Bible Study

Amos 3:9-4:13

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This is another post in my series, Reader’s Guide to Amos. It works(or at least, I’d like it to) as something between a commentary and a Bible Study. Go read the text. Keep that window open. Read through it once to get a broad view of what is happening. Then come back and read through my notes. I’d suggest going back to the text one more time, read through it and when you get to a word or idea you are unsure of, come back and see if there is something in my Reader’s Guide that helps. You can read my original series introduction and the first two post that cover the text up to this point.

Amos 3:9-12
9.He starts as if he is calling on emissaries of the foreign superpowers of the time, Assyria and Egypt. Most translations, including the original Hebrew have Ashdod, however the LXX uses Assyria and most commentators agree this is a stand in for them.
The word unrest has a greater sense of panic and oppression is plural. God is calling on the other power to look at them in their punishment.
10.The are greedy and gain through violence and destruction. These are the oppose of doing ‘what is right’.
11 – This is a punishment statement to Israel for their crimes committed in the verse
12 -This is the extent of their punishments, that after the enemy attacks (is allowed to) and overwhelms them, there will be barely anything left, as if mostly devoured by a lion.
Translation – Look other nations upon this one that does not act right. They steal and destroy, so soon, someone will come to them to steal and destroy. Their punishment will be so severe, there will be almost nothing left. Continue reading →

Book Reviews: Four Views on the Historical Adam

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Four Views on the Historical Adam

My Rating – Put it on Your List

Level – Somewhat technical, requires a higher level knowledge of Genesis and some theology, somewhat short, but at times reads longer than it is.

Summary
This book is exactly what the title says, though there is one different aspect that I haven’t seen in other volumes of the series. Outside of the intro but the series editors and the four chapters on the different views, there is a final chapter called ‘pastoral reflection.’ This is basically a ‘unity & love’ chapter, ostensibly because this is a very touchy subject. In fact, Barrick, who in my opinion makes the weakest argument, implies we should be suspicious of the salvation of those with different views than his own. It is a very disappointing view for an author in this series.

The four views are as follows:

Evolutionary Creation – Denis O. Lamoureux
His view is essentially Theistic Evolution, but prefers this name on a semantic level. There is no historical Adam, and there doesn’t need to be. God created the natural order and the world proceeded in an evolutionary way. He has interesting arguments on ‘ancient science’, that is, what the writers of the Bible would have understood as fact. Even if you completely disagree with everything he says, his chapter is worth reading solely for this, as it will challenge you to understand the Bible as the original audience may have viewed it. A clearly brilliant man, with two PhDs, has to waste too much of his word limit ‘proving’ his Christianity.

Archetypal Creation – John H. Walton
Again, we have old-earth creation that views much of the first few chapters of Genesis through a literary lens. However, he is never conclusive as to whether or not there is a historical Adam. He may personally believe there was, but under this view, it can be either way. Basically, ‘Adam’ is an allegorical representation. He is ‘elect’ and chosen, much in the same was as Enoch, Noah, Abraham, and Moses, though some of them clearly existed. That isn’t the point of the story, though. Great info in this chapter pertaining to the writings and beliefs of the Ancient Near East.

Old-Earth Creation – C. John Collins
Collins isn’t too different than Walton. He would agree with most of my summary above, but on Adam and Eve he has a little more nuance. He still does not require historic, first human Adam, but he does view him as historical. He has an interesting view of historical but not ‘literalistic,’ while arguing that we should not get too bogged down on this historical person of Adam.  So, it is history, was written to be history, was read as history, it’s just not a type of history (historicity) that we deal with today. This is an important distinction for many evangelicals to consider while researching their view of Genesis 1-11 in general and Adam in particular.

Young-Earth Creation – William D. Barrick
This is the view that people think of or the media mean when they use the term creationist. That is, a focus on the world being created exactly as described roughly six thousand years ago. This obviously is in great conflict with science, as well as most Christians and theologians. Science aside, this view also fails in light of literature and history, which is clearly demonstrated by the other views. There is not much evidence proposed in this chapter and is fairly weak in my view.

My Thoughts
Of course, I think everyone should be reading books in this series. However, I couldn’t quite put this on the must read list. Partly because I like to keep those in that rating small, but also this book does get somewhat academic. That being said, if you are already familiar with the theological issues involved with a historical Adam and have a broad understanding of the relations between Genesis and the age of the universe, then this book would probably be considered a must if this is an issue that you care about.

