Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Theophanic revelation is historically progressive, or eschatological, in character. First of all, in Genesis 1:2, the Spirit appeared inside the creation, sent by the Father. After the creation of man, the Spirit worked and works with humanity to bring us to maturity, from Daughter to Bride to fruitful Mother. He…
On the eighth day of the rite of "filling the hand," Aaron began his service at the altar. His first offering was a "calf" (Heb. `egel ), which served as a purification offering for himself and (apparently) his household (Leviticus 9:2, 8). This is striking for a couple of reasons.…
One of the distinctive items of the high priest’s clothing was the "golden plate" inscribed with the words "Holy to Yahweh" (Exodus 28:36-38). The word translated as "plate" is tsits , which literally means "flower." The verbal and noun forms are both used in Numbers 17:8, which describes Aaron’s rod…
The square, rectangle, and cross shapes appear all over the sanctuaries God reveals in the Bible: Tabernacle, Solomon’s Temple, Ezekiel’s Temple, New Jerusalem. One thing that can be said right away about these designs, and the occasional perfect circle (the lavers), is that they do not occur in nature. They…
"For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea-monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth" (Matthew 12:40). Some reflections on Jonah’s Big Fish have led to the following essay. Let me…
Citing Melchizedek in Genesis 14:18-20, James Jordan has written that "the name of God in use among the nations was God Most High’" (Hebrew, `el `elyon ; in Through New Eyes , p. 176). In addition to Melchizedek, one could cite the example of Balaam, who invokes the Lord both…
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Richard Hays proposes the follow explanation of the title “faithful witness,” applied to Jesus in Revelation 1:5 ( Revelation and the Politics of Apocalyptic Interpretation , 78-79): “‘the testimony of Jesus’ must include the memory or message of Jesus’ own faithful suffering and death. This is suggested first of all…
Who is the one who “is, was, and coming”? In Revelation 1:4, it’s the Father. In verse 8, it seems to be the Triune God. Who is “Alpha and Omega”? In Revelation 1:8, it’s the Triune God. In 22:13, it’s Jesus. As Joseph Mangina has put it, John indicates that…
Revelation 1 describes Jesus with three titles: faithful witness, firstborn of the dead, ruler of the kings of the earth. Revelation 1 describes Jesus work with another triad: He loved us, loosed us from our sins, made us a kingdom of priests. The two triads match: Jesus loves us as…
In a previous post , I noted how the testimony of John the Seer parallels the testimony of John the Baptist. But there’s more to it. There’s something structural going on. In that post, part of my evidence was the unusual (though not unique) doubling of martur - words in…
In an essay in the Encyclopedia of the Jewish Diaspora , Edrel Arie explains the dramatic effects of the fall of the second temple on Jews outside Judea. “Diaspora communities naturally vacillate between the desire to preserve all three: their unique identity, their connection to their cultural center, and their…
More specifically, what’s in Noah’s name? Much, says Michael Morales in The Tabernacle Pre-Figured (164-7). “The keys words of [Genesis] 6.5-8 form a paranomastic allusion to the name of Noah ( nch ): ‘regretted’ ( nacham ) 6.6, 7 (which meaning is contrasted to its use in 5.29 as ‘relief,…
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