Hebrewisms and Cosmic Collapse
© 09.20.26 By David Eric Williams
There is an aspect of Bible interpretation I touched on in the last article that we need to look at in more detail. It is the rule of context.
There are a couple of ways to think about context when reading the Bible. Most folks understand that each verse must be taken within the context of the section under consideration. Then there is the context of the particular book you are reading. Finally, there is the context of the entirety of the Scripture. These are the things most seminary professors are talking about when they say the three rules of Bible interpretation are “context context context.”
There is another field of context we must consider. This is the context of the circumstance and the environment in which the text was produced. In other words, we need to think about the original author and the original audience. As much as is possible, we should place ourselves in the world of the author and audience and try to understand their worldview. This is important because God communicated to his people within the context of a particular time and place in history and culture. That is to say, God did not communicate with his people four thousand years ago in a way more appropriate for this modern age. Thus, God’s communication to an ancient audience was not actually a coded message for twenty first century Christians.
Modern readers should also familiarize themselves with the figures of speech and “catchphrases” of the ancient world. One well known example is the use of decreation language to describe the dissolution of a sociopolitical and religious system. An obvious instance is found in Isaiah chapter thirteen. The prophet predicts the coming destruction of Babylon by saying, behold, the day of Yahweh comes, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger; to make the land a desolation, and to destroy its sinners out of it. For the stars of the sky and its constellations will not give their light. The sun will be darkened in its going out, and the moon will not cause its light to shine (Isaiah 13:9-10). With these words, Isaiah describes the overthrow of the Babylonian Empire by the Medes and Persians (Isaiah 13:13-ff). Another example is found in Ezekiel’s condemnation of Pharaoh, king of Egypt; when I extinguish you, I will cover the heavens and make its stars dark. I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon won’t give its light. I will make all the bright lights of the sky dark over you, and set darkness on your land,” says the Lord Yahweh (Ezekiel 32:7-8). Both example foretell the overthrow of nations not a disruption of creation.
These same “Hebrewisms” are found in the New Testament. In Matthew Chapter 24 Jesus predicts the destruction of Jerusalem within a generation of his hearers (Matthew 24:34) when he says, . . .immediately after the suffering of those days, the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken (Matthew 24:29). Again, this is not a description of creation’s dissolution, but prophetic language predicting the fall of a sociopolitical, religious system. This was fulfilled at the conclusion of the Jewish war of AD 66-70 with the the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple.
We will look at this subject again later.
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