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Big Bible Words: Atonement

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Stephen McGrath (2009), Creative Commons

Stephen McGrath (2009), Creative Commons

I have a dream. Not a compelling-vision-for-the-future sort of dream, but a sleeping-in-my-bed sort of dream. And I have this dream often.

In my dream, I am my current self (married with children), but I’m also a full-time college student. The semester is half-over, and I come to realize that I’ve forgotten a class. I’ve been faithfully attending most classes, but there’s one course I completely forgot. I never went to class. I haven’t taken any exams. I haven’t read the books or written the papers.

And I missed the deadline for dropping the class. So I’m now stuck with an abysmal grade.

But that’s not all. In my dream, when I discover the neglected class, I try to rectify the situation by attending the next scheduled class period. And when I arrive, something else comes to my attention.

I’m wearing nothing but my underwear.

We Need Covering

I cannot overstate the relief I feel when I wake from this dream. Few things are worse than an I’m-neglecting-significant-areas-of-responsibility dream. One such thing is an I’m-utterly-exposed-and-can-do-nothing-about-it dream.

When Adam and his wife ate the forbidden fruit, they knew their guilt and felt exposed. Their gut instinct was to cover up. So they tried fig-leaf briefs, and they ran and hid (Gen 3:7-9).

The Lord exposed them further so he could help. He coaxed them out from hiding and talked through the problem. He promised to deliver them. Then he covered them. He took their pitiful fruits of the loom and replaced them with his own fur and leather body suits (Gen 3:21). He uncovered their coverings that couldn’t cover and covered them instead with coverings that truly covered.

And so began humanity’s need for divine covering. Because of sin, exposure brings shame. But the Bible paints picture after picture of God’s merciful act of covering.

  • Noah’s sons cover the shame of their senseless father (Gen 9:23).
  • God allows Moses to see his glory, but only after covering him with a protective hand (Ex 33:20-23).
  • David didn’t cover his own sin (Ps 32:5) but trusted God to cover it for him (Ps 5:12, 27:5, 32:1).
  • One mark of a loving friend is the covering of offenses (Prov 10:12, 17:9).
  • Those who reject Christ will feel so exposed that they’ll seek any covering they can find (Luke 23:30, Rev 6:16).
  • True believers are clothed with Christ (Gal 3:27).

The primary Old Testament word for this covering is “atonement.” Can you explain atonement in plain language?

We Need Atonement

The Old Testament uses the term “atonement” often to describe the covering of sin and shame or guilt. Sometimes we use “atonement” interchangeably with “reconciliation” or “restoration,” but its primary meaning has to do with covering (though reconciliation is the general result of atonement).

The best place to look at the concept is Leviticus 16, which describes the annual Day of Atonement.

On the Day of Atonement, the high priest would take a bull to “make atonement” for himself. He would kill the bull for his own sin (Lev 16:11), burn incense (Lev 16:12-13), and splash the bull’s blood on the ark of the covenant in the most private room of the tabernacle (Lev 16:14). The incense would create a cloud to cover the ark, so the priest would not be exposed and die (Lev 16:13). The splashed bull’s blood substituted for the priest’s own blood. When there’s sin, someone must die. But the priest was covered.

Then the purified priest would get two goats. One would live; one would die.

The dead goat would also be taken into the private chamber and splashed on the ark of the covenant (Lev 16:15). Then the priest would go back to the outer room and splash the blood on the altar where he burned the incense (Lev 16:16-19). This ceremony would “make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleannesses of the people of Israel” (Lev 16:16). With everything sufficiently covered, he’s ready for the live goat.

He’d put his hands on the live goat and confess all the sins of Israel. This goat, figuratively covered with the sins of all the people, would be taken out and set free in the wilderness (Lev 16:20-22).

All throughout, the priest must be very careful about his clothes (Lev 16:4, 23-24). The priest must not be improperly covered.

What is the point?

  • Atonement involves the covering of our impurity so we can be reconciled to God.
  • This covering must come from God and not ourselves. Even the Old Testament priests needed to be covered themselves before they could help to cover the people.
  • This covering requires a substitute.
  • This substitute must be both dead and alive (thus requiring two goats).

Jesus Our Atonement

All these things teach us about Jesus. Jesus came and took our place. He both died and was raised. He now covers us with his righteousness so our sin won’t ever be held against us.

And he didn’t need his own covering (Heb 7:27). No, he was stripped naked so he could provide our covering (John 19:23-24).

Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness (Heb 9:19-22). And those who have been covered by Christ’s blood wait for him to return and bring their final salvation (Heb 9:27-28).

