Sermon and Worship Resources

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Romans 4:1-25

Understanding Series

James R. Edwards

... proving that righteousness is for Gentiles as well as Jews, vv. 9–12); and finally, that the promise of God to Abraham was fulfilled not through law but through faith (vv. 13–25). Abraham was thus not only the father of Israel, he is the prototype of Christian faith. Because Abraham trusted in God, God counted him righteous even before he was circumcised and before the law was given. Once the primacy of faith is established, the position of the law is clarified. The law is subsequent to faith and is ...

2. Solomon’s Death

2 Chronicles 9:29-31

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

... David finds fulfillment in Solomon. David prepared the way for the building of the temple, but Solomon is the king who accomplishes this formidable task. Davidic kingship comes to its fullest expression in the reign of Solomon. Solomon is therefore presented as a prototype of Israelite kingship. Rest and peace characterize his reign, but he is also the one who receives the gift of wisdom from Yahweh. Even foreign kings confirm Solomon’s splendor (2 Chron. 9:8). However, he sits on Yahweh’s throne, and ...

3. Death Through Adam, Life Through Christ

Romans 5:12-21

Understanding Series

James R. Edwards

... (and in v. 21) indicates that the completion of salvation must await the future eschaton. Equally significant is the verb itself, kathistēmi, meaning “to appoint, make, cause,” or “to constitute according to (an image).” It is clearly implied that the effects of the prototype are applied to the lot: the many are acted upon by a force outside themselves. People do not fashion their fate as much as they like to think. It is rather they who are fashioned by the masters they serve, a point Paul will ...

4. The Ark Brought to the Temple

2 Chronicles 5:2-6:11

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

... to the eternal promise made to David, which will be upheld for Solomon. These two prominent themes show how earlier promises have been fulfilled in Solomon, and they contribute to this king becoming the Chronicler’s prototype of Israelite kingship. And the temple becomes the prototype of the rest and peace associated with Yahweh. The temple and the cultic worship taking place there reflect the harmonious interchange between Israel’s God and his people. The temple symbolizes a reality that has to ...

5. Israel Rebels Against Rehoboam

2 Chronicles 10:1--11:4

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

... court and throne of Solomon, maintained by these dues and tribute, are thus the outward sign of this universal recognition of the reign of God” (W. Johnstone, 1 and 2 Chronicles, vol. 2 [JSOTSup 254; London: T&T Clark, 1976], p. 10). This prototype forms the background to the discussion of Judah’s kings in the rest of Chronicles. In 2 Chronicles 10–36 a total of nineteen Judahite kings (or twenty, if Athaliah is also considered a separate monarch) are discussed. The Chronicler’s narrative includes ...

6. The Fall of Jerusalem

2 Chronicles 36:15-23

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

... and should act) in accordance with what Yahweh commissions them to do. By drawing some literary lines between Solomon and Cyrus and by presenting some examples of good-kings-gone-bad and bad-kings-becoming-repentant, the Chronicler subtly recommends a prototype of kingship to those rulers who have authority over Yehud in his time. In this way the Chronicler engages in another process of intergroup categorization that differentiates All-Israel from the Persian imperial context. At the end of this commentary ...

7. Body / Ambassador

2 Corinthians 5:11--6:2

Understanding Series

James M. Scott

... The contrast in verse 16 between Paul’s old and new ways of perceiving Christ prompts a further contrast between old and new that makes Paul’s experience prototypical of all believers. Being in Christ (e.g., 1 Thess. 2:14; 5:18; Gal. 1:22; 2:17; 3:26; 5:6; 1 Cor. 1:4; 15 ... God reconciled Paul to himself through the substitutionary death of Christ. Here again the apostle portrays his experience as prototypical of that of all believers (cf. 5:1, 16–17), although it is not impossible that the first person ...

8. Boasting

2 Corinthians 11:1-15, 2 Corinthians 11:16-33, 2 Corinthians 12:1-10

Understanding Series

James M. Scott

... :1–8; 62:5), which is spoken of, correspondingly, as his bride (cf. Isa. 49:18). Mark 2:19 refers to the Messiah as a bridegroom, and Ephesians 5:22–33 applies this image to the relationship between Christ and the church. Just as Phinehas, the OT prototypical zealot (Num. 25:1–13; cf. Ps. 106:28–31; Sir. 45:23–24; 1 Macc. 2:26, 54), was eager to keep Israel pure from foreign influences, especially intermarriage, which would subvert its devotion to the one true God, so also Paul was zealous to keep ...

