House Cleaning

I heard a great message this past week regarding Jesus’ cleansing of the temple in John 2, and it got me thinking—what is the point of this story?  There are plenty of important messages that can be drawn from this text, but is there one main point?

As soon as John finishes describing the dramatic scene of Jesus overturning tables, slinging money everywhere, and kicking people out, the account shifts to a conversation that Jesus has with the Jews, which to me is a red flag.  Think about it; does it make sense that both he and the Jews would have a civil discussion after what just transpired?  I believe it is this discussion that should receive the major emphasis in the pericope due to its peculiar placement with regards to the surrounding circumstances presented in the text.

¹⁷Ἐμνήσθησαν οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ ὅτι γεγραμμένον ἐστίν, Ὁ ζῆλος τοῦ οἴκου σου καταφάγεταί με. ¹⁸ἀπεκρίθησαν οὖν οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι καὶ εἶπαν αὐτῷ, Τί σημεῖον δεικνύεις ἡμῖν, ὅτι ταῦτα ποιεῖς; ¹⁹ἀπεκρίθη Ἰησοῦς καὶ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς, Λύσατε τὸν ναὸν τοῦτον καὶ ἐν τρισὶν ἡμέραις ἐγερῶ αὐτόν. ²⁰εἶπαν οὖν οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι, Τεσσεράκοντα καὶ ἓξ ἔτεσιν οἰκοδομήθη ὁ ναὸς οὗτος, καὶ σὺ ἐν τρισὶν ἡμέραις ἐγερεῖς αὐτόν; ²¹ἐκεῖνος δὲ ἔλεγεν περὶ τοῦ ναοῦ τοῦ σώματος αὐτοῦ. ²²ὅτε οὖν ἠγέρθη ἐκ νεκρῶν, ἐμνήσθησαν οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ ὅτι τοῦτο ἔλεγεν, καὶ ἐπίστευσαν τῇ γραφῇ καὶ τῷ λόγῳ ὃν εἶπεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς.

17 His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”  18 So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” 19 Jesus answered them,“Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20 The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” 21 But he was speaking about the temple of his body. 22 When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

Verses 17 – 22 can be arranged chiastically as follows:

          Disciples remembered …

                     The Jews speak …

                                 Jesus answers …

                      The Jews speak …

         Disciples remembered …

According to this layout, the emphasis of the conversation is on Jesus’ statement that the temple would be destroyed, and he would raise it up in three days.  The cleansing of the temple story in John 2 is about the resurrection.  Just as the temple was defiled by sinful men, so to would Jesus’ body be laid to an open shame, taking on our sin.  BUT…he would rise again in three days cleansing his people forever.

Love > Fear

Fear is probably not the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about antonyms of love, yet this is a point that John makes in his first epistle:

1 John 4:18a

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.

φόβος οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν τῇ ἀγάπῃ, ἀλλ’ ἡ τελεία ἀγάπη ἔξω βάλλει τὸν φόβον

So what does he exactly mean by fear?  As tough and manly as I am (insert sarcasm font here), I have a couple of fears.  My top three would have to be fear of heights (acrophobia), fear of enclosed spaces (claustrophobia), and fear of people touching my eyes (ommetaphobia).  I guess based on these three criteria, my worst nightmare would consist of me being stuck in a small cave on the top of a high cliff face with someone trying to get an eyelash out of my eye.  Anyways, back to the question of fear.  I think the best way to approach this question is to first define what John means by love, or at the very least, how one loves, and whatever is not in love is fear.  Luckily the book of First John is dedicated to this idea of love, so it is fairly easy to build a paradigm based on John’s writing.  The two ideas that most clearly summarize how one loves stems from both keeping God’s commandments and abiding in him which can be reflected in 1 John 2:5-6:

but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him:  whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

ὃς δ’ ἂν τηρῇ αὐτοῦ τὸν λόγον, ἀληθῶς ἐν τούτῳ ἡ ἀγάπη τοῦ θεοῦ τετελείωται. ἐν τούτῳ γινώσκομεν ὅτι ἐν αὐτῷ ἐσμεν·  ὁ λέγων ἐν αὐτῷ μένειν ὀφείλει καθὼς ἐκεῖνος περιεπάτησεν καὶ αὐτὸς οὕτως περιπατεῖν.

