Latest / Reformed Thinking / The Old Testament as the Story of God’s Kingdom | Thomas R. Schreiner

Transcript

The Old Testament as the Story of God’s Kingdom | Thomas R. Schreiner · Reformed Thinking

0:00
Welcome to the Deep Dive brought to you by Reformed Thinking.
0:03
We have an incredible stack of sources today that isn't focused
0:07
on the latest technology or some obscure historical fact.
0:10
It's about synthesizing the single largest, most continuous
0:14
narrative structure in recorded history, the story of the Old
0:17
Testament. That's right.
0:19
And our source material today provides this really
0:22
comprehensive high altitude summary.
0:24
It looks at the entire Old Testament narrative, you know,
0:27
from creation through the covenant to the final prophetic
0:31
utterances. And it does it through three
0:33
critical lenses, covenant faithfulness, inevitable
0:36
judgement, and the glorious promise of the coming King.
0:40
So our mission today is pretty substantial.
0:41
We're trying to distill the big picture of the OT.
0:44
We're looking for that continuous thread that links the
0:46
initial creation, the devastation of the fall, the
0:48
exile, and then the promised restoration.
0:50
And crucially, we're focusing on how the prophets acted as these
0:53
expert guides, helping Israel understand the true meaning and
0:56
direction of their own, well, chaotic history.
0:58
And the sources are very clear that for this narrative to make
1:01
any sense at all, you have to have a starting point, and that
1:04
point must be the absolute reign of Yahweh over all creation.
1:09
This rule is applied equally to His governance in judging Israel
1:13
for their failures and ultimately in saving His people
1:16
through promise. The whole prophetic message
1:19
really hinges on grasping that God is the sovereign King even,
1:23
or maybe especially, when he is administering punishment.
1:26
OK, so let's unpack that. The function of the prophets.
1:30
They weren't just fortune tellers predicting the future.
1:33
They were more like forensic analysts of the past and
1:36
present, right? Giving a deeper understanding of
1:38
Israel's journey. That's the key distinction, the
1:41
core function of the pre exilic prophets, you know, guys like
1:44
Amos, Hosea, Isaiah and Jeremiah.
1:46
It wasn't to move the historical storyline forward.
1:49
The narrative books were already doing that.
1:50
The role was supplemental. They provided this crucial,
1:53
deeper insight into the motivation behind Israel's
1:56
actions and clarify the spiritual meaning of the history
1:59
being recorded. They interpreted the signs at
2:01
the times, but they did it based on the foundational agreement
2:04
Israel had made with Yahweh. And the judgement they warned
2:06
about wasn't just some random arbitrary thing, it was
2:09
literally written into the contract, the foundational
2:12
document of their relationship with God.
2:15
Precisely. The central terrifying threat of
2:18
judgement was expulsion from the land.
2:20
It was exile. This punishment was laid out in
2:22
the covenant stipulations with crystal clarity.
2:25
If Israel, after being delivered from Egypt and placed in the
2:28
land, their New Eden, failed to obey their covenant Lord, they
2:32
would be evicted. We see this threat articulated
2:35
so powerfully in Leviticus 26, which details this cascading
2:39
series of escalating judgments. And it gets even more severe in
2:43
Deuteronomy 28, which lists curses that culminate in the
2:46
people being plucked off the land.
2:48
So this wasn't a surprise attack.
2:49
It was the inevitable legal consequence of violating the
2:52
agreement with their king. What's just staggering is that
2:54
despite these clear warnings, the people fundamentally
2:57
misunderstood what judgement meant for them.
2:59
They have this overly optimistic, almost
3:01
nationalistically arrogant view of the future.
3:04
They absolutely did. Israel and Judo were guilty of a
3:06
really dangerous misreading of the day of the Lord.
3:10
They saw this day strictly as a time of vindication for
3:13
themselves, a time of salvation and prosperity, and a final
3:17
judgement for the Gentile nations who oppressed them.
3:20
They believed their status as God's chosen nation
3:22
automatically insulated them from divine wrath.
3:25
Which is a belief that required a very sharp correction.
3:28
The prophets essentially had to turn Israel's own religious hope
3:32
against them. Oh, it was a crushing message.
3:34
Yeah. The prophets, especially Amos,
3:37
stated flatly that because the people were living in ways that
3:39
perfectly mirrored the Pagan nations around them, you know,
3:42
neglecting justice, oppressing the poor, practicing idolatry,
3:46
the Day of the Lord would be the precise opposite of what they
3:49
hoped it would be. A day of darkness, not light
3:52
filled with gloom, not rejoicing unless they repented.
