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Judges: We Need a King

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The book of Judges contains some of our best-known Bible stories, such as Gideon and his water-lapping soldiers, and Samson and his hair. The book of Judges also contains some rarely-referenced weirdness, such as Shamgar’s oxgoad and Abimelech’s dictatorship. In addition, the book of Judges contains some horrific tales, typically considered inappropriate for polite company, such as Eglon’s feces spilling out, and a Levite’s despicable treatment of his concubine.

This book is heroic, confusing, and quite dark, sometimes all at the same time. How are we to understand its message?

Image by Jeff Jacobs from Pixabay

Literary Markers

The book divides into sections according to the lives of its chief protagonists, the “judges,” or military and political leaders of the tribes of Israel. Some judges get complete stories assigned to them, while others get only a summary statement or two. These biographies yield the following list (I’ve indented the minor judges who appear only in summary statements):

  • Othniel – Jdg 3:7-11
  • Ehud – Jdg 3:12-30
    • Shamgar – Jdg 3:31
  • Deborah – Jdg 4:1-5:31
  • Gideon – Jdg 6:1-8:35
  • Abimelech – Jdg 9:1-57
    • Tola – Jdg 10:1-2
    • Jair – Jdg 10:3-5
  • Jephthah – Jdg 10:6-12:7
    • Ibzan – Jdg 12:8-10
    • Elon – Jdg 12:11-12
    • Abdon – Jdg 12:13-15
  • Samson – Jdg 13:1-16:31

Most of these stories end with either the death of the leader, or the land having rest from oppression, or both. So they are presented as a set of life-stories that fit together in a literary sequence.

That leaves us with a quite a bit of material at the beginning and end of the book that doesn’t fit within the sequence of life-cycles of the judges. But a closer look shows that this material is still carefully arranged.

Beginning and Ending

The book opens “after the death of Joshua” (Jdg 1:1), but then later describes what happens “when Joshua dismissed the people” (Jdg 2:6). So these scenes must be out of chronological order.

The first scene describes the results of each tribe’s conquest of the promised land, getting progressively less effective, and culminating in the condemnation of the angel of the Lord (Jdg 1:1-2:5). The second scene steps back and offers perspective on why those conquests tended to fail: The people stopped listening to Yahweh and chose instead to pursue false gods (Jdg 2:6-3:6). This second scene lays out a template of sorts, which each judge’s narrative will then follow: the people turn aside, are handed over to an oppressor, cry out to God, have a judge raised up, conquer the oppressor, find rest, and turn again to false gods.

So the opening two scenes describe what happened in the generation following Joshua’s death (scene 1), and why (scene 2).

Jumping to the end of the book, we also find two distinct units. In the first unit (Jdg 17-18), a man sets up a personal shrine with a private priest (who happens to be the grandson of Moses!), which is then robbed by the tribe that executed its conquest most poorly (Dan). In the second unit (Jdg 19-21), a Levite cannot be trusted with his own quasi-bride, civil war erupts, and everything falls to pieces.

So the closing two scenes grant us graphic portraits of why things have gotten so terrible (unit 1), and just what happens when things get so terrible (unit 2)—the same issues as the opening scenes, but in reverse order. By book’s end, we ought to feel utterly repulsed by the behavior and beliefs of the people of God. How did things ever get so out of hand, when God was so faithful to deliver them time and again?

The Refrain

The book’s final lines present a chilling assessment that ought to rattle any clear-thinking society:

In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

Judges 21:25

This statement appears as a refrain multiple times in the closing scenes (Jdg 17:6, 18:1, 19:1, 21:25). It parallels the opening statement of Joshua’s death, leaving the people leaderless (Jdg 1:1). So the book’s conclusion is driven by this piercing assessment.

The Body

So if the book’s introduction and conclusion both unpack what went wrong and why it went wrong, what does the cycle of judges in the book’s body suggest about the narrator’s agenda?

In one sense, we can see the sequence of judges as a linear sequence getting progressively worse.

  • Othniel makes quick work of his adversary, fighting in the strength of God’s Spirit.
  • Ehud turns to deception, which is not uncommon in military campaigns but stands out by contrast with Othniel.
  • Deborah steps up (along with another woman, Jael), when the male military officer refuses to go without her.
  • Gideon is full of questions and uncertainty, refusing to become king. But he sets up an unauthorized shrine and names his son “my father is king” (Abimelech).
  • Abimelech doesn’t even pretend to be a good guy, but claims kingship for himself, murdering all rivals and falling to a bloody and shameful end.
  • Jephthah is a mighty warrior, yet also a known scoundrel and thug. Though Gideon mostly made peace with tribes who complained against him, Jephthah, upon finishing off God’s enemies, makes open war on God’s people who won’t support him.
  • Samson performs mighty acts of faith in Yahweh’s name, yet he can’t stop living and grasping for whatever he sees in the moment. He is rewarded with blindness so he can finally, truly see.

In this linear sequence, the judges represent the people of Israel not only politically but spiritually. The life of the judge is a living parable of the spiritual state of the community, descending into chaotic, horrific self-centeredness.

But there is another sense in which the stories of the judges are presented. In addition to the linear descent into madness, we also see a concentric (or chiastic) sequence.

  • Othniel
    • Ehud
      • Deborah
        • Gideon
      • Abimelech
    • Jephthah
  • Samson

How are the judges placed in parallel?

  • Othniel and Samson both do their work in the strength of Yahweh’s Spirit, interacting largely with the tribe of Judah.
  • Ehud and Jephthah both have battles (with very different results) at the fords of the Jordan.
  • Deborah and Abimelech are both unusual leaders. One is suffering through the appointed leader’s abdication; the other suffers from his own self-aggrandizement. Also, in both stories, the antagonist perishes from a head wound and impalement.

Gideon stands at the book’s center, as the reluctant leader who accomplishes tremendous deeds for Yahweh. Yet even his greatest victory comes tinged with a hint of self-aggrandizement (“A sword for Yahweh and for Gideon!” – Jdg 7:18). His story culminates in a critical proposition from the men of Israel: “Rule over us, you and your son and your grandson also” (Jdg 8:22). While he refuses this offer of a dynasty (Jdg 8:23), he still has the chutzpah to name one of his sons “my father is king” (Jdg 8:31). His story ends with more than a hint of something sinister afoot.

