This document started life as a page plan for the book The Emmaus View. The numbers of pages reflect single 15.3x23.3cm pages with header and footer and typical font sizes for similar works. Total is estimated at between 365 and 370 pages.
This chapter introduces the purpose of the book, which is to
familiarise the reader with the Hebrew scriptures as Jesus understood
them. It suggests that the earliest chapters of Matthew provide
guide-posts to this perspective. The antiquity of Matthew’s Gospel and
its standing amongst gospels, both canonical and non-canonical, are
discussed. It then argues for the plausibility of apostolic authorship
and the validity of using Matthew's Gospel as a guide to the apostolic
understanding of the Hebrew Bible.
Matthew the apostle is introduced as a wealthy, educated, man.
The chapter argues for the probability that he had a Levitical
background, a concern for cultic matters and a connection with John the
Baptist that pre-dated his call to follow Jesus.
Explains how Matthew’s first sentence equates Jesus with Adam.
Introduces the concept of an Adam-like Messiah and explores what one
would be like. Investigates the significance of the Image of God and
how its replication formed part of God’s agenda for Messiah. Explores
how God uses mankind’s rebellion to subvert itself. Presents Jacob’s
rods as a Biblical precedent for image replication at a corporate level.
This chapter explores how Eden-like places were repeatedly
lost through disobedience. Then, taking various aspects of cleanliness
in turn, develops the argument that an objects cleanliness was
shorthand for its fitness for the purposes of Eden.
This chapter explains how the fall from Eden gave rise to
first the curse of an unclean land and then an Edenic covenant that
offered a way of salvation from its effects. It explores the first day
of judgement, the precedent for protective custodial authority, the
role of the woman and her seed and the origin of the burnt offering. It
examines the relationship between Adam’s crime, that of Cain, the two
greatest commandments, and the curse on the land. Finally it introduces
the curses of the covenant of Moab and Messiah’s role in removing them.
This chapter explores the relationship between the Noah
account and other ancient Mesopotamian epics. It argues for the
covenant of Noah as conditional, the peace offering as its sacrifice,
and Noah as a new Adam in a new Eden. It then explains the significance
of the Noahic flood for the Exodus and the origin of the Jewish
festivals. The day on which God remembered Noah is identified as a
significant anniversary, linked to the feasts of the seventh month, an
annual covenant-renewal that ensured the cleanliness of the land and in
which the day of atonement played a vital role.
This chapter identifies the priesthood of Melchizedek as a
common denominator between Abraham, David and Christ. It explores the
dynamics of Abraham’s encounter with Melchizedek and then traces the
role of Abraham’s cultic legacy in the rise of David. The dynamics of
the cultic crisis in the time of Eli are examined in terms of its
impact on both the Aaronic priesthood and the cleanliness of the land.
It then offers the thesis that Samuel’s agenda for restoring national
cleanliness involved establishing the monarch as a priest after the
order of Melchizedek, thus making the monarch the faithful priest to
whom the Aaronic priests had to answer. Evidence is presented, that
David showed signs of being a priest like Abraham and used Judah’s
share of the patriarch’s cultic legacy in his bid to supplant Saul.
Concludes by considering the evidence from later periods for the cultic
relationship between monarch and priesthood, as established in David’s
time.
This chapter considers the more common theories Matthew’s
choice to include women in his genealogy. Finding none of them quite
satisfactory, it suggests that the fact that they all preserved the
legacy of Eve provides a better alternative. Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and
Bathsheba are then considered in turn to draw out this theme. The legal
implications of their actions are identified as a basis for exploring
their experience of grace and how that related to events in Eden. The
common experience of the four is then related to that of Mary.
This chapter considers the symmetry of Matthew’s genealogy and
how it highlights that there are gaps. Four missing individuals are
identified and the significance of these leaders for the fortunes of
the priesthood of Melchizedek is explained. This reveals that they form
a precise contrast to the four women Matthew added (and considered in
the previous chapter), each loosing their heritage by emulating Adam’s
error. The chapter also raises the possibility that Jesus' line lay
hidden after Zerubbabel, like Joash, amidst a loyal priesthood.
This chapter considers the problem for the Davidic line caused
by the curse upon Jehoiakim, then explores how resolving the
inconsistencies between the gospel genealogies of Jesus suggest
adoption was the solution. It then examines how ancestry is not always
quite what it seems and an adopted heritage seems to have played a
significant role in the life of Moses, Caleb and David.