3:55
And radically, Amos asks, Why do you desire the day of the Lord?
3:59
It is darkness and not light. That realization would have been
4:02
seismically terrifying to the original audience.
4:04
And the sources spent a good amount of time detailing the
4:07
deep spiritual sickness that just permeated the leadership
4:10
structure. That's right, every level was
4:11
compromised. Prophets were indicted for
4:14
speaking falsehoods, for promising comfort when
4:16
destruction was right around the corner.
4:18
Priests were indicted for failing to teach the law
4:20
correctly. Kings were indicted for
4:22
corruption and idolatry. They were all acting as bad
4:25
shepherds, promising peace when disaster is imminent.
4:29
This showed that the covenant failure wasn't just a grassroots
4:32
issue. It began at the very top and
4:35
infected the whole society. But the defining sin, the one
4:38
that the prophets used the most evocative language for, wasn't
4:42
just breaking a single law. It was described as whoredom or
4:45
treachery. That term comes up over and over
4:48
in Hosea, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. And that term really defines the
4:52
nature of the relational violation.
4:54
It signifies spiritual adultery. Israel's sin was not just
4:57
violating a law, it was abandoning the Lord, the one who
5:00
would sustain them, nurture them, delivered them, provided
5:02
everything they needed. Because they found him boring,
5:06
they actively sought excitement, security and material comfort in
5:09
other gods like Baal or in foreign political alliances with
5:13
Egypt or Assyria. The imagery that Hosea uses is
5:16
particularly vivid here, isn't it?
5:18
I mean, he was forced to live out the treachery of Israel in
5:21
his own marriage. Yes, Hosea's life became a
5:24
living metaphor for Israel's relationship with Yahweh.
5:27
His wife Gomer repeatedly ran off to find other lovers,
5:31
believing they were the ones providing the food, wine, and
5:34
wool that Yahweh was actually providing all along.
5:37
And this just mirrored Israel's foolishness.
5:39
They attributed God's blessings to idols and chaste after false
5:42
security, preferring A fleeting thrill over the steady, self
5:46
giving fidelity of their true husband.
5:47
So the exile, the eviction of the Northern Kingdom in 722 BC
5:51
and then Judah in 586 BC, it was less about military defeat and
5:56
more about the inevitable consequence of forsaking the
5:59
king. It was all laid out in those
6:00
foundational covenant documents. That is the prophetic insight.
6:04
Their disobedience meant they could not remain in their new
6:07
Eden. God as the righteous king, had
6:10
to enact a prescribed judgement. The prophets provided the
6:12
clarity the exile was not an accident of geopolitical fortune
6:16
but a necessary foretold covenant judgement that
6:19
demonstrated Yahweh's reign is absolute and His Word is true.
6:23
But the narrative doesn't just end with destruction.
6:25
Despite the dire reality of judgement and exile, the source
6:29
material pivots pretty swiftly to the certainty of salvation.
6:32
The story of God's people is not allowed to end with eviction.
6:35
It can't end there because Yahweh's sovereignty works in
6:38
two directions, judgement and salvation.
6:42
He had not abandoned his people and those inviolable promises
6:46
made to Abraham centuries earlier.
6:47
We're still scheduled for fulfillment.
6:50
The promise that the offspring of the woman would one day
6:52
triumph over the serpent, the promises to Abraham offspring
6:55
land worldwide blessing, and the critical promise of a king from
6:59
David's line. All of these remain secure
7:01
because God himself guaranteed them.
7:04
So the immediate promise given to the people in exile was this
7:06
idea of a new exodus. Now that sounds like a physical
7:10
return to the land, but the sources imply something much
7:13
deeper than just a travel itinerary.
7:15
How does the new exodus differ qualitatively from the original
7:18
1? That's a great question.
7:19
The prophets guaranteed a return to the land, yes, but this event
7:23
would be qualitatively greater than the original Exodus from
7:26
Egypt. In the first Exodus, God used a
7:29
mediator, Moses, and the journey took 40 years.
7:32
In the new Exodus, Yahweh pledged that he would personally
7:35
go before the nation to bring them back to Israel.
7:38
Isaiah describes this new road as smooth, straight, and
7:41
spectacular, ensuring the people wouldn't face permanent
7:43
separation. It symbolizes not just freedom
7:46
from Babylon, but freedom secured by God's own presence.