I personally found myself in agreement with multiple points from the first three authors. I thought Walton made an interesting point of Genesis 1 vs. 2, as being two completely different stories. The idea of historical Adam and billions of years old universe are important issues. I still haven’t full development my own theology on the issue. I tend to lean towards an understanding of an historical Adam, but I in no way think the world is not millions and billions of years old. My view is somewhere between Archetypal and Old-Earth, that is an ‘elect’ historical Adam that had some sort of special interaction/relation with God, but isn’t necessarily a special or first creation.

Reader’s Guide to Amos (1:3-2:5)

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Editor – I posted the wrong section last week. This goes first, obviously. Read through these oracles and then read my previous post, it will make that post seem more coherent. I’ve updated links in this post to reflect the screw up.

 

Three weeks ago, I outlined how to read the first oracles of Amos. Today, I want to point out some notes that are helpful in understanding what is going on as you read. This covers Amos 1:3-2:5 and contains the seven oracles against other nations. The best way to use this would be to go read my previous post about the structure of the oracles, then read through verses themselves while using these notes when words, phrases, or places are unfamiliar. Hope it helps.

Aram (1:3-5)
Damascus is the capital of Aram.
Modern version read “threshed Gilead” older manuscripts such as those at Qumran or the LXX inserts ‘the pregnant women.” Threshing was/is the process of removing seed from stalk. So, if this accusation is literal, it is quite heinous. Threshing spikes were used to increase the efficacy in the threshing.
Hazael was king of Aram. He assumed the throne by killing Ben-Hadad (son of Hadad, a storm god). Interestingly, Hazael’s son, once king, assumed the name Ben-Hadad. It’s unclear which Amos is referring to, but points to more than a single person or event, but rather a geo-political group.
“Gate-bar” in movies after the hero comes ridding in through the gates of the fortress after escaping the (following, attacking, pursuing) foe, they shut the giant wooden gates and then lay are large wood/iron bar across to prevent the doors from being opened. Yahweh will destroy this bar, which not only shows his power, but leaves them unable to protect themselves by shutting the gate again.
Valley of Aven and Beth Eden are places in the region of Aram. The one ‘sitting’ and one who ‘holds the scepter’ are the rulers of the area. The message is, all of Aram, not just Damascus and all those in charge, so that no other family takes over rule.
Kir is unknown, but is possibly the place the Arameans came from. Either way, they are exiled and no longer have a land their own.

Philistia (1:6-8)
Gaza was the most prominent and powerful city in the region. Ashdod, Ashkelon and Ekron are all areas of Philistia.
“Exiled a whole people” not just the soldiers/prisoners of war. Instead, they took whole towns communities, men women and children and sold them into slavery.

Phoenicia (1:9-10)
Tyure was the strongest Phoenician City.
“Forgot the covenant of brotherhood” the broke the treaty with someone, we do not know whom.
Same crime and punishment as to Philisia. Continue reading →

Readers Guide to Amos (2:6-3:8)

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We continue on from the previous few weeks with the readers guide to the Minor Prophets. When we left off, Amos had just announced the oracles against other nations. He now starts in on Israel. Go read the passage, then come back for the notes below and then read it again. Hopefully, this helps in understanding the text.

Israel 2:6-16
Now Amos focus on the Israelite themselves. He starts with the same pattern (for three…four, shall not turn), but here seems much worse. Instead of the ‘fourth’ we have a list of sins.
The sins are (WBC)
Sale of the poor into Slavery
Oppression of the poor
Sexual abuse
Exploitation of needy debtors
These are not specific sins, but daily occurrences in Israel

Selling into slavery, silver was a high price, for a pair of sandals (likely hyperbole) was obviously low. Basically saying, you’ll sell anyone for anything you can get.
Treated the poor like dirt.
So, we don’t know who the woman is. EBC says mother-in-law or stepmother, Tyndale says daughter-in-law by corruption of concubinage, others say just a girl. This could be a prostitute or someone at the temple. Either way, if not the both of them are engaging in general sexual sin, one of them is breaking codes of incest and adultery.
It was a common practice t the time to take an item of clothing as a pledge (such as on a debt), but you were required to give it back at night, as the poor would have nothing else to keep warm.
The wine was paid as a fine, possible unjustly imposed, that the priest then drank the wine. Fines are supposed to be for making restitution, not for getting drunk.

