The Catalog of Good Deeds: Reflections on the Holy Scripture

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During one of our Wednesday morning Bible studies, our group tackled the famous verse John 3:16, which reads: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

Scholars have cleverly labeled this pericope the “miniature gospel” (le petit Évangile, in French), for the simple reason that it encapsulates the entire meaning of Scripture and God’s divine plan of salvation. If the entire Bible was lost and only this verse was retained, the core message would still be preserved in its fullness, with the remainder of the Bible serving as an extensive “color commentary.”

However, in this key passage an equally significant message resides among the words, but it is plainly hidden from sight, a mystery to the unsuspecting, superficial reader. What is it? John 3:16 houses the secret of true life in God, a life that is made manifest to us when we participate in three central activities of the Orthodox Christian Church: love, faith, and sacrifice. Life in God is different from biological life, which is understood in its horizontal dimensions — that is, in our relationships with other human beings. The life in God is far more intense because it boasts of a vertical dimension, defined according to man’s stance before the Lord. In this life, God’s power and wisdom are infused in man, so man’s existence becomes not only more meaningful but indicative of a presence that heals and saves. St. Paul confesses this life when he writes: “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20). The life in God is, quite simply, God’s healing and saving presence in man.

To have this life within us, we must imitate the life in Christ in these aforementioned three areas. First, we are commanded to have a faith that is genuine and true, one that is not based on conditions or personal expectations. It means, as the saying goes, to “let go and let God”, to trust blindly when nothing makes sense, to take the first step even when you cannot envision the whole staircase, to quote the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Second, perfect faith must be coupled though with perfect love, out of deference to Christ’s commandment to “love one another, as I have loved you” (John 13:34), a love that far surpasses the limitations of human emotion. Perfect love is not simply to want or seek the good of the other, but to be pained over their welfare, to make the other priority over oneself, to be willing to suffer in their place.

Finally, faith and love are tested and perfected when the third commandment is fulfilled; namely, sacrifice, the “giving” of oneself. For us Christians, this sacrifice is the gift of time we give to the one who needs God through our presence, our words, and our actions; but it is most especially valuable when we celebrate the Eucharistic sacrifice together on Sunday. Put simply, if we believe in God and we love Him, our place is at the sacrificial altar every Sunday during the Divine Liturgy, in addition to the altar of every human heart that we encounter daily.

All three of these expectations are commandments of our Lord in the Scriptures; they are non-negotiable and they are not optional. More of one and less of another is not a solution. All three draw us deeper into the mystery of Christ’s life, which becomes our life when we assimilate our ways with His ways. To believe in one’s heart and love all people but refuse to be with them in worship is not enough, precisely because faith and love remain deficient. When physical illness prevents us from church attendance, that is one thing; but when spiritual illness that is untreated causes us to become selective in our philanthropy, faith and love become deformed into lies, catering to our own shortsighted desires and needs.

By Fr. Stelyios Muksuris

Source: http://myocn.net/scriptures-most-valuable-secret/

Since the moment when Adam and Eve were cast out of paradise, mankind awaited for the One to come in the world, Who would redeem not only the sins of the forefathers, but also the sins of every person and Who would make all people free from the slavery of passions and death. The faith and hope of people were based on the promise the Lord made for them.

For the Jews were the only people of the ancient world who preserved the true faith in God and according to His promise the expected Messiah (in Greek – Χριστός, literally the Anointed One) should have come from them.

Throughout the Old Testament (i.e. before the coming of Christ), prophets and righteous men emerged among the chosen people, through whom God reminded the Jews about the necessity of preserving the purity of faith and being ready to accept their Savior.

The first reference on the future birth of the Savior was made by God Himself when he exiled Adam And Eve from paradise.

In His words addressed to the serpent, who had seduced them, He said:

“And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel” (Genesis 3:15).

According to the teachings of the Christian Church , the serpent in this prophecy represents the fallen angel of God, which is the devil. The woman is reference to the Virgin Who would give birth to the future Savior.

The next prophecy about the coming of Messiah into the world is considered to be the promise God made to Abraham.

After the Lord tested Abraham’s faith, He said:

“In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice” (Genesis 22:18).

The Church teaches that these words point out that the Messiah should a decendant of Abraham.

In the end of the book of Genesis there is another mysterious prophecy about Christ’s birth. In one of the prophecies of Righteous Jacob, which he told to his sons before he died, there were following words:

“The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor a lawgiver from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes; And to Him shall be the obedience of the people” (Genesis 49:10).

Shiloh means the future Savior, while the general meaning of the prophecy is as follows: the chosen people will have freedom and national identity until Jesus Christ comes. Then everything will be lost for rejecting Him. The words about the obedience of people tells us that pagans will also turn to Christ.

Prophet Micah also told about the future coming of Messiah, although he lived 700 years before Christ's birth.

