God’s Commitment

Related Passages

Cross References

Psalm 44:2 

You, by your power, defeated nations and settled our fathers on their land; you crushed the people living there and enabled our ancestors to occupy it.

Psalm 80:8; Jeremiah 24:6; Exodus 15:17; Psalm 89:22–23; Amos 9:15; 2 Kings 21:8; Isaiah 5:1–7; 60:18; 

1 Kings 8:21; 2 Chronicles 33:8; Psalm 80:16; 147:14; Isaiah 54:14; Jeremiah 1:10

Commentary

From The IVP Bible Background Commentary

7:8–11. deity as king’s sponsor. It is common rhetoric in the ancient Near East for a king to claim the sponsorship of the national deity. Hittite and Mesopotamian documents are especially clear. The deity is acknowledged as having brought the king to the throne, given him the land and established his kingship. The god is relied upon to protect the king, give him victory over his enemies and establish his dynastic line, thereby determining the destiny of the king.

Matthews, V. H., Chavalas, M. W., & Walton, J. H. (2000). The IVP Bible background commentary: Old Testament (electronic ed., 2 Sa 7:8–11). InterVarsity Press.

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God’s Dwelling with His People: Sacred Space and Divine-Human Family

The Foundation: God’s Commitment to Presence

God fundamentally orients Himself toward communion with humanity, and His active presence among His people represents one of Scripture’s oldest and most enduring promises. This commitment unfolds through a progressive revelation of sacred space—locations where heaven and earth intersect and God makes Himself accessible to His covenant people. God’s purpose centers on restoring His relationship with His people by providing them with “a home of their own” where “wicked people will not oppress them anymore”1, as declared in the Davidic covenant. Yet this promise carries profound significance beyond mere proximity: God demonstrates a fundamental commitment to human beings themselves, not merely to a location or ritual system.

Sacred Space as Relational Framework

God’s identity as sovereign Creator who formed a people for Himself to dwell with in sacred space undergirds the entire Old Testament. The progression from mountain (Sinai) to mobile tent to permanent temple reveals how God adapted His presence to accompany His people through their historical journey. In ancient Near Eastern thought, the god’s sacred mount, temple, or precinct casts a protective shade over the people who dwell beneath it2. The writer of 2 Samuel 7:10 asserts that God intended to plant His people beneath the sacred place that He would establish in Jerusalem: they would literally dwell beneath that place, while figuratively they would dwell beneath the protection or shade of its divine resident2. The tabernacle stood in the center of Israel’s encampment, not distant or elevated—Yhwh lived among them. This spatial arrangement communicated something revolutionary: God’s people are bodies as well as spirits, and the dwelling provided means of expressing relationship with God through physical, sensory engagement.

The Divine-Human Family: Covenant Relationship

God’s initiative to restore sacred space began with covenant—a relationship leading to increasingly significant levels of connection across time. When God promised to build a house for David, this was not a physical structure, but a family—a line of successors to his throne3. God’s covenant with David continues the covenant with Abraham, promising David offspring who will be a king forever3. David’s son would enjoy a close relationship with God, with God declaring “I will be his father, and he will be my son”3. In this covenant relationship, God revealed Himself to Abraham and his family, then adopted Israel (the nation descended from Abraham) to be His people, taking up residence among them. This adoption language signals something deeper than territorial possession: God was constructing a family.

Fulfillment in Christ and Consummation

When “the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us,” this employed the same language used for the tabernacle, making God’s presence available in the midst of His people through the incarnation. God’s promise to plant and protect His people in the land implies a life of abundance in the land, with this experience of life in the old covenant finding greater fulfillment in the reign of the final and ultimate son of David1. The worship of the first garden finds its ultimate fulfillment in a future garden-city described in Revelation 22. In that perfected sacred space, “the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.” The trajectory moves from Eden’s lost communion toward an eternal family reunion where God’s dwelling with His redeemed people reaches its complete and permanent fulfillment.

1. 1M. Jeff Brannon, The Hope of Life after Death: A Biblical Theology of Resurrection, Essential Studies in Biblical Theology (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic: An Imprint of InterVarsity Press, 2022), 48–49.
2. 2David Vanderhooft, “Dwelling beneath the Sacred Place: A Proposal for Reading 2 Samuel 7:10,” Journal of Biblical Literature (1999), 118:632–633.
3. 3Sigurd Grindheim, Introducing Biblical Theology (London; New Delhi; New York; Sydney: Bloomsbury, 2013), 61.

