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March 27 - April 11, 2020
God says he has brought them out of Egypt like an eagle carrying its tired young on its wings. Israel’s formation as God’s people is utterly dependent on God’s gracious acts on their behalf.
God’s intention is to have a people with whom he is in relationship.
God has called Israel for a special purpose.
But (as we noted with Abraham) election is not just for privilege: it is for service, for the sake of the nations. If they live under his reign, they will be a “kingdom of priests” and a “holy nation”
Holiness is one of the most important attributes the Bible ascribes to God. It tells us that God is special, different from all that he has created, and full of goodness. Israel is called by God to be holy, to be differ...
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Thus, on an international scale, Israel is called to mediate between the Lord and all the nations.
God’s rescue of the Israelites comes about because of his gracious love for them, not because they deserve to be rescued or have earned it in any way by their obedience to God
Girard argues that “mimetic desire”—the desire to have what others have in order to be like them—is at the root of violence in society, and that uniquely in the ancient world we have here a law constraining such desire.
God is under no illusion that his people are perfect.
Sacrifice is necessary for sinners to come into God’s presence.
(1) the people seek to make what God has already provided or will provide; (2) the idea to make the image is a human initiative; (3) the materials for it are demanded (not given voluntarily), reminding readers of the old life of slavery in Egypt; (4) it is a quick, human job, without the careful preparations befitting the Holy One of Israel; and (5) the Lord, the invisible, holy God, is turned into a visible object that can neither speak nor act.
God does reveal himself to Moses as compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion, and sin
Thus, as God takes up residence among his people, he graciously provides a comprehensive apparatus for maintaining the relationship between him and them.
The food laws symbolize that Israel is God’s people, called to enjoy life, while Gentile idolaters are by and large opposed to him and his people, and face death.
The reported strength of the enemy engenders fear, and the Israelites’ faith in the Lord collapses.
Modern readers of the Bible often find the instruction to drive out the other nations from the land difficult to stomach
He sets before them two options for their future: judgment or blessing
Although the conquest is achieved by means of several battles, the narrative stresses throughout that the Israelites are entirely dependent on the Lord for their success.
In words reminiscent of God’s command to Moses at the burning bush, the angel tells Joshua to take off his sandals, for he stands on holy ground. Clearly, it is not Joshua but the Lord himself who is the general in charge of this campaign: the Lord is the one who will grant success to the Israelites.
The earlier problem at Ai caused by Achan’s sin is a reminder that Israel will be successful in the land only if the people remain obedient to the Lord and keep the terms of his covenant.
In particular, the law of the Sabbath is a powerful reminder that the Lord is the one who sustains the creation and that there is more to life than consumerism.
Joshua claims that the land is to be the place of rest for the Israelites, but it is also a place of testing, of temptation.
The answer of the angel of the Lord to Joshua in 5:13–15, in which he replies that he is on neither side, also serves as a reminder to the Israelites that for them too, obedience will be the key to flourishing in and remaining in the land.
The expectation appears to be that the Israelites will live directly under the Lord’s reign with some help from elders whom Moses and Joshua have appointed.
“Israel is chosen by God but too weak to live up to its calling.
Furthermore, the worship of Baal offers immediate physical gratification:
These few words generate a heated debate among Samuel, God, and the elders of Israel, for the question of who is to lead the people is central to the very identity of Israel (chap. 8). If Israel is to be a light to the nations and bring blessing to them, then it must be different from them. But in asking for a king, it seems to want to be like the other nations.
Once more, Samuel confronts King Saul and reminds him that God wants obedience, not sacrifice:
The grim history of Saul points out how the institution of the human monarch is dangerous for Israel.
Israel’s human king will lead the people to be a holy nation and priestly kingdom. He will do so as he removes idolatry from the land and gives Israel rest and shalom.
The child conceived in David’s adulterous union with Bathsheba dies. Rape, murder, and rebellion erupt in David’s own extended family. At last God’s judgment on David reaches its climax with the death of David’s beloved son Absalom, who has tried to take the throne of Israel for himself.
“The fear of the LORD” is also the starting point for a journey of exploration that may extend throughout the whole creation. The theological presupposition of wisdom is that the Lord is the Lord God, the Creator: the very fabric of creation comes from him.
Solomon’s greatest achievement is that he builds God’s temple.
Now perhaps Israel can draw the nations to God.
Sadly, however, the seeds of civil strife and apostasy are already present in Solomon’s day, and these seeds soon bring a deadly harvest.
political consequences of this schism are immense
Israel is a theocracy, and God’s word, not the word of the king, is to have final authority.
But God is patient and long-suffering, and he does not quickly cast the northern kingdom into exile.
Underlying the struggle between Elijah and Ahab is the more fundamental conflict between Baal and the Lord: To which will the north give its allegiance?
But sadly, Israel itself is all this while becoming more and more like the surrounding pagan nations because the people refuse to serve the Lord alone.
Only from the Lord himself can Israel hope for answers to such perplexing questions. This is what makes the voices of the prophets so important in the biblical story and in our understanding of Israel’s shifting fortunes.
Though he has graciously lived there among his people, their apparent end as a nation is not his ending.
But Israel’s surest hope for a future lies not in the chronicles of its history but in the writings of its prophets.
The Lord’s purposes remain, as do his promises to Abraham, Moses, and David.
We should not think that the Lord has been quick to cast his people out of the land. On the contrary, God is portrayed throughout the Old Testament as moving slowly and regretfully toward this judgment.
the vision of 7:1–14, there is “one like a son of man” (v. 13) who comes to the Ancient of Days and is given authority and sovereignty over all nations.
In the Gospels Jesus refers to himself as “the Son of Man.” His implicit claim is to the authority promised this figure in Daniel’s prophetic vision.
Yet the story exudes a powerful sense of God’s providence in the experience of the Israelites who remain in exile.
But neither the Jews’ distinctive hope in God nor their sense of identity as his own people was ever eradicated.
(so influential that scholars of the Torah translated their sacred Scriptures into Greek: a version known as the Septuagint)
