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6 Principles for Understanding the Case Laws of Exodus

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When Yahweh thundered from heaven, without Moses’ mediation, he immortalized the Ten Commandments. So we teach them to our children, we picture them in stained glass, and we bring them to bear on public life. Christian interpreters legitimately differ on the best way to apply the Sabbath commandment (Rom 14:5), but it is widely acknowledged that the Ten Commandments contain the moral will of God in summary form.

Yet we find greater divergence of opinion when we come to the case laws, the “Book of the Covenant” (Ex 24:7), immediately after the Ten Commandments. How are we to understand ancient slavery, the death penalty, goring oxen, five-fold restitution, road kill, wandering donkeys, and the festival in the month of Abib? As I scan the Exodus commentaries on my shelf, Exodus 21-23 is the section most often skipped or summarized in a mere page or two. Even the extensive tabernacle narratives get substantive attention, as interpreters love discussing how Jesus is the light, the bread, the living water, and the embodied presence of God. But the case laws?

Jan Buchholtz (2013), Creative Commons

Granted, Paul fills his letters with strong statements about the law: No one is justified before God by the law (Gal 3:11). Christ redeemed us from the law’s curse (Gal 3:13). You have died to the law through the body of Christ (Rom 7:4). God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do (Rom 8:3). You are not under law, but under grace (Rom 6:14). The power of sin is the law (1 Cor 15:56).

And sometimes Jesus is accused of breaking the law because of his love: touching a leper (Matt 8:3), eating sacred bread (Mark 2:26), breaking the Sabbath (Luke 13:10-17), and overturning fundamental principles of Old Testament justice (Matt 5:38-39).

So how should Christians of the 21st century understand the case laws in Exodus?

Guiding Principles

1. The law cannot save.

The laws given by God in covenant with his people had much glory. Yet the glory was temporary and fading; Moses veiled his face to conceal this fact (Ex 34:33-35, 2 Cor 3:7, 13). The law can give direction (Ps 119:105), but it cannot produce obedience or righteousness (Gal 3:11). Any attempt to turn bad people into good people through the coercion of law will fail. I’d prefer not to begin with what the law can’t do, but we need constant reminders of this fundamental impossibility.

2. Jesus and Paul validated the case laws.

I could point to the big law-statements Jesus makes, such as “not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished” (Matt 5:18), but the impact of those statements is still disputed. So instead, I’ll remind you that Jesus and Paul assume the ongoing validity of the case laws, when they quote them to support their teaching or choices. We tend to skip over the fact, but Jesus affirms—in two Gospels—the death penalty for those who “revile father or mother” (Ex 21:17, Matt 15:4, Mark 7:10). And Paul quotes the case law from Ex 22:28 as normative Christian behavior in Acts 23:5. (Though I think he’s being cheeky and not a little mocking, showing he knows the law better than the high priest who ordered him to be struck. How could Paul not know which member of the council was the high priest?)

3. The case laws apply the Ten Commandments.

As you read the case laws, don’t get lost in their seemingly random nature, as though the case laws are time-bound, culture-bound, generational minutiae. Yes, they apply the principles of God’s moral will to certain people at a certain time in a certain cultural context. All the details will not be the same for all people everywhere. But don’t disregard them on that account. Instead, figure out which of the Ten Commandments is being applied, and figure out how it is being applied. This will give you wisdom to learn how to apply them in our context. For example, without the case laws, how would you know what counts as murder (manslaughter, etc.), and what doesn’t (just warfare, civil sentence, etc.)? How would you know what to do with an apprehended thief? What does it really mean to take God’s name in vain?

4. The case laws are particular applications, not universal principles.

This follows from point #3. Since the case laws are applications of universal principles, they are not themselves universal principles. This means they may have limited application in their canonized form. God has since revealed more about himself, so we may apply the principles of sabbath or tithing or restitution a little differently. But we should still learn from the case laws what it looks like to apply the Ten Commandments at all. Armed with such a template, and with the Spirit of God illuminating the rest of the word of God, we can figure out how to apply those commandments to our situation.

5. The case laws reveal God’s character.

All Scripture is God-breathed and useful for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness (2 Tim 3:16). God’s word will carry out his purpose of creating worshipers (Is 55:10-12). We know God, in all his glory, through the things he has revealed (Ps 19:1-14). We miss part of what God wants us to know about himself if we skip the case laws or disregard them. In studying them, we’ll behold God’s great mercy and justice in action. Believe it or not, I’ve heard stories of people from non-Western cultures coming to faith in Christ by reading the case laws, as they had never seen such mercy and justice working in perfect harmony except through the cross.

6. The case laws reveal Jesus.

All the Law and the Prophets are about Jesus (Luke 24:27). When considering double restitution of what was stolen, we’re amazed at Jesus who gave everything for those who stole from him. When contemplating the freeing of slaves in their 7th year, we’re humbled by Jesus, who took on the form of a bondservant to become a priest forever. When we’re told not to exact interest from the disadvantaged, we can’t help but see Jesus, who became poor so we, through his poverty, could become rich. When we read about the Feasts of Unleavened Bread, Harvest, and Ingathering, we’re reminded that in Jesus we have a continual feast.

But we’ll either miss these things, or not understand how marvelous they truly are, if we don’t take the time to study the case laws.

Click here to see what I’m doing with this sample Bible study and why I’m doing it.

When Being “Christ-Centered” Goes Too Far

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Writing for Logos Bible software, Mark Ward summarizes an article from a recent theological journal, explaining the unhelpful extreme side of “Christ-centeredness.”

I think the swing [away from Christ-less moralizing] has done great good: American Christianity has indeed suffered under man-centered readings of the Bible which offer all law and no gospel, all duty and no delight, all rules and no relationship. And yet the ease with which I just tossed off those three slogans points to the pendulum problem: any time a movement reaches the slogan-generating stage, people will go trampling over necessary nuances to grab their party’s banners and wave them at their enemies. Pretty soon the pendulum picks up so much speed that it whooshes way past plumb.

Ward then summarizes a theological journal article which analyzes Psalm 15 and shows us how to read it in its original context. There ought to be a category in our thinking for “meaningful if imperfect obedience,” as we see on the part of Noah, Simeon, and others. Being Christ-centered does not mean we speak only of our sins and failures.

Check it out!

Table of Contents for Exodus Series

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In Exodus 5:2, Egypt’s Pharaoh asks a fateful question that the book of Exodus endeavors to answer in three acts: “Who is Yahweh, that I should obey his voice?”

  • Act I: Yahweh Demolishes the House of Slavery (Ex 1-15)
  • Act II: Yahweh Prepares to Rebuild (Ex 16-18)
  • Act III: Yahweh Builds His House in the Midst of His People (Ex 19-40)

I created a table of contents page for my series of sample Bible studies on Exodus. If you missed anything, or if you want to get a bird’s-eye view of the series, including what’s to come, check it out!

You can also find it anytime from the site’s menu bar: Hover over OIA Method, then Examples. Then click on Who is Yahweh: Exodus.

 

Not By Sermons and Books Alone

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Following up on last week’s “check it out,” John Piper was asked if he plans to write a commentary on the Bible. After saying no, he elaborates:

I suppose there is a kind of commentary that would put the emphasis on helping people find the meaning themselves. That’s the kind I would want to write if I wrote a commentary, because there’s a deep conviction behind this; namely, that over the long haul, strong Christians are created not by sermons and by books alone, but by a personal encounter with the word of God, the Bible itself.

Piper goes on to explain what sort of questions he’d like to see commentaries (and the people who read them) ask.

It’s a great, short answer to an excellent question. Check it out!

Exodus 20:1-21: Ten Words and Two Responses

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God wants his people close, but not too close. Moses has gone up and down the mountain three times to help everyone prepare for their big meeting with God. Now, with Moses at the mountain’s foot with the people (Ex 19:25), God thunders his covenant from heaven.

Observation of Exodus 20:1-21

Most repeated words: you (19 times), your (19x), not (14), God (10), Lord (8), day (7), all (4), neighbor (4), people (4), servant (4).

  • I normally would exclude words like “you” and “your,” as common stop words that carry little interpretive significance on their own. But since they serve as the subjects of most sentences here, I cannot disregard them.
  • This repetition shifts the mood to what “you” must “not” do.

The setting: God speaks all these words (Ex 20:1), from the top of Mt. Sinai, along with thunder, lightning, a trumpet sound, and smoke (Ex 20:18).

The words begin (Ex 20:2) with an opening statement of Yahweh’s identity (“I am Yahweh your God”), history (“who brought you our of the land of Egypt”), and intention (“out of the house of slavery”).

Four of the “words” (Ex 20:5-6, 7, 11, 12) have a reason or motivation attached; six do not.

Eight of the words are negative; two (Ex 20:8, 12) are positive. But even the positive “remember the Sabbath” is actually a negative “you shall not do any work” (Ex 20:10). So only one (Ex 20:12) is a positive “do this” commandment.

The first four words (Ex 20:3-11) speak to the people’s relationship with God. The last six words (Ex 20:12-17) speak to their relationships with one another.

The first (Ex 20:3) and last (Ex 20:17) speak to the heart’s allegiance or desire. 

Following God’s words, the narrative describes two response to God’s words:

  1. The people see, fear, and stand far off (Ex 20:18, 21).
  2. Moses comforts (Ex 20:20) and draws near to where God is (Ex 20:21).

Structure:

  1. Yahweh affirms his identity, history, and intentions.
  2. Yahweh speaks four words about their relationship with him, beginning with their heart’s allegiance.
  3. Yahweh speaks six words about their relationships wth each other, ending with their heart’s desires.
  4. The people stand far off while Moses draws near to God.

    Prayitno (2012), Creative Commons

Interpretation of Exodus 20:1-21

Some possible questions:

  1. Why does the passage follow this structure?
  2. Why does God speak these words to all the people with thunder, rather than with Moses on the mountain top?
  3. Why do God’s words begin and end by focusing on the heart?
  4. So what sort of response should we have to these words?

My answers (numbers correspond to the questions):

  1. We need some historical background to understand what would have been obvious and assumed to the original readers. This passage closely follows the structure of ancient treaties between a conquering king and a vassal king. Introduction of the parties, recounting their history, stipulating conditions, rewarding obedience & penalizing disobedience, documenting the agreement, and securing attestation. Though this text doesn’t use the term “covenant” or “treaty,” an ancient would recognize it as obviously being one. To learn more, see Douglas Stuart’s excellent article on the structure of ancient covenants. The point is that God is making a covenant and, in doing so, binding these people to himself as vassals. They do not earn their position as his people by obeying these words. He gives them these words because they are already his people.
  2. The setting gives these ten words a unique place among God’s instructions. In the next few chapters, there will be many more detailed commands; but all are spoken to Moses alone on the mountain top. These ten words thunder from heaven for all the people. Therefore, these ten words summarize the essence of God’s covenant with these people. The remaining details will expand on these ten words and apply them to specific situations.
  3. Because they focus on the heart’s allegiance and desires, the first and last words would be unenforceable in a human court of law. How would you get enough evidence to convict someone for something that can’t be observed? This fact shows us that God’s Law has always cared about the thoughts and intentions of the heart. There is no room in this covenant for outward, technical conformity from people whose hearts are far from their God.
  4. We see the two responses of Moses and the people. Ought we to see ourselves in them? Some believe we should hang these words in public schools and community centers, yet perhaps we need to feel the fear and awe the first audience felt. As we unpack the requirements and prohibitions, we tremble at God’s demand for perfection, vertical and horizontal, outside and inside. Maybe we are even scared of the words and want the New Testament to tell us they don’t apply any more. Regardless, the goal of these words is not to baffle you, but “to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin” (Ex 20:20). These words test you. They inspire you to fear the one who spoke them. And they minister his grace to you that you may not sin. We ought to love these words, along with (spoiler alert) the Spirit who indwells us and empowers us to obey (2 Cor 3:1-18).

Train of thought:

  • Yahweh enters into covenant with his redeemed people, in order to capture their hearts.
  • This covenant inspires appropriate fear, while also inviting them to draw near to God.

Main point: God makes a treaty with his redeemed people, inspiring them to fear and obey, so they might draw near to him.

Connection to Christ: Jesus speaks no longer from a mountain top but from heaven itself (Heb 12:18-26). He calls us to fear and obey him (Heb 12:28-29), but especially to draw near with full confidence of mercy and grace (Heb 4:14-16).

My Application of Exodus 20:1-21

When faced with impossible standards, I’m more of a run-and-hide person than a shake-my-fist-at-God person. I know well the fear and trembling caused by the Lord’s demands for perfection. At the same time, I struggle with treating my worship and approach to God too flippantly or casually. As though he’s lucky to have me around because I’m so much better than all the other people.

There’s an important tension here I haven’t yet figured out: Draw near with confidence, yet with fear and trembling.

All I know is that I can’t go wrong when I hold fast to Christ. My love for him has grown far too dull.

Click here to see what I’m doing with this sample Bible study and why I’m doing it.

The Limits of John Piper’s Ideas

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John Piper answers a question from a listener about why he’s churned out two recent books focused on the Bible. He tells of a third book on its way, and he gives three reasons for this focus in his remaining years:

[First,] I don’t expect any of John Piper’s ideas to survive me or be useful when I’m gone if they are not faithful extensions of the meaning of God’s word into life. My authority is zero; God’s authority is everything. Whatever I have said that accords with his truth shares in his authority.

[Second,] I desperately don’t want people to substitute my books or my insights for their own inquiry into the Scriptures.

[Third,] generations to come, until Jesus returns, are going to face new crises, new challenges, new issues that I have not faced and others have not faced. Therefore, if people depend on what I’ve written or what others have written, they’re going to be swept away when the challenges come that we never addressed. But I have total confidence in the Bible for meeting those future challenges.

I have not yet read his latest books, but I can heartily recommend his motivations. Check it out!

Exodus 19: Close, But Not Too Close

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Act II of Exodus exposed the people’s great need for God’s law. We now begin Act III, where God rebuilds his house—first by setting up a covenant (treaty) with his people.

Observation of Exodus 19

Most repeated words: people (21 times), Lord (18x), Moses (14), mountain (12), all (8), up (8), come (7), said (7), out (6), Sinai (6).

  • The relationship between the people and the Lord takes center stage.

The setting remains at the mountain through the whole chapter, but Moses keeps going up and down. Almost every time God speaks, it is from the mountain top.

  • Moses goes up, and God speaks to him (Ex 19:3).
    • Moses goes down and speaks to the people (Ex 19:7).
  • Presumably, Moses goes up to relay the people’s words (Ex 19:8), and God speaks again (Ex 19:9).
    • Moses goes back down (Ex 19:14).
  • God comes down to the mountain and calls Moses up (Ex 19:20).
    • Moses goes back down with a final warning (Ex 19:25).

The only exception is in Ex 19:19, where Moses speaks from the foot of the mountain (Ex 19:17), and God answers with thunder.

Notice what God has to say each time Moses ascends the mountain. The mood of the first speech is warm and intimate; the second and third get increasingly severe:

  1. First trip: Tell the people that, if they keep my covenant, they will be my treasured possession.
  2. Second trip: The people will hear me speak to you (Moses) from the cloud, so they may believe you forever. Prepare, and stay away!
  3. Third trip: Warn everyone to stay away, so Yahweh won’t break out against them. 

Erik Gustafson (2008), Creative Commons

The logic of God’s promise is worth noting (Ex 19:4-6):

  • You’ve seen how I delivered you from Egypt.
  • Therefore, obey my voice.
  • And you will be my treasured possession.
    • That is, you will be a kingdom of priests to me, and a holy (i.e. special) nation among all peoples.

Obedience does not earn their deliverance; it follows from it.

Interpretation of Exodus 19

Some possible questions:

  1. Why does Moses go up and down the mountain so many times?
  2. Why does the tone of God’s speeches shift so drastically?
  3. What does it mean to be a kingdom of priests?

My answers (numbers correspond to the questions):

  1. The only thing clear in the text is that the top of the mountain is where God is (Ex 19:16-18). God, who led them in a pillar of cloud and fire (Ex 13:21-22), now resides on this mountain. In other words, heaven has come to earth, but only at this one spot, Mt. Sinai.
  2. The three sets of speeches communicate a tension between two poles: God wants his people to be close, but not too close. If they stay far away, they can’t be his treasured possession. And if they come too close, he must break out against them so that they die. The covenant being established here takes great pains to expose this tension.
  3. The only priest we’ve seen in Exodus so far is Jethro, priest of Midian (Ex 3:1, 18:1). Ex 19:22, 24 mention a group of Israelite priests, distinct from the rest of the people, but they’ve never come up before now. But, judging from how God has used Moses so far, we can guess that a “kingdom of priests” is a group of people who, in service to Yahweh, mediate between God and the nations of the earth. 

Train of thought: Now that I’ve rescued you, I want you to be special mediators between me and the nations. But don’t assume this means you can come too close or take my place!

Main point: The purpose of God’s deliverance is to make something special out of an utterly undeserving people.

Connection to Christ: Even Jesus at times had to hold himself back from breaking out against his utterly undeserving people (Matt 16:23, 17:17, 26:40-41). Yet his incarnation, death, and resurrection brought heaven to earth, and he created a space (the church) where we could draw near to God without fear of judgment.

My Application of Exodus 19

I am not in my church, in leadership, or in ministry (or whatever) because I’ve done great things. Nor because I’m a great person. I’m here only because the Lord decided to do great things and to invite me in.

As I teach others, I must not shy away from the majestic glory of God. The threat of “close, but not too close,” would stand—were it not for Jesus Christ, who invites us to draw near to God’s throne with confidence to find mercy and grace (Heb 4:16).

Click here to see what I’m doing with this sample Bible study and why I’m doing it.

Top-Notch Overview of Mark’s Gospel

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Kevin Halloran recently posted a few resources to give you “Everything You Need to Read the Gospel of Mark With a Friend (Or On Your Own).” These resources include an infographic outlining the book’s structure and main themes, study guides, and a few short videos explaining the book.

The resources Kevin shares are of the highest quality. They don’t waste time on irrelevant trivia or lengthy academic debates that skim off the text. They will give you a profound understanding of the structure, themes, and main point of Mark. This understanding will enable you to study the book or teach it to someone else in a way that connects each episode back to the main idea.

Mark’s is a beautiful, clear, and focused gospel. May these resources equip us to meet Christ there and reveal him to others.

Check it out!

The Summer of the Bible

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Paolo Rosa (2015), public domain

Today marks the unofficial start of summer in the U.S. The next three months promise sunshine and thunderstorms, lightning bugs and mosquitoes, picnics and sunburn. Summer is here, whether you’ve gathered your frisbees and watermelon or not.

Summer has a rhythm of its own. The children are out of school, we’re anxious to travel, and the longer hours of daylight call us outside for yard work and play.

Though it seems we should have more time in the summer for spiritual pursuits, for many the opposite is true. We float into the fall like a dry leaf, wondering why we feel so distant from the Lord.

Let’s make this summer different. Let’s fill this summer with the Bible.

Seven Reasons to Read the Bible

As I urge you to pick up your Bible this summer, I realize some will consider this a stuffy burden. But if you think the Bible is boring, you’ve got the wrong book.

The Bible is the word of God! It is our light in the dark, it is our way back to our Father, it is the food we need for life. There are millions of reasons to read and study the Bible. Consider these seven.

  1. We read the Bible to know Christ.
  2. We study the Bible because knowing Jesus is eternal life.
  3. The Bible gives us wisdom (Proverbs 1:1–7).
  4. The Bible makes us fruitful (Psalm 1:1–3).
  5. The Bible warns us about sin and folly (Psalm 19:11).
  6. The Bible gives us hope (Romans 15:4).
  7. The Bible gives us the truth, and there is freedom in knowing the truth (John 8:31–32).

Five Suggestions for a Bible-filled Summer

There’s no need to wait until January 1 to make a life change. If you’ve been neglecting God’s word or if you’d just like to make the most of the summer, here are five ways to get started.

Read and study the Bible yourself. You’ll never regret focusing on the Bible. If you’ve never studied the Bible before, don’t be intimidated! We’ve got you covered. If you need the refreshment of simply reading the Bible, three months is plenty of time to read the whole thing. Really!

Join a Bible study group. A small group study can be just the thing to get you out of the house and into God’s word. Ask around at church to see what’s available this summer, and if you don’t find anything that works, start your own group!

Read the Bible with a friend or spouse. Groups can be great, but the simple practice of reading the Bible with one other person is powerful too. This really is as easy as it sounds: find a friend, find a time, and dive into the Bible together.

Read the Bible with your family. Pick a book in the Bible and start reading out loud. Once you finish, start again with a different book. Keep going. A family reading time will be fruitful for everyone (especially if the children ask questions).

Point your children to the Bible. School-age children invariably have more free time in the summer, and they can’t spend the whole time blowing bubbles. Whether your children can read or not, the summer is a great time to help them develop a daily devotional habit. Follow up and show them how the whole Bible fits together.

Three months of summer stretch out before us; let’s use them to immerse ourselves in the Bible!

How a Veteran Preacher Finally Learns to Read a New Testament Epistle

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This is a guest post by Talbot Davis, pastor of Good Shepherd Church in Charlotte, NC, and author of five books with Abingdon Press. You can follow his blog or find him on Facebook.

Editor’s Note: We are delighted to publish guest writers who come from different sectors of Christianity—and who reach different conclusions—than we do, as long as they share our assumptions and wrestle directly with the biblical text. Talbot’s arguments are worth considering, even though we differ with some of his conclusions.

I have been reading the New Testament for a long time, but I realize that I am only now learning how to read its epistles correctly. And to read the New Testament well, you need to read the epistles (Romans, I & II Corinthians, Galatians, et al) accurately.

Here’s what I’ve recently discovered: For years, I have read those documents as if they are examples of modern American letter writing. But that’s not what they are. They are instead examples of ancient Greek speech-making. And there is a world of difference between those two genres.

One of the best texts to observe what I’m talking about is the beginning of letter to the Ephesians. Check out the opening twelve verses, keeping in mind that Paul is himself Jewish, while Ephesus, in modern-day Turkey, is populated primarily by Gentiles.

And keep in mind that Ephesians was dictated before it was written, and that, when delivered to Ephesus, it was read out loud before ever being studied in silence.

Notice in particular all the references to “us” and “we” in this section.

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,

To God’s holy people in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus:

2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

3 Praise be to the God and Father of OUR Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed US in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4 For he chose US in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he predestined US for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given US in the One he loves. 7 In him WE have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8 that he lavished on US. With all wisdom and understanding, 9 he made known to US the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.

11 In him WE were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, 12 in order that WE, who were the first to put OUR hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. (Eph 1:3-12, NIV)

If you read this according to the rules of modern American letter writing, all the “us” and “we” references are a way of including you, the reader, into what the author is saying. So those who are modern American Christians assume from the beginning that Paul is including the original Ephesians as well as the current readers into these opening words.

Except that’s not what he is doing. Remember: Ephesians is not an example of modern American letter writing. Instead, it is ancient Greek speech-making.

And in the argument Paul builds for Ephesians, WE and US refers to Paul and his kin: the Jews. You get the gist of what he is doing if you imagine that he is standing on a platform with two fellow Jews addressing a room full of Gentiles. And with each “we” and “us” he points to his Hebrew colleagues on the stage.

Verse 12 is especially critical to this understanding: “We, who were the first to put our hope in Christ . . . ” Who were the first to hope in Christ? Not the Ephesians! Meaning this section can’t be inclusive. Instead, Romans 1:16 tells us who were the first to hope in Christ: “For I am not ashamed of the Gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.”

A-ha!

(By the way, understanding that “we” are the Jews and not the broader, fledgling Christian community goes a long way to explaining all the references to predestination and to being “chosen.” Well, yes. That’s how we understand God’s relationship with Israel.)

Back to Ephesians. After that lengthy opening section with all its focus on “we” and “us,” everything changes at 1:13:

13 And YOU also were included in Christ when YOU heard the message of truth, the gospel of YOUR salvation. When YOU believed, YOU were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing OUR inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory. (Eph 1:13-14, NIV)

The transition from “we” to “you” is instantaneous, dramatic, and purposeful. Imagine that Paul suddenly points to his audience: AND YOU (Gentiles!) WERE INCLUDED IN CHRIST JUST LIKE WE WERE!

It’s a compelling example of ancient Greek speech-making, not modern American letter writing.

From the beginning, then, Ephesians is about this divine fusion of “we” and “you”; the creation of something brand new out of “us” and “them.”

If you naively assume that “you” are included in the “we” of the first twelve verses, you miss the entire point of the book.