By Christian / Carmen Joy Imes
In this series, we are looking at thoughts from the book Bearing God’s Name – Why Sinai still matters by Carmen Joy Imes.
In the first three parts, we talked about how the Israelites were organized by Yahweh as a people and trained to bear his name. Their task was so that through them all nations could recognize what kind of God Yahweh is. Bearing God’s name was their free choice and they said at Sinai that they would do anything. After 40 years of wandering in the desert, the next generation did the same. And again they confirm their promise when they are in the Promised Land (Joshua 8:30-35).
After that, we hardly read anything about Sinai, even though ‚remembering‘ is a key theme of biblical theology. This is surprising when you consider the significance of the events. But the focus should be on remembering the liberation, not a pilgrimage to Sinai or something like that.
Is that the end of the matter? Hardly, because now comes the time when they should bear the name of God as promised, so that all nations can see that Yahweh is above all others and how superior his rule is. Carmen Imes goes into this in the second half of her book. However, I would like to mention just a few of the many interesting points here.
Enemy #1
Some were hostile to the Hebrews: First Egypt’s Pharaoh and his arms, then some nations on the move and finally the kings in the Promised Land. But that was not their most dangerous enemy. Their most dangerous enemy is themselves. Again and again they grumble, rebel or no longer want to enter the Promised Land. Their fear of the people is so contagious that the whole nation is in a panic. What is the problem? They refuse to trust in what Yahweh has promised them.
This also explains why Yahweh reacts with mercy to similar situations before Sinai. His expectations of the people are low. After Sinai, he has not changed. But his expectations can rightly be higher. He had given them a year to learn to honor him and respect each other. But he sees little progress. The pattern is therefore always the same after Sinai: Grumbling and rebellion result in punishment, prayer brings relief.
The beginning of fulfillment – and what Yahweh sees
But finally they are in the Promised Land. The book of Joshua illustrates the fulfillment of Yahweh’s promise.
Then all the peoples on earth will see that the name of Yahweh is invoked over you, and they will fear you.
Deuteronomy 28:10 Carmen Imes
However, it is already apparent here that although they have entered the Promised Land, they are not fulfilling their task of bearing the name of God. We read about the Canaanite woman Raab, who is full of faith, and in contrast also about the unfaithful Israelite Achan. The Gibeonites are more convinced that Yahweh will give the land to the Israelites than they are. „The next generation is off to a wobbly start.“
They quickly lose sight of the fact that Yahweh has taken them from the nations to belong to him. They would rather be like everyone else. In 1 Samuel we learn that even the priests, whose job it is precisely to uphold the covenant with Yahweh, disregard their sacred duties to such an extent that Yahweh announces that this priestly line will be wiped out. Next, they want a king like the others – and they want it now, when they want it. From the book of Judges we learn that they did not fully carry out Yahweh’s commission to conquer the promised land. It follows this pattern again and again:
Well, a messenger of Yahweh had traveled from GilGal to The Place of Tears at BethEl, to address the house of IsraEl. There he told them: ‘This is what Yahweh has said: ‘I brought you out of Egypt and into the land that I promised to your ancestors, and I said that I’d never break the Agreement that I made with you. However, I told you not to make any agreements with [the people] who live in this land, and that you were not to worship their gods! ‘Rather, [I told you to] destroy their carved images and to pull down their altars! ‘However, you haven’t listened to My voice, and you’ve done [many bad] things… Therefore, just as I told you, I won’t drive them out from in front of you, so they’ll harass you, and their gods will oppress you!’ Well, after the messenger of Yahweh said all of this to the sons of IsraEl, the people started shouting and crying…
Judges 2:1-4 2001 Translation
And as soon as Joshua died, this happened:
Also, the rest of that generation was laid to rest with their ancestors. So, another generation came along that didn’t know Yahweh or of the things that He had done for IsraEl. Therefore, the sons of IsraEl started doing evil things before Yahweh, and they started serving the BaAls!
Judges 2:10,11 2001 Translation
Yahweh sent judges again and again to free them. But even that did not help in the long term:
Yet, after each Judge died, they’d just go right back to being corrupt – even worse than their ancestors – by worshiping and serving other gods… And they stubbornly refused to abandon their evil ways, which made Yahweh very angry with IsraEl. So He told them: ‘Because this nation has broken the Sacred Agreement that I made with their ancestors and refused to listen to My voice, I will no longer drive away a single man from those nations among them who were allowed to stay in the land by JoShua, son of NaWeh. ‘[I’m doing this] to see whether IsraEl will ever choose to follow and walk in My ways, as did their ancestors.’
Judges 2:19-22 2001 Translation
Did things get better in the time of the kings of Israel? There were only a few good kings. When Solomon dedicates the temple, he says in his prayer that all nations may come to know the name of Yahweh. The fact that Yahweh fills the temple with his glory shows that he stands by his covenant with Israel.