In his words about Messiah, the prophet foretold the place where He would be born:

“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, From everlasting” (Micah 5:2).

Here we can see that Messiah's birthplace was to be Bethlehem.

Prophet Isaiah, who around the same time as Prophet Micah, left a number of prophecies about Christ’s birth.

“There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, And a Branch shall grow out of his roots. The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, The Spirit of counsel and might, The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord… And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, Who shall stand as a banner to the people; For the Gentiles shall seek Him, And His resting place shall be glorious” (Isaiah 11:1-10).

In this prophecy the theme of the Savior’s origin is covered. He would have be born from a Virgin of the tribe of Jesse and David (Jesse is the father of King and Prophet David). The second part of the prophecy, mentions pagans who will turn to Christ.

Isaiah’s other prophecy tells us about Christ’s future miracles, strength, spiritual power and healings:

“Your God will come… and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, And the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then the lame shall leap like a deer, And the tongue of the dumb sing” (Isaiah 35:4-6).

However, Isaiah’s brightest prophecy about the Savior’s birth says:

“Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14).

Based on this, it is clear that the prophet not only talks about the coming of the Messiah but he also explains the mystery of God’s incarnation. The Savior must be born by a Virgin, Who will miraculously “conceive a child”, and His name will be Immanuel, which means “God is with us”.

Aside from the numerous prophecies about the location and the fact of the Savior’s birth, there are many other prophecies in the Old Testament including His earthly path, miracles, sufferings, the death on the Cross and Resurrection.

Those who knew all those prophecies at that time and every person from the tribe of David hoped that Messiah would be born exactly in his family. This makes the fact that most people did not recognize the awaited Messiah in Lord Jesus Christ even more tragic. As a result, by rejecting Christ, the chosen nation “lost the scepter” and the Good News began to spread among others.

Source: https://foma.ru/prorochestva-ozhidanie-messii.html

The People of God have long been accustomed to the titles, ascriptions, and even historical settings that preface various of the Psalms. Sometimes, in fact, these "Psalm Inscriptions" are the object of properly theological interest, not only in commentaries on the Psalter, but also in separate works. The most famous among the latter, arguably, are two treatises of St. Gregory of Nyssa, who found in the Psalm titles a coherent, systematic treatment of ascetical theology.

Because these inscriptions are not normally considered integral to the inspired text, their study pertains to exegetical — not canonical — history.

The dating of them has not been convincingly fixed, but generally they are described as "late," meaning anytime between the Exile and the Septuagint — the early fifth through the late fourth centuries. It is difficult to demonstrate, on the other hand, that all this material necessarily came from the same period and provenance. Indeed, I am persuaded that it did not.

David's name appears more often than any other in the Psalm inscriptions — 73 times. Of these, fourteen instances ascribe individual psalms to specific episodes in David's life.

The most notable of these, surely is Psalm 51 (50), the Miserere, which is ascribed to the occasion when David received a word or two from the prophet Nathan — some business about adultery and murder, if memory serves.

Of the fourteen inscriptions that assign individual psalms to specific occasions in David's life, nine are related to the period of his exile as a fugitive from the insane wrath of Saul.

These assignments, which are rather imaginative, can be strung together, related step-by-step to episodes during David's time of desert exile. They are worth listing in the historical sequence in which they appear in 1 Samuel 19-31.

In this arrangement, the first assignment is Psalm 59 (58), which its inscription relates the very beginning of David's exile: Saul's officers watching through the night, planning to arrest him in the morning (1 Samuel 19:11-12).

The second is Psalm 56 (55), assigned to David's seizure and temporary detainment by the Philistines (21:10-15).

This incident is also the assigned setting of the third example, Psalm 34 (33), but here there is a historical problem: Whereas David plays an idiot before Achish in the scene in First Samuel, this psalm title speaks of "Ahimelech," an obvious confusion. The mistake prompts me to think a different — less careful — scribe was responsible for this inscription.

The fourth example, Psalm 142 (141), places David "in the cave." This appears to be the cave of Adullam in 1 Samuel 22:1.

The fifth example relates Psalm 52 (51) to the treachery of Doeg the Edomite (22:9-19), who is thus identified as the boastful man with the vicious tongue. This assignment is probably the most persuasive.

The sixth example is Psalm 54 (53), the inscription of which relates it to David's betrayal to Saul by the Ziphites (23:14-23).

The seventh example, Psalm 57 (56), is tied to David's "close call" with Saul in the cave near Engedi (24:3-8).

The eighth example, which places David "in the wilderness of Judah," is Psalm 63 (62). The assignment is apparently a general reference to this whole period of David's life.

The final example, Psalm 18 (17), celebrates the end of David's exile, when Saul is slain in the Battle of Mount Gilboah. The text of this psalm is virtually identical to 2 Samuel 22.

