Hermeneutics - Lesson 9

Hermeneutics
Dr. Todd Miles
nt310-09
Context in Redemptive History
Lesson Transcript

Well, I walk you through using Matthew 18, verse 20, how you might approach the different layers of context. It's really important, though, to remember that that every portion of the scriptures finds its place in the Bible as as a whole. And what we want to do is we want to be able to locate each passage in its place in redemptive history, because the Bible comes to us as a story with a definite plot line. And when I say story, I'm not saying made up. I'm saying that there's a there's a setting and there's characters and there's a problem to be fixed. It's not a collection of abstract stories. It's not an anthology of clever religious writings. Each part of the Bible has its place in the canon and in redemptive history. The Bible tells a story of creation and fall. And then we're introduced to Abraham and the great patriarchs. We find that there is a sojourn down in Egypt, where they are the Israelites. The family of Abraham is enslaved. Then there's an exodus where they are delivered out of slavery in Egypt. There's the constitution of Abraham's family, the Israelites as a geopolitical entity, a nation that has a law and the priesthood. They enter into the promised land. There's judges for a while, but eventually they're led by kings. There's a monarchy of this United Kingdom, which lasts for, well, not very long. And then there's division between the northern tribes and the southern tribes. Judgment eventually comes on both kingdoms, the northern first, then the southern. They are led into captivity and then eventually are restored. That's the Old Testament, largely through all of this. We're looking for a promised one. We're looking for someone who will be that Serpent crusher of Genesis 3:15. The the prophesied heir of Jacob from the tribe of Judah, who will have a scepter that he will hold forever. We're. We're looking for that prophet, someone like Moses who will speak like him. We're looking for a Davidic son who will rule and reign forever. We're looking for a servant who will preach the good news, who will suffer even for his people. And then finally, that person comes in the Messiah, Jesus Christ. As we move across the storyline of the Bible, though, because of the progress of Revelation, there are some commands that are given to God's people earlier that might be abrogated or done away with removed by further revelation or development in the redemptive history. There's commands for circumcision that were given to the children of Abraham. Circumcision is the sign of the Abrahamic Covenant. It's later codified into the Mosaic Covenant, and then later on in the New Covenant, it's not necessary. There's food laws in the in the Mosaic law that are abrogated by Jesus's words that at one point he has a discussion about, you know, what makes a person clean and unclean. He says it's not what goes in to you that makes you unclean. It's what comes out of you that makes you unclean, which is an amazing thing. It just shows you how powerful Jesus is. Because by uttering those words, 1400 years of food laws are done away with at that point, for which, as a bacon lover, I am very, very grateful. If we ignore this flow to redemptive history, if we ignore the plot line, we're going to read the Bible anachronistically. That is, we're going to read the Bible by and misinterpret it because we don't understand the time setting of any particular verse we're reading. So I would say that as we're reading the Scriptures, we need to go with the flow. I know that's not a terribly profound theological statement. Go with the flow, but it's very important. When we're reading the Bible, I have it in Axiom eight. There's a progress to revelation and redemptive history. Pay attention to that progress. Where are we at in the story? Because most parts of the Bible are designed to be read in flow, if you will, that we recognized that there was something that happened before and there's something that's going to happen. And the part that we're reading fits in between those two things. Now, there are some things like the Psalms or certain discourses where or Psalms that Proverbs, things like that, where the context or the flow isn't quite as important. But there's only a few sections like that where the flow to the movement is not important. I mentioned earlier, Biblical writers are very good writers. The authors are very good writers and we should give them credit for having a literary strategy. Maybe think of it this way When the Bible and when letters from Paul were first read in churches, they didn't spend an hour talking about one verse. They read a letter, the whole entire thing. How long did it take John Piper to preach through the Book of Romans? I think he started the sermon series on Romans by saying, Some of you are not going to be alive by the time I finish this, which I guess is technically true, even if you do a 30 minute sermon. That might be the case. But he knew it was going to take him years to get through this. That's totally fine. Just recognize that sometimes we might lose the context or the flow if we're spending years reading something that was initially designed to be read in one setting to illustrate how