Seder 4: Genesis 5 and Hebrews 11---A Question about Enoch

 There are 10 generations listed in the genealogy of Genesis 5, going from Adam to Noah inclusive.  The list features long lifespans, indicating blessing from God. The effects of sin are also evident, since the description of each step ends with the words "and he died."

Except in the case of Enoch, who "walked with God".  Here the text mentions that all his days were 365 years, and that after time "he was not, for God took him'' (v 24).

Enoch is counted as one of the heroes of faith in Hebrews 11.  Verse 5 says, "By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him" (ESV).

One usual interpretation is the one given in the NLT, which in verse 5 says, "It was by faith that Enoch was taken up to heaven without dying." 

However, there is some apparent tension here with verse 13, which says, "All these people died still believing what God had promised them" (NLT).

In discussing this issue, adventist Christians also bring in John 3:13: "No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man."

One way to resolve this tension is to remember that "all" in the Bible is often not a "mathematical all",  meaning "every single one." In general the heroes of faith died, and in general people do not ascend to heaven, but perhaps Enoch was a rare exception.  It's also possible that verse 13 only refers to the patriarchs and matriarchs in verses 8-12 and not to Abel, Enoch, and Noah in verses 5-7.  

Some Adventist Christians have a different way of explaining the question. Perhaps Enoch was "taken" or "translated" (KJV) in the figurative sense described in  Colossians 1:13, where Paul says that God "hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son."  In this reading, Hebrews 11:5a is saying that Enoch was translated into God's kingdom so that he wouldn't see the second death.  

In that case, though, why did Enoch experience the "first death" at the comparatively early age of 365?  One possibility is that he was a martyr.  Perhaps he was the "young man" that Lamech boasted about killing in Genesis 4:23.  

We still have to explain Heb 11:5b, which says that Enoch "was not found, because God had taken him."  The Greek word for "taken," metatithemi, is used 6 times in the New Testament.  One of those is in Acts 7:16, which speaks of Jacob's body being moved to a grave near Shechem.  So Hebrews 11:5b may be referring to God moving Enoch's body to an undisclosed location, as he later did with the body of Moses (Dt 34:6).    

Whatever happened to Enoch after 365 years, he was a man of faith, a bright spot in the early history of humanity.          

Seder 162: Deuteronomy 33-34---Blessings for the Tribes of Israel; Death of Moses

 At the end of his life, Moses conveys blessings on the tribes of Israel.  It is natural to compare these blessings in Dt 33 with those given by Jacob in Genesis 49.  

The statements in Genesis 49 are sometimes personal, directed at specific deeds of Jacob's sons.  Here I am thinking particularly of what Jacob says to Reuben, who had slept with his wife Bilhah (Ge 35:22; 49:3-4); and what he says to Simeon and Levi, whom he rebukes for their role in the massacre at Shechem (Ge 34:25-31; 49:5-7).

On the other hand, the blessings in Deuteronomy seem to be more general and eschatological, looking beyond the problems foreseen in Dt 31-32 to a time of abundance in the Promised Land.  There is nothing negative in the pronouncements of Deuteronomy 33.  An eschatological thrust is evident, for example, in verse 19:  "They shall call peoples to their mountain; there they offer right sacrifices."  This verse is part of the blessing of Zebulun and Issachar, but can be seen in reference to Israel's role in bringing blessing to the nations, as in Isaiah 2:2-3.

The order in which the blessings are recorded is different in the two chapters.  Daniel Block suggests that the order in Dt 33 may be roughly geographical according to where the tribes are destined to live in the Promised Land.  Perhaps God had let Moses know something about this in advance.  It is also the case that since this section became part of the text after Moses' death, a later writer may have arranged the blessings in this way.

"Let Reuben live, and not die," Moses says in Dt 33:6.  When Moses gave the blessings, he was standing in the territory that Reuben would come to occupy.  On the eastern boundary of Israel's holdings, this tribe would be vulnerable to enemy attacks.  Perhaps this blessing reflects that concern.  

No blessing of the tribe of Simeon is included.  That may just be a random omission, or it may reflect the diminished state of the tribe of Simeon by that point.  The division and scattering that Jacob had mentioned (Ge 49:7) seems to have come about, exacerbated by the tribe's role in the sin at Baal Peor (Nu 25:14).  Simeon's holdings in the Promised Land would be within the territory of Judah.  

The tribe of Levi, on the other hand, had been scattered and divided in a good way.  This tribe had distinguished itself by helping Moses stop the golden calf incident (Ex 32) and ending the sin at Baal Peor (Nu 25).  The priestly tribe now had an important role in serving at the tabernacle and teaching the other tribes.  Moses gives his own tribe one of the longest blessings in the list (Dt 33:8-11).

In both Genesis 49 and Deuteronomy 33, Joseph is promised great prosperity.  The blessings for Joseph in the two chapters are similar. 

