INTRODUCTION Isaiah 24-27 constitutes a section of the prophecy often known as the “little apocalypse.” Isaiah sees the whole world devastated and ruined. Not only earth, but the whole of creation is coming apart at the seams (cf. Isaiah 24:21-23). THE TEXT “Behold, the Lord makes the earth empty and makes it waste, distorts its surface and scatters abroad its inhabitants. And it shall be: As with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his... Read more
Romans 10:9-10: If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. A baptismal liturgy is an appropriate place for the creed, particularly for the Apostles’ Creed we’re currently using. The Apostles’ creed probably originated as a series of questions posed at the time of baptism to... Read more
For the Greek philosophers, working with matter was menial, a task for slaves and other non-citizen workers. Commerce was dirty and repulsive. The only true work of a gentleman, the only true work of a prince or nobleman, was intellectual, philosophizing, which is to say, doing nothing. That is not the biblical view. There is nothing menial about working with your hands on physical things; nothing dirty about commerce. These are royal tasks, part of the task of ruling and... Read more
Puzzling over the overlapping images of the faces of the cherubim and the tabernacle furnishings, with the help of James Jordan’s essay on orientation in Revelation. The east-west orientation, lion-bull, is fairly clear. East is the place of the altar, therefore the origin of the bull, who ascends to the inner sanctuary so that his face appears to the west. West is the place of the ark-throne, therefore the origin of the lion, who descends from the inner sanctuary so... Read more
Hebrew has two main words for “south.” The first, negev , refers to the south country of Israel (Exodus 12:9; 13:1, 3, 14; etc.). The other word, teyman , is related to the word yamin , “right hand,” and means “right” as well as “south.” When it means the latter, of course, it assumes someone facing east, so that the south is on the right. In Exodus, “right” is the position of the lampstand (Exodus 26:18, 35; 27:9; 36:23; 38:9).... Read more
Romans 10:9-10 has a neat chiastic structure: A. If you confess B. With your mouth the Lord Jesus C. And believe D. in your heart that God raised Him E. you will be saved D’. For with the heart C’. One believes unto righteousness B’. And with the mouth A’. Confession is made. E’. unto salvation A few comments on this. (more…) Read more
I’m sure I’ve been told this before, but, as Chesterton realized, there’s a certain joy in discovering what you’ve known as if for the first time. Every commentators nowadays notes that the description of the tabernacle in Exodus 25-31 is laid out in seven speeches of Yahweh that mimic the days of creation. But Moses’ actual construction of the tabernacle, narrated in Exodus 40, also follows the creation week: Day 1: Tabernacle with boards and pillars, tent, covering over tent,... Read more
I offer some reflections on the timeliness of the work of JG Hamann over at http://www.firstthings.com/ Read more
I offer some reflections on the timeliness of the work of JG Hamann over at http://www.firstthings.com/ Read more
The first section of Isaiah 23, verses 1-7, forms a small chiasm: A. Howl; ships of Tarshish, v 1 B. Sidon and Nile, vv 2-4a C. Sea speaks, v 4b B’. Report of Tyre reaches Egypt, v 5 A’. Tarshish; howl, vv 6-7 Two additional notes. First, the B section is marked off by an inclusio referring to Sidon: “merchants of Sidon” in v 2 and “O Sidon” in v 4a. The first line urges the merchants of Sidon to... Read more
Leithart
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