The Hebrew Heart

In Wellum and Gentry's Kingdom Through Covenant the author's deal with the comand in the book of Deuteronomy which they consider the very centre of the book: you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and with all your strength." In discussing the focal point of Deuteronomy, a discussion of the meaning of heart ensues:

In Hebrew, the word "heart" refers to the core of who you are, the centre of each person. It refers, in particular, to the place where we feel, where we think, and where we make decisions and plans, i.e., emotions, mind, and will. This can be easily seen from the following illustrative passages: 

A. FEELINGS
A glad heart makes a cheerful face,
but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is crushed. (Prov. 15:13, ESV) 

A joyful heart is good medicine,
but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. (Prov. 17:22, ESV) 

When these proverbs refer to a "glad heart" or a "joyful heart" they are clearly referring to one's emotions and feelings in terms of a healthy psyche. 

B. REASONING
But to this day the Lord has not given you a heart to understand or eyes to see or ears to hear. (Deut. 29:4, ESV) 

Make the heart of this people dull,
and their ears heavy,
and blind their eyes;
lest they see with their eyes,
and hear with their ears,
and understand with their hearts,
and turn and be healed. (Isa. 6:10, ESV) 

In both Deuteronomy 29:4 and Isaiah 6:10, one understands with the heart; surely then what is being referred to is what we normally call the mind. This is the place where we reason and think and understand. 

C. WILL
The heart of a man plans his way,
but the Lord establishes his steps. (Prov. 16:9, ESV) 

May he grant you his heart's desires
and fulfill all your plans! (Ps. 20:4, ESV) 

Proverbs 16:9 and Psalm 20:4 show that the "heart" makes plans and has desires; it is the place where we make decisions. (366-7)

They then highlight a key difference between how we often think about the "heart" in contrast to how the Hebrews thought about it:

We should note, then, that the biblical language differs markedly from our own in the Western world. For us, the heart is associated with emotions, feelings, love, and Valentine's Day. Conversely, for the Bible, the heart is where we reason and think and make decisions and plans. We can frequently speak f people who cannot bridge the eighteen-inch gap between the head and the heart. The ancient Hebrews knew no such gap. The heart is the centre of one's being and the place where the emotions, mind, and will operate in harmony and union. (367-8)

Dividing laws in to moral, civil, and ceremonial

In their massive work Kingdom Through Covenant, authors Peter Gentry and Stephen Wellum address the oft-procured argument that the laws of the Old Testament are divided into three categories: moral, civil, and ceremonial. The most common purpose for which these divisions are that I come across is to decipher what laws from the Old Testament are still in effect and applicable to New Testament believers. To that end, the authors write the following:

It is common to categorise and classify the laws as (a) moral, (b) civil, and (c) ceremonial, but this classification is foreign to the material and imposed upon it from the outside rather than arising from the material and being clearly marked by the literary structure of the text. In fact, the ceremonial, civil, and moral laws are all mixed together, not only in the Judgments or ordinances but in the Ten Words as well (the Sabbath may be properly classified as ceremonial). Those who claim the distinction between ceremonial, civil, and moral law do so because they want to affirm that the ceremonial (and in some cases, civil) laws no longer apply but the moral laws are eternal ... This is an inaccurate representation of Scripture at this point. Exodus 24 clearly indicates that the Book of the Covenants consists of the Ten Words and the Judgments, and this is the covenant (bot Ten Words and Judgments) that Jesus declares that he has completely fulfilled and Hebrews declares is now made obsolete by the new covenant. What we can say to represent accurately the teaching of Scripture is that the righteousness of God codified, enshrined, and encapsulated in the old covenant has not changed, and that this same righteousness is now codified and enshrined in the new. (355)

Christ is the new and better Sabbath

Enjoy this excerpt from Kingdom Through Covenant as it discusses the Sabbath in both the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. Take a moment to consider the greatness of Christ as all things are summed up in him, the new and better Sabbath.

Discussion of this command brings us right into the middle of the problem of the relationship between the old covenant and the new, a matter which cannot be adequately discussed in this chapter. Nonetheless, a few comments on the Sabbath are in order. 

First, we must note that the Sabbath was the sign between Yahweh and Israel of the old covenant, as is clearly stated in Exodus 31:12–18. Covenants often have a physical sign associated with them. The rainbow was given as a physical sign of God’s promise in his covenant with Noah. Circumcision was commanded as a physical sign in the body of every male in Israel as a sign of God’s covenant with Abraham. Similarly, the Sabbath is stipulated as a permanent sign between Yahweh and Israel that the God who created the world in six days and then rested has consecrated them to himself. 

