This is the transcript of Restitutio episode 578: Applying Old Testament YHWH Passages to Jesus by Jerry Wierwille This transcript was auto-generated and only approximates the contents of this episode. Audio file 578 Jerry Wierwille -- OT Yahweh Passages 1.mp3 Transcript 00:00 Hey. 00:01 I'm Sean. 00:02 And you are listening to Restitutio, a podcast that seeks to recover authentic Christianity and live it out today. 00:12 Have you ever noticed that the New Testament authors love to quote the Old Testament? 00:16 This happens hundreds of times. 00:19 Sometimes the quotation is direct, other times it is a. 00:23 Still others, a New Testament author, will merely allude to the Old Testament in today's episode. 00:29 Going to hear Doctor Jerry Weir will explaining what Paul did. 00:32 In Romans 10/13, when he quoted Joel's prophecy and applied it to Jesus. 00:38 Not only will this presentation help you to understand Romans 10/13 better, it will also open your eyes to the various interpretive methods that 1st century Jews used when quote in the Old Testament. In applying it to various situations. 00:53 Doctor Royal has been a frequent guest on Restitudio over the years. 00:58 Many of you will be familiar with him already. 01:01 Nevertheless, let me give you a brief bio. Werewolf's first love was science, and so his PhD is in biomedical engineering. After that, he shifted his interests to New Testament studies and earned both an MTS and an M division with a focus on Pauline Literature. 01:19 Now he's working on a PhD in New Testament at Stellenbosch University. 01:23 He's also the lead translator for the revised English version and the Director of Research at Spirit and Truth. 01:30 He is a teaching elder at Living Hope Community Church, where I serve as the lead pastor. 01:36 He's a total slacker. He hasn't amounted to much in life. Actually. Don't. Don't tell him I said that. 01:42 Already too busy? 01:44 Let's listen in to this presentation from the 2022 Unitarian Christian Alliance Conference. 01:50 Here now is Episode 578 applying Old Testament Yahweh passages to Jesus. 01:56 Subtitle Recontextualization of Joel 232 in Romans 10/13 with Doctor Jerry Werewolf. 02:07 I. 02:10 I want to talk about. Well, what about these passages that are applied to Jesus that have a reference of Yahweh in the Old Testament? 02:18 Well, this comes about because of the use of the Old Testament in the new test. 02:25 Ament that the New Testament writers chose to incorporate Old Testament texts in their writings to the church. 02:35 Now in the New Testament, it is replete with Old Testament references. 02:40 There are approximately 283 of them in the New Testament. Now if you extend things such as illusions or certain terminologies that are shared with Old Testament texts, you can extend that number to well over. 02:56 1000 references in the New Testament. 03:02 All the Old Testament books are quoted in the New Testament by the New Testament writers, except a few select books like Ezra and Nehemiah Esther, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Songs. 03:16 And as I already said, almost every New Testament writer quotes from the Old Testament the passage that I want to discuss with you falls within a section of Romans Chapter 10. I'd like to read the passage before then, going deeper into it. 03:34 And that is in Romans chapter 10. 03:36 Beginning in verse 5, it says for Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does these commandments will live by them. But the righteousness that is based on trust. 03:53 Speaks this way. 03:54 Do not say in your heart who will ascend into heaven. That is, in order to bring Christ down, or who will descend into the abyss that is in order to bring Christ up from among the dead. 04:08 On the contrary, what does it say? The message is near to you in your mouth and in your heart. 04:16 That is the message of trust that we are proclaiming, because if you confess with your mouth. 04:23 Jesus is Lord. 04:25 And believe in your heart that God raised him from among the dead. 04:28 You will be. 04:29 Saved for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness and with the mouth confession is made resulting in salvation. For the scripture says, whoever believes in him. 04:44 Will not be put to shame, for there is no distinction between Jew and Greek for the same Lord is Lord of all, enriching all who call on him. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord. 05:02 The passage that I want to describe and talk about is the final one in verse 13. 05:08 But if you've read this passage before, you know that there are actually several other Old Testament verses embedded into this section of Chapter 10. 05:18 But let's look at verse 13 first to find out the question were trying to address and why it is important for us to look at the way that the Old Testament is being applied here in Romans 10/13. 05:30 This comes from a passage in the prophet Joel. 05:33 Joel, Chapter 2, verse 32 and it shall be everyone who calls on the name of the Lord. 05:38 Be saved? 05:40 Paul the Apostle, the writer of the letter to the. 05:44 He quotes Joel 232 verbatim, basically from the Septuagint. However, in the Hebrew the name Yahweh, or the Tetragrammaton yodheva, if you want to do Yahweh, yahuwah or whatever pronunci. 06:01 To advocate for this is translated into Septuagint as kurias, the Greek word for Lord and Paul draws on the Septuagint version to represent his idea in Romans 10/13. 06:17 I'd like to share a explanation of why we should be focusing on Romans 10/13. According to ROM, a theologian who's written on Romans 10/13, he writes. 06:31 Is quite astonishing. 