Their Job was to Subdue

Filed In:

The Bible is a Book of Tales (Narrative Theology),

The Zeal of the Lord of Hosts (Post-Millennialism)

Confer: Gen 1.26-28, and Exodus 1.7

Look at these two passages, and notice what is missing from the second passage: the word “subdue.”

And God blessed them. And God said to them, ”Be fruitful and multiply and fill the land and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

Gen 1.26-28

(Now remember that Land/Earth are the same word in Hebrew).

But the people of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them.

Ex 1.7

What follows?  Pharaoh is afraid that the Hebrews might subdue his kingdom.

They were doing their job.

Joseph – the Stone that the Builders Rejected

Filed In:

The Bible is a Book of Tales (Narrative Theology)

Joseph (Gen 37-50) is not in the LINE to David, but he is very Davidic.

He is rejected by his brothers, but later comes to rule them.

As David’s story is remembered: “The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone.” (Ps 118.22)

Of course, both men prefigure Jesus.

But there is another similarity between the three.  All three have a story where they are mistreated unjustly, 1) Joseph by Potiphar’s wife, 2) David by Saul and Nabal, and 3) Jesus by “his own people”

In all three cases, there is a “remember me, when you come into your Kingdom” line:

• “¹³In three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your office, and you shall place Pharaoh’s cup in his hand as formerly, when you were his cupbearer. ¹⁴Only remember me, when it is well with you, and please do me the kindness to mention me to Pharaoh, and so get me out of this house. (gen 40.13-14)
• “^…the LORD will certainly make my lord a sure house, …And when the LORD has done to my lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning you and has appointed you prince over Israel, ³¹…And when the LORD has dealt well with my lord, then remember your servant.”" (1 Sam 25.28-31)
• And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” ⁴²And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” ⁴³And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” (Luke 23.41-43)

The three of them are also shepherds:

• “Joseph, being seventeen years old, was pasturing the flock with his brothers” (Gen 37.2)
• “⁷I hear that you have shearers. Now your shepherds have been with us, and we did them no harm, and they missed nothing all the time they were in Carmel. ⁸Ask your young men, and they will tell you. Therefore let my young men find favor in your eyes, for we come on a feast day. Please give whatever you have at hand to your servants and to your son David.’” (1 Sam 25.7-8)
• “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” (John 10.11)

———-

David’s Feast in the Wilderness

Compare David’s feast to Moses’ now:

^8″Ask your young men, and they will tell you. Therefore let my young men find favor in your eyes, for we come on a feast day. Please give whatever you have at hand to your servants and to your son David.”… ¹⁴But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, “Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to greet our master, and he railed at them….”Nabal, …was holding a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. …and his heart died within him, and he became as a stone. ³⁸And about ten days later the LORD struck Nabal, and he died.“

Nabal is Pharaoh who refuses a feast for the Son of God in the wildreness – the Lord hardened his heart.

———-

Joseph is a Judge of Israel like Jesus

Consider two passages in this cross connection:

“Joseph, being seventeen years old, was pasturing the flock with his brothers. He was a boy with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives. And Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father.” (Gen 37.2)

“And he answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?” ¹⁰For he perceived that it was out of envy that the chief priests had delivered him up.” (Mark 15.9-10)

Jacob the Serpent, Israel the Seed of the Woman

Filed In:

The Bible is a Book of Tales (Narrative Theology)

 

Jacob is portrayed in the narrative position of Satan – the ultimate Usurper.

Remember that Satan grabs at the heel in Gen 3.15, and that Jacob is a heel grabber too.

Listen first to the narrative similarities here:

Jacob is a grabber at his brother’s heel, a usurper, one who cheats to take the place of the “right” man.  Jacob hides his identity and steals a blessing.

Jacob has a tricky wrestling match with God.  God cheats to beat Jacob.  God grabs at Jacob’s hip.  God hides his identity from Jacob, revealing it in Jacob’s fearful realization later.  God blesses Jacob with a blessing that he demanded.

And God changes Jacob’s name.  Jacob leaves the place of being the grabber at his brother’s heel, and becomes the one whose hip was grabbed by God.  Jacob sinned in taking his brother’s place.  Jacob is atoned for when God takes his place.

Jacob is cast in the story as Satan, and becomes in the story the Seed of the Woman.