Conclusion

The book’s key question is: Who will lead these people? And its key conclusion is: They need a king. But clearly, not just any king. Someone like Abimelech will never do.

First and foremost, they need Yahweh as their king. Everything goes haywire when then they rebel against him. But perhaps Yahweh will see fit to grant them a human king in his image, after his likeness, according to his own heart. Judges only raises the question, but you have to keep reading into Ruth and 1 & 2 Samuel for an answer.

Interpretive Outline

  • What happens without a leader – Jdg 1:1-2:5
    • Why they need a king – Jdg 2:6-3:6
      • Three kingly heroes – Jdg 3:7-5:31
        • The man who would (or would not?) be king – Jdg 6:1-8:35
      • Three very unkingly heroes – Jdg 9:1-16:31
    • Why they need a king – Jdg 17:1-18:31
  • What the worst looks like when there is no king – Jdg 19:1-21:25

This post is part of a series of interpretive overviews of the books of the Bible.

Inviting Guest Posts for Book Overviews

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Right before quarantine-induced cabin fever set in, I began a series of posts with interpretive book overviews. I made it only through Genesis and Exodus before life’s curve ball made me alter my swing for a season. Now I’m just about ready to get back to it.

With that said, I would like to draw your attention to the contents page, where I list all the books of the Bible for which I plan to write these interpretive overviews. Two of them already have pretty little hyperlinks, which will lead you to those first two posts I wrote back in March (which amounts to eons in virus-years).

The keen observers among you will notice that not all 66 books are included on the list. And those who have been trained in asking interpretive questions are wondering: Why are not all 66 books on the list? Have no fear; I will now tell you. The reason is because I must keep close reign on the magnitude of my ignorance I prefer not to write on topics where I have little to say that would be useful. And I have not yet spent enough time in the unlisted books to believe I have anything to say for which I could be accused of being useful.

This is, perhaps, where you come in. I would be pleased—nay, delighted—to publish guest posts from the many competent, yet ordinary, Bible students out there who are actually acquainted with the books absent from my list. For the purposes of this invitation, I don’t care how many degrees you have; I do care how well you’ve grasped the argument of one or more books of the Bible.

Here are some guidelines to keep in mind:

  • Most Bible book overviews out there are focused on historical context (time and circumstances of writing) and observation: summarizing and re-stating the content. These are very important and helpful, but I am doing something different here. I am looking for overviews focused on interpretation: identifying main points, showing literary divisions, and following the author’s train of thought and/or argument. I am looking for overviews that walk through the argument of a book (see my posts on Genesis and Exodus for examples).
  • Posts can be up to 1,300 words. But if you can say it in fewer words, please do so.
  • I prefer your guest post to be submitted as a Google doc. Please simply share the doc with peter.krol@knowableword.com, adding any message you would like to introduce yourself. If you don’t have a Google account or don’t know how to create Google docs, you may attach a Word file to an email sent to peter.krol@knowableword.com.
  • If I accept your submission, I will publish it here on the blog, link to it from the overviews page, include a bio linking to your own website or profiles page(s), and give you an extra entry in our next annual Bible reading giveaway.

Thank you for your help with this series, and I can’t wait to work together on this project with more of you!

Mastering the Middle Books of the Psalms

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I’ve written before about my study of Book I of the Psalms (Psalms 1-41), sharing the spreadsheet I created to help with the analysis. I’ve now proceeded through books II (Psalms 42-72), III (Psalms 73-89), and IV (Psalms 90-106), updating the spreadsheet accordingly.

I propose the following as the main point of each book:

  • Book I: Though the Messiah, like David, suffers at the hands of men, God accepts him as his own.
  • Book II: We need a king greater than David.
  • Book III: We are desperate in our exile.
  • Book IV: We have hope our exile will eventually end.

In addition, I have a strong suspicion that books III and IV are each structured as an extended chiasm, where the second half is parallel to the first but in reverse order.

Please feel free to check out the spreadsheet, make a copy, and use this information in any way that may be helpful to you. The spreadsheet also links to each of the daily devotional videos I recorded over the last few months.

For future reference, you can find a link to the spreadsheet on the Resources page. I’ll let you know when I complete my work on Book V.

Check it out.

Psalms: The Blessing of God’s Word and King

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While most book overviews are written with a view toward observation (summarizing or outlining what is said), I would like to present a series of overviews with a view toward interpretation (summarizing or outlining why it is said). I will walk through not simply the contents but the argument of each book. I will not cover every book, but only those I have spent enough time in to believe I have something to say.

This post brings us to the book of Psalms.

Literary Divisions

The Book of Psalms has a straightforward and obvious structure, which, until only the last few years, I had trained myself to completely ignore. But I have come to see how fundamental this structure is to the message of the book.

Many editions of the Bible identify the structure with the headings “Book One,” “Book Two,” and so forth, up to “Book Five.” These divisions are of ancient origin and ought to be taken seriously as we study the book.

  • Book 1 = Psalms 1-41
  • Book 2 = Psalms 42-72
  • Book 3 = Psalms 73-89
  • Book 4 = Psalms 90-106
  • Book 5 = Psalms 107-150
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

Confirmation of the Five-Book Structure Within the Text

Some Jewish rabbis believed this five-book division was meant to be parallel to the five books of Moses. In this way, they held up the Psalms as being nearly as important as the law of Moses. They saw this collection of poems painting a picture of the lives and community of the people in covenant with Yahweh.

This five-book structure is reinforced within the book itself by means of doxologies at the end of each book. These statements of praise burst out and punctuate the end of the book. Sometimes, they don’t even fit directly with the poems they follow. Just look at the last verses of the last psalms in each book.

Book 1 (Ps 41:13):

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, 
from everlasting to everlasting! 
Amen and Amen. 

Book 2 (Ps 72:18-19):

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, 
who alone does wondrous things. 
Blessed be his glorious name forever; 
may the whole earth be filled with his glory! 
Amen and Amen! 

Book 3 (Ps 89:52):

Blessed be the Lord forever! 
Amen and Amen. 

Book 4 (Ps 106:48):

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, 
from everlasting to everlasting! 
And let all the people say, “Amen!” 
Praise the Lord! 

Book 5 draws out its ending beyond a brief doxology. Did you notice how the doxologies quoted above all focus on blessing Yahweh, the God of Israel? Psalm 145 appears to conclude the body of Book 5 by picking up on that idea of blessing the name of Yahweh as the theme of the entire poem. Notice how it begins (Ps 145:1-3) and ends (Ps 145:21) with this idea.

