Passover

So in Hebrew class the other day we had a fun little discussion about the word and idea of passover. Now this deals more with the actual event of Passover and not the celebration of Passover. Or in other terms, the verb “to passover” and not the noun Passover.

The verb form of passover shows up only a few times. In Exodus 12:13, 23

The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, so that when I see the blood I will pass over you, and this plague will not fall on you to destroy you when I attack the land of Egypt.

For the Lord will pass through to strike Egypt, and when he sees the blood on the top of the doorframe and the two side posts, then the Lord will pass over the door, and he will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you.

When I normally look at this story I think about Prince of Egypt with the cool smoke going through the land of Egypt and striking down all those heathen children, while passing over the houses of the Israelites, sort of excluding the Israelites from anything that is going on. But looking closer I found it interesting that the end of verse 23 has this little inclusion in it: “the LORD will pass over the door, and he will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you.” God passes over the door so that the destroyer will not enter. He is passovering, if you will, so that the destroyer doesn’t come in. That seems like an interesting little tidbit. So instead of excluding the doors of the Israelites, God is actively passovering the door.

So in class Dr. Kutz drew us to the other place where pass over is used as a verb in Isaiah 31:5

Like birds hovering overhead, the LORD Almighty will shield Jerusalem; he will shield it and deliver it, he will ‘pass over’ it and will rescue it.”

So passing over isn’t this thing where God just ignores the door, or Jerusalem, but is an active verb, not an excluding thing. It is something he is doing, like being a shield and a deliverer, a rescuer and a passoverer. So in our normal context we thing that during passover the LORD just ignores the doors of the Israelites, but instead with this active verb idea we see that the LORD is standing in the doorway, passovering the door so that the destroyer cannot enter the house of the Israelites. We are not excluded in passover but included and protected by God. And when we see Jesus as the passover lamb, the one who stands before the judge, it is not that Christ’s blood just merely makes God glaze over our sins and exclude us from punishment, but instead we are actively passovered by Christ and His sacrificial blood. Christ stands before the judge and does not permit the judgment we deserve to strike us down. Oh what joy! What amazing power this blood of our saviour!

And to make a little side tangent as well, with my little exegesis I did on Numbers 16, there is this cool little thing with plagues and priests standing in the way, making these plagues pass over the people. The priest stands in the way of the plague, much as the LORD stands in the way of the destroyer, and Christ stands in the way of our judgment. It’s everywhere!

Passover is active!

The Washing of Peter

We interrupt this program to bring you a short character study of Peter in the Gospel of John…

Basic Idea: If Peter the dedicated follower of Jesus is going to continue to follow, it will only be through continually returning to Jesus for washing.

A couple of sketches of Peter and the events John recounts to us about him: He is dedicated to Jesus and would even die for (11:16 presumably; 13:36–37) this one who has the words of life (6:68).  Peter is willing to go to great lengths, even dying for him (18:10), to save him Jesus descending from his high estate (13:6-8–the master serving!?”).  Peter is instructed by Jesus that he must return to Jesus to have his feet cleansed (13:9).  Peter denies that he is a follower of Jesus when it means following him to the cross (18:15-18, 25-27).  NOTE: he does not deny the Lordship of Jesus, only that he is a follower.  He sees the empty tomb (20:2-9)

When Peter originally declares his willingness to die for Jesus, Jesus does not deny that Peter will also be crucified.  He does however tell him that he is not yet ready (13:36 “…you cannot follow me now, but you will later.”).  At the end of the story, following Jesus washing of Peter, he again reaffirms his invitation to Peter to follow him to the cross (21:18-22) which he had previously escaped through denial (ch. 18).

And so, if Peter the dedicated follower of Jesus is going to continue to follow, it will only be through continually returning to Jesus for washing.  The remaining question for me is, Who will wash Peter’s feet?  What are Jesus’ instructions on the matter?

So when Jesus had washed their feet and put his outer clothing back on, he took his place at the table again and said to them, “Do you understand what I have done for you? You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and do so correctly, for that is what I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you too ought to wash one another’s feet.  For I have given you an example – you should do just as I have done for you.  I tell you the solemn truth, the slave is not greater than his master, nor is the one who is sent as a messenger greater than the one who sent him.  If you understand these things, you will be blessed if you do them. (John 13:12-17)

Yes, the foot washing is an example of service, but Jesus (in his discussion with Peter) has also invested it with a profound spiritual reality.  So, as followers of the Servant King, we bring his presence not by bringing forgiveness (“a messenger is not great than the one who sent him”), but by washing each other with and bringing each other back to the Gospel we so regularly fail to believe.