——

This started when I noticed that the Serpent/Heel Connection is made both in Genesis 3, and in Genesis 49:

“The LORD God said to the serpent,

“Because you have done this,
cursed are you above all livestock
and above all beasts of the field;
on your belly you shall go,
and dust you shall eat
all the days of your life.
¹⁵I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel.”  (Gen 3.14-15)

and

“¹⁶ “Dan shall judge his people

as one of the tribes of Israel.
¹⁷Dan shall be a serpent in the way,
a viper by the path,
that bites the horse’s heels
so that his rider falls backward.
¹⁸I wait for your salvation, O LORD.

¹⁹ “Raiders shall raid Gad,
but he shall raid at their heels.” (Gen 49.16-19)

In looking at these, I remembered that Jacob’s name means something like”he grabs at the heel.”

In saying this, he is cast as the serpent, the heel bruiser.

But the serpent is crushed by the “Seed of the Woman” in Gen 3.15.

• Jacob uses food to tempt, and to bring about the usurpation (25.31)

It is this same Jacob who becomes a new man, becomes that very “Seed of the Woman”

• To Rebekah: “Blessed be your offspring” 24.60
• “Rebekah loved Jacob” 25.28

Paul Wants Us to Transform the Culture

I posted the following comment at Jason Stellman’s blog [De Regnis Duobus]

Hi Jason, I am an outsider, and am announcing myself so I don’t seem like I am picking a fight. I basically stand over in the line at Blog and Mablog.

I noticed one line of yours quoted by someone on Doug’s list, and wanted to comment, but I thought it was better to comment here than there. Here’s the line: “all that stuff at the end of all his epistles” isn’t calling us to “transform the culture”.

I was hoping to hear your comments on a few passages that I think fit the bill:

“For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the [nations] to obedience—by word and deed…²⁵ Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages ²⁶but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith— ²⁷tothe only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.” (Rom 15.18, 16.25-27)

“¹First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, ² for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly anddignified in every way. ³This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, ⁴who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (1 Tim 2.1-3)

It seems to me that we live the peaceful life BECAUSE God has been pleased to save kings, and the salvation of men at all levels will have the CULTURAL effect of making society peaceable for Christians as it is conformed to Christ.

Thanks,

Luke

Damn the Cultures, Save the Society

Filed In:

The Zeal of the Lord of Hosts (Post-Millennialism)

 

Those in the post-millennialist camp want to think that we can save society, that the Kings of the Earth will really bring their splendors in to the throne of the King of Kings.

Other views believe that society will remain at odds with God until the end, that the gospel will save a minority, but one which comes out of all societies.

Should we seek to affect the society around us, beyond saving men?

I imagine that we all, on both sides, recognize that true worship will have the cultural effect of converting people who are in our surrounding culture.

I bet that one side feels like this is “transferring men out of the kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of his beloved son” That is, we convert people out of a pagan culture and into the church culture.

And I bet that the other side feels it is “baptizing the nations.” That is, changing the society.

Both are true, of course, but when people leave godless culture, they do not leave public society. If we equivocate Society with one of Society’s false Cults, then we will keep having to leave society alone. If we distinguish, then by damning the cults of men, we save the society of men.

(part of this was posted as a comment on Doug Wilson’s Blog [Blog and Mablog].

Division is a Covenant Sign

The current post follows up on this one.  My friend Heath asked the following question:

I am not sure about the pattern. Seems to prove true in these cases. Is it just in Primeval History or does it continue throughout Genesis? Cain and Abel? I see the division and judgement in Babel. How do we know what sections to look for this theme? Is there a structural clue? I see this theme tying to Moses’ purpose in showing Israel what God is doing with them.

Heath, I want to just put some verses out for more reflection:

²²But on that day I will set apart the land of Goshen, where my people dwell, so that no swarms of flies shall be there, that you may know that I am the LORD in the midst of the earth. ²³Thus I will put a division between my people and your people. Tomorrow this sign shall happen.”‘ (Ex 8.22-23 ESV)

³behold, the hand of the LORD will fall with a very severe plague upon your livestock that are in the field, the horses, the donkeys, the camels, the herds, and the flocks. ⁴ But the LORD will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, so that nothing of all that belongs to the people of Israel shall die.”‘” ⁵And the LORD set a time, saying, “Tomorrow the LORD will do this thing in the land.” (Ex 9.3-5)

⁴So Moses said, “Thus says the LORD: About midnight I will go out in the midst of Egypt, ⁵and every firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the slave girl who is behind the handmill, and all the firstborn of the cattle. ⁶ There shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there has never been, nor ever will be again. ⁷But not a dog shall growl against any of the people of Israel, either man or beast, that you may know that the LORD makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel. ⁸And all these your servants shall come down to me and bow down to me, saying, ‘Get out, you and all the people who follow you.’ And after that I will go out.” And he went out from Pharaoh in hot anger. ⁹Then the LORD said to Moses, ”Pharaoh will not listen to you, that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.” (Ex 11.4-9)

Consider also Gerazim and Ebal – Judgment of Blessing and Curses.  Consider the sheep and the goats.

