FIVE ATTITUDES TO AVOID WHEN COOPERATING WITH GOD
Session One: The Choice Is Yours 4.6.22
Psalm 78:40-43 KJV How oft did they provoke him in the wilderness, and grieve him in the desert! 41 Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel. 42 They remembered not his hand, nor the day when he delivered them from the enemy. 43 How he had wrought his signs in Egypt, and his wonders in the field of Zoan.
ESV – They tested and provoked Him.
NASB – They tempted and pained Him.
NIV – They put God to the test and vexed Him.
NLT – They tested His patience and provoked Him.
Orthodox Jewish Bible – They turned back, tested God, and imposed limits on the G-d of Israel.
1. Understand Opportunity
Genesis 18:9-15 NKJV Then they said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” So he said, “Here, in the tent.” 10 And He said, “I will certainly return to you according to the time of life, and behold, Sarah your wife shall have a son.” (Sarah was listening in the tent door which was behind him.) 11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age; and Sarah had passed the age of childbearing. 12 Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, “After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?” 13 And the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I surely bear a child, since I am old?’ 14 Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.” 15 But Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid. And He said, “No, but you did laugh!”
2. The Solemn Warning
It is possible to actually put limitations on God when we fail to embrace a life of faith.
Christian Life Lessons
1. Live so that the place of faith is our dwelling place, not just a vacation destination.
2. Learn the balance and rhythm of Faith.
From Him To Him
To Us From Us
All of it originates with Him.
It grows in us as we respond to His gift of faith.
“Like a beautiful potted plant.”
TYPOLOGY: AN INTRODUCTION APRIL 6, 2022
DEFINING BIBLICAL TYPOLOGY
Typology (exact): “a person, office, place, institution, event, or thing in salvation history that is fulfilled in Christ and spoken of in the New Testament.”
For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. …and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. Matt 12:40; 41b, ESV
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life. John 3:14-15, ESV
Typology (expanded): “a person, office, place, institution, event, or thing in salvation history that anticipates, shares correspondences with, escalates toward, and resolves in (Jesus)” Chase, 40 Questions About Typology & Allegory
Before they left, the men told her, “We will be bound by the oath we have taken only if you follow these instructions. When we come into the land (to bring judgment), you must leave this scarlet rope hanging from the window through which you let us down. And all your family members…must be here inside the house (to be saved). Joshua 2:17-18, NLT
This story is not spoken of in the New Testament, but there is a clear connection.
Sometimes there is an opposite connection to Christ (Adam and Jesus).
There is a typology can point to things other than Jesus (Flood and Baptism).
SERIES SET UP
1/ Events
Examples: the shedding of blood in the Garden of Eden, the wilderness manna, etc.
2/ Offices
Examples: Priests, kings, and prophets
3/ Individuals
Examples: Isaac carrying the wood up the mountain, Moses as deliverer, etc.
TYPOLOGY ≠ ALLEGORY
Allegory is legitimately used as a literary device in Scripture (Isaiah 5, Matthew 13).
There is an illegitimate use of allegory (David’s stones, Augustine).
CLOSE
Typology offers several reminders to us:
1/ Though every book of the Bible is not about Christ, per se, every book points to Him.
2/ God is in the details.
3/ The Scripture was given through divine authorship.
4/ Our faith can be strengthened as we see connections to Jesus from the Old Testament.