One is impressed that nine of these fourteen biographical references are assigned to a relatively short period in David's life: the time of his desert exile. One is also struck that six of them are found in the "second book" of the Psalter, clustered between Psalms 52 and 63 (51 and 62). Five of those are assigned to discrete incidents within 1 Samuel 19-24. At least five of them, and perhaps six, appear to come from the same hand, which means that they appeared at the same time in a particular manuscript of the second book of the Psalter.

The impulse prompting that early copyist to make these biographical references is a matter of speculation, but surely the proper path in this speculation is to consider what those references did, in fact, achieve. There are two things, I believe.

First, by assigning these particular psalms — I have in mind those clustered in the second book of the Psalter — to the period of David’s persecution and distress, our scribe effectively identified the suffering just man, a very prominent a figure in the Psalter, with the Anointed One. In other words, the Lord’s Suffering Servant was made identical to the Lord’s Messiah.

Except for the incident of Absalom's rebellion (the assignment of Psalm 3), the period of David's desert exile offered that ancient copyist the most persuasive opportunities to make that identification.

Second, our scribe’s interest in the period of David’s wandering in the desert evokes a comparison with Israel’s corresponding experience during the years following the Exodus. In the Psalter, this latter period receives extensive consideration (cf. Psalms 78 ([77], 95 [94], 105 [104], 106 [105], etc.).

Such a comparison, however, serves mainly to highlight a contrast: Whereas Israel, during its forty years in the desert, was repeatedly unfaithful to the Lord, David was entirely faithful during his desert sojourn. Tempted, in several instances, to assert his own will and take the future into his own hands, the Suffering Servant consistently surrendered his destiny and placed his soul in the hands of God.

This contrast will later appear in those Gospel scenes where Jesus, the true Messiah and Suffering Servant, is tempted, as Israel in the desert was tempted of old. Like David, He remains faithful. We also know Jesus’ fondness for that period of David’s life (cf. Luke 6:1-5).

By Fr. Patrick Henry Reardon

Source: http://www.orthodoxytoday.org/OT/view/reardon-psalm-inscriptions

From The Truth of Our Faith: A Discourse from Holy Scripture on the Teachings of True Christianity, by Elder Cleopa of Romania.

Inquirer: What do we mean by the term Holy Scripture?

Elder Cleopa: The term Holy Scripture denotes the sum of holy books that were written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit within a time period of close to 1,500 years, namely, from Moses, 1,400 years before Christ, until the writer of the Apocalypse, nearly 100 years after Christ.

Inq.: Why don't the bishops and priests sanction Christians, who are members of the Church, to interpret and preach publicly the word of God from the Scriptures?

Elder Cleopa of Romania

EC: Each Christian has the need to read Holy Scripture, yet each Christian does not also have the authority or ability to teach and interpret the words of Scripture. This privileged authority is reserved for the Church via its holy clergy and theologians, men who are instructed in and knowledgeable of the true faith. When we consider how our Saviour gave the grace of teaching to His Holy Apostles (Mat. 28:20) and not to the masses it is easy for us to see that the prerogative to teach is held only by the bishops, priests and theologians of our Church. It was the Apostles who were sent by Christ to teach and to celebrate the Holy Mysteries (Sacraments). Our Apostle Paul says: How shall they preach, except they be sent? (Rom. 10:15). Accordingly, the bishops are the lawful successors to the Apostles and those sent for the preaching (κήρυγμα) to the people. Paul entrusts the heavy burden of the instruction of the people to Timothy and not to the faithful. He speaks of this elsewhere: Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? (1 Cor. 12:29) Again he says to Timothy that the clergy must be apt to teach others (1 Tim. 3:2). He does not, however, say the same thing for the faithful. He makes a distinction between shepherd and sheep, between teacher and those taught. Still, the teachers cannot teach whatever they would like, but that which the Church teaches universally. They teach in the name of the Church and of Christ. Not everyone has the intellectual ability and the requisite divine grace necessary to expound Holy Scripture correctly. The Apostle Peter also says this in his second epistle, referring to the epistles of the Apostle Paul. He says the following: There are some things in them hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other scriptures (2 Peter 3:16).

Inq.: Some say that it is not right that members of the Church dont have the right to interpret and expound upon Scripture. As this excerpt says, each Christian knows how to render Holy Scripture: But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things, and the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you (1 John 2:20, 27).

EC: Holy Scripture is like a very deep well wherein is comprised the infinite wisdom of God. If someone thirsty dives into this well to drink of all its water, he will be drowned within. If, however, he will fetch the water with a bucket and from there will drink with a cup, then there is no fear of being engulfed. What man is so crazed as to wish to plunge into such an abyss of water without knowing how to swim? Holy Scripture, according to the Fathers, is bone and no one will venture with teeth fit for milk to break the strong bones of Holy Scripture - for those teeth will be crushed.