That poem therefore transitions into the five-poem conclusion (Psalms 146-150), where each of the psalms begin and end with a command to praise Yahweh: “Hallelujah!”—translated as “Praise the LORD!” (Ps 146:1, 10; 147:1, 20, etc.).

How the New Testament Uses the Psalms

The Book of Psalms is the Old Testament book most quoted in the New Testament. Psalms are directly quoted (with a formula such as “it is written”) 68 times.

Of those 68 citations, only 14 occurrences refer to the life experiences of God’s people, putting the words of the songs and prayers of the Psalms on the lips of the people themselves. And of those 14 citations, 6 are found in Romans 3:10-18, where Paul stitches together a selection of quotations involving sinful body parts into a composite picture of sinful humanity under the judgment of God’s law. So at most, we could say that there are only 8 times when the New Testament quotes the Psalms the way we usually quote the Psalms: as songs or prayers of the people of God.

So, besides those 8 times when people are singing or praying the psalms directly, and the 6 times when they describe the sinful estate of humanity, we’re left with 54 times when the Psalms are quoted and directly applied to the person or work of Jesus Christ, acting as a representative of his Father in heaven.

Sometimes, the words of the Psalms are put right on the lips of Jesus Christ. An obvious example is found when Jesus hung on the cross and cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Ps 22:1). But there are numerous less-memorable examples as well (Heb 2:11-12 quoting Ps 22:22, Rom 15:8-9 quoting Ps 18:49).

Jesus himself puts a psalm in his own mouth when he describes what he will say on the day of judgment to those who think they had done mighty works in his name: “Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness” (Matt 7:23 alluding to Ps 6:8).

So as we read the Psalms, we must first of all see the Lord Jesus in every poem. Some of the poems are about him. Others pave the way for him. And many of these poems anticipate his own experiences. When we read “I” and “me” in the Psalms, we ought not to think first of ourselves as the “I.” More often than not, we ought to think of the Lord Jesus as the “I.” Yes, we can sing and pray these poems. But above all, the New Testament tells us that Jesus sings and prays these poems as he goes about the work his Father has appointed for him to do.

In writing this, I’m not setting up a dichotomy, as though we can’t or shouldn’t sing or pray the Psalms ourselves. Of course we should! I’m only saying that the reason we sing and pray the Psalms is not because they resonate with our experience. We sing and pray the Psalms because they resonate with Jesus’ experience. And we have been so closely united to Christ through faith, and by the power of God’s Holy Spirit, that we can’t help but share his experience. We suffer with him so we may be glorified with him (Rom 8:17). God has called us to be conformed to the image of his Son (Rom 8:29).

So we sing and pray the Psalms because our Lord Jesus sings and prays the Psalms. We who believe are in him.

How All This Impacts Our Interpretation of the Psalms

Psalms 1 and 2 serve as an introduction to the book, pronouncing a blessing on all who delight in God’s word (Ps 1:1-2) and take refuge in God’s king (Ps 2:12). These twin themes—God’s word and God’s king—are the guiding principles of the rest of the poems in this book.

Book 1 takes place during the reign of David (almost every poem here is attributed to him). This collection shows the king facing tremendous opposition. This collection has proportionally more laments and requests for help than later books. And at the book’s center, we find twin reflections on—you guessed it—God’s word (Ps 19) and God’s king (Ps 20).

Book 2 begins to move past David, as the first set of poems are written by other poets (Psalms 42-50). These poems get us looking beyond David for a king who will unite all nations in worship of Yahweh. The collection concludes with a poem attributed to Solomon (Psalm 72), describing the earth-wide reign of a king to come who is greater than David.

Books 3 and 4 take place during the exile in Babylon. Many of these poems lament the desolation of the promised land and the sanctuary. In this collection, the people wrestle with the fact that their king is absent and appears to have been defeated. Book 3 ends with a direct appeal to God: Have you forgotten your promises to David (Psalm 89)?

Book 4 shows a renewed servant-king who leads the people to remember God’s perfect law, even while they’re still scattered abroad. This collection ends with lessons from Israel’s history (Psalm 106) and a desire to see God one day restore his people in their land (Ps 106:4-5).

Book 5 ends on a triumphant note. The once-rejected king has now risen up in victory to celebrate Yahweh’s enduring covenant love back in the land of promise (Ps 118, 136). This book was likely compiled after the people had returned from Babylon and had rejuvenated their festivals and sacrifices. As I mentioned earlier, this collection concludes the entire Book with commands to praise the Lord (“Hallelujah!”). The book’s last word is: “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!” (Ps 150:6).

Conclusion

So the Book of Psalms is really the memoirs (written in advance) of God’s Messiah, the Chosen King of the Jews. His memoirs tell the story of the entire people of Israel. He lives out their story in his own life. And from where we stand, looking back, we no longer live, but Christ lives in us. We live our lives united to his. This is why the apostles looked so often to the Psalms when they wanted to explain the work of Jesus Christ. And this is why the Psalms are rightfully beloved by each generation of believers in Christ down to the present time.

For expansion on the ideas in this post, I recommend Psalms 1-41: Rejoice the Lord is King by James Johnston, the overview article on Psalms by James Hely Hutchinson in the NIV Proclamation Bible, and the Bible Project video on the Psalms. I am indebted to all three works in the shaping of my thinking for this post.

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Exodus: Why Should I Obey Yahweh?

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While most book overviews are written with a view toward observation (summarizing or outlining what is said), I would like to present a series of overviews with a view toward interpretation (summarizing or outlining why it is said). I will walk through not simply the contents but the argument of each book. I will not cover every book, but only those I have spent enough time in to believe I have something to say.

I come now to the book of Exodus.

Introduction

I spent over a year on this blog studying my way through the complete book of Exodus. You can find the contents of that series on this page. In that series, you’ll find the material in this post expanded on and demonstrated from each portion of text.

Literary Markers

The chief markers of literary division in Exodus are the shifts in genre and style. These markers are rather obvious, to the point that people sometimes examine only one of the book’s divisions. The trick is to figure out how things flow from one division to the next.

