Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
This series of post were originally published at the Biblical Horizons blog. The entire paper can be downloaded HERE . 4. The Three Basic Phases of the Covenant We have introduced the three phases of the covenant, from childhood to adulthood to full maturity. Let us look more fully at…
This series of post were originally published at the Biblical Horizons blog. The entire paper can be downloaded HERE . 3. Covenant Maturation Let us now turn to the application of this One Eternal Covenant into history. We have been looking at Covenant Theology. Covenant Theology has to do with…
Hymn Bark is a series designed to purify our good hymns from errors, and purge some bad ones. Here is chapter 2: Not really much wrong with this hymn, though I wish musicians would teach the congregation how to sing it. Routinely the note at the end of line 3…
I begin here a series of criticisms of hymns commonly sung in Reformed and Presbyterian circles. I begin with the hymn “I bind myself,” commonly called “The Lorica. There is only one textual problem with the usual sung version of this, and that is the phrase “eternal rocks.” Obviously that…
This series of post were originally published at the Biblical Horizons blog. The entire paper can be downloaded HERE . 2. What is the Covenant? There are many and varied descriptions of what the Bible means by the word “covenant” (Hebrew: berith). We are tempted to write that there are…
This series of post were originally published at the Biblical Horizons blog. The entire paper can be downloaded HERE . 1. What is Meant by Biblical Theology “Theology” is language (logos) about God (theos). We can distinguish two broad kinds of theology: Biblical Theology and Ecclesiastical Theology. Biblical Theology concerns…
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Erhard Gerstenberger ( Leviticus , 34) claims that “The completely burned sacrifice is probably an Israelite peculiarity.” James Watts ( Ritual and Rhetoric ) disagrees. He argues (75) that “The practice of burning offerings gained popularity during the first millennium and spread from its original home in northwest Syria. Burnt…
Sacramental interpretations of the blood and water from Jesus’ side are too tempting to resist. We ought not resist them. Of course, it is the blood of the new covenant and the water of baptism (John 20:34). But the order brings us up short: Not water and blood, but blood…
It’s one of the most famous lines in one of the most famous songs: “You spread a table before me in the presence of my enemies” (Psalm 23). Israel knows very well that this is what Yahweh the Shepherd does. This is how Israel was born as a people -…
Ancient Israelites offered the inner organs of sacrificial animals - entrails, kidneys, a portion of the liver. The heart is never mentioned. In all of the complicated sacrificial instructions of Leviticus, the word leb never appears, even once. We learn what happens to the stomach (Deuteronomy 18:3) but not the…
If we stay with the strict terminology of Leviticus, the word “sacrifice” ( zabach ) is not a generic term for offering animals on altars but is used specifically of the “peace offering,” often in phrases like “the sacrifice of the peace offerings.” The burnt or ascension offering ( olah…
As Wilfried Warning points out in his engaging study, Literary Artistry in Leviticus , the book of Leviticus uses word repetitions to create meaningful literary and theological patterns. At times, the word repetitions are designed to highlight the themes of a particular section. “Fat” ( chalev ) occurs twelve times…
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