You've read in Scripture about the eunuch of Candace, Queen of the Ethiopians? He was reading the Prophet Isaiah when the Apostle Philip asked him if he understood that which he read, to which he replied: How can I, except some man should guide me? (Acts 8:31).

You realize also that the word unction, or anointing (χρίσμα) that you mentioned above means the effusion of the Holy Spirit in the Mystery of Holy Chrism, directly after Baptism (Acts 8:17).

The phrase you know all things signifies everything that contains Christian truth and salvation, as well as everything that is related to the antichrist and his adherents, to whom the subsequent verse of the epistle of the holy John the Theologian refers. One must not, therefore, teach according to ones own understanding and perception, for one will be deceived.

Inq.: All the same, it is said that each Christian has the right and obligation to read Holy Scripture on his own, as the Saviour admonishes us: You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness of me (Jn. 5:39).

EC: Be careful, because many heretics of earlier eras made bold to immerse themselves in the fathomless sea of Scripture and drowned spiritually, thus perishing together with as many as followed them. They dont have all the same spiritual maturity. They are not all able to understand the mystery of Holy Scripture.

Holy Scripture is understood and explained in three ways: 1) according to its literal meaning, namely the nominal, grammatical, verbal and historical, 2) allegorically or metaphorically, which is superior to the former, and 3) spiritually. According to the Fathers, the simplest of senses to alight upon is the first meaning, according to the letter of Scripture; to penetrate with discretion to the nature of Scripture requires modest learning, while to explain the depth of the meanings of Scripture is of the highest spiritual advancement and in need of the most divine grace. The perfect wisdom of Scripture belongs, according to Saint Paul, to the perfect: Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to naught: But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory (1 Cor. 2: 6-7).

Inq.: There are those who contend that it is not necessary for someone to have much learning to be able to understand the teachings of Scripture, since to the unlearned He revealed the wisdom of these teachings, just as the Saviour says: I thank Thee, O Father, ... because Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes (Mat. 11:25).

EC: Yes, God revealed His wisdom to those that were known to be babes in wickedness but not in mind and judgement. In other words, He revealed His wisdom to those who, with respect to good works, were perfect and had attained to the innocence of infants. Thats why Paul counsels the Corinthians as follows: Brethren, be not children in understanding: howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be ye men (1 Cor. 14:20).

Inq.: Yet, God rebuked the wisdom and knowledge of men, as this passage indicates: I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent (Is. 29:14). Saint Paul also says: Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? (1 Cor. 1:19). Might it not be that God is not able to give the wisdom of understanding the Scriptures to certain people who are worldly-wise, as the Orthodox maintain?

EC: You should know that God does not condemn just any wisdom and knowledge, but that which kills man spiritually. If He were to censure every wisdom, He would have to reject also the wisdom of Solomon, the wisdom of Joshua, son of Sirac, the wisdom of Christ the Saviour, of the Prophets and Apostles, to those whom He gave the commandment to be wise as serpents, and harmless as doves (Mat. 10:16). Yet, it isnt like this in the least. Hence, take care not to resemble those to whom the Saviour said: Your do err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God (Mat. 22:29).

Inq.: Is Holy Scripture sufficient in order to guide man to salvation?

EC: No, it is not sufficient to guide man to salvation, inasmuch as, firstly, it wasnt given to man from the beginning and, secondly, when it was given it wasnt the only authentic text, with regard to the salvation of human souls, because before it there was the Holy Tradition. Many years before Moses began writing the first books of the Old Testament, there was sacred piety in the community of the people of Israel. Similarly, the books of the New Testament began to be written ten years after the formal foundation of the Church, which took place on the day of Pentecost. The Church chose and sealed as inspired by God the books of the two Testaments over one hundred years later. These then comprised the declared Canon of the books of Holy Scripture. Thereafter the Church maintained this Canon of Truth, inasmuch as it is the very pillar and ground of truth (1 Tim. 3:15). The Holy Spirit operates within all of this for the preservation of the truth about salvation. Where the Church is, says Saint Jerome, there also is the Spirit of God and where the Spirit of God is, there also is the Church and all grace - since the Spirit is truth.

Source: http://antiochian.org/holy-scripture

The Old Testament can be confusing.

It’s very long, and unfamiliar to most Christians. Many reading it cannot see how it points to the coming of Jesus. Most modern biblical scholarship makes this worse, as it asserts that the Old Testament is a complex of contradictory theologies that tell us more about the culture of the Near East than it tells us about Christ, if it tells us anything about Christ at all.

In what follows, I want to provide some guiding principles on reading the Old Testament, with examples that demonstrate how a fully Christian reading of the Old Testament is actually the best and most fruitful reading of the Old Testament. This article therefore serves as both a guide to reading the Bible and a critique of modern critical methods that see the Old Testament as a disunity.

