In a more theological sense, Torah is the record of God’s covenant dealings specifically recorded for the purpose of setting the trajectory of proper living, and for the maintenance of corporate solidarity and covenantal memory.  Under this conception, Torah contains both law and gospel. There is an indicative/imperative relationship even within the “law” books.  If we follow Kline, we can see a works principle republished for God’s typological son Israel given for covenantal and pedagogical purposes.

Torah, and more specifically Deuteronomy, is a covenantal organizing document.  It says who YHWH is, brings the people together, declares God’s law, has the covenant mediator apply that law to the context, and offers the hope of blessing (Deut 28), but also curses for failure.

But Torah also encourages the faithful to look to YHWH for their eschatological hope.  YHWH commands the people to circumcise their hearts (Deut 10), but he also says they are unable to do so.  Notwithstanding, YHWH promises to graciously circumcise their hearts for them (Deut 30).

Torah, while regulating typological life, does so for the purpose of anticipating eschatological life. The people are to trust YHWH, remember all he has done (Deut 8), pass the teaching to their children, all the while looking forward to the fullness of blessing from YHWH (Deut 28; cf Isa 65:17ff).

This little phrase from Richard B. Gaffin, Jr. encapsulates so much of Geerhardus Vos’ eschatological program. The phrase is meant to convey the idea that God has a plan of eschatological, consummated life laid out for Adam even before the fall into sin.  The Covenant of Works was put into place with the offer of that reward.

When attempting to demonstrate this point, we often appeal to the Tree of Life and its “reappearance” in Rev 2:7 and 22:2, 14, 19.  This occurrence demonstrates the realization of the blessings offered to Adam prior to the fall. But one place we do not often consider is the book of Job.  Job 42 offers a similar perspective on the question of eschatology.

Job undergoes terrible trials and loses almost everything.  Job was blessed in 1:2-3: “here were born to him seven sons and three daughters.  He possessed 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, and 500 female donkeys, and very many servants, so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the east.”  All of this he lost at the hands of Satan who received permission from God to persecute him.  The book continues through several questioning episodes from Job’s friends who are convinced Job must have sinned in order to receive this portion.  Retributive theology is at work among his cohorts.  The LORD eventually speaks up in the face of Job’s questions.

Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said: “Dress for action like a man; I will question you, and you make it known to me. Will you even put me in the wrong? Will you condemn me that you may be in the right? Have you an arm like God, and can you thunder with a voice like his? “Adorn yourself with majesty and dignity; clothe yourself with glory and splendor. Pour out the overflowings of your anger, and look on everyone who is proud and abase him. Look on everyone who is proud and bring him low and tread down the wicked where they stand. Hide them all in the dust together; bind their faces in the world below. Then will I also acknowledge to you that your own right hand can save you. (Job 40:6-14, ESV)

Shortly thereafter, in chapter 42, Job is restored, and this is the interesting eschatological point.  Look at the details of his restoration in Job 42:12-13 “And the LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning. And he had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys. He had also seven sons and three daughters.”

His blessings are doubled [except for the sons, an interpretive issue we'll save for another day].  The inheritance is expanded to his daughters – something unheard of in Job’s contemporary culture. Moreover, his daughters are named and the sons are not.  This is perplexing, but I think is illustrative of the expansive reach of the New Covenant blessing (similar to how the covenant entrance sign of baptism is given to both men and women).

God’s plan and goal for a consummated glory was in place even before man fell into sin.  It was set out for Adam to attain.  He would have entered into eschatological, consummated life had he obeyed throughout his probation period.  But he fell and now a second Adam must come to provide a way for God’s elect to reach that original goal.

This eschatology is behind the message of Job.  Job’s “salvation” is not a return to his original blessing.  Likewise, we do not look to the Garden as our heavenly reward.  We look to the New Heavens and New Earth.  Job is a prototypical righteous one who suffers while pointing to the eschatological one who comes to suffer vicariously.  This is the Christ, the one who ushers in eschatological blessings greater than anything ever present before.

But there is another way. Maybe Israel’s history happened first, and the Adam story was written to reflect that history. In other words, the Adam story is really an Israel story placed in primeval time. It is not a story of human origins but of Israel’s origins.

Everyone has to decide for themselves which of these readings of Genesis has more “explanatory power.” I (and other biblical scholars) come down on the second option for a number of reasons, some having to do with Genesis itself while others concern other issues in the Bible.