Chapters 1-18 consist of epic narratives, interrupted only by a brief genealogy in chapter 6 and a lengthy poem in chapter 15. Yet the setting and focus of the narratives after the poem are starkly different from the narratives before the poem. We ought to see the poem of chapter 15 as the resolution to the conflict of the book’s first division. This leaves the narratives of chapters 16-18 as either a new division, or a transition to the following division.

Though chapter 19 is also narrative, the setting—with the people finally at Mt. Sinai—clearly fits together with the law codes and covenant ceremony of chapters 20-24. Chapters 25-40 consist of tabernacle details (first instruction, then construction), divided by the narratives of covenant rending and repair in chapters 32-34.

Therefore, the book has three main divisions: Narratives of rescue (Ex 1-15), narratives of preparation (Ex 16-18), and discourses on law, covenant, and tabernacle (Ex 19-40).

Image by Jeff Jacobs from Pixabay

Part 1 Walkthrough

The book’s introduction (Ex 1) sets the stage for the blessed children of Israel enjoying the blessings of covenant with their God expressed through their fruitful multiplying. Enter a new king who forgets Joseph and feels threatened by Israel’s multiplication. He attempts to quash the power of God in three phases: burdening Israel’s labor (Ex 1:11-14), murdering their sons (Ex 1:15-21), and drowning their sons (Ex 1:22).

Yahweh, of course, remembers his covenant (even if the king forgets Joseph), and he must do something about the situation. His solution has two aspects: raising up a mediator (Ex 2:1-7:7), and executing judgment (Ex 7:8-15:21).

Exodus 2:1-7:7 show us the appointment and training of the mediator. This mediator launches a campaign of deliverance, but the people reject him; so he turns from them (Ex 2). Yahweh calls him back (Ex 3:1-4:17) and makes him like his brothers in every way (Ex 4:18-31). Things must then get even worse (Ex 5:1-21) so the people can see that what they need is not only a political mediator but a faithful and merciful high priest (Ex 5:22-7:7).

With all these things in place, rescue can proceed and be shown to be all of God. His glory must fill the earth. And Yahweh’s rescue results when he returns the king of Egypt’s tactics from chapter 1 back on his own head. Yahweh burden’s Egypt’s labor (Ex 7:8-10:29). He kills their sons (Ex 11:1-13:16). He drowns their sons (Ex 13:17-14:31).

The demolishing of the house of slavery warrants reflection in song (Ex 15:1-21). There is no other god who can so cast down his enemies and lift up his covenant people. This God is a God who judges and rescues.

Part 2 Walkthrough

Everything shifts beginning with Ex 15:22, as Egypt is no longer in the picture. It is not enough for Yahweh to demolish the house of slavery. He must also prepare to rebuild his people.

Therefore, the Lord uses a sequence of events to expose how much his people need his instruction. They cannot simply be freedmen; they must submit to a benevolent Master.

The Lord gives instructions, in the face of the people’s physical needs, to expose how distrustful and disobedient they are—and therefore undeserving of his fatherly care (Ex 15:22-17:7). He wants their highest and most public loyalty to be to him alone (Ex 17:8-16). And he sends messengers to help them constantly remember their deliverance and to look to his instruction alone for new life (Ex 18:1-27). This God is a God worth trusting and obeying.

Part 3 Walkthrough

The final, and longest, part of the book alternates two themes in four sections: covenant, tabernacle, covenant, tabernacle. Through such alternation, we see Yahweh finally building his true house—the community of his covenant people.

First, the covenant is made (Ex 19-24). God wants to make something special out of an undeserving people (Ex 19). So he establishes a treaty, inspiring them to fear, so they might draw near to him (Ex 20). He then architects a social paradise that will stand out among the world’s nations (Ex 21-23), and he draws these people close through the blood of a substitute (Ex 24).

Second, the tabernacle instruction (Ex 25-31). Yahweh re-creates heaven on earth, packing up the holy mountain for transport through pictures embedded in furniture (Ex 25:1-27:19), priesthood (Ex 27:20-30:38), and sabbath rest (Ex 31). Seven speeches, climaxing in spirit-filled humans and sabbath rest. New Creation.

Third, the covenant is rent and repaired (Ex 32-34). The main thing at stake here is whether it will ever work out for heaven to come to earth, for God to dwell with men and remain with them (Ex 32). Sinners will always need not only forgiveness of their sins but also reconciliation to their God (Ex 33). And the glory of Yahweh’s covenant cohabitation is even more glorious after the fall than it was before (Ex 34:1-28). But how long will it really last (Ex 34:29-35)?

Fourth, back to tabernacle construction (Ex 35-40). The new covenant people, redeemed and reconciled after terrible ruin, are staggeringly empowered for outrageous obedience to their God (Ex 35-39). And when Yahweh finally moves in with them, we know it’s the real deal (Ex 40). But it’s not yet the end. Something is still lacking…

This God is a God who builds his own house in and with his people.

Conclusion

Pharaoh’s question to Moses is a perfect statement of the purpose of Exodus: “Who is Yahweh, that I should obey his voice?” (Ex 5:2). The very design of the book is to answer that question by showing us exactly who Yahweh is and why we ought to obey him. He is the one who demolishes the house of slavery, who prepares his people to rebuild, and who builds his own house in the midst of his people. The glory of redemption is greater than that of pre-Fall creation. This is why the Messiah must suffer and rise from the dead (Luke 24:26-27).

Instead of having three or four disparate divisions—independent of one another and to be studied apart from one another—the book of Exodus has a coherent message from beginning to end.

Interpretive Outline

  1. Nobody can prevent Yahweh from keeping his promises, but we’re not sure how he’ll do it (Ex 1).
  2. Yahweh demolishes the house of slavery (Ex 1:1-15:21).
    1. Part 1: Yahweh appoints a mediator and ensures he is fully qualified and trained for the task of deliverance (Ex 2:1-7:7).
    2. Part 2: Yahweh delivers a deserved destruction to his enemies and a frightful joy to his people (Ex 7:8-15:21).
  3. Yahweh prepares to rebuild by exposing how deeply his people need his law to know him (Ex 15:22-18:27).
  4. Yahweh builds his house in the midst of his people (Ex 19-40).
    • Part 1: Yahweh architects a perfect paradise for the community of his people, so he can bring them near through the blood of a substitute (Ex 19-24).
      • Part 2: Yahweh explains how his people can re-create this paradise on earth (Ex 25-31).
    • Part 3: Yahweh hands them something more glorious than paradise; he hands them more of himself (Ex 32-34).
      • Part 4: The obedient new creators build the house, and Yahweh moves in. But not even Moses can enter the glory. This tent cannot be it; there must be something more to come (Ex 35-40).