9-12
This is God’s indignation at Israel. He reminds them that it was He who did all these things and now they profane his name and oppress the poor. Read it as, “After all I’ve done this (the aforementioned crimes) is how you repay me.
12 – Nazerites were ‘consecrated agents of God among his people’(WBC) and among other special rules, did not drink.

13-16
I will crush you as if a full cart ran over you, driving you into the ground.

My Translation of 14-16:
You have no chance. The fast will not move, the strong will be weak, and even the might warriors will die. The archers will not even be able to stand, the quick will still die, even if they are on a horse, they cannot outrun me. Even the bravest among you will run away, naked and afraid when my wrath comes.

3:1-8
‘Only you have I known’ means you are the one I’ve made a covenant with, therefore, punishment must come.
This is followed by seven rhetorical questions. E.G. People who are traveling together, have obviously met before.  The most important of which is the final question. Basically saying, if I have commanded someone to speak, they must speak (this is over and against what we read earlier, that the prophets were told not to speak).

Cheat Sheet to the Minor Prophets

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I’m doing a few post on reading the minor prophets, specifically Amos, so I thought I’d back up and lay out some helpful things to remember/know while reading.

 

Prophet – from the Hebrew, related to fountain. So, God’s Fountain of words. The prophet is God’s spokesman. Described by one theologian as someone who cares more about the truth than being liked. Can either be spoken to by God or sees visions. The point is not to predict the future, that is not what a prophet is; though, they may receive revelations about the future.

Minor prophet – just means shorter books. Shorter in latin is something like minus, which just became minor. There are 12 of them and the writings combined fit in the middle, lengthwise, of the four major (longer) prophets. Sometimes there combination is called the Book of the Twelve.

Jerusalem – Northern Kingdom, made up of 10 tribes, sometimes referred to as Jacob or Joseph (or house thereof); also sometimes (especially in Hosea) called Ephraim. Capital was Samaria. Spiritual center was Bethal.

Judah – Southern Kingdom, made up of 2 tribes (Ben). Split when north wouldn’t recognize Rehoboam as king, after Solomon dies in 931. Capital was Jerusalem.

Ephraim – Most powerful tribe, descendant of Joseph.

Edom – Sovereign nation south of Judah; descendants of Esau. On and off war. More oracles against it than anyone else.

Assyrians – World badasses from 1000 to 605. Destroyed the temple in 722 and owned North Kingdom from 722 to 605.

Babylonians – World badasses from 605 to 539. Had both kingdoms. Jews were exiled. Nebuchadnezzar  defeats Assyrians. Destroys Jerusalem.

Persians – World Badasses from 585 to 330. Cyrus defeats Babylonains. Allows Judah to return, rebuild temple.

Baal – god of thunderstorms, fertility and agriculture; lord of Heaven. Jews worshiped him and God. Had ritual prostitution at the temple.

Day of the Lord – Basically the end of the world, where God sits in Judgment. In the Ancient Near East, they didn’t have endless wars. After a few battles, they could tell who would win. An area could be conquered in months, weeks or even days. God, being the most powerful will conquer and Judge the world in a day.

Major Themes of Minor Prophets

  • God’s Sovereignty
  • God’s people needing to return to worship of God and God alone
  • Peace, Justice and fair treatment of the poor/foreigners
  • Pre-exile, future destruction
  • Post-exile, future return to homeland
  • David King and continuing Kingdom, Temple/Jerusalem restored

 

Timeline

931 – Solomon dies; United Kingdom divides into North and South.

 Pre-Assyrian Prophets – Obediah (most likely 845), Joel (probably, between 875ish to 830ish, could also be 750ish to 720ish), Amos(755), all in the South and Jonah (probably, 785-775) and Hosea (750-725ish) in the North.

735ish-695ish – Micah

 722/21 – Destruction of Temple

 Assyrian Captivity (722-605)

Nahum in the north

Zephaniah and Habakkuk (non-concurrent) in the South

 Babylonian Captivity and Exile (605-535)

605 – First Jews deported

586 –  Fall of Jerusalem

Obadiah may be floating around here if not earlier.

539 – Cyrus defeats Babylon

 536 – Jews return to Judah, start to rebuild Temple

520 – Haggai and Zechariah

516 – Temple completed

445 – Walls of Jerusalem rebuilt

440ish – Malachi

Readers Guide to Amos

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This is my attempt to help in reading the Minor Prophets. Today we hit on Oracles against the Nations (1:3-2:16).

