THE LORD SPOKE (June 15)

Daily Reflections from Scripture:

Old Testament: I Chronicles 14-15)

David's success as king is outlined by the chronicler. Beginning with the building of the royal house (14:1-2), it moves to the growing royal household (14:3-7). Next come two accounts of military victory over the Philistines (14:8-16). All that is followed by the story of bringing the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem (ch. 15) in preparation for building the Temple there.

David had tried to do that once before. The first time it appears that his motivation was not entirely right, for God "broke out" against him and his hand-picked man Uzzah was struck dead (13:7-13 - Heb. peretz, a recurring theme in this story). We're not given all the details but it's clear from the description in chapter 15 that far greater care was taken the next time around. Years earlier the Israelites tried using the Ark of the Covenant in battle against the Philistines (I Sam. 4:3-6) and a worse disaster ensued. Thirty thousand soldiers were killed, Hophni and Phinehas (Eli's sons and potential successors to the position of High Priest) died, and the Ark itself was captured and taken to Philistine territory (I Sam. 4:10-11) where it was placed in a temple to their god Dagon.

So, if David's motivation to bring the Ark into Jerusalem was tainted in any way by "god-in-a-box theology", he learned quickly that, like Aslan, God "is not a tame lion". We do not call the shots. "It is not for us to wonder why; it is for us to do or die." Meaning? Don't try to negotiate with God. Don't ever substitute your own innovations where He has given clear written instructions (15:15). Make sure your heart is in the right place and, like David, you can then be gung ho (look that one up in Webster's!) in your service for Him.


New Testament: Galatians 4

Does the use of an allegory constitute allegorization of a text? Absolutely not! An allegory is generally defined as an extended metaphor. Both involve an analogy but a metaphor usually just emphasized a single comparison whereas an allegory is more complex, with several points of contact.

Allegorization on the other hand, especially when employed in biblical interpretation, is a methodology which frequently ignores or even denies the historicity of the people or events under comparison. It became a common hermeneutic under Greek influence in the early church. Many fanciful “interpretations” replaced the literal meaning of the biblical text.

Augustine enshrined allegorization in the practice of the Roman Catholic system by making it one of the four possible approaches to Scripture. Within a short while, the more fanciful the allegory, the more it was preferred over any “plain” literal sense of the sacred text. Man’s inventive fancy became the key to interpretation. Imagination became the preferred norm.

Was that what Paul was doing in Galatians 4:24-26? Not at all! When he says, “which things are an allegory” (KJV, or “these things may be taken figuratively” in NIV), he is employing a metaphor. Never does he deny the historicity of Hagar and Sarah or of Mt. Sinai and Jerusalem. He is simply drawing an analogy from those O.T. pictures.

Hagar (the slave wife) and Mount Sinai (where the Law was received) form an analogy with the Old Covenant. It was a good thing (a wife) but could only produce a limited result (slave children). The Mosaic Law came from the very hand of God and it accomplished everything that He intended. But it was never designed to produce freedom.

Now here is the interesting analogy: “the present city of Jerusalem” is the same. In Paul’s comparison, Jerusalem and Sinai are not contrasted - they are compared as similar pictures. It’s “the Jerusalem that is above” that is contrasted to Mt. Sinai. It is “the Jerusalem that is above” that produces “children of promise”. It is “the Jerusalem that is above” that is “our mother”.

Like Isaac, who was the fulfillment of the promise through Sarah, we are born to freedom in Christ. Unlike Ishmael, who was born to Hagar the slave woman, we are not the progeny of the Old Covenant from Mt. Sinai. Though our roots are in the Judaism of the Old Testament, we are not to fall back to the rabbinic system of good works that binds. Paul is next going to emphasize to the Galatians their freedom in Christ (ch. 5). Sometimes, we need to be reminded of the same.