For more interpretive walkthroughs of books of the Bible, click here.

Genesis: Begin Again

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This post begins a series of Bible book overviews. While most book overviews are written with a view toward observation (summarizing or outlining what is said), I write this series with a view toward interpretation (summarizing or outlining why it is said). I will walk through not simply the contents but the argument of each book. I will not cover every book, but only those I have spent enough time in to believe I have something to say.

Many have observed that the narrator of Genesis organizes his material by citing his sources (“These are the generations of” or “This is the account of,” depending on the translation). He makes eleven such statements, though most agree that the two resulting sections of chapter 36 are so similar as to belong together. The eleven statements are in Genesis 2:4, 5:1, 6:9, 10:1, 11:9, 11:27, 25:12, 25:19, 36:1, 36:9, and 37:2. Combining the two sections of chapter 36 results in 10 literary subsections.

In addition almost every commentator wants to divide the book into two major divisions: Genesis 1:1-11:26 and Genesis 11:27-50:26. (Though for shorthand, we typically call the divisions Gen 1-11 and Gen 12-50.) Combining this insight with the one in the previous paragraph shows us that Part 1 and Part 2 each have 5 sections.

Implications of the Literary Divisions

Such literary observation matters, because our interpretation must be rooted in careful observation. And it yields important insights into the argument.

For example, everyone tends to understand that Part 2 of Genesis (chapters 12-50) zeroes in on a single family, a relatively small cast of characters. And following the literary divisions, we see which characters are given greatest prominence.

  • Gen 11:27-25:11: primarily about Abraham
  • Gen 25:12-18: primarily about Ishmael’s descendants
  • Gen 25:19-35:29: primarily about Jacob
  • Gen 36:1-37:1: primarily about Esau’s descendants
  • Gen 37:2-50:26: primarily about Joseph

By tracing that literary focus of each section, we see that there is one character who, despite having tremendous theological importance, has far less literary importance to the flow of the book. That figure is Isaac.

Part 1 Walkthrough

Since the first “generations” statement occurs in Gen 2:4, we see that Gen 1:1-2:3 serves primarily as an introduction to the whole book. In that introduction, God’s creative work establishes a pattern for human dominion of the earth. This pattern communicates that humanity realizes its potential when it illuminates, shapes, and fills the earth in God’s name.1

In the rest of Part 1, we see two cycles of human failure to realize this potential.

In the first cycle, Adam fails to adequately illuminate his wife regarding the instructions of God in the garden (Gen 2-3). He does not trust God’s word, but seeks to elevate himself to God’s position without submitting to God’s authority. Then Cain fails to shape the outer regions by putting things in the right categories (Gen 4). True/false, righteous/wicked, acceptable/repulsive, and life/death all get reversed as he wrestles with his brother out of jealousy and loses. Then the sons of God fail to fill the earth the way God intended, instead parodying the mandate by filling the earth with their own progeny of selfishness and impure or unnatural intermarriage (Gen 6:1-8).

This leads to a cosmic reboot. God judges humanity through a great flood (Gen 7), and he recreates the earth through a sequence of events parallel to the initial creation in chapter 1 (Gen 8). This results in a new mandate given to a new Man, working the ground in a more glorious garden—now a vineyard (Gen 9).

This launches the second cycle of failures. Instead of illuminating the world with God’s word, Ham seeks to seize control through his own vile plans and rebellion against authority (Gen 9:22-27). Instead of shaping the world in God’s name and for God’s glory, Nimrod becomes a mighty hunter (of men?) and shapes the world into his own kingdoms, for his own glory (Gen 10:8-12). Instead of filling the earth with more submissive worshipers, the sons of Joktan ideologically intermarry with Nimrod and try to fill the earth with the glory of their own name (Gen 10:25-30, 11:1-4).

This leads to a second cosmic reboot. God judges humanity by confusing their language, scattering them over the face of the earth, leaving their work unfinished, and refusing to even put their names into the narration of their judgment (Gen 11:5-9). Joktan ends up being cut out of the genealogy of God’s people, and his brother Peleg takes his place (Gen 11:16-19).

Summary of Themes

So chapter 1 prepares us to expect patterns and cycles. And the cycles reinforce both the priority of humanty’s creation mandate and their failure to live it out.

  • Failure #1 (Adam and Ham): rejecting God’s word and rebelling against his authority.
  • Failure #2 (Cain and Nimrod): murdering brothers out of jealousy or self-advancement.
  • Failure #3 (sons of God and sons of Joktan): defiling engagement with the world; being both in the world and of it.

We ought to ask how Part 2 will further advance these themes.

Part 2 Walkthrough

As noted above, Part 2 of Genesis consists primarily of three epic stories: the tales of Abraham, Jacob, and Joseph. In between, we have brief interludes showing the multiplication of the non-chosen seed, the unappointed brothers (first Ishmael, then Esau).

Abraham’s epic (Gen 11:27-25:11) shows us, though not without flaw, a man who trusts God’s word and submits to his authority. Abram “believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness” (Gen 15:6). Though not without flaw, Abraham is the positive foil (contrast) to the failures of Adam and Ham. He generally shows us what it looks like to love God with all our heart.

Jacob’s epic (Gen 25:19-35:29) shows us, though not without flaw, a man who wrestles with brothers and extended family, yet without resorting to insane jealousy or murder. Though Jacob typically gets significant negative press in recent generations, we must recognize God’s own assessment of him: “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed” (Gen 32:28). He generally shows us, in contrast to Cain and Nimrod, what it looks like to wrestle our way through situations where the people around us are doing the wrong thing.

Joseph’s epic (Gen 37:2-50:26) shows us, by and large, a man who is thrust out into the world but remains unstained by it. He refuses to adopt the godless practices and hopelessness of the world around him, and he will not join the wicked in their attempts at self-glorifying world-domination. In the process, God blesses him with extraordinary influence, and a mighty reputation. He is the positive contrast to the sons of God and the sons of Joktan.

