Background Former Prophets 2 Lecture 1

  1. Recognize literary/synchronic readings of Scripture:
    • Synchronic reading is a reading of the Bible as a coherent story, analyzing the literary strategies and devices that the biblical authors employ to communicate their story. This way of reading takes the biblical story at face value. It usually discerns a unity of literary theme at least at the level of each individual book.
    • -Final Form - Canonical or Confessional-Literary analysis
  2. Recognize historical/diachronic readings of Scripture:
    • -because of the evidence of editors and narrators in the biblical text, especially in the OT, it seeks to get “behind the text” of the Bible to discern the sources of its various literary sections. There is the general assumption that books of the Bible consist of various literary sources, sometimes which contradict each other, that have been patched together and edited over, usually a number of times. The emphasis is less on what the Bible says, but on how the biblical text was put together. There is usually skepticism about the factual history of biblical narratives if it cannot be confirmed by an independent source.
    • -Source theory
    • -Behind the Text
  3. State (in 1 phrase) the overarching narrative theme of Scripture. Explain its first sub-theme of Scripture in 2 paragraphs and the third-fifth sub-themes in 1 paragraph each.
    • the Kingdom of God
    • 1. Yahweh’s Kingship and in-breaking Kingdom: He breaks into our world and interacts with us
    • -Yahweh Lord (Gen. 15:2, 8)
    • -Implied King
    • 1. He delegates governing authority to humans (Gen. 1:28).
    • He is Lord and King delegating us to have authority over the earth s
    • 2. The creation (Gen. 1) and the Garden (Gen. 2) are his palace.
    • 3. As King, he institutes suzerainty treaty covenants with Israel (Exod. 19-20).
    • The ten commandments are a suzerainty treaty
    • 4. Most of the Book of Deuteronomy is in the form of an Ancient Near Eastern (ANE) suzerainty covenant.
    • The Temple is his Palace and the ark is his throne (2 Sam. 6:2; 2 Kgs. 19:15; 2 Chron. 13:6; Ezek. 43:6-7).
    • 4. He rules (Exod. 15:19; 19:6; Judges 8:23).
    • Explicit King (Deut. 33:5; 1 Sam. 8:7; Pss. 24:7-10; 47:2; Isa. 6:5;
    • Dan. 7:13-14). – God explicitly identifies himself as kings / In psalms and from then on Yahweh is established as king
    • Kingdom
    • 5. Yahweh has a kingdom of priests (Exod. 19:6)
    • 6. Son of Man has a kingdom (Dan. 7:13-14)
    • The Name Yahweh derives the meaning of kingship from the Exodus event
    • 7. The name Yahweh means what Yahweh does (Exod. 3:13-20)
    • 8. King Yahweh is the all powerful, matchless deliverer who reigns over all and establishes Israel as his kingdom of priests by royal suzerainty treaty covenant (Exod. 15:19; 19:6; 20:1-17).
    • Miraculous in-breaking of Yahweh’s rule
    • 9. Over nature (Gen.1:1-2:2; 7: 11; Exod. 4:1-9; 8:1-10:23)
    • 10. Over people (Gen. 7:23; 11:8; Exod. 10:1)
    • 11. Over cosmic beings (Gen. 3:14-15; Exod. 7:11-12)
    • 12. Communicating with his people (Gen. 2:16; 6:13; 12:1)
    • 2. Cosmic War between Two Kingdoms: His rule is being challenged by satan and humans while he is trying to assert is rule over all creation
    • Cosmic beings
    • Cosmic serpent (Gen. 3:14-15)- This serpent has insight or knowledge/ cause of universal chaos an destruction / due to his opposition to God he leads humans astray
    • Idols/gods/demons (Gen. 31:30; Exod. 32:1; Deut. 32:17): beings opposed to God and his kingdoms/ gods are actually demons / prevents God from receiving the glory and and the honor due his name
    • Occult arts (Exod. 7:11; Num. 22:5-6; Deut. 18:10-11)
    • Nations (Gen. 6:5; 11:8; Exod. 1:13-14)
    • Unbelievers in Israel (Exod. 32:1; Num. 16:1-3; 25:1-3)-
    • 3. Mission of God’s Kingdom- Yahweh’s mission
    • He wants to restore the entire universe to it’s original perfect state
    • -To bless all nations through his people (Gen. 12:2-3; Lev. 19:33-34; Isa. 49:6).
    • - That all creation be filled with Yahweh’s glory (Hab. 2:14).