Trust in Jesus, and his promise of atonement is: “I’ve got you covered.”

Context Matters: Have We Not All One Father?

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Malachi 2:10 is a verse that many cults and spiritual gurus use to show that every member of the human race is a child of God, a member of his holy family.

Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us?

Bill Muehlenberg simply takes us to the context of this verse to show us that there’s something much different going on in the prophet’s train of thought.

Check it out!

ESV Six-Volume for $40

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You may never find a deal like this, and it’s only while limited supplies last. Westminster Bookstore has the ESV Reader’s Bible, Six-Volume Set at an unbelievable price of $40. If you haven’t yet indulged in this masterpiece of Bible typography, now is your chance. But hurry, as I can’t guarantee how long it will be available at that price.

Westminster link is an affiliate link and will provide this blog with a small commission if you click it. Thank you for supporting our work here.

Arise, My love, My Beautiful One, and Come Away

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I am very grateful to the Lord for the rich diversity of literature contained within the Bible. Not only do we have the narratives of Israel’s history and Jesus’ ministry, or the discourses of the law and letters, but we also have the wildly foreign yet lovely verse of the prophets and poets. Let me pull back the curtain for you on my own process for Bible study.

Right now, I’m studying Song of Songs 2:8-3:5 and trying to find my way. What clues can I find to show me how this text is organized, so I can follow its train of thought?

First, I notice the repetition of the label “my beloved,” from the woman regarding her man (Song 2:8, 9, 10, 16, 17). They are somewhat spaced out and appear likely to trigger a new thought or idea.

Second, I observe that the man never speaks in this passage as an independent character (as he does before and after this in the book). Instead, what we have is the woman’s report of what he says (Song 2:10: “My beloved speaks and says to me…”). Or is this more about what she wants him to say? She appears to be dreaming in Song 3:1-4 (especially see Song 3:1); could Song 2:8-17 be something like a daydream?

Photo by Scott Broome on Unsplash

Third, though Song 2:10-15 is all one speech by the man (at least according to the ESV editors; the CSB suggests that the man’s speech ends with verse 14), I observe the verbatim repetition of “Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come away” (Song 2:10, 13). That repeated phrase wraps verses 10-13 like bookends, suggesting that Song 2:14-15 contain a second stanza within his speech.

Fourth, the poem reaches a clear climax in Song 3:5, when she puts the daughters of Jerusalem under oath not to stir up love.

All of this yields the following group of stanzas:

  • Song 2:8-9 – her (daydreaming?) delight in the voice of her beloved
    • Song 2:10-15 – the contents of her beloved’s voice
      • Song 2:10-13 – Arise and come away
      • Song 2:14-15 – Come out and catch up
    • Song 2:16-17 – her declaration of mutual possession with her beloved
  • Song 3:1-4 – her dream of seeking and finding the one her soul loves
    • Song 3:5 – her oath for the other young women not to stir up love yet

So much for an observational outline of the poem. What about an interpretive outline? What is the point of each stanza, and how does the train of thought move from one stanza to the next?

That will require more work, so I’m back at it. At least I have some handles on the text to guide my questions and answers.

No Need to Fear the Book of Revelation

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Have you ever been afraid to study the book of Revelation? If so, you’re not the only one, and Lucky Mogakane is here to help:

In this article I will attempt to encourage believers to read Revelation. I will do this by distinguishing the fear many feel towards the book and the kind of fear we should have as a result of reading it. Then I will show that one of the messages in Revelation is reassurance, as we learn about God’s love. Thus we will see that contrast with its reception, Revelation is a great blessing to the Church—in all ages and whatever its situation. Revelation is God’s word for believers, even if it appears strange at first.

Mr. Mogakane has some wonderful insight into the themes of Revelation, along with their relevance for today.

Check it out!

Amos: God of Creation and Covenant

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Andrew M. King has a helpful article on the book of Amos, where he walks through the key themes of the book of Amos. His summary:

Though only in seed form, the book of Amos signals God’s redemptive purpose seen in the whole of Scripture. From beginning to end, the triune God of creation and covenant is shown to be faithful in judgment and salvation for the fame of his name.

King does a great job tracing the pieces of these themes throughout Amos’s prophecy. Accordingly, he is focusing more on the contents than on the argument of the book (the opposite of what I attempt to do in my interpretive book overviews). However, his piece is a great example of why it is also important to also understand the contents of the books we study.

Check it out!

Using Logos 9 to Teach the Bible

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I use Logos Bible Software extensively every day. It is one of the programs I keep open constantly, so I can use it quickly and easily. I’m delighted that we’re able to give away a Logos 9 Silver base package for this year’s Bible reading challenge. One of my favorite things with the software is how it helps me teach the Bible.