This piece comes on the heels of Tremper Longman’s video on the subject.  I struggle to see how one could subscribe to the Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms ex animo while holding to such a view.  It may be the case that Enns and Longman, both former professors at Westminster Theological Seminary, have experienced significant change in their views since departing from the seminary.  It may also be possible that both men differ from my understanding of what it means to “subscribe” to the standards. At present, I don’t see a third option.

The latter would be a troubling situation.  For me, the issue of subscription is central because the standards presume the historicity of Adam and the system of doctrine demands it.  The parallels Paul makes between the first man Adam and the last man Jesus Christ (Rom 5) form our understanding of much of this theology.  The Covenant of Works, the New Covenant, and the imputation of Adam’s sin to believers, the believer’s sin to Christ and Christ’s righteousness to believers are all predicated on Adam being an historical figure.  To deny the historicity of Adam is a much deeper issue than some suggest.

In the course of the climactic seventieth week, masiah nagid, the anointed priest-king, would make the covenant prevail both in renewal and in judgment. Cut off in death, Messiah would make priestly reconciliation for iniquity, so perfecting sacrifice forever and instituting the new covenant. Then exercising His royal heavenly rule over all the nations, Messiah in the midst of the seventieth week would send forces of destruction against the Jerusalem temple, so making the old ritual system cease and bringing the old covenant to its end.

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Meredith G. Kline, “The Covenant of the Seventieth Week.” In The Law and the Prophets, John Skilton, ed. (Phillipsburg: Presbyterian & Reformed, 1974), 468.

I hope I’m not reading too much into this episode, but I had the sense there were several thinly veiled references to John Murray. For one, I think it is unfortunate Murray rejected the covenant of works.  It’s something that continues to baffle me, though I still gather throughout his writings that he affirmed the substance of the covenant of works.  I believe his treatment of the imputation of Adam’s sin is first rate, but for some reason, Murray had a problem with the traditional language.

Again, I don’t want to overly speculate, but it seems Murray may have been at least partially in mind around 18 minutes into the episode when Fesko spoke about “theologians of the previous generation” not engaging with the tradition as much as earlier generations.  There seemed to be some latent desire to connect Murray’s CoW anomaly with soteriology.  Now that would have been quite a discussion, but of course would have strayed from the immediate subject.  Perhaps we can trace out more of these threads in a future Christ the Center.  At any rate, download the mp3 and listen to Office Hours.  If you enjoy covenant theology, you will certainly enjoy this episode.

I continue to have some reservations, however, about the idea of the republication of the CoW in the Mosaic economy with reference to national Israel and their possession of the land. Especially with reference to Deut. 9. In this passage a few things are very clear to me which at least challenge the republication theory (although I have no doubt in my mind that in at least some respects and in some places the CoW is clearly republished – for instance, in the giving of the ten words; a la Francis Turretin). Perhaps someone who has a greater understanding of the republication theory, with reference to the retention of the land, can explain to me how they handle these things:

1) Deut 9 makes it clear that Israel, as a nation, is given the land not because of what they have done, or who they are, but because of God’s free grace to them.

2) The covenant with Israel with reference to the land, in this chapter, is very closely connected with the Abrahamic covenant. God gives the land to them because of the promise he made to Abraham.

3) But also, the retaining of the land is also by grace. God says when Israel sins – and they will sin – he will remain faithful to his covenant and forgive them of their sins.

4) Yet, as we see later in redemptive history Israel does sin.  And they sin so severely that God does remove them from the land. However, this hardly seems a typological picture of eschatological judgment. It looks more like discipline in which God deals with Israel in a corrective way.

This need not break the valid connection there is between Adam, Israel, and Christ – especially with reference to Christ’s obedience, particularly in the wilderness where he clearly obeys exactly where Israel fails. We can say this because, yes, the CoW was operative under Moses. I believe that the CoW is always operative. It binds all men everywhere. I’m just not yet convinced that the land and nation of Israel serve in the way explicated by many proponents of the position. But I am open to being convinced. In fact, I prefer the position because it provides a nice neat theological structure to the covenants and redemptive history. However, I first need to get through Deut. 9. Help, any one?

Eschatology precedes soteriology in the sense that God had a plan and a promise of eschatological life even before man fell into sin. After Adam sinned, he and Eve were banished from the garden and the cherubim stepped in to protect the garden from the unholiness of sin. As redemptive-history unfolds, Christ serves to secure the blessings that the first Adam failed to secure while at the same time undergoing the penalty and curse due to Adam and his progeny (Rom 5; Gal 3; 1 Tim 3; 2 Cor 5). After dying and being raised, Christ secures the promised Holy Spirit who is then poured out to his people as a blessing and pledge (arrabwn) of consummated life that awaits at the second coming-consummation (parousia-sunteleia). This is the redemptive-historical nature of Pentecost. Given what it is it cannot be repeated. There is no second Fall into sin, there is no second death and resurrection of Christ, and therefore there is no second Pentecost to be secured by Christ and given to his people, the Church.

