Why the Levites?

A little while back I wondered whether God approved of the Levite killing spree in Exodus 32. Jim Jordan has convinced me that God not only approved, but chose the tribe of Levi to be priests on the basis of that action. As Moses declares once they have completed their killing "Today you have been ordained for the service of the Lord" (32:29, 'service' being priestly language).

In Exodus 18 Jethro offers a sacrifice to God. In Exodus 24 the "young men of the people of Israel" are commanded to make sacrifice. Sharing in the food that belongs to God in the holy place was a priestly privilege (c.f. Lev 24:9), but in Exodus 24 God invites representatives from the whole people (Moses "Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel") up the mountain, his holy place, to eat and drink with him. But after Exodus 32, the God restricts such activities to the Levites, and this seems to be particularly tied to their willingness to take violent action.

That priests should be particularly violent may seem strange to us, but Phinehas later in Numbers 25 was certainly not afraid to draw the sword, and a significant part of the priest's job description was guard duty (Num 1:53; 3:6-38; 18:3-7).

It could even be argued that when God declares that he has "taken the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the people of Israel" (Num 8:18), indicates that before the Golden Calf it would have been the firstborn who would have been priests (the "young men" of Exodus 24:5?).

Growing up to judge angels

Now the Bible tells us that the Old Creation was superintended by angels, while the New Creation is superintended by redeemed humanity. To save space, and because this essay is designed as a Bible study, I won't be writing out the passages. You must look them up yourself. Start with 1 Corinthians 6:3, which establishes that at the end of the New Creation we shall judge angels, not vice versa. Then, as regards the Old Creation consider Hebrews 2:2 and Acts 7:53. Turn next to Galatians 3:19, and then read Galatians 4:1-7. These passages show that in the Old Creation we were considered as children, and the angels were our tutors. The chief tutor originally was Lucifer, but he betrayed his calling in the Garden. So the Son of God entered as the Angel of the Lord to guide humanity toward maturity. Before He was the Second Adam, Jesus was the Second Lucifer. Throughout the Old Creation, we see the Angel of the Lord and His spirit angels supervising and judging humanity. Now, however, the man Christ Jesus has ascended to rule the angels, and in union with Him we also rule them.

(James Jordan, A Brief Readers Guide to Revelation, HT Paul Huxley)

Church history in 3 steps

According to Jim 'shine on you crazy diamond' Jordan you can look at the development of church history (or at least it's theology) like this:

• Step 1: Develop the theology of the Trinity (The Early Church).
• Step 2: Once you have done step 1 you now have the ability to develop the theology of the atonement (The Middle Ages).
• Step 3: Once you have done step 2 you now have the ability to develop the theology of how the atonement can be appropriated (Post-Reformation).

No doubt this is horribly reductionistic. However, my extremely limited forays into church history seem at least to suggest there is some truth in it. The early church especially seem to have an amazingly undeveloped doctrine of justification. Anyway, I don't have time to reflect on this further, although I am increasingly convinced of some kind of developmental view of church history (see my post on Schaff). It only seems sad that at present in Europe and North America past developments in understanding of the bible's teaching on atonement and justification are being undermined; not so much by questioning, which must always continue, but by failing to seriously consider the writings of those who thought much more deeply about such things than some at present. I wonder what people are thinking about in the rest of the Christian church, perhaps that will be where new developments will come.

The heavens declare the glory of God

...any work of art bears the impress of the artist who made it. The music of Beethoven does not sound like the music of Josquin. The Apostle Paul's writing style is not the same as the Apostle John's. We can hear and detect these differences, even if we lack the particular expertise to explain what accounts for them.

But suppose that the only composer who ever lived was Johann Sebastian Bach. There is no music in this world except that of Bach. Whenever we hear music in this world, it sounds like Bach's music. It maybe played well or badly but the fundamental raw material is always Bach, only Bach, nothing but Bach. Now, since there is no other music to compare this music to, would we be able to "hear" Bach's personality in the music? Or would it be easy for us to forget about Bach, and assume that "music simply is"?

The problem with hearing or detecting God's authorship of the world is just like this. There is no other world to compare God’s world to. There is no "music" except God's. It can be "played" well or perversely, but there are no other raw materials at hand. God's personality is fully displayed in the world, but it is easy for us to become deaf to this fact. (p. 21, James B. Jordan, Through New Eyes: Developing a biblical view of the world)

What a great illustration of the need for new eyes!

