Exile and the Storyline of the Bible — Paul Lamicela — Ep. 223

We're thinking of a certain pre- set of, sort of, preset topics, which are good. Those are all great topics. They're all biblical. And yet, if that's the only kind of theology we think about, there's, like, these major themes that are actually hugely important to the theology of the Bible that we then will kind of ignore, right? Because they're more story themes. And we tend to— we're looking at more, like, abstract theological themes, right? But in the— in the world of the Bible, those things can't be separated because most of the Bible's theology comes through its stories.

Well, Paul Lamachela, thank you so much for coming on the Anabaptist Perspectives podcast. You've been on this podcast before, but it's been a minute, so... Yeah. And it hasn't been in person, so this is— this is a nice— this is nice. This is great, yeah, because you're up here at Faith Builders teaching a course and happen to be in the area, so I figured we'd sit down and do this. Yeah. You want to take just a minute, introduce yourself briefly, and we'll just jump right in. Yeah, so, um, I have been teaching, um, biblical studies for, uh, several years now. I have a PhD in biblical theology, which we'll talk about what that means in a minute.

Um, and— and so I've been— my passion is to teach, uh, and can convey the beauty of how the whole Bible fits together and how this really reshapes our— our way of reading Scripture and understanding the Christian life. So I live in Pennsylvania with my wife, Laura, and my three-and-a-half-month-old baby, Giovanni. Mm-hmm. Um, so yeah, that's kind of who I am. Yeah, yeah, excellent. So, um, you teach a lot on, yeah, like you said, the biblical storyline and this concept of biblical theology, uh, versus systematic, or I don't know if you want to call them versus systematic, but however you want to define it. Can we just start with some definitions? What is that, and why do you believe biblical theology is— is important for us today?

Yeah, so, and I always— the, uh, the term is sort of deceptive because, um, to— in— in everyday average usage, when we say biblical theology, we mean theology that's based on the Bible, as opposed to, like, unbiblical theology, like good theology versus bad theology, which is why I— I never title my classes Introduction to Biblical Theology. I call it something like, um, Understanding the Bible Storyline, because nobody knows— like, that's— we don't use the term biblical theology that way. But in— in, um, in more academic circles, the— the term biblical theology means something, uh, has a— have a kind of a technical distinct meaning. And, um, so for today, uh, we'll— I'll unpack this just a tiny bit.

So when we usually think of theology, we're usually thinking of what we call systematic theology, which is basically, uh, answers to the questions, um, traditionally, kind of, what is the doctrine of God, the doctrine of man, the doctrine of sin, the doctrine of the church. And what usually we want when we ask those questions is we're looking for sort of a conclusion, just a summary. Like, if I took everything in the Bible about this and sort of synthesized it, um, maybe put it in a blender or something, what would the end— what would the kind of end statement be, right? How would I summarize this? Yeah. And how— in a way that sort of— somewhat connects with my own— my own cultural space.

So it's kind of going through— I'm sure this is oversimplifying, but correct me if I'm wrong— going through the Bible and basically pulling out the passages that fit with that particular thing you're trying to— the Trinity, and you find all the relevant passages and kind of build a theology on that? Or is that oversimplified? Well, how you get there is— is a— is kind of the next step of the question, but— but yes, it involves— take— basically, it involves drawing the conclusions. That's— that's what matters in systematics. At the end of the day, what are the Bible's conclusions about the Trinity or about the doctrine of salvation or— or things like that? Okay, so that's kind of what we're looking for.

We're looking for sort of these propositions that kind of, um, that are the conclusions. And then we take that and— and figure out that distillation, figure out, you know, what do we do with that? So that's— that's what we would call systematic theology. Yeah. And that's what most of us mean when we call theology. Yeah. Well, yeah, I was going to say, like, okay, we were talking about this before doing this interview, um, a couple— a couple nights ago, and— and just thinking, like, that's about the only thing I'm familiar with. You know, when it comes to theology, that— well, of course, that's just how you do it. You know, I got the— the books on my shelf.

It's systematic theology by whoever, you know, and all that— all that stuff. Um, so this is where I get very interested because I'm always curious about things like this. Um, where does biblical— or what we're calling biblical theology— and again, probably to clarify with that, doesn't mean all the other theologies are unbiblical. No, no, no, no. No, this is a separate, distinct technical meaning. So maybe give us maybe a brief definition, but also an example of, like, what is this? So biblical theology, in contrast, is— is saying what do— what are the— the themes that the biblical authors care about, and how do they develop? So in systematics, we care mostly about conclusions, right? At the end of the day, what does the Bible say, and how do I— how can I frame it in— in ways that are understandable to me and my culture, right?

