Skip to main content
Sailhamer-
The Meaning of the Pentateuch Introduction (pp. 34-37)


Poems in the Pentateuch

• The poems are something like the songs in a Hollywood musical. They thematize what the author intends the reader to draw from the narratives. The epilogues return the narrative to its status quo.” (34)

• “The focal point of each of these major poems is the promise of a coming messianic king. The three poems in Genesis 49:1, Numbers 24:14, and Deuteronomy 31:29 have an almost identical introduction. In each introduction the central narrative figure (Jacob, Balaam, Moses) calls an audience together ‘in the last days.’ The phrase ‘in the last days’ is found only one other place in the Pentateuch: Deuteronomy 4:40.” (36)

• “The phrase ‘in the last days’ occurs fourteen times in the Hebrew Bible… It is about the days of the coming messianic king. The same three poems (Gen 48-49; Num 23-24; Deut 32-33) also have considerable cross-referencing between them.” (36)

• “What is said about the king in Numbers 24:9a is a verbatism statement of Genesis 49:9b: ‘He crouches down, he lays down like a lion, and like a lioness; who will arouse him?’ Numbers 24:9b is a direct quotation of Genesis 27:9. Such cross referencing and quotation shows an author’s conscious awareness of the strategic importance of these three poems.” The three major poems in the Pentateuch frequently refer to and allude to the smaller poems in Genesis 1-11. In doing so, they link the themes of the poems in Genesis 1-11 to the messianic and eschatological hope expressed in the larger poems.” (36-37)

• “Central to this connection is the identification of the future warrior of Genesis 3:15 with the messianic king of the larger poems. Along with that is the identification of the nature o the warfare in the remainder of the Pentateuch with the battle between the ‘seed of the woman’ and the ‘see of the serpent’ in Genesis 3:15.” (37)

• “The foregoing observations that the author of the Pentateuch intentionally used the (large and smaller) poetic texts in the Pentateuch to establish a context for reading the narratives. The author wants us to view the stories in the Pentateuch within the context of the prophetic hope in a coming messianic king. Thus, the poems focus attention on the central theme of the need for God’s grace and redemption (the small poems of Genesis 1-11) and at the same time link those themes to the coming messianic king and his kingdom ( the large poems forming the central structure of the Pentateuch). This suggests that one of the central issues in the message of the Pentateuch is the coming king and his eternal kingdom.” (37)

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

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. ”

  Adam had been appointed by God to be the representative of the race so that if he stood, we too would stand, and if he fell, we would fall with him. Adam did fall, as we know.  So death passed upon everyone. “But isn’t that terribly unfair?” someone protests. “Isn’t it cruel for God to act in this fashion?” ... the federal way of dealing with us was actually the fairest and kindest of all the ways God could have operated.  Besides, it was the only way it would later be possible for God to save us once we had sinned. In other words, federalism is actually a proof of God’s grace, which is the point the passage comes to (vv. 15 ff.). It was gracious to Adam first of all. Why? Because it was a deterrent to his sin. God must have explained to Adam that he was to represent his posterity. That might have restrained him from sinning. A father who might be tempted to steal his employer’s funds (and would if only he himself were involved), might well decide not to do it if he kne...

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...