Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
It seems to be old news, but I was unaware of it until recently. Australian academics argued that mothers should be allowed to terminate the life of a newborn child. [i] Why would they promote such an idea? Because before the child is born it is not always possible to…
This is the second of two essays introducing Pascal’s Wager. Click HERE for Part 1. In “The Pop Star and the Mathematician” I gave an overview of the apologetic approach commonly called Pascal’s Wager. In that Wager, 17 th -century French mathematician Blaise Pascal argued that the choice between Christian…
This is the first of two essays aiming to introduce the reader to Pascal’s Wager. The second will address criticisms of the Wager. In the early 1990s, a perennially popular British pop star was interviewed on British television about his very public evangelical Christian faith. “What if,” the reporter asked…
Matthew 13 is about secrets. In this chapter, Jesus teaches eight parables and tells the disciples that they reveal the secrets of the kingdom (13:11). And much like Samson who both tells riddles and is himself a riddle that the reader must solve, so Jesus not only tells secrets but…
Click HERE for part One. THE TEXT AS TABERNACLE Creation – Initiation – Genesis (1 Samuel 17:1-11) The gathered armies not only remind the reader of Ebal and Gerizim, but also of the very reason that Israel was established (Creation) , set apart from the other nations by the circumcision…
What to do with Job’s Final “Friend,” Elihu Elihu is a strange character, at least in the sense of how and where he appears in the book of Job. Why does he not appear with the other three “friends?” Does his argument differ from any of the first three who…
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Michael Morales ( The Tabernacle Pre-Figured , 277) argues that “the narrative arc from Gen 1-3 to Exod 40 may be traced as the expulsion from the divine presence to the gained re-entry into the divine presence via the tabernacle cultus, from the profound descent of Adam to the dramatic…
Mary Douglas ( Leviticus as Literature ) argued that the book of Leviticus is constructed as a texual tour of the tabernacle. Moshe Kline agrees : “This structure can be interpreted as an analogical representation of the Tabernacle with chapter 19 parallel to the Ark of the Covenant, the inner…
Ezekiel tells a parable of exile (Ezekiel 17) involving a cedar in Lebanon, two eagles, and a vine. The great eagle plucks twigs off the top of a cedar and takes them away to a “city of traders” (vv. 3-4). The eagle also takes some of the seed from the…
While David is in the midst of his enemies, the Lord spreads a table, anoints him with oil, gives him a cup (Psalm 23). It’s a symbol of communion in the midst of danger. But the full cup is not just a cup of joy. It’s a cup of judgment.…
Moses ascends ( ‘alah ) again and again into the cloud on Sinai (Exodus 19:3; 20:21), but nobody else does. As Morales says, this marks Moses as the “ascender” to God ( The Tabernacle Pre-Figured , 219). He adds, “As mediator between God and the people, he is able to…
Yahweh enters into covenant with Israel at Sinai. It is a kind of wedding event. Yahweh commits Himself to Israel, Israel to Yahweh, and they end with a wedding feast on the mountain. Then Yahweh gives instructions for a bridal house - the tabernacle, a home where He can dwell…
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