7:49
But the restoration promised by the prophets goes far beyond
7:52
just a return trip and rebuilding Jerusalem's walls.
7:55
It involves a kind of cosmic overhaul, the new creation.
7:58
And this is where the scope of the promise just expands
8:01
exponentially. The Lord pledges a new creation
8:05
that physically and spiritually surpasses the original Garden of
8:07
Eden. The transformation is
8:09
comprehensive. It affects the entire cosmos.
8:12
We get these poetic images. Mountains will drip with sweet
8:15
wine. The deserts will bloom.
8:17
The wolf and the lamb will lie down together.
8:19
The natural world, which is currently groaning under the
8:22
curse, will be totally transformed, culminating in a
8:25
new heaven and a new earth. And the critical detail here is
8:28
the qualitative upgrade of this new paradise compared to the old
8:31
one. Adam's garden was vulnerable.
8:33
This new paradise is secure. That security is paramount.
8:36
This new creation will be better than the old because of the
8:39
explicit promise that nothing will ever defile it.
8:42
The initial vulnerability to the Serpent's deceit and influence
8:45
will be gone. The security is built into the
8:47
very structure of the new creation, which means a second
8:50
fall is impossible. The restoration is permanent,
8:53
not temporary. And to make that permanent new
8:55
creation possible, there had to be an internal fix for the
8:58
people themselves. Because if Adam failed and
9:01
Israel failed, the problem wasn't the law, it was human
9:04
capacity. This brings us to the necessity
9:08
of the New Covenant. The Old Covenant failed not
9:10
because the law was flawed. The law was wholly and just, but
9:13
because of the sinful inability of the people to keep it.
9:16
It led to constant failure and expulsion.
9:19
The New Covenant directly addresses this human failure,
9:21
this lack of capacity. Jeremiah 31 and Ezekiel 36 are
9:25
crucial here. Yahweh promises 2 things, 1st to
9:30
forgive their sins completely removing the guilt, and 2nd to
9:33
make a new covenant where His law would be written directly on
9:35
the hearts of His people. So the law moves from being an
9:38
external set of rules written on stone to an internal motivation
9:42
written on the core of their being.
9:43
Exactly. This is the radical nature of
9:46
the change. It's no longer an external
9:48
obligation that they struggle against, and this internal
9:51
transformation is directly connected to the outpouring of
9:54
the Spirit. The Lord pledges, as Ezekiel
9:57
says, to put his Spirit within them.
10:00
The Spirit wouldn't dwell their hearts so that they would do His
10:03
will. The obedience that was a
10:05
constant failing struggle under the old system becomes a natural
10:09
internal outflow under the new. The result is a people who
10:12
gladly submit to Yahweh's rule. This makes the ultimate
10:16
restoration possible because the people are finally given the
10:18
capacity to maintain their relationship with the King.
10:22
It guarantees the outcome. The King will have people who
10:25
are spiritually equipped to live in the undefiled new creation.
10:28
It transitions the relationship from a conditional contract
10:31
based on human performance to an unconditional relationship based
10:34
on God's grace and internal work.
10:36
Now we come to what is for me, the most interesting conceptual
10:40
synthesis in all the prophetic literature.
10:42
All these incredible promises, new exodus, new creation, new
10:46
covenant, the internal transformation, they all become
10:49
reality only through a single figure who embodies multiple,
10:52
seemingly disparate role. This convergence of the
10:55
Messianic titles is really the great conclusion of the
10:58
prophetic books. The prophets knew that the sheer
11:01
magnitude of the promises, restoring the Davidic line,
11:04
securing global justice, achieving atonement, it required
11:08
a specific kind of deliverer. OK, so let's start with the
11:11
clearest royal role, the new David, the ruler.
11:14
Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Zechariah all established that a new David
11:18
would arise, guaranteeing the perpetuity of the Davidic line
11:21
despite its temporary failure. He is the shepherd who will rule
11:25
God's flock with love and selfless care, which is a sharp
11:28
contrast with the corrupt, self-serving prior shepherds who
11:31
led Israel astray. This figure restores the royal
11:34
function that failed with Solomon and his descendants.
11:37
And Isaiah provides the characteristics of this king
11:39
that just elevate him beyond any earthly monarch.
11:42
Absolutely. Isaiah 9 confirms the Davidic
11:45
ruler will be the Spirit, anointed leader of God's people.
11:48
His titles, Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father,
11:52
Prince of Peace. They signify a king whose
11:55
wisdom, authority, care, and peaceful reign far exceed
11:59
anything the world had ever seen.