06:34 Then that Paul explicitly uses to anamakuriyu, which is translated the name of the Lord from Joel 35, which is the Septuagint reference for the Hebrew Joel 232. 06:47 To refer to Jesus in this way, he makes an unreserved identification of Jesus with Yahweh, the unique and only God of Israel. However, since Paul is not foremost a propositional theologian, he does not simply say. 07:05 Jesus is yodhev. 07:07 His theological medium is instead that of overlap and resonance, such that he creates the overlapping conceptual space wherein this resonating identification occurs. 07:21 The identification within this unquestionable resonance and conceptual overlap is. 07:28 Of dialectical identity. 07:33 What Roe is trying to say is that he's affirming Paul is using Joel 232 and the reference to Yahweh, because there's a conceptual overlap with who Yahweh is. 07:49 And who Jesus is that? 07:50 Which actually becomes a dialectical A2 sided bridge to an identity. 07:56 Of God. 07:59 And it's not only in Romans 10/13, there's another handful of at least about 6 references in the New Testament that have a Yahweh reference in the Old Testament. 08:09 Then the New Testament writer applies to Jesus, and this leads people like capes here. 08:16 Written a whole monograph. 08:18 On the Old Testament texts that have Yahweh in them in Paul. 08:23 And he writes, since Paul did not hesitate to apply Old Testament Yahweh text to Jesus as well as to God, he apparently understood that an underlying unity existed between them. 08:38 Which transcended function to encompass aspects of nature. 08:44 Being name and essence. 08:49 So capes is trying to show that he thinks Paul's Christology is 1 where he can use Old Testament texts about Yahweh because. 09:01 Jesus shares some sort of nature being name and essence with Yahweh. 09:08 Thereby making that identity with him valid. 09:12 One of the troubling things about it is we have a Greek word, curios that the New Testament writers use to express a reference to Yahweh God and also. 09:27 To Jesus. 09:29 And the way that these theologians are constructing their logic is because they see a linear sequence that goes from the Hebrew Tetragrammaton identifying the personal name of God, Yahweh. 09:44 To the translation, which is most often curious. 09:48 To then, the Septuagint being quoted predominantly by New Testament writers and then referring that kurios of the Old Testament to Jesus. So in one sense we can see that sequence playing out. 10:03 And one way to identify its meaning is to just make it an equivocation. 10:09 But I don't think that that is the best way to interpret the use of these Old Testament Yahweh texts in reference to Jesus. 10:17 Going to propose a different way of looking at it, but before we get to that, we need to talk about the general. 10:25 Use of the Old Testament in the new there are a couple different ways that the New Testament writers can be seen to use the Old Testament. 10:32 And there have been proposed three major schools of thought, the first one being that the Old Testament and the New Testament have a single meaning. 10:43 And they have united reference. 10:45 That. 10:45 Is that whatever the Old Testament is talking about and referring to is the same as what the New Testament writers are talking about. 10:54 Referring to kind of like a one to one correspondence. 10:58 The second way to look at it is that there is a general meaning or sense shared by the Old Testament writers and New Testament writers. 11:06 But there can be different contexts that it's used in and different reference things that are being pointed to. 11:14 Lastly, there's what's called a fuller meaning, but a single goal where the Old Testament has one purpose for a particular text, and then the New Testament might use that text for a different purpose. 11:28 But they're both trying to achieve the same goal. 11:32 I. 11:32 Maybe diagram it a little bit easier where we have a context in the Old Testament and a context in the New Testament. 11:39 And if they are the same, they fall under the same general bubble of they mean one thing, or as in the second school of thought, you have an Old Testament and a New Testament context. And there's a there's some sort of a transition between the two. 11:55 It goes there's one color and then another color. So there's some change and it depends upon the way that the New Testament writer is using that text in their current discourse. 12:07 And then lastly, you can look at it as having like 2 separate bubbles of, meaning that the Old Testament context bears its own. 12:16 And then the New Testament writers will use the same text, but it will be separate and distinct in its own little bubble of meaning. 12:24 And there's one more concept that I must add to this. 12:27 There's a term that is thrown around a lot in scholarship called census Plenore. 12:34 This is a Latin phrase that can be translated as the fuller sense. 12:42 And there's a scholar by name of Raymond. 12:45 He's a Catholic theologian who's written a lot on this and his definition, I think really kind of gets at the heart of what census Plenore is. 12:54 So he says the census Plenor is that that additional, deeper meaning. 13:00 Intended by God. 13:00 God, but not clearly intended by the human author, which is seen to exist in the world of a biblical text or group of texts, or even a whole book when they are studied in the light of further revelation or development in the understanding of. 13:18 Revelation. 13:21 Well, Brown's trying to say, is that the human author, when they were conveying meaning in their writing, had a limited understanding of what they were saying. 13:32 And that God had in mind something bigger, which is only then revealed later on, as Revelation is revealed to the New Testament writers. We could show it some way, such as illustrating it as like with a telescope or a camera. 