Tag: exile

Post exile Biblical Theology

I suspect that the post exile Bible literature is  up there/ or rather down there with the least attended to of the books of the Bible.  It’s not helped by the fact that out of those books, it’s Nehemiah that is most likely to be chosen for preaching on but then it’s likely to be… Continue reading Post exile Biblical Theology

Signposts to home

We are moving to the end of the book of Genesis, the foundation of the whole Bible story of God’s redemptive plan. This also means that w are moving towards the end of Jacob’s life story.  Remember that whilst our focus has been on Joseph, this is really the story of “what became of Jacob… Continue reading Signposts to home

Home and away

There is one small matter that we might risk overlooking but would have been muvh more on Jacob’s radar.  Departure from the land has tended and especially to Egypt has tended to be seen as negative in Genesis. Read Genesis 46 Jacob begins the journey down to Egypt.  He pauses at Beersheba to offer sacrifices.… Continue reading Home and away

Out of the frying pan …

Abram hasn’t been long in the promised land when famine hits.  He decides to leave then land and go to Egypt to find food.  There has been some debate on whether or not this was a good thing to do with some commentators pointing to the absence of explicit negative assessment.  However, sometimes the point… Continue reading Out of the frying pan …

Echoes …(an introduction to typology)

One of the exciting things you spot as you read through Scripture especially if you’ve ever done that thing where you read from beginning to end in a year, or if you spend a bit of time reading through big sections is that you begin to spot patterns and echoes.  For example, here are three… Continue reading Echoes …(an introduction to typology)

Exiles and strangers

When Peter opens his first letter with the words, “o those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia.”[1] It could be seen as just a literal and physical description of those Jewish believers who had been dispersed and scattered from their homeland. However, when you get to 1 Peter… Continue reading Exiles and strangers

Out of Egypt I have called my son – Jesus as exile

In Matthew 2::14 -15, we are told that Mary and Joseph fleeing from Herod with the baby Jesus to Egypt and then returning from there to Nazareth, when Herod died fulfilled the prophecy in Hosea 11:1 “Out of Egypt I have called my son.” Hosea 11 retells the story of the Exodus. It is God’s… Continue reading Out of Egypt I have called my son – Jesus as exile

Death as exile

What does God mean when he warns Adam and Eve that on the day that they eat from the forbidden tree that they will die?  We know that they didn’t immediately die physically, they lived for many years after, although they would now experience, sickness and mortality.  This is where our Biblical Theology theme of… Continue reading Death as exile

Why did Jesus get baptised? (Mark 1:6-13)

Mark’s Gospel is shorter than the others with a greater sense of immediacy and urgency. The focus appears to be much mor eon the narrative and so we don’t tend to get the extended conversatinos and teaching we find in Matthew and John. So, when Mark takes a bit of time to flesh out a… Continue reading Why did Jesus get baptised? (Mark 1:6-13)