The first important prophet of the time of the kings is Elijah. Not only does he have to face the king and the worshippers of Baal, but in the end he has the impression that his service has been completely in vain. Interestingly, he runs all the way to Mount Sinai, where Yahweh assures him that this is not the case. He is not alone. There are still a few who do not practise idolatry.
In the end, it was so bad that Yahweh had to exile them from the land – as he had already warned them at Sinai.
‘Then they entered the nations where they had been sent, And there they profaned God’s Holy Name. For the nations that lived there were saying: ‘Although these people belong to Yahweh, He has driven them out of their land!’ ‘So, for the sake of [God’s] Name, Which the house of IsraEl profaned, I spared them in all the [lands] where they went.
‘I will make My Name holy again, Which is being profaned among gentiles, The Name that you profaned in their midst… Then those nations will know that I am Yahweh,’ Says Yahweh the Lord, ‘When before their eyes, I’m made holy among you.
Ezekiel 36:20,21,23 2001 Translation
That was the low point. Instead of bearing God’s name and upholding his holy name, they profaned his name everywhere. One might even wonder whether the covenant they had broken so often still existed at all. After centuries, wasn’t the situation so hopeless that there was no point in continuing? Shouldn’t he just … start again? A new covenant?
A new covenant – or the renewed covenant?
Sometimes a fresh start is the best thing. Isaiah asks for this in Isaiah 63: Back to Sinai. The prophet Jeremiah speaks about this in Jeremiah 31. If you are already thinking about the New Testament, then read Jeremiah 31:31-32 carefully:
‘Look… The days are coming,’ says Yahweh, ‘When I’ll make an arrangement with IsraEl’s house, As well as with the houses of Judah. ‘I’ll conclude a New Sacred Agreement. That’s unlike the one that I made with their fathers. In the day that I grabbed their hands to lead them from Egypt’s land. But because they didn’t keep My Sacred Agreement, I had to let them go,‘ says Yahweh.
Jeremiah 31:31-32 2001 Translation
A new covenant different from the one at Sinai? Well, the covenant partners are the same. And the reason is not that the covenant from Sinai was bad, but because they broke it. Jeremiah describes the new covenant in the next two verses:
‘So, this is My [New] Sacred Agreement, that I will conclude with IsraEl then,’ said Yahweh, I will put My Laws in their minds, And into their hearts, I will write them. Then, they’ll be My people and I’ll be their God. ‘There’s no way they’ll then teach their neighbors and brothers. That they must learn of Yahweh; For, all will know Me from the least to the great. And when it comes to their errors and sins… I will kindly forget them!’
Jeremia 31:33-34 2001 Translation
The new thing is that every Israelite will be able to internalize this covenant. The covenant from Sinai was reaffirmed several times by the Israelites. Also because a new generation had grown up. But a covenant with a people, passed down from generation to generation through lineage, has not exactly worked well. This renewed covenant is therefore aimed at individuals who have a sincere desire to bear God’s name – just as Yahweh had said.
Are we overstretching the term ’new‘ in Jeremiah 31? Well, the same prophet also uses this term in Lamentations:
Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
‘For the mercies of [God] never end, And His compassions will never fail. Each morning, they’re renewed, And on Him, we can always rely.
Lamentations 3:22,23 NIV and 2001 Translation
And he uses the word as a verb: „Bring us back to you, Lord, we want to return. Make our days new, as they once were.“ (Lamentations 5:21 Zurich). Similarly, Ezekiel speaks of a „new spirit“ for his people (Ezekiel 11:17-20), a „new heart“ (Ezekiel 18:31) and a „new spirit“ (Ezekiel 36:24-28).
But doesn’t Hebrews 8 just refer to Jeremiah 31 and then say:
So when he called it ‘new,’[Syr] He [automatically] made the former one, ‘old’… And whatever’s grown old and obsolete is soon destroyed.
Hebrews 8:13 2001 Translation
But let’s not let the end of the chapter stop us from looking at the context:
But the author goes on to describe what exactly will disappear: namely, the sacrificial system. Sacrifices brought forgiveness, but they could never cleanse guilty consciences because people kept sinning. The first system of sacrifice, instituted at Sinai, was only temporary. Now that Jesus has given himself once for all, the earthly temple is not necessary. Sacrifices are redundant.
Imes, Carmen Joy. Bearing God’s Name: Why Sinai Still Matters (English Edition)
So did this Sinai story come to an end with the appearance of Jesus Christ? What statements do we find in the New Testament and especially in the Gospels?