Amos is speaking for Yahweh and judgements/condemnations that start off are against foreign nations (Aram, Philistia, & Phoenicia). The would have been met with applause by the hearers. He then moves in relative nations (Edom, Ammon, & Moab), then judgment against Israel’s sister nation (Judah). Finally, after spending 20 verses on those first 7 oracles, he drops 10 verses on Israel.

We have the narrowing in of judgement. We have something like this – consider for a moment that the Ancient Near East is now the Modern ‘Western’ World. The first three judgements would be some countries in Europe, perhaps German, France and Spain. The next three would be England, Ireland and Scotland and the seventh Canada. Continue reading →

Reading the Minor Prophets

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“What makes them less important?”

This was the first question I was asked as we started discussing the Minor Prophets. In the spring of 2015, I was searching for a topic or book of the Bible to study with my group. For some reason, I felt compelled to dig into the Minor Prophets. One reason being that I knew almost nothing about them. I’ve seen verses used in other context that are pulled from Micah (6:8) and maybe something from Hosea or Joel. I once had a pastor spend a few weeks in Hosea, but I don’t know that I’ve ever heard a sermon from any of the others. I had certainly never read in books, commentaries or Bible studies on them.

Ignoring these books is crazy when you think about it. There are 66 books in the Bible, and we are excluding 12; that’s almost 20% of the books (granted, by volume, it is considerably less). Honestly, I can see ignoring Deuteronomy or something like Chronicles. They are long and have lists of names, dates, laws and histories. The Prophets aren’t like that. They are a mix of short stories and sermons (not dissimilar to Christ’s parables or the Sermon on the Mount). Instead, they receive considerable less attention than the Epistles.

Imagine if you had never read or heard a sermon preached on 1, 2, or 3 John; Timothy, Titus or Jude; 1 or 2 Peter; 1 or 2 Corinthians; or Galatians or Ephesians. Think of the treasure of scripture you would be missing out on.

So, that brings us back to the question, “What makes them not as important as the other prophets”? The short answer is, nothing, they aren’t less important and should not (and never have been) viewed that way. Minor is really a bit of a misnomer. Continue reading →

On Commentaries

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I’m a big believer in the use of commentaries. I put them second on my list of books to buy, once you have the basics. This is mainly because some parts of the Bible are just strange. Others are thousands of years old and in a geography you may not be familiar with. The books of the Bible were written in different languages than we speak today and was given to an audience with a vastly different understand of the world. Finally, good commentaries can give you the differing views out there on a particular difficult topic, or even historical views that have changed due to some new information.

Which ones should I buy?

The unfortunate (for your wallet) answer is, all of them. Seriously, maybe not everything that exist (dozens of commentaries on each of the 66 books), but I have come to believe that you should get the best one you can find for each book, though some can be grouped together. A friend of mine told me this once and I really didn’t like it. It’s tedious and expensive, but it really is the right answer. Well, actually, it is the best answer for some. Most people aren’t going to go buy something like that New International Commentary full set of 46 volumes that cost about $1,500. If you want that many and are willing to spend, it’s better to go book by book.

Why is this case? Honestly, some volumes of a set are just weaker than others. I’d also argue that some books (of the Bible) are more familiar to you with less technical issues, in which case, you can get by with a cheaper, less in-depth commentary.

There are multiple levels of technicality, depth and type of commentary to buy. First would be a single volume(ish) and this is where I’d recommend starting if you haven’t used commentaries before. The second level is for Bible study or devotion, these will be shorter, less technical and written more to a believer about a text and growing in the Word. Third level is for those prepping to lead a Bible Study or a pastor for a sermon; or someone looking to invest the time for a deeper understanding. Final level is academic. These may be highly technical and not always translate the original languages. They will be most engaged in scholarship and least engaged in personal growth. Most people will never need/use these if they aren’t a pastor, seminary student, professor or big nerd.

Example of a commentary length/depth based on 1 Peter (which is only 5 Chapters) –

New Bible Commentary – 17 pages

Expositor’s Bible Commentary – 80 pages

Tyndale Commentary – 248 pages

Word Biblical Commentary – 416 pages

My Recommendations

Single Volume(ish) – I say ‘ish’ because, while there are good intentions of getting a commentary to one volume, that leaves you with one big-ass book. I personally use and recommend the New Bible Commentary. I also use the abridged version of the The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, which is actually two books, Old and New Testament.