1. Read It!

St. Justin Popovich instructs us to read at least one chapter of the Old Testament and one chapter of the New Testament per day. That is, he instructs us to read them equally. By contrast, many modern Christians consider the New Testament to be fundamentally different in kind than the Old Testament and therefore more important to read. While these principles are rarely made explicit, the Old Testament is thought of as a rather vague, sometimes horrifying book about God the Father, occasionally mixed in with prophecies of Christ. The Old Testament is a Jewish book that’s been adapted for Christian use. By contrast, the Fathers of the Church considered the whole Bible, every word, to be written “for our sake” (1 Corinthians 10:11) and written to reveal the second person of the Trinity, the Eternal Word of God. St. Justin Martyr, in his dialogue with Trypho, makes clear that the Old Testament is fundamentally our book, not the book of Judaism. This is not a book written out of the culture of ancient Israel which the Church has adapted and invested new meaning into. Instead, this is a book written by God through inspired prophets, often against the culture of ancient Israel. And instead of investing new meaning into the Old Testament, the Church, invested as it is with the same Spirit that “spoke by the prophets”, discerns the meaning that the Creator Himself wrote into the Old Testament.

2. Read It Christocentrically

The Old Testament is about Jesus Christ. The Church therefore invites man to “come and see” (John 1:46) that this is the one of whom Moses and the Prophets wrote. Let’s consider an example of a proper and satisfying Christocentric reading of Old Testament passages. In the book of Joshua, we read the famous story of Rahab the harlot. When Israel invades the promised land, they are commanded to “devote the people to complete destruction” (Deuteronomy 20:17). As in the days of Noah, wickedness had reached such a level that God had resolved to destroy an entire society. Yet, Merciful as God is, He would not allow a single righteous person to be destroyed in the flood. And as with St. Mary of Egypt, righteousness is sometimes found in unexpected places. When the spies come into Jericho, Rahab deceives the Canaanites and safeguards the Israelites. Because of this, Rahab and her family is protected from destruction. In order to mark her house out from the rest of the Canaanites, Rahab hangs a scarlet cord out her window. Christians have historically seen this as a profound type of Christ: the red blood of Christ saves us from destruction at the Final Judgment. Unfortunately, many modern readers dismiss this as “reading into” the text. But had moderns read carefully, they would realize the Church has always been right about this.

Let’s consider several details which reinforce a Christocentric reading of this passage. First, Rahab is a Woman. This is not trivial. In Genesis 3, the Serpent deceived the first Woman (Genesis 3:13). God punishes “eye for eye, and tooth for tooth” (Exodus 21:24). Consequently, it is now the Woman who deceives the Serpent. This typifies the eschatological Woman, the Holy Theotokos, the New Eve, as she deceives the Serpent. St. Ignatius of Antioch therefore taught that God hid the virgnity of the Theotokos from Satan. Second, Rahab is a harlot. When God called Israel, she too was a harlot, as is vividly portrayed in Hosea 1-3. Yet, through the blood of Christ, God transforms this harlot into the New Eve, the Holy Church (the Theotokos personally symbolizes the whole Church). Indeed, the harlot Israel is transformed into a virgin Bride for Christ (2 Corinthians 11:2). This is precisely what happens to Rahab. Deuteronomy 22:13-15 commands that if a Woman is accused of dishonor in her virginity, the father and mother of the woman are to bring out the bloody evidence of her virginity publicly, which will be her vindication. Perhaps, then, we should see the scarlet cord which is publicly displayed out of Rahab’s window as the evidence of Rahab’s restored virginity: the harlot Eve transformed into the Virgin Bride.

There’s more. All Christians have historically recognized a connection between the blood of the Passover Lamb and the blood of Christ. On the night of Passover, every Israelite door was to be marked with blood. Throughout the Old Testament, the door symbolizes birth. Death strikes the whole land of Egypt on Passover Night, but in the morning, the firstborn Israelite sons are reborn, resurrected, through the blood on the doorpost- which points to Jesus Christ “the firstborn over all creation” (Col. 1:15) resurrected through His own blood. The whole structure of Joshua 1-6 replays the exodus in reverse. In the exodus, Egypt is first destroyed, then the Israelites cross the Red Sea, and then the Israelites celebrate Passover. In the conquest, the Israelites first celebrate Passover, then they cross the Jordan, and then Jericho is destroyed. Where the firstborn sons were resurrected through blood on their doorpost when death came to strike Egypt, so Rahab is resurrected through the scarlet cord when death comes to strike Jericho. The scarlet cord therefore plays the role of the blood of the Passover Lamb. All these threads come rushing together in the person of Christ. Rahab, the New Eve, deceives the Serpent. The blood of Christ raises Eve up from death. And she inherits the land of promise, which in the new covenant, is the whole creation: Isaiah 65-66, speaking of the promise of the new heavens and the new earth, is filled with allusions to Numbers 14, which speaks of the promise of the land of Israel.