So often involving a little bit more philosophical language, things like that. It's a bit more removed from the text, but it draws the conclusions. Biblical theology, we say basically, how does this theme develop in the whole story? It's— it's about, yes, conclusions, but more about how you get there too. So if I— so a good example of the difference between biblical theology and systematics is, um, in systematic theology, if I say, um, what is the— sort of, what does the Bible teach about, um, the— about salvation, all right? I'm going to say, well, you know, there's stuff about justification, sanctification, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, and I'll explain some of that. But if I am asking that from a biblical theology perspective, what I'm going to do is tell the story of how redemptive history unfolds, how the— how God's sort of redemptive plan of salvation unfolds through history.

And the— the storyline, the story of the progressive unfolding of that theme is just as important as whatever conclusions at the end. Mm-hmm. Because it's— it's in— we— we understand the theology of the text as we see how the story develops in— in redemptive history. So that's kind of what biblical theology means in a meta sense, in a— in a whole Bible biblical theology. You can also use it in smaller senses, like what is a theology of Paul? And in that, I'm saying not, like, what are all the conclusions I can draw in a systematic sense, as much as saying, what are the themes that Paul cares about, and how does he unpack those, right?

So it's in— in that way, it's almost doing a little mini systematic theology just of Paul, right? And not bringing to the table, here's my list of seven doctrines that I want to find in— that I want to see what Paul says. It's saying, what— what if Paul were to— how I said to my class the other day, if Paul were to come to Faith Builders, um, because I'm here at Faith Builders right now, um, what would— and— and we said, hey, just teach on the things that you think are the most important, what would his list be, right? Oh, that's a— that's a good question. Yeah. Right. And so you'd end up having some themes that we don't have in when we sort of do systematics, because he'll probably— one of his themes might be the theme of suffering, right?

Mm-hmm. Or, um, or of the— or the resurrection, or things like that. And so that's— that's another way of— that's a smaller picture way of saying what biblical theology is. So it's— it's a— it's doing theology in a way that's— that focuses on the authors of the texts and the world of the texts and the progressive unfolding of redemptive history. Mm-hmm. So that's— that's somewhat the distinction.

So to make sure I'm understanding this correctly, it sounds a lot of what you're saying is fairly story-driven, actually. Yes. Like this thread throughout the Bible. Um, and again, beforehand, you were— you were talking about some of those options of ways you can trace this thread. And you had mentioned this theme of exile. Yeah. And I— and we didn't really get into it before filming, so this is all new for me. And I'd love to hear you use that as a bit of an example. How do we follow that— that thread, that storyline through— through the Bible? And this is a good example of ways in which, when we think of theology, we're thinking of a certain pre— set of sort of preset topics, which are good.

Those are all great topics. They're all biblical. And yet, if that's the only kind of theology we think about, there's, like, these major themes that are actually hugely important to the theology of the Bible— Mm-hmm. biblical theology— um, that we then will kind of ignore, right? Because they're more story themes. And we tend to— we're looking at more, like, abstract theological themes, right? But in the— in the world of the Bible, those things can't be separated because most of the Bible's theology comes through its stories, right? Especially that most of the Bible is story, right? The majority of it. So exile is a great example of that. Um, it's a theme that we don't think much about, but I think that the New Testament— the whole Bible is a huge theme in the whole Bible, and it's something that the New Testament authors, um, believe is a very important theme for what it means to live as a Christian now in our age.

So it's not just a very, you know, a very fascinating and engaging, you know, theme, but it's something that is meant to— to shape the way— to shape the way we live. So, um, so the theme of exile really starts— and— and this— all of these themes are so interwoven because stories are— good stories are— are very, you know, symbol-laden and very interconnected.

Um, and the story— the— the great story of Scripture, um, we're dealing with something that isn't merely a collection of stories written by human authors, but is— is one story driven in narrative and in history by— by the divine authors. So very interwoven. So but the theme of exile really begins with the Garden of Eden, right? Because— and this— this story of the garden sets the stage for so many of the themes. Um, but Adam and Eve's judgment— so Adam and Eve are home, right? In the garden. This is the land— this is the blessed land. Um, this is the place where God's presence is, and this is the place where they can have eternal life.

