Month: February 2010

  • The sectarian covenants of Qumran and the New Perspective

    We asked, in our previous post in this series, whether we could detect a shift in the second temple literature away from the pervasive Old Testament understanding of the word “covenant” (“an elected relationship of obligation under oath”) towards a more sociological concept (akin to the New Perspective’s emphasis). The answer was “no” – apart…

  • Covenants in Second Temple Judaism

    We have seen, in our series so far, the way that the word “covenant” is used in the Old Testament. A covenant is not a catch-all term for “relationship”, but it refers to a specific kind of relationship: “an elected relationship of obligation under oath”. Furthermore, although some of the covenants are made between God…

  • Lead us not into temptation (Matthew 6:13)

    This was originally published on the Biblical Theology Briefings website (beginningwithmoses.org) in 2006. The Biblical Theology Briefings aim to provide worked examples of sermons that apply the insights of evangelical biblical theology. As part of a series on the Lord’s Prayer, I was charged with preaching a sermon on this line: ‘Lead us not into…

  • Covenants in Cloudcuckooland and the Greek Old Testament

    We have seen, in our series so far, the way that the word “covenant” is used in the Old Testament. How did the Hebrew word for covenant (בְּרִית) come to be translated by the Greek word διαθήκη? A good case can be made that there is a specific use of the Greek word διαθήκη that…

  • The two-fold covenantal relationship in the prophets: with Israel, for the nations

    We have seen that the covenants with Abraham envisaged two distinct but related goals: nationhood for Abraham’s seed, followed by blessing for the world. The eighth-century prophets use the word “covenant” sparingly, but when they do this two-fold structure is also evident. The prophets never promise that the nations will be included in Israel’s covenants.…

  • Cross-shaped Wisdom (1 Corinthians 1)

    This was originally published on the Biblical Theology Briefings website (beginningwithmoses.org) in 2006. The Biblical Theology Briefings aim to provide worked examples of sermons that apply the insights of evangelical biblical theology. I recently preached at the commissioning of two dear friends of mine who have now gone as missionaries to work as ministers in…

  • Permanent link to acovenantalism series

    For those who are following the series on acovenantalism – I’ve now created a page with a list of links to every post in the series. The list will be updated whenever a new post appears.

  • Two kinds of covenant at Sinai: law and mediation

    Just as there are two distinct but related covenants described in Genesis 12-22, so also there are two distinct but related covenants stemming from the events at Sinai. Firstly, there is the well-known covenant of law, which is a covenant between God and Israel. But the word “covenant” is also used to speak of another…

  • Be careful what you promise

    On the Sola Panel: Do you know for sure that you are going to be with God in Heaven? If God were to ask you, “Why should I let you into My Heaven?” what would you say? Have you ever used these questions (or a variation on them) to talk about the impact of the…

  • The Gospel and Ageing

    From the Sola Panel What is the most polite way to refer to an old person? Have you noticed how the words we collectively use to refer to old people in the media and in private conversation keep changing? It’s a strange process. We start using a word or phrase, for example, ‘old man’, ‘old…

  • What is the significance of circumcision in Genesis?

    Why did God give circumcision to Abraham (Gen 17:9–14)? What is it for? It’s not very useful as a “boundary marker” or “badge of membership”, because under most circumstances people can’t tell whether you’ve been circumcised! Furthermore, lots of other ancient peoples practiced circumcision. Can we discern why circumcision is commanded in the story of…