Just give me Jesus – The Gospel witness
In the texts from the Old Testament that we have read in this series in connection with the Sinai Covenant, we have generally read the name of God Yahweh. If we now continue with the Gospels in the New Testament, we notice an enormous difference: Yahweh no longer seems to appear – at least not in the manuscripts that have come down to us. Instead, it is always about Jesus.
But the Gospel of Matthew in particular was written in such a way that a continuity is shown here: The child Jesus is called the Christ. (Matthew 1:16), the Greek form of Messiah, the anointed one. But his name is Jesus, which has the meaning: „Yahweh saves.“ (Matthew 1:21,25). If we had heard and read the name in Hebrew or Aramaic, the language in which Matthew was possibly first written, we might already have noticed a parallel to the time of Sinai: At Sinai, Moses has a right-hand man Hoshea, whose name has the meaning, „he saves.“ (Numbers 13:8). Moses changed his name to Yeshua, which means „Yahweh saves“ (Numbers 14:6). And Jesus is nothing other than the Latin form of the Greek Iesou, which is the translation of the Hebrew Jehsua: „Yahweh saves“.
But that is by no means all. The Gospel of Matthew was structured and written so creatively that Mount Sinai and the events play a major role. Here is just a brief overview:
- The Gospel of Matthew is divided into 5 blocks, which imitate the 5 books of Moses.
- Before that, there is an introduction with the story of Jesus‘ parents‘ fleeing to … where? Egypt! It is a reverse Exodus story.
- When the situation is safe again, they return from Egypt to the Promised Land, repeating, so to speak, Israel’s exodus from Egypt and entry into the Promised Land.
- Next we read that he is baptized in the waters of the Jordan. This reminds us that the Israelites first crossed the Sea of Reeds and then the Jordan.
- Then Jesus is sent by the Spirit where? Into the desert. For how long? 40 days.
- There the Isarealites were tempted to turn away from Yahweh. And that is where Jesus is tempted. And what is Jesus quoting from? „Jesus chooses precisely those chapters of Deuteronomy where Moses is reminding the Israelites of the lessons they ought to have learned in the wilderness, lessons Jesus knows by heart.“
What lesson does Jesus teach through his answers to the temptations? „No way to success is the right way if it violates the covenant. … The Messiah has passed the test that Israel failed.“
The Gospel of Matthew focuses on five sermons preached by Jesus. And so the first block of Jesus‘ teachings is known as the Sermon on the Mount. A mountain is the context that Matthew mentions here for a reason. And Jesus also ties in with Sinai: „Do not think that I have come to set aside the law or the ‚words of the‘ prophets. I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them.“ (Matthew 5:17) Someone may think that ‚fulfill‘ means that Jesus ‚fulfilled‘ a condition, so to speak, and thus abolished the law. But when the law was given to Israel at Sinai, there was never a clause like this: Should anyone ever keep the law completely, then it is abolished, finished, obsolete. Let us remember: the point was that they, as images of God, bear his name! And for the transgression of the law there was the system of sacrifices. There is no clause that ended the covenant. Therefore, the New Geneva Translation states in the footnote: „but to give full effect.“ If anyone thought that the Sinai and the law had now come to an end, Jesus teaches them something different. On the contrary, he is very uncomfortable about the fact that the Israelites have let it slide and raises the bar to the level that Yahweh had intended with the law: „Do not think that it is enough if you have not broken the law according to the letter, because Yahweh does not want you to think and feel that way in your heart!
Is Jesus now „the prophet like Moses“ who is to come, as it says in Deuteronomy 18:15? If you consider the context of Deuteronomy 18, then you realize that Yahweh would not only send a prophet to give guidance in the face of idolatry. And that there would also be false prophets and how to recognize them. Acts 3 and 7 also apply this text accordingly. Jesus is also not just a prophet like Moses – he is greater. He is the ‚Son of Man‘, the Lord of the Sabbath, for example (Matthew 12:8)
In the transformation scene in Matthew 17, there are again many references to Mount Sinai. It happens … on a mountain. The face of Jesus shines. A cloud, glory, the voice of God. Moses and Elijah, who both saw God’s glory – at Sinai.
If you read further in the New Testament, you will be astonished to find that „reverence transferred seamlessly from Yahweh to Jesus, without explanation or apology.“
And Jesus continues things the way Yahweh started them:
But the Lord said to him:
Acts 9:15 2001 Translation
‘Go on, because this man is the one I’ve chosen to carry [or to bear] my name before nations, kings, and the sons of IsraEl.
And this was not only Paul’s task. The idea that the disciples of Jesus should ‚bear his name‘, just as the Israelites were to ‚bear the name of God‘, is found again and again in the New Testament. In James 2:7 it says: „Is it not they who blaspheme the good name proclaimed over you?“ This phrase is rather unguided in the Greek text because it mirrors the Hebrew phrase used for Yahweh’s name being proclaimed over Israel (Deuteronomy 28:10).
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