From Sacred Boundaries to Cosmic Reclamation

Related Passages

Cross References

Acts 13:41 

‘Look, you scoffers; be amazed and perish! For I am doing a work in your days, a work you would never believe, even if someone tells you.’ ”

Isaiah 29:14, 9; Ezekiel 12:22–28; Genesis 15:5–6; 43:33; Psalm 2:1; 48:5; 

Ecclesiastes 5:8; Isaiah 28:21; Jeremiah 4:9

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Commentary

From Sacred Boundaries to Cosmic Reclamation: Habakkuk 1:5, Acts 13:41, and the Redefinition of Holy Space

Sacred Space and Divine Separation in Israel’s Covenant

Israel’s identity centered on being set apart from surrounding nations, mirroring God’s own separation from creation—a distinction reflected architecturally in the tabernacle as sacred space contrasted with the broader land of Israel itself.1 Places, objects, and priests became holy through dedication to God and separation from the profane realm, with the earthly temple functioning as a portal into God’s heavenly sanctuary.2 This sacred geography created meaning by establishing a center—an “axis mundi”—around which daily life revolved, particularly through centralized structures like the tabernacle and temple.3 The theological significance was unmistakable: Deuteronomy mandated the suppression of Canaanite sacred places and the centralization of Yahweh worship in a single authorized location.4

Divine Council and the Assignment of Nations

This spatial arrangement reflected a deeper cosmic order rooted in Genesis 10. In the ancient Near Eastern framework, nations were distributed among divine beings under Yahweh’s sovereignty, with Israel alone designated as God’s direct inheritance. The Gentiles, by this arrangement, worshipped other gods not by choice but by cosmic assignment—they existed under the jurisdiction of lesser divine powers, geographically and spiritually separated from direct access to Yahweh’s presence.

Paul’s Redefinition of Sacred Space Through Acts 13:41

When Paul quotes Habakkuk 1:5 in Acts 13:41—warning against rejecting God’s “work”—he invokes this passage at the precise moment when Jewish rejection triggers Gentile inclusion. Paul’s ministry breaks down the ancient cultic barriers that kept Gentiles from the temple’s holy space, making them acceptable to God through the Holy Spirit and thus redefining the boundaries of group identity.5 This is not merely theological abstraction; it constitutes a radical reconfiguration of sacred space itself.

Paul understands his apostolic calling through Jewish cultic language—functioning as a priest enabling Gentiles to make an offering to God, thereby fulfilling Israel’s priestly mission to the nations.5 Yet the revolutionary dimension emerges in what this accomplishes: Gentiles now occupy the “most sacred space”—not as proselytes adopting Jewish identity, but as Gentiles directly incorporated into God’s people. Paul’s converts already possess all covenant blessings as children of Abraham, and for them to adopt Torah observance would constitute a denial of God’s acceptance in the gospel—a conviction evident in his earliest letters.6

Cosmic Reclamation and the New Creation

The deeper significance involves cosmic reclamation. By extending salvation directly to Gentiles without requiring Jewish mediation, Paul announces that Yahweh is claiming the nations for himself—dismantling the ancient arrangement where other divine beings governed them. To be in Christ means participating in new creation and receiving the Spirit’s promise, placing women and men in a new phase of world history through the creation of a new humanity.7 Paul’s message embraces the entire universe under a Jewish understanding of the world, with his Gentile assemblies functioning as vanguards of renewal planted strategically throughout the empire, rescuing nations from their violent nature and enticing them to forge commitment with Israel’s God through faith in the resurrected Christ.7

Habakkuk 1:5, therefore, announces not merely salvation but a reconfiguration of sacred space itself—the removal of barriers that once kept Gentiles perpetually outside God’s direct presence, and the establishment of a new cosmic order where all nations worship the God of Israel directly.

