Adventures in Typology II
What God can do with open Bibles, open minds, and open hearts sometimes takes my breath away.
Here we are, four people–reading Genesis 14, Psalm 110, and Hebrews 4, 5 and 7. Lisa, her daughter Emily, and Linda, whose son recently returned from Iraq.
(We’re expecting my wife Sandy, Methodist minister, pastoral counselor, who visited a former client now in hospice. Having had a day from hell, she gets there an hour after everyone has left.)
Meet Up with Melchizedek
Melchizedek, king of righteousness, king of peace, blesses Abram, serves bread and wine, receives a tithe from him.
“It’s stupid, I guess,” says Lisa, “but I’m thinking, could this be Christ some way?”
“Many people think Melchizedek is Christ on earth long before his birth in Bethlehem,” I assure her.
We bat that around. I acknowledge others think he was a Canaanite priest, in whom Abram recognized a worthy servant of Yahweh.
My Favorite Four Letter (Hebrew) Word
Which brings us to Psalm 110.1, “The Lord said to my lord…” When you see Lord in small caps like that, it stands for the holy name of God which Jews won’t pronounce.
No one had ever noticed that. Which sparked interest in Exodus 3.13-15, and the holy name YHWH, now thought to be pronounced Yahweh, similar to verb forms of to be like hayah and ehyeh; influenced by German scholars, we used to pronounce it Jehovah.
People are intrigued, gonna take that bit of Bible knowledge home.
How come they don’t know this stuff?
I think, these women have attended Sunday School their whole lives. The last four Tuesdays Linda’s been doing committee work at her church. These are sharp people. Linda’s a nurse. Emily’s a college student. Lisa has a keen eye for people. Whenever Lisa says something about a stupid idea or thick skull, I get ready to jot down what she says because often she’s right on the money.
I’ve taught Sunday School most of my life, followed each week by a sermon. For a decade I wrote Bible study materials for junior highs, and I’m proud of the work the team and I did, grateful for the editors, and pissed at the politics at the top. I also believe the Bible study aids I’m familiar with aren’t doing the job.
® People don’t know Bible basics.
® People don’t connect Bible knowledge and a life-changing relationship to Christ.
® People don’t take what little they know out of the classroom.
BEFORE and AFTER BSing1 in SS they’re NO DIFFERENT!
Compare your average SS class with an AA group. What a difference!
I’m a fan of a good study Bible, a systematic plan to cover the whole Bible appropriately in each age group, and teachers with access to commentaries, computer software, and other aids.
DISINTERESTED PLUG
New Interpreter’s Study Bible is outa sight.
I’d be interested to know if anyone’s curriculum includes measuring knowledge and application.
This Teacher Needs a Little Mercy
Anyway, back to Tuesday. We read
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Heb 4:15-16 (NRSV)
That gives some juice to the potentially dry discussion of the order of Melchizedek in Hebrews, after which we return to psalm 110. Using typology we apply what’s said about Zion to our lives. “What does that mean to you?” I ask lamely.
I was struggling. I can think of many specific ways to apply Psalm 110.5-6:
The Lord is at your right hand;
he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath.
He will execute judgment among the nations,
filling them with corpses;
he will shatter heads
over the wide earth.
But I don’t.
Nail Prints N’ All
At the close the women note my wife Sandy’s not home. We get into a discussion of hospice. In the group two had mothers die recently in hospice. We talk about pain management, the patient’s looking forward to death, how relatives cope, how God blesses us when we need it most.
When people in a small group trust each other, and focus on God’s Word in their lives, amazing things occur, despite the group leader’s lame use of typology.
I don’t know for sure if it was Christ way back there with Abram. But, right there Tuesday night in my living room where two or three were gathered, for sure–it was Christ.
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1That’s “Bible studying.” In higher criticism aka “Bull Geschichte.”
Tags: Bible, religion, Sunday School