reading in flow is important. I want to I want to do a little exercise with you from First Samuel, Chapter 17. So if you will turn there, you might recognize this as the story of David and Goliath. When I was a young child, my mom would teach Sunday school classes and it was always fun at the beginning of the of the new session or the new season, she would get all the flannel graph stuff and have to cut out the different characters, and they'd put the little barrettes or whatever it was in the arms to make the arms move up and down in two dimensions and such. But it was super exciting when the story that she was going to be teaching was David and Goliath. That was my favorite story growing up. And then then I went away to seminary and eventually got a Ph.D. And if you ask me what's your favorite Bible story, I would still tell you it's David and Goliath. First. Samuel, 17, is the story of David and Goliath. But to get the full effect of this story, you have to start reading maturely because whoever wrote first Samuel assumes that we start reading in first Samuel one, not first Samuel, 17. He assumes that you've read the first 16 chapters of First Samuel before you get to first samuel 17. Honestly, we could argue the author first Samuel assumes we've read from Genesis onward by the time we get there. But I won't take you all the way back there. Let's just think about first Samuel. First Samuel tells us about the transition from an era of judges to an era of prophets and kings. And Samuel is the pivot point here. Samuel is the last judge of Israel, and he's also the first significant prophet of Israel. And he gets the task of anointing the first king of Israel and being the advisor to him. Now, this is hard on Samuel because he knows that when the people ask for a king that they are rejecting him as judge. And they do that largely because they looked at his kids and they said, Your kids are rotten. And so we don't want them. Let's we want a king. But they say something more than that. And first, Samuel, eight verses 19 and 20. And again, by the time we get to first, Samuel 17, the assumption is that we have read these first 16 chapters, including first Samuel eight and then first Samuel eight verses 19 and 20. Why is it, that the people ask for a king? Here's what it says. The people refuse to listen to Samuel. No. They said we must have a king over us. Then we'll be like all the other nations. Our king will judge us, go out before us and fight our battles. Okay. As we're reading along, we should cringe when we get to this point. Wanting to be like all the other nations is not a good justification for anything other than judgment. God had said to the people of Israel, I want you to dress funny. I want you to cut your hair funny. I want you to eat funny. And you are definitely not going to worship like the other nations. You are to be a people set apart holy to me. And I am going to give you all sorts of religious cultic rigamarole to prove to yourselves and to everyone else that you are not to be like the other nations. So when the Israelites come to to Samuel and say, We want to be like the other nations. We should think, Oh, this is not going to go well. This is not going to go well at all. And so so the "great theologian" Garth Brooks once sang that some of God's greatest blessings are unanswered prayers. The converse of that would be some of God's greatest curses are answered prayers. He decides to answer their prayer. He gives them what they want. He gives them exactly what they want. A king after their own heart. A king as short sighted as they are. And so God selects Saul to be the king. He gives them what they want. He's the tallest, most handsome man in Israel. He's like eye candy, pleasing to the eye of all the Israelites. Now, they could be like the other nations with a big, strong king that they could see to lead them. What is the king supposed to do? Well, the Israelites articulated it. We want someone who will go out and fight the other nations. And that's what God codifies into the job description of the king. We find in chapter nine, verse 16, and chapter ten, verse one, that the job of the king is to fight the enemies of Israel. And strangely enough, even though we know that kings do more than that, there's really nothing else described about what the king is supposed to do other than go fight the enemies of Israel. That's what you're supposed to do. It's the number one job description of the king, and it is spelled out specifically. So Saul becomes the first king of Israel and he he's he's kind of a mixed bag. Well, he's a mixed bag in that he's good for a while. And then things go totally south with him. He eventually blows it. Now, he first, though, first he initially obeyed. Well, you might know the story of of him uniting these 12 bickering tribes so they could go save the people of Jabesh Gilead. It really cements his kingship. They think, hey, you're awesome. We'll follow you. He maybe he went to Jabez Gilliatt because as we learn in the Book of Judges that the people of Gilead were from the tribe of Benjamin. There's that weird story about how the tribe of Benjamin went to Jabesh Gilead to get wives, because there all the women had been killed. So they go like