Second, as we compare the old covenant and the new covenant, we see that the self-identity of the people of the Lord in the old covenant was that of children, while the self-identity of the people of the Lord in the new covenant is that of mature adults (Gal. 3:24–25). The external forms and shadows of the old covenant have been done away now that the reality has come in Christ (Col. 2:16–17). 

Now of what does the Sabbath speak? Let us notice at once that, in the two texts in the Old Testament where we have the Ten Words, the reason given for the Sabbath in one text is different from the reason given in the other text. In Exodus, the reason is given in 20:11. God’s work of creation was complete, it was finished; the people could add nothing to it. They were invited to enter his rest and enjoy his work. Hebrews applies this notion to the work of Christ (Heb. 3:7–4:11). We cannot do anything to add to the work of Jesus Christ. We are simply to enjoy it. 

In Deuteronomy 5:15, a different reason is given for the Sabbath. The people of Israel must remember that they were slaves in Egypt and God brought them out of slavery, so they should give their slaves a chance to rest as they do on the Sabbath. Paul, in Colossians 1:12–14, speaks as do many authors of the New Testament of the work of the Lord Jesus as a new exodus. Egypt is a picture or symbol of the world; Pharaoh is a symbol of Satan, and the slavery is a symbol of our enslavement to our passion and pride from which Christ has redeemed us in his death on the cross. Jesus is the new Joshua, who will lead those people connected to him by the new covenant to enter and enjoy God’s Sabbath rest. (340-1)

El Shaddai

From Kingdon Through Covenant:

First, Yahweh reveals himself as El Shaddai (God Almighty). This is the first occurrence of this divine name in the Scriptures. In an attempt to determine the meaning of the Hebrew term “Shaddai,” scholars have argued over the origin of the word and have come to a stalemate. Its meaning, however, can be determined quite well from the usage of the word. This name for God is associated especially and particularly in the Old Testament with the lives of the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It seems that this name was given to encourage faith because of the disparity between the covenant promises and the reality of the situation in which they found themselves at that time. Thus, in this context, Yahweh is the God who intervenes powerfully. It is customary in the Greek Old Testament to translate El Shaddai by “almighty” (παντοκράτωρ),13 and this expresses the meaning very well. (259)

I am encouraged by this brief discussion of the meaning of El Shaddai. I am strengthened by the very thought of the "God who intervenes powerfully." There are many things in my life that need a powerfully intervening God. And He exists. And just as He kept His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, He keeps His covenant with people of the new covenant. He has already decisively intervened powerfully for us in sending His Son who lived, died, and rose again for us. He will continue to intervene. I am encouraged.

Wellum and Gentry on blessing

In Kingdom Through Covenant, authors Wellum and Gentry discuss what the term blessing, particularly in the life of Abraham:

What is actually meant by “blessing”? Blessing is connected with life, just as cursing brings death. So what would blessing mean in the ancient Near East in Abraham’s time? Does “blessing” mean a full, long life, the good life in the sense of having good health, having a big family to look after one as a senior, business success (i.e., having big flocks and herds or crops that are abundant and successful), acquiring land, having power and victory over your enemies? If we convert these ideas into our modern society, what would blessing mean? Does blessing mean health, business success, being surrounded by a circle of friends (on Facebook?), having influence and power, having a big house and car, having better sex? 

Bruce Waltke explains that “the term ‘to bless’ (brk) with God as subject denotes procreative largesse and victory, accompanied with a sense of loyalty to the future generations (Gen. 1:28; 26:24; 27:27–29).”29 Significantly, however, he adds that “it also connotes redemption, a relationship with God that transforms the beneficiary and provides security.” Dumbrell noted this important aspect too. As Abraham’s life unfolds, we begin to see what blessing means. Blessing operates in the context of a covenant relationship with God. Blessings are the manifestation of a faithfulness, fidelity, and solidarity in relationships whereby one’s natural and personal capacity to fulfill God’s intention and purpose is advanced and furthered.31 God’s word to Abram is powerful, enabling the calling to be fulfilled. (241-2)

I love this definition for blessing: "one’s natural and personal capacity to fulfill God’s intention and purpose is advanced and furthered." It is powerful because it takes the emphasis off of me-my needs, my wants, my desires-and focuses on God; we are blessed when we can fulfill God's purpose.

The breaking of a covenant

As their exposition of the Biblical covenants progresses, Wellum and Gentry discuss, in the noteworthy book Kingdom Through Covenant, the collapse of the first covenant that God had made with Adam

There was a real and vital element of condition in the covenant relationship in the garden. Eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was prohibited. We know that the conditions for maintaining love, loyalty, and trust in the covenant relationship were not met. When the fruit of the forbidden tree was eaten, we were all involved somehow, as Romans 5:12–21 makes plain. 

