|
by
Doug Ward |
On March 9, 2014, Christian scholar Marvin R. Wilson of
Gordon College was a guest speaker at Oxford Bible Fellowship in Oxford, Ohio.
Dr. Wilson is best known as the author of Our Father Abraham: Jewish Roots
of the Christian Faith (Eerdmans, 1989), a book on Christianity's Hebraic
heritage.
A
key part of that heritage, Wilson pointed out at the start of his sermon, is
the Bible itself. The Hebrew Scriptures, carefully preserved by the people of
Israel through the centuries (Rom 3:2), constitute over three quarters of the
Christian Bible. It is unfortunate, Wilson said, that we traditionally call
these books the "Old Testament", as if they were outdated or in some
way inferior to the New Testament. (He suggested that "Original
Testament" would be a better name.) Indeed, for Jesus and the apostles the
Hebrew Scriptures comprised the entire Bible.
Dr.
Wilson asserted that for Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, there is no new way
of salvation. Quoting Gen 15:6, Paul instructs Christians to "do it
Abraham's way" (Gal 3:6; Rom 4:1-12). In his epistle to the Romans, Paul
likens Gentile Christians to wild olive shoots grafted into the cultivated
olive tree of Israel (Rom 11:17). The wild shoots share in the "rich
root" (NRSV) of the tree, nourished by the scriptures of Israel. Paul's
analogy thus pictures the Original Testament as foundational to Christianity.
|
A
Holistic Approach to Life |
In his sermon, Wilson highlighted six major life lessons from the
Hebrew scriptures. He began with the lesson that life should be theocentric
(God-centered). A God-directed focus is commanded in Deuteronomy 6:4-5:
"Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God. the Lord is one. You shall love the
Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your
might." (ESV) Wilson observed that this passage is probably one of the
first that Jesus committed to memory as a boy, since it is the start of the Shema,
an affirmation of faith repeated by Jews twice a day. The Talmud (b. Sukkah
42a) states that Jewish boys were taught the beginning of the Shema as soon as
they were able to talk.1
As
an adult, Jesus (Mark 12:28-34) identified Deut 6:4-5 as the greatest commandment
in the Torah, and linked these verses with Lev 19:18: "You shall love your
neighbor as yourself." Wilson said that these commandments constitute the
"Gospel of Moses," Christianity 101. They are the basis of a holistic
approach in which there are no "nonsacred" parts of life.
A
second important lesson is the understanding that life is a walk with God, a
faith journey. "If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with
the Spirit," writes Paul in Gal 5:25. We read in the Hebrew Scriptures
that Enoch (Gen 5:22) and Noah (Gen 6:9) walked with God. The prophet Micah
(6:8) states that walking humbly with God is a key to living a life pleasing to
him.
Right
and wrong ways to walk are contrasted in the first Psalm. Another Psalm, number
119, praises the Torah for providing guidance and direction for our journey.
"Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." says Psalm
119:105. Paul affirms that "the law is holy, and the commandment is holy
and righteous and good" (Rom 7:12).
God
promises that we will not be alone in our walk with him. "When you pass
through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not
overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the
flame shall not consume you" (Isa 43:2). He provides strength for the
journey. In Isa 40:31 we read that "they who wait for the Lord shall renew
their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and
not be weary; they shall walk and not faint."
|
Meditation
and Prayer |
Since the Bible directs our walk with God, a daily focus on
scripture is important. This was Dr. Wilson's third point. He observed that
scripture is internalized through meditation, a practice he described as a
linchpin that holds together the Original Testament. Indeed, the Hebrew
Scriptures are traditionally divided into three parts-the Torah, Prophets, and
Writings-and the Prophets and Writings both begin with directives to meditate
upon the Torah. Joshua, the first of the "former prophets," was instructed,
"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 1:8-9). The first Psalm, at the start of
the Writings, describes as "blessed" a person who takes delight in
the Torah and "meditates day and night" upon it (v. 2).