in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and kidnap a bunch of women. And and so for Benjamin. But for for Saul, who's a Benjamite, they're kin. So goes up goes up to rescue them. But it's what God wanted. The Spirit rushed upon him. And and I should also say that as we're reading along here, if we've been reading from Genesis onward, the fact that the first king of Israel comes from the tribe of Benjamin, we probably should be thinking, you know, this is not going to end very well. This isn't going to work because the true king, the one that God prophesied through Jacob to Joseph and the rest of the kids, was going to come from the tribe of Judah. The great king would be described as the Lion of Judah, as a matter of fact. So we have our doubts. And sure enough, Saul blows it. He disobeys the command of God. The Lord rejects him as king. He he he offers improper sacrifice. He holds back some of the loot when he was supposed to destroy it all. So God's going to do something different this time. He'll do it differently. He's going to select a man not after the people's heart, but he says in chapter 13, verse 14, I'm going to select a man after my own heart to be king. And we find out that that is David. David is a man after God's own heart. And we might ask, Well, what does that even mean to be a man after God's own heart? Well, the rest of first and second Samuel are going to spell that out for us. But there are two things in particular I want you to notice. And they come at David's anointing. In chapter 16, verse seven. Mind you, we still haven't even gotten to first Samuel 17 yet. We're still establishing the foundation in chapter 16, verse seven. We land in the middle of the story where Samuel goes to the family of Jesse to anoint the next king. He doesn't know which son of Jesse it's going to be. So he shows up and said, Hey, Jesse, can you bring your sons here? Oh, I've got many of them. That's great. Yes, I will. And and so they parade before him. Oldest two youngest. And the first one is more eye candy. Verse six When they arrive, Samuel saw Eliab and said, Certainly the Lord's anointed one is here before him. Now, I would point out what's the Hebrew word for anointed one? Messiah. Messiah. It literally it said, certainly the Lord's Messiah is here before Him. But the Lord said to Samuel, Do not look at his appearance or his stature because I have rejected him. Humans do not see what the Lord sees for humans, see what is visible. But the Lord sees the heart. Man looks at the outward appearance. The Lord looks at the heart. So a man after God's own heart isn't necessarily going to look the part by virtue of appearance. But it has to do with the heart condition of of the individual. As you know from the rest of this of Chapter 16, that all the sons go before Samuel. God rejects all of them. Hey, do you. Jesse, is this it? Is there anyone else? Oh, yeah, there's David. He's out taking care of the sheep. Well, bring him. I asked you to bring all the sons, not just the ones you thought were important. And so David comes, and the Lord says to Samuel annoyed him. This is the guy. So verse 13, Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers. And the spirit of the Lord came powerfully on David from that day forward. This doesn't exactly tell us what it is to be a man after God's own heart. But we do know that a man after God's own heart is going to have the Spirit of God. It's going to Spirit of God. And this is unique in the Old Testament that the Spirit would come upon David powerfully from that day forward. There's some sort of unique anointing or empowering presence of the Spirit of God upon David. The next verse tells us, like, Meanwhile, back in Saul's court, what's going on? The spirit of the Lord left Saul, and an evil spirit sent from the Lord began to torment him. So everything that follows in chapter 17 sets is set up for right there. The Spirit of God is on David. The Spirit of the Lord has left Saul. So we're not really surprised by what takes place. Now we get to Chapter 17 and we finally get to the story. The Philistines gathered their forces for Sokolt in Judah and camped between Sokolt and Ephes Damin. Saul and the men of Israel gathered and camped in the Valley of Elah. Then they lined up in battle formation to face the Philistines. The Philistines were standing on one hill, and Israelites were standing on another hill with a ravine between them. So this sets the stage. It's the setting for this story. Basically, the Philistines who lived on the coastal plains had chariots, had iron, were kind of the bullies didn't like to work a whole bunch. The Israelites were up in the highlands of Judah and such, where they were good farmers. And around harvest time the Philistines would say, Well, we don't want to farm. Let's just go up and let's take all the grain from from the Israelites. The y would head to a place like Bethlehem, which is Hebrew for House of Bread. Bethlehem, House of Bread. We know that from Ruth, the always good grain harvest there. And but the route to get there was along what's called the Bethlehem Ridge route. And what's taking place here is that King Saul has gathered the Israelites to defend that ridge route, to deny them passage onto this place where they can just take their chariots