Wednesday in the Word

what the Bible means and how we know

kingship

03 Jesus: The Ideal Servant-King

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03 Jesus: The Ideal Servant-King | WednesdayintheWord.com

The third of three plenary addresses given by Dr. Erika Moore during the 2013 Women in the Word Workshop, October 2013. Dr. Erika Moore is a Professor of Old Testament and Academic Dean at Trinity School for Ministry. She is also one of my favorite teachers, especially when she teaches on the Old Testament.

I am grateful to link to a small portion of her work here on Wednesday in the Word.

The following are notes I took from her talk.

Kingship

  • God did not take His people out of bondage in Egypt to put them under bondage to the law.
  • The law reflects God’s holy character. As citizens of God’s kingdom, we ought to reflect our holy king. This is what citizenship in the kingdom of God looks like.
  • In the book of Joshua, the covenant King keeps His promises and gives His people the land of promise.
  • The book of Judges is about the failure of the Israelites to keep their part of the covenant. The promised land that was to reflect kingdom glory and be a light to the nations becomes corrupt. “Everyone does what’s right in their own eyes because there is no king.”
  • In the books of Samuel, the people want a king to be like the other nations, rather than having God as king.
  • See Deuteronomy 17:14-20.
  • The King is to keep the law when he takes the throne. He is not to be like other kings.
  • Israel’s first King, Saul, fails and God announces the kingship will continue through David.
  • The Tabernacle was appropriate while Israel was on the move. But now that they are settled in the land, God no longer needs a mobile home.
  • See 2 Samuel 7:3-16
  • When David brings the ark to Jerusalem, he is publicly demonstrating his desire to associate his kingship with God’s kingship (2 Samuel 6).
  • Kingship requires proximity. God desires to be with His people.

Merging of kingship in Israel with God’s kingship

  • Solomon “sat on the throne of the Lord as king” (1Chronicles 29:22-23).
  • Opposing the Davidic King is opposing the Lord (Psalm 2:1-12).
  • David’s reign was intended to be a shadow of the final form of kingship yet to be.
  • David’s failures are recorded. Solomon broke all the commands in Deuteronomy 17 about kingship.
  • The Kingdom moves with gathering momentum toward judgment of God.
  • The northern kingdom is sent into exile by the Assyrians. The southern kingdom is taken into exile by the Babylonians.
  • God chastens His people but still keeps his covenant.
  • As the nation crumbles, the prophets start talking about the promise of the kingdom as a future event when someone from the line of David sits on the throne.
  • In 539 BC, the Lord raises up the Persian King Cyrus to allow His people to return from Babylon.
  • Whether or not Israel remains faithful, God will remain faithful and raise up a Davidic king.
  • See Ezekiel 37:21-28.
  • Even if Israel repeats the sins of the past, God will keep his promises.

New Testament

  • NT begins with kingship (Matthew 1:1; Luke 1:30-33; John the Baptist’s message is repent for the kingdom of God is at hand; Mark 1:14-15).
  • The central focus of the gospel is the kingdom of God.
  • The kingdom is at hand because the king has come.
  • Jesus brings the kingdom, but it comes in stages. We accept by faith that the ultimate fulfillment of the kingdom is still in the future.
  • In Jesus’ lifetime, there was misunderstanding about what the kingdom would look like and how it would come (e.g. Matthew 3:7-12).
  • In Matthew 11:2-6, we see John the Baptist is confused. He asks, where is the judgment? Am I following the wrong one?
  • Jesus answers, the kingdom is coming, but it is coming in stages. Judgment will come but it has to fall on the king first before it falls at the second coming.
  • When Jesus refers to himself as the “Son of Man”, he is talking about his divinity, not his humanity (Daniel 7).
  • In Daniel 7:13-14, the Son of Man is given authority, glory & sovereign power.
  • Mark 2:10 – the Son of man authority to forgive sins.
  • Mark 2:28- The Son of Man is lord of the sabbath.
  • Mark 13:25 – all will see son of man coming in power.
  • Mark 14:62 – sitting at right hand of power.
  • But the son of man is also the suffering servant.
  • The kingdom comes through suffering, no politics.
  • Mark 9:12; Matthew 20:28

