SBJT 18/3 (Fall 2014)

Table of Contents (Fall 2014)

Deuteronomy Editorial: Reading Deuteronomy for God’s People Today: Stephen J. Wellum 3 Has Any People Heard the Voice of God Speaking … And Survived?: R. Albert Mohler, Jr. 7 The Glory of God in Salvation through Judgment in Deuteronomy: James M. Hamilton, Jr. 19 The Relationship of Deuteronomy to the Covenant at Sinai: Peter J.…

Editorial: Reading Deuteronomy for God’s People Today

It is difficult to overstate the importance of Deuteronomy in Scripture and God’s unfolding redemptive plan. Positioned strategically at the end of the Pentateuch, concluding the incredible life and ministry of Moses, renewing and expanding the Sinai covenant for the post-wilderness generation, Deuteronomy serves as the covenant instruction (torah) for a new generation posed to…

Has Any People Heard the Voice of God Speaking … And Survived?

One of the great touchstone passages in all Scripture appears in Deuteronomy 4. Verse 33 contains a striking question—a rhetorical question, but a very real question: “Has any people heard the voice of God speaking from the midst of the fire, as you have heard it, and survived?” Just like the Israelites at Mount Sinai,…

The Glory of God in Salvation through Judgment in Deuteronomy

The Glory of God in Salvation through Judgment in Deuteronomy ((Taken from God’s Glory in Salvation through Judgment by James M. Hamilton Jr. © 2010.  Used by permission of Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, 1300 Crescent St., Wheaton, IL 60187, www.crossway.org.)) The first mention of loving God in the Bible came in Exodus 20:6,…

The Relationship of Deuteronomy to the Covenant at Sinai

The Relationship of Deuteronomy to the Covenant at Sinai ((I would like to thank Stephen Dempster for his feedback on this article.)) Differing interpretations of the relationship between the Old Covenant/Testament and the New Covenant/Testament are at the heart of all divisions within the Christian church, both past and present. ((“Testament” is simply the Latin…

Circumcision of the Heart in Leviticus and Deuteronomy: Divine Means for Resolving Curse and Bringing Blessing

Circumcision of the Heart in Leviticus and Deuteronomy: Divine Means for Resolving Curse and Bringing Blessing ((I wish to thank Peter Gentry for reading an earlier draft of this paper. His comments saved me from many errors and stimulated my thinking on this topic in significant ways.)) Introduction Circumcision, both inside and outside the Bible,…

From Condemnation to Righteousness: A Christian Reading of Deuteronomy

The apostle Paul asserted that the Mosaic or old covenant bore “a ministry of condemnation,” whereas the new covenant in Christ bears “a ministry of righteousness” (2 Cor 3:9). ((Scripture quotations are from the ESV © 2011, unless otherwise noted.)) The author of Hebrews added that Jesus’ new covenant mediation “makes the first one [i.e., the…

“Anyone Hung Upon A Pole Is Under God’s Curse:” Deuteronomy 21:22-23 in Old and New Covenant Contexts

Introduction That we might remember his sacrificial death upon the Roman cross in our place the Lord Jesus instituted a simple meal with symbolic bread and wine with instructions to “do this in remembrance of me” and to observe this until he comes (1 Cor 11:24-26). Despite the Lord’s directives concerning this meal, one that…

Book Reviews (Fall 2014)

Covenant Theology: A Baptist Distinctive. Edited by Earl M. Blackburn.  Birmingham, AL: Solid Ground Christian books, 2013, 163 pp., $18.00 paper. In recent Evangelical scholarship, scholars have discussed much the biblical covenants. This is especially true in regard to how the covenants should be interpreted in relation to covenant and dispensational theology. Covenant Theology: A Baptist…