Free On-Line Book on Covenant Theology

For those interested in Covenant Theology Read:
THE MARROW OF MODERN DIVINITY
by Edward Fisher

"Them bones, them bones, them dry bones..."

Ezekiel 37:11 Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel; behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope has perished. We are completely cut off.’ 12 “Therefore prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves, My people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel. 13 “Then you will know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves and caused you to come up out of your graves, My people. 14 “I will put My Spirit within you and you will come to life, and I will place you on your own land. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have spoken and done it,” declares the LORD.’” (Emphasis mine.)

Matthew 27:52 The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; 53 and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to many. (Emphasis mine.)

I don't recall anyone ever pointing this out, I'm sure it has been in some commentary somewhere...It seems to me that the graves were opened in fulfillment of this prophecy. I have wondered for a long time, the significance of the dead saints being raised and walking through Jerusalem. But it seems that the prophecy was for those in whom God would put His spirit and that He would make them to walk upon the land of Israel. This prophecy is characteristic of many Ezekiel passages which refer to the New Covenant. In this case the only "saints" that could be raised were O.T. believers/saints. But in other passages where promises are given to the living, it appears that they are to the Jewish Christians and "Gentile" Christians; given our N.T. understanding of the mystery which is Christ in us...Every Christian truly is a "Jewish" Christian...This goes against our modernistic thinking, though; but Paul said it:

Romans 2:28 For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. 29 But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God.

If I could summarize; there is only one sense to the prophetic passages but there can be many applications. Thus, either the specifically Jewish orientation of the prophecy contains the real sense with the fact that all Christians are "true Jews" as an application or else the sense is really going for a promise aimed at all believers in the N.T. era with an application specifically directed at the Jews. Divorcing non-Jewish Christians from the promises in the O.T. Prophets seems to result in misapplication of the texts or maybe even missing the real sense of the passages; I withhold any conclusions either way on my part as of yet.

Why we fail

We fail because we do not think covenantally. Most evangelical Christians would be hard pressed to even describe what the covenant is...let alone to think in terms of it. I have described the covenant in an earlier post...

Where is the wisdom in that?

Is it wise for a young Christian to be attempting to tackle the most difficult book in the Bible to exegete? Does the fact that it is so mysterious have any strange attraction? Of course it does. So what does one do when you get this 'end-times bug?' You read a good book, that's what I did. A book that clears the apocalyptic haze not muddies the water...that is what is needed. With no knowledge of the Greek language, without establishing the interpretive hermeneutics, without consulting the works of the respected authorities; where does one intend to go?

Update: This is especially true for those intending to working as a minister of the Gospel...First things first:
1. Survey the broad themes; become a student, learn.
2. Study in greater detail; become a scholar, find out what others have learned.
3. Research the minutiae; become an expert, understand its grave implications.
Explain, Interpret, Exegete. There is a [super-]natural order to things...follow it.

Ignorance is no excuse.

Recently, someone I know was accused, in an informal debate, of making the Bible mean whatever he wanted it to mean and ignoring what it plainly said.

Now listen closely, have you ever said something but did not actually mean what you say? Why? Maybe you were using a figure of speech or exaggerating for effect or trying to get a reaction out of someone. Was the Bible not written down by men who also used these common elements? Especially, in the prophetic literature...you have lots of verses which are obviously not supposed to be taken at face value (i.e. Jesus is not a real lamb 'standing as if slain,' but we get the metaphor).

This is naturally followed by the next question; how do you interpret the figures not so obviously interpreted? But the fallacy in the question is easily exposed. The obviousness or not is a very subjective assertion; what is obvious to one may not be obvious to another. Thus we must go back to a principle which changeth not: that is that Scripture interprets Scripture.

The fact is that very little in Biblical exegesis does not rely on another passage from the Bible. Incredible as it seems, ignorance of what the Bible says in all of its boring glory does not allow for speculative interpretations nor does it excuse one for falsely accusing a brother who has the Biblical knowledge on which an interpretation depends when you do not...

'The Boys'

Now, I haven't posted photos on here in a while for a reason...But I thought this one had to be posted...My two Covenant boys learning to obey mommy and daddy so that they may live long...

Does God promote cannibalism?

Ezekiel 5:9 'And because of all your abominations, I will do among you what I have not done, and the like of which I will never do again. 10 'Therefore, fathers will eat their sons among you, and sons will eat their fathers; for I will execute judgments on you and scatter all your remnant to every wind.

What we see here is an example of God's pronouncement of judgment. In other passages we see the same curse mentioned...but why was this curse added to the Deuteronomy curses in the first place? If nothing else, because God knew the future. Note that He says that He has not actually brought this curse to bear before and that He will do so in a very specific capacity and that He will never do so again (which could be figurative, in order to emphasize the gravity of the situation). It is an earthly judgment reserved for the severest of offenses: rejecting God and whoring after other gods. The next question is, when was/will this fulfilled?