9. A Prayer for the Ephesians

Ephesians 3:14-21

Understanding Series

Arthur G. Patzia

... a number of problems: First, patria means a family, clan, or tribe that descends from a common ancestor. It cannot be translated as “fatherhood,” although the idea of fatherhood is there and has led some commentators to think of God as the prototype or archetype of all fatherhood. This is different from saying that God is the father of all, which the passage is not teaching. Second, the phrase whole family (pasa patria) presents a problem analogous to “whole building” in 2:21. Some translations (as ...

10. Wives and Husbands

Ephesians 5:22-33

Understanding Series

Arthur G. Patzia

... women covering their heads in public worship (1 Cor. 11:3–16) or remaining silent in the presence of men during worship (1 Cor. 14:33–38). The submission taught in Ephesians is a mutual subordination between husband and wife that is based on the prototype of Christ and his church; Christ is the example who determines the qualities of headship and submission. Third, the teaching with respect to husband and wife—as well as the other categories in the code—must be seen within the larger context of the ...

11. The Genealogy of Saul

1 Chronicles 9:35-44

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

... will be blessed is so prominent. b. The conclusion to 1 Chronicles 8 emphasizes that the Chronicler’s interest is to help define the concept All-Israel. He uses this term to describe the community in Jerusalem who returned from exile. He develops his prototype of what this community should entail and who should be included in this understanding. c. Although the Chronicler’s emphasis is very much on Judah, Benjamin, and Levi in the genealogies, he does not exclude the tribes that used to live in the ...

12. The Death of David

1 Chronicles 29:26-30

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

... the background. The tribal rivalry between Judah and Benjamin may underlie the identification of Araunah’s threshing floor as the site of the future temple. On the one hand, the Chronicler features Benjamin as an inclusive All-Israel prototype, while, on the other hand, he establishes Jerusalem as the preferred cultic site over against some Benjaminite centers. This process of intragroup categorization probably reflects the Chronicler’s sociohistorical context during the Persian era. The Chronicler’s ...

13. Jesus the Messiah from Joseph’s Family Line

Matthew 1:1-17

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... uses it to reemphasize David’s importance in Jesus’ lineage.3 Teaching the Text 1. Jesus is the Davidic king, who will rule God’s people. It is no accident that Matthew draws Jesus’ identity from the kingly line of David. David is that prototypical Israelite king, whom the prophets idealize in their depiction of restoration under a kingly descendant from David. For Matthew, Jesus is that rightful king from David’s line. Yet it will be Matthew’s primary task in the rest of his Gospel to show ...

14. Abraham Justified by Faith

Romans 4:1-25

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... , it can only bring God’s wrath, which is particularly true for Gentiles, who do not have the law. In 4:16–25 Paul provides a profile for the authentic faith of the people who belong to God’s (new) covenant, using Abraham the converted Gentile as the prototype of all his offspring (4:16). Abraham is the father of all who have faith, whether we are Jews (“those who are of the law”) or Gentiles (“not only”). Authentic faith trusts in God’s promise (4:16, 21) and in God’s power to create life ...

15. Treatise: The Efficacy of Grace over Law

Galatians 3:1-14

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... : (1) Abraham’s righteous standing before God occurred prior to the institution of circumcision and the Mosaic law; (2) Abraham’s righteous standing before God was made possible through a gracious declaration of God, in acceptance of Abraham’s belief. Thus, the prototypical Jew is to be viewed as one who received a place in sacred history by grace through faith. Using a quotation from Genesis 15:6 (found in the Septuagint), Paul recites what he believes to be the most explicit statement concerning God ...

16. Boasting

2 Corinthians 11:16-33, 2 Corinthians 1:1-11, 2 Corinthians 12:1-10

Understanding Series

James M. Scott

17. Solomon's Prayer of Dedication

2 Chronicles 6:12-42

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

18. Abijah King of Judah

2 Chron 13:1–14:1

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

... left by the schism of the kingdom under Rehoboam. Whereas the idealized image of the Davidic kingdom and Solomonic cult came under severe pressure under Rehoboam’s reign, the Chronicler’s version of Abijah returns the splendor and dedication of that prototypical image. Abijah becomes a model of proper kingship and pious dedication to Yahweh in the Chronicler’s version. The Chronicler’s narrative starts with the usual regnal formula with some background information on the king (2 Chron. 13:1–2). In ...