13:50 Where you are focusing through the lens only on a certain part of what is before you. 13:57 Here you can see the sun is in focus within that lens, but you do not see the mountain. 14:02 The side the human author writing in the Old Testament sees the sun and writes with that in mind. 14:10 But God, having a scope of understanding that exceeds the human author sees the mountains and knows that at another time he will reveal that knowledge to humanity through another writer. 14:26 And whether you look at this as God's foreknowledge or however you advocate for him, being able to know this fuller meaning. 14:35 The human authors didn't intend every single meaning within their immediate. 14:41 Oracle context. 14:45 Along with this way of understanding the use of the Old Testament in the new, I'd like to talk about Jewish hermeneutics in the 1st century AD. The 1st century after Christ, the time of the apostles. 15:01 Could say the Apostolic period and there are are two terms that maybe some of you are familiar with, but I'd like to introduce them. 15:10 They are midrash. 15:13 This is a way of you could say commenting on a text or a way of handling a text. 15:20 Where it's it develops a lot with typology or interpretation. 15:24 That's, for example, something perhaps in the Old Testament would say it's that. 15:32 And then the writer will say, well, that back then. 15:36 Bears some relevance to what is happening now, which is this in the New Testament. 15:42 So if you take the New Testament writers quoting the Old Testament, they would be bringing in something that was spoken back then and then saying, but that applies to what is happening here and now. 15:54 And this is what the historical movement of time, whereas the other way of looking at it with pasture. 16:02 Pesh is just a Aramaic word. That means interpretation that you look at. Whatever is happening now and you say. But this is what was being talked about back then. 16:13 It's a. This is that rather than a that relates to this. 16:17 They're in some sense, a little bit opposite each other. 16:23 Let me give a definition for both of these that could. 16:26 Maybe broaden the understanding of how they're they're used before I give you an example, a mid rashik interpretation in effect ostensibly takes its point of departure from the biblical text itself. 16:38 Though psychologically, it may be motivated by other factors and seeks to explicate the hidden meanings contained therein by means of agreed on hermeneutic rules in order to, and here's the key to contemporize the revelation of God for the people of God. 16:57 We see both Midrash and pessure in the Dead Sea Scrolls documents that have been discovered in the 20th century at Qumran in Israel and in one of the scrolls that deals with the rules of Community. 17:11 This is the way they use Midrash to articulate some. 17:16 Those rules. 17:17 It says when these become a community in Israel now the community at Qumran was a variation of the form of the Essenes that were a Jewish sect. When they become a community. 17:29 In Israel, in accordance with these rules, they shall separate themselves from the session of the men of deceit in order to depart into the wilderness to prepare their the way of the Lord as it is written. 17:43 In the wilderness, prepare the way of the. 17:45 Make level in the desert a highway for our God from the prophet Isaiah. 17:50 This alludes to the study of the Torah, which he commanded through Moses to do. 17:59 According to everything which he has revealed from time to time and according to that which the Prophet have revealed by his Holy Spirit. 18:06 So what the Qumran writers are doing here is explaining that the Prophet Isaiah and his text to go in the wilderness and prepare the way of the Lord. 18:17 Interpreting that to now mean they are supposed to go into the wilderness. 18:22 And study Torah. 18:23 They're saying that that text from Isaiah has a bearing on what we should be doing now. 18:29 That's their midrash on that text. 18:33 On the other hand, pessure, the Dead Sea sectarians, the Essenes, that I was talking. 18:39 They considered themselves the divinely elected community of the final generation of the present age, living in the days of messianic travail before the eschatological consummation. 18:52 Theirs was the task of preparing for the coming of the Messianic age and or the age to come and to them applied certain prophecies in the Old Testament that were considered to speak of their situation and circumstance. 19:06 So the essence at Qumran, they would interpret prophecy as not just applying to them through a midrash, but actually saying what that Prophet was saying in the Old Testament. That is referring to us. They would identify that. 19:24 Is this? 19:26 An example would be in the pressure on the book of. 19:30 They write on verses 2 through 4 in Chapter 1. 19:35 Those who are unfaithful with the the liar in that they did not listen to the words received by the Teacher of righteousness from the mouth of God. 19:44 And verse three that this concerns the unfaithful, the new Covenant, and that they have not in verse 4 believed in the Covenant of God, and have profaned his holy name. 19:55 So they're taking the words of Habakkuk and they're saying these words refer to those who do not listen to the teacher of righteousness, who was the leader of the Essenes and who basically gave them the key of interpretation to the Old Testament text. 20:09 And so they're interpreting that the words of Habakkuk are what is happening in their community. 20:15 That they are. 20:15 They're not listening to the teacher of righteousness. 