The Fullness of Time had come!

This week we saw how God was in control, preparing the stage for the arrival of Messiah Jesus at just the right time. The messianic expectation in all of its diversity was in full bloom, and few were ready for the coming of the Son of God when he burst on the scene as the son of the carpenter (or so it was assumed!). But why do we have four accounts of the story of Jesus? Would it not have been better for God to inspire someone to write an inclusive and exhaustive biography? As we continue discussing his life and then the birth of the NT church, we'll see that each writer, from his own perspective, complements the others, and wrote with the needs of his readers in mind. What do you think?

"Break the teeth of my enemies!"

Several of you commented in last week's paper about the prayers in the psalms that ask God to defeat or destroy the enemies of the psalmist. These passages, called "imprecations", present a rather thorny moral dilemma from our modern New Testament perspective. Are we to pray for our enemies' destruction? Should we ask God to crush those who oppose us? It is important to note a couple of factors: 1) Salvation in the OT routinely had two aspects, one positive (life and blessing in the land), and another we could call negative, destruction of enemies (so that the people could have security and peace, the life of blessing in the land). So a call for the enemies destruction was one way for the psalmist to pray for deliverance in the midst of crisis. 2) Another factor is that it is important to ask, who are our enemies? In the conquest God used Israel to bring judgement against the pagan inhabitants of Canaan. The enemies were the pagan peoples who opposed the Jews receiving God's good gift of the Land. We however, wrestle not against flesh and blood. Our adversary is spiritual. In a certain sense when we pray "thy Kingdom come..." we are praying for God's reign to manifest itself, and with that, that our adversary (Satan) be defeated. Feel free to give feedback!
Dr. Nash

David, the King, and his coming Son

Though Judges ends with the statement that there was no king in Israel in those days and "everyone did what was right in his own eyes" the desire for a king "like the nations around them" was less than an ideal response by the people. A king who reflected God's sovereign rule and acted as his vice-regent would be quite different from the "deified" status of the pagan kings. Saul's failure is followed by God's unlikely choice of Jessie's youngest son, David. We certainly see David's failures and his "humanness" as the story unfolds, but he loves God and does not waver toward idolatry. The promise is given in the Davidic covenant of an ideal Son who would have an eternal reign. This forward looking hope won't be fulfilled until we get to "Act 4" of the "Drama of Redemption" and the sending of Messiah Jesus.
Dr. Nash

The King chooses a people...

The story of God in human history is initiated in the opening chapters of Genesis and takes an exciting turn in the stories of the patriarchs as God chooses the line through which the Messiah would come. We'll be looking at the story of Israel over the next two weeks. I have uploaded the powerpoint file as a PDF document to e-learning for this week and next, covering "Act 3" of The Drama of Scripture. If you print out the document before class it might help you to follow the discussion without trying to write down everything. By the way, you should have received an e-mail with your grade for the first assignment. If not, it is avalable on e-learning. I was impressed with the effort most of you put into the first assignment, keep up the great work!
Dr. Nash

In the beginning God...

Last week we started our journey through the scriptures with a quick overview of the Story. This week we will be going back to the beginning and looking at the start of God's Story in human history. Beginnings are important in any story. They are often essential to understanding the plot as it develops. In this case, the first three chapters of the Book will show us who God is, and who we are in relationship to him and in relation to his Creation. We will see a story that begins beautifully, but suddenly tension, even disaster enters. We will also see hope. Though humankind fails miserably, our failure will not impede the plan of God. I trust you have begun by now your reading of Genesis. I strongly recommend that you try setting aside a couple of hours this week to read through this "Book of Beginnings" in a single setting. You can then go back and look at the details of the opening chapters. Remember to read the story keeping in mind the amazing truth that this is God's Word to us.

Seeing the "Big Picture"

This week we tried to look at the idea of the Bible as a narrative revealing God's unfolding plan in history. It is important to recognize that we all interpret our experiences and live our lives in terms of some kind of metanarrative or "Grand Story." Do we buy into the arguments of modern secular science that would say, essentially, that we are the end result of chance, random, processes? Too many Christians live as though that kind of worldview controls their thinking. They look to the Bible for inspiration or moral lessons or encouragement, but they miss the big picture. We need to step back and understand the unity of the biblical narrative and its revelation of the unfolding of God's plan in history. If we do that we will begin to see our lives differently as well. Our story is a part of His story. Feel free to post your comments, questions, or observations below (click on "comments"). Have a great weekend!
Dr. Nash

First Class, let's get started!

Well our first class is history, let the fun begin as we explore His story and discover our role in it. As you get into the first readings, please feel free to post any questions or observations you have. I'll try to check back here regularly and respond to your questions and input. I uploaded todays powerpoint to the e-learning page as a PDF file. Keep looking up!
Dr. Nash