the Bible.  In fact this faith that Abraham exhibits is so important in the scope of things that God “accounts it to him as righteousness”.  This very basically means that God considered Abraham, a sinful man like you or I, righteous due to his unwavering trust in the promises that God made to him.  God’s highest test for Abraham culminated in God’s commandment for Abraham to offer up Isaac as a sacrifice.  It is important to remember that Isaac represented the fulfillment of the promise and thus this challenge was extremely difficult but Abraham meets it in with the same stoic and unrelenting faith, declaring directly to Isaac himself that “The Lord will provide Himself” a sacrifice (Gen 22:8). 

The transition from election to becoming God’s covenant people is not simple, historically nor theologically.  Where we see a great man of faith in Abraham, we see a very worldly man, a model of guile and self-reliance, in the person of Jacob/Israel. Eventually we see the work of God in the man’s life culminating in wrestling encounter with God where he is “subdued” and become a true follow of the living God.  Theologically there are three main ideas that are key to the Patriarchal  stories:  (1) Election – God‘s sovereign choosing of man for the purposes of his service; (2) Promise – the sure promises of God are the foundation of the Patriarchal accounts but are only partially fulfilled and are therefore forward looking with a future generation experiencing the ultimate fulfillment of them; (3) Covenant – covenant is related to promise and establishes a theological framework for redemptive relationships throughout the Bible and Christian theology. While the promises told the Patriarchs of the great things they could expect from God, the covenant informed them what was expected from them in their relationship.  The covenant promises of God are an element of great importance within the history of the Patriarchs.  As mentioned above, Covenant is a central theme of this and all Scripture.  In establishing the covenant with Abraham, God lowers Himself to place Himself symbolically under a curse so as to affirm to Abraham the certainty of His promises.  It is God alone who takes the oath; nothing is required from Abraham, (except circumcision as a sign of the covenant).  This dramatically differs from the Mosaic covenant, which we will see very shortly, because only God alone lays Himself under obligation wherein the covenant given to Moses at Sinai is conditinal based on the response and obedience of the Israelintes.  In the Mosaic Covenant Israel takes and oath which places the nation under the stringent stipulations of the covenant.  Abraham’s covenant depends solely on the unchanging character of God Almighty, whereas the Mosaic Covenant is clearly linked to the response of the nation of Israel.  Despite this difference both have their origin in the sovereinty, grace and overflowing mercy of God who desires nothing more that that we would receive His free gift of salvation and spend eternity with Him. 

If you are not “born again”, having actively received the salvation that God has freely given us, than you do not have the hope that these promises from God are for you.  However, this is easy to fix.  If you desire to have peace with God and peace in your heart the scriptures say that all you must do is believe in what the Bible declares about Jesus the Christ.

Step 1:  Understand the problem - you are a sinner like everyone else:
“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23)

Step 2:  Understand the implication of that problem:

“For the wages of sin is death” (Rom 6:23a)

Step 3: Understand the hope that you can have in Christ Jesus:

“but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom 6:23b)

Step 4: Understand the love that God has for you:

“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom 5:8)

Step 5:  Understand the solution to the problem:

“WHOEVER CALLS ON THE NAME OF THE LORD SHALL BE SAVED.” (Rom 10:13)

Step 6: Understand the result of trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ:

“if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Rom 10:9)

The Bible declares that today is the day of salvation so choose today whom you will serve:  He who is able to save you to the uttermost; or he who desires your destruction.