Conclusion

Genesis is a book of beginnings and new beginnings. The pattern of chapter 1 establishes an expectation of illuminating, shaping, and filling on the part of humanity, in submissive imitation of their Creator. But each time God starts over, his human creatures seem to find new ways of botching the affair.

That is, until the Lord makes a covenant with his chosen family. In his grace, he calls them to himself and empowers them to meet with (some) success.

The hope of Genesis is that the chosen people can, in fact, learn to honor him in the midst of a cruel world. They can love their God (illuminate), love their neighbors (shape), and make disciples of all nations (fill).

And each time they screw it up, it’s not the end of the story. God himself will find a way to make it possible for them to begin again. Then again (Gal 4:3-5). Then again (2 Cor 4:6-7).

Interpretive Outline

  1. God sets a pattern for humanity to illuminate, shape, and fill the earth in his name – Gen 1:1-2:3
  2. History of Failure – Gen 2:4-11:26
    1. Failure to illuminate and shape – Gen 2:4-4:26
    2. Preservation of the promise and failure to fill – Gen 5:1-6:8
    3. Judgment, new creation, and second failure to illuminate – Gen 6:9-9:29
    4. Second failure to shape and fill, second judgment – Gen 10:1-11:9
    5. Second preservation of the promise – Gen 11:10-26
  3. History of Success – Gen 11:27-50:26
    1. New creation: Abraham submits and believes (illuminates) – Gen 11:27-25:11
    2. Non-promise line of Ishmael attempts to shape and fill – Gen 25:12-18
    3. Jacob wrestles and prevails (shapes) – Gen 25:19-35:29
    4. Non-promise line of Esau attempts to shape and fill – Gen 36:1-37:1
    5. Joseph remains steadfast and changes the world (fills) – Gen 37:2-50:26

1. For a defense of this main point, see the comprehensive study of Genesis 1:1-2:3 in my book Knowable Word.↩

The Beginner’s Guide to the Bible

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For a number of years, I’ve been impressed by the work of Jeffrey Kranz at his site OverviewBible. On the site, he has provided us with some of the most informative, concise, and visually appealing book overviews I’ve ever come across. Without sacrificing quality of scholarship or depth of insight, Kranz writes for ordinary people in a delightfully clear manner. If you want to get your bearings in one of the Bible’s books, and do so quickly and accurately, OverviewBible.com is a great place to start.

Kranz has now also published The Beginner’s Guide to the Bible, an ebook available on his website, to introduce you to the book of books in a way that will motivate you to go and read it. Having received a complimentary copy of the book from Kranz in exchange for an honest review, I am happy to report it is a smashing success.

Minor Haggling

Let me get a few things out of the way up front so I can move on to the good stuff.

First, you won’t be able to find the book anywhere but OverviewBible.com. You can’t buy it from Amazon; you won’t find reviews at Goodreads [Update: It’s now in the Goodreads database.]. But don’t let this fact put you off. This work is no hack job.

Second, I sadly found the book to have a number of typos in it. This could be an unfortunate byproduct of a low budget for self-publishing, and I hope Kranz remedies it soon. The typos distract from the otherwise high-quality presentation.

Major Reveling

Though this book aims at “beginners,” I had more fun with it than a youth group camping trip. In fact, the time and money for your next youth group camping trip might possibly be better spent on providing copies of this book to your students and meeting together to discuss it. (And don’t get me wrong: The book is not only, nor even primarily, for teenagers.)

Kranz writes in a plain, conversational style. He assumes zero knowledge of the Bible on the part of his readers. He explains what to make of this book, how to approach it, and what to expect from it. He doesn’t waste any of your time on Bible trivia, which has about as much impact on your life as any other sort of trivia. He directs his full attention to that which will give you the richest understanding of and insatiable hunger for the books of the Bible and their basic messages.

Kranz begins with the basics of what the Bible is, where it came from, and what it’s for (and not for).

He then summarizes what the Bible is about. In this second part of the book, Kranz defines “covenant” and walks through the four most significant covenants in the Bible: Abraham’s, Israel’s, David’s, and the New Covenant. Kranz unpacks rich theology in plain language, all to show that what the Bible is after more than anything else is a relationship with God. And Kranz shows how the ancients thought about relationships quite differently than we do today, which is why we must understand the concept of covenants.

Then the last two-thirds of the book contain a walkthrough of each of the Bible’s 66 books. Kranz explains the groupings of the books in the English Bible, the differences in genre between groupings, and the broad outlines of each book. He covers matters of author, audience, and purpose as appropriate, but he doesn’t get distracted by academic minutiae. And Kranz keeps his focus on observing and summarizing the text. He avoids getting into interpretive debates, and this approach maintains focus on the beginner, who should be able to gain a basic roadmap of the Bible without being expected to sign on to any particular theological tradition.

Though I’ve been a Christian most of my life, and I’ve been studying the Bible for many years, I really enjoyed reading this book. Kranz assumes no Bible knowledge on the part of the reader, yet he never speaks condescendingly or patronizingly. This gives his work an uncanny ability to both stimulate and satisfy.

Who It’s For

This book intentionally aims at the beginner. The person who has never read the Bible before, or who has tried and failed from confusion or boredom. The person who didn’t go to Sunday school or read the storybook Bibles. The person who doesn’t know whether Moses or Abraham came first, and who can’t remember whether “Israel” is a younger twin brother, a nation of twelve tribes, a political entity, or the northern part of a divided kingdom.

There is a man in my church who just put his faith in Christ in the last year. He’s a graduate student (so quite intelligent) from an Asian country (so unfamiliar with western culture and tradition). He never read the Bible before this, but now he can’t put it down. And yet, he finds so much of it confusing.

I recently told him I’ve found the perfect book for him. I really want him to read this book.

And I want you to read this book, if you struggle to read the Bible. Because the greatest commendation I can give to Kranz’s book is that he doesn’t want you to camp out with his book. His book glories in another Book, and I don’t think you can finish Kranz’s book without a piqued interest in God’s book. Even if you’re not yet sure that it’s God’s book.

Check this book out. Give it to your friends who are just getting to know the Bible. Keep it in mind for seekers or new believers. Discuss it with your neighbors who think the Bible is an unreliable, ancient, and muddled mess. Or use it to help stimulate those who struggle to read the Bible for one reason or another.

Kranz’s book will be a go-to resource for me with anyone who wants to know more of the Bible. Buy it at OverviewBible.