If love is produced in us from keeping God’s word and abiding in him, then fear must be rooted in disobedience and isolation.

Does this mean that disciples of Christ are never disobedient and isolate themselves from him?  Of course not.  These are common struggles for every Christian as they seek to walk before the Lord.  Notice the chiastic structure of 4:18a:

            There is no fear

                                     in love,

                                    but perfect love

            casts out fear.

Syntactically, the emphasis is on love and not on fear.  We struggle and we will fall at times, but our motivation should be one of love (obeying God and walking with him) because it is superior to fear… and heights, and tight spaces, and eye issues.

Who are the twenty four elders and the four living creatures?

So who are the twenty four elders?  As with the spirit in 4:2, εἴκοσι τέσσαρες πρεσβύτεροι  “twenty four elders” is anarthrous suggesting that these were not a specific set of figures that the reader should already be familiar with. As with many of the images and characters in Revelation, there is much speculation in identifying these individuals.  Two of the more probable explanations stem from the Old Testament.  In 1 Chronicles 24, David is recorded as dividing the priests into twenty four orders. In 5:8, the elders are seen falling before the Lamb with golden bowls of incense representing the prayers of the saints.  This intercessory action does point to a priestly-type function that the elders are performing.

The number twelve plays a prominent role in the Old Testament through the twelve tribes of Israel, but this is only half of twenty four.  It has been suggested that the second twelve represents the twelve apostles, so the twenty four is a full representation of both the Old and New Testaments forming a complete picture of the people of God. This image is similar to the tree that Paul discusses in Romans 11 where both Israel and the Church are brought together to make one people of God.

Another theme throughout Revelation is the attention paid to clothing.  The twenty four elders are described as wearing white garments and golden crowns.  White is obviously used to represent purity, but it is also a common attire for angels (e.g. Mk. 16:5; Lk. 24:4; Acts 1:10; Jn. 20:12). However, these elders appear to be more than just angels because they are seen sitting on thrones and wearing crowns which diverges from the typical description of other angels throughout the Bible.  While the crown represents an elevated position, the elders do not wear these crowns for their own glorification, but they lay them down at the feet of the one who sits on the central throne 4:10.

The second half of verse six introduces another interesting cast of characters—the four living creatures.  Once again, John is seeing a vision that is very similar to the throne room visions in both Ezekiel and Isaiah.  In Ezek. 10:20 and Isa. 6:2, these creatures are referred to as cherubim and seraphim, so it stands to reason that the creatures in Rev. 4:6 are most likely angelic beings as well.  These creatures are described as having eyes in the front and back, all around and even inside.  This multitude of eyes appears to speak on the omniscience of the one that they serve.

Each creature is described using a different image.  The first is like a lion, the second, is like an ox, the third is like a man, and the fourth is like a flying eagle.  These are the same four images that Ezekiel uses in describing his creatures.  The only difference lies with the fact that John uses these images as separate creatures while Ezekiel has these as four faces on a single creature. Grammatically, the construction for the first creature is different from the following three.  The placement of the adjective seems to emphasize the first creature more than the others (τὸ ζῷον τὸ πρῶτον versus τὸ δεύτερον ζῷον, etc.).

As with the twenty four elders, there has been debate as to what significance these four creatures play.  The early church fathers saw the four living creatures as representatives of the four Gospels. Even though this works out numerically, and perhaps a case could be made to show how these four creatures personify the Gospels, this seems to be a needless allegorization of what John sees.  Others have tried to say that the creatures represent the fullness of God’s creation since the listed animals are the heads of their species. Going back to the Old Testament, cherubim are seen in two prominent places, the Garden of Eden (Gen. 3:24) and on the covering of the ark of the covenant (Ex. 37:7). Since both of these represent the dwelling place of God, this could be a plausible explanation for the four living creatures.

Who Are the Seven Churches of the Apocalypse?

