A gold mine for students of the NT

I am only one chapter away from finishing the revision of cross references in the book of Luke.* It is slow and fascinating work. One of the books I am using is Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament, G.K. Beale and D.A. Carson, editors, Baker Academic, 2007. It discusses all of the OT quotations in the NT, as well as many of the allusions and "echoes". It is a wonderful tool. Each quotation is examined through six different lenses:

• NT context
  
• OT context
  
• General context within Judaism
• Textual questions
• Usage of the OT passage by the NT author
• Theological use
  

The book springs from the fact that the New Testament was not written in a vacuum. All of the original participants--writers, characters in the text, the hearing audience--were immersed in the Jewish culture which, in many ways, revolved around the Torah (the Hebrew Bible) and its Greek translation, the Septuagint.

In fact, the greatest motivation we have for this type of study comes from Jesus himself: "And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, [Jesus] interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself" (Luke 24:27).

Our lack of familiarity with the Law, Prophets and Writings hinders us from understanding the rich nuances of the NT authors. This commentary is one valuable way of "turning on the lights" for us as we read the NT in the 21st century.

Let me share an example from my recent cross reference journey. In Luke 23:31, Jesus says to the crowd which is lamenting his imminent death: "For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?" What is going on here? The commentary offers this suggestion: "The proverb...is best explained in terms of the green wood representing Jesus and the dry wood standing for the Jews. The basic idea is that dry wood burns more easily than green wood" (p. 394). The authors (David Pao and Eckhard Schnabel) explain that, in the OT, faithful Israel is often pictured as a green and fruitful plant (see Isa 5:1; Jer 11:16; Hos 10:1). Unfaithful Israel is described as dry and unfruitful (see Isa 37:27; Hos 9:16; Joel 1.12). The conclusion: "If God allows Jesus, who is innocent, the 'green wood,' to suffer the fate that Jerusalem is preparing for him, what will be the fate of Jerusalem, the 'dry wood.'?"

The exhaustive "Index of Scripture and Other Ancient Writings" allows the user of this book to "backtrack" from the OT to the NT. There are also generous bibliographies for each book of the NT.

The Vida Nova publishing house has acquired the rights to do a Portuguese edition of this mammoth 1200-page work. I can hardly wait...

* The cross references will become part of the new Vida Nova Study Bible when it launches next year in Brazil.

Over my head

My brain was aching yesterday as I edited several documents related to the Manual da Bíblia Hebraica (Handbook to the Hebrew Bible), published by Edições Vida Nova in Brazil. My job was to polish up the English in a descriptive preview of the book and in the sample translation of one of the chapters. Both of these documents will be sent to potential buyers of the English language rights. (This could be the first Vida Nova book to be sold for translation outside of Brazil!)

Hebrew is an unexplored frontier for me, so I was struggling to make sense of the references to Hebrew textual criticism and to the many related source documents which elucidate the text of the Hebrew Bible. I carefully stuck to the English grammatical questions, while at the same time hoping not to accidentally change the meaning of the material!

Today, an article on the web put my (mild) suffering into perspective, and even made me feel good about the process!

Mortimer Adler argues in "Invitation to the Pain of Learning" that true learning does not happen without painful effort. That's because learning is an "internal intellectual activity" that requires thinking, and thinking is hard work! (The locker room version: No Pain, No Gain.)

When I felt adrift in Hebrew studies technical jargon, I was learning. Adler explains it like this:

Whoever passes by what is over his head condemns his head to its present low altitude; for nothing can elevate a mind except what is over its head; and that elevation is not accomplished by capillary attraction, but only by the hard work of climbing up the ropes, with sore hands and aching muscles.

Some of Adler's comments could well apply to our Bible study habits.

So, embrace the pain of learning. If smoke starts coming out of your head, take a break!

Unpredictable God

God is unpredictable!

That was one of the themes of the pastor's message last night at IBNU--Igreja Batista Nações Unidas, our home church. For example, God told Abraham to leave Ur and head for Canaan, where he would be blessed. When he arrived they threw a big party. Well, not exactly. Abraham's welcome to the Promised Land was a severe famine, which forced him to move to Egypt! How's that for unpredictability! What's going on, God?

In the 21st century, God continues to surprise us.

We just received an email from Gary Bennett, a WorldVenture colleague in Rwanda, East Africa. He is working with an international team from Engineering Ministries International to design several buildings in Rwanda. Gary told us that one of the engineers is a Brazilian, Suellen Maia, from São Paulo. She is a 24-year-old architecture student and helps with the youth ministry at her church here. Suellen has also served as a translator for the Promifé evangelism project, and lives just a few short blocks from our home!

Now, I would like to say that we set up this whole connection, but that would not be true. We had nothing to do with it. We can only admire God's unpredictability as he uses believers in creative ways to build his kingdom around the world!

(The photos show Suellen in her 6-month Africa mission experience.)