Furthermore, the Trinitarian design of Pentecost also suggests the once-for-all nature of the event. It is important to situation this event economically as it relates to redemptive-history and the divine decrees. The eternal Son of God humiliated himself to redeem his people (Phil 2:6-11). He did this at the appointment of the Father. He was anointed with the Holy Spirit for his Messianic work (Lk 3) and continued his ministry in teh Spirit’s power and guidance (Lk 4). Having died obediently, he was raised since it was impossible for death to hold him (Acts 2:24). The Father made him Lord and Christ (Acts 2:36) and he was declared such in the power of the Spirit (Rom 1:3-4). The Triune-God was at work at Pentecost in redemptive-history. Christ has since finished his work and there need be no second Pentecost.

Moreover, Pentecost had a uniquely ecclesiological character. This era is unique because it is the ingrafting of the Gentiles into the people of God (Rom 9-11). This ingrafting is again a unique event that marks the fulfillment of the Abrahamic promise (Gen 12) wherein the nations are blessed through him in his seed (Gal 4). The dividing wall between Jew and Gentile has since been torn down (Eph 2:16) and there is no longer any distinction between them (Gal 3:29; Acts 11). Pentecost testifies to this fact as the Spirit is poured out on Gentiles. Since the hostility has been removed and the Spirit has been poured out, Pentecost need not occur for a 2^nd, 3^rd or x^th time. Rather, the repetitions you find in subsequent portions of Acts should be seen as reverberations or waves of a singular outpouring. This massive eschatological event occurs in stages to Jews, then Gentiles, and then spreads.

Finally, the declarative nature of Pentecost is not conducive to repetitions. Pentecost was a once-for-all forensic event in which God sealed his people with the Spirit and made them eschatologically citizens of glory. They were redemptively transferred to a new order as the church was raised – eschatologically – into the heavenlies (Eph 1) to reign with Jesus, the LORD and Christ (Acts 2:36). This unique event stands in relation to other unique events and should not be – yea cannot be – repeated any more than the Fall into sin or Christ’s death and resurrection.

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I am incredibly indebted to the writings and teaching of Dr. Richard B. Gaffin, Jr. on this topic. This post is largely a reflection on the notes from his class Acts & Paul at Westminster Theological Seminary. You can purchase the recordings of these lectures from wtsbooks.com. Dr. Gaffin’s insights on this subject may also be found in his book Perspectives on Pentecost.

Genesis was written to the children of Israel, immediately after their deliverance from Egypt. The Lord is recounting the historical and theological foundations of the covenant people. In doing so, He reminds them of His dealings with the father of the Israelitish nation. The Lord had called Abraham, given him exceedingly great and precious promises, and promised to bless the nations in His seed. In the course of events Abraham is driven down to Egypt by a famine. When in Egypt his life and liveliness is at stake. The Lord intervenes by sending plagues on Pharaoh and his house. Abraham is brought up out of Egypt. God has shown His covenant faithfulness by redeeming Abraham out of Egypt.

In Israel’s history the Exodus from Egypt is the great redemptive act of God. It serves as the typological picture of the redemption that He provides for His people spiritually from the hand of the world, the flesh and the devil. In as much as Israel was to understand the Exodus as a type of the spiritual redemption in Christ, God reminded them of His covenant redemption of Abraham back in Genesis 12:10-20. Israel was to look back at the one God had established this covenant of grace with, and look forward to the seed of Abraham who would fulfill that covenant for His people. Abraham is Israel. Israel comes from the loins of Abraham. Jesus is the true Israel. Jesus comes from the loins of Abraham, as well as from the bosom of the Father. Abraham is a type of Christ. Israel is a type of Christ. Jesus, we are told, went down into Egypt and was brought up again out of Egypt (Matt. 2:15). In Luke’s account of the Transfiguration we learn that Jesus’ death is the true “Exodus” (Luke 9:30-31). In His death and resurrection, the Son of God delivers His people from the bondage to Satan that they found themselves oppressed by since birth. Jesus thus fulfills the promises of the Abrahamic Covenant, as well as the typological nature of the nation of Israel. The blessings of Abraham are ours through the One who is Abraham’s Son and Abraham’s Lord. We, who have trusted in Him, are the seed of Abraham (Gal. 3) and heirs of the promise.

Listen to the interview