    • accepting to aliens, and a blessing to all the nations of the earth
    • 4. People of God/the Kingdom- yahweh’s people
    • His plans are happening though his instruments, His people
    • Membership based on obedience, not ethnicity- if you will be obedient and circumcised – if not then cut off from the people of God. Not physical decedents to Abraham but people who are faithful and obedient to Yahweh
    • Abraham’s slaves (Gen. 17:12-14)
    • Joseph’s Egyptian wife Asenath (Gen. 41:45)- She becomes a part of the people of God
    • Moses’ Midianite wife Zipporah (Exod. 2:21)
    • Rahab the Canaanite (Josh. 6:25)- only eliminated if they opposed to God
    • Ruth the Moabite (Ruth 1:16)
    • 5. Glory of God- he should get the glory and praise when everything is fulfilled…we taste it now but we will taste it fully in the future. Everything we do is to bring about this glory and honor that is due our King. We are in a glorious narrative.
    • The eschatological purpose of Yahweh’s plan is that he would receive the glory and honor due his name (Dan. 7:14)
  4. (recognize) Describe The First telescoping stage :
    • Literal Israelite Kingdom
    • Israel is physcially small- interesting that God chose this little spot on the planet to reveal His kingdom. When the people of God become unfaithful and become no different than the pagans, through the prophets, he says he’s going to shut it down. Just reading the old testament, the future looks very literal.
  5. (recognize) Describe The Second telescoping stage :
    • Metaphorical Shift-
    • -We begin to see the metaphorical elements in the Kingdom of God.

    • Jer 30:9 –“ instead they will serve Yahweh their God and David their kings who I will raise up for them.”
    • David already died…He is very metaphorical. Ultimately it’s Jesus but nobody knows this yet until the New Testament.
    • - read the Bible as a whole and not selectively. Allow the new testament to interpret the old testament. -
    • -“Metaphorical David in the restoration of the Kingdom of God.”
    • · King David (Jer. 30:9), Zerubbabel is a metaphorical figure for the future Idealic King- He was the line of David so he could have become the king in the literal sense but he didn’t. There’s something going on that is bigger than the literal and physical
  6. (recognize) Describe The Third telescoping stage :
    • Metaphorical Shift-
    • · Jesus, the Kingdom within (Luke 17:20-21; cf. 11:20).
    • This is radical and blows everyone’s mind. – No one is prepared for this. We read over and over that they will come back to the land , and mt Zion, and David will be king. People were not expecting Jesus. “The Kingdom of God is among you”- Even His disciples didn’t get it. They were expecting the literal. Jesus was saying things to a confused audience. The people were expecting Jesus to get on a physical throne. It was really hard for the people of Jesus’ day to understand it. We still don’t understand that it’s not about a geo political Israel.
  7. (recognize) Describe The Fourth telescoping stage :Metaphorical shift
    • Israel is being redefined but not so completely different / The church is a priest hood- we are all priests and the holy nation/ In the new testament there is a metaphorical shift using the old testament language but with a universal Israel,/ Universal kingdom of God/ we are all the temple of God instead of a single geographical location
    • --NT Writers, Jerusalem (Gal. 4:26), Zion (Heb. 12:22), Israel (Eph. 2:12, 19; 3:6), Priesthood (1 Pet. 2:9), Holy Nation (1 Pet. 2:9), Temple (Eph. 2:21), Jews (Rev. 2:9)
  8. What is the time period of this political event in the 7th c BC :The demise of the Neo-Assyrian Empire
    • (627-609 BC) Kingdom of Israel conquered by Assyria a century before (722 BC)
    • During this period of Assyrian hegemony (dominance), many Israelites and Judeans (once exiled to various eastern lands) and various non-Israelite peoples resettled in the former northern Kingdom of Israel.
    • -Nineveh destroyed (612 BC)
    • -Babylon conquers all Assyrian territory, ending the Assyrian Empire (609 BC)
  9. What is the time period of this political event in the 7th c BC : The rise and demise of Egypt
    (655-605 BC)
  10. What is the time period of this Prophet from the 7th c BC : Zephaniah
    • (c. 627 BC) Precise dating unavailable for Zephaniah, but it was during the reign of Josiah (Zeph. 1:1)
    • What is the time period of this Prophet from the 7th c BC: Jeremiah
    • (c. 626-584 BC) Spans the periods of Assyrian and Babylonian hegemony.
    • What is the time period of this Prophet from the 7th c BC: Habakkuk
    • (pre-597 BC) Precise dating unavailable for Habakkuk, but wrote about circumstances just before Jerusalem’s destruction.