and just sweep on through and take all of the grain that has just been harvested. And yet they're in a bit of a standoff here because the the Philistines want to stay in their chariots. They don't want to go attack up on the high, high ground. The Israelites are defending the high ground where the Philistines want to get to. But so they're at a bit of a standoff at this point. And so what what do you do when there's a standoff like that? Well, maybe you look to something that will initiate a battle, and that's the Philistines idea here. If we look at verse four, then a champion named Goliath from Gath came out from the Philistine camp. He was nine feet nine inches tall, wore a bronze helmet and bronze scale armor that weighed 125 pounds. Now, as I read this to you. I want you to be thinking about what we just read in chapter 16, where the Prophet of the Lord Samuel, had to be told, man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. Immediately after this, we get to Chapter 17, where there's a battle between the Philistines and Israelites. There's lots of battles between the Israelites and all sorts of people, and we are never told in such gory detail what the enemy looked like. But we're told about it here. Why? Because we're reading this in flow and we know because we were just told man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. So let's let's read this again. Then a champion named Goliath from Gath came out from the Philistine camp. He was nine feet nine inches tall. Would you just look at this guy? He's a giant who can face him. He wore a bronze helmet and bronze scale armor that weighed 125 pounds. Look at that. How do we stand a chance against that? There was a bronze armor on his shins, and a bronze javelin was slung between his shoulders. This guy's unbeatable. Look at him. His spear shaft was like a weaver's beam, and the iron point of his spear weighed 15 pounds. Would you just look at this freak? Who can defeat him? This is what's going on in the mind of the Israelites. In addition, a shield bearer was walking in front of him. He stood and shouted to Israelite battle formations. I always picture like the mouth of Sauron here in this passage. Why do you come out to line up in battle formation? Yes, I'm. Am I not a Philistine? And are you not servants of Saul? Choose one of your men and have him come down against me. If he wins in a fight against me and kills me, we will be your servants. But if I went against him and kill him, then you will be our servants and serve us. And the Philistine said, I defy the ranks of Israel today. Send me a man so we can fight each other. Will will initiate the battle that way. Neither neither side is going to leave their fortified positions. So send out a champion. And this seems like a pretty good deal to the Philistines. And it sounds like a rotten deal to the Israelites. But the challenge has been issued. Who is supposed to go fight? What's the number one job description of the king? What did he have to do to fulfill his kingly responsibilities? Who should have been out there, saw at his job. That's his only job as king, as far as we know from first Samuel. Go fight the enemies of God. Go fight the enemies of Israel. Where? Saul? He is hiding in his tent, dismayed in this sorrow. Heartened? He basically soils his armor at this point. Enter, David. The true king, the anointed king. Now, David was the center of the effort from Bethlehem of Judah named Jesse. Jesse had eight sons, and during Saul's reign was already an old man. Jesse's three oldest son had followed salt to the war, and their names were a lab a minute. David was the youngest three. Oldest had followed Saul, but David kept going back and forth from Saul to tend his father's flock in Bethlehem. I suppose he would show up just to see how things were going. It was a big battle and probably interesting to a young, a young man Every morning and evening for 40 days, the Philistines came forward and took his stand. 40 days. That seems significant, doesn't it? 40 days. That's a long time. It's not such an accidental number. I doubt it. One day Jesse had told his son David, take this half bushel of roasted grain, along with his ten loaves of bread for your brothers and hurry to their camp. Also, take these ten portions of cheese to the field commander. Check on the well-being of your brothers and bring a confirmation from them. There was Saul and all the men of Israel in the Valley of Elah fighting with the Philistines. Now, why would he have done that? Because they are at the valley. That is the entrance to the ridge route that will take them sweeping right through Bethlehem. Not only is there vested interest because his three boys are fighting, but if he loses his three boys and Israel loses, then the Philistines are sweeping right up through the rest of his family, right into Bethlehem. So David got up early morning, left the flock with someone to keep it loaded up, set out as Jessica charged him. He he arrives and he hears about this taunting. David left his supplies in care of the quartermaster, ran to the battle line. When he arrived, he his brothers, how they were. So he does what he's supposed to do. Talks to his brothers while there. While they were while he was speaking with them. Suddenly, the