1. 1Paul Copan, Is God a Moral Monster? Making Sense of the Old Testament God (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2011), 78.
2. 2Craig C. Broyles, “Israelite Worship,” in The Lexham Bible Dictionary, ed. John D. Barry et al. (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016). [See here.]
3. 3William R. McAlpine, Sacred Space for the Missional Church: Engaging Culture through the Built Environment (Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 2011). [See here.]
4. 4Sunhee Kim, “Sacred Space,” in Lexham Theological Wordbook, ed. Douglas Mangum et al. (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014). [See here, here.]
5. 5John E. Toews, Romans, Believers Church Bible Commentary (Scottdale, PA: Herald Press, 2004), 352.
6. 6Douglas R. De Lacey, “Gentiles,” in Dictionary of Paul and His Letters, ed. Gerald F. Hawthorne, Ralph P. Martin, and Daniel G. Reid (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993), 338.
7. 7Ronald Charles, Paul and the Politics of Diaspora (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2014), 166, 168.

Hollow Ritual and Authentic Faith: Fasting in Isaiah 58 and the New Testament

Related Passages

Cross References

Malachi 3:13–18 

“You have criticized me sharply,” says the Lord, “but you ask, ‘How have we criticized you?’ …

Leviticus 16:29; Isaiah 22:12–13; Zechariah 7:5–6; Luke 18:12; Proverbs 5:10;

 Isaiah 60:17; Sirach 34:31; Exodus 10:3; Leviticus 23:27; 1 Samuel 7:6; 

1 Kings 21:12; 2 Chronicles 6:37; Nehemiah 5:1–8; Isaiah 56:12

Commentary

Hollow Ritual and Authentic Faith: Fasting in Isaiah 58 and the New Testament

The Problem: Fasting Without Transformation

After returning from Babylonian exile, the Israelites reestablished old class distinctions, reinforced by religious claims. The people complained to God: “Why do we fast, but you do not see? Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?” Yet their complaint masked a deeper hypocrisy. While the upper class made public displays of devoutness through fasting, they apparently insisted that their working-class employees continue laboring without respite. On the very same day they fasted, they also “exploit all [their] workers” and their “fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists.”1

The people’s religious observances were performed for show, designed to impress the Lord, while their hearts remained distant. Fasting was meant to be a time of self-denial, self-examination, and repentance for sin, but the people of Judah were doing it only to gain favors from God and to be able to think well of themselves.2 The fundamental problem was transactional: they believed their ritual performances would automatically secure divine approval, regardless of their actual conduct.

God’s Correction: True Fasting as Mercy

God’s response redirects the people entirely. The kind of fasting that God rewards is “to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke … to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood.”1 True “fasting” is to love one’s neighbor by doing good to him—not only to spend our substance for our neighbor, but also to spend ourselves.2 If they desire divine blessings upon their fasting, they must improve their conduct by ceasing to oppress people and helping the needy, making their religious exercise genuine rather than hypocritical.

Sacred Space and the Sabbath Connection

Beyond fasting itself, Isaiah exposes a broader pattern of selective obedience regarding sacred time and space. While God’s people kept fasts not commanded in the Bible, they flouted Sabbath observance, which was one of the central commands of the Old Testament—the fourth commandment, considered the sign of the Mosaic covenant.3 The Lord singles out the Sabbath law to be representative of all His laws, and to keep the Sabbath—to keep God’s law—is to show love for God.2 This reveals that Israel’s problem extended beyond isolated acts of worship to a fundamental misunderstanding of how sacred time relates to ethical living. Since all of life is an act of worship, obedience is to encompass not only worship events, but all that we do in all places, and our actions are to accurately represent the holiness of God.1 The Sabbath wasn’t merely a day of rest but a weekly reminder that genuine devotion to God necessarily transforms how we treat others and structure our entire lives.

New Testament Echoes: Jesus Confronts the Same Hypocrisy

The New Testament applies Isaiah’s critique with striking force. Jesus warned against fasting hypocritically—making one’s face unattractive so others would witness the practice—contrasting this with fasting privately where only God sees and rewards it. In the parable of the Pharisee and tax collector, the Pharisee boasts of fasting twice weekly while exploiting others, yet the humble tax collector receives justification instead. Jesus similarly condemned religious leaders for meticulous tithing while neglecting justice, mercy, and faithfulness—the very disconnect Isaiah exposed.