19. Body

2 Corinthians 5:1-10

Understanding Series

James M. Scott

... (cf. 1:7; 4:13b–14). Therefore, if 4:7ff. has already been using the first person plural to refer exclusively to Paul, it seems reasonable to assume continuance here, although the apostle’s experience and hope are here, as often elsewhere, prototypical for all believers. Yet how does Paul “know” that he has an eternal house in heaven? Is the source of his knowledge exclusively Jewish and/or Christian tradition? Or, has he received a special revelation? In answering these questions, it is well ...

20. The Lord's Grace to Paul

1 Timothy 1:12-20

Understanding Series

Gordon D. Fee

... of the deity in dealing with human rebellion is a thoroughly Pauline idea (Rom. 2:4; 3:25–26; 9:22–23; cf. 2 Pet. 3:9, 15). Such patience is seen in his dealing with me, the worst of sinners, precisely so that Christ might have an example, a prototype, for those who would believe on him and thus also receive eternal life. The Greek for eternal life means not so much life with endless longevity as it does the “life of the coming age,” life that is ours now in Christ to be fully realized at his ...

21. Paul's Charge to Timothy

1 Timothy 6:11-21

Understanding Series

Gordon D. Fee

... 6:11–12 D-C use a rather circuitous route to argue that the vocative man of God “refers to any Christian … who has been endowed with the spirit of God, and who henceforth ‘serves’ God.” It would in this sense also be applicable to Timothy, “the prototype of a ‘man of God’ since he is the leader of the congregation” (p. 88). But again this seems to miss the genuinely ad hoc character of this Epistle. It is common to argue (e.g., Gealy, Hanson) that Paul could never say, “strive for ...

22. By Faith

Hebrews 11:1-40

Understanding Series

Donald A. Hagner

... of Isaiah, 5:11–14). Those who went about in sheepskins and goatskins and were forced to live in the wilderness in caves and holes in the ground are probably not the prophets, such as Elijah (2 Kings 1:8), though he is their prototype, but again the Israelites persecuted by Antiochus during the Maccabean era. This fits well with the description of them as destitute, persecuted and mistreated. They fled to the wilderness, according to 1 Maccabees 2:29–38, because of the evils Antiochus brought upon them ...

23. Samson’s Marriage

Judges 14:1-20

Understanding Series

Cheryl A. Brown

... five sections, each introduced by the verb “went down” (Hb. yrd): verses 1–4, 5–6, 7–9, 10–18, and 19–20 (Davis, Such a Great Salvation, p. 170). The verb frequently appears in negative contexts, under the influence of its prototype, the Israelites’ going down into Egypt (Genesis 42–46), leaving the land of God’s covenant promise and hence abandoning the covenant it represented. So Samson’s “going down” communicates subtly yet clearly that his actions were less than exemplary. 14:1 ...

24. Ruth and Boaz on the Threshing Floor

Ruth 3:1-18

Understanding Series

Michael S. Moore

... “no coincidence that both chapters 2 and 3 end with gifts of grain,” because “the book uses the need for grain . . . as a leitmotif, and alongside this, the need for an heir.” Insight: On Patriarchal Leadership Although Boaz enacts a role as prototypical husband, what he does for Ruth on this threshing floor is best understood, perhaps, by comparing it with the behavior of the other father figures in the immediate context: the Levite’s concubine’s father (Judg. 19:2–10) and the old Gibeahite ...

25. The People in Jerusalem

1 Chronicles 9:1-34

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

... All-Israel: all those tribes in the Transjordan, the very south, and the very north are included in his definition. Using language from social-identity theory here, we may describe the Chronicler’s effort in the genealogies as the development of the prototype of what All-Israel entails. 9:1b–2 First Chronicles 6:15 already referred to the Judahite exile. The Chronicler returns to that point in history, indicating that this happened on account of Judah’s unfaithfulness (maʿalah). This concept plays an ...

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