Um, and then in their rebellion, uh, against God, the— the judgment really is a judgment of exile, right? Getting kicked out of the garden, which means kick— getting kicked out of God's presence and getting sent into the realm of death, right? It's those— it's the loss of those three things, basically. Um, loss of God's presence, loss of the blessed land, and the loss of— um, the loss of life. So this— the— the— the Bible story just sets up with the idea of humanity through our rebellion against God getting— getting exiled from our true home, the place of blessing, the place of God's presence, and exiled into— into, um, a land of death and— and evil.

And then, um, sort of the rest of the Bible story is a— is a— is a story of getting back into Eden, right? That's— that's kind of what the whole story is. And so you see these, like, little ways, um, that God is— God is working to undo the— the exile of— of the— of Genesis 3, uh, which drives the story all the way to the end. But we have— so Abraham, right, is the next kind of place in this where God promises him a land, and he promises him descendants, and he promises him blessing. These are kind of the three promises of Genesis 1 and 2.

And yet, for most of his life, he's wandering around as an exile. Yeah. Waiting for that day, right? And then his people, his descendants end up getting sent to— getting, you know, end up in Egypt in exile, essentially. So for so many years, God's people have the promise of getting back to a— not fully Eden, but a blessed land under God's— with God's presence. And yet they're living in bondage, in oppression, in slavery, and in wandering around in a land that isn't— that isn't home, right? So it's exile. Not because of their sin, but it's— it's still— they're waiting for God's redemption, right?

Um, and then the flip— so the flip side of the exile motif is the Exodus, because the Exodus story is the restoration from exile. So exile and Exodus are— are sort of intricately connected to each other in the story of the Bible. And so what happens in the— uh, in the Exodus story is that God's people are— are brought out through— through redemption, through a mighty act of salvation out of exile and toward this— um, this place of belonging and home. So those are sort of the precursors. But then really, when we think of exile, we're thinking of, um, Israel's exile in Babylon.

Yeah. And then— so I'll— so this— so this— this just kind of— you basically took us through the majority of the— the Old Testament, right? Not yet. I mean, yeah. But you know what I mean? Like, you're starting in, you know, with Eden all the way through, you know, say, the Babylonian exile. Um, that is a very interesting way. Whereas I think, um, for myself and— and other people and whatever that— that I've talked to, you know, we would tend to— to more slices, like, what does— read this book, and that's kind of like what it's saying. Right. But not tracking that— that— that theme the whole way through. Right. I was actually talking to one of your students here recently, and he was just saying how powerful this concept has been for himself, seeing that story going all the way through the Bible and how, um, affirming that is of how intricate and beautiful and interwoven all of Scripture is.

Absolutely. You know, the whole thing. And it's like, this couldn't have just happened. This is— this is really powerful and beautiful. Yeah. No, because Scripture is not only true and good, but it's also beautiful. And this is part of how that— how that manifests. And— and— and it's so important. One of the reasons you can't be just looked at in isolation, like books at a time or whatever, is that each of these stories are built on the previous ones, right? So you're— in— in Abraham, you're supposed to see echoes of the Genesis story, right? You can't understand why in the world God is calling this one family and giving him these promises if you don't understand Genesis, you know, 1 to 3, because this is the first steps of the reversal of, um, of exile.

And then— and likewise, we'll keep seeing that as we go on. But, um, so I mean, this— this takes us to sort of, um, the covenant with Moses and Israel. Mm-hmm. And what is central to that covenant is, okay, you've been released from Exodus, from some— from Egypt, from slavery to Egypt. Now, here are the conditions of the covenant. And if you are faithful and loyal to Yahweh, your Redeemer and your husband— so this is where this all gets tied to the marriage and unfaithfulness theme, which is another big theme, um, in— in the story we— we can't talk about today. But, um, if you're faithful, then you will have— you will be blessed in the land.

You'll be the one land that has God's presence in your midst, right? Um, the land itself will be blessed. Your descendants will be blessed. This is— this is as close to Eden as you can get, right? God's land, God's blessing, God's presence. But then the flip side is that if you are unfaithful, if you— if you walk in rebellion, um, essentially what's going to happen, the— the curses of the covenant, as iterated in, say, Deuteronomy, is— is basically you're going to get de-Exodist.