12:01
He is not just a man. He carries divine attributes
12:03
that are necessary to execute global justice.
12:06
And that royal function then connects directly to this
12:09
majestic cosmic figure known as the Son of Man.
12:12
This is the critical linkage that Daniel provides.
12:14
The new David, the king, is intrinsically connected to the
12:17
vision in Daniel two of the stone cut without hands that
12:21
shatters all worldly kingdoms, Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome.
12:24
That royal power is given to the Son of Man in Daniel seven who
12:28
is introduced coming on the clouds of heaven to receive
12:30
everlasting dominion and glory. This links the shepherd ruler
12:33
role of the new David to this majestic authoritative figure
12:36
who is king and cosmic judge. But the prophets recognize that
12:39
ruling over a restored people is impossible unless the
12:42
fundamental problems, sin and covenant violation is first
12:46
removed. A good ruler is not enough.
12:49
This necessitates the third title, the servant of the Lord
12:52
the Atoner. And this is the linchpin.
12:55
It's the most difficult and glorious realization of the
12:58
prophetic message. Isaiah makes it plain that the
13:00
promise of a new exodus, a new creation, will come about only
13:03
through the mechanism provided by the servant of the Lord.
13:06
Israel's return from exile requires a mechanism for the
13:09
forgiveness of sins, a way to absorb the curse that was
13:12
stipulated back in Deuteronomy 28.
13:14
And the sources make it clear that the servant achieves this
13:17
not through conquering, but through suffering.
13:19
Yes, the servant of the Lord bears the sins of the people.
13:23
He is described as one who is oppressed, afflicted and cut off
13:26
from the land of the living. Isaiah 53 provides the shocking
13:29
detail. He is despised, rejected by men,
13:33
and wounded for our transgressions.
13:34
He is the shepherd, as Zechariah describes, who is struck for the
13:37
sake of the people. The single figure absorbs the
13:40
entire devastating punishment Israel deserved under the
13:43
covenant stipulations. Without this substitutionary
13:45
suffering, there's no forgiveness.
13:47
Without forgiveness, there's no new covenant, no return, and no
13:51
undefiled new creation. So the synthesis is that the new
13:53
David must also be the suffering servant.
13:55
The ultimate king must first be the ultimate sacrifice.
13:58
The sources affirm that these roles share the same reference.
14:02
The promises made at Abraham and David, the political, the cosmic
14:05
and the redemptive, they all converge in this single figure.
14:09
The New Testament confirms this synthesis.
14:11
Jesus is the Son of David, the Messianic King, the Son of Man,
14:15
the divine Judge and the Servant of the Lord, the one who
14:18
suffered to secure the forgiveness required by the New
14:20
Covenant. This is why the victory is
14:22
secure. It rests on the suffering and
14:25
subsequent reign of the King. Moving from Israel's specific
14:28
history of failure and restoration, the profits ensure
14:31
that the salvation secured by this unified king isn't just for
14:34
Israel. It has this vast universal
14:37
dimension which fulfills the original promise of worldwide
14:40
blessing made to Abraham way back in Genesis 12.
14:43
That scope is absolutely necessary.
14:45
The blessings were never intended to stop at Israel's
14:47
borders. Israel was meant to be the
14:49
conduit for blessing to the world.
14:51
Judgement looms for those nations and individuals who
14:54
refuse to submit to the King, but salvation is explicitly
14:57
promised for Gentiles who put their hope in the Lord and the
15:00
Davidic King. And the number of specific
15:02
examples the prophets provided about the inclusion of Gentiles
15:05
is just astonishing. This wasn't some tacked on
15:09
afterthought. It was central to the prophetic
15:11
vision of the final Kingdom. It completely reframed Israel's
15:14
national identity. Malachi One states clearly that
15:17
Yahweh's name will be great among the nations, even in the
15:20
absence of a perfectly functioning temple in Jerusalem.
15:23
Isaiah 19 is particularly jarring.
15:26
It predicts that Egyptians and Assyrians, historic, often
15:29
bitter enemies, will worship alongside Israel and be called
15:33
My people. Amos 9 says the remnant of Edom
15:36
will be called by Yahweh's name. The political and ethnic
15:39
barriers that define the ancient world will just dissolve under
15:42
the King's rule. And the inclusion goes beyond
15:44
just specific, reconciled nations to a broad spiritual
15:47
outreach across all of humanity. Joel 2 makes the scope clear,
15:51
stating that God will pour out His Spirit on all people, sons
15:54
and daughters, old and young, male and female servants.
