OLD TESTAMENT THEOLOGY

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OLD TESTAMENT THEOLOGY
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STRUCTURE Just One Thing

• INTRODUCTION Just one thing- Jack Palance, Billy
  Krystal in City Slickers
• The meaning of life, summarized in just one
  thing? What about the Christian faith? Is there
  just one thing that pulls it all together? Is
  there anything that makes the Bible fit from
  Genesis to Revelation?

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STRUCTURE Bookends

• A Garden, Gen. 215
• A Tree of Life for our parents, Gen. 29
• Greater and Lesser Lights, Gen. 116
• Presence of God in cool of evening, Gen. 38
• Perfect Creation, Gen. 131

• A City, Rev. 212
• A Tree of Life for the healing of all nations,
  Rev. 222
• The Lord is the Light, Rev. 225
• Dwelling of God is with men, Rev. 213
• Perfect re-creation, Rev. 211

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STRUCTURE Centrality of Christ

• Gen. 315- the seed of the woman to bring about
  the destruction of Satan
• Isa. 714, the virgin-born Immanuel
• Matt. 122,23, the fulfillment, the Immanuel
  born to Mary
• John 114, the Word became flesh, tabernacled
  among us
• Matt. 2628, Luke 2220, the new covenant in my
  (Jesus) blood

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STRUCTURE The Covenant Formula

• Lev. 269-13a, I will look on you with favor and
  make you fruitful and increase your numbers, and
  I will keep my covenant with you. You will still
  be eating last years harvest when you will have
  to move it out to make room for the new. I will
  put my dwelling place among you, and I will not
  abhor you. I will walk among you and be your
  God, and you will be my people. I am the Lord
  your God, who brought you out of Egypt so that
  you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians

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STRUCTURE ANE Treaty Pattern

• Preamble
• Historical Prologue
• Stipulations
• Blessings, Curses, Ratification
• Succession
• This is the pattern found in the Book of
  Deuteronomy, as noted in the work of Mendenhall
  and Kline (2d millennium B.C. treaty patterns)

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STRUCTURE Covenant with Adam

• Gen. 215, the Lord God took the man and put him
  in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of
  it
• Gen. 38, the Lord God as he was walking in the
  garden in the cool of the day
• Elements of this covenant
• Gracious- creation not required was free act of
  God
• Relationship- meet in garden in evening,
  condescension
• Responsibilities- covenant fulfillment, tend
  garden (no great burden)
• Promises- life (tree of life)
• Warning- covenant breaking leads to death

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STRUCTURE Covenant with Adam

• According to Hosea 67, this was a covenant
• Yet, when Adam broke covenant
• God still sought after him
• God provided means to make covenant breaker once
  again become covenant keeper, Gen 321
• BUT- the principle is established that it is only
  when the innocent takes the place of the guilty
  that the covenant can be restored

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STRUCTURE Covenant w/Abraham

• GOD MADE COVENANT WITH ABRAHAM Gen. 177
• From the individualism of Adams children to a
  family and tribe With Abraham and his seed-
  everlasting covenant/covenant sign
• Promise of Seed who would be a blessing to all
  nations
• basis of Great Commission
• Gal. 37, all who believe- are children of
  Abraham
• Promise of land, an inheritance for his people
  (Rom. 413) heir of world

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STRUCTURE Covenant w/Abraham

• Covenant is established by God Gen 1512-21
• Covenant is bilateral involves mutua obligatio
• Promise (I will be your God)
• Obligation (you will be my people)
• Gen. 177, I will establish my covenant as an
  everlasting covenant between me and you and your
  descendants
• Gen. 179, you must keep my covenant
• Gen. 1714, any uncircumcised male . . . will be
  cut off
• Gen. 1819, I have chosen him, so that he will
  direct his children and his household after him
  to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is
  right and just, so that the Lord will bring about
  for Abraham what he has promised him

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STRUCTURE Covenant w/Moses

• Deut. 52ff, The Lord our God made a covenant
  with us at Horeb
• From a tribe to a nation, a kingdom of priests
  and a holy nation Ex. 196 (Cf. I Peter 25,9)
• Moses the mediator of the old covenant
• He establishes the covenant code (Ex. 20, Deut.
  5)
• He leads redemptive journey from Egypt through
  baptismal waters of Red Sea to promised land
• Redemption REMEMBERED IN PASSOVER
• Israel becomes God's treasured possession- his
  own dear children, Deut. 76
• Tent of Meeting- dwelling presence of God (God
  with us) but only through Mediator, Ex. 337ff
  4034-38