The Pink Panther, Porn, and the Lord’s Supper

I was watching “The Pink Panther” on Hulu with my children.  I didn’t let them in on the adult humor included.

I was horrified to see the two main characters reading a magazine called: “Hotsy Totsy Girls Girls Girls”   The cartoon woman on the back of the cartoon porn mag made it clear that it wasn’t a mistake.  I assume that adults were supposed to think this was funny… and normal.

I am guessing that  maybe when adults and children watch cartoons together, there is a need to appeal to both crowds.  Little girls need to be brought to laughter, while their fathers next to them need to be told to think sexual thoughts about some other daddy’s daughter.

The cartoon doesn’t want you to exclaim, “Oh No, this trickery is blaspheming God by degrading his image!”  It doesn’t expect you to say, “Girls, this is the the kind of sin that leads God to tell Moses: ‘Take all the chiefs of the people and hang them in the sun before the LORD, that the fierce anger of the LORD may turn away from Israel.’” (Numbers 25)

Do we tell our children that this is the kind of poison that kills men off in the Lord’s supper (1 Cor 10.1-11)?

Of course, I didn’t interrupt the short cartoon to draw their attention to what they are (at the moment) too young to get.  If they had been older, it would have been necessary to rail against the offhand degradation of the love of God.

It is sad that a Christian man could point this out about his children’s entertainment.  But sadder still is the trap for men that is so sophisticated.  It can’t be fixed because it can’t be revealed. It is sad that many men WILL NOT point this out about the cartoon, because their conscience binds them.  If we cannot reveal the sin in the cartoon because of the sin in our hearts, then we may choose to ignore the sin in the cartoon as if nothing significant is taking place.

Families are blessed by freedom, when in face of the Lord’s Table, we “go with our young and our old. … with our sons and daughters … for we must hold a feast to the LORD”  (Ex. 1o.9)  And when we go, we may face our families freely and proclaim that it is about forgiveness, for we know that we are all sinners.  But we are free to say so without fear, for we can eat it without the hypocrisy of KNOWING we are simultaneously feeding at computer screens of demons (1 Cor 10.21).  We can FEED our children.

We mustn’t miss life lessons when our children see displays of porn that make it seem tame, when in fact it “preys upon your very life” (Pr 6.26-27).  If we cannot teach our children to see evil as evil because we are friends of the evil, but only in private, then in public we will have to concede the nourishment of their souls to the message that women are not glorious, and therefore neither is God.  They will eat an increasing diet of “men are not protectors,” and therefore neither is God.

I am glad that my girls couldn’t understand the episode that I won’t be letting them see again.  The last thing I want them to imbibe is “Girls Girls Girls”.  The last thing I want to sacrifice on the altar of a Pagan god, is my children.

Thanks be to God, for men there is hope of sanctification.  I thank God that before I was married, God got a hold of my eyes and heart.  It was painful, but the deliverance freed me like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter.  I am thankful that for men like Manasseh, there is repentance (2 Chron 33).  I am thankful that like Manasseh, I can eat the peace offering of the Lord’s Supper (2 Chron 33.16).

I am thankful that the Lord offered his body and blood for me and for my offspring after me, and that when we see smut, I can say, “Children, this makes men die, but it is one of the many things for which Jesus died.”

Before God dealt with me in my young adulthood, I believed the lie that men have no hope of freedom.  And the lie that it isn’t really THAT damaging.  I needed someone to tell me that it was really bad, and that there was really hope.

So please, if you need hope to be rescued from this curse, please have it!  Please ask the Lord to restore you.  But know that you must, for while Manasseh could repent for burning his children, he could never actually get them back.  And while the meal shows forgiveness for ALL sins, this is one which Paul tells us plainly brings death to the church.

Can a man scoop fire into his lap without his clothes being burned?” (Pr 6.27 – ABOUT Sexual sin.)

There is hope in Jesus’ power:

“Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the snare of the fowler.” (Prv 6.5 ABOUT Sexual sin).

Creation, Covenant, Judgment

The following is a schema I am working for filtering Creation, Covenant and Judgment in the Torah

The schema:

• God Creates
• God Judges (Pronounces to be Good or Bad)
• God Divides
• God Names

They are not always in the same order.

