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Through Old
Testament Eyes
The tide of
scholarly opinion is turning. Typical of the new generation of scholars is
Mark Nanos, who states in his book The Mystery of Romans: “Where New
Testament scholarship is concerned … we can now read the New Testament as a
Jewish book”. Scholars like Nanos are recognising that Paul’s preaching and
teaching was anchored firmly in the writings of Moses and the prophets.
Tom Holland, who
teaches New Testament and Hermeneutics at the Evangelical Theological
College of Wales, has done us a great service by publishing Contours of
Pauline Theology. In Contours, subtitled A Radical New Survey
of the Influences on Paul’s Biblical Writings, Holland argues that
ignorance of the roots of Paul’s theology has resulted in a widespread
misunderstanding of the New Testament in general and Paul’s writings in
particular, especially the epistle to the Romans.
Contours of
Pauline Theology is the fruit of wide reading and deep reflection on
the Scriptures. While some evangelical writers urge us to read the Old
Testament through New Testament eyes, Tom Holland refreshingly urges us to
read the New Testament in the light of the Old Testament. It is not
possible in this brief article to survey the entire book, so I am choosing
to deal with one of the major themes to be found in it, a theme that is
very appropriate as we approach Easter.
Redemption
According to the
New Testament, Messiah came to “redeem” his people but what does that mean?
“Redemption” is an Old Testament concept; therefore we need a thorough
understanding of the Old Testament to understand Messiah’s work of redemption.
Tom Holland demonstrates that the primary model for redemption in the
Hebrew Scriptures is the Exodus from Egypt and that the New
Testament writers understood of the work of Christ in the light of that
event. The Exodus, says Holland, is the fundamental
biblical pattern of redemption and the prophets of Israel, particularly Isaiah, foresaw a
redemption that would follow the pattern established at the Exodus from Egypt but
would far exceed it in terms of power and scale.
The title
“Redeemer” occurs some eighteen times in our English Bibles, thirteen of
those occurrences being in the last twenty-seven chapters of Isaiah, where
the Lord declares that he is “the Redeemer of Israel”. In ancient Israelite
society “the redeemer” was the firstborn of the family and had three basic,
God-appointed responsibilities. His first duty was to avenge the blood of
murdered family members; secondly, he had to act as husband to the widow of
a relative who had died childless; thirdly, it was his responsibility to buy
back family property that had been lost through poverty.
The Redeemer of Israel
With this in mind,
Holland shows that the Lord redeemed Israel from Egypt according to this
pattern. First, he avenged the blood of his “firstborn” Israel by smiting the firstborn of Egypt, substituting a lamb for the firstborn
of Israel; secondly, he
took Israel to be his
bride; thirdly, he brought Israel
into the inheritance that was theirs by virtue of his covenant with
Abraham.
Through Isaiah the
Lord revealed that although he would send his disobedient people into
exile, he was, nevertheless, their Redeemer and would avenge them:
I will contend with him who contends with
you, and I will save your children. I will feed those who oppress you with
their own flesh, and they shall be drunk with their own blood as with sweet
wine. All flesh shall know that I, the LORD, am your Saviour,
and your Redeemer. (Isaiah 49:25,26)
He would protect
them in their widowhood and raise up children for them:
Sing, O barren, you who have not borne!
Break forth into singing, and cry aloud, you who have not laboured with
child! For more are the children of the desolate than the children of the
married woman,” says the LORD…. “For your Maker is your husband,
the LORD of hosts is His name; and your Redeemer is the
Holy One of Israel”.
(54:1-8)
He would restore
them to their lost inheritance:
So the redeemed of the LORD shall return, and
come to Zion
with singing, with everlasting joy on their heads. They shall obtain joy
and gladness; sorrow and sighing shall flee away. (51:9-11)
But there was an
even greater redemption to come than the return from Babylon. In the song of Zechariah in Luke
1, the father of John the Baptist praises God that he has come to redeem
his people from their enemies but looks beyond the Roman occupation of the
Promised Land to the prospect of God’s people serving him without fear in
righteousness and holiness.
The Firstborn of
all Creation
For those who have
struggled to explain to Jehovah’s Witnesses how Jesus can be both uncreated
yet “the firstborn of all creation” Holland’s perspective makes sense of
Colossians 1:13-15: “He has delivered us from the power of darkness and
conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have
redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of
the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.”
This is Exodus
language. God redeemed Israel
from Egypt by slaying
the firstborn of Egypt
and spared the firstborn of Israel
by the substitutionary sacrifice of a lamb. In the New Testament Messiah
redeems his people through his own death as God’s Firstborn and as the Lamb
of God; he avenges them, he takes them as his bride and acts as a husband
to them, and he recovers the kingdom of heaven for them.
Contours of Pauline
Theology is an important and brilliant book. I recommend it to all
prospective students of theology to read and study before they go to
university. It will strengthen them against the old fashioned liberalism
they will encounter in their biblical studies. Contours is not always easy
to read but it should be required reading in every evangelical college and
seminary.
Mike Moore
Contours of
Pauline Theology
Tom Holland
Christian Focus Publications: Mentor, 2004
382pp, h/b, £14.99
ISBN 1-85792-369-X
Available from the CWI Bookroom at £16.99 (including p&p
within the UK)
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