“Israel’s temple was a symbolic shadow pointing to the eschatological “greater and more perfect tabernacle” (Heb. 9:11) in which Christ and the church would dwell and would form a part. If so, it would seem to be the wrong approach for Christians to look in hope to the building of another temple in Jerusalem composed of earthly “bricks and mortar” as a fulfillment of the OT temple prophecies.” – G. K. Beale, A New Testament Biblical Theology, 634 The above quotation …
Category: Biblical Covenantalism
This was written as an Excursus for a chapter in the book ‘The Words of the Covenant’ I am well aware of the view held by many respected scholars who believe that “the Kingdom of God” is the main theme of the Bible.[1] But it must be admitted that it has not been an overarching theme of Genesis, and therefore of the first several thousand years of history. Though it may be rightly intimated from the image of God of …
Part Two Going Far Beyond the Bible All of the major advocates of apocalyptic gather data, albeit not exclusively, from outside of the Bible. Brent Sandy demonstrates his procedure of going beyond Scripture when he says, “In order to understand the language of apocalyptic, we must review the period of world history relevant to Daniel 8 and then examine Daniel’s language.”[1] He is not alone. Notice what is entailed in this statement about the genre: Apocalypse was a literary genre …
Part Four The Christology of the Psalms continued… Christ’s Resurrection and Ascension in Psalms 16:10 (resurrection), and 68:18 (ascension). Psalm 16:10: “For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.” It is not fully apparent in Psalm 16 just who the “Holy One” is. David is the author of the psalm, but would David call himself “the Holy One”? It is this passage the apostle Peter quotes and applies directly to …
Part Three The Christology of the Psalms Everyone knows that from an evangelical perspective there are a number of psalms that are designated “Messianic.” In surveying some of the categories above, it has already been impossible to avoid encountering the doctrine of Christ. Christology surfaces in many of the Psalms, although the main “Messianic Psalms” are Psalms 2, 22, 69, 110, and 118. These five are so-called mainly because they are employed by the New Testament writers to relate in …
Part Two The New Covenant Finally, although it is not named as such, the New covenant is represented in such psalms as Psalm 96:11-13; 98:3 130:7-8, and 147:12-14, although it is central to the realization of eschatological hope in the Book since the themes of Kingdom and Messiah are allied with it. In Psalm 96:11-13 many of the themes we see in Isaiah 11:4-9; Jeremiah 23:5-6, and Ezekiel 34:24-31 are present, such as universal justice and peace, and blessing upon …
Part One The Theme of Covenant One would expect the covenants to have a marked presence in the Psalms, and indeed they do.[1] Psalm 25:14 announces “The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him, and He will show them His covenant.” Although the covenants are for the most part clearly set out in Scripture, they are overlooked by the human parties. Those who fear God know that these covenants direct history behind the scenes. Even if they …
Vows made to You are binding upon me; O God… – Psalm 56:12 I will go into your house with burnt offerings; I will pay you my vows, which my lips have uttered… – Psalms 66:13-14 The heaven, even the heaven of heavens; are the Lord’s; but the earth has He given to the children of men – Psalms 115:16 In addressing the contribution of the Book of Psalms to the Creation Project and the biblical covenants it is vital …
Part Three Returning to chapter 7 of 2 Samuel, verse 13 speaks of David’s son building “a house for My name” with the addition of the pledge of an everlasting dynastic kingdom. Walter Kaiser has commented on the connection between the establishing of a kingdom and the right to erect a temple. He writes, [A]ccording to 2 Samuel 7:13…the “house” of David had to be first established by Yahweh before a temple could be built. Temple building could only be …
Part Two God’s Covenant with David David was the king that Yahweh had promised (Gen. 17:4-6, 16; Deut. 17:14-15). His reign came some four centuries after God had said that He would “surely set a king over you” (Deut. 17:15), and not much shy of a millennium after the covenant made with Abraham. God never seems to be in a hurry. In many ways 2 Samuel 7 is the strategic point for understanding the covenants with Israel. It pulls together …