15:58
The Spirit is no longer confined just to a prophetic class or to
16:01
the nation of Israel. The very existence of the book
16:04
of Jonah, whose message suggests Gentiles in Nineveh can be
16:06
included, underscores this universal reach.
16:10
Isaiah speaks directly to the Servant's mission outside of
16:12
Israel's borders. The servant is intended to be a
16:15
light for all nations, right? Correct.
16:17
The Servant will be a light for all nations, and His message
16:19
will go to the ends of the earth as stated in Isaiah 42 and 49.
16:23
Furthermore, Isaiah 2 describes nations streaming to Jerusalem
16:26
to hear Yahweh's Word and learn His ways, turning their
16:30
instruments of war into tools of agriculture.
16:33
This vision is of global disarmament and global
16:35
instruction centered on the King.
16:37
And they will even speak a new language, the language of Zion,
16:39
according to Zephaniah. Zephaniah 3 promises that Yahweh
16:43
will change the speech of Gentiles to the pure language of
16:46
Zion, enabling them all to call upon the name of the Lord
16:49
together. The cultural and linguistic
16:52
divisions caused by the Tower of Babel will finally be reversed.
16:56
All of Abraham's promises will be fulfilled because the
16:59
blessing will encompass the whole world, securing the global
17:02
reach of the King's dominion. And the ultimate final rule for
17:05
the entire Earth is the capstone to this vision of universal
17:09
inclusion. Zechariah puts the ultimate
17:11
conclusion plainly. The Lord will be king over all
17:14
the earth, the entire world will acknowledge His reign, the
17:18
judgments due to sin will be removed for those who submit,
17:21
and the King will be physically present among His redeemed
17:24
people. And the ultimate beauty of this
17:26
fulfillment is tied back to God's presence itself, bringing
17:29
us full circle from the Garden, through the Tabernacle to the
17:31
new creation. The Lord will rule in the new
17:34
creation, the New Jerusalem and the new Temple.
17:37
But the most beautiful reality of all will not be the
17:40
architecture or the material blessings.
17:42
It will be His presence with His people.
17:45
As Ezekiel 48 concludes the vision of the new city, its
17:48
defining feature is its name. The Lord is there.
17:53
They will finally and securely see the King in his beauty,
17:56
fulfilling the desire for perfect, uninterrupted
17:59
fellowship with the Sovereign Lord.
18:01
To really appreciate the necessity of that final vision
18:04
of the King's beauty and the servant's suffering, we have to
18:06
look back at the entire trajectory of the story that
18:09
made such an intervention essential.
18:11
So let's trace the flow from the very beginning.
18:14
The Garden. The story starts with God
18:16
creating Adam and Eve not just as inhabitants, but as his image
18:20
bearers and vice Regents. They were created to rule the
18:22
garden and the world for his glory, acting as faithful,
18:25
subordinate rulers. Their rule was conditional on
18:28
submitting to God's own authority.
18:30
And they failed at that rule by listening to the serpent
18:32
attempting to seize knowledge and authority outside of God's
18:35
framework. That failure resulted in the
18:37
fall bringing sin, death, and the curse into the world.
18:42
But immediately the Lord provides the foundational
18:45
promise of future victory through conflict.
18:48
The offspring of the woman would triumph over the offspring of
18:51
the serpent, though the deliverer would first be struck.
18:54
This said the entire trajectory of the subsequent narrative.
18:57
And the conflict started immediately outside of Eden.
19:00
It did. The failure of Adam's vice
19:02
Regency was replicated in his immediate descendants.
19:05
Cain, acting as the offspring of the serpent, killed Abel,
19:09
symbolizing the ongoing warfare against the line of promise.
19:12
The wickedness increased exponentially until by the time
19:15
of Noah, the entire world, say one family, was aligned against
19:20
God's lordship. The flood served as a major
19:22
historical judgement anticipating the final
19:24
judgement, the covenant with Noah.
19:26
Then it promises preservation rather than total renewal.
19:29
It was a guarantee of cosmic stability.
19:32
The covenant with Noah promised to spare the world from future
19:35
water judgements, preserving the human race until the ultimate
19:39
victory could be achieved. This preservation was necessary
19:43
because human hearts hadn't changed, as we see immediately
19:46
demonstrated by the collective hubris at the Tower of Babel,
19:49
where humans again tried to establish their own Kingdom and
19:52
live for their own glory instead of gods.
