The Restoration Project Podcast

The author of Ruth begins the book with some "background" information—a famine, a move to a foreign land, death. We usually skip over this stuff to get to the "good stuff," namely, the "romance" between Ruth and Boaz. This week, we paused to give voice to Naomi's grief and bitterness in the midst of horrific loss. We believe that she models an important and (very) human emotion, one that should be discussed more in the Church.

the restoration project. Joshua James. 11 June 2017.

*In the introduction, I (Josh) made the claim that because most of us are unfamiliar with famine. We aren't an agrarian society, so we just go to the store to buy our goods. While that may be true, I failed to acknowledge the reality, even in our community, that many people know (all too well) about hunger. Let us not forget, and let us not be actionless.

In this week's teaching, Josh introduces our new summer series by discussing the literary background of the book of Ruth: "During the days when the judges ruled..." To unpack this setting, he provides a very brief overview of the book of Judges, and then reads through what Mieke Bal describes as the "most horrific story in the Hebrew Bible."

the restoration project. Joshua James. 4 June 2017

This is TRP's version of a Mother's Day talk, but don't worry ... Josh doesn't attempt to give advice or practical tips on mothering. Rather, he highlights the diversity of "the family" by looking at a few of the unsung stories of notable biblical women. The main text for this talk is Paul's list of names in Romans 16:1-16. (Obviously.)

the restoration project. Joshua James. 14 May 2017

In this week's teaching, we revisit the Red Sea crossing, though this time we do so from a poetic lens. For some scholars, such as Terence Fretheim, the form (poetry) and function (liturgy) of Exodus 15 results in the associated images are "even more impressionistic than those in chapter 14." As a result, Josh tried to point us to the goal of the text, namely, its lofty theological claims.

the restoration project. Joshua James. 7 May 2017

Small Group Study Questions:

(1) We always tend to talk about a biblical passage's historical context, but in this sermon series, we have spent a lot of time with ancient Near Eastern background. It led Josh to ask this question on his Facebook page earlier this week: what do you expect from a sermon? Direct application? If the *point of a passage is theological (a witness to who God is), do you feel as though you need "action steps" or are you ok with that?

(2) How do you read the poetry of Exodus 15?

(3) Josh discussed the description of God as an ancient warrior in Exodus 15. Do you find it difficult to understand this description as a 21st c. American reader? How would you explain it to someone who struggled with a militaristic image of God?

(4)

Old Testament scholar, Terence Fretheim, describes the retelling of the Red Sea crossing in Exodus 14 as an "impressionistic picture." He says, "Trying to sort it out in a literal fashion, or suggesting that Israel considered the detail to correspond precisely to reality, is like retouching Renoir’s paintings to make them look like photographs.” Following Fretheim's lead, Josh attempts to outline a few of the dominant "theological impressions" created by Exodus 14.

the restoration project. Joshua James. 30 April 2017

In this week's teaching, the Hebrew people finally leave Egypt. Josh explores three theological implications of the story leading up to the Red Sea crossing: God's leadership, the people's resolve to trust, and the tension between the past and the present.

the restoration project. Joshua James. 23 April 2017

Small Group Questions:

(1) Josh began this talk by noting some "historical problems." One of those problems deals with our lack of knowledge on the whereabouts of the cities mentioned in Exodus 13 and 14. One scholar writes, "Frustratingly, the story gives us lots of concrete detail about the way the Israelites went, but we cannot actually locate any of the places it mentions" (Goldingay, _Exodus_). And another, “None of the place-names mentioned here…can be identified with certainty" (Sarna, _Exodus_). How do you process this information? Reject it out of hand? Accept it and not be too concerned with it? Does it impact how we might think of ancient history writing? Since things are still being discovered, are we just waiting for the Bible to be "confirmed"?

*I actually don't want to spend a lot of time on the historical issues, but if your group is interested, pursue it!

(2) The majority of the teaching focused on the theological implications of Exodus 13:17-22. First, the passage says that God "led" the Hebrew people. How does God's leadership work out for Israel in the exodus event?

How do you think God's leadership works in your life?

(3) Josh briefly mentioned an article on Psalm 23 by James Charlesworth. Charlesworth explained his surprise at some of his students struggling with the line "he maketh me to lie down in green pastures"? He writes, "In focusing on this verse, I experienced a moment when I was surprised by how much I had misperceived my students' sensitivity and perceptions. More than one student rejected any 'Lord' who forced them to do anything, such as making them lie down. One aggressive student interjected that this 'shepherd' is simply a bully who forces one to lie down, and not on a bed but in a pasture that may be pockmarked by dung. Such students would not be impressed by Kushner's comment that to 'lie down in green pastures is to live in God's world' (p. 43)." [https://www.sbl-site.org/publications/article.aspx?ArticleId=220#sthash.3HzodTm9.dpuf]

How would you respond to this student?

(4) Exodus 13 says, "God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, 'If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.'" This is an interesting passage. One scholar writes, "One might expect that God, with all the power at the divine disposal, would not back off from leading people into any situation. God would just mow the enemies down! No, the human situation makes a difference regarding God's possibilities and hence affects the divine decisions" (Fretheim, _Exodus_).

This line of thinking goes against what many of us have been told (I imagine). Do you think God factors the "human situation" in? Do you think that God thinks about future "possibilities" (if they go this way...maybe this will happen...)?

(5) We also talked about the resolve to trust that is present in this passage. God is leading, but the people had to move—that is, they had to actively respond (to move away from what is familiar into the unknown). Do you have any experience with this?