The kingdom today

  • In Acts 2:29-25, Peter declares that the throne of David transferred from Jerusalem to heaven itself where Jesus is seated at right hand of father.
  • “To be seated” is to be in a position of exaltation and power.
  • Hebrew 1:1-4 – Jesus is upholding all things by the word of his power by sustaining, guiding and moving it toward his purposes.
  • Matthew 28:18-20 – He is seated as King but his kingdom is not fully consummated yet.
  • We will live like our king in suffering & persecution, but it won’t be this way forever.
  • Revelation 19:11-16 – He will defeat the kingdoms in a final way, and the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdoms of our God.

Previous: 02 The King claims His People

Series: Erika Moore Collection

Photo by Sarah Noltner on Unsplash

02 The King Claims His People

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02 The King Claims His People | WednesdayintheWord.com

The second of three plenary addresses given by Dr. Erika Moore during the 2013 Women in the Word Workshop, October 2013. Dr. Erika Moore is a Professor of Old Testament and Academic Dean at Trinity School for Ministry. She is also one of my favorite teachers, especially when she teaches on the Old Testament.

I am grateful to link to a small portion of her work here on Wednesday in the Word.

The following are notes I took from her talk.

When the book of Exodus opens after 400 years of silence, the sojourn of Joseph’s family in Egypt has become captivity and their privilege has become enslavement.

Exodus

Geographical Outline

  • 1:1-13:16 – Israel in Egypt
  • 13:17-18:27 – first wilderness journey to Sinai.
  • 19:1-40:38 – Israel at Sinai

Thematic outline

  • 1-18: Salvation & redemption; God saves Israel from bondage; The King rescues His people.
  • 19-24 – Covenant & law at Sinai; The King gives His law to His people.
  • 25-40 – Worship; The King tells His people how He is to be worshiped; (Chaps 34-34 – golden calf; what happens when worship left up to people themselves).

Interpretative Principle

  • Exodus is theologically informed history.
  • The Pharaoh in Exodus 1 is not named, but the Hebrew midwives (1:15) are named.
  • We don’t need to know the Pharoah’s name. The Pharoah is from seed of serpent and his name not important. The midwives are from the seed of the woman.
  • Three other women along with 2 midwives defeat the mighty Pharoah: Moses’s mother, Miriam and Pharaoh’s daughter. What Pharaoh meant for destruction, God uses to save Moses (Exodus 1:22).
  • One of the functions of the plagues is to reveal who the Lord is; that all may know the King of Israel

Plagues

The plagues are a polemic against the God’s of Egypt.

  1. Water into blood Exodus 7:14–25; The Nile was worshiped.
  2. Frogs: Exodus. 7:25–8:11. The goddess Hecht who was a woman with a frog’s head; she was a fertility goddess.
  3. Gnats (Lice?): Exodus 8:16–19
  4. Flies: Exodus 8:20–32
  5. Deceased livestock: Exodus 9:1–7; Apis was the most popular of the three great bull cults of ancient Egypt (the others being the bulls Mnevis and Buchis.)
  6. Heavy hail: Exodus 9:13–35
  7. Locusts: Exodus 10:1–20
  8. Darkness: Exodus 10:21–29 (Ra the sun god)
  9. Death of firstborn: Exodus 11:1–12:36

None of the Egyptian deities were able to stop the God of Israel. Pharaoh himself was considered a god and he couldn’t stop the calamities of Moses.

Exodus

  • God does not lead His people the easy way, the shortest way or take the well-traveled trade route.
  • Pharaoh thinks the Hebrews are confused & follows them, thinking to defeat them with his superior army & technology.
  • The Exodus becomes the paradigm salvation event throughout OT history; it demonstrates God will save, lead and rescue His people.
  • Joshua 4 – God parts the water once again so people can move through.
  • Compare Psalm 77.
  • When the Hebrews return from exile, the Exodus is held up as the pattern for return.