champion named Goliath, the Philistine from Gath, came forward from the Philistine battle line and shouted his usual words. Which David heard. This is like great moments in redemptive history. Goliath, I mean, going out every single day, shouting the same exact thing. But this time it's different because the anointed king of Israel, the true king. Here's the challenge. When all the Israelites inside Goliath, they retreated from him terrified. Now, previously, an Israeli man had declared, Do you see this man who keeps coming out? He comes out to defy Israel. The king will make the man who kills him very rich will give him his daughter. The king will also make the family of that man's father exempt from paying taxes in Israel, which is rather pathetic, because basically at this point, Saul, as King Saul is trying to bribe others into doing his job for him. David's like, Wow, hey, this sounds pretty cool. But notice what he says. What will be done for the man who kills that Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Just who is this uncircumcised Philistine Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God? This is David demonstrating his kingly worth. He cares about the glory of God. He cares that someone is defying the armies of the living God. Because to defy the armies of the living God is to defy God Himself. And David, a man after God's own heart, can not stand that. The troops said, hey, this is what we'll be done. David's like, Hey, that sounds like a pretty good deal. He fights with his brothers a little bit because that's what brothers do. And David's like, What I do, what I do, what I do. And. And then David. What David had said verse 31 was overheard and reported, Saul. So he had David brought to him. David said to Saul, which is interesting because here's mighty eye candy, big, strong King Saul with little David. I don't know how little probably he's probably not like five years old, but he definitely doesn't look the part of a warrior. That's the important part. David said to Saul, Don't let anyone be discouraged by him. Your servant will go and fight this philistine. Saul basically says this. Look at you and look at him. Look at you. Now look at him. Look at you. Look at him. You can't do this. He's been a warrior since he was young. You're a kid. David, answered Saul. Your servant has been tending his father's sheep. Whenever a lion or a bear came and carried off a lamb from the flock. I went after it. Struck it down. Rescued the lamb from its mouth. If it reared up against me, I would grab it by its fur, strike it down, kill it. Your servant has killed lions and bears. This uncircumcised, Philistine will be like one of them. Why? Not because of David's might. This uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God. Then David spells it out. The Lord who rescued me from the power of the lying in the Pol Pot of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this philistine. Saul said to David, Go, and may the Lord be with you. But before you go, would you mind putting on my armor and going out there? Maybe then people will see that and think that I'm actually fulfilling my kingly responsibilities. But it doesn't fit, David. David can't wear Saul's armor. And so he says, I can't I can't walk in these. I'm not used to them. So he takes them off instead. He took in his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the wadi or the river canal, put them in the pouch in his shepherd's bag. Then with the sling in his hand, he approached the Philistine. And if you go to the Eli Valley in Israel, you can. You can go. You can find, like five smooth stones there all over the place there. It's really cool. You won't find the five stones because I have them already. At least that's what the dude who sold them to me told me anyway, so. So just try to keep your expectations where they ought to be. And. And then the rest of this battle is. Is just magnificent. The Philistines came closer and closer to David with the shield bearer in front of him. When the Philistine looked and saw David, he despised him because he was just a youth, healthy and handsome. Again, man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart. Standing before Goliath is the servant of the living God who who had been ordained to destroy this man. But all the Philistine can see is just a little kid. But he is way more than that. He said to David, Am I a dog? That you come against me with sticks? Then he cursed David by his gods. Come here. The Philistine called to David, and I'll give your flesh to the birds of the sky. And the wild beasts. David said to the Philistine, and this is like holy trash talking. It existed long before the NBA. You come against me. With a sword, spear and javelin. But I come against you in the name of the Lord of armies, the God of the ranks of Israel. You have defied him. Today, the Lord will hand you over to me today. I'll strike you down, Remove your head and give the corpses of the Philistine camp to the birds of the sky and the wild creatures of the earth. Why, then all the world will know that Israel has a god. It's as though David is talking at this point in time. David, the Lord's anointed One is talking to the Philistines and anyone else who is listening. Outside