Sinai: Sabbath And New Creation

"Then Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. The glory of the LORD dwelt on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. Now the appearance of the glory of the LORD was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel. Moses entered the cloud and went up on the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights." - Exodus 24.15-18

As I have been reading through the Bible this year from beginning to end, certain passages are starting to jump out at me. This passage in particular made my inner biblical theological geek sing full-throated praise. What is being literally described is spectacular enough, but looking through the lens of redemptive history, this passage seems to explode. Two themes jumped off the page at me: Sabbath and new creation.

Jesus Christ: Our Ark

One of the podcasts that I listen to regularly is Christ the Center. On their most recent episode, they played a Sunday school lesson taught by Daniel Ragusa on the biblical theology of Joshua. In this lesson he talks about the crossing of the Jordan in Joshua 3 and goes into explaining the geographical context of the treachery of the Jordan river, especially at the time of its flooding, and then ties the discussion to baptism and the necessity of passing through judgment. As I was listening, it got me thinking about this pattern, one that I believe you see repeated many times in scripture. Fallen creation must pass through judgment in order to become new creation.

Hart On Nevin's View Of The Church

D.G. Hart has some very interesting insights into the mind of a unique man in American Reformed theology, John Williamson Nevin: