stovebolts
Member
I will be using three books as reference to this outline for “Land as a Giftâ€Â
1. Old Testament Theology (OTT)by Ben Ollenburger
2. History and Ideology (HI) by Yairah Amit
3. Life in Biblical Israel (LiBI) by King and Stager
Amit and Levenson both make a bold case and bring legitimate issues to the table. If we are to look at theology, we must consider the surrounding criticisms.
I am not sure if their differences can be reconciled given the evidence both within and outside of scripture. To reconcile these views would surely take the hand of YHWH himself.
As far as my position, I lean toward Walter Brueggermann’s, The Land as a Gift, Israel’s Testimony and Elmer A. Martens, Land and Lifestyle.
Walter Brueggermann describes the land as a gift from YHWH to his chosen people and brings out how they as a community receive this gift not by their own means, but through the sovereignty of YHWH. Elmer Martens makes the connection between Israel, the land and YHWH and how those combined dynamics create a moving, breathing family. Ironically, the sojourner was also welcome to celebrate in their festivals (As Abram was a sojourner) thus allowing all of mankind to the gift that YHWH has so gracefully given to His chosen people.
The covenant between Abram and YHWH was a covenant of grace with circumcision as a seal of this covenant (Gen 17:7). Though God makes a new covenant with Israel, it does not void the everlasting covenant with Abram, but rather validates his promise through the covenant at Mt. Sinai as seen by God’s grace in choosing Israel and bringing them into the promise land when one considers that Abram’s first born was Ishmael.
Walter Eichrodt wrote in regard to the fulfilled promise (pg 56, OTT) “the death of the founder of the religion [Moses] before the conquest of the Promised Aland for which he had paved the way seemed to the Israelite historians on reflection to mean that YHWH’s first servant had been sternly recalled by his heavenly Lord, precisely because the Lord wished to crown his work of liberation without him. At no stage is there any mention of a return of Moses in the future such as was envisaged for Zoroaster of Mohammedâ€Â.
Amit states (pg 69 of HI,), “It appears that historical reality is one thing and history composed according to ideological principles is something else.â€Â
Furthermore, Jon D. Levenson states in regard to Ps 29:1-2, 10 (pg 412 of OTT) “It is possible that this allusion hints at a time when YHWH had not yet attained to supremacy, becoming, like Marduk, king only upon his victory. Even if this be so, the emphasis in they hymn is not upon the old and presumably failed arrangement of the “democracy†in the pantheon, but upon the awesomeness of YHWH’s mastery and the corollary obligation of the lesser gods t render him homage. Were those gods nonexistent or that homage never in doubt, Psalm 29 would have no pointâ€Â.
Walter Brueggermann’s metaphor on Testimony and Trial (pg 307-309, OTT) seems to address these types of issues when he writes, (pg 308)“We may say that testimony becomes revelation. That is, the testimony that Israel bears to the character of God is taken by the ecclesial community for the text as a reliable disclosure about the true character of God. Here we touch on the difficulty of the authority of Scripture, which has usually been articulated in the scholastic categories of inspiration and revelation. It is simpler and more helpful, I believe, to recognize that when utterance in the Bible is taken as truthful, human testimony is taken as revelation that discloses the true reality of God.â€Â
It becomes apparent that the Israelites were in deed influenced by their own history and Levenson correctly identifies this when he stated (pg 418-419, OTT), “Her identity is not cosmic and primordial, but historical in a sense not so distant from that in which modern people use the term. Israel was not created on day one or at any other moment in the seven days of creation. Instead, she was called into existence at a moment in ordinary time and at a specifiable place, Haran (11:31) Israel is to carry a metahistorical identity through her journey in history. “
All of these characteristics can be seen in Leviticus 20:26-27.
Leviticus 20:26-27 And you shall be holy unto me: for I the LORD am holy, and have separated you from other people, that you should be mine. A man also or woman that is a medium, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones: their blood shall be upon them.
Here, YHWH asserts that he is holy and thus, Israel, subjected to God’s promise to their fathers (Deuteronomy 6:10-11) Israel freely complies (Exodus 19:8). This in turn both secures and validates YHWH’s authority by eliminating all outside practicing cults by means of death.
YHWH also asserts his sovereignty by giving the Israelites a land flowing in milk and honey (Ex 13)
The OT is full of YHWH’s grace in fulfillment with his covenants. Levenson states in regard to Abraham sacrificing Isaac (pg 36, LIBI) “Only at a particular stage rather late in the history of Israel was child sacrifice branded as counter to the will of YHWH and thus ipso facto idolatrousâ€Â
1. Old Testament Theology (OTT)by Ben Ollenburger
2. History and Ideology (HI) by Yairah Amit
3. Life in Biblical Israel (LiBI) by King and Stager
Amit and Levenson both make a bold case and bring legitimate issues to the table. If we are to look at theology, we must consider the surrounding criticisms.
I am not sure if their differences can be reconciled given the evidence both within and outside of scripture. To reconcile these views would surely take the hand of YHWH himself.
As far as my position, I lean toward Walter Brueggermann’s, The Land as a Gift, Israel’s Testimony and Elmer A. Martens, Land and Lifestyle.
Walter Brueggermann describes the land as a gift from YHWH to his chosen people and brings out how they as a community receive this gift not by their own means, but through the sovereignty of YHWH. Elmer Martens makes the connection between Israel, the land and YHWH and how those combined dynamics create a moving, breathing family. Ironically, the sojourner was also welcome to celebrate in their festivals (As Abram was a sojourner) thus allowing all of mankind to the gift that YHWH has so gracefully given to His chosen people.
The covenant between Abram and YHWH was a covenant of grace with circumcision as a seal of this covenant (Gen 17:7). Though God makes a new covenant with Israel, it does not void the everlasting covenant with Abram, but rather validates his promise through the covenant at Mt. Sinai as seen by God’s grace in choosing Israel and bringing them into the promise land when one considers that Abram’s first born was Ishmael.
Walter Eichrodt wrote in regard to the fulfilled promise (pg 56, OTT) “the death of the founder of the religion [Moses] before the conquest of the Promised Aland for which he had paved the way seemed to the Israelite historians on reflection to mean that YHWH’s first servant had been sternly recalled by his heavenly Lord, precisely because the Lord wished to crown his work of liberation without him. At no stage is there any mention of a return of Moses in the future such as was envisaged for Zoroaster of Mohammedâ€Â.
Amit states (pg 69 of HI,), “It appears that historical reality is one thing and history composed according to ideological principles is something else.â€Â
Furthermore, Jon D. Levenson states in regard to Ps 29:1-2, 10 (pg 412 of OTT) “It is possible that this allusion hints at a time when YHWH had not yet attained to supremacy, becoming, like Marduk, king only upon his victory. Even if this be so, the emphasis in they hymn is not upon the old and presumably failed arrangement of the “democracy†in the pantheon, but upon the awesomeness of YHWH’s mastery and the corollary obligation of the lesser gods t render him homage. Were those gods nonexistent or that homage never in doubt, Psalm 29 would have no pointâ€Â.
Walter Brueggermann’s metaphor on Testimony and Trial (pg 307-309, OTT) seems to address these types of issues when he writes, (pg 308)“We may say that testimony becomes revelation. That is, the testimony that Israel bears to the character of God is taken by the ecclesial community for the text as a reliable disclosure about the true character of God. Here we touch on the difficulty of the authority of Scripture, which has usually been articulated in the scholastic categories of inspiration and revelation. It is simpler and more helpful, I believe, to recognize that when utterance in the Bible is taken as truthful, human testimony is taken as revelation that discloses the true reality of God.â€Â
It becomes apparent that the Israelites were in deed influenced by their own history and Levenson correctly identifies this when he stated (pg 418-419, OTT), “Her identity is not cosmic and primordial, but historical in a sense not so distant from that in which modern people use the term. Israel was not created on day one or at any other moment in the seven days of creation. Instead, she was called into existence at a moment in ordinary time and at a specifiable place, Haran (11:31) Israel is to carry a metahistorical identity through her journey in history. “
All of these characteristics can be seen in Leviticus 20:26-27.
Leviticus 20:26-27 And you shall be holy unto me: for I the LORD am holy, and have separated you from other people, that you should be mine. A man also or woman that is a medium, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones: their blood shall be upon them.
Here, YHWH asserts that he is holy and thus, Israel, subjected to God’s promise to their fathers (Deuteronomy 6:10-11) Israel freely complies (Exodus 19:8). This in turn both secures and validates YHWH’s authority by eliminating all outside practicing cults by means of death.
YHWH also asserts his sovereignty by giving the Israelites a land flowing in milk and honey (Ex 13)
The OT is full of YHWH’s grace in fulfillment with his covenants. Levenson states in regard to Abraham sacrificing Isaac (pg 36, LIBI) “Only at a particular stage rather late in the history of Israel was child sacrifice branded as counter to the will of YHWH and thus ipso facto idolatrousâ€Â