We find the pattern over and over in Genesis 1’s creation narrative, here’s a sample:

Creation Before Man

• Creates: “And God said Let there be light, and there was light.”
• Judges: “And God saw that the light was good.”
• Divides: “And God separated the light from the darkness.”
• Names: “God called the light, day, and the darkness he called night.”

Now we want to take a tour through some other passages to see how it aids us

Creation of Man

• Creates:
  • “then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground”
• Judges:
  • “And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.”
  • “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
• Divides:
  • “male and female he created them.”
  • “The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil”
  • “A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers.”
  • “So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh.”
• Names: ”Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.”  (Names him “Adam”/”man” or names him “picture of me”)

Example In Adam’s Work:

• Creation/Work:
  • “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion”
  • “The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.”
  • “Now out of the ground the LORD God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them.”
• Division:
  • Between animals and woman,
  • “So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man.”
• Naming:
  • “whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name”
  • “she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man”
  • “The man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.”
• Judgment/Declaration:
  • “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh”

Cutting the Covenant and Cutting Off

Judgement, in a positive sense, is justification, and in a normal sense is a dividing between that which is vindicated and that which is condemned.

Water cleans the hands but washes OFF dirt.  The hands are blessed, the dirt is damned.

Amputation cleans the body of the disease, but cuts OFF the rot.

Circumcision is legal amputation.

It is my contention that in each “division” we see judgment – a making of a distinction between the Hebrews and the Egyptians, as it were.

However the division is also equally the cutting of covenant FOR the blessed, and it serves to CREATE it makes family, it makes unity, it makes righteous.

We will see judgment in covenant passages, and covenant in judgment passages.  Covenant in judgment is necessarily “new creation.”

The covenant is made by cutting but is a symbol of binding.

Binding and Loosing.

Engrafting and Breaking Off.

Union

Union, that is, covenant bond, is seen in the division of Adam’s flesh into man and woman – which is done for marriage.

“Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.”

The division of flesh makes a union of flesh.  The cutting creates a covenant and a family.

People are cut OFF from their parents, and cut a covenant with their spouse.

God cuts a deal with Abraham.

“Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.”

“Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house …to the land that I will show you“

“So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man…“

“deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him.”

Divided flesh: “and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh.”

Divided flesh: “And he brought him all these [animals], cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other.”

In ABRAM’s cutting there is a bond, THE BOND of all the world’s blessing, created.  God adopts abraham.

More Cutting

In this light, the SIGN of this covenant is a cutting (ch 17), which also cuts OFF those who are not faithful (17.14)

Noah

Peter Leithart’s recent blog comment is a concise way of illustrating the Noah connection (much more could be said:

In Genesis 9:11, Yahweh promises not to “cut off flesh” by water.  That is the covenant with Noah.

A few chapters later, Yahweh tells Abram that he must cut off the flesh of all male children of Israel, not by water but by a knife.

- http://www.leithart.com/2009/07/08/cutting-off-flesh/

Back to the Schema:

• Creation:
  • Of Israel
• Division:
  • Abraham leaves his father, and cleaves to God and the Land promise (12.1-3)
  • Cutting Animals for the covenant ceremony (15)
  • Circumcision (17)
• Naming:
  • “I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing”
  • “No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.”
  • Preview: “he said, ”Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.”
• Judgment:
  • “And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness.”
  • “walk before me, and be blameless, that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly”

The creation of a blessed covenant community, with a great name, divided from those who are cursed.

“I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Greek? ναι

I’m testing using unicode Greek on my site, so that I can type Greek words…

ἀναμνησιν

That’s
“anamnhsin” or “reminder.”

If it works….it will be nice.

1 Corinthians 11 – [Part 4] – “BE Who You Are”

“Judging ourselves rightly has been the common fear of many a Christian at the Lord’s table – as if it were about being good enough to get to the table.”

THE CALL TO “BE WHO YOU ARE”

Paul frequently tells his hearers to “be who you are.”

In the following the underlined are the identity (“who you are“), and the bold are the call (“be who you are“):

Therefore, [since] you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him…  (Col 2.6)

¹What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? ²By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? ³Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?…So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.  (Rom 6.1-3, 11)

Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, [since] you really are unleavened. (1 Cor 5.7)

WHO WE ARE, WHO WE MUST BE

In 1 Corinthians, Paul commands believers this way to live out of their identity; and he has two major identity themes I want to highlight here, and they converge in our pericope (1 Cor 10-12).

1. - The body is one. [Jews and Gentiles are united in a single family, rich and poor together, not factionalized]
2. - The body is holy.

As you skim the following, keep in mind that the opposites show up too- UNITY: disunity/fragmentation/strife/jealousy/division; HOLINESS: immorality, disobedience, unrighteousness.