20:19 But are the speaking about the unfaithful who are profaning the name of the Holy God? 20:27 All right, I want to give you guys a couple passages in the New Testament to build the framework for this idea of pressure and midrash. These 1st century Jewish hermeneutics as a way to understand what New Testament writers do with the Old Testament. 20:43 Before returning back to Romans, chapter 10. 20:49 In acts chapter 4. 20:52 This is a time when Peter and John were imprisoned and they were questioned by the Sanhedrin and threatened, and then they will ultimately released. And then in in verse 23 this is what it says about Peter and John. When they were released, they came to their own. 21:12 People. 21:13 And reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them. And when they heard it, they lifted up their voice to God. 21:23 With one accord and said, O master, you who made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them, who by the mouth of our Father David, your servant said through Holy Spirit, why do the Gentiles rage and the peoples? 21:41 Imagine worthless things. 21:43 The kings of the Earth took their stand and the rulers gathered together against the Lord and against his Christ. 21:50 For truly in this city, there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus. 21:57 Whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your counsel decided beforehand would happen. 22:11 Why do the Gentiles rage and the people's imagine worthless things? 22:16 The kings of the Earth took their stand in the and the rulers gathered together against the Lord and against his Christ. 22:21 Is a quotation. 22:23 From the second song in the second song. 22:29 It reads. 22:29 Why do the nations rage in the People's plot, a vain thing? 22:34 The kings of the Earth take a stand and the rulers take counsel together against Yahweh and against his anointed one saying let's break their restraints apart and cast their cords from us. 22:47 Psalm. 22:48 The historical context of this passage is that it's a coronation Psalm, something to be read when a King of Israel. 23:00 Is basically taking the throne. 23:04 And what the psalmist is warning is that when God enthrones a human king to rule his people, the rest of the world will plot against him and the people of God. 23:21 In order to overthrow or to rebel. 23:25 That's why it says, why do the nations rage in the people's plot, a vain thing. 23:29 Because even though they're plotting against Yahweh and against his king, it will inevitably fail. 23:37 But still they do it. The kings of the Earth take a stand and the rulers take counsel together against Yahweh and against his anointed 1. 23:45 The word here mashiach. It refers to the King of Israel, because when the king was enthroned as coronation ceremony, he was anointed and he was anointed to be the representative of God to the people of God to Israel. 24:02 And so the psalmist here has in mind the nations being foreign nations. 24:09 Foreign to Israel, outside Israel and the kings of the Earth are the kings of other nations, not the Kings and rulers of Israel. 24:18 But if we take this historical context and then we compare it with acts Chapter 4 and the way that the New Testament writer Luke there is using in his historical context. 24:31 We see that they actually have. 24:33 Things in mind. 24:35 The nations and the peoples of the Psalm are non Israelites, and the anointed one of God ends the Psalm is the King of Israel. 24:47 Whereas in Luke's context in acts, the Gentiles or the peoples, they include Herod which is a Jew, Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor, the Gentiles. 25:02 And the people of Israel. 25:06 The very people that the other nations were opposing in the Psalm. 25:12 And so all the peoples, including the Israelites, particularly the Jewish leaders and the Sanhedrin, these are the people that Luke has in mind when he's referring to the Old Testament in Psalm 2, basically saying that Psalm I was talking about the people who would gather together against God. 25:29 Yeah, that's happening now. 25:31 And it's not just these foreign people, it's God's own people, Israel, who's doing it. 25:37 There's at least a change in the referent, but also a change in sort of the meaning of what is happening, because it's about God's people rebelling against him rather than the the nations of the world rebelling against God. 25:52 So this is sort of in a sense. 25:55 A midrash and pressure combined where it's what was being spoken of in the Old Testament, now applies to what's happening with Jesus and Peter and John. 26:07 But it's happening in a different. 26:09 There is relevance, but it's being used in a new context and it's being changed to the purposes of which the revelation of Jesus now affords it. 26:20 There's even one that might even be clearer to you guys, and that's in Matthew. 26:26 In the Gospel of Matthew in Chapter 2 verse 13, it says now after they had departed, behold an Angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. 26:39 Saying get up. 26:41 Take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt and stay there until I tell you because Herod is about to search the child to destroy him. 26:52 Then he returned to Joseph, got up and took the child and his mother during the night. 26:58 And departed for Egypt. 27:01 And staying there until the death of Herod, with the result that what was spoken by the Lord through the Prophet was fulfilled out of Egypt, I called my son. 27:12 Well, that last phrase out of Egypt, I called my son. 27:16 Is a quote from the Prophet Hosea. 27:19 And in Hosea 11. 