Um, oh, wow. Okay. I've not thought of that before. So it's really fascinating. It's very— it's very fascinating. So it's— it's explicit, um, in Deuteronomy. It's very interesting how— it's very interesting how the, um, some of the curses are spoken of.

Um, at the very end in Deuteronomy 28, so there's this whole iteration of the blessings and curses of the covenant. And then Yahweh says, "If you do not, um, keep the covenant, if you are unfaithful, blah, blah, blah, then Yahweh will scatter you among all the peoples from one end of the earth to the other, and there you shall serve other gods. And among these nations you will find no respite, and there will be no resting place for the, uh, for the sole of your foot.

But, um, your life will hang in doubt before you. In the morning you'll say, 'I wish it were evening.' In the evening you'll say, 'I wish it were morning.' You'll just be kind of freaked out, terrified all the time. And then it ends with, 'Yahweh will bring you back in ships to Egypt, a journey that I promised that you should never make again. And there you shall offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but there will be no buyer.' Whoa. And this isn't meant to be a literal, 'You will literally go back to Exodus,' but it's taking the— the sort of slavery back to Egypt, but it's taking the slavery in Egypt story, yeah, which was their redemption story, and saying that you're going to be de-Exodist, but even with the plot twist, because you'll go back to slavery in Egypt, so to speak, but nobody's even going to buy you as slaves, right?

You'll be so worthless that you'll be really stranded. Wow. I've never noticed that when I've read that passage. It is fascinating. It is very fascinating. Yeah. So then, of course, this is what winds up playing out in Israel's history. They're unfaithful, and then their story just crashes and burns, right? In exile, yeah, they— they lose the kingship, and, um, they're— they're carted off, and they— they're exiled again into— out of the sort of Eden, the closest thing to Eden you can get, um, and sent into a world of God's judgment, a world of oppression by other— other, um, other nations, and away from— away from home. Mm-hmm. And so that— that is looming so large in especially the time of around the first century of Jesus, because God had brought them back from exile, kind of ish.

So there's this sense that they were sort of released from exile, um, in the— in the Persian period. Mm-hmm. And yet there was also the sense that exile was still continuing, because part of the promises of return from exile in the prophets— and we're skipping over so much— but the prophets see a day, which is all based off of Deuteronomy 30, um, because Moses says, "You guys will go into exile because you're very stubborn, and I just know." And— but then— but then God, on the other side of exile, God will bring you back and eventually circumcise your hearts and bless you again. So the prophets say, "Look, God will visit his people and bring them back."

But when he does so, that means also he's going to send the Messiah. He's going to, um, to be their true king, to restore them, restore the land, bring about new creation, forgiveness of sins, all that stuff. And that stuff hadn't happened. So yeah, there was a new temple that was the second temple that was built. It was like kind of— kind of so-so. And they were still under the thumb of various rulers through this whole period. By the first century, it was the Romans.

They weren't really returned from exile. Yeah. Does— does, um, the destruction of the temple again by the Romans and— and the exile again come into this story at all, or is that just— Yeah. Well, it kind of— it kind of does. Um, so what I should say is that what— what is— what Israel was looking for, Mm-hmm, because of its exile, right? In its exile, what the prophets said would happen is, guess what?

The flip side, a new Exodus. Yeah. Okay. Right? So— okay, this is all built on the story so far, right? Um, their slavery in Egypt, God led them out in Exodus. And so the exile to Babylon or whatever, the prophets say there's going to be a new Exodus. And they use this incredible imagery from the first Exodus. They speak of God— um, they speak of God bringing back the people. There's one or two passages in Isaiah. Well, yeah, I've never thought of that before. It's all of it. As what Isaiah is saying is— is essentially he's describing— yeah, like you're— you're— you're basically calling it a new Exodus or like another— wow. Okay. Yeah. Yeah.

So I'll give you one example. I see what you're saying. I've just— I hadn't thought of it in those terms before. Yeah. But this is the— and the thing is, part of the reason this is important is that the New Testament authors— Mm-hmm. Paul, Jesus isn't an author, but the New Testament characters, Peter we'll get to later. But basically, I mean, Paul says when he's with before Agrippa, I think he's like, "Look, all I— all I do, all I'm preaching is what Moses and the prophets said would happen, that the Messiah would suffer and that rising from the dead, he would be the first to— he would, you know, bring light both to our people and Gentiles or whatever."