19:54
And this global failure then sets the stage for the calling
19:57
of Abraham and the focusing of the promise.
20:00
In an act of pure grace, God called Abraham pledging land
20:03
offspring and universal blessing.
20:06
The offspring of Abraham was meant to be the line that would
20:08
eventually produce the deliverer who would defeat the serpent.
20:12
Yet Abraham and Sarah waited years for a single child, Isaac,
20:15
and by the end of Genesis, the promised offspring totaled only
20:18
about 70 people. The delay was itself a teaching
20:21
mechanism that highlighted human frailty.
20:24
It taught that the victory over the serpent would be arduous and
20:27
long, and that it's timing rested entirely on God's
20:30
sovereign control, not on human effort or reproduction.
20:34
So the Exodus finally saw the offspring promise begin to
20:37
flourish into a great nation, but it also introduced a clear
20:40
prototype of the serpent's offspring in the form of
20:43
Pharaoh. Pharaoh tried to destroy Israel
20:46
through genocide and oppression, but Yahweh reigned as king and
20:50
warrior, securing the first Exodus and leading his people to
20:53
the land. The second great promise, the
20:56
new Garden of Eden. The entire purpose of the Exodus
20:59
was to establish that Israel was Yahweh's people, redeemed to
21:02
live under His direct authority. And the conditions for remaining
21:06
in that new Eden were laid out explicitly at Sinai.
21:09
The Mosaic Covenant required strict adherence to its
21:11
stipulations. Israel was a Kingdom of priests
21:14
meant to show the surrounding nations what life under God's
21:17
rule looked like. But they needed to learn what it
21:19
meant for a holy God to dwell in their midst.
21:22
If they fail to obey, they would be evicted from the land, just
21:25
as Adam was expelled from the original Eden.
21:27
And the pattern of failure repeats itself immediately in
21:30
the wilderness. Right.
21:31
The Tabernacle ensured God's presence, making Israel
21:33
distinct. But it also underscored the
21:35
constant, pervasive nature of human uncleanness.
21:39
Access to the Holy King was not free and unhindered.
21:42
Sacrifices and designated priests were necessary because
21:45
human beings were unclean due to sin.
21:47
The failure was so constant that the entire generation that left
21:50
Egypt perished in the wilderness because they refused to trust
21:54
the Lord and obey His commands. Moving through the timeline, the
21:58
period of judges shows Israel just oscillating perpetually
22:01
between brief moments of trust and these long, extended periods
22:04
of idolatry. The need for a stable, permanent
22:07
king became undeniably apparent. The cycle in judges, sin,
22:11
oppression, cry out, temporary Savior, judge it show that the
22:15
people required a permanent deliverer and shepherd.
22:18
The promise of kingship, which was always part of the plan, now
22:20
became the focus. Victory over the Serpent would
22:23
come through a king from Dais's line.
22:25
But the rise of Saul, the first king, was a false dawn.
22:28
Saul was the prototype of human failure, replicating the failure
22:32
of Adam and Israel. He started well, but his
22:35
character flaws and disobedience led him to turn aside to evil.
22:39
Ultimately, he proved himself to be another example of the
22:41
offspring of the serpent, prioritizing his own glory over
22:45
God's command, so the Kingdom was removed from his line.
22:48
David, however, was anointed as a contrast, a man who, despite
22:52
his personal failures, possessed a core trust and obedience to
22:56
the Lord. And because of that trust, David
22:58
was granted a permanent dynasty. The promised deliverer would
23:01
come from his line. Under David and Solomon, Israel
23:04
seemed poised to achieve worldwide blessing.
23:07
The Temple was built and they were safe in the land.
23:10
This was the pinnacle of their earthly glory.
23:12
But even the high point of the monarchy couldn't overcome the
23:15
issue of human sin and the failure of vice Regency.
23:18
David stumbled badly, and Solomon's defection into
23:21
idolatry was so severe that the Kingdom divided after his death.
23:25
Ultimately, both Judah and Israel violated the covenant to
23:29
such an extent that the prophets pronounced the inevitable
23:31
judgement. They were sent into exile, the
23:34
Temple, the place of Yahweh's presence, was destroyed and they
23:38
were evicted from their Eden, confirming the prophetic insight
23:41
that the covenant curses are absolute.