Merely executing the prescribed forms alone was never pleasing to God, as the prophet Samuel challenged King Saul: “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.”1 The prophet Hosea exhorted the Israelites when he spoke for God saying, “For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.”1 “True fasting”—true religion—is expressed in action, and the best way to test the genuineness of our religious faith is to examine the way we treat other human beings in need, which also happens to be the way God tests the genuineness of our faith.2

1. 1Larry D. Ellis and D. W. S. Larry D. Ellis, Radical Worship: What Sunday Morning Can Never Give You (Denver, CO: Adoration Publishing, 2014). [See here, here, here, here, here.]
2. 2Thomas Hale, The Applied Old Testament Commentary (Colorado Springs, CO; Ontario, Canada; East Sussex, England: David C. Cook, 2007), 1062–1063.
3. 3Tremper Longman III, “Isaiah,” in CSB Study Bible: Notes, ed. Edwin A. Blum and Trevin Wax (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), 1125.

The Star as Icon of Christ’s Incarnation

Related Passages

Cross References

Job 27:12 

If you yourselves have all seen this, Why in the world do you continue this meaningless talk?

Habakkuk 3:9; Mark 4:41

Commentary

The Theological Significance of the Star of Bethlehem

The Star as Divine Announcement and Cosmic Sign

The stars were created to be “signs,” and one particular star was destined to be a very special sign, announcing the birth of the promised Savior.1 Balaam’s ancient prophecy declared, “There shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel,” establishing a messianic framework that shaped how later interpreters understood the Bethlehem star’s significance.1

The Star as Icon of Christ’s Incarnation

At its most fundamental level, the star functions as a cosmic announcement that transcends ordinary astronomical phenomena. As an icon of the incarnate Christ, the star represents a reordering of the cosmos around the True Grand Orient or the Star in the East, the Christ child whose status as the incarnation means that all the fallen powers and principalities of the world have been reconciled to their true telos, the manifestation of the One Idea or Word of God.2 The patristic theologians of Christian late antiquity saw the Star as a symbol of the reorientation of the magical universe (labeled by the church fathers as demonic) and all its pagan divinities around Christ the Lord, just as the Eastern magi reoriented themselves around the manger.2

The Star as Model for Christian Ministry and Divine Revelation

The star embodies a symbolic transition in divine revelation. Rather than remaining a guide to truth, the star becomes a model for Christian ministry itself—the work of ministry mirrors the star’s function by directing others toward Christ, the true source of light. Christ is presented as “The Bright, the Morning Star,” and it was by the leading of a star—“His Star”—that God manifested His Son to the Gentiles.3 Venus, the brightest of the planets, was known to the ancients as Phosphorus or “Light-Bearer” when appearing as the morning star, and as Hesperus, meaning “Evening,” when appearing as an evening star.3

The Star’s Nature: A Supernatural Phenomenon

The magi, the most well trained and observant of all ancient scholars in astronomy, could not have mistaken any natural phenomenon for a star. None of the suggested conjunctions were ever close enough together to be mistaken for a single star, and surely these very capable astronomers were able to tell the difference between a fixed star and a special light moving along in the atmosphere above them. Matthew’s record of the star must have come originally from these wise men, and they did not call it a guiding light or a comet or a conjunction between planets—but a star.1

There is compelling evidence to suggest that the Star of Bethlehem was not a natural stellar phenomenon, but something unexplained by science. The fact that the Star only appeared to the magi indicates that this was no ordinary star. Celestial bodies normally move from east to west due to the earth’s rotation, yet this Star led the magi from Jerusalem south to Bethlehem, stopping directly overhead. There is no natural stellar phenomenon that can do that.4

The Star as Symbol of Sovereignty and Divine Authority

The “morning star” (Venus) was a symbol of sovereignty in the ancient world and especially in Rome. Roman emperors claimed to be descended from the goddess Venus, Roman generals built temples dedicated to the star, and it was a sign carried on the standards of the Roman legions. The allusion to Numbers has been called forth in order to emphasize that Christ is the true world sovereign in contrast to the claims of evil world empires like Rome.5

The Star’s Ironic Theological Message

The star carries ironic theological weight regarding receptiveness to Christ. The despised astrologers who have nothing but their natural idols are led to Israel, who has the written Word of God, and when this Word is heard, it is the pagans who follow it, while the leadership of the people of God sit complacently or conspiratorially at home. This reversal underscores how receptiveness to Christ transcends cultural boundaries and institutional privilege.