A brief comment is necessary to discuss the breaking of the covenant. Just what was involved in this initial transgression? Was the prohibition against eating the fruit of the forbidden tree an arbitrarily imposed means for testing loyalty and obedience? This is surely true, but it does not do justice to what was offered by the snake and confirmed by God after the Fall, that they would be “like gods, knowing good and evil” (see Gen. 3:5, 22). 

Some have explained knowing good and evil as reflecting sexual understanding of each other. This is inadequate because it does not make plain how the acquisition of such knowledge would make one like God. 

Others have explained good and evil as a way of expressing the totality of knowledge by describing opposite poles. But certainly neither Adam and Eve nor any subsequent humans can claim the totality of knowledge. 

The best explanation to date is that of W. M. Clark,93 who carefully analysed all the occurrences of the phrase in the Hebrew Bible and showed that the “knowledge of good and evil” has to do with the exercise of absolute moral autonomy. That is to say, knowing good and evil means choosing or determining for oneself what is right and wrong independently of God. The decision of Adam to be self-legislating did make him like God in one sense, but also unlike God in that he would not be able to foresee the consequences of his choices long term or always be certain of the issues before him. (216-7)

I found this excerpt very enlightening. The independent determination of dependent creatures of what is right and wrong is a step on which we "must fall down, or else o’er-leap." In attempting to over leap God in a brazen act of autonomy, the human race fell. With absolute moral authority came absolute moral depravity. This was a breaking of a covenant with dire consequences. It causes us to look forward to that time when a covenant between God and us would not depend on our faithfulness, but his.

Sonship and Kingship

One of the many interesting discussions in Kingdom Through Covenant deals with man being made in the image of God. This topic gets a lengthy discussion in the book. The authors, of course, interact with the Bible in this regard, but they also deal with the societal context of image during the biblical times. The authors eventually produce a succinct and two-fold concept for what the image of God means:

Genesis 1:26 defines a divine-human relationship with two dimensions, one vertical and one horizontal. First, it defines human ontology in terms of a covenant relationship between God and man, and second, it defines a covenant relationship between man and the earth. The relationship between humans and God is best captured by the term sonship. The relationship between humans and the creation may be expressed by the terms kingship and servanthood, or better, servant kingship.(200)

Thus, imaging God can be described as sonship and servant kingship. And this imaging results in two relationships of significance, our relationship to God and our relationship to creation.

Man is the divine image. As servant king and son of God mankind will mediate God’s rule to the creation in the context of a covenant relationship with God on the one hand and the earth on the other. (201)

Image and likeness

There has been much study and discussion about what it means to be made in God's image. Surely this is a concept that we will continue to study, develop, and grasp until the current world is no more. Wellum and Gentry, in their masterful book Kingdom Through Covenant, add some helpful points to the concept of image and likeness to God:

Given the normal meanings of “image” and “likeness” in the cultural and linguistic setting of the Old Testament and the ancient Near East, “likeness” specifies a relationship between God and humans such that ’ādām can be described as the son of God, and “image” describes a relationship between God and humans such that ’ādām can be described as a servant king. Although both terms specify the divine-human relationship, the first focuses on the human in relation to God and the second focuses on the human in relation to the world. These would be understood to be relationships characterised by faithfulness and loyal love, obedience and trust—exactly the character of relationships specified by covenants after the Fall. In this sense the divine image entails a covenant relationship between God and humans on the one hand, and between humans and the world on the other.

Similarities between covenants

Hello all!

Sorry for the slim pickings at the blog this past while. Lots of things going on around here keeping me busy and somewhat distracted. Hopefully I'll be back on track now.

I continue to find Kingdom Through Covenant intriguing and enriching. It is full of helpful commentary on sundry topics concerning the covenants in the Bible. The following excerpt touches upon the connection between the various covenants and how they should be approached.

ISAIAH 54:9–10

[9] “To me this is like the days of Noah,
when I swore that the waters of Noah would never again cover the earth.
So now I have sworn not to be angry with you,
never to rebuke you again.
[10] Though the mountains be shaken
and the hills be removed,
yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken
nor my covenant of peace be removed,”
says the LORD, who has compassion on you. (NIV)

This passage is extremely important for letting the biblical text define in its own terms the relationships between the various covenants; it will be considered at length later. Nonetheless, Isaiah compares here the new covenant with the covenant with Noah. What is precisely similar between both covenants is the undeterred, unswerving commitment of Yahweh to carry out the promises enshrined in them. Just as he promised never again to cover the entire earth with floodwaters as a judgement, so he will never be angry with his people and so withdraw his loyal love in the covenant of peace.