  11. What is the time period of this prophet from the 7th c BC: Daniel
    (c. 606-560 BC) Spans the period of Babylonian and Persian hegemony. Daniel was exiled in the third year of King Jehoiakim (Dan. 1:1).
  12. What is the time period of this major political event from the 6th c. BC : The end of the Kingdom of Judah
    • (586 BC).-Jehoiachin, son of Jehoiakim, becomes king briefly (598-597 BC).
    • -His father Jehoiakim had rebelled and then died. Babylon invades Judah. Jehoiachin and more Judeans exiled to Babylon (597 BC).
    • -Temple is ransacked, but not destroyed
    • -Zedekiah, son of Josiah, is appointed vassal king by Nebuchadnezzar (597-586/7 BC).
    • -He rebelled against Babylon resulting in the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple (586/7 BC, 2 Kgs. 24:18-25:21; Jer. 52:1-34)
  13. What is the time period of this major political event from the 6th c BC : The rise of the Medo-Persian Empire?
    • -(560-330 BC)What is the time period of this exilic prophet from the 6th c. BC: Ezekiel
    • -(593-571 BC) Ezekiel’s first vision occurs in the fifth year of King Jehoiachin (Ezek. 1:2).
    • -Latest identifiable date in the Book of Ezekiel is 571 BC (29:17)
  14. What is the time period of this exilic prophet from the 6th c. BC: Obadiah
    (post-586/7 BC)
  15. (Recognize) What is the significance of the end of the socio-political Kingdom of God
    • -Destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem 587
    • -The importance of land
    • -The eternal rule of a Davidic king
  16. What is the time period of this post exilic prophet from the 6th c. BC : Joel
    (5th or 4th century BC) The date of Joel’s ministry is unknown. Perhaps there is a veiled reference to the exile (3:1) and because the Temple is functioning (1:13-14), it could be after the rebuilding of the Temple, during the Persian period. But it is not certain.
  17. What is the time period of this post exilic 6th C BC Prophet? Haggai
    (520 BC)Second year of King Darius
  18. What is the time period of this post exilic 6th C BC Prophet? Zechariah
    (520 BC)Second year of King Darius (Zech. 1:1)
  19. What is the time period of this post exilic 6th C BC Prophet? Malachi
    (5th century BC) No precise date is mentioned in Malachi, but the Temple is functioning (1:7) and there is a reference to the governor, the typical reference to the head of the Province of Judea during the Persian period (1:8).
  20. (Recognize) What are the aspects and strategy of a theological reading of Scripture, especially the OT prophets.
    • -Understanding the author’s/editor’s original intention and audience
    • - Understanding the canonical theological context
    • -Strategy for a theological reading of the OT prophets
    • Step 1: understand the message understood by the original audience
    • Step 2: understand Jesus’ interpretation and then the broader New Testament interpretation
  21. What is the time period of this political event in the 7th c BC: The rise of the Neo-Babylonian Empire (Akkadian)
    (627-539 BC) Culturally the same as the Assyrians
  22. What is the time period of this political event in the 7th c BC: The demise of the Kingdom of Judah
    • (609-598 BC) King Manasseh, Hezekiah’s son, faithful vassal of Assyria (687/686-642 BC; 2 Kgs 21:1).
    • -Exceedingly wicked (cf. 2 Kgs. 21:1-18)
    • -King Amon, like his father (642-640 BC; cf. Kgs. 21:19-26)
    • -King Josiah (640-609 BC; cf. 2 Kgs. 22:1-23:30)
    • -Exceedingly good, but the people do not follow his ways.
    • Jeremiah, probably Zephaniah and perhaps Habakkuk minister during this period.Neo-Assyrian hegemony ends with the destruction of Nineveh by coalition of Medes and Babylonians (612 BC) and the loss of all its territories to Babylon (609 BC).
    • -King Josiah is killed in the Battle of Megiddo by Pharaoh Neco of Egypt (609 BC). -King Jehoahaz II, son of Josiah (609 BC, 2 Kgs 23:31; 2 Chron. 36:1-3)
    • -Reigns three months before Pharaoh Neco leads him away in chains (2 Kgs. 23:31-33)
    • -King Jehoiakim, son of Josiah (609-598 BC, 2 Kgs. 23:34-24:7)
    • -Pharaoh Neco places Jehoiakim as his vassal on the Judean throne.Exceedingly evil (2 Kgs. 24:3-5)Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon destroys Egypt and makes Jehoiakim his vassal (605 BC).
    • -During this time some Judeans are exiled. Daniel probably taken to Babylon at this time (Daniel 1:1-21
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Background Former Prophets 2 Lecture 1
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Former Prophet 2, Background- Lecture 1
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