The Star as Hope and Promise for Believers

Jesus Christ is the Superstar and the Super-Sun, who will arise with healing in His wings, and whose sceptre will be one of a universal rule in righteousness. For the true child of God, Jesus is reverenced as the Star of Hope, the Star of Faith, the Star of Peace, the Star Divine.3

1. 1Henry M. Morris, The Biblical Basis for Modern Science (Master Books, 2002), 164–165.
2. 2Nicholas Laccetti, The Inner Church Is the Hope of the World: Western Esotericism as a Theology of Liberation (Eugene, Oregon: Resource Publications, 2018). [See here, here.]
3. 3Herbert Lockyer, All the Divine Names and Titles in the Bible, The All Series (Zondervan, 2013), 127–128, 256.
4. 4Got Questions Ministries, Got Questions? Bible Questions Answered (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2002–2013). [See here, here, here.]
5. 5G. K. Beale, The Book of Revelation: A Commentary on the Greek Text, New International Greek Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Carlisle, Cumbria: W.B. Eerdmans; Paternoster Press, 1999), 269.

A Cosmic Drama of Redemption and Sacred Space

Related Passages

Cross References

Isaiah 53:3 

He was despised and rejected by people, one who experienced pain and was acquainted with illness; people hid their faces from him; he was despised, and we considered him insignificant.

Psalm 69:19; Matthew 20:19; 27:11; Mark 10:34; Luke 18:32; John 19:2–3; Psalm 31:15–16; Isaiah 49:7; 

Jeremiah 20:7; Matthew 17:14; 27:31, 41; Mark 15:17–18, 20

Commentary

From The IVP Background Commentary

27:29. The soldiers’ kneeling before Jesus parodies royal homage in the Greek East. The reed is meant to parody a scepter; military floggings often used bamboo canes, so one may have been on hand among the soldiers. “King of the Jews” is an ironic taunt but may also reflect some typical Roman anti-Judaism. “Hail!” was the standard salute to the Roman emperor.

Keener, C. S. (1993). The IVP Bible background commentary: New Testament (Mt 27:29). InterVarsity Press.

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Jesus’ Suffering and the Fulfillment of Prophecy: A Cosmic Drama of Redemption and Sacred Space

Christ’s death and resurrection stand at the center of Christian faith, with the Son of God’s sacrificial death forming the heart of God’s redemptive plan.1 This fulfillment operates across multiple dimensions—literal textual correspondence, typological patterns, cosmic significance, and the reclamation of sacred space from hostile spiritual forces.

Prophetic Fulfillment in Detail

God predetermined Christ’s sacrificial death in eternity past, with Scripture identifying him as “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” whose death “was foreordained before the foundation of the world.”1 The Old Testament clearly taught that the Messiah would come and die, with Daniel’s prophecy of the seventy weeks predicting that “the Messiah will be cut off.”1

Isaiah 52:13–53:12 provides the most detailed Old Testament prophecy of Messiah’s death, predicting that he would be “pierced through for our transgressions” and “crushed for our iniquities,” taken away through oppression and judgment, and would render himself as a guilt offering.1 The Old Testament specified precise details of Messiah’s death—his betrayal by someone close to him, the exact amount of money his betrayer would receive, and the physical abuse he would suffer at trial.1

Psalm 22 graphically depicts the details of crucifixion—a form of execution unknown in Israel—opening with words Jesus spoke on the cross: “My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?”2 The psalm predicts the gloating mockery from enemies and describes the physical suffering of the crucifixion.2 The prophecy even records the detail that executioners would divide Jesus’ garments by casting lots.2

Isaiah 53:5 predicts Jesus was “pierced through for our transgressions,” while verse 7 foretells his silence during trial: “He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; like a lamb that is led to slaughter.”2 Though his grave was assigned with the wicked, he was buried in the tomb of the wealthy Joseph of Arimathea.2

Isaiah 52:14 predicts the Messiah’s appearance would be “so disfigured beyond that of any man,” which Matthew’s account fulfills when Pilate had Jesus flogged and handed him over to be crucified, with soldiers mocking and striking him.3 Isaiah 53:5 speaks of the Messiah being “pierced for our transgressions,” fulfilled when a soldier pierced Jesus’ side with a spear.3