How do we as believers carry out this washing?  As others New Testament authors have put it,

Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another so that you may be healed.  The prayer of a righteous man has great effectiveness. (James 5:16)

Husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her to sanctify her by cleansing her with the washing of the water by the word, so that he may present the church to himself as glorious – not having a stain or wrinkle, or any such blemish, but holy and blameless. (Eph. 5:25-27)

And again, with Peter,

But when Cephas [Peter] came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he had clearly done wrong…But when I saw that they were not behaving consistently with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of them all, “If you, although you are a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you try to force the Gentiles to live like Jews?” (Gal. 2:11, 14)

Peter’s life declares his disbelief in the Gospel and Paul confronts him on it, washing him and drawing him back to Jesus, the Servant King, at whose Table all find provision!

A Short Study of Joel

Just wanted to post some notes from recent messages I’ve been studying for and teaching over here.  Most of what follows came from a question based, one night look at the book of Joel, but some of it also come from my notes and is a bit more eclectic in its focus.  All in all, not much more than study notes in this one I’m afraid, but still here she is.

What is the structure?

1. 1:1-3 Intro
2. 1:4-14 Destruction described and a call to lament
3. 1:15-2:11 Day of YHWH
4. 2:12-17 Call to repent
5. 2:18-3:21 YHWH’s response in three movements:

Coming to restore the land
Coming to dwell with His people
Coming to judge the nations

Why the devastation of the land? (1:4-20)

On top of the devastating effects of sin on those of us who perpetrate it, the land also always feels the effects of sin.  It always has (Gen. 3:17-19) and it always will–at least, as long as man continues to pollute it with sin.  More specifically though, the coming of the locusts and the destruction they bring should harken us back to the covenant curses detailed in Deuteronomy 28:38-42.

You will take much seed to the field but gather little harvest, because locusts will consume it.  You will plant vineyards and cultivate them, but you will not drink wine or gather in grapes, because worms will eat them.  You will have olive trees throughout your territory but you will not anoint yourself with olive oil, because the olives will drop off the trees while still unripe. You will bear sons and daughters but not keep them, because they will be taken into captivity.  Whirring locusts will take over every tree and all the produce of your soil.

What’s more, Joel’s ambiguous language in chapter 1:15-2:11 (Who is this army?  Locusts or people?) actually moves us in to the next phase of covenant curses: military seige (Dt. 28:47-57).

What of the peculiar language of 2:1-3?

As the language makes clear, this is the “day of YHWH”, but not the special language cues: trumpet, holy mountain, shaking, fear, darkness, storm clouds, blackness and fire.  Now, think of the first time this same language is employed in a group (at least as far as I can tell)–Exodus 19:16-19.  Israel is invited to come up on the mountain, shrouded in cloud and wreathed in flame, when the trumpet sounds.  Instead they disobey and remain at the foot of the mountain shaking in fear as Moses goes up to meet with the Lord.  I may be preaching to the choir on this one, but I love this connection: the scene distinctly communicates the coming of YHWH to his earth.

What about God’s response to the repentance of his people?

Compare Deuteronomy 30:1-10 with the repentance (2:12-17) and response (2:18-3:21) sections of Joel:

• “Return” – Dt. 30:2; Jl 2:12
• “Pity” – Dt. 30:3; Jl 2:17
• Return of exiles – Dt 30:3-5; Jl 3:1
• Making up for loss – Dt. 30:5, 9; Jl 2:25
• Israel’s curses transferred to enemies – Dt. 30:7; Jl 2:32-3:16

It seems pretty clear that the two bookend facets of the response sections of Joel (restoring the land and judging the nations) are pretty clearly paralleled by the restoration section of Dt. 30.  The one piece from Deuteronomy that does not appear to be explicitly recapitulated in Joel though comes in Dt. 30:6–

The Lord your God will also cleanse your heart and the hearts of your descendants so that you may love him with all your mind and being and so that you may live.

The only parallel I see in Joel to this passage in Deuteronomy is the central piece of YHWH’s response to His people where Joel details the coming of the Spirit.  Finally, after so many years (Num. 11:29), the Spirit will finally bring the presence of YHWH back to the people of God as he indwells them at the coming of the end and restoration of all things! (for more, follow this link, to Peter’s take on Joel)

Pentecost Acts 2:1-47

Again, just a type version of a recent study we did over here; this time over Acts 2 on Pentecost Sunday.