Outstanding New Testament Book Overviews

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When we want to study a passage of the Bible, we will not get it right unless we have grappled with the main idea of the entire book. And that requires doing our homework to research, as best we can, the author, audience, occasion, and structure of the book. That research is what we call a book overview.

The best method for researching this historical background is to read and re-read the entire book many times in a row. Nothing beats developing your own deep familiarity with the text as a whole.

The second best method is to find articles or commentaries that can stimulate your thinking and highlight things you could never see or grasp on your own. The trick is to find articles that give you more than trivia. Knowing possible dates and theories of authorship and reception are only as helpful as they enable you to grasp the text’s main idea and flow of thought. The trick is to find articles that illuminate the persuasive genius of the authors of Scripture. What arguments were they making, to whom, and to what end?

For this reason, I keep have kept this page bookmarked in my web browser for years. Daniel Wallace is a first-rate New Testament scholar. He specializes in New Testament manuscript tradition and curation, and he understands the persuasive power of these inspired texts.

On that page, you’ll see an article by Dr. Wallace for every book of the New Testament. Each article contains an “introduction, argument, and outline” for the book.

In the “Introduction,” Wallace thoroughly addresses every credible hypothesis for who wrote the book, when he wrote it, how he wrote it, whom he wrote it to, why he wrote it to these people at this time, and what the main theme is. Wallace evaluates the arguments made by various scholars in light of both internal (within the book itself) and external (early church writings about this book) evidence. By the end, Wallace typically reconstructs the situation and circumstances of the book, with a clear view toward how these circumstances shape our understanding of the book.

In the “Argument,” Wallace guides us through the entire book, tracing the train of thought and showing us the transitions from one major section to the next. If the details of Wallace’s evaluation get to be too much for you, this birds’ eye view of the book’s rhetorical strategy is must reading.

In the “Outline,” Wallace attempts to represent the main sections of the book in standard outline form. I usually find Wallace’s outlines to be the least helpful part of his article, as they’re too detailed, almost exclusively observational, and too modern (they look like the outline for a modern academic dissertation instead of that for an ancient piece of literature).

Every time I prepare to study a New Testament book, I read Wallace’s article on that book. I might skip some of the tediousness of the “Introduction,” though I always give full consideration to his proposal of the book’s Occasion, Purpose, and Theme. I savor the “Argument,” as I find the greatest usefulness here. And I scan the “Outline,” but don’t get too hung up with it. I usually find other sources to be more helpful in clarifying a book’s true rhetorical outline.

You, too, might want to bookmark this page as well for the next time you prepare to study a book of the New Testament.

Check it out!

The Genre of Luke’s Gospel

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I’ve been studying Luke these days, to prepare for a new sermon series at our church. And this Sunday, I’ll kick off the series with a book overview.

To help me grasp background matters, I’ve been working my way through a course with Logos Bible Software on Luke’s gospel, taught by Dr. Andrew Pitts. The course has been outstanding, and Pitts’s comments on the genre of Luke have been particularly stimulating.

Overall Genre

Certainly, Luke belongs to the genre of historical narrative. However, there are many sub-categories of genre that fall under the umbrella of historical narrative. On a large scale, there are epics, histories, and biographies. On a small scale, there are miracle stories, confrontation stories, healings, teaching, parables, and origin stories.

Regarding Luke, Pitts argues that there is a difference between ancient biography and ancient history. Biographies focus on one individual, the subject, who is praised or lifted up in some way, and readers are called to imitate or follow that figure. Histories, however, focus more on events than on any particular person, and they are concerned with explaining why something is the way it is, or with making a political or social point in light of the relevant history.

jean louis mazieres (2018), Creative Commons

Comparing the Four Gospels

I have always presumed Luke to be the same genre as the other gospels. Of course, it’s closer to Matthew and Mark, which is why those three are often referred to as the “synoptic” (similar perspective) gospels. John is unique, with a completely different style and method of narration.

However, Pitts argues that, at least with respect to genre, the oddball among the four gospels is really Luke. He suggests that Matthew, Mark, and John are biographies, but Luke is a history.

Why does he conclude this?

  • Ancient biographies tend to introduce their subject in the first sentence (or very close to the first sentence). Matthew 1:1, Mark 1:1, and John 1:1 all reference Jesus as the book’s subject. But Luke doesn’t even mention Jesus until Luke 1:31, and then only in predictive speech. Jesus doesn’t become a character or subject until Luke 2:7, or even Luke 2:11. This late mention of the chief subject would be very unusual for a biography. But such late mention of a major protagonist fits right with the expectations for a narrative history.
  • Compared to ancient histories, ancient biographies have a much higher density of citation of authoritative sources to support the portrait of the biography’s subject. Matthew, Mark, and John all fit the parameters of citation density (quoting the Old Testament, in their case) expected from biography. Luke’s density of OT citation is much lower, fitting more closely the parameters of ancient history. (Though Luke cites the OT more times than Mark does, Luke is much longer than Mark, thus making his density of citation significantly lower than Mark’s.)
  • When Luke does introduce his subject matter in the first verse, he terms it “the things that have been accomplished among us” (Luke 1:1). He doesn’t speak of a person, but of a series of events. This is what we’d expect from a history, not a biography.
  • Luke is the only gospel with a sequel (the book of Acts), so we need to read Luke and Acts as a single work in two parts. And Acts clearly moves well beyond the life of Jesus of Nazareth, telling the tales of a number of Jesus’ followers. It might be possible to say that Luke-Acts is a collection of biographies, with Jesus’ life being the first subject. But compendiums of biographies were also known in the ancient world, and there is no other example of such a collection following a single narrative thread (from the first subject, to the second, to the third, etc., instead of treating each biography as a completely separate narrative). If Luke-Acts were a collection of biographies, it would be the only ancient document to take this meta-narrative approach. However, Luke-Acts does follow the standard expectations of an ancient history, moving from one event, to another, to another, in a seamless overarching narrative.

What Difference Does It Make?

What difference does it make whether Luke is biography or history?

Simply that we’ll better observe Luke’s focus, which enables us to focus there with him. Since Matthew, Mark, and John are biographies of Jesus, we read them rightly when we focus on the person of Jesus. Of course, we can’t ignore what Jesus did or what resulted from his work. But with the emphasis on who he was, the other things fall into place as implications of the main idea (Jesus himself).

