Everlasting Dominion: A Theology of the Old Testament ... · A Theology of the Old Testament Final Pages [Half-Title Page] ... x Everlasting Dominion: A Theology of the Old Testament

Everlasting Dominion: A Theology of the Old Testament

Final Pages

[Half-Title Page]

Everlasting Dominion.indb 1 6/15/06 5:20:21 PM

ContentsPreface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi

Acknowledgments .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. xiii

ChAPter.OneIntroduction:.the.Origins,.nature,.and..Present.State.of.Old.testament.theology .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . 1

History of the Biblical Theology MovementDefense of a New Biblical TheologyStatement of PresuppositionsTheological Method

PArt.OneGod:.his.Person.and.Work. 35

ChAPter.tWOthe.Autobiography.of.God. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

The Setting of the NarrativeThe Nature of God

The Sovereignty of GodThe Omnipotence of GodThe Omniscience of GodThe Eternality of God

The Character of GodThe Holiness of God


vi Everlasting Dominion: A Theology of the Old Testament

The Righteousness of GodThe Justice of GodThe Love of GodThe Pity of GodThe Grace of GodThe Compassion of GodThe Covenant Fidelity of GodThe Dependability of GodThe Patience of GodThe Anger/Wrath of GodThe Forgiveness of God

ChAPter.threethe.revelation.of.God .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . 75

Revelation by WordRevelation by Visions and DreamsRevelation through the Angel of YahwehRevelation through the Divine NamesRevelation through the ProphetsRevelation through SignsRevelation through Lots

ChAPter.FOurthe.Works.of.God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

CreationJudgmentSalvation and DeliveranceRedemption

ChAPter.FIvethe.Purposes.of.God .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . 127

Israel and the Purposes of GodThe Reigning of God

Creation and Divine SovereigntyHistory and Divine Sovereignty

The Territory of Divine SovereigntyThe Hierarchy of Divine Sovereignty

God’s Fellowship with MankindFellowship as a Creation Motif


Fellowship in the Wake of the FallFellowship through Human GovernmentFellowship through a Chosen People

PArt.tWOMankind:.the.Image.of.God. 163

ChAPter.SIxthe.Creation.of.Mankind. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

The Creation and Purpose of MankindThe Creation NarrativesThe Image of GodThe Fashioning of Man

The Nature of MankindThe Theology of the IndividualThe Theology of the CommunityThe Theology of the ClanThe Theology of the TribeThe Theology of the NationsThe Theology of Mankind

ChAPter.Seventhe.Fall.of.Mankind. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199

The Narrative of the FallThe Possibility of a FallThe Result of the FallThe Identity of the Tempter

Death and the HereafterThe Fall and Human Sinfulness

The Alienation of SinThe Technical Terms for SinSin and Competing Dominions

ChAPter.eIGhtthe.redemption.of.Mankind .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . 227

The Principle and Practice of SacrificeThe Material of SacrificeCovenant and Redemption

Contents vii


viii Everlasting Dominion: A Theology of the Old Testament

The ProtevangeliumConclusion

ChAPter.nInethe.Creation.of.a.nation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251

The Promise of a Special PeopleThe Founding of the NationThe Deliverance of the Nation

The Significance of the PlaguesThe Covenant at Sinai

PArt.threethe.Kingdom.of.God. 275

ChAPter.tenGod.and.the.World .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . 277

The Concept of the KingdomThe Concept of Sacred Space

The Garden of EdenEviction from Sacred SpaceEschatological Renewal of Sacred SpaceAltars and Shrines as Sacred SpaceThe Temple as Sacred Space

The Mediation of the KingdomThe Concept of Covenant

Resistance to the Kingdom by the NationsThe Kingdoms of the World

The Prophets and the NationsAmosIsaiahNahumJeremiahZephaniahEzekielDaniel

Reinstitution of the KingdomThe Psalms of Yahweh’s KingshipThe Royal Psalms

Conclusion


ChAPter.elevenGod.and.Israel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325

The Mosaic CovenantThe Ten Commandments

The First CommandmentThe Second CommandmentThe Third CommandmentThe Fourth CommandmentThe Fifth CommandmentThe Sixth CommandmentThe Seventh CommandmentThe Eighth CommandmentThe Ninth CommandmentThe Tenth Commandment

The Book of the CovenantThe Altar LawOther LawsThe Covenant CeremonyIsrael as a Cultic CommunitySacred SpaceSacred PersonsSacred Times

The SabbathThe Passover and Unleavened BreadThe Festival of HarvestThe Festival of IngatheringThe Festival of TrumpetsThe Day of AtonementThe Sabbatical and Jubilee Years