23:44
So the narrative moves from initial creation and failure
23:47
through covenant warning to the ultimate consequence of
23:50
judgement. The prophets then provide the
23:52
final conclusion. The demise was covenant
23:55
judgment. But the promise of a new exodus,
23:57
new creation, and new covenant, all realized through the unified
24:00
new Davidson of manservant, remains the certain future, even
24:04
if it's fullness is delayed. And the non narrative books, the
24:07
songs of Israel and the Wisdom tradition.
24:09
They don't interrupt the storyline at all.
24:11
The source material shows they fit perfectly within the overall
24:14
theme of God's reign and the eventual triumph of the king.
24:17
They examine the practical realities of living under
24:19
Yahweh's rule in the interim between Adam's failure and the
24:22
new David's arrival. OK, so let's start with the
24:25
Psalms. The songs of Israel.
24:27
The central theme of the Psalter is clearly stated.
24:30
The Lord reigns. And the structure of the Psalter
24:33
itself mirrors the history we just reviewed, which reinforces
24:37
the unity of the OT story. It's five books move
24:40
chronologically from the high point of David's reign and
24:43
initial glory in Book 1, through the confusion and experience of
24:47
exile in Book 4, to the eventual renewal of the Davidic promise
24:51
and the anticipation of God's cosmic rule in Book 5.
24:54
It fits the central theme that God will destroy the Serpent's
24:57
reign through a Davidic king. And the Psalter culminates in
25:00
this powerful expression of praise tied to the King's
25:03
presence. Yes, the final movement of the
25:05
Psalter is just an explosion of praise, reinforcing that the
25:09
ultimate goal of restoration is dwelling securely with the king.
25:13
The songs instruct Israel how to live, how to worship and how to
25:16
lament while waiting for the full arrival of the promised
25:19
Kingdom. Then we have Wisdom literature,
25:21
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Job. These might seem like
25:25
philosophical deviations, but the sources see them as
25:27
complementary perspectives on what it looks like to live
25:30
righteously under God's dominion.
25:31
They all share the same anchor point.
25:34
The fear of the Lord is the heart of wisdom.
25:36
These books integrate faith with the concrete details of everyday
25:40
life. How to conduct business, how to
25:42
raise children, how to speak carefully.
25:44
They draw heavily on creation traditions, assuming a moral
25:48
order built into the cosmos by the king.
25:50
So Proverbs provides the ordinary predictable pattern of
25:53
blessing in this divinely ordered cosmos.
25:56
Proverbs tells us that ordinarily those who fear the
25:59
Lord and follow his commands will experience prosperity,
26:02
safety, and a good life. It describes the general rule
26:05
what happens most of the time when wisdom is applied, but the
26:08
source is warned against a simplistic transactional
26:11
appropriation of that message, because Job and Ecclesiastes
26:14
address the exceptions and anomalies.
26:16
Right. Those books introduce the
26:18
necessary balance, human limitation, and the mystery of
26:21
God's reign in a fallen world. They teach that life is often
26:23
mysterious, baffling and frankly, absurd.
26:27
For those living under the sun, Job shows that suffering is not
26:30
always a consequence of personal sin.
26:33
Ecclesiastes shows that striving for meaning outside of fearing
26:36
God is utterly frustrating. Humans lack the capacity to
26:40
discern the full rationale of God's reign.
26:42
The call is to fear and submit. Understanding that suffering is
26:45
a reality that cannot always be avoided or explained by a simple
26:49
equation of righteousness equals prosperity.
26:51
But the ultimate outcome is secure.
26:53
And there's a startling canonical connection made about
26:56
the definition of the truly wise man.
26:58
The ultimate integrated call is for human beings to fear the
27:01
Lord and obey Him, trusting that even if we can't fathom the
27:04
mysteries of existence in this age, it will go well for those
27:08
who submit to his rule. And the sources connect this
27:10
back to the King from a canonical perspective.
27:13
The only truly wise person who invariably lived righteously by
27:16
fearing the Lord and keeping his commands, the perfect Adam, the
27:19
perfect Israel, the perfect King, is Jesus Christ.
27:23
He is the standard that the Wisdom books anticipate.
27:25
And finally, the Song of Songs, which seems purely focused on
27:29
human romance, is integrated by connecting it to Eden and the
27:32
new creation. It serves a dual purpose.
27:35
On one level, it celebrates married love, comparing its
27:38
pleasures and innocence to the original, unblemished intimacy
27:41
of Eden before the fall. But it also points outward,
27:44
anticipating the deeper, permanent love and union between
27:47
the King, Christ and his redeemed people, the Church,
27:51
showing that the book anticipates a permanent reality
27:53
of union secured by the New Covenant, a relationship that
27:56
transcends temporary human experience.