Law

  • After redeeming His people, the King instructs them on how to act.
  • When a king conquered a people, he entered into treaty with them.
  • Exodus 19:5 – “my own possession”; a treasured possession; refers to the king’s private fortune; the king owns everything, but this is his private fortune.
  • Compare 1Chronicles 29:3; 1Peter 2:9-10.
  • The whole earth is God’s “budget” and we, His people, are His “mad money,” His own treasured possession.
  • The commandments provide social cohesion, but more importantly they reflect the glory of God
  • The other nations were to see a different way of living and flock to it.

Tabernacle

  • God tells them, “I want the tabernacle like this.” Then the Hebrews build the tabernacle like this.
  • The Hebrews were not left on their own to design worship; God tells them how to do it.
  • Why? If they design it, it will reflect the evil inclination of their hearts, as evidenced by the golden calf
  • Compare Exodus 25:8-9; Hebrews 8:4-7.
  • The people were mobile, so the tabernacle needed to be mobile for God to go with them.
  • When they are settled in the land with David, they get the temple.

The King redeems His people from Egypt. At Mt Sinai, He explains what it means to be His people. At end of Exodus, He is dwelling with them.

Next: 03 Jesus: The Ideal Servant-King

Previous: 01 Kingship in the Books of Moses

Series: Erika Moore Collection

Photo by Sarah Noltner on Unsplash

01 Kingship in the Books of Moses

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01 Kingship in the Books of Moses | WednesdayintheWord.com

The first of three plenary addresses given by Dr. Erika Moore during the 2013 Women in the Word Workshop, October 2013. Dr. Erika Moore is a Professor of Old Testament and Academic Dean at Trinity School for Ministry. She is also one of my favorite teachers, especially when she teaches on the Old Testament.

I am grateful to link to a small portion of her work here on Wednesday in the Word.

The following are notes I took from her talk.

We all live our lives out of story that provides the context for how we interpret and understand history. But the issue is not just whether we are part of a story or not, but whether the story we are part of is true.

Proper understanding of the Pentateuch can help us understand the Christian life and all of God’s creation. We are part of the biblical narrative – God’s plan to redeem a people for Himself.

The Pentateuch

  • Pentateuch means 5-fold book: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.
  • See Introduction to the Pentateuch
  • The Hebrew Bible divided into 3 parts: Law/Torah; Prophets; Writings
  • The Hebrew Bible ends with Chronicles.
  • See How the Old Testament is organized.
  • The Pentateuch points to something greater than itself. Deuteronomy ends with a future looking note that anticipates something more.
  • The Pentateuch is covenantal. It concerns God’s relationship to His people.
  • Themes: promise/fulfillment, faithfulness/unfaithfulness, blessings/curses
  • The Pentateuch is historical. It tells us what actually happened in the past. Many of the world’s religions are more philosophically based. We serve a God who has acted in history and time.
  • The Pentateuch is didactic history. We are meant to learn from it.
  • When studying, it’s important to identify genre because it helps us develop a reading strategy.

Unity of Pentateuch

  • Think of the Pentateuch as a single book divided into 5 volumes.
  • Gen 1-11 – Primeval history
  • Gen 12 – Exodus 18 – Abraham begins the story of Israel; how one man becomes a nation and is liberated from slavery in Egypt. Then history stops at Sinai.
  • Exodus 19:1 through Leviticus to Numbers 10:10 – covers approximately 1 year at Sinai. 59 chapters of Scripture are devoted to Sinai.
  • Numbers 10:11 through Deuteronomy: The people set out from Sinai. Numbers ends with them poised to enter the promised land perched on the plains of Moab. Deuteronomy starts on the plains of Moab with Moses giving his farewell speeches.
  • Each book of Pentateuch shows a movement and ends looking toward the future.

