Our final reference to ‘sojourners’ takes us back to Abraham and the patriarchs, and back to Hebrews – which will become familiar territory, since 10 of the 20 NT references to ‘skene’ are from this book. We are still in chapter 11, the roll-call of the heroes of faith, where verse 9 launched our study of ‘katoiko’ and ‘paroiko’. In verses 13-16 the writer draws out the implications of Abraham’s tent-dwelling lifestyle, and also lays down the outlines for much of our study of ‘skene’. The patriarchs, he says, “all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them and welcomed them from afar; they confessed that they were strangers and sojourners (‘xenoi’ and ‘parepidemoi’) on the earth, and those who say this make it clear that they are searching for a homeland. If by this they meant the homeland from which they had come, they would have had the opportunity to return there. But in fact they were reaching out for a better homeland, a home in heaven. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.” We have here, briefly sketched out for us, the whole story of the bible, and, mapped out for us, the universal journey of mankind, from a tent to a city. A tent is essentially temporary and moveable – and so collapsible; the city is “the City with foundations, whose architect and maker is God” (v.10). The writer of Hebrews sees the whole history of the Jewish nation, from Abraham to Solomon, as an allegory, a “Pilgrim’s Progress”, a book whose famous first sentence begins “As I walked through the wilderness of this world”, and which ends triumphantly in the Celestial City.
Sunday, 18 December 2011
SKENE 3 b: NT iii - Hebrews
Our final reference to ‘sojourners’ takes us back to Abraham and the patriarchs, and back to Hebrews – which will become familiar territory, since 10 of the 20 NT references to ‘skene’ are from this book. We are still in chapter 11, the roll-call of the heroes of faith, where verse 9 launched our study of ‘katoiko’ and ‘paroiko’. In verses 13-16 the writer draws out the implications of Abraham’s tent-dwelling lifestyle, and also lays down the outlines for much of our study of ‘skene’. The patriarchs, he says, “all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them and welcomed them from afar; they confessed that they were strangers and sojourners (‘xenoi’ and ‘parepidemoi’) on the earth, and those who say this make it clear that they are searching for a homeland. If by this they meant the homeland from which they had come, they would have had the opportunity to return there. But in fact they were reaching out for a better homeland, a home in heaven. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.” We have here, briefly sketched out for us, the whole story of the bible, and, mapped out for us, the universal journey of mankind, from a tent to a city. A tent is essentially temporary and moveable – and so collapsible; the city is “the City with foundations, whose architect and maker is God” (v.10). The writer of Hebrews sees the whole history of the Jewish nation, from Abraham to Solomon, as an allegory, a “Pilgrim’s Progress”, a book whose famous first sentence begins “As I walked through the wilderness of this world”, and which ends triumphantly in the Celestial City.
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