He— Paul thinks that his whole message is just saying, "Oh, the vision of the prophets has come to fulfillment." Right? And so he's absolutely steeped in these stories, and we miss a lot of Paul even, or the New Testament when we— when we miss this. So, okay. So, and that comes back to this whole concept of biblical theology or the storyline through Scripture to where you're saying Paul makes so much more sense when you also are tracing the thread through the Old Testament prophets. Because that's all he's doing. Yeah. That's all— and the Gospels. The Gospels are full of this. We'll get— and you— and but often the New Testament texts, they're like good stories, not dumb ones, where the bad stories, the difference between good and bad stories, partly— bad stories have no plot.

But also, um, bad stories often, they— they're too— they're too preachy, right? They explain everything to you, right? They're like, you know, this means that, and you're like, "I don't care." Like, well, it's just annoying, right? I don't— don't tell me that. Just tell me. Just show me it. And don't— don't be like pedantic about it. Ooh, that's a really good point. Yeah. Yeah. And I get you. And the Bible is often— is told as usually as a good story. I mean, it's all— it is always a good story. But they— it assumes it often doesn't— doesn't explicitly say, "Hi, this is a reference back to this." It just assumes that you know. Yeah. Right?

That's such a good point. Whereas back to like systematic theology, say, or, you know, and you're going through your list of doctrines of this or reading only this book, I— I— I can see the difference. This is starting to make a lot of sense. So look at, um, here's one example from Isaiah 52. Mm-hmm. So how beautiful on the mountains are the feet of him who brings the good news. Okay. And this is a very— we— we know this passage very well, right? And this— this one passage and two or so others, um, really is the background for the— what the word gospel means in the— in the New Testament. Mm-hmm. This is the origin of that.

So that phrase "good news" is— hmm— is where Jesus gets when he says, when the authors of the gospel say, "Jesus went around proclaiming the good news." It's a— it's a link back to Isaiah. So this is— this is here. So how beautiful on the mountains are the feet of him who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good news of happiness, proclaim salvation, who says to Zion, "Your God reigns." Now, what that does not mean is, "Hey, God is king of the world." Mm-hmm. No. Um, we know this because of the next verse. The voice of your watchmen, they lift up their voice. So these are— this is figuratively looking, kind of portraying city watchmen of— of Israel or Jerusalem looking out.

And the watchmen are like, they lift up their voice and they sing for joy. Why? Because they see the return of Yahweh to Zion. So when it says, "Your God reigns," what it means is God is coming back.

Um, after exile, he's abandoned us because we've abandoned him, but he's— he's coming back. And that's the good news that God is coming back. Mm-hmm. To do what? Well, that's what it says next. Break forth into singing, "You waste places of Jerusalem, because Yahweh has comforted his people. He has redeemed Jerusalem. He has bared his holy arm before the eyes of the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God." He's bared his holy arm.

This is— you can maybe catch a hint of Exodus here, right? The— the God's mighty arm of salvation. But it gets explicit in the next verse. Depart, go out from there. Touch no unclean thing. Go out from the midst of her. Purify yourselves, you who bear the vessels of Yahweh, for you shall not go out in haste and you shall not go out in flight. Where does that language come from? Well, it's a direct reference to the Exodus where the people were told, "Oh, at the pass— at the passover night," right? Eat this quickly. Have your cell phone fully charged, your keys in your pocket, because you're going to have to go out in haste, right?

Right. And— but this Exodus, this is going to be the new greater Exodus, which will maybe take more time, but it'll also be more complete, right? For Yahweh will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.

Like, what is that? Wow. It's— it's the— it's the pillar of fire and the pillar of cloud. Yeah. Going before and behind the people. So in this— with this imagery, Isaiah is— is— is speaking of God's act of great act of salvation that he's about to do when he returns to his people as a new Exodus.

Um, there's other passages where Yahweh— where, sorry, Isaiah talks about God's return as a, um, bringing back the exiles who were scattered over a whole ton of nations this time. He— he talks about drying up the channels, the rivers, the seven rivers or whatever, and bringing the people back in sandals, right? Over on dry ground. Oh. Right? Which is— which is sort of crossing the Red Sea imagery and yet expanded because now the— the people are exiled to many nations. And God's— this is this imagery saying, "Look, I'm about to bring the people back from wherever they are," using new Exodus language again. So return from exile is spoken of as new Exodus.