The seven churches addressed in Revelation were seven actual churches in Asia Minor.  Despite what some people think, I do not believe that they represent the seven ages of the church…whatever that means.  My real question is not so much who are these churches, but rather why these churches and what purpose does their presence in Revelation serve?  Since I’m OCD, and I like to organize things let me make a brief chart with a few details about the churches.

 

Churches	Names of Christ used	Good  characteristics	Rebuke	To the one who overcomes…
1. Ephesus	The one holding the 7 stars in his right hand. The one who is walking in the midst of the 7 golden lamp stands.	Patient Enduring	Forsaken their 1st love	Permission to eat from the tree of life in paradise.
2. Smyrna	The first and the last who died and came to life.	Being rich despite being poor	None	Will not be hurt by the 2nd death.
3. Pergamum	The one having the sharp double edged sword	Hold fast to the faith	Some holding to the teachings of Balaam and the Nicolaitans	Will receive hidden manna and a white stone with a new name written on it.
4. Thyatira	Son of God The one having eyes of fire and feet of bronze	Love Faith Service	Toleration of Jezebel	Will receive authority over nations and will shepherd them with a rod of iron. Will receive the morning star.
5. Sardis	The one having the 7 spirits of God and the 7 stars.	There is a remnant who follow Christ	Being dead	Will wear white garments and his name will never be wiped out of the book of life. Christ will confess him before the father and his angels.
6. Philadelphia	The holy and true one. The one who is holding on to the key of David.	Kept the word of the Lord and did not deny him.	None	He will be a pillar in the temple of God. He will receive the names of: my God, the new Jerusalem, and a new name of Christ.
7. Laodecia	The amen. The faithful and true witness. The beginning of the creation of God.	None	Lukewarm and rich	He will sit with Christ on his throne.

Having mentioned my interest in the purpose of the churches in Revelation, let me make three simple observations.

1. Historical Context

John wrote this book to seven real churches in a real historical context.  By using intricate details, he records specific characteristics about the churches as well as specific problems to show that this book was intended for a specific audience.  I feel that Revelation is a book to the 1^st/2^nd century church under-going intense persecution.  Unlike us today who have the luxury of knowing that Christianity has endured for two millennia, the early church may have had some doubts about the future of this fledgling religion.  John writes to these churches providing hope to the believers.  Those who trust in the Christ will overcome despite persecution.

2.  Theological Setting

At the beginning of each address, John describes Christ in a new way by giving him different names.  These names are truths that the early church was to cling to in the midst of their struggles.  He is the true and faithful witness, so the churches must be also.  He is the one who died and rose from the grave, so there is hope in a final resurrection for the believer.  Each of these names are theological truths that the church is to hold on to.  John ends each address with a promise for the ones who overcome.  Knowing about the savior naturally gives rise to hope, thus John bookends his addresses to the churches with theological realities.

3.  Foreshadowing

The themes addressed to the churches are also themes that are discussed throughout the rest of the Apocalypse.  For instance, Christ is referred to as the one holding the sharp two-edged sword in 2:12, and he later avenges his enemies with it in 19:15.  The overcomers in the church at Ephesus are allowed to eat from the tree of life, and a tree of life shows up again in 22:2.  The themes of white robes, book of life, second death, and several others first appear in the addresses to the churches but show up again later in the book.

 

Up next are the twenty four elders and the four living creatures.

Who’s Who in the Apocalypse

With the recent Harold Camping fail, I’ve been thinking about John’s Apocalypse lately.  Over the next several posts, I am going to do a small series on some of the characters in Revelation.  It will not be my attempt to try and find some new, slick way to fit today’s headlines into John’s account, but more of a brief overview of some prominent players in Revelation.  In case I don’t finish this by October 21, 2011; see you on the flip side:)

Reading the Hebrew and Greek Bible

One of the goals for most students of Hebrew and Greek is to be able to read the Bible in its original languages with minimal use of a lexicon.  Of course I’m ignoring the small portion of students who just take these languages because of some degree requirement:)  The question becomes—What books in the Bible are the easiest to read?  I haven’t seen an exhaustive list anywhere, so I would definitely like some feedback.  Obviously what constitutes as “easy” for one person may not be “easy” for another, so I’ve compiled a list based solely on my opinions and limited experience.  I have not read the entire Hebrew and Greek Bible, but I have read a fair portion of it so I hope that this is helpful.  By the way, I will classify things as easy, medium, and hard.  My criteria for each category is based primarily on the relative difficulty of vocabulary and syntax within a book.

