by James C. Whitman, CJCS President
While teaching here recently, David Emanuel of Nyack College, shared this anecdote from his Ph.D. work at the Hebrew University under the tutelage of his Jewish Professor, the venerable Yair Zakovich. In his research paper on Psalm 105 David wrote, “The Exodus motif is one of the most influential stories in the Bible.” When his paper was returned he saw the words one of crossed out. It now read, “The Exodus motif is the most influential story in the Bible.” Amazing, isn’t it? This idea—which is at the very heart of the biblical worldview of people like Joseph and Mary, the parents of Jesus—is still vibrant and active in the Jewish community to this day.
Not only was this the world he grew up in, Jesus associated himself, in word and deed, with the great themes of the Exodus story. An unbiased reading of early church writings show that they understood what he meant. In Jesus from Nazareth, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had accomplished a new Exodus. The Exodus motif is the most important story in the Bible!
Yet most Christians around the world either don’t understand or fail to appreciate the significance of that truth. Why? No doubt the reasons are many. In this brief article I want to address two predominant reasons the Exodus connections are not clear for some and lost for others.
REASON ONE: THE TESTAMENTS HAVE BEEN SEVERED
In my experience, the number one reason why followers of Jesus don’t see the Exodus connection is because sacred Scripture has been artificially divided in their thinking. Take for example the titles, Old Testament and New Testament. The thought rarely occurs to anyone that these are man made titles, intended to serve more as descriptions.
The English word testament is a loan word from the Roman world (testamentum) which fundamentally means ‘a will’ and the ‘testimony’ or ‘authority’ concerning that will (ie. my last will and testament). The Greek word translated by the Latin word testamentum is diatheke which has the same basic meaning. Now this is important because diatheke is the word of choice when translating the Hebrew concept of covenant (b’rit, berith). Covenant is absolutely essential to understand because biblically, it represents God’s intention towards people. Testament is a word trying to bring the biblical concept of covenant into a world that has lost the presence and knowledge of their God.
Words like old and new don’t serve us well either, because we have been so thoroughly trained to think that the old way of covenant was God giving a perfect law to an imperfect people, which had to be obeyed in order for them to be saved. Or at the very least, they tried to keep His law in order to be saved. Regardless, the net result, so goes this interpretive theory, is that the old testament is a system of works based salvation and the Jews are the ultimate legalists. By contrast, the New Testament represents God rethinking the whole approach and deciding on a new covenant strategy which emphasized grace over merit. The Exodus motif—the most influential story in the Bible—exposes these time worn caricatures as parodies of the truth.
Even though there is still much educational work to be done, the situation is changing for the better. Many professors, like the one I had my first year of college, still encourage students to tear out any pages that separate the book of Malachi from Matthew. Modern study bibles now contain important information about the time between the testaments. The academic community is slowly but surely embracing the need to better understand the context of Jesus and the early church through serious study of the Second Temple Period.
I offer a proposal that is not perfect but has proved particularly powerful in teaching children. Learn to think of the Bible as one whole book, presented in two volumes. Volume One covers the development of covenant up to Jesus. Volume Two covers the development of covenant right up to where we are today. No matter what terminology you use, it is imperative that you are able to explain crucial concepts like covenant from an authentically biblical worldview.
REASON TWO: THE CELEBRATIONS HAVE BEEN SEVERED
A second, significant reason why followers of Jesus don’t see the Exodus connection is because commemorating the crucifixion and celebrating the resurrection of MessiahYeshua have been separated from Passover (Pesach) and Pentecost (Shavout). The historical processes that go into this part of our story are complex and must not be oversimplified. We can identify two facts that contributed to our current state of affairs. Both arise before but are established when Christianity becomes the official religion of the Roman Empire in the 4th century AD.
Anti-Semitism: Prejudice against Jewish people, culture and tradition begin showing up in Christian writings as early as the 3rd century AD. This shows a state of tension between church and synagogue that was getting ugly fast. As the gap widened we see the Jewish faith caricatured in ways like I described above. These theological anti-semitisms still persist today and impede our reading of Scripture.
Calendars: In 325 AD the council of Nicaea established a way to annually celebrate Jesus’ Resurrection that was not dependent on the Jewish timing for Passover (Pesach). They determined it would be the first Sunday after the full moon following the vernal equinox on or around March 21st. This can be confusing and I don’t want to lose the main point in all this detail. Here is an overview of the differences:
- Hebrew Calendar: Passover begins at sundown Nisan 14.
- Gregorian Calendar: Based on the Nicaean formula the civil calendar of the Western Empire has Easter falling on a Sunday between March 22nd and April 25th.
- Julian Calendar: The orthodox calendar of the Eastern Empire has Easter falling on a Sunday between April 4th and May 8th.
This is quite a dilemma. Is our only option to choose one and reject the other? Even deciding to embrace the Jewish dating is not without its challenges. Different schools of thought within Judaism see the details of the calendar differently. How can we be part of a solution?
My children are a remarkable example that reconciliation is possible. They know and celebrate Pesach dynamics during holy week, and, crucifixion/ resurrection dynamics during the feast of Unleavened Bread. And they seek to understand and embrace those who see things differently.
Reformation is needed. For me, education is a step in the right direction. Ministries like ours can effect change. So can you. Just keep in mind this ancient Christian proverb: In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; and, in all things, charity. St. Paul insists we also remember the cross to maintain unity and fellowship (Romans 14:1).
A WAY FORWARD
So what is the point of all this? If you want to better understand your salvation in Jesus, you must understand the Exodus. It is the most influential story in the Bible because it is the grand paradigm of salvation. The pilgrim festivals of Passover (Pesach), Pentecost (Shavuot) and Tabernacles (Sukkot) were given for us to remember and rehearse His covenant love. They are part of our divine inheritance in Jesus the Messiah, our salvation.
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Want to study this subject in-depth? We recommend Christian Anti-Semitism in Historical Perspective.
Take me back to the library. Or if you prefer, back to the topic New Testament.