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STRUCTURE Covenant w/Moses

• This covenant was not in opposition to the
  Abrahamic covenant
• The law did not set aside the Abrahamic covenant,
  Gal. 317
• The Mosaic covenant was one of the covenants
  (plural) of promise, Eph. 212
• The law is not opposed to the promises of God-
  and was never intended to be the means by which
  righteousness comes, Gal. 321
• The obligation to keep the commandments comes
  only after the redemptive prologue, Ex. 202,
  Deut. 56

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STRUCTURE Covenant w/David

• II Sam. 711, the Lord himself will establish a
  house for you 714, I will be his father and
  he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will
  punish him . . .
• Psalm 8920-29, I will maintain my love to him
  forever and my covenant with him will never fail
  (vs. 28)
• From a nation to a Kingdom
• God promises a kingdom without end
• God promised to establish a throne in
  righteousness
• God promises to bring about this rule by his
  power
• God promised to establish a temple through
  Solomon- a place to meet with his people, II Sam
  713

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STRUCTURE New Covenant

• Jer. 3131-3, The time is coming declares the
  Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the
  house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It
  will not be like the covenant I made with their
  forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead
  them out of Egypt, because they broke my
  covenant, though I was a husband to them,
  declares the Lord. This is the covenant I will
  make with the house of Israel after that time,
  declares the Lord. I will put my law in their
  minds and write it on their hearts. I will be
  their God and they will be my people.

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STRUCTURE New Covenant

• Eze. 3423ff, I will place over them one
  shepherd, my servant David, and he will tend
  them he will tend them and be their shepherd. I
  the Lord will be their God, and my servant David
  will be prince among them. I the Lord have
  spoken. I will make a covenant of peace with them
  . . .

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STRUCTURE New Covenant

• Eze. 3624-28, For I will take you out of the
  nations I will gather you from all the countries
  and bring you back into your own land. I will
  sprinkle clean water on you and you will be
  clean I will cleanse you from all your
  impurities and from all your idols. I will give
  you a new heart and put a new spirit in you I
  will remove from you your heart of stone and give
  you a heart of flesh . . .you will be my people
  and I will be your God.

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STRUCTURE New Covenant

• From an earthly kingdom to a kingdom of priests,
  Jer. 3321,22
• God would write his law on the heart
• All would come to know the Lord
• None would need to be taught
• Their sins will be forgiven

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STRUCTURE New Covenant established by Christ

• John 114, tabernacled among us
• Matthew 123, Immanuel, God with us
• Luke 2220, the new covenant in my blood
• From a Nation to the church catholic
• Jesus is the mediator of the new covenant
• He establishes covenant code
• New commandment, John 1334
• After Transfiguration, Luke 930, his exodus
• He leads redemptive journey from sin to promised
  land
• REMEMBERED IN LORD'S SUPPER

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STRUCTURE New Covenant established by Christ

• Jesus guarantees a better covenant, Heb. 722
• Jesus has a permanent priesthood, Heb. 724
• Jesus mediates a better covenant, Heb. 86, 915
• Jesus makes the first covenant obsolete, Heb.
  813
• Jesus enters the perfect tabernacle, Heb. 911,24
• Jesus offers one perfect sacrifice, Heb. 1010,14

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STRUCTURE Old vs. New Covenant

• Fulfillment
• Reality
• Once-for-all offering of Christ
• Melchizedekan Priesthood
• Eternal
• Christ, the son, as Mediator

• Anticipation
• Types and Shadows
• Blood of bulls and goats
• Aaronic/Levitical Priesthood
• Temporary
• Moses, the servant, as Mediator

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STRUCTURE Continuity?

• Epochal shifts (from one covenant to next) are
  organic
• There are similarities
• There are differences
• There is an underlying unity
• Dispensationalism tends to overemphasize
  differences
• Theonomy tends to overemphasize similarities
• Old Testament teachings and requirements still
  applicable unless clearly stated otherwise
• Cf. Col. 216,17 Rom. 145-8 Heb. 910

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OLD TESTAMENT THEOLOGY