27:23 Hosea writes when Israel was a child, then I loved him and called my son out of Egypt. The more they called to them, the more they went away from them. 27:36 They sacrificed to the Baal's and burned incense to idols. 27:40 Yet I taught Ephraim to walk. 27:42 I took them by their arms, but they did not know that I healed them. 27:47 Hosea here has in mind a description of the sort of like parenting metaphor that God, Yahweh was in relation to Israel, and this is the way Hosea kind of writes his prophecy. 28:02 You'll see this in the 1st chapter of Hosea where he will talk about. 28:07 His three children and family, and he will liken it to the way that God is with Israel. And so here Yahweh is being spoken of as a father. 28:18 And Israel as his child. 28:21 And Israel, when he was a child that Yahweh loved him and that he called him out of Egypt. 28:27 Is a reference to the exodus. 28:30 This is a reference to the way God showed mercy and grace to the people of Israel. 28:35 And rescued them from slavery in. 28:38 Took them out of that land and put them into the land that he promised them. 28:44 However, in Verse 2, Jose goes on to say the more they called to them, the more they went away from them. They sacrificed to the baals and burned incense to idols. 29:00 What Yahweh was expecting by showing this kindness and preference and favor to Israel, was repaid with idolatry, was repaid with worshipping Baal rather than Yahweh. 29:15 And goes on in verse three that Yahweh was the one that actually held Israel's hand and taught Israel to walk. 29:23 Is a reference to like instruction. You could see maybe a a parallel with with the law. The Torah here. 29:31 And he he also took him in the arms and lifted Israel up. 29:35 But Israel did not recognize what Yahweh was doing for them. 29:41 They did not know that that he had healed them. 29:45 Such the historical context of Hosea. 29:49 If we take that back to Matthew, we see that in Hosea, my son is Israel and out of Egypt is the rescue. In the Exodus, God showed mercy to Israel and rescued them and became apparent to them, teaching them to walk. 30:05 They responded with rebellion and idolatry. 30:08 However, in Matthew he sees that the reference my son, well, that's Jesus. And he sees that the out of Egypt. 30:17 Oh well, that's the return to Palestine. 30:20 After fleeing from King. 30:24 God's infant son Jesus flees with his parents to escape death. He lives temporarily in Egypt until after Herod dies, and then he comes back and they end up settling in Galilee. 30:36 There is a difference here in not just the meaning and the reference, but the entire purpose of the passage. 30:48 One actually in Hosea is retrospective. 30:51 Hosea is looking back on the history of what God has done. 30:55 And drawing that into the present prophecy that he's giving. 31:00 Whereas Matthew is looking at what Jesus is doing with his parents, Joseph and Mary and saying, Oh well, that actually is what Hosea was talking about. 31:11 In what way? 31:12 They are worlds apart, really. 31:16 And that's why I think these Jewish hermeneutics of the way that in the 1st century people saw it appropriate to take a passage and see that there's another application that can help speak to. 31:30 Present circumstances, not just in a arbitrary way, but that through inspiration by the spirit God can use his scriptures to have additional meaning as revelation comes to light, particularly. 31:46 The greatest revelation of all? 31:49 The Christ event. 31:50 That that reformulated how the New Testament writers viewed the story of Israel and viewed the Hebrew scriptures. 31:59 So let's go back to Romans chapter 10, and let's look at how we can use this framework to help understand what is going on in this section that Paul is writing about. So in Romans chapter 10. 32:13 In verse 6 it says, but the righteousness that is based on trust speaks this way. 32:21 And then we have a quotation from the Old Testament. 32:23 Do not say in your heart who will ascend into heaven. That is, in order to bring Christ down, or who will descend into the abyss that is in order to bring Christ up from among the dead. 32:34 On the contrary, what does it? 32:36 The messages near to you in your mouth and in your heart. That is the message of trust. 32:41 We are proclaiming. 32:44 These three texts come from the same place in the Hebrew scriptures from the book of Deuteron. 32:50 In Deuteronomy chapter 30, at the end of the book, this is a time when Moses has gathered together the people of Israel and renews with them the terms of the covenant. 33:05 And it speaks upon them. The blessings and cursings that are there, if they choose to either disobey or obey what he is telling them this day. 33:17 And in verse 11 for this commandment that I command you, this day is not. 33:23 Too hard for you? 33:25 Nor is it far away. 33:27 It is not in heaven so that you have to say who will go up for us to heaven and bring it to us and have us listen to it so that we can do it. 33:38 And it is not beyond the sea so that you have to say who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us and have us listen to it so that we can do it. 33:50 But the word is very near to you. 33:53 It is in your mouth and in your heart so that you can do it. 34:01 Well, Moses is talking. 34:02 Here is the terms of the covenant. 34:06 The regulations and commandments that God is giving to his people, that they're supposed to live by in order to receive the blessings in order to receive life. 34:18 In verse 14, when it says but the word is very near you, it's basically saying I'm telling it to you right now. 34:26 And these other expressions about who will go up to heaven for us and who will go beyond the sea. These are rhetorical statements that are intended to convey that the commandments of God and the law, what he's expecting of his people. 