27:58
We need to return now to that crucial gap in the storyline,
28:02
the anti climax of the return from exile.
28:05
The source material refers to this as the already but not yet
28:07
reality, which is essential for understanding the transition to
28:11
the New Testament. This is a critical tension that
28:13
the post exilic prophets Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, they force
28:18
their audience to confront. After reading the glorious
28:21
visions in Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, you would expect a
28:24
return from Babylon to immediately usher in the new
28:27
creation with a curse lifted and the king established.
28:30
But that's not what happened at all.
28:32
The reality was a low ebb marked by discouragement.
28:35
Israel did return as promised, fulfilling the new exodus in
28:39
part, but the fullness of the promises was clearly not
28:42
realized. They rebuilt the Temple, but the
28:44
structure scarcely matched Solomon's glory and was nothing
28:48
like the Temple that Ezekiel foresaw, which was this massive
28:52
spiritual structure. Jerusalem lacked the freedom and
28:55
political influence of Solomon's day.
28:57
They were still vassals under Persian, then Greek, then Roman
29:00
rule. So it was a partial restoration
29:02
that left Israel waiting, and Daniel explains why this waiting
29:06
period would be longer than Israel expected.
29:08
Daniel's vision show that the period between the return from
29:11
exile and the arrival of God's Kingdom would involve the rise
29:14
and fall of several successive powerful world kingdoms.
29:18
This revealed that the victory over the serpent was delayed,
29:21
requiring patience and sustained faith from God's people.
29:24
The people were still looking for the king to arrive and
29:26
finally set up his rule. So what lesson should the
29:29
listener take from this extended delay, this realization that the
29:32
restoration began but the curse was still active?
29:34
The slowness of the triumph is not an accident of history or a
29:38
failure of God's will. It's designed to bring glory to
29:41
God by revealing the depth and breadth of human sin,
29:45
highlighting why the covenant failure was so complete.
29:48
It shows how utterly dependent the people must be on the coming
29:51
King. It underscores the sheer miracle
29:54
of God's grace that persists Despite that continuous human
29:57
failure and the deferred hope. So the people were therefore
30:00
called to live with deferred hope, following the Lord even
30:03
while waiting for the ultimate salvation.
30:05
They were called to continue to follow the Lord, trusting that
30:08
the Kingdom would come in its fullness.
30:11
The promise of the new David who suffers and rules was
30:14
reiterated, not rejected, even during this long, difficult
30:17
period of waiting. The OT story concludes with the
30:19
people back in the land but still longing for the King to
30:22
bring the final cosmic victory. This has been a complete Circuit
30:26
of the Old Testament story, establishing a clear line from
30:29
creation to expectation. The exile was the inevitable
30:32
covenant judgement, but the subsequent restoration
30:35
demonstrates that God's sovereign plan cannot be
30:38
frustrated by human sin. The return was slow, but the
30:42
hope of a new David who suffers and rules remains utterly
30:45
certain. And the major insight we can
30:47
draw from this comprehensive narrative is that the entire OT
30:50
story is designed to bring glory to God.
30:53
It reveals the depth of human sin alongside the miracle of
30:57
God's grace. It shows that the entire history
30:59
is heading toward the reign of the King, who will bring about
31:02
new creation and new covenant. And critically, we saw that the
31:05
ultimate victory over the serpent required the new David
31:08
to fulfill the role of the servant.
31:10
He had to suffer for the people's sins, absorbing the
31:12
punishment they deserved. That substitutionary element is
31:15
the only thing that secures the new paradise.
31:18
If the king had merely come as a powerful ruler, as the new David
31:22
or Son of Man, he could have conquered Rome, but he could not
31:26
have redeemed Israel from its covenant failure or secured the
31:29
permanent, undefiled new creation.
31:31
Forgiveness of sin, the very prerequisite for entering that
31:35
new creation, required his suffering.
31:37
This is the cornerstone of the whole prophetic argument.
31:40
So we leave you with this question for reflection.
31:42
We have seen the incredible weight of the covenant where
31:45
Adam failed, Israel failed, and the consequence was expulsion
31:48
and death. If the ultimate victory over the
31:51
serpent required the new David to suffer for the people's sins,
31:54
absorbing the punishment they deserved, what practical
31:57
difference should it make in your daily life to know that the
31:59
new paradise, where the King is in his beauty, is a reality
32:03
secured not by your obedience, but by his substitutionary
32:06
suffering?