By “help me teach the Bible,” I’m not referring to the study or preparation for teaching, though Logos also has much to offer in that realm. What I’m referring to here is the act of teaching. Logos offers a few features that provide the notes I take into any sermon, class, or Bible study.

Sermon Builder

The first tool is the Sermon Builder, which is essentially a word processor for Bible teachers. I write all of my sermons with it, and I prepare class notes or small group leader’s notes with it. The Logos Sermon Builder doesn’t quite have as much functionality as Microsoft Word or Google Docs, but it was fully designed with Bible teachers in mind. And for that reason, it is the best word processor I have ever used for sermons.

On the right: Part of my latest sermon.

Here’s how Sermon Builder helps me to write my sermons or teaching notes:

  • I can tag any text as a “prompt,” which formats it in a way that stands out. My “prompts” are instructions to myself for when I speak. They could include time markers, reminders to speak more loudly or quietly, or notes for transitioning to the next presenter after me.
  • I can insert any Bible text right into my notes by simply typing the reference (such as “Matt 2:1-21) and hitting enter. Then the full text of the passage magically appears.
  • I can similarly insert quotations from other resources in my Logos library, and Logos will automatically footnote the source for me, should I need it later.
  • As I type my script, a counter at the top of the screen tells me how much time it will take to preach or teach this script. I do enough ad libbing that the number is never completely accurate, but I have learned how to adjust the automatic figure to give me a realistic sense of the timing. This helps me to make sure I’m pacing my material to fit within the time I have to teach it.
  • Any thing I format as a heading gets automatically sent to the sermon outline, which I can later export or grab as needed for printing on handouts.
  • All headings and Scripture texts get automatically sent to a slide presentation, which can be used to accompany the sermon or class.

Sermon Builder helps not only with the word processing, but also with the presentation itself:

  • The manuscript is automatically saved to my Faithlife account on the cloud, so it is backed up there and I can access it from any device. So I type the script on my laptop, but can preach it (or lead a small group) right from my iPad by simply opening it up there.
  • I can go into “presentation mode,” which cuts out any clutter in the layout and provides a timer right on the screen.

Sermon Manager

The other tool is the Sermon Manager, which provides a one-stop shop for organizing all of my teaching.

Some of my recent and near-future teaching.

I don’t yet use the Sermon Manager to its full extent, but I benefit most from the following:

  • I can take a look at which sermons I have preached based on the venue, calendar, or text.
  • I can track when I’ve taught the same passage in multiple venues.
  • I can access my entire library of teaching notes, in case I need to refer to something on short notice.
  • I can map out an upcoming series, and create templates to help me save time when I’m ready to draft my notes.

Conclusion

These tools provide another reason why I have come to depend so heavily on Logos Bible Software. And the truly wonderful thing is that these marvelous tools just keep getting better and better. New features are constantly being added to program updates. If you have been considering making use of Logos 9, perhaps this year’s Bible reading challenge could be your opportunity to acquire it.

Announcing Our 2022 Bible Reading Challenge

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For this year’s reading challenge, we’re giving away a Silver base package of Logos Bible Software! Logos 9 Silver comes with many Logos features, such as the text comparison tool, sermon manager, interactive infographics, and the Bible books explorer. In addition, it comes with a library of over 250 resources, including the complete Tyndale and Holman New Testament commentaries, Tyndale Old Testament commentaries, 11 Bible dictionaries and encyclopedias, and John Goldingay’s 3-volume Old Testament Theology. See my reviews of Logos 9 here and here. This feature set and library of resources (which you can browse here) would cost over $10,900 if purchased separately, and as a package Logos 9 Silver normally costs $999.99. But—thanks to the generosity of Faithlife for sponsoring this year’s grand prize—this silver package can be yours for free if you can prove you’d know what to do with it.

If you’ve been with us for the last few years, you’ve probably been expecting this post. Here I come, like the sun rising, going down, and once again hastening to its place to rise again. Like the wind blowing round and round, north, then south, and back again. Like streams running to the sea, and yet the sea is still not full. What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun. Viruses and societal turmoil are no match for our inevitability.

If you’re new to the blog, you’ll be delighted to know we do a reading challenge here annually. This is our sabbatical (7th) year for the challenge, so we searched high and low for the best prize we could think of to reward your toil at which you toil under the sun. We are deeply grateful to Faithlife for sponsoring this year’s grand prize.

Screen shot of Logos 9 Bible study and sermon builder

In our former days, most excellent Theophilus, we issued a 90-day Bible-reading challenge that had to begin on January 1 and end by March 31. But many folks have told us they would like to be able to get started over the holidays. While many are eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, or chasing a spirit of stupor, we hear that you—the readers of this blog, the champions of the covenant, the heroes who shine like stars in the midst of a present evil age—would prefer to redeem the time when you already find yourself away from your usual responsibilities.

And who are we to stand in your way? You think about all his commandments; you will not be ashamed. You are continually overcome with longing for his judgments. Though your life is down in the dust, you seek life according to God’s word. Therefore this year’s Bible reading challenge may commence immediately. In fact, perhaps it already commenced for you, and you’re only now realizing it.

Here are the rules:

  1. You must read (not scan or skim) all 66 books of the Protestant Bible. You may choose the translation and reading plan (canonical, chronological, etc.). You don’t have to stop and meditate on every detail, but the Lord sees and knows when you are being honest about reading and not skimming. Listening to an unabridged audio Bible is acceptable. You may also use any combination of audio and visual reading, as long as you’ve read or listened to the entire Bible within the allotted time period.
  2. You must read the entire Bible within a 90-day period.
  3. The last day of that 90-day period must be between today and March 31, 2022. If you’d like to understand why we recommend such fast-paced reading, see our Bible reading plan for readers.
  4. To enter the drawing, you must fill out the survey below, letting us know the dates you read and what you thought of the speed-reading process. Your thoughts do not have to be glowing, but they should be honest; you’ll still be entered into the drawing if you didn’t enjoy your speed-read.
  5. Any submissions to the form below that don’t meet the requirements or appear to be fabricated will be deleted. For example: multiple entries with different data, date of completion not between November 5, 2021 and March 31, 2022, “What I thought about the experience” has nothing to do with Bible reading, or date of completion is later than the date of entry submission (please don’t try to enter the drawing if you plan to read the Bible; only enter once you have completed reading it).
  6. In the first week of April 2022, we will randomly select one grand-prize winner from those who have submitted the form. To celebrate the reading challenge’s 7th anniversary, we’re also planning to have several second-prize winners. We’ll keep you posted on what those additional prize packages will include. We will email the winners for confirmation. The grand prize winner will need to set up a Logos account if they don’t already have one, and second-prize winners may need to submit shipping addresses. If a winner does not respond to our request for confirmation or a shipping address within 1 week, a new winner will be selected in their place.
  7. Unfortunately, though they are terrific people doing marvelous work for the sake of Christ, staff members of DiscipleMakers are not eligible to win the drawing.

We will occasionally post links to the submission form on the blog between now and March 31. But you might also want to bookmark this page for easy access when you’re ready to submit your entry.

If you’d like a checklist to help you stay on pace, here are three. You may make a copy and update the dates, if you plan to start on a date other than January 1.

  1. Canonical Order
  2. Chronological Order
  3. Hebrew OT & NIV Sola Scriptura NT Order

Or here is an iOS app that can help you track your plan. You may also want to consider making a reading plan in the Dwell listening app if you prefer audio.

You may now begin any time, and may this be the ride of your life.

Context Matters: Dashing Little Ones Against the Rock

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Psalm 137:9 offers an alarming benediction on those engaged in a shockingly outrageous behavior: “Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones and dashes them against the rock!” What is a serious student of the Bible to make of this, in light of Jesus’ welcoming of little children and his admonition to love one’s enemies?

Joe Palekas has a marvelous piece asking this very question. And to answer it, he takes a thorough tour of the context of Psalm 139:9. He looks at the literary context and train of thought in the poem itself. He looks at historical context when it was written. He looks at the larger literary context of the arrangement of psalms. He looks at the covenantal context, particularly in light of Isaiah’s predictions of the Day of the Lord to be brought against Babylon in Isaiah 13. Palekas looks at the context of the fulfillment in Christ. And he examines how all these contexts then lead us to application in our day and point in history.

In the end, he reaches the following conclusion:

Now Psalm 137 begins to become clearer. The community of exiles weeping by the waters of Babylon are calling for the day of the LORD. God has promised his covenant people that he will return them from exile and visit a just reward upon their captors. He promised this before he even sent them to exile. Psalm 137 contrasts the “day of Jerusalem” with the day of the LORD promised in Isaiah 13 and alluded to in Psalm 137:9. The astonishing and overwhelming image of dashing infants on the rocks is not the product of some twisted or vengeful human imagination. It is a call for God to be faithful to his covenant promises.

This is some terrific Bible study and contextual thinking at its finest. If you’ve ever wondered about that line about bashing babies on rocks, I encourage you to check it out. And if you’d like to see a skillful example of how context matters, I also encourage you to check it out!