Purpose & Theme

  • Purpose: to teach a life of dependence on God; every book emphasizes trusting God.
  • Main theme is promise expressed in God’s covenant with Abraham.
  • At the end of the Pentateuch, the promise is not yet fulfilled.
  • The promise is threatened along the way (Sarah in the harem of foreign king; the barrenness of Rebekah & Rachel; the sibling rivalries Ishmael/Issac, Esau/Jacob, Joseph & his 11 brothers; the famine), but it is never negated.

Kingship

  • Genesis begins with Kingship; God’s people in God’s place under God’s rule.
  • In ancient royal literature contained the idea that a king should be able to create social order out of chaos and lawlessness. In Genesis 1-2, God brings order out of darkness and void.
  • The God of Israel is sovereign and superior to other gods because when they create, they have to fight other lessor gods or aspects of creation. The God of Israel simply speaks and order results.
  • Creation declares God is king. Eden speaks about his kingdom
  • Adam and Eve live in willing obedience in God’s place until they assert their own independence and want to build their own kingdom.
  • Judgment ensues.
  • The rest of Scripture is about the restoration of God’s kingdom.
  • The nation that comes from Abraham was to be a channel of divine blessing to the nations.
  • God rules as King over Israel and through Israel the rest of the world will be blessed.

Next: 02 The King claims His People

Series: Erika Moore Collection

Photo by Sarah Noltner on Unsplash

2Samuel: David as King

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2 Samuel: David as King | WednesdayintheWord.com

1 & 2 Samuel reflect two sides of a promise — the promise to David that he would be king over Israel. In 1 Samuel David is waiting for that promise to be fulfilled. In 2 Samuel the promise is fulfilled.

Resources: Study Questions, Maps, Outlines & Background

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01 2Samuel 1:1 Introduction

Teacher: Krisan Marotta on September 8, 2010.

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02 2Samuel 1:1-2:7 David Learns of Saul’s Death

Teacher: Krisan Marotta on September 15, 2010.

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03 2Samuel 2:8-22 David Made King Over Judah

Teacher: Libby Taggart on September 23, 2010.

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04 2Samuel 3 David’s House Strengthened

Teacher: Libby Taggart on September 29, 2010.

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05 2Samuel 4:1-5:5 David Made King Over All Israel

Teacher: Krisan Marotta on October 6, 2010.

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06 2Samuel 5:6-25 War with the Philistines

Teacher: Libby Taggart on October 13, 2010.

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07 2Samuel 6 The Ark is brought to Jerusalem

Teacher: Krisan Marotta on October 20, 2010.

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08 2Samuel 7 God’s Covenant with David

Teacher: Krisan Marotta on October 27, 2010.

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09 2Samuel 8 David’s Triumphs

Teacher: Libby Taggart on November 3, 2010.

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10 2Samuel 9 David’s Kindness to Mephibosheth

Teacher: Libby Taggart on November 10, 2010.

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11 2Samuel 10 Ammon & Aram Defeated

Teacher: Terri Weiser on November 17, 2010.

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12 2Samuel 11 David & Bathsheba

Teacher: Libby Taggart on January 19, 2011.

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13 2Samuel 12 Nathan Rebukes David

Teacher: Libby Taggart on January 26, 2011.

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2Samuel 13-19 Rebellion of Absalom

  • 14 2Samuel 13 Amnon & Tamar; Teacher: Krisan Marotta on February 2, 2011.
  • 15 2Samuel 14 Absalom Returns; Teacher: Krisan Marotta on February 9, 2011.
  • 16 2Samuel 15 Absalom’s Conspiracy; Teacher: Krisan Marotta on February 16, 2011.
  • 17 2Samuel 16 David flees Jerusalem; Teacher: Krisan Marotta on February 23, 2011.
  • 18 2Samuel 17 Hushai’s Warning Saves David; Teacher: Krisan Marotta on March 2, 2011.
  • 19 2Samuel 18 The Death of Absalom; Teacher: Krisan Marotta on March 9, 2011.
  • 20 2Samuel 19 David Restored as King; Teacher: Krisan Marotta on March 16, 2011.
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21 2Samuel 20 Sheba’s Revolt

Teacher: Krisan Marotta on March 23, 2011.