The Divine Council and Cosmic Rebellion

The fulfillment of Jesus’ suffering extends beyond literal prophecy into cosmic dimensions. From the perspective of ancient Israelite authors, not only Adam and Eve rebelled against God’s sovereignty in Eden—Genesis 3, Genesis 6:1-4, Ezekiel 28:12-17, and Isaiah 14:9-15 reveal two divine rebellions against Yahweh from within his divine council.4 The divine council comprises divine, non-human beings who are part of God’s unseen heavenly family, who were with God in the beginning and witnessed creation, though God does not need them but prefers to rule through both heavenly and earthly representatives.4

In Israel, as in the ancient Near East generally, the heavenly world was conceived as a royal court where Yahweh functioned as king with divine beings serving as counselors, political subordinates, warriors, and general agents.5 When God organized the world’s political structure, each nation was assigned to one of the angels/minor deities, with Israel reserved for Yahweh’s own possession, though Psalm 82 describes the revocation of this arrangement when God brings accusation against these minor deities for their failure to ensure justice.5

The gods charged with ruling the nations became corrupt administrators, sowing chaos in the heavenly realm, for Yahweh created a world characterized by righteousness and well-being, yet the gods are condemned to death for their failure to carry out justice, with the cosmic realm depending upon justice in the social order.6 The Old Testament should be read as the struggle between Yahweh and the serpent, who leads the members of the divine council who rebelled against Yahweh at creation’s beginning, with this battle being not only spiritual but also geographical, as Satan was cast down to the realm of the dead.7

Sacred Space and Christ’s Redemptive Work

Jesus, who ranks uniquely among divine council members and is identified with the Hebrew Bible’s Angel of Yahweh, is ultimately the one who reestablishes Edenic rule through his work on the cross.8 Jesus’ followers, as the offspring of Abraham in perpetual conflict with the serpent’s offspring, expand God’s kingdom by proclaiming the gospel in nations governed by fallen divine council members, with Pentecost beginning the process by which disinherited nations would be brought back into Yahweh’s family, and the Holy Spirit’s commissioning providing believers with authority over nations originally assigned to divine council members, effectively incorporating believers into the divine council and connecting it with both the Creation Mandate and Great Commission.8

The Messianic Woes and Believers’ Participation in Suffering

Jesus himself taught that all prophecies about him would be fulfilled, with the Gospel writers and Jesus himself seeing his life as fulfillment of prophecy, as when Jesus stated “I tell you that this which is written must be fulfilled in Me, ‘And He was numbered with transgressors,’” recognizing the predictions of the Messiah and his sufferings being fulfilled in himself.9

The doctrine of the messianic woes holds that God established a certain amount of suffering for his messianic community, beginning with Christ and including his followers, with this suffering bringing his power to bear on the church and leading to final victory, forming two sides of the same coin—power and suffering—as the path to glory and the road to power.10

Perhaps the most astounding New Testament teaching on suffering is that believers’ suffering is somehow identified with and a sharing in the sufferings or death of Christ, with Paul seeking to know Christ “and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.”11 From God’s standpoint, believers are mystically identified with Christ’s death, and in their suffering enter experientially into a sharing in his crucifixion, with Paul coining the compound word “co-sufferers” with Christ to describe this reality.11

Through being “in Christ” and Christ being “in us” by the Spirit, believers are joined spiritually to God in Christ by the Spirit and participate in suffering, even death, in, with, and for Christ, and while this suffering does not save the world—only Christ’s death does—suffering on Christ’s behalf is redemptive in that it gives witness to Christ through courage, perseverance, character, and hope, as Christ continues his redemptive work through his people as the gospel is heard and people come to salvation faith.12

The Scriptures of Israel must be read as “testifying in advance to the sufferings coming to Christ and his subsequent glories,” with the story of salvation showing how the prophets testified to the sufferings destined for Christ and the subsequent glory.13 Peter interprets believers’ suffering as participation in the messianic woes of the end time, representing an exegesis of the scriptural expectation of the calamities accompanying the inauguration of the age of salvation.13

—

Bibliography

Anejionu, Obinna C. D. Imperium Christus: The Big Picture of the Looming Clash Between the Emerging World System and the Coming Empire of Christ. Eugene, Oregon: Resource Publications, 2025.