This chapter traces the cryptic influence of Edenic protocols
for transmitting rights throughout the patriarchal histories of Lamech,
Noah, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Whilst considering such cryptic
influences, it also presents hidden teraphim as a vital ingredient in
interpreting Jacob’s story and Joseph’s encounter with his brothers.
Finally, it then explores Benjamin’s significance and how it lay hidden
at the heart of the book of Judges, before noting the re-appearance
teraphim, in the events leading up to the battle of Gibeah and again in
David’s life.
This chapter suggests how one might reconcile Matthew’s
nativity with Luke’s. It then notes how Joseph’s experience mirrors
Hagar’s and how Jesus claim to David’s throne depended upon Joseph’s
full acceptance of him. Finally it explores the significance of Jesus’
name and the nature of Israel’s sin.
This chapter explains the significance of a child named
Immanuel through exploring the historical context of ‘God with us’. It
investigates how an extended parallelism in Isaiah presents this
child’s birth as a warning to Ahaz’ apostate nation and how Ahaz
strategy failed. Then it suggests that Matthew cited this text, not
because the same would happen again, but because the same spiritual
dynamic was at work and the same warning was needed.
This chapter explores the spiritual issue at stake in the
Exodus conflicts east of the Jordan, then notes how the actions of
Balaam’s donkey anticipate the prophet’s own, before unpacking the
significance of Balam’s prophecy. The significance of the the predicted
star, its fulfilment in David and it later appearance in Judaism are
all explored, after which it proposes that the Magi arrived as heirs of
Balaam and interprets the wise men’s response in that light. The
chapter draws the analogy between the movement of the star and the
movement of the Glory of God when it departed from Solomon’s temple.
Next it explains how rejoicing with great joy was a theologically
significant response. An investigation the relationship between the
Jacob story and the three gifts, is then used to demonstrate how their
relationship to Psalm 72 supports Matthew’s portrayal of Jesus as
Messiah. Finally it ties the choice of gifts into the process of
establishing a new dwelling place for God amongst men.
This chapter explores the significance of the massacre of the
innocents at Bethlehem, revealing the corporate cost of occult
idolatry. It then considers the precedent established at Benjamin’s
birth and how that was revisited at Gibeah and Rimmon. The prophetic
use of these images is then examined in Hosea, Micah, Isaiah and
Jeremiah. Corporate re-birth amidst corporate death is revealed to be
God’s chosen device for lifting idolatry’s curse from those who serve
him. Finally, the Bethlehem massacre, representing such a birth, is
related to the birth pangs of Messiah.
Starting with the observation that Herod was behaving like one
of the kings of Israel’s Northern Kingdom, this chapter examines the
spiritual consequences of shedding innocent blood and how to escape
them. From the accounts of Cain, Noah, Jacob and Moses a way of
salvation emerges, a way exemplified in the Mosaic legislation
concerning the manslayer. Judah’s exile in Babylon is considered as an
example of what happens when a nation has to escape both idolatry and
the shedding of innocent blood. A similar problem faced Jesus’ nation,
for which the precedent of Joash is offered as the applicable solution.
This chapter demonstrates how Matthew’s text presents Herod
the Great’s Judah as a new Egypt and Jesus as a new Moses. It considers
how Herod fitted the role of Pharaoh and how the expectation of another
prophet like Moses, whilst originally applying to any truly godly
prophet, became focused on a single individual.
This chapter examines how Luke/Acts provides clues to the
nature of a Nazarene. Suggesting that a Nazarene was a form of
watchman, it then explores why Jesus called himself the Son of Man.
Finally it re-examines the calling of Nathaniel in the light of this
new perspective.
This chapter examines the recurrent nature of the Day of
Judgement as an event in Israel’s history. It takes a series of such
events and reveals how their common features informed the prophetic
expectation of any Day of Judgement, shedding light on the prophecy of
Joel. Jezreel is then identified as a focus for such events, carrying
alongside the threat of judgement the promise of restoration.
This chapter examines the context and overview of Isaiah 1-40,
at the heart of which lies the pruning of idolatrous Israel and a
re-birthing cataclysm for Judah. It explains how Isaiah presents this
as the fall of Babel and a Noahic style flood that culminates in a day
of judgement, giving rise to a new creation. It sets the scene for an
examination of John the Baptist’s agenda in the next chapter.
This chapter examines how John the Baptist came, pursuing an
agenda derived from Isaiah 32-35. The implications of Isaiah 32-35 are
considered in more detail, before noting how Jeremiah drew upon
Isaiah’s imagery in predicting the exile of Judah and Psalm 106 updates
the story. The same process is observed at work in Moses’ days and
those of Elijah along with others. Finally evidence is presented that
Jesus understood John’s agenda in such terms.