Sacred ActsRitual and LiturgyLiturgy and HolinessThe Categories of SacrificeMiscellaneous Sacred Acts

ChAPter.tWelveDeuteronomy.and.Covenant.renewal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383

The Pre-Deuteronomic HistoryDeuteronomy as a Covenant Text

Contents ix


x Everlasting Dominion: A Theology of the Old Testament

The Background of Its StipulationsThe Deuteronomic DecalogueGeneral Covenant StipulationsSpecific Covenant StipulationsImplementation of the Covenant

ChAPter.thIrteenthe.Deuteronomistic.history . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 413

The Book of JoshuaPreparations for ConquestHoly WarCovenant Renewal in the Land of Promise

The Books of Judges and RuthThe Character of the TimesYearnings for a King

Anticipation of MonarchyThe Books of First and Second Samuel

The Prophet Samuel: Preparation for MonarchySaul: Failed MonarchyDavid: The Realization of True MonarchyThe Davidic Covenant

The Books of KingsThe Succession of SolomonThe Establishment of the TempleThe Dedication of the TempleRoyal PriesthoodThe Temple and Sacred SpaceElijah and Elisha: Prophetic ConfrontationJeopardy of the Kingdom Ideal

ChAPter.FOurteenthe.Books.of.Chronicles,.ezra-nehemiah,..and.esther. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 465

The Books of ChroniclesGenealogies and Tribal HistoriesThe Reign of DavidThe Reign of SolomonThe Nature and Purpose of Sacred HistoryThe Divided Monarchy


The Book of Ezra-NehemiahThe Book of Esther

PArt.FOurthe.Prophets.and.the.Kingdom. 489

ChAPter.FIFteenthe.theology.of.the.eighth-Century..Canonical.Prophets. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 491

The Prophet AmosThe Prophet HoseaThe Prophet JonahThe Prophet Isaiah

The Rebellion of JudahThe Judgment of JudahThe Restoration of JudahThe Messianic Servant and SaviorOracles against the NationsThe Establishment of God’s Kingdom

The Prophet Micah

ChAPter.SIxteenthe.theology.of.the.later.Preexilic..and.exilic.Prophets. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 521

The Prophet JeremiahJudah’s Covenant UnfaithfulnessThe Judgment of JudahThe Judgment of the NationsRestoration and Deliverance

The Prophet NahumThe Prophet HabakkukThe Prophet ZephaniahThe Prophet Ezekiel

The Disobedience of IsraelJudgment on the NationsThe Restoration of Israel

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xii Everlasting Dominion: A Theology of the Old Testament

ChAPter.Seventeenthe.theology.of.the.Postexilic.Prophets .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . 547

The Prophet DanielThe Contest for SovereigntyThe Kingdoms of the WorldThe Kingdom of HeavenGod as Sovereign

The Prophet JoelThe Prophet ObadiahThe Prophet HaggaiThe Prophet Zechariah

The Disobedience of IsraelThe Judgment of IsraelThe Restoration of IsraelThe Judgment of the NationsThe Salvation of the NationsThe Coming MessiahThe Sovereignty of Yahweh

The Prophet Malachi

PArt.FIvehuman.reflection.on.the.Ways.of.God. 567

ChAPter.eIGhteenthe.theology.of.the.Psalms .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . 569

God as KingMankind as God’s ViceroyThe Messianic KingThe Kingdom Role of ZionLife in the KingdomDifficulties in Kingdom LifeHostility to the KingdomYahweh’s Faithfulness to the Kingdom

ChAPter.nIneteenthe.theology.of.the.Wisdom.literature . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603

Introductory ObservationsThe Theology of the Book of Job


The Problem of the Human PredicamentGod and the Human PredicamentThe Resolution of the Human Predicament

The Theology of ProverbsThe Essence of WisdomThe Expression of WisdomThe Function of WisdomThe Manifestations of WisdomAccessibility to Wisdom

The Theology of EcclesiastesThe Theology of the Book of the Song of Songs

Chapter twentyConclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 641

Theological PremisesTheological MethodThe Theological CenterThe Old Testament and the New Testament

name Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 653

topic Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 657

Scripture Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 665

Contents xiii

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Preface

For many years I have more than half seriously admonished my students that biblical theology is “an old man’s game.” By this I mean it presupposes so many other disciplines and so much accumulation of knowledge that few scholars are prepared to undertake the task unless they have invested long, hard years in preparation of its accomplishment. Biblical theology is rather like the pinnacle of a pyramid, the finishing touches on an edifice consisting of layer upon layer of strata of learning that provide it a foundation of method and meaning. First and foremost is a modicum of familiarity with the biblical content itself, a feel for both its wholeness and its particulars. If done well, it must be done by competent control of the languages of biblical texts; for a claim to an understanding of the literature that depends solely on the translations and interpretations of others, no matter how good, tends to vitiate any sense of authority the theologian brings to his or her assignment. Finally, sound principles of exegesis and hermeneutics are among other tools that must be brought to bear as well as a deep acquaintance with the environment of Old Testament Israel—its setting, its history, and its interaction with the peoples and cultures of the ancient Near Eastern world.