Hebrew Old Testament

Easy	Medium	Hard
Genesis	Exodus2	Psalms4
Numbers	Leviticus2	Proverbs
Joshua	Deuteronomy2	Isaiah
Judges	Jeremiah	The Twelve (minor prophets)
Ruth	Daniel3
Samuel	Esther
Kings
Chronicles
Ezra-Nehemiah1

Books that I have not had enough experience with to make a judgment call

Job, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Lamentations, Ezekiel

¹Since Ezra has several chapters in Aramaic, I did not take this into account in its classification.

²The only thing that makes these books “medium” is the fact that they are filled with a lot of laws which means the vocabulary used isn’t as frequent as most of the other narrative books.

³See the comment on Ezra.

⁴The Psalms are about 50/50 in terms of medium/hard.  Some psalms are pretty easy to read while others are very difficult.  The main issue is the difficulty of the syntax.  This is also true for the other poetic and prophetic books.

Greek New Testament

Easy	Easy/Medium	Medium/Hard	Hard
John (Gospel)	Matthew	Paul1	Luke
John (Epistles)	Mark	James	Acts
Revelation			Hebrews
			1 Peter

Books that I have not had enough experience with to make a judgment call

2 Peter, Jude

¹For me Paul’s epistles are about 50/50, and when I say 50/50, I mean within a single book.  For instance, half of Romans is fairly easy, while the other half is fairly difficult.  I feel like most of his letters are this way which is why I made a separate category of medium/hard.

Just for the record, the books that I considered hard are books that I have not been able to read much from because of their difficulty with the exception of the Psalms and Minor Prophets.

For those with more experience than I, what do you think about the list?

The Ending of Kings

In a lot of ways the book of Kings is a very depressing book.  Coming off the heels of the great kingdoms of David and Solomon, the author of Kings records repeated failures of the monarchies in both Judah and Israel.  Judah was able to at least have the luxury of a few good kings (Asa, Jehoshaphat, Joash, Amaziah, Azariah, Jotham, Hezekiah, and Josiah) while Israel never had a king who was classified as “good.”  Not only do the vast majority of the kings end up as disappointments, but the prophets of this time continually rail both Israel and Judah for their ungodliness.  Both Elijah and Elisha could have filled up their calendars with appointments to counsel faithless leaders throughout their ministries.

The final nail seems to come in the last chapter (2 Kings 25) when Judah is captured, Jerusalem is sacked, and more people are hauled off to Babylon.  There is no more temple, and the people have lost their land.  Has the Lord reneged on his covenant promises?

With all of the doom and gloom painted in chapter 25, the chapter as well as the book ends on a peculiar note.  Verses 27-30 discuss how King Jehoiachin (Judah) spends his captivity in Babylon.  He is first released from prison.  He is spoken to in high regards, and he is given a seat above the seats of all the other kings.  His prison garments have been exchanged (presumably with some type of royal garments), and he sits and dines daily with the Babylonian king.  On top of all this, he is given a generous daily allowance for the rest of his life.  So why do I call this ending peculiar?  It doesn’t fit with the flow of the narrative.  Chapters 24 and 25 are one big “poop” storm on the fortunes of the Lord’s people and then there is this little short end note about how Jehoiachin is living it up in Babylon.  What gives?

I don’t believe in randomness in the weaving together of the grand biblical narrative so when something seems out of place that to me is a tell-tell sign that it is important and should be emphasized.  Just to go ahead and reveal my cards, I feel that verses 27-30 should be read as a messianic hope.  Just when the reader feels that all is lost and there is no more hope for God’s people, the book ends with a king (Jehoiachin) who is from the house of David who is exalted above all the other kings amongst the nations (Babylon).  This is exactly the pattern that Christ fulfills.  Has God forgotten his covenant?  May it never be!  Here at the end of the Kings saga, the Lord was revealing a glimpse of the realities that were to come in our Messiah.  And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.”