Green, Joel B. 1 Peter. The Two Horizons New Testament Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2007.

Heiser, M. S. “Divine Council.” In Dictionary of the Old Testament: Prophets, edited by Mark J. Boda and Gordon J. McConville. Downers Grove, IL; Nottingham, England: IVP Academic; Inter-Varsity Press, 2012.

Heiser, Michael S. Demons: What the Bible Really Says about the Powers of Darkness. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2020.

Heiser, Michael S. I Dare You Not to Bore Me with the Bible. Edited by John D. Barry and Rebecca Van Noord. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press; Bible Study Magazine, 2014.

Heiser, Michael S. “I Dare You Not to Bore Me with the Bible: When Appearances Aren’t Misleading.” Bible Study Magazine. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press; Faithlife, 2019.

Hunt, June. Biblical Counseling Keys on Jesus: Is He God? Is the Deity of Christ Defendable? Dallas, TX: Hope For The Heart, 2008.

Jahosky, Michael T. The Good News of the Return of the King: The Gospel in Middle-Earth. Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 2020.

Johnson, Eric L. God & Soul Care: The Therapeutic Resources of the Christian Faith. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2017.

Keown, Mark J. Philippians. Evangelical Exegetical Commentary. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2017.

Levering, Matthew. Dying and the Virtues. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2018.

MacArthur, John. Luke 18–24. MacArthur New Testament Commentary. Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2014.

MacArthur, John F., Jr. John 12–21. MacArthur New Testament Commentary. Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2008.

Moltmann, Jürgen. The Coming of God: Christian Eschatology. Translated by Margaret Kohl. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2004.

Newsom, Carol A. “Angels: Old Testament.” In The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary, edited by David Noel Freedman. New York: Doubleday, 1992.

Noonan, Benjamin J. “Old Testament. Review of The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible by Michael S. Heiser.” Themelios, edited by Jerry Hwang, 2016.

Osborne, Grant R. Philippians: Verse by Verse. Osborne New Testament Commentaries. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2017.

Piper, John. Sermons from John Piper (1990–1999). Minneapolis, MN: Desiring God, 2007.

Emerson, Matthew Y. ”He Descended to the Dead”: An Evangelical Theology of Holy Saturday. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic: An Imprint of InterVarsity Press, 2019.

1. 1John F. MacArthur Jr., John 12–21, MacArthur New Testament Commentary (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2008), 33–34.
2. 2John MacArthur, Luke 18–24, MacArthur New Testament Commentary (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2014), 50–51.
3. 3June Hunt, Biblical Counseling Keys on Jesus: Is He God? Is the Deity of Christ Defendable? (Dallas, TX: Hope For The Heart, 2008), 39–40.
4. 4Michael T. Jahosky, The Good News of the Return of the King: The Gospel in Middle-Earth (Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 2020). [See here, here.]
5. 5Carol A. Newsom, “Angels: Old Testament,” in The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary, ed. David Noel Freedman (New York: Doubleday, 1992), 1:249.
6. 6Michael S. Heiser, Demons: What the Bible Really Says about the Powers of Darkness (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2020), 153–154.
7. 7Matthew Y. Emerson, “He Descended to the Dead”: An Evangelical Theology of Holy Saturday (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic: An Imprint of InterVarsity Press, 2019), 54.
8. 8Benjamin J. Noonan, “Old Testament. Review of The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible by Michael S. Heiser,” Themelios, ed. Jerry Hwang (2016), 41:2:306.
9. 9John Piper, Sermons from John Piper (1990–1999) (Minneapolis, MN: Desiring God, 2007). [See here.]
10. 10Grant R. Osborne, Philippians: Verse by Verse, Osborne New Testament Commentaries (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2017), 136.
11. 11Eric L. Johnson, God & Soul Care: The Therapeutic Resources of the Christian Faith (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2017), 257–258.
12. 12Mark J. Keown, Philippians, Evangelical Exegetical Commentary (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2017), 2:171.
13. 13Joel B. Green, 1 Peter, The Two Horizons New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2007), 216.