34:42 Is not something that is is. You have to go searching for it. You don't have to go across the sea or up into the sky. 34:48 You don't have to send delegates to go retrieve it from a. 34:51 Off land. 34:52 It's something being delivered right to you. 34:56 It's near to you, Moses says in your mouth and in your heart. 35:04 So that you can do it. 35:08 Verse. 35:08 Behold, I've set before you this day life and good and death and evil in that I command you this day to love Yahweh your God, to walk in his ways and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his ordinances, in order that you may live and multip. 35:22 And that Yahweh your God, may bless you in the land wherein you are entering to possess it. 35:28 People. 35:28 Were on the cusp of going into the promised land. 35:33 And of crossing the Jordan River and entering the land that God had promised their ancestors. 35:39 And so before they do that, Moses renews the covenant with them and gives them this charge. 35:46 So if we look at this historical context and then now pair it with what is Paul's context in Romans, we see some striking differences. 35:59 The main switch that I want you to see is the way that Paul works off of the word for word the word or say the message. 36:09 In Deuteronomy, this is the terms of the Sinai Covenant. 36:14 But Paul clearly states. 36:17 In Romans 10 that this message, this word he says this is the good news that we are proclaiming to you. 36:27 So he's taking the Deuteronomy text and he's kind of transposing that into a message about the preaching of the gospel. 36:37 There's a sense of the word that was being given to the people of Israel. 36:42 The people of God, and there's also a word being given to the world to those who believe. 36:49 Will be the people of. 36:50 With Paul, they both have this ability to be attained, something that they're both accessible. 36:59 The terms of the covenant are being given directly to the people of Israel, and Paul is saying that the good news that is being proclaimed the news about Jesus, who is Lord, this is also right in front of you. 37:12 It's being given to. 37:14 It's not something that you have to go and find. 37:17 And so that's why he even interprets within the text itself here. 37:22 The meaning that he wants to invest in this passage, the first phrase who will ascend into heaven. 37:29 Paul then gives his own little midrash on this. 37:32 He's saying, oh, well, what this means is that it's not somebody to go up and bring Christ down from heaven. 37:38 And then the second phrase who will descend into the abyss or the sea? 37:43 And he's like, oh, well, it means that in order to bring Christ up from among the dead, he's reinterpreting these phrases. 37:52 To have Christ references. 37:53 Replay. 37:55 And lastly, the message of the word is near you in your mouth and in your heart. 38:01 This word, he says, this isn't the Sinai Covenant regulations, he says. 38:06 Is the message of. 38:08 This is the good news that we are proclaiming to you. 38:13 So Paul is clearly. 38:15 Really taking these Old Testament texts and reusing them for the purpose of showing the relevance of the gospel that he's preaching. And there are parallelisms that can be drawn between the two, but do not mistake there is actually a new meaning that Paul is applying to this DE. 38:35 Text in Romans 10. 38:37 But Paul goes on in Romans 10 in verses 9 through 11. 38:40 Because if you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from among the dead, you will be saved. 38:50 For with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness and with the mouth confession is made resulting in salvation. 38:57 For the scripture says now he introduces a formula to actually say I'm actually going to quote the Hebrew scriptures here. Whoever believes in him. 39:07 Will not be put to shame. 39:10 This is a passage from the Prophet Isaiah. 39:14 In Isaiah 28, Paul draws on just one particular phrase in this whole passage. 39:21 But this is important because he's already mentioned this passage previously in the letter to the Romans in Isaiah. It says therefore thus says the Lord. 39:30 See, I will lay the foundation of Sion or Zion a precious. 39:33 Stone, a highly valued cornerstone for its foundations and the one who believes in him or is. 39:42 But the grammatical gender is. 39:45 Will not be put to shame, and I will turn judgment into hope, and my mercy will become weight balances. And As for you, who trust vainly in falsehood, I tell you that The Tempest will not pass you by. 39:58 Now, Isaiah's prophecy here is one that's couched in God telling Israel what he is doing. 40:06 He is going to be doing something that is going to bring them hope and encouragement and comfort. 40:13 There is going to be a foundation that he's going to lay. 40:17 And this foundation, if you believe in it, that you will not be put to shame. 40:25 And Paul sees that and he grabs that last phrase, that the one who believes in him or it he grabs that and he pulls it forward and he puts it in his letter of Romans about believing in your heart about Jesus being Lord and confessing with your mouth. 40:45 And so in the Old Testament, the reference of what to believe in a him or an it, it refers to the stone. 40:52 And that stone, there's been a numerous amounts of people posting. 40:55 What could Isaiah historically have been thinking about? 41:01 Some say it was the law, some say. 41:02 Was the temple. 41:04 Zion. 41:05 The remnant Yahweh's promise and the list keeps going. 41:10 But Paul says, oh, I'm going to use this and apply it to one thing. Jesus the Christ. 