of Israel. I'm going to destroy you. So all the world will know that the living God is God of Israel. And then he says something rather unique. And this whole assembly will know that it is not by sword or by spear that the Lord saves for the battle is the Lord's. He will hand you over to us. At this moment, David is demonstrating his kingly worth. He's willing to go fight the enemies of Israel, but he's not going to be just a warrior king. He's also going to be a shepherd king because, as he says, this whole assembly will know who is he talking about? I think he's talking about. The Israelites who were behind him watching. He is the shepherd king who, even as he goes out to fight Goliath, is shepherding the hearts of his people, teaching them of the ways of the Lord. He will hand you over to us. He says when the Philistines started forward to attack him, David ran quickly to the battle line to meet the Philistine. David put his hand in his bag, took out a stone, slung it, and hit the Philistine on his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead and he fell face down to the ground. David defeated the Philistine with a sling and a stone. David overpowered the Philistine and killed him without having a sword. David ran and stood over him. He grabbed the Philistine's sword, pulled it from a sheath, and used it to kill him. Then he cut off his head. When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they fled. The men of Israel and Judah rallied, shouting their battle cry and chased the Philistines to the entrance to the valley into the gates of Ekron. Philistine bodies were strewn all along the stream road to Gath and Ekron. When the Israelites returned from the pursuit of the Philistines, they plundered their camps. David took Goliath's head and brought it to Jerusalem. But he put Goliath's weapons in his own tent. So there is the story of David and Goliath. What? What's going on here? David has just demonstrated his kingly worth because he does what Saul failed to do. He acts like a king and fights the enemies of Israel. Saul had effectively abdicated. David shows his kingly worth. Ask a question for you to consider. Is Saul a messiah? Is Saul a messiah? Now, remember, Messiah is just the Hebrew term for the anointed one. Is Saul a messiah? And the answer to that is, yes, he is. He was the anointed king of Israel, remember, over and over. While David is the true king, he refuses to raise his hand against the Lord's anointed, against the Lord's messiah. King Saul. So Saul is a messiah, but is he the Messiah? He's the one we've been waiting for. The answer to that, of course, is no. He's not even close. Well, David is the anointed king of Israel, the true king, a man after God's own heart is David a messiah. And the answer is yes. He was anointed king just as Saul was the anointed one of Israel. So, David, as king is the anointed one of Israel. But is he the Messiah? And the answer is no. Put Boise close. He is so close to being the true Messiah that when that true Messiah shows up on the scene, we'll know he's the one because he looks and acts like David. What was it that David did in this moment? David fought the enemies of God. David was the one upon whom the Spirit rushed. David cared about the glory of God and his reputation. And David shepherded the people of Israel. Well, when the true Messiah showed up on the scene some 1000 years later. We recognized him because he looked like David in those particular ways. Jesus Christ is the one upon whom the Spirit of the Lord rushed. The one who had the spirit wish without measure, and is the one who sends the spirit. Even today, Jesus Christ fought the enemies of God and fought them to such a degree that He literally died fighting the enemies of God and then rose from the dead in triumph over all of them. Jesus Christ is who cares passionately about the glory of God? He summed up his entire earthly ministry by saying, I have glorified you. I then asked that the Lord would glorify Him now as he was about to go to the cross. And the promise. To Jesus of Jesus is that one day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God. And Jesus is not just the warrior king, but he's also the shepherd king. When Jesus described himself, he used the language of I am, I'm the gentle one. I am lowly. Come to me. If you are weary, I will give you rest. He described himself as the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd himself, who teaches and leads the people of God. We recognize Jesus for being who he is because he looked and acted like David. So much so. The Jesus identified as the Son of David. And we know that he's the one because of that. That is how you read a story in Flow. You don't just start by reading at the beginning point of the story, but you've got to read it in context. The biblical authors are really good writers. They give you all the hermeneutical clues that you need. It's all there. I didn't as I was telling this story, I didn't give you any extra biblical information, even the stuff about the Philistines being workers of iron. And that's all in the Bible. It's all there. I didn't make any appeal to anything other than what the biblical authors had written. They're really good writers. And that's how you read a story in flow.