Let’s examine a few passages before we see their convergence in chapter 11.

• UNITY:   ¹⁰I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. ¹¹For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. ¹²What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.” ¹³ Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? (1 Cor 1.10-13)
• UNITY: ³for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? ⁴For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not being merely human?… ⁷So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. ⁸He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. ⁹For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building. (1 Cor 3.3-9)
• HOLINESS: ¹⁶Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? ¹⁷If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple. (1 Cor 3.16-17)
• HOLINESS: It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father’s wife. ²And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you. (1 Cor 5.1-2)
• HOLINESS: Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? ⁷Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. ⁸Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.  (1 Cor 5.6-8)
• UNITY and HOLINESS: Let him who has done this be removed from among you….But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. ¹²For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? ¹³God judges those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you.”  (1 Cor 5.6,11-13)
• UNITY: “When one of you has a grievance against another,…brother goes to law against brother,” (1 Cor 6.1,6)
• HOLINESS: Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, ¹⁰nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. ¹¹And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. (1 Cor 6.9-11)
  
• HOLINESS:  “For the unbelieving husband is made holy because of his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy because of her husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy.” (1 Cor 7.14)

So, Paul, by the Spirit, tells the church to “BE who you ARE.  You are HOLY, BE HOLY.  You are A UNITY, BE A UNIFIED.”

Major images used for the unity of the church in 1 Cor are field or vineyard, temple, and body, especially BODY.

There are two ways of hurting your fellow body member:

1. impurity - engaging in unholiness which spreads like gangrene in the body.  Unholiness is contagious, a little leaven leavens the whole lump.  If a member will not repent he is to be cut out so that the body does not die, that the temple is not defiled.
2. division – actually sinning AGAINST your brothers.  If you divide the body, the irony is you are actually engaging in unholiness.

THE DESTRUCTION OF THE TEMPLE

We find that 1 Cor 3.16-17 (temple destruction) is very similar to 1 Cor 11.16-32 (body sickness).  In both cases, hurting the church is judged by God’s destruction:

“¹⁶ Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? ¹⁷If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.”  (1 Cor 3.16-17)

“When you come together, it is not the Lord’s supper that you eat. ²¹For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal. One goes hungry, another gets drunk. ²²What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I commend you in this? No, I will not.   …²⁷Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. ²⁸ Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. ²⁹For anyone who eats and drinks without [recognizing] the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. ³⁰That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. ³¹ But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. ³²But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.” (1 Cor 11.20-22, 27-32)

JUDGING OURSELVES RIGHTLY

You are a body, so BE UNITED.  If you look down on, despise, treat poorly any other of your church body members, God will destroy your own body.  If you eat a meal of unity in a way that divides, then you are eating and drinking judgment upon yourself.  If you destroy God’s temple, God will destroy you, for God’s temple is holy, and that is what you are.

Judging ourselves rightly has been the common fear of many a Christian at the Lord’s table.  As if it were about being good enough to get to the table.  Paul is indeed addressing each individual with his responisbility to check himself, but the checking is for division, check to see if YOU are shaming the poor (11.22), check to see if you are drinking Dionysian drunken worship rather than sharing wine with your Christian brother (vv.20-21).  Paul is talking about making worship unholy by division.

This is an external, public hypocrisy sin.  Paul is not asking us to worry about being able to work out salvation in our minds before the cup gets to our seat.  This is also a big person sin.  This is not a sin of children.

We must admit that Jesus died for “even infants” (Luke 18.15-17), and we must admit that the symbol of broken bread and pour wine are a reminder of forgiveness and the removal of sin.  We are not to worry that “even infants” might commune with the God who saved them at the cross.  We are not to worry that “even infants” are not clean enough from the sin which was taken away by the breaking of his body and the pouring out of his blood.

We ARE to worry about taking the whole loaf of his body and feeding it to only part of his body.  We ARE to worry about getting drunk on the wine by hogging it while we leave some of God’s Vineyard hungry.  We ARE to worry about sharing the body in a way that we refuse to share the body with all the body.

Peter committed this sin at Antioch, refusing to be united with the Gentiles at the table (Gal 2.11-14) and was “not acting in line with the truth of the gospel”:

When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong. ¹²Before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. ¹³The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.

Rather:

¹⁷Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. (1 Cor 10.17)

¹³For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body— Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. (1 Cor 12.13)

THE BAPTIZED ARE THE BODY, THE BODY IS THE COMMUNION, THE BODY COMMUNES.

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In post [5] I will deal with the 4 verbs people use to say that 1 Cor 11 requires age of children.