Rambling on the first Adam, the Last Adam, and grasping

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.

(Philippians 2:5-7)

Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness [...] For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.

(Genesis 1:26a; 3:5-6)

Is it a coincidence that the same language pops up in both? I suspect not having heard a talk on Philippians 2 by Jeff Meyers. There are two ways to gain 'knowledge of good and evil' (the power/wisdom to judge, cf. 1 Kings 3:9; 2 Samuel 14:17 - thanks Jim Jordan) be given it or to take it. Take it and you yourself will be judged by THE judge.

It has often been commented that Paul never speaks of Christ's resurrection as something he does for himself, rather it is always something that the Father/the Spirit does to him. It seems Christ was passive in his resurrection, which is also his justification and his elevation to God's right hand.

As you can see I don't know exactly what you can do with all this so I'll continue to think about it. Thankfully Paul does the applying for me when he says 'Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves....Do all things without grumbling or questioning'. It's not complicated but it is hard.

'it is God who works' - just another way of saying Sola Deo Gloria really.

Justification according to some Federal Vision proponents

I'm still busy with studying law but that doesn't mean I've called a halt to thinking about the doctrine of justification. I came across a helpful summary from Peter Leithart on how he has come to think of justification as more than a matter of a 'bare verdict'.

My work on justification has focused on passages where the Bible uses "justification" terminology to apply to delivering acts of God. In these passages, "justify" is still a judicial term and describes a judicial act. God is acting as judge. But the verdict that He gives is an enacted verdict, a verdict that takes the form of deliverance from enemies and death. I’ve coined the term "deliverdict" to capture the two sides of this. Some evidence:

1) Romans 4:25 says that Jesus was raised for our justification. I accept Richard Gaffin’s exegesis of this passage, in which he argues that Paul implies that Jesus' resurrection was His justification, and that we share in that verdict by union with Christ. Jesus' resurrection is the ground of our justification, and the prototype justification. And it's certainly not a "bare verdict." God declared Jesus "righteous" by delivering Him from death and raising Him to new life.

2) This is, I think, what Paul means in Romans 6:7 when He says - in a context having to do with deliverance from the power of sin, and, not incidentally, with baptism - that we are "justified from sin." That is, God delivers a verdict of righteous that takes the form of liberation from sin’s power. (This is how John Murray understands Romans 6:7 as well.)

3) Behind these Pauline uses are various passages in the Psalms and prophets where judicial language is used in contexts where it refers to deliverance from enemies, from death, from national catastrophe. Jerusalem’s restoration is "their justification [vindication]" in Isaiah 54:17. David seeks deliverance from enemies when He calls on God to "judge me" (Psalm 7:6-11; 35:27-28). (source)

I find that pretty convincing. The quote comes from a post in a big Federal Vision showdown over at De Regno Christi. It's not a pretty sight to behold, and perhaps surprisingly to some it is focusing more on tradition than any controversy over the sacraments or justification. But in the same place James Jordan (another FV proponent) has posted a comment on Peter Leithart's post:

I[n] Numbers 19 there are two justifications, two cleansings, two resurrections. We have here ritually directed the Biblical philosophy of history, one that every Jew of Jesus' day would know very well from having to experience if ofttimes. The first justification, on the 3d day, is totally apart from any works we can have done, for we are dead (unclean = symbolically dead, having contracted the death that spreads to all). But after the first resurrection, we are now partly alive and can do good works, leading to the second justification of the 7th day.

It can be no surprise then that the foundational justification is by faith alone, and yet there is a future justification in which God says that He likes us, likes what we've become, approves of us, and says "well done." All the good stuff we do (WCF 16) is in union with Jesus and by the Spirit, but it is still we who do it. The Judge approves of US and justifies US, not merely sees Jesus through us as if we don’t exist.

The first justification is by faith alone, and we return to that at the beginning of the liturgy each Day of the Lord. The final justification is God’s approval of who we have become in union with Christ and through faith.

There is no justification of "works" or "merits" because there is no merit theology in the Bible anywhere at all. God approves or disapproves of persons, not of merits. (source)

That's pretty controversial stuff and my gut doesn't like it. But I do respect Jim Jordan (I've never read/heard anyone who knows the Pentatuach better) so I'll have to take on board what he says and test it against the bible... Starting at Numbers 19.