The following was originally formulated in partial fulfillment for the requirements of an independent study course on Reformed Baptist heritage for completion of the M.Div. at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Deerfield, IL, November 2014.
Download Statement of Faith here.
I thought this was a very intriguing explanation of Jesus’ accusation of the temple having been made into a “den of robbers,” citing Jeremiah 7:11.
“Jesus’ charge in the accompanying saying that they have made the temple a den of robbers is an allusion to the corresponding accusation by the prophet Jeremiah to his contemporaries in a speech held at the entrance to the temple in Jerusalem approximately in the year 609 b.c. (Jer 7:1–15, cf. Jer 26): “Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your sight? Also I look upon it this way, says the Lord” (Jer 7:11). In his speech Jeremiah blames the people for combining a most outrageous transgression of the commandments of the Lord with a seemingly high esteem for the temple as the house of God. However, when they consider the temple to be an impregnable refuge thanks to God’s presence on Zion, they act the same way as robbers. Robbers seek their den as a safe haven between their operations. When the Judeans who sin and violate God’s will think that his holy site is the place of perfect protection, they have defined the role of the temple to be like a den of robbers. In the quoted oracle God says that from now on he will share the Judeans’ view of the temple, but the consequence that he will draw is quite contrary to theirs. Unless the people repent to a life in harmony with God’s commandments, the temple in Jerusalem will share the destiny of destruction with the previous sanctuary in Shiloh. Some twenty years later the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed. Those listening to Jesus definitely recognized the allusion to Jeremiah 7:11 and the implied threat in his saying [i.e, the destruction of the temple, which is addressed immediately following Jesus’ temple act in what is known as the Olivet Discourse]. To cling stubbornly to the sacrificial cult and seek security in its atoning effect at this hour of eschatological fulfillment brought by Jesus in messianic authority is as deceptive as the schizophrenic conduct of Jeremiah’s contemporaries.”
Ådna, Jostein, “Temple Act,” ed. Joel B. Green, Jeannine K. Brown, and Nicholas Perrin, Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels, Second Edition (Downers Grove, IL; Nottingham, England: IVP Academic; IVP, 2013), 950.
Our second Table Talk event hosted at Rolfing Memorial Library is about less than a week away. This time we will discuss the topic of a historical Adam. The discussion will be facilitated by Dr. Richard E. Averbeck (PhD) and Dr. James K. Hoffmeier (PhD) of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. Be there!
This post is a re-blog of my post at Rolfing Unshelved.
This post is part of a series entitled Key Bible and Theological Reference Tools. This series seeks to provide one with an introduction to some key Biblical and theological reference tools. In this series one will find basic explanations, significant examples, and other information about these reference tools.
A Biblical Commentary is a book that provides an interpretive explanation of a Biblical book or books. Commentaries provide a detailed explanation of specific Biblical passages, an explanation of a Biblical book’s larger structure or argument, and typically engage with introductory matters such as authorship, audience, date of writing, purpose of writing, composition, etc.
As a promised in Core Seminars this morning at church, here are those literary/rhetorical devices–their definitions and contemporary and Biblical examples of them.
Definition – Specific conventions of communication.
Importance – Being aware of these devices helps one understand what the text is “doing” and thereby helps one understand the text in light of what it is doing.
Example: “Break a leg.”
Prov 24:20 – For there will be no future for the evil man;
The lamp of the wicked will be put out [i.e., he will die].
Rom 11:12, 15 (“lesser to greater”) – 12 Now if their transgression is riches for the world and their failure is riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fulfillment be!
15 For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?
Mt 6:26 (“lesser to greater”) – Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?
Rom 5:8-10 (“greater to lesser”) – 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.
Rom 6:1-2 – 1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase [the diatribe]? 2 May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it [Paul]?
Kirk E. Miller 