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22 2Samuel 21-22 David’s Psalm of Deliverance

Teacher: Terri Weiser on March 30, 2011.

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23 2Samuel 23-24 David’s last Song & Census

Teacher: Terri Weiser on April 13, 2011.

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I offer my bible studies, podcasts and resources free of charge under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License.  I do not seek or accept advertising, affiliations or donations. But it does encourage me to hear from you about how you used these studies and/or what you learned.

Where to next?

New Testament Studies

Old Testament Studies

Topical Studies

Bible Study 101

1Samuel: Path to Kingship

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1 Samuel: Path to Kingship | WednesdayintheWord.com

These three shifts are to prepare the way for the next major shift: transforming God’s people from with a geopolitical identity to a people with a heavenly identity:

  • Jerusalem replaces Shiloh as the center for workshop
  • Kingship replaces tribal elders as the form of leadership
  • Israel is transformed from a loose band of tribes to a unified kingdom capable of exercising power over her neighbors and influencing world politics.

Resources: Study Questions, Maps, Outlines & Background

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01 1Samuel Introduction: Judges 2:6-19

Teacher: Krisan Marotta on September 9, 2009.

02 1Samuel 1:1-2:11 Hannah

Teacher: Krisan Marotta on September 16, 2009.

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03 1Samuel 2:12-36 Eli

Teacher: Libby Taggart on September 23, 2009.

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04 1Samuel 4 Ark Captured

Teacher: Krisan Marotta on October 7, 2009.

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05 1Samuel 5-6 The Ark in Exile

Teacher: Krisan Marotta on October 14, 2009.

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1Samuel 7 Israel’s Deliverance (recording failed)
Teacher: Libby Taggart on October 21, 2009.

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06 1 Samuel 8:1-22 Israel requests a King

Teacher: Krisan Marotta on October 28, 2009.

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07 1Samuel 9:1-10:16 Saul

Teacher: Michelle Patterson on November 4, 2009.

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08 1Samuel 10:17-11:15 Saul’s Victory

Teacher: Heather Uthlaut on November 11, 2009.

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09 1Samuel 12 Samuel’s Farewell

1 Samuel 12:1-25 Teacher: Michelle Patterson on November 18, 2009.

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10 1Samuel 13-15 Saul’s 1st Conflict

Teacher: Michelle Patterson on February 17, 2010.

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11 1Samuel 16 David Anointed King

Teacher: Libby Taggart on February 24, 2010.

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12 1Samuel 17 David & Goliath

Teacher: Libby Taggart on March 3, 2010.

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13 1Samuel 18-19 David in Saul’s House

Teacher: Heather Uthlaut on March 10, 2010.

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14 1Samuel 20 Jonathan’s Aid

Teacher: Heather Uthlaut on March 17, 2010.

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15 1Samuel 21-22 David flees to Gath

Teacher: Krisan Marotta on March 24, 2010.

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16 1Samuel 23-26 David Spares Saul Twice

Teacher: Krisan Marotta on March 31, 2010.

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17 1Samuel 25 Abigail

Teacher: Libby Taggart on April 14, 2010.

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18 1Samuel 27,29 David & the Philistines

Teacher: Libby Taggart on April 21, 2010.

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19 1Samuel 30 David & the Amalekites

Teacher: Libby Taggart on April 28, 2010.

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20 1Samuel 28, 31 Saul Defeated

Teacher: Krisan Marotta on May 5, 2010.

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I offer my bible studies, podcasts and resources free of charge under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License.  I do not seek or accept advertising, affiliations or donations. But it does encourage me to hear from you about how you used these studies and/or what you learned.

Where to next?

New Testament Studies

Old Testament Studies

Topical Studies

Bible Study 101