Bible Study/Devotion:

  • Expositor’s Bible Commentary – This is another great into/first step, offering lots of great info from an evangelical perspective and can be had at a great price when you buy use or the old (12 volume) edition.
  • NIV Application – Has its feet in both the study and devotional side, though is quite large at 42 volumes.
  • Sets like the Weiserbe and Boice (I haven’t used either, put Boice is on my list) that are more focused on devotion is something I have in mind here. If you ever buy an entire set from a single author, it must be for devotional purposes, as no one person can be an expert on every book of the bible.

Message preparation:

  • New American Commentary – These are solid scholarly written books, while remaining somewhat brief (41 volumes, so combing some books). Easy to find used volumes for $10-15.
  • Tyndale – Probably the least technical of those I’d recommend. Also, great prices, they printed them in paperback and you can find old copies or used ones at a great price. Olive Tree often has them on sale for $99, which is a hell of a deal.

Academic:

  • Baker Exegetical Commentary
  • New International Commentary
  • New International Greek Commentary
  • Word Biblical Commentary

 

Other Places for Recommendations:

You’ll probably notice that I didn’t go into detail about which commentary for which book. Two reasons for this, my main goal is to give you an idea of what’s out here and secondly, I haven’t read multiple commentaries on every book of the Bible. Instead, I use these guys to help me select which commentaries to get.

Best Commentaries

Challies

John Piper

Ligonier

You can also find all the commentaries I’ve used or recommend at my amazon store.

 

Why You Need a Study Bible

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American Christianity has an interesting relationship with the Bible. Many of us claim it is our favorite book, but we know its contents much less well than citizens of other countries. I think one reason is our dual mentality of ‘no creed but the Bible,’ which leads us to know less of what we believe, and our misunderstanding of ‘Priesthood of all Believers.’

We think it’s easy to just grab the Bible, read it through, and understand everything. In good literalist fashion, I once sought to find the most literal version of the Bible I could find. That led me to the New American Standard Bible (NASB). Of course, it hadn’t crossed my mind to try and learn Koine Greek.

Reading parts of the Old Testament, I came across phrases such as, “and his nose became red.” What? Well, it’s an idiom for becoming angry. Who knew that ancient Israel didn’t use the same idioms and maxims as modern Americans? So, I conceded defeat and looked for a more ‘dynamic’ translation.

Continue reading →

Building Your Theological Library

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I read a lot. My library started quite small, first with just a Bible, then the realization I needed a Study Bible and commentary to really help me understand. From there I moved on to Theology proper and issues of Christian life. All this led, of course, to the terrible idea that I should start a blog, but I digress. Below is a guide to getting started. First set are the necessities, from then on I give categories to buy (in bold) and a few recommendations of each.

If you want to buy and use amazon, please go click the links or go through my store.

The “Introduction to Christian Life” Library:

The “I Want to Know More” Library

  • Commentary – New Bible Commentary, The Expositors Bible Commentary
  • Broader Christian classics – Desiring God by Piper, Knowing God by Packer, Mere Christianity by Lewis, etc.
  • Church History – Church History in Plain Language by Shelley
  • Systematic Theology – Erikson or Berkhof; Outlines of Systematic Theology by A.A. Hodge
  • Topical books (broad) – What Does the Bible say about Homosexuality by DeYoung; How to Read Genesis by Longman

The “I Want a Deeper Understanding” Library:

  • Bibles – you can pick up a topical study Bible here, or a bi-lingual version
  • Church History – History of Christianity in North America by Noll; The Story of Christianity (2 Volume) by Gonzales
  • Commentary – Full version of Expositor’s Bible Commentary; Tyndale Commentary (this one is shorter and works well digitally, Olive Tree often has a $99 sale); New American Commentary
  • Theology – Biblical Theology by Vos; Historical Theology by Allison; Institutes of Christ Religion (2 Volume) by Calvin (Battles translation)
  • Topical Books (narrowed)– Inspiration and Incarnation, Evolution of Adam by Enns; Any of the Counter Point series from Zondervan
  • Basics of Biblical Greek/Hebrew

The “I Don’t Have Any Friends” Library:

  • Bible – Interlinear or parallel Greek/Hebrew Bible
  • Commentary – Word Biblical, Baker’s Exegetical, New International, etc.
  • Theology –Systematic Theology by Hodge;Reformed Dogmatics by Bavinck(Follow along with Blogging Bavinck)

You can buy all these books from my store.