41:20 Now in Isaiah is those who trust in Yahweh and his work in Zion. Those can be. Rest assured, Yahweh will be building based on justice and righteousness. 41:31 Whereas Paul says for those who believe in Christ, they are not going to be ashamed at the judgment when he comes, for they will receive the promised salvation. He specifies when he sees this phrase referring to in Christ. 41:47 That because of Christ's work and he sees the way that God and this work in Zion is a a type or a prefigured the work that he's doing in Christ and with the church. 41:58 And that's why. 41:59 Quotes it. 42:00 But he takes it here and just pulls this one phrase out and throws it in to substantiate. 42:06 Why uh? 42:07 The people listening to him preach the good news should believe in Jesus. 42:13 And that Jesus is Lord. 42:17 And that brings us then. 42:20 To verses 12 and 13. 42:23 It says for there is no distinction between Jew and Greek for the same Lord is Lord of all enriching all who call on him. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. 42:37 We already looked at a little bit with Joel. 42:39 And in Joel Chapter 232, which actually the reference here is Chapter 3, verse 5, and the Septuagint. 42:47 This is a famous passage and it's quoted by Peter in the book of Acts extensively. 42:53 But Paul here pulls out just that one phrase. 42:56 But you can say from the context in the Prophet Joel that there's an eschatological view in mind. 43:02 That Joel is looking forward to the day of the Lord in the future. 43:07 And that whoever calls in the name of the Lord will be saved in that day. 43:13 But when speaking to the Israelite audience, what he's telling them is that if you trust in Yahweh when the day of the Lord comes, you can be at peace and be rest assured that you will be saved in that day. 43:28 Paul takes that phrase and now, given the way that he understands God working in salvation history now through Christ. 43:37 Takes that and says whoever calls in the name of the Lord referring to Jesus will be saved. And this is pretty clear in the context because he says if you confess Jesus is Lord. 43:51 And if you believe in your heart that this will result in salvation, so if you call in the name of the Lord, you will be saved. 44:00 The change is from 1 of exclusive view of Joel's prophecy to Israel. 44:08 Therefore, he's saying if any Israelite will be doing this will place their trust in Yahweh. They will be saved on the day. 44:16 The Lord. 44:18 And then Paul takes this and now expands it, which we could say that perhaps Joel's view is a little bit proleptic, but he sees there's an expansion coming because God's program always was intended to encompass the world. 44:31 But Paul makes it explicit. 44:33 Paul uses this to refer to Jew and Gentile. From verse 12, he says there's no distinction. 44:38 Everyone, whoever they may be, Jew or Gentile, if they call in the name of the Lord. 44:46 Jesus, they will be saved. 44:49 And this phrasing about calling on the name of the Lord, Yahweh or Jesus. This is language that is clearly used of cultic prayer and worship, both in Israel and in other ancient cultures as well. 45:02 So those who pray to Yahweh or pray to Jesus and invoke their name will be saved. 45:09 Why does Paul use this verse that refers to God to refer to Jesus? 45:17 I'm gonna argue that I think it's a recontextualization that is in line with 1st century Jewish hermeneutical practices. 45:26 That Paul feels it's appropriate to take Old Testament references and reinvest them with new meaning based upon the revelation of Christ. 45:38 That because Christ is now and can be now seen. 45:42 To fulfill the prophecies of the Old Testament and the only thing that God was looking to work through in Israel, God is now achieving that all the promises of God are yes and Amen in Christ. 45:56 Is achieving his purposes in Christ. 45:59 And in a similar way to how the Israelites were instructed to call upon Yahweh as their Lord in the old Covenant, Paul's expressing this recontextualization in the New Covenant. 46:13 That both Jews and Gentiles are not to call upon Jesus as Lord because Jesus is the one that God is using and has chosen to be the means of salvation to be the means of bringing to pass his redemptive plan. 46:29 This interpretation is supported by a couple lines of reasoning, if you will allow me to elaborate. 46:36 1st The Greek word Kurios as applied in verse 9, Paul reveals the he reveals that the confession of Lordship is primarily a response of obedience, humility and devotion. 46:48 Which is what Yahweh God has always asked of his people. 46:52 And also because God has raised Christ from the dead and highly exalted him, making him the Lord. 47:00 When God raised him from the dead and sent him his own right hand over all creation, this marked Jesus as God's vice. Jarrett, his Regent King, and the one through whom God was going to exercise his rule and authority. 47:16 And ultimately, his salvation. 47:20 Secondly, the universal Lordship of Jesus that Paul is proclaiming it derives from a view that Jesus is the eschatological expression. 47:31 Of God's redemptive plan and purpose. 47:34 It's through Jesus as the Lord and Christ that Yahweh's covenant plan and promises are being fulfilled and that Yahweh's spiritual blessings that he spoke through the prophets in the Hebrew scriptures are now being fulfilled. 47:50 And Paul is claiming that Yahweh has now set forth Jesus as the Lord for both Jews and Greek, and he is the Lord of all. 47:59 And that he has acted decisively in Christ to bring about and fulfill this plan, and therefore he obligates all people, whoever they may be, to surrender themselves to Jesus lordship and lastly. 48:14 Jesus fulfills and brings the old covenant to its intended. 