The Pentateuch as a Whole

Sailhamer-

The Meaning of the Pentateuch Introduction (pp. 29-33)

The Pentateuch as a Whole

"The most inflential, yet subtlest, feature of an author's rendering of historical narrative is the overall framework within which he or she arranges it." (29)

" 'A prophet like Moses never did arise in Israel, one knew God face to face' [Deut 34:10] That is quite a revealing statement. Clearly, the author who made this statement knows about the entire line of prophets who followed Moses. ... A huge jump is made here at the end of the Pentateuch, taking us from the last days of Moses to the last days of the prophets." (31)

"Creation thus is cast as an act of grace, unmerited favor. From the point of view of the structure of the Pentateuch, the giving of the law, the promises to Abraham, and nature itself are grounded in God's gracious gift of creaturehood. The Pentateuch ultimately is about creation and grace (creation/grace). The simple structructural observation that Gen 12:1-3 is grounded in Genesis 1 has many implications. A direct link is established at the beginning of the Pentateuch between God's work of creation and his work of redemption." (32)

"The fact that the Pentateuch ends with Israel still in the wilderness leads one to draw a remarkable conclusion: the author of the Pentateuch leaves open the question of the time of the fulfillment of the patriarchal blessings. He does not allow the reader to understand the conquest as fulfilled with the Pentateuch. ... He also knows about Israel's subsequent failures (Deut 30:1-3). It is those failures that occupy his attention." (33)

“Looking beyond the initial optimism of Joshua 21:45, the author reflects the same sober realization of Israel’s failure to keep God’s covenant (Isa 6; Hos 1).” (34)

Comments

John Stott on the "old man" and the "body ruled by sin" in Rom 6 v 6

There are, in fact, two quite distinct ways in which the New Testament speaks of crucifixion in relation to holiness. The first is our death to sin through identification with Christ; the second is our death to self through imitation of Christ. On the one hand, we have been crucified with Christ. But on the other we have crucified (decisively repudiated) our sinful nature with all its desires, so that every day we renew this attitude by taking up our cross and following Christ to crucifixion. The first is a legal death, a death to the penalty of sin; the second is a moral death, a death to the power of sin. The first belongs to the past, and is unique and unrepeatable; the second belongs to the present, and is repeatable, even continuous. I died to sin (in Christ) once; I die to self (like Christ) daily. It is with the first of these two deaths that Romans 6 is chiefly concerned, although the first is with a view to the second, and the second cannot take place w...

Boice: “... the federal way of dealing with us was actually the fairest and kindest of all the ways God could have operated. ”

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Repackaging the gospel? It's more like obscuring the gospel!

Preface : I recognize this post may make me unpopular with some, but I think it is an important issue to blog about here. I’ve had time to reflect on this video and in my opinion, I think what is in this video raises some questions. This gentleman featured below is slotted to speak at the SBC's 2020 Pastors' Conference and it prompted me to think more about this illustration. I want to note that I don't know him and I have no personal issue with him. I assume he is a brother in the LORD. Having said that, I see some significant issues here that relate to this type of preaching being clear on the gospel of Jesus Christ. In fact, it appears to be obscuring it in my observation. Concern: Should the SBC or churches, in general, be in the habit of holding this up as a good and healthy example? Let's think about it some together. (Watch this clip below here first.) Context: The clip was posted to stand on its own a...

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