The lesson to be learned in this is that the Church’s reading of the Old Testament is not merely one reading. It is the best and most satisfying reading.

3. Read It Typologically

The Church is big on typology. As a single God is the author of human history, the same patterns appear over and over again throughout God’s story. I provided one example above concerning how one Old Testament story points profoundly to Jesus Christ. Yet it’s not only true that the Old Testament typifies Christ. The Old Testament also typifies 1) the Old Testament and 2) Church History. Let’s consider these things one at a time. First, the Old Testament typifies itself. This is particularly observable in the life of Jacob, from whom the name Israel comes. When Esau seeks to kill Jacob, Jacob flees to Laban. While with Laban, Jacob is enslaved- Laban changes his wages ten times (Genesis 31:7) and seeks to steal everything he produces (Genesis 30:35). Nevertheless, Jacob multiplies greatly, having twelve sons and increasing his flocks. Indeed, these two things reinforce each other. Rachel means “ewe lamb”, so that the sons of Jacob are Jacob’s flock. Afterwards, Jacob makes an exodus from Laban by crossing a body of water (Genesis 31:20-21), and Laban pursues him (Genesis 31:22-23). Finally, Jacob meets God in a theophany (Genesis 32:1-2). This is all replayed in a larger scale in the great exodus out of Egypt. When there is a famine in the promised land that could kill Jacob’s family, Israel flees to Egypt. While in Egypt, the Israelites are enslaved. Nevertheless, Israel multiplies greatly. Afterwards, Israel makes an exodus by crossing a body of water and Pharaoh pursues them. Finally, Israel meets God at the great Sinai theophany. The Old Testament itself is a tightly knit book of typology.

But it’s not only the Old Testament. The God who authored Israel’s story likewise authored the story of the Church, so that events within the Old Testament typify events within the Church’s history. One example is the pattern of Satan’s attacks on the people of God. In the life of Abraham, Satan tried to subvert God’s plan three times. First, Satan attacked the Bride in Genesis 12. Abram went down to Egypt to find refuge from a famine and Pharaoh seized Sarai. Nevertheless, Abram comes out of Egypt with great spoils (note how this typifies the exodus as well) and Sarai is saved. Next, Satan tries to corrupt the Seed of Abraham. In order to do this, Satan causes Abram to “listen to the voice of his wife” (Genesis 16:2, see also Genesis 3:17) and sleep with Hagar, thus producing Ishmael as an alternative Seed. Nevertheless, God establishes His covenant through Sarah and Isaac in Genesis 17. Finally, as the birth of Isaac is one year away, Satan causes Abimelech, king of Philistia, to seize Sarah and attempt to produce children through her in Genesis 20. Nevertheless, Sarah is saved and Isaac is indeed born. The pattern is thus that Satan attacks the Bride, then attempts to corrupt the Bride, then finally attacks the Seed. This pattern is evident many times in Church History. First, in the Apostolic Age, Satan first stirred up a great persecution at Jerusalem (Acts 8:1). Then, Satan stirred up the Judaizing heresy. Finally, Satan attempted to kill Christians in the Neronic persecution, this time focusing on those who had converted in the years 30-64. Interestingly, this pattern also appears in the fourth century. First, Satan attempted to kill the Church, the Holy Bride, in the persecutions of the Emperor Diocletian. After Constantine converted, Satan poured out filthy waters by stirring up the heresy of Arianism. Finally, Satan attempted to attack the Seed by raising up Julian the Apostate, who attempted to re-educate the young in paganism. If we understand the way God has worked in history, then perhaps we can better understand the ways in which He works today.

4. Read It Christotelically

I noted above that we should read the Old Testament as a book with Christ at the center. But it’s also true that the Old Testament is a story searching for an end, a goal (telos). That goal is the Messiah (Romans 10:4). Many people read the Old Testament and see the first eleven chapters as being about the whole of humanity, while the rest concerns only Israel. While this is true from one perspective, I think it misses the larger point. God’s point in the election of Israel is to cultivate a holy seed which the rest of the human race is grafted onto (Romans 11:17-24). Attentive readers of the text have noted how this progresses in the Old Testament. First, in the book of Judges, Israel keeps worshiping other gods. God had given them the books of Genesis through Joshua to remedy this problem. He raised up the judges. While they kept going back to other gods, eventually, this problem declined. By the time of the kings, the primary problem was not worshiping other gods, but worshiping the true God falsely, on high places. In order to remedy this problem, God inspires the books of Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Job, and the Song of Solomon. The prophets are raised up, who call Israel back to true worship. Eventually, Israel is punished in the exile. When they come back from Babylon, Israel no longer worships at high places. They witness to the nations. Their problem is now Pharisaism and legalism. It is in this context of human maturation that Jesus Christ arrives, proclaims the gospel, and invites the nations to be grafted in.