The high point of Genesis 49 is the blessing of Judah, which includes a prophecy of the coming of the Messiah.  Kevin Chen sees a hint of a messianic prophecy in Deuteronomy 33: "Hear, O Lord, the voice of Judah, and bring him in to his people.  With your hands contend for him, and and be a help against his adversaries."  Chen suggests that "bring him in to his people" may mean "bring the Messiah to his people," with the remaining pronouns in the verse also referring to the Messiah.   

There is more pronoun ambiguity in the blessing of Benjamin in 33:12, where the image could be one of Benjamin dwelling between God's shoulders, or one of God dwelling between Benjamin's shoulders, a possible reference to the temple that would be built later at Jerusalem.  

Deuteronomy 34 pays tribute to Moses at his death.  Verse 10, which was presumably written centuries later, emphasizes Moses' uniqueness.  Up to the point of that writing, the Messiah (the "prophet like Moses" of Dt 18:15) had not arrived.  This note at the end of the Pentateuch indicates that the Pentateuch does not tell the whole story of God's plan.  There is much more of the story ahead.  

In a short teaching at Church of the Messiah on October 14, 2023, Jack Starcher suggested that although God did not allow Moses to enter the Promised Land physically at that point, perhaps he did so later at the Transfiguration.  Sometimes when God answers "no," Jack said, he answer is more specifically "not yet."  Did God eventually reveal more of himself to Moses at the end of his life, in response to Moses' request in Exodus 33?  

Seder 124: Numbers 27---Appointing the Next Leader of Israel

 Knowing that he would not be going into the Promised Land, Moses in the final months of his life tried to do as much as possible to prepare the Israelites for future success.  Concerned more about Israel's future than his own, he asked God, "Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation who shall go out before them and come in before them, who shall lead them out and bring them in, that that congregation of the Lord may not be as sheep that have no shepherd" (Nu 27:16-17).

God's response was to instruct Moses to anoint Joshua as his successor (verses 18-23).  Joshua would not have quite the "face-to-face" relationship with God that Moses had (see Num 12:6-8), but God would be working with him closely.

It was surely no surprise to Moses that Joshua, his longtime assistant, would be Israel's next leader.  Joshua was one of only a few from the older Exodus generation still alive (Num 26:65).  He is described in Nu 27:18 as "a man in whom is the Spirit", and in Deut 34:9 as "full of the spirit of wisdom."  God would not be working with Israel through a dynasty, but through leaders who were people of faith.

Are Nu 27:18 and Deut 34:9 saying that Joshua was led by the Holy Spirit?  I believe the answer to this question is "yes."  In a sermon at Church of the Messiah on November 12, 2022, Kyle Kettering observed that Christian theology has too often downplayed the extent of the work of the Holy Spirit before the Pentecost event in Acts 2.  (Sometimes this can result from misinterpreting passages like John 7:39.)  Certainly the work of the Spirit has increased through history, but the Spirit has been active from the beginning.  

Kyle related a midrashic tradition about the meaning of Moses' request in Nu 27:16-17.   According to this tradition, Moses was asking God for a new leader who would, like God, understand each person's spirit and be able to work with everyone.  God replies that he'll show Moses all the future leaders, the prophets and judges.  Moses sees, though, that the only one who will understand every spirit will be Messiah, who will have "the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord" (Isa 11:2).

The Gospel of Mark shows that Jesus, following in Moses' footsteps, was concerned that the people of Israel have a good shepherd to lead them (Mk 6:34).  Through the Spirit described in Isa 11:2, he taught the people.  

Kyle explained that in both Jewish and Christian tradition, those who follow God in believing loyalty ared led by the Holy Spirit.  One who is led by the Spirit 

• exhibits the fruits of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-23).
• puts the practices of the old nature to death (Rom 8:13).
• enjoys a close connection to the Father (Rom 8:15).
• lives a brave and powerful existence (2 Tim 1:7).

Jesus embodies all of these things and has modeled for us a life by the Spirit.

Seder 5: Messages at the "Seams" of the Biblical Canon---Ps 1:2

In his Seder 4 sermon, Rob Wilson reflected on the meaning of the very first verse of the New Testament:  "The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham" (Matt 1:1).  Does this verse refer to what has come before this verse, or to what comes after it?  Rob suggested that the answer is "yes".  The entire Bible is the story of Jesus.

Theologian John Sailhamer has contended that there are special messages at the "seams" or transition points in the biblical canon.  Matt 1:1 gives one example.

Sailhamer pointed out a pattern at the transition points between the major divisions of the Hebrew Scriptures.  The Torah ends in Deut 34 with anticipation of the coming of the Messiah, the special "prophet like Moses".   Joshua 1, the first chapter in the prophets (Neviim) then begins with God's advice to Joshua:

"This book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it.  For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success" (Joshua 1:8).

At the close of the Prophets in Mal 4, Malachi looks ahead to the coming of the Messiah.  Then in Psalm 1, the first chapter in the Writings (Ketuvim), we are told that a man is blessed who follows this practice:  "But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night" (Ps 1:2).

Both Joshua 1 and Psalm 1 seem to be telling us what to do as we anticipate the return of the Messiah.

Such patterns in the biblical canon seem to imply that not only did God inspire the content of Scripture, but its canonical organization as well.