I— yeah, this— a lot of this is new stuff. Like, I— these are passages that I've obviously, you know, I've read that or I've read that before, but— but like, actually, again, basically what you're— just to reiterate, you're— you're tracing that thread through. Yeah. You know, through— through the Bible, not through just like, we're going to look at just one little passage or we're not— um, it seems like this— this methodology, biblical theology, isn't as much fixated on terms and definitions and, you know, am I— am I reading that right? It feels like systematic theology is all about what is this term and then we're going to study that. Right. This is very story-driven from what you're showing.

Yeah. And it's very— it's very oriented around motifs, images and stories. Yeah. Because that's what the biblical authors are doing, right? The biblical authors spend way less time on technical terms, which technical terms are great. Look, I've got a, you know, I've— I have a PhD, so I— I'm all into technical terms in their— in their place. But, um, the biblical authors are way less into technical terms and way more into— to, in a sense, their— their version of technical terms are— are these little images from that link back to previous stories. Ooh, that's fascinating. Yeah. Yeah. That's— which that makes a lot of sense. So when you— when you actually say it, I'm over here being like, "Oh, yeah, yeah, that makes sense."

But like, I— I have to think that. Like, it doesn't— I don't naturally think of the Bible that way. I think it's because maybe we're just so used to seeing it like, here's a list of definitions and here's the verses where they're brought out, you know, or yeah. A lot of it's our Western, you know, so most of— most of the world is more story-based, story-driven, right? And the— and the Bible was written in the— in those cultures, not in— not in modern Western culture. So that's a great point. You know, the Bible is actually built to connect with most of the world more than it is with us, right?

So yeah, anyway, I should get to a couple of things in the New Testament because— so— so it sets up for— I love how Matthew's gospel opens, right? Because Matthew's gospel opens by taking that whole story and saying, "Guess what? The fulfillment of this exile is about to be, um, to be ended and new Exodus is beginning." So Matthew starts with the genealogy of Jesus, which most people think is super boring, but it's actually very interesting. Surprise. Because Matthew— Matthew, um, deliberately breaks it up into three groups of 14 generations, somewhat artificial. Um, he's leaving some things out and stuff like that to get— because he wants the number 14 in all three. Mm-hmm. And what's— I won't go into all that, but what's fascinating is these three sections are explicitly built around, um, the David, the Davidic, um, kingship.

So it starts with Abraham, the one who got the promises. And then the first section ends with the rise of David the king. And then, um, and well, actually, I mean, Hebrews makes this explicit in verse 17. The generations from Abraham to David, 14. So that's the first section. And then David to the exile, the deportation to Babylon, 14. So the David to the loss of the Davidic kingship and the— the people going into exile. And then the next three is the deportation to Babylon, the exile to the Messiah, 14. So just by structuring it that way, you're meant to say, "Ah, here comes the new David to bring back the people from exile." And then Jesus' birth narrative is basically a recapitulation of— well, the first four chapters are a recapitulation of the exile and Exodus story.

So Jesus is born, um, and Herod functions in this— in the way the story is told as a pharaoh figure, right? Who, um, decrees the— the killing of the baby boys. Whoa. Okay. I— okay. Yeah. I don't know if I've ever thought of that. Yeah. Oh, it's— it's huge. That's— that makes so much sense. And then Jesus gets sent to Egypt. Right. Right. And then he comes back from Egypt. Yeah. Now we're starting— now he's like functioning as Israel, right? He comes back from Egypt. Um, and then the next thing in the story basically is he ends up in the Jordan River, right? Yeah. Wow. Right? Yeah. Fulfilling the story of Israel. And then after that, he's in the wilderness for 40 days being tempted, which is his recapitulation of Israel's being tempted in the desert for 40 years, right?

But he succeeds where they fail. And then the next thing is a sermon on the mat where he goes up to a mountain and gives his new sort of what a Torah written on the heart would look like, right? So it's the story of Israel, of exile and return. And then Matthew's gospel ends with Jesus celebrating a Passover feast, right?

Um, because what he's doing is he's speaking of the death he's about to die in terms of, um, exile and Exodus. So he's— he's situating his death in light of the new Exodus because Passover is embedded in the new— in the— in the Exodus. And then he dies— he dies really as, uh, as Hebrews will say, outside the camp, bearing our sins. He dies as somebody who's cursed with the curses of the covenant outside of the city, right? Uh, the death of a cursed person, basically taking the scapegoat imagery of the Old Testament, um, cutting off from the people, exile, right? Away from God, banished from the people, banished from God's presence, banished from God's land.