But if Pitts is right that Luke-Acts presents itself as history, then we’ll better understand Luke-Acts if we focus on what that two-volume work says about the Christian movement. Of course, we can’t ignore who Jesus is when we read Luke-Acts; the movement’s founder is, well, the movement’s foundation. But the identity and character of Jesus, in Luke’s case, are more the implications than the main idea.

Another way to state the hypothesis is that the biographies of Matthew, Mark, and John are meant to tell us, first and foremost, about Jesus. And the history of Luke (along with Acts) is meant to tell us, first and foremost, about Christianity.

This understanding of Luke’s genre is one piece of the puzzle that is Luke’s purpose in writing, along with his main point. In future posts, I may revisit Luke with yet more pieces of that puzzle.

Three Approaches to Ecclesiastes

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In my observation, Ecclesiastes is second only to Revelation in the number of competing interpretive approaches available to readers of the book. It offers a great case study in how perception can drastically affect both interpretation and application. This fact ought to motivate us to be as meticulous as possible in observing the text within its context.

I’ve found interpreters of Ecclesiastes to fall into three general categories, though there are subtle distinctions of flavor even within each category. For an excellent and thorough review of interpretive approaches to Ecclesiastes, along with a careful analysis of the text itself and its place in Scripture, see this helpful (though lengthy) article from the Kerux journal.

Tom Hansen (2012), Creative Commons

Approach #1: The Cynic

This first approach seems to be most common in the academy, where scholars conclude that the text of Ecclesiastes, by and large, is neither orthodox nor commendable.

A conservative proponent of this approach is Tremper Longman, who sees Ecclesiastes as having two voices. The most air time is given to the Cynic, as most of the book is an extended quote of his cynicism (Eccl 1:12-12:9). The outer frame (Eccl 1:1-11, 12:9-14), however, refers to “the Preacher” in third person; therefore it was composed by someone else, who is evaluating the Preacher’s message. This outer frame is the only place in the book where we find an orthodox, praiseworthy message.

Other flavors of this approach suggest that the frame narrator is just as cynical as the Preacher is, and therefore the message of the “frame” is just as suspect as the rest of the book.

In short, this approach typically sees the book as entirely (or almost entirely) negative and not to be commended as godly. It is in the Bible primarily to help us understand the worldview of a thoughtful unbeliever. And the best way to apply the book is to reject the counsel found within the book.

Approach #2: The Hedonist

The second approach, which in my observation is most common among pastors, says the book of Ecclesiastes is to be commended and held up as a model for the wise life. Some proponents of this approach are Zack Eswine and Douglas Wilson.

Now the first approach often sees in Ecclesiastes a hedonism, albeit an ungodly hedonism: “Life is meaningless, so let’s just live it up while we can.” The hedonism of the second approach is a commendable, godly hedonism: “Life is meaningless in itself, but God miraculously blesses us with the ability to enjoy it anyway.”

In other words, Ecclesiastes presents both a dark side and a light side to life. The dark side is the vanity of life “under the sun” (which is all human existence); the light side is the supernatural gift of joy from God, despite the ubiquitous vanity. God has created a world with no meaning inherent within it; yet he also blesses his people with an irrational joy in the midst of that vanity.

In short, this approach typically sees the book as entirely (or almost entirely) positive and to be commended for imitation. It is in the Bible to help God’s people learn how to derive joy from the Lord even when the vanity of life may war against such joy. And the best way to apply the book is to recognize both the vanity of life on earth and the gift of joy from God.

Approach #3: The Apologist

The third approach, which in my observation is most common among evangelists and engagers of culture, says the book of Ecclesiastes is to be commended as a model of how to expose a false worldview and replace it with the truth. Some proponents of this approach are Sinclair Ferguson and Leland Ryken.

Some, such as Ryken, see in Ecclesiastes two competing voices, which alternate, almost in dialogue. There is the voice of the unbeliever, for whom life under the sun is meaningless and hopeless. And there is the voice of the believer, who expresses the joy of seeing the God who superintends everything from beyond the sun.

In this approach, the phrase “under the sun” tends to refer not to human existence universally (as in the Hedonist approach), but to the human existence of the unbeliever. Believers, therefore, can be freed from an “under the sun” perspective and have it replaced with an “eternal” perspective.

In short, this approach typically sees the book as roughly half true and half false. It is in the Bible to help God’s people relate to those whose only perception is “under the sun,” and to win such folks to a more truthful and satisfying outlook on life. The best way to apply the book is to help people grapple with the despair of materialism and naturalism, and to win them to a God’s-eye view of the heavens and the earth.

Conclusion

You can see that these three approaches produce markedly different results when it comes time to interpret a particular text within the book of Ecclesiastes. And with such divergent interpretation, application is bound to be light years apart.

For example, consider Eccl 10:19: “Bread is made for laughter, and wine gladdens life, and money answers everything.”

  1. The Cynic might tell you that the only way to cope with reality is through food, pleasure, and financial gain. But God wants you to reject this outlook.
  2. The Hedonist might tell you that bread, wine, and money may come and go, but, whether they come or go, only God’s children can receive the gift of enjoying such created commodities. So use them while you can, to the glory and enjoyment of God, and remain aware of how the world works.
  3. The Apologist might tell you that the laughter, gladness, and success of food, alcohol, or money is fleeting. So let go of those things to find life in the unceasing satisfaction of trusting and obeying the only wise God.

Just picture the dramatic small group meeting, where all three approaches are represented in the discussion!

Charge

Now I charge you, as those approved by God to handle his word rightly: Don’t choose your approach according to which one feels best to you. And don’t simply stick with the approach you’ve traditionally heard in your circles.

Please allow this analysis to jolt you from your inertia, to expose the fault lines in your presumption, and to blast your familiarity—and thus free you to dive back into the text to observe it meticulously. Which approach (whether one of these three, or something else) does it seem the original author most likely intended when he wrote the book?

Disclaimer: While the Cynic may believe disclaimers to be a waste of time, the Hedonist is asking God for joy through the vanity, and the Apologist wishes to persuade me to drop the meager pleasure of affiliate relationships: I remain under obligation to tell you that Amazon links in this post will provide a fleeting satisfaction to this blog under the sun, if you have the courage to click them and make a purchase.

And thanks to my delightful colleague Andy Cimbala for the idea for this meaningless post.

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