It is important to note, however, that there is not merely an upwards maturation in the history of Israel. There is also a downwards maturation. From the very beginning, there is the “Seed of the Woman” and the “Seed of the Serpent” within Israel, and both seeds reach their climax in the first century. While the holy seed is fully ripe at the coming of the Messiah, the wicked seed is also ripe. God, who “turns all things to the counsel of His will” (Ephesians 1:11), uses both to His purpose. I’ve already described how God uses the holy seed to prepare for the mission to the Gentiles. But the unrighteous seed are also used to God’s purposes. It is through the unrighteous that Satan seeks His opportunity to accuse God’s people. We therefore see in Zechariah 3 Satan standing before Joshua the High Priest, who is clothed in filthy garments. Satan stands ready to “accuse” him. God rebukes Satan and then robes Joshua in pure vestments. This is a prophecy of Christ’s death and resurrection- Christ is Joshua (Joshua is the same name as Jesus) the Great High Priest, and He takes on our filthy garments (Genesis 3:21) of sin and death and glorifies them in His holy resurrection. We then see in Zechariah 5 that a mystery Babylon is rising up within Israel. A false Tabernacle is being set up in the “land of Shinar”, where the Tower of Babylon was constructed. In Romans 7, Paul, speaking with the voice of Israel in exile, describes how sin accumulated within Israel. Just as the Serpent deceived Eve, “Sin deceived” Israel, who died. Satan uses the wicked within Israel as a justification to accuse the Messiah and call for His death. God obliged, but used this death to destroy Satan. This is the climax of the deceit theme within the Bible. The Serpent deceived the Woman and caused her to die. But now God deceives the Serpent and the Messiah crushes his head. Mystery Babylon comes to its climax in Jerusalem-Babylon, in which God “traps” every evil spirit (Revelation 18:1). In AD 70, Jerusalem-Babylon is destroyed and the Church rides out to conquer the world for Israel’s God.

5. Read It Holistically

The Old Testament is a big book, with a lot of trees. It’s therefore easy to miss the forest for the trees. But as one God oversaw the whole history of Israel, leading up to Jesus Christ, and one Spirit inspired the whole Bible, focusing on Jesus Christ, we need to keep our eyes open for the big picture. The big picture of the Old Testament is exile and exodus. In Genesis 1, God makes the world in six days, pronouncing a triple blessing on creation. In Genesis 3, after the Fall, God pronounces a triple curse on creation. In Genesis 8-9, all the animals come out “by families”, Noah consecrates them to God, and God “blesses” them through Noah. In Genesis 12, God promises to “bless all the families of the earth” through Abraham. The story of Israel is the story of building an ark. As the flood was Noah’s exodus out of the old creation into a new creation, so also Israel’s story leads up to a great new exodus. The beginning of the Pentateuch portrays the primeval exile from Paradise. The end of the Pentateuch, Deuteronomy 30-32, portrays the eschatological new exodus, back into Paradise and into new life. Deuteronomy 30:1-6 is a profoundly important passage, though it is often ignored, so it is worth quoting in full.

(Deut. 30:1–6) And when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the Lord your God has driven you, and return to the Lord your God, you and your children, and obey his voice in all that I command you today, with all your heart and with all your soul, then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you, and he will gather you again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you. If your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there the Lord your God will gather you, and from there he will take you. And the Lord your God will bring you into the land that your fathers possessed, that you may possess it. And he will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers. And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.

There is a curious paradox in this passage. In order to return to the Lord and serve Him, Israel needs a circumcised heart. Yet, Israel doesn’t get a circumcised heart until after she returns to the Lord. This paradox is resolved in the person of Christ. Jesus is the personal embodiment of Israel, and it is through Him that God circumcises our hearts, cutting into it the shape of the cross. As He takes on the destiny of Israel, Israel returns to the Lord through Him. He is the Seed of Abraham, the “heir of the world” (Romans 4:12), and it is in Him that we return to Paradise. The Pentateuch begins with man exiled from Paradise and loses “life”. Its midpoint is Leviticus 16, where the High Priest (who is a figure of Adam) is disrobed and re-robed in glory, as one goat is exiled and another ascends to God. Its end is Deuteronomy 30, where Israel returns from exile and finds “life.”

