Schoolwork sample

Wow, its been so long since I posted on here that I barely remembered my log in info.

I know most of you are mainly interested in seeing pictures of Kendall and reading about her crazy antics, but I thought I would share a sample of some of my schoolwork on here in case any of our readers are interested in what I'm learning these days.

I'm currently enrolled in an online class through Liberty University on the Gospel of John. One of the assignments for this class is to submit written repsonses to discussion questions on the class message board.

The following is my response to this week's question "In what ways does Jesus fulfill the symbolism underlying the Feast of Tabernacles?"

In Leviticus 23, God commanded Moses to institute the Feast of Tabernacles, also translated as the Feast of Booths, as a reminder to the Israelites of the years their ancestors’ spent wandering in the wilderness following the exodus. During the festival, the Israelites were to spend seven days living in tents.

According to an online Hebrew-English lexicon available at www.searchinggodsword.org, several Hebrew words are translated “tabernacle.” The word most commonly used in the Old Testament to refer to the tent that housed the Ark of the Covenant and God’s glory, is mishkan, meaning “dwelling place”. (www.searchinggodsword.org)

In John 1:14, the Evangelist asserts that “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”

Just as the tabernacle was the home of God’s glory among his people from the time of the exodus through the construction of the temple, Jesus’ human body “housed” God’s glory at the Incarnation. In this way, Jesus replaces the tabernacle as the very “mishkan” or “dwelling place” of God among his people.

In his comments on John 1:14, D.A. Carson points out,"The corresponding Hebrew verb for ‘to dwell’, sakan, sometimes used of God ‘dwelling’ with Israel…, and the noun for ‘tabernacle’, miskan, are cognate with the post-biblical term s’kina. This word, strictly speaking, means ‘residence’, but most commonly refers to the glory of God who made himself present in the tabernacle and temple…In post-biblical Hebrew, the s’kina glory was nothing less than the visible manifestation of God. By alluding to such themes, John may be telling his readers that God manifested himself most clearly when the Word became flesh." (Carson, 127-128)

Of this same verse, Andreas Köstenberger says "The Greek verb σκηνόω (skēnoō), commonly translated ‘dwelt,’ more literally means to ‘pitch one’s tent.’ This rare term…suggests that in Jesus, God has come to take up residence among his people once again, in a way even more intimate than when he dwelt in the midst of wilderness Israel in the tabernacle. Moses met God and heard his word in the ‘tent of meeting’ (Exod. 33:9); now people may meet God and hear him in the flesh of Jesus (Mowvley1984:136)." (Köstenberger, 41)

So we see that the Old Testament tabernacle, like all aspects of the old covenant was merely "a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things." (Hebrews 10:1)


Sources

Carson, D.A. The Gospel According to John. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1991.

Köstenberger, Andreas. John. Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2004.

Internet. http://www.searchgodsword.org. Accessed 12 September 2009.