This chapter explores the nature of the Nazirite vow and what
difference it made for the individual who lived according to it. It
then considers how hairiness became the hallmark of the prophet, before
examining how John the Baptist’s diet and garb performed a prophetic
role in their own right.
In this chapter, John the Baptist’s role is related to Isaiah
40. A detailed analysis of the textual precedents for Isaiah 40 reveal
the significance of the way of righteousness and the type of person
needed to cast the lot as it comes into being.
This chapter contains a detailed analysis of John the
Baptist’s address to the Pharisees and Sadducees, tracing his points
back to their textual roots in the Hebrew Bible. In doing so it
presents the monologue as an invitation to join his group and a
reminder of the consequences of failing to do so.
This chapter considers the implication of John the Baptist
being primarily a priest and only secondly a prophet. It explores the
components of Israel’s cleanliness legislation and how later precedents
effected them. It then demonstrates how these provided a basis for
John’s sacrament of baptism.
This chapter considers in further detail the sacrifice that
lay behind the sprinkling step in cleansing procedures and therefore in
John’s baptism. It identifies a common pattern that underlay all sin
offerings and introduces the two basic types, each attached to its own
foundational covenant. It then focuses on the Edenic sin, explaining
how its basic principles underlie a swathe of offerings as diverse as
the Passover, the brazen serpent, the scapegoat, red heifer, and the
test for adultery in a wife. It identifies how the Edenic sin offering
provided a means of precipitating judgement to order, thereby requiring
God to exonerate the innocent and condemn the guilty. Then explores how
casting Jonah overboard and the King of Moab’s human offering might
also be interpreted in these terms of this type of offering.
In the light of all that proceeded it, this chapter takes a
look at the Gospels as viewed through the lens of the Hebrew Bible’s
precedents. It pulls together the ideas explored in previous chapters
and applies them to Jesus’ ministry. In doing so it explores how the
re-birthing of Israel was led by a watchman prophet in exile, as events
marched to the drumbeat of the festivals. I explain how rejection of
Jesus rendered him unable to exercise his Mechizedekian role within the
established cultic system, thus rendering temple-based atonement
ineffective. T|he chapter then explore how the radical solution of an
Edenic offering became necessary. In conclusion it presents the cross
as a typical Edenic sin offering, yet one of such unparalleled potency
that it eliminated the need for other sacrifice.
The epilogue very briefly considers how the principles
examined in this book flowed on into the church age and what they mean
for us.
Appendix A. The image of
God in mankind (1 page, referenced from Chapter 3)
Appendix B. The
chronology of the Noahic flood (6 pages, referenced from
Chapter 6)
Appendix C. The
feasts of the seventh month (2 pages, referenced from Chapter
6)
Appendix D. Sacrifices
of dedication (1 page, referenced from Chapter 7)
Appendix E. Ruth
and the chronology of Judges (2 pages, referenced from
chapters 8 and 11)
Appendix F. The
significance of four months (1 page, referenced from chapters
10 and 15)
Appendix G. Caleb’s
compared (3 pages, referenced from Chapters 10)
Appendix H. Jacob's
wrestling (3 pages, referenced from chapters 11 and 19)
Appendix I. Idolatry and the fate of Sodom (2 pages, referenced from
Chapter 15)
Appendix J. Alternate
theories for the meaning of ‘Nazarene’ (2 pages, referenced
from Chapter 18)
Appendix K. White as
snow (3 pages, referenced from Chapter 20)
Appendix L. Isaiah
13:9-18, 34:2-8 correspondence (1 page, referenced from
Chapter 20)
Appendix M. Eternal
declarations and the last days (2 pages, referenced from
Chapter 21)
Appendix N. Three
ordinations compared (2 pages, referenced from chapters 22
and 25)
Appendix O. Summary
of ritual cleansing (3 pages, referenced from Chapter 25)
Appendix P. The
context of the Guilt Offering (1 page, referenced from
Chapter 25)
Appendix Q. The
Tabernacle, a model of heaven (4 pages, referenced from
Chapter 26)
Appendix R. The
judges and inter-tribal links (3 pages, referenced from
Chapter 11)
Appendix S. Cleanliness links in Matthew 8 (2 pages, referenced from Chapter 27)
Appendix T. The patriarchs and Genesis 3:15 (5 pages, referenced from Chapter 5)