Idolatry and Salvation

When it rains it pours, I guess.

Intervening these paragraphs is the span of about ten days. So at least in this case, it's not quite pouring posts here.

To be honest, I'm recycling a few thoughts that I've had in the past, anyway, so there is not much in the way of original thought. It was prompted by my recent sprint through the major and minor prophets (I'm nearing the end of the Bible in a Year program!).

It is somewhat ironic that the Israelites seek freedom in their worship practices, and that this freedom leads them to cast off the law and to ignore the prophets. They eschew the judgment of the law to choose that which is no law and carries no judgment.

The irony in this is that while the idols promise no judgment—the Israelites may live as they please if they fulfill whatever cult rituals seem appropriate—they cannot save, either. God chides them for this:

They have no knowledge
who carry about their wooden idols,
and keep on praying to a god
that cannot save (Is 45.20).

It is God alone who is the Savior (43.11), and these idols cannot save. The connection that is made here is that God's ability to save is intrinsically related to his ability to judge. He is both Savior and Judge, and we cannot have one without the other.

This is common sense, of course. If God is to save us, from whom does he save us? Who is more powerful than he? Whom should we fear but him (cf Ps 27.1)?

This is, in fact, a big theme of the gospel passages in Isaiah. God promises to save Israel. In the context of the prophecies, it is salvation from the wrath of their enemies and redemption from the lands to which they were consigned, but all of these are God's judgment on Israel.

The message, then, is clear: idols promise no judgment, but they cannot save either. The ability to save is intimately related to the ability to judge. We cannot have a God who does not judge, but somehow saves. It is simply nonsense; but of course this is what the gospel has told us all along.

Kenotic Arianism

So Char finally got the beginnings of Kenotic Arianism posted on her blog.

Rey mentioned in the Carnival that he thinks it's one of the most important topics to come out, and I tend to agree with him. I haven't had much time to flesh out some thoughts on the person of Jesus Christ, and I know that I'll take a different tack than Char will—but it's a highly recommended read.

I'm bumping my own types article to tell you to read hers if you wandered in here by mistake.

Genesis Types Redux

Rey asked me if I would participate in the Christian Carnival with a discussion of types in Genesis, a subject I've been studying at church lately and one I've treated elsewhere in my sporadic writings in this blog. I've come to the game so late that I'm afraid we'll have to settle for quantity rather than quality.

I am inclined to read the Scriptures through a Christological lens. My default question when confronting a text is, "Where can I find Jesus Christ in this passage?" This has proven a reliable means of interpreting Scripture in the light of the gospel, especially—if I may plug one of my OT obsessions—in the Psalms. Genesis is not particularly different, however, and I think it's worthwhile to enumerate the various types. I wish there were time and space to elaborate on these. We could spend hours and pages developing the themes through the Scriptures.

This is not an exhaustive list. Here goes:

1. Adam as a type of Christ, and Eve as a type of the church:


• Eve is a special creation made out of Adam and for Adam. It is not an accident that the Bible starts with a creation event and a marriage and ends with a creation event (the new heavens and new earth) and marriage.
• Eve is made for Adam only after the whole of creation is searched for one suitable for him. Likewise, we are the only ones properly suited for Christ.
• Adam sins knowingly, choosing a life with Eve over a life with God. Likewise, the Son of God consciously chose to give his life for his own bride.


2. Abraham and Isaac:


• Abraham begins to sacrifice Isaac, only to receive him back (as it were) from the dead, and a ram is offered in his place.
• Abraham (a type of God) sends Eliezer (a type of the Holy Spirit) to find a bride (a type of the church) for Isaac (a type of Christ).


3. Joseph:


• Like Christ, sent by his Father to his brothers.
• Like Christ, rejected by his brothers (people).
• Thrown in a pit (a type of the tomb)...
• ... and presented as dead to his father, though alive (a type of rising from the grave).
• Ministers to those in prison (as Christ preached the gospel to "spirits in prison").
• Raised to a position of utmost authority in Egypt, whereas Jesus was given all authority in heaven and in earth.
• Saved Egyptians, a type I think of the Gentiles.
• In this story, Judah also acts as a type of Christ when he offers himself as a slave to take Benjamin's place.

I am almost embarrassed by how short the list is. Joseph is the most detailed as its the most recent I've studied, though I find the parallels between Adam and Christ the more poignant.

It's too ambitious for a blog posting, but if we had the time we could pursue the theme of our union with Christ through the New Testament, where we find the phrase "in Christ" repeated so often it would be trite if it weren't so marvelous.

The gospel wends its way through the whole of Scripture, and it is a joy to uncover it in all these ways. Hopefully time will present itself to continue in the near future (though given my recent updates schedule, that seems a tad unlikely).