I love the suggestion above that the similarity between an older covenant, like the Noahic, and the new covenant is "the undeterred, unswerving commitment of Yahweh to carry out the promises enshrined in them." We serve an awesome God!

Was there a covenant before Noah?

One recurring argument in the discussion of Biblical covenants revolves around creation. Did God initiate a covenant with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden? Wellum and Gentry, in their immense Kingdom Through Covenant, suggest that there was indeed a covenant entered pre-fall. One of their arguments in favour of a covenant with Adam is the wording surrounding the covenant God made with Noah, a covenant which is largely accepted.

The proof they find for an earlier covenant in the recorded narrative of God's covenant with Noah has to do with the wording of the passage about said covenant. The question boils down to this: With Noah, did God initiate a covenant or did he uphold a covenant?

Consider these excerpts from Kingdom Through Covenant:

The first occurrence(s) of the term covenant (bĕrît) in the Hebrew Scriptures is significant. The word appears first in the flood narrative (Gen. 6:18; 9:9, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17). In four instances God speaks of “confirming” or “establishing” a covenant with Noah (Gen. 6:18; 9:9, 11, 17). The construction in Hebrew is hēqîm bĕrît. The remaining four occurrences have to do with the sign of the covenant and remembering the covenant. Thus, when we consider the covenant God made with Noah and his descendants, we notice right away that the standard expression or language for covenant initiation is lacking. Nowhere do we read of God cutting a covenant (kārat bĕrît). Why is the language different here and what does it signify? An exhaustive study of all instances of bĕrît in the Hebrew Bible and classification of all constructions and expressions in which this noun occurs reveals a completely consistent usage: the construction “to cut a covenant” (kārat bĕrît) refers to covenant initiation while the expression “to establish a covenant” (hēqîm bĕrît) refers to a covenant partner fulfilling an obligation or upholding a promise in a covenant initiated previously so that the other partner experiences in historical reality the fulfilling of this promise, i.e., one makes good on one’s commitment, obligation, or promise. (155)

In summary, based on the expression hēqîm bĕrît, linguistic usage alone demonstrates that when God says that he is confirming or establishing his covenant with Noah, he is saying that his commitment initiated previously at creation to care for and preserve, provide for and rule over all that he has made, including the blessings and ordinances that he gave to Adam and Eve and their family, are now to be with Noah and his descendants. This can be substantiated and further supported by noting the parallels between Noah and Adam, and between the covenant terms given to Noah and the ordinances given to Adam and his family. (161)

The appeal to Noah's covenant being an upheld covenant versus an initiated covenant is not their only argument in favour of an earlier covenant that God made with men. However, I found this defense both compelling and convincing.

[ḥesed] and [’ĕmet]

As I work my way through the colossal Kingdom Through Covenant by Wellum and Gentry, I am enjoying reviewing, and learning anew, information about covenants. One particularly encouraging section deals with the words [ḥesed] and [’ĕmet] and their connection to covenants. This word pair is somewhat ineffable; a precise definition does not present itself. However, the authors give a helpful, though incomplete, summary definition by relating this word pair as "faithful loyal love." That alone is breath-taking when we consider these words are regularly used to describe the supremely sovereign God's posture towards all of us sinners.

Wellum and Gentry give us an example of how these two words are used in the bible by presenting Psalm 117 to us. They reveal the use of [ḥesed] and [’ĕmet], but also demark the psalm in question as a summary of the entire Psalter. This is very interesting and uplifting. Consider the following which appears at the end of chapter four of Kingdom Through Covenant:

Psalm 117Praise the LORD, all you nations;
extol him, all you peoples.
For great is his love [ḥesed] toward us,
and the faithfulness [’ĕmet] of the LORD endures forever.
Praise the LORD. (NIV)

This is the briefest and shortest hymn in the whole of Israel’s Songbook (Psalms). According to the format standard for a hymn, there is a call to praise Yahweh, followed by the reason for praise. In Psalm 117, verse 1 is the Call to Praise and verse 2 is the Reason for Praise. In the section giving the reason for praise the word pair ḥesed and ’ĕmet is split over parallel lines. Thus the reason for boasting about the Lord is his faithful loyal love in his covenant with his people Israel. In fact, the celebration of this quality summarises the entire Psalter. When a budding scholar completes a doctoral dissertation, the dissertation must be summarised in three hundred words. This is called a dissertation abstract. And Psalm 117 is the dissertation abstract for the entire book of Psalms. It summarises in just a very few words all of the Laments, Hymns, and Songs of Thanksgiving in Israel’s hymnal, including the enormously long Psalm 119. The Lord is worthy of the worship of his people Israel because he demonstrates faithful loyal love in the covenant relationship. (145)