And— and the New Testament sees in that Jesus taking the exile of his people so that his people can take his, um, his blessings and— and life. Mm-hmm. That is something. Yeah. And you're using this all— this is just an example. Yeah. This is one— this is one example. We could do this all day with all sorts of others. All kinds of story themes. Well, and this whole— yeah. Wow. The concept of the— of the storyline in— in— in scripture. Like, yeah, I'm going to have to— I'm going to have to think about that because I can— I can— I'm very much seeing how this could be very applicable in a lot of different ways, you know, just in— in general, like how we read.

Yeah. Oh, how we read stuff. Oh, yeah. You know, it's not— I'm not— you're not reading a chapter in isolation, you know? You're not— not reading a book even in isolation because these things connect all across. And I think that's the key— that's one of the key things is when you start realizing there's connections everywhere, you start looking for them and then you see them. That's kind of the one big thing that— that we— that people just— yeah, it's not a quick— you can't just be like, "How do I know everything I need to know about this?" It's more like you need to just change your perspective on what you expect from the text. And once you see— once you realize, "Oh, this is how the Bible works," then you see it everywhere and you can't unsee it.

But it would also— it feels like this— this methodology, again, biblical theology or whatever, how, you know, this framework you're presenting, um, would by its very nature mean you're reading a much more across the whole sweep of scripture. You know, you're— there's— Mm-hmm. Which gets me excited because like the whole of scripture is being involved. Because honestly, like so many people, myself included, only read in certain parts of the Bible. And then it's like the Torah, you know, which you don't really read. I mean, maybe a little bit in Genesis, but most of that is just like, you know, but then you look at all like, I don't know, Jesus, you know, quoting Deuteronomy a bunch.

And then you're like, "Wait a second, there's probably stuff back there I should know," but it's kind of hard to know what do I read and stuff. But what you're describing is— is bringing that into as part of the essential process of reading and understanding scripture. And I think that's fantastic. Yeah. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. This— this— this is interesting. So let me just go to First Peter. Mm-hmm. Um, because what's— what Peter is doing is Peter see— and the rest of the New Testament authors are seeing that, yes, this new Exodus has kicked off in Jesus. And yet it hasn't done— it's not done yet because we're not back at the blessed land, which is for them new creation, the new heavens, the new earth.

Um, and so that means that what it means to be a Christian right now at this time from the whole span of between Jesus' first and second coming is that we're Christians. We're people who, yes, have been Passovered, right? We've— we've experienced the beginnings of Exodus, and yet we're exiles. And so the whole story, all the stories of Israel's exile, the story of Daniel, the story of Jeremiah and his letters to the exile, all that stuff speaks to the— the moment that we're living in as Christians. We're exiles. And Peter— Peter's letter is framed around that. So what's fascinating is that First Peter, most scholars agree that First Peter is written primarily to a Gentile audience, Gentile Christian audience.

Okay. Okay. But he kicks off the letter by saying, "Peter and Apostle of Messiah Jesus to those who are the chosen exiles of the dispersion." So, and this is not a throwaway phrase. Oh, that's— yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's so funny how I've— I've read that and just not— just you— it's so— oh, it's just part of the greetings in the letter. You just kind of read right through it. Yeah. He's meaning to tell his people because Peter is all about suffering that will be followed by glory. And it's all about framing this is what it means to live and suffer as a Christian, um, in light of you're in exile waiting for the final redemption.

So then he'll say, um, according to God's mercy, he has caused us to be born again through, uh, the resurrection of Jesus to an inheritance that is kept in heaven, waiting for us to be revealed at the last time. That final salvation, speaking of the inheritance, the inheritance of what? The promised land, right? The new heavens and new earth. And then he says, so, um, how are you supposed to— how are you supposed to act? Do not, as obedient children, don't be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, your former, you know, sinful way of life. But as the one who called you as holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, "You shall be holy, for I am holy."

And this is taking Exodus language, the language of God's relationship to his people and saying, "You're God's holy people." And so, if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, because you know that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as gold and silver, but with the the blood, the precious blood of Christ. So know, remember that God has exuded you from sin.

