Sunday, April 09, 2006

OT in NT: 1 Peter 2:9-10

"But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God's OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10 for you once were NOT A PEOPLE, but now you are THE PEOPLE OF GOD; you had NOT RECEIVED MERCY, but now you have RECEIVED MERCY."
(1 Peter 2:9-10, NAS1995)

The phrases in all caps are identified by the NAS as OT citations/allusions. Here is the breakdown:

Chosen race - Isa 43:20
Royal priesthood - Exod 19:6
Holy nation - Exod 19:6
People for God's own possession - Exod 19:5
Not a people - Hos 1:10; 2:23
People of God - Hos 2:23
Not received mercy - Hos 1:6; 2:23
Received mercy - Hos 2:23

I would add the following additional allusions/echoes:

proclaim the excellencies - Isa 43:21
the one who called you from darkness to light - Isa 42:6-7, 16

So here is the two-part $64,000 question:

1. What are we to make of language describing Israel in the OT applied to the church?

2. How should these OT citations/allusions/echoes influence our interpretation of 1 Pet 2:9-10?

2 comments:

James Thompson said...

1.) I would think it echoes the reality of the church as a 'New Israel' in some sense. Perhaps in a full replacement sense, but perhaps not. The church is the realization of God's redemptive work that began with Israel and that was pointed to by the law and the prophets. The church is an elect people who are wholly God's by His own decision and who He is purifying for Himself.

2.) It forces us to try and connect the dots, we have to look at what God was working towards and at what He was doing with Israel and then carry that forward in light of the Gospel. It's not an easy task but we are forced to consider the connected nature of redemptive history as related in the Bible.

Anonymous said...

1. It makes me remember that I am not to "set up camp" in the NT and completely forget the OT...as I often do.

2. To me, it looks like the writer of 1 Peter knew the OT and used that knowledge to convey his message. He knew that the readers of 1Peter would know the OT as well...maybe??