Consider how the Holy Prophet Ezekiel draws on Deuteronomy 30 in Ezekiel 36-37. At the beginning of the book of Ezekiel, Israel is in idolatry. God scatters the bones of the idolaters around the altar. Yet God promises to cleanse Israel’s heart from idolatry. In Ezekiel, God says that He will bring Israel back from exile, and the “land that was desolate will be as the garden of Eden” (Ezekiel 36:35). Then in Ezekiel 37, Deuteronomy 30 is opened up and expanded. Ezekiel sees the scattered bones of the idolaters, and God asks: “Can these bones live?” The answers is evident from what happens next. Just as God breathed the Spirit into the dirt of the ground and brought Adam to life, so also God breathes into dead Israel, and flesh comes upon the bones. After God brought Adam to life, He brought Him into Paradise. Likewise, after God brings Israel back to life in a new exodus, God brings Israel into the promised land. Jesus the Messiah is the Last Adam. Because Israel is Adam, Jesus is also the personal embodiment of Israel. In His death, He takes on Israel’s exile. And in His resurrection, He brings Israel back to life. Through Holy Baptism and suffering (Romans 6:1-4, 8:17), the shape of the cross is cut into our hearts so that we can inherit the promised land, the renewed creation, the New Eden.

The history of Israel begins with the call of Abraham. In Genesis 11, Abraham is in Mesopotamia. He comes out of Mesopotamia, and in the midpoint of his journey, his father, the older generation, dies. Then he comes to the promised land, where he wanders and witnesses to the Gentiles. This is a clear type of the exodus, where Israel comes out of Egypt, the older generation dies in the wilderness, and then Israel comes into the promised land. After the patriarchal period, Israel descends into Egypt. After coming out, they finally conquer the land, led by Joshua. At Israel’s exile to Babylon in Mesopotamia, history restarts. The return from Babylon under Ezra and Nehemiah begins a new patriarchal period. Israel is in the land, and they witness to the Gentiles, but they don’t yet possess the land. Daniel prophesies a period of 1,290 days until the coming of the Messiah (Daniel 12:11). As 1,290 is three times 430, the period of years that Abraham and his family were in Egypt, we should read Daniel’s prophecy as a prophecy of a new Egyptian captivity. This time, Jerusalem itself, led by the wicked Herods and High Priests, is the locus of the Egyptian captivity. Jesus leads His people out of Egypt as the New Moses. Finally, as the New Joshua, our Lord leads the Church into the promised land.

By Seraphim Hamilton

Source: https://blogs.ancientfaith.com/onbehalfofall/five-principles-reading-old-testament/

All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. (II Tim 3:16)

There are passages of the Apocrypha that many Evangelicals find disturbing or problematic. And yet, if we are honest, those passages have counterparts in the Old Testament.

For instance, much has been made of what seems to be an occultic use of animal parts in the book of Tobit. But before rejecting this story, pause for a moment. Think of how Jacob bred his flock (Gen 30:25-43). Doesn’t it seem that Jacob used folk magic and dowsing techniques? If this story had not been included in the canon and we read it for the first time today, wouldn’t we react just as strongly? Don’t Jacob’s actions seem to smack of God-sanctioned occultic practices just as much as Tobit’s do? Possibly our reaction to these kind of stories result from our being raised in a secular culture that scoffs at the miraculous and God working through the physical.

There are unusual things waiting for new readers of the Apocrypha. Yet there is much that is already familiar to us. It is genuinely Christian. Some Evangelicals find that, after reading these books, they return to familiar Scriptures and discover a new depth and authenticity to them. Others begin to realize that the Old Testament canon is not as black and white issue and they were taught.

All Scripture is Not Equal

Such a statement may come as a shock. If anything sounds like an attack on Scripture, this does.

Some background is necessary. In pre-Christian synagogue worship, when Scripture was read, the congregation responded differently to various sections of the Old Testament. The historical books “ranked” lowest, and above that came the Psalter and the Prophets. But when the Law was read, everyone in the synagogue stood. Here, for them, was the core of God’s revelation and, above all other books, the Law of Moses merited full attention.

The same happened in early Christianity after the Apostles died. But instead of the Law, it was the Gospels that compelled the faithful to stand in respect. The words and deeds of Jesus were seen as the pinnacle of the revelation of Scripture. The early Christians’ hermeneutic of the rest of the Bible began and ended with the words of Christ. The Gospels were the core of their canon. St. Paul was understood in the light of Jesus, not vice versa.

Is this ordering of Scripture so strange? We do it ourselves, although we do not readily admit it. If we consider all the sermons we have heard, cataloguing the references used, we will find that some books typically merit more thought and discourse than others. In many Protestant churches Romans and Galatians are focused upon while II Peter, James, and Jude are not. In the Old Testament, the Psalms are read more frequently than Numbers. If any church or tradition really sought to cover Scripture equally they would have to slate four times more sermons on the Old Testament than on the New!

By Joel Kalvesmaki

***

Joel Kalvesmaki is Editor in Byzantine Studies at Dumbarton Oaks, overseeing the production of Dumbarton Oaks’ flagship Byzantine publications, print and digital. He is active in the digital humanities and his research covers intellectual history in late antiquity, with a focus on ancient number symbolism and the writings of Evagrius Ponticus.

Source: http://pemptousia.com/2015/01/all-scripture-is-inspired-by-god-problems-in-the-apocrypha/

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