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 for Matthew’s choice to include women in his genealogy. Finding none of them quite
satisfactory, it suggests that the common denominator between them is that they all preserved the legacy of Eve. 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 structure 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)