It would be presumptuous for me, on the one hand, to make the absurd claim to have mastered this disparate range of knowledge; but on the other hand, the now or never imperatives of life inexorably arrive when one must do the best he can with the resources at his disposal.


Many a theology has been born prematurely, not allowed the moderation and mellowing of full gestation, and therefore has fallen short of its potential. Others have never seen the light of day at all for (to continue the metaphor), though well conceived, they have expired in the womb, as it were, victims of a perception on the part of their begetters that the time had not yet come to bring their dreams to reality. There exists, then, a little window between the time when one believes he has fulfilled the requisite demands of scholarly and spiritual preparation and the time he must act before the ravages of mortality close the window forever. I write this preface on my seventy-first birthday, my God-given window, praying he will receive all glory and praise in the work that follows and that all my students—past, present, and future—will benefit from it even if only a fraction as much as I have benefited from their own contribution to my life and learning.

Eugene H. Merrill

xvi Everlasting Dominion: A Theology of the Old Testament


Chapter.One

Introduction: The Origins, Nature, and Present State of Old Testament Theology

To describe theology as “biblical” tends immediately to introduce ambiguity to the discipline, for the adjective seems to be either self-evident or redundant. How can theology be anything but biblical if it is Christian (or even Jewish) since these traditions regard the Bible as their authoritative witness to truth and since, one would think, theology is inseparable from the Bible? But the adjective is not at all superfluous, for it distinguishes biblical theology from other disciplines that are engaged in the theological enterprise—disciplines, for example, such as systematic and historical theology. The descriptors systematic and historical are also carefully chosen to suggest a certain aspect or thrust of theological study, the one emphasizing the logical categorizing of theological ideas into a coherent whole and the other the tracing of reflection on these ideas and their syntheses throughout the course of postbiblical history.1

Part of the terminological confusion has to do with the grammatical point as to whether biblical is subjective or objective in its connection

1 For further helpful distinctions, see Richard B. Gaffin, “Systematic Theology and Biblical Theology,” WTJ 38 (1976):281–99; Gerhard F. Hasel, “The Relationship between Biblical Theology and Systematic Theology,” TJ 5 (1984):113–27.


to theology. That is, does biblical mean that the theology is in line with biblical truth or merely that it derives from the Bible? Though ideally these perspectives should result in one and the same conclusion as to biblical teaching, in actual practice this is often not the case because though a theology may be biblical in the sense that it is not anti- or unbiblical, it may contain ideas that are extra-biblical, that is, ideas drawn from philosophy, science, history, sociology, or any number of other sources. Biblical theology, when practiced best at any rate, limits its source material to the Bible, refusing to let the Bible say more than it intends and, at the same time, not denying its voice wherever it has a message to speak.

It is clear so far that we are speaking more of a method or strategy for doing theology than of theological texts and their exposition. The question is not whether a given theology is biblically defensible but whether it derives exclusively from the Bible and is in line with the Bible’s own terms and intentions. To put it another way, a proper biblical theological method is (1) one that has no preconceived ideas about biblical truth, (2) one that refuses to read extraneous theological ideas into the text, and (3) one that allows the Bible to speak for itself at every stage of its development both canonically and historically.

This raises the question of a broader methodology with special attention to canon and history, matters introduced summarily here and developed more fully at a later point. Canon suggests something fixed and static, that is to say, something synchronic, whereas history, obviously progressive by definition, must be understood as diachronic. The canon of the Old Testament consists of a collection of sacred texts deemed by Judaism and the church to be divinely inspired and therefore authoritative but a collection that lies flat, as it were, with no obvious sign of movement or direction as a collection per se. A careful reading of these texts reveals, however, that they are far from lifeless and anything but fixed and frozen. They cannot, in the very nature of their status as revealed texts, be enlarged or diminished—in that sense they are inflexible—but they communicate from beginning to end a dynamic historical flow. The Old Testament on close inspection betrays itself for what it really is, a pulsating, life-changing narrative that has a beginning, a plot, a dénouement, and a (at least tentative) conclusion.

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Everlasting Dominion: A Theology of the Old Testament ... · A Theology of the Old Testament Final Pages [Half-Title Page] ... x Everlasting Dominion: A Theology of the Old Testament