And in light of that, live the rest of your life as exiles. So as people who, yes, are here in the world, but who don't belong here and are waiting for, um, for your true— your true home. And so put away all malice and deceit and hypocrisy as sojourners and exiles in chapter two, abstain from the passions of your flesh, which wage war against your soul. Why? Because that's— you're in— you're exiles, right? Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable so that when they speak evil against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation. Whoa. So, so live as people who are exiles in the surrounding world, not letting the world make you think that you're home and just sort of succumbing to it, but also caring about what everyone else— how— how you witness to who you really are.

Caring about that the Gentiles, which is really interesting, he's calling the non-Christians Gentiles even though he's writing to ethnic Gentiles, right? Why? Oh. Why? Because in the previous verse, he says, "You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession," which is straight up Exodus 19. Oh, yeah. Okay. That starts making sense. That's a very good point. He's taking Exodus language and— and language of God's relationship to Israel, and he's saying, "This is your story now," right? That whole story. Yeah. Yeah. Sure. You're— you're— you're ethnic Gentiles, whatever. But no, you are that. That story is yours. And— and so you live, um, he says, "Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people."

Look, you're God's people now. The Exodus story is yours. And so the exile story is yours too. So walk around as God's kingdom of priests, as Israel was supposed to do, um, and wait your time in exile, not caving to the pressures of sin, but waiting for the Gentiles to eventually glorify God on the day of visitation. What's fascinating about that word visitation is it's basically the same words that form of the roughly the same word, um, that is used in Exodus for when, um, when, uh, Moses goes to the people and— and delivers to them, "Hey, God is— God is here to— to redeem you." And they recognize, they— they rejoice because God has visited them.

Um, or at in Exodus also, when Moses takes, um, takes the bones of Joseph in the exile— in the Exodus, he carts Joseph's bones. The text says, "Joseph made them swear." He— Joseph said, "God will visit you. And when he does, take my bones." So that language of in— in First Peter of wait for the day of visitation is saying, "Oh, live in exile as people who suffer, people who are a good bear God's name well to the Gentiles, who don't make Egypt your home," right? And wait for God's visitation, double click the new Exodus that you're— that you're, you know, waiting for. And then this— this is why he speaks so much about slaves, be subject to your masters, wives, be— be submissive to your husbands, particularly, I think, um, somewhat he's not— not entirely, but somewhat he's talking, uh, about non-Christian husbands in— in this case.

Mm-hmm. Um, he talks about, um, he talks about suffering since the Messiah suffered in the flesh. Arm yourself with the same way of thinking. Um, he says, "Don't be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you, but rejoice in that you are sharing in the Messiah's suffering."

Um, and then he says that, uh, he and all of us, by implication, are— are sharers in the sufferings of the Messiah as well as a partaker in the glory that is to be— to be revealed in the future. So it's all framed around the idea that this motif of exile and then the expectation of full— full the full realization of Exodus that has started drives what it means to live as a Christian in our world, in our society. Hmm.

Right. As we wait for the conclusion of the exile theme is Genesis is Revelation 21 and 22, when God's people are all brought to the new heavens and new earth, and there's rest and peace, and it's a restoration of Eden. God's presence is fully there, right? It's the ultimate, you know, undoing of exile.

Wow. So, I mean, that's— That's fascinating. Yeah. That's fascinating. Too much, but that's— I keep going when I— when I get started. Wow. Okay. So you just outlined some very fascinating things that— that was great. Uh, that— that thread the storyline through scripture. However, at least in my own personal experience, and so I don't know how much the— the data is on this, but it seems like our— our Anabaptist people and just in general, maybe the American church, however you want to say it, um, tends to do the systematic theology thing more. Like what you just outlined, uh, is not something I've heard people use that approach very often. I mean, you know, even in— even in like Bible college and, you know, Bible schools and I don't know, wherever, sermons.

Uh, why is that? That's a good question. I'm not totally sure. Um, it's— I think it's sort of an, in some ways, an accident of history in our culture that for various reasons over the last couple hundred years, maybe a few hundred years, um, especially maybe post— maybe post-enlightenment, especially, I'm not sure. Hmm. Um, that we like abstracted, um, we're tra— yeah, I— I think some of it really is— is— is the— the way that back in the 1700s kind of eventually theology and biblical theology got kind of separated. Hmm. And, um, and for some reason we tend to like and think is more applicable and relevant, um, tangible, just abstract sentences that I know what to do with or something.