The Bible opens with a description of the light of a dawn. Verses 1-2 describe a darkness before the dawn. The heavens and earth exist, but "the earth was formless and empty, darkness over the surface of the deep". Darkness is present and needs subjugation by "light".
Dawn breaks in when God said, "Let there be light" and the result - "there was light". (Verse 3).
If we consider this as the "dawn" of the Bible, what would be the "sunset?". Relatedly, how does this pattern work elsewhere in the Bible.
The Biblical text itself as well as the organizers of the Bible provide several answers.
A sunset over Israel: Malachi
Malachi is the final book of the Old Testament. Historically, several centuries spanned between the life of the prophet Malachi and the birth of Jesus. Thus, that makes it a "sunset".
In Malachi, we see God' frustration with the people of Israel. For instance, the sacrifices the priests use are crippled and diseased animals (1:8). Malachi points out that even by human standards, this is unacceptable. ("Try offering them to your governor").
Likewise, Malachi also emphasizes a coming day of immense action by God. Granted, the emphasis is on the day of judgment, but also speaks of God in the temple. (3:1)
A New Dawn: The Birth of Jesus
The Gospels are the dawn of the new day. They primarily do this by drawing elements from the Old Testament to show that this is the promised day. But we also see reminders of Creation Week and the beginning of Man. Here is what we have:
1. Genealogies - a link to the prior days
- Matthew 1:2-16 - a genealogy of Jesus extending to Abraham (connection with the past, the prior days)
- Luke 3:23-38 - the genealogy connects Jesus with Adam, the first of man. This literally connects Jesus with Genesis and the Dawn of Man.
2. Light and stars
The Gospels also use the element of "light", which was a predominant focus in Creation Week. This literally shows us a new light for a new day.
- Matthew 2:2-11 - a star in the east directs the magi to the home of Jesus
- John 1:5 - Jesus is the light that shines in the darkness
3. "In the beginning" (John 1:1-5)
The literal text of John 1 explicitly links Jesus to Creation Week. In fact, John 1 seems modeled after Genesis 1 with its verbatim use of "In the beginning". Verses 2-3 state that Jesus not only was in the beginning with God, but also had a hand in the creation of everything else.
4. A messenger to prepare the way
We saw this in Malachi, the sunset of the Old Testament. Here, the Gospels state that John the Baptist is the messenger predicted by the prophets.
- Matthew 3:1-12 - citing Isaiah 40:3
- Mark 1:1-8 - citing Malachi 3:1 and Isaiah 40:3
- Luke 3:1-6, citing Isaiah 40:3-5
- John 1:19-28, citing Isaiah 40
A Sunset: The Book of Revelations
The Book of Revelations is the final book of the Bible. It is the revelation to the last living apostle, the Apostle John. He writes a letter to the seven churches of Asia detailing what he sees.
The Book of Revelations provides a sunset to the overall Biblical narrative. It is the last revelation to the last apostle who knew Christ in the person. Its placement as the final book highlights this finality.
Like the sunset of the Old Testament, Malachi, it looks forward to a future day. According to Revelations, there will be a New Heaven, a New Earth, and a New Jerusalem. (21:1-4). The final words of Jesus in the Bible are recorded in the penultimate verse of Revelations, making it the penultimate verse of the entire Bible.
At the sunset of the Bible, we look forward to a new dawn and a new day with these words:
"Yes, I am coming soon."
No comments:
Post a Comment