A bit later in the story, the Israelites want to "go back" to Egypt. Why would they want to go back?

We took a break from our Exodus series this week to celebrate Easter...even though there are some cool Easter ties to the Exodus story! After reading the resurrection story from Matthew, Josh discusses its significance and invites us in to the experience (and reality) of new creation.

the restoration project. Joshua James. 16 April 2017

Small Group Study Questions

(1) Josh begins this talk with an art analogy, namely, the comparison between "Ecco Homo" and "Ecco Mono" (the latter being the botched reconstruction of a portrait of Jesus by a parishioner in Spain). What does your "reconstruction" of Jesus look like? Remember this is a two-parter: What is the story you tell people (how do you define the "good news")? What image does the story of your life produce?

(2) Did you learn anything new about Jewish expectations of the Messiah in the first century? (What were they NOT expecting to happen?!)

(3) Josh talks about first century Jewish eschatology A LOT. (Think about the diagram: _____|______) Why do you think he finds this so important, especially in light of how Jesus turns this expectation upside down?! What does Jesus' death and resurrection have to do with the introduction of the kingdom? Why is it so important for us *now?

(4) What do you think is the goal of Christian hope? Heaven? Presence with Jesus? Bodily resurrection? The Second Coming? The final restoration of the created order?

(5) During your time at TRP, has your view of "the gospel" changed? Discuss.

The tenth plague—the death of the firstborn—has long troubled interpreters of the Bible. In this teaching, Josh offers some guidance on reading the story in its OT context, and then advances its implications to the NT and to Jesus.

the restoration project. Joshua James. 9 April 2017

Small Group Study Questions:

(1) Are you troubled by the tenth plague (the killing of the Egyptian firstborn)? If so, how do you reconcile your understanding of God with the story?

(2) Josh stressed the importance of reading ancient stories through ancient eyes (and not solely 21st c. American eyes). To support this, he cited NT Wright: "To understand any event in history, you must put it firmly into that history and not rest content with what later generations have said about it" (Wright, The Day the Revolution Began). How do you go about doing this? How does this help us understand the tenth plague?

(3) Over the past two weeks, Josh has talked about the (intentional) authorial/editorial shaping of the plague narratives. (Don't worry, if that's not ringing any bells, it has been a minor point.) Are you troubled by the reporting of "history" in the ancient world?

Josh also brought up this point about the potential for hyperbole in the retelling of Israel's story: “Exodus 12:37-39 reports that 600,000 Israelites of fighting age left Egypt. This number plus their wives and children along with the mixed multitude said to accompany them would have totaled some two and a half million. Marching ten abreast, the numbers would have formed a line over 150 miles long and would have required eight or nine days to march by any fixed point” (Miller and Hayes, A History of Ancient Israel and Judah). Now remember, this is *one perspective on the flight from Egypt, but how does it sit with you? Troublesome? Exciting? Interesting?

(4) In Exodus 4, the *end of this story is foreshadowed: "Then say to Pharaoh, ‘This is what the Lord says: Israel is my firstborn son, and I told you, “Let my son go, so he may worship me.” But you refused to let him go; so I will kill your firstborn son.’” Does the fact that Pharaoh had chances to let Israel go help your understanding of God? (Do you think he *really had a chance to do this, or was it impossible due to the hardening of his heart?)

(5) We didn't go into much detail with this one, but the tenth plague forms the basis for the Passover (see Exodus 13). Why is this festival so important? How is it re-read in light of Jesus in the NT?

*This is a tough passage. Don't be discouraged if you are left with questions. It has troubled interpreters for centuries.

This week's teaching sort of turned into a two-parter. In the first part, Josh talks about the literary artistry/shaping of the Bible, particularly, in the (multiple) retellings of the plague narratives. As he attempts to demonstrate, the traditions of the plagues sounds important notes for how we approach Old Testament history in general. The main section of the teaching focuses on praying for enemies. In Exodus 8, Pharaoh—you know, the guy who has made Moses and the Israelites' lives so difficult—asks for prayer. And Moses responds by entreating God on his behalf. What do we learn from this story? About Moses? About God? About us? Take a listen and find out.

the restoration project. Joshua James. 2 April 2017

Old Testament scholar, John Walton, writes, "Effective communication requires a body of agreed-upon words, terms, and ideas." When we read the OT—an ancient and diverse collection of writings—we sometimes miss the nuances in the communication of this ancient people due to our cultural and temporal distance. In this week's teaching, Josh tries to bring one of these embedded nuances to life in Exodus 7.8-13...and then bring it back to Jesus.

the restoration project. Joshua James. 26 March 2017

(1) Not only does John Walton comment on the shared concepts necessary in “effective communication" (see above), he also observes, "If someone outside the language/culture matrix wants to take advantage of information that is communicated within the language/culture matrix, cultural education is required."

Have you had moments when you needed a "cultural education" to communicate?

Why is this "education" important for our reading of the Old Testament?

(2) In this teaching, Josh argued that the different terms for "snake" in Exodus 4 and 7 serve a theological purpose that would have been apparent for an ancient audience. Big money question ... can anyone articulate what would have been communicated by the term used in Exodus 7?

(3) Why was it important that Aaron's staff/snake ate the Egyptian magicians' staffs/snakes? What does that act tell us about God? about the end of the story in Exodus?

(4) The OT often demonstrates God's power over against other gods or kings. What do you believe to be true about God's power today?

(5) Josh argued that in the ancient world, the "sea monster" language would sound echoes to the creation narrative and God's "taming of chaotic forces." To what degree is God able to "tame chaos" in our lives?