Four verses of action (Ac. 2:1-4) require a whole chapter of explaining.  Four verses of action filled with intriguing imagery and occurrence that have goaded many to wonder at the Old Testament connections of the event.  The feast of Pentecost is underway.  A time when the “firstfruits of the harvest” are brought in and celebrated (Dt. 16:9-11).  The sound of wind or spirit (what a wonderfully ambiguous word!) without presence of wind draws us back to the creation story (Gen 1:2, 2:7).  The tongues of fire remind us of YHWH’s leading of his people through the wilderness (Ex. 13:21).  The coming of the Spirit recalls Moses’ longing “that all the Lord’s people were prophets”  (Nu 11:29).  And the varying languages spoken in the tongues of “every nation under heaven” and their confusion are both reminiscent of the Tower of Babel (Gen. 11).

Frankly, its not surprising those who witnessed the event responded as they did.  Confusion: “How is this happening?” (Ac. 2:7).  Questioning: “What does this mean?” (2:12).  And skepticism, or even cynicism: “They’re drunk!” (2:13).

And so, amid such thoughts, Peter stands up to preach a three point sermon, each revolving around Old Testament quotations.  As I’ve studied the passage, it seems the theme of Peter’s message is stated in his first point/quotation: we are in the last days. Here’s how I see Peter’s message breaking down:

Point #1 Acts 2:14-21 – The Spirit is here (Jl. 2:28-32)–therefore, the last days have come, restoration is here and the firstfruits of the great harvest of God are already being brought in! (Note: Pentecost vs. the desolation of Joel 1-2:11)

Point #2 – Acts 2:22-32 – Death is already being defeated (Ps. 16:8-11) in Jesus’ body–therefore, Jesus is living proof that death and all his friends are already being condemned by the life that is already available in Jesus!

Point #3 – Acts 2:33-36 – Jesus is already reigning (Ps. 110:1)–therefore, how will you live, in these last days, when life is finally being restored?

The implications of the message are simple.  How will you reorient your life around the current reality Peter has just declared?  Will you live as if the end were not already so near?  Will you live in the death you have always known?  Will you choose slavery to the old masters?  Or, will you live these last days enjoying life under the great King?

This Old Man: He wrote four

John 3:22-36 (NIV)

²²After this, Jesus and his disciples went out into the Judean countryside, where he spent some time with them, and baptized. ²³Now John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and people were constantly coming to be baptized. ²⁴(This was before John was put in prison.) ²⁵An argument developed between some of John’s disciples and a certain Jew over the matter of ceremonial washing. ²⁶They came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan—the one you testified about—well, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him.”

²⁷To this John replied, “A man can receive only what is given him from heaven. ²⁸You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Christ but am sent ahead of him.’ ²⁹The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. ³⁰He must become greater; I must become less.

³¹“The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth. The one who comes from heaven is above all. ³²He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. ³³The man who has accepted it has certified that God is truthful. ³⁴For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit. ³⁵The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands. ³⁶Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.”

Here again we have a text that is not often misquoted, but often misused. When it is used, it is so often not really understood what it means. Jesus must become greater, I must become less. First of all, He is greater. He does not have to become greater, He is greater. Now I understand that when this is used, people, (including myself) are talking about a pride thing we have. When I am seated on the throne of my life, I put myself in a position that I should not be in. And in that context, there may be a reason to use this. However, I believe that there are much better Scriptures to use, ones that speak of humbling yourself in the sight of the Lord.

Now why do I say that. Simply because there is something greater going on here. First of all, what we read in this passage is not about John being prideful, lifting himself up, seating himself on the throne. John is actually testifying to the greatness of this One who comes after him. He is testifying of the greatness of the Son of God. This is the one who had been prophesied, promised. He is the bridegroom come to claim His bride. John has been sent ahead to prepare the way for Jesus. Now that Jesus has come, John is filled with JOY, not because he was the center of attention, but because the bridegroom has come. John is full of JOY because Jesus is successful.

John was willing to go all the way to death in the light of this joy. We read in other gospels, that just before his death, he had some doubts and sent to find out if this joy was was misplaced or was still valid. Jesus sends back the word that all that had been promised, was in fact, being fulfilled. John could die with joy.

It is just at this point we need to realize what this text is talking about. Not just simply humbling yourself, stepping off the throne but still remaining in the throne room. No, it is about getting out of the way and letting Jesus get to work. It is about dying. Dying to self, dying of self, DYING!!! It is about letting the plan, promise and purpose of God be fulfilled. It is about taking up crosses, it is about a radical way of life, that says not only, “take my life and let it be, consecrated Lord to Thee,” but says, “Take my life!” If that is what is needed for your plan, promise and purpose to be fulfilled, then so be it! That is what John is saying here. Whatever it takes Lord, I will do.