Wilson
explains in Our Father Abraham2
that the Hebrew word for "meditate" is hagah, which means to
"emit a sound," "murmur," "mutter," or
"speak in an undertone." As is hinted in Joshua 1:8, where meditation
on God's Word is connected with keeping it in one's mouth (see also Ps 49:3;
19:14), the meditation described in the Bible is a noisy activity that involves
verbalization of the scriptures.
Wilson
added that the scriptures are intended to be memorized, and repeating them
aloud is a key part of memorization. On this point he quoted William Foxwell
Albright, who stated that "writing was used in antiquity largely as an aid
or guide to memory, not as a substitute for it."3
Meditation
is naturally accompanied by prayer, and the key role of prayer was the fourth lesson
brought out by Dr. Wilson. He pointed out that the term "Jew" comes
from Judah, the leading tribe of Israel, and "Judah" means
"praise." So in expressing gratitude and praise, Jews are being
faithful to their name. A third of the Psalms have been classified as psalms of
praise.
Wilson
quoted several scriptures in support of the practice of filling the day with
prayer and praise. "In all your ways acknowledge him," instructs
Proverbs 3:6. "I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall
continually be in my mouth," says David at the beginning of Psalm 34. Paul
instructs Christians to "pray without ceasing, give thanks in all
circumstances" (I Thes 5:17-18). He explained that Jews implement the
principle of blessing God at all times by having "one-liners"-short
blessings-prepared for many different aspects of life. Such practices give a
continual reminder that all of life is carried out in God's presence.4
|
Effort
and Time |
Dr. Wilson observed that it is easy for people involved in academic
pursuits to undervalue manual labor, and he held up the dignity of every kind
of labor as a fifth scriptural lesson. All of life is God's domain, he said,
and there are no nonsacred occupations. "Whatever you do, work heartily,
as for the Lord and not for men," instructs Paul in Col 3:23.
The
value of work is implied by the Hebrew word avodah, which is used for
work, service, and worship. Wilson noted that ancient Jewish teachers often
engaged in trades. For example, Jesus was a carpenter, Paul worked in leather,
Hillel was a woodchopper, and Shammai was a surveyor. An understanding of the
connection between work and worship, he asserted, would have ruled out the
Holocaust scenario of Nazis who went to church on Sunday and murdered Jewish
prisoners on Monday.
Wilson
concluded his sermon by highlighting the value of a proper philosophy of time.
Our spiritual lives may go like the stock market, he said, with frequent peaks
and valleys. The Psalter includes psalms of lament (e.g., Psalm 22) as well as
psalms of praise. But while pagan cultures were tied to the cycles of nature,
the biblical view of history does not have us spin in circles. The Bible gives
a much more linear, progressive view, headed to a climax with resurrection and
peace as the ultimate outcomes. The conclusion of the story is summarized in
Zech 14:9: "And the Lord will be king over all the earth. On that day the
Lord will be one and his name one."5
The
biblical view of history produces hope, even in times of oppression and exile.
Wilson observed that the Hebrew scriptures, arranged in their traditional
order, conclude with a note of hope. In 2 Chron 36:23, King Cyrus of Persia
calls for Jews in exile to return to the land of Israel.
The
New Testament continues the forward-looking emphasis of the Original Testament.
We are not dualists, Wilson declared as he brought his sermon to a close. Evil
will not overthrow good. Instead Jesus, the prince of peace (Isa 9:6-7), will
one day return to rule. The kingdom of God, which has been inaugurated, will be
consummated. The world will be redeemed. As it says in Exodus 15:18, "The
Lord will reign forever and ever." In the meantime, "we know that for
those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called
according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28).
1The Shema
consists of Deut 6:4-9, Deut 11:13-21, and Numbers 15:37-41. See Our Father
Abraham, pp. 122-125.
2See pages 154-156.
3From the Stone Age
to Christianity, Second Edition (Doubleday & Co., 1957), p. 64, quoted
on p. 303 of Our Father Abraham.
4For more on this
topic, see the article "Prayer Without
Ceasing: A Lesson from Hebrew Spirituality" in Issue 14 of Grace
& Knowledge.
5Wilson
develops these themes further on pp. 160-162 of Our Father Abraham.
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