God bless you

Erick

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The first 11 chapters of the book of Genesis start with the creation of the known universe by a highly personal and intimate God (Gen 1-2).  Genesis declares that God was alone at the beginning of creation and formed the universe from nothing, which is know as creation ex nihilo.  The fact that man was created in God’s image is of inexhaustible theological significance.  This fact is one of the major differentiating factors between the Hebrew story and the other Mesopotamian creation stories where man was an afterthought created to serve as a slave force for the Gods.  The creation story is followed by the story of man’s fall from innocence and his continual moral failure.  This moral failure is in stark contrast to God who is perfect and just and whose creation was absolutely perfect before man ruined it.  The story of man’s fall is followed up by the subsequent promise by God in Genesis 3:15 of his eventual salvation through one of Adam’s seed.  In speaking about the eventual victory Jesus Christ would have over Satan (and death) God says, ”He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel(Gen 3:15b). The results of sin are significant in that that man lost his innocence, lost access to God and lost access to the peaceful paradise and freedom of Eden.  Sin was not an accident but rather a willing rebellion against God.  After the fall, the depravity of the pre-flood man is chronicled, starting with Cain and culminating with the creation of a new line of God-worshipers descended from Adam’s son Seth.  Sin increased in humanity until God decided that all creation should be destroyed because “God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” (Gen 6:5)  God accomplished the destruction of man through the flood. The Bible documents this flood as being global, not local, destroying all living creatures except for those saved within the walls of the arc that God instructed Noah to make.  The Gilgamesh Epic, Enuma Elish, Atrahasis and other accounts contain similarities to the story of Noah and the flood but these similarities only prove the validity of the biblical account and do not in any way diminish its believability or authority.  Noah and his family are in the arc for one full year and after they leave they embark upon the daunting task of repopulating the earth. 

After the flood the Bible records God’s promise to never again flood the earth despite the fact that every intent of the thoughts of man’s heart remained only evil continually (see Genesis 8:21).  The Bible documents the generations descending from Noah and his sons as they populate the earth and quickly forget about God and His salvation.  This section of Scripture chronicles the first human governments, empires, and powerful tyrants like Nimrod.  This section ends with the story of the Tower of Babel where God confused man’s single language making every person speak in a different tongue, thus thwarting man’s arrogant attempt to be like God once again.  The pride and rebellion of humankind is epitomized in the story of the Tower of Babel.   The emphasis from Genesis 3-11 is the tragic avalanche of sin that has ruined God’s perfect creation and humanity itself.  The universal situation for man on the earth is nothing but despair.  Onthe basis of literary structure the book of Genesis can be broken into 10 parts, all separated by “and these are the descendants of…”.  This literary structure is referred to as the “toledoth formula” and is not just a boundary marker in the book but also serves as a sign of the survival and continuity of God’s plan for creation despite the ravages of human sin.  None of the Genesis 1-11 story is “myth” but it is important to recognize that neither is it “history” in the modern sense of eyewitness, objective reporting.  Instead, the accounts convey absolute theological truths about events in a pictorial literary style.  This does not mean that Genesis 1-11 conveys any historical falsehood; the fact is that it does not claim to contain objective descriptions despite the fact that it does claim to declare and declare objective and fundamental universal truths.  Though there are some similarities with other ancient Near Eastern mythology the differences vastly outweigh the similarities.  With respect to the similarities it is safe to say that  of all of the accounts of creation found in the region, the Mesopotamian accounts are the closest to the Hebrew account.

The primary purpose for the teaching within the primeval prologue is theological and is characterized by four major themes:  (1) God is the Creator; (2) Original creation has been radically altered by the introduction of sin; (3) God’s judgment meets human sin at each and every point; and (4) God’s grace preserves both humans and the creation. The various stories of Adam, Cain and Noah show the constant coupling of God’s judgment with His grace and mercy.  Adam disobeys God knowing it will mean his immenent death but God spares his life and even sacrifices innocent animals to cloth his now naked frame.  Cain kills his innocent brother in the first murder ever committed but instead of meeting out the death penalty Cain is marked to ensure that no one harms him in any way for his crimes.  But while the final story of Babel seems to lack that same conclusion the story of God’s subsequent grace is shown in Genesis 12-50 through the story of the Patriarchal lineage.  The Patriarchal lineage represents a radical new way in which God will be dealing with man to begin bring about His eventual and final salvation through the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth.  The Primeval Prologue prepares the way for the history of redemption and relationship it is characterized by is one of man’s problem and God’s solution and for that reason its chapters carry utmost importance for understanding all of the rest of Scripture.

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