48:18 This is something Paul has specifically said in Romans Chapter 10 that Jesus is the end of the completion of the fulfillment of the law. 48:29 And so for Jews to reject the message of trust that Paul is proclaiming in the good news is, in fact to reject their own covenant with Yahweh. The healing and restoration that Yahweh promised to Israel is being completed. 48:45 In Jesus and the new covenant that he instituted through his death and resurrection, the salvation from the destruction and the terror of the day of Yahweh for the remnant of Israel is only obtained by embracing the good news that Jesus's Lord. 49:01 And that, through him, Yahweh is delivering the promised blessings of wholeness. 49:06 Rest and peace mentioned in the Hebrew scriptures. 49:12 So in conclusion. 49:15 I believe a better interpretation is that Paul is Recontextualizing Joel 232 in ways similar to 1st century Jewish hermeneutics. According to the revelation of the Christ event. By bringing new meaning to Old Testament texts that can be seen to speak to the consummation of God's. 49:34 Plan. 49:35 That was present in the Old Testament, but not fully revealed until Christ. 49:41 This interpretation is consistent with Paul's use of the Old Testament. 49:47 And is more consistent with Paul's views about the centrality of Christ in God's salvific program, and doesn't presume implicit conceptions of ontological identity between Yahweh and Jesus. 50:05 All right, well. 50:06 This brings this episode to a close. 50:09 Do you? 50:09 Come on over to restitudio.org, find episode 578 applying Old Testament Yahweh passages to Jesus. 50:16 And leave your questions and feedback. 50:19 Now I'm betting that a number of you are going to ask the question, why not just take a representational view of Romans 10/13 where Paul is just applying. 50:32 Yahweh text to Jesus because Jesus represents Yahweh in the end times in his role as the Messiah. 50:40 Well, as it turns out, somebody during the presentation asked this very question and Jerry answered. 50:46 So I'm gonna go ahead and play out that one question because I think it's actually really important to see what he's doing here on this text. Here it goes. 50:56 So are you saying that Paul's point is not that Jesus is bearing Yahweh's name as his agent? 51:04 No, I think that that's a complete truism. 51:07 But am I saying is that what Paul is saying in Romans 10? 51:11 I don't think that's the primary meaning that Paul is trying to say in Romans 10/13. 51:15 I think that it's of course true that Jesus is God's Regent, King God's vice chairman, God's representative, God's chosen agent. These are all true. 51:28 But why is Paul using? 51:31 Joel 232 in Romans chapter 1013. I don't think it's just to say that although Jesus is now God. 51:40 And therefore, whoever calls on Jesus gets saved because he's God's representative. I think there's a switch here that's more soteriological than Christological, meaning that I think Paul has in mind salvation here. 51:55 Not representation or some sort of agency. 51:58 So therefore, whoever calls on Jesus as Lord, he's reapplying this text that he that Joel had spoken to Israel. He's applying it now to the entire world, Jew and Gentile. 52:11 Whoever calls on the name of Jesus. 52:14 Will receive what was promised by Yahweh. 52:18 Alright, so there you have it. 52:20 He is staying true to his subtitle, which I read to you in the opening. 52:25 Called Recontextualization of Joel 232 in Romans 10/13. 52:30 That's what he thinks is happening, I wonder. 52:34 What do you think? 52:35 Do you agree? If you are interested in engagement, come on over to rasatudio .0 RG and find this episode and leave your comment. 52:43 On our last episode, number 577, Nothing Mere about a man made in the image of God by Anna Brown, we got a number of comments in on the Restitudio Facebook group that I thought you might enjoy hearing. 52:59 As I said, as a private group, I'm not going to say anybody's names, but I do want to mention a number of those comments, one person wrote in may be the best UCA presentation of all time, to which a number of other people agreed. 53:13 Need another person remarked on how mind blowing it was to hear that he was in fact made in the image of God to represent Yahweh, and even with all his flaws, that he will be one day a representative. 53:31 All of creation to the new heavens and the new Earth in the consummated Kingdom. 53:36 Of this God and he says thank you so much for the hard work you put into creating this teaching. 53:41 Never forget it. Someone else writes. 53:44 I felt like I was drinking from a fire hydrant with all the historical evidence of the ancient Near East view of the image of God. But the ending was so rewarding. 53:53 So if you haven't had a chance yet to listen to last week's episode, nothing near about a man made in the image of God. 54:00 I encourage you to check it. 54:02 Give it a listen. You can hear it on YouTube. You can hear it on the podcast feed in your podcast app. You can even go to restitudio.org and just listen in your browser. 54:14 A little button you can play there. 54:16 Well, that's going to be it for this week. If you'd like to support restitudio by far the best thing you can do is to share this episode with others. 54:24 Send it to him through e-mail. 54:26 Share it through your podcast app. 54:29 Drop a link on YouTube. However, it is you connect and listen to this show. If you can let others know that's really the best way to support us. 54:38 If you're able to contribute financially, it certainly does help as well. 54:41 You can do that at restitudio.org. 54:44 That's going to. 54:45 Today, we'll catch you next week and remember, the truth has nothing to fear.