Prophecy

Review: Miracle Work

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Miracle Work

Miracle Work, Jordan Seng. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2013.

Summary: A description of how God wants to work through us to do things in the world, including supernatural things like healing, delivering people from demons, prophesying, or intercessory prayer.

Jordan Seng contends that the whole work of Christian ministry is God partnering with us to get things done in the world. In all of those things, God is the one empowering, and we are the ones doing–preaching, serving, calling people to faith. His contention is that this extends to the things we might call “supernatural”. God wants to partner with us in healing people, delivering them from the demonic, or speaking prophetically into people’s lives. He argues that God wants to work in these ways in a very “hands on” fashion literally–one person with another. It can be amazing, and it can be messy.

If you don’t come from a church where these things happen, this could be uncomfortable reading because it seems kind of wild, a bit out of control, or as Seng says, “weird.” But if we are convinced that God still wants to partner with his people in miraculous ways, as in other ways, then he suggests life could get pretty interesting.

One of the things about Seng’s book, as alluded to in the subtitle, is the “down to earthness” of his instruction. For example he describes his model of healing as follows:

  1. Locate a sick person.
  2. Place a hand on the person’s shoulder and say, “In the name of Jesus, be healed.”

That’s pretty much it.

I also appreciate his wisdom when healing does not occur to not look for a problem or lack of faith in the person prayed for, but to encourage people to return for prayer.

It’s similar in his instructions about the demonic, when one discerns the demonic(and he gives instruction on discerning), he simply says, “Demon, Jesus is Lord, and it is time for you to go. Now!” What I like here is that it is not elaborate rituals or formulas but the simple word of command in the name of Christ. This seems to conform most closely with biblical practice.

It is the case this does involve preparation in the life of the person ministering in these ways. All of this has to do with partnering with the God who is powerful so that his power grows in our lives. He proposes an equation that may seem over-simplistic to some, but that he unpacks in ways that make sense:

Authority + Gifting + Faith + Consecration = Power

Authority grows as a fruit of obedience to Jesus. While we can minister without gifting, gifting amplifies our ability to pursue that ministry. Faith grows as we believe (and invite others in our context to join us) God genuinely wants to do these good things, or rather wants us to do them in his power. Consecration involves separating from worldly practice and setting oneself apart by prayer and fasting. I had a mixed reaction to this “formula.” I absolutely affirm these elements. But he seems to speak in an almost quantitative way of amounts of each of these elements adding up to the amount of power and that lacks in one area can be made up for by plenty in other areas. I think I would simply want to pursue more of each, and nothing that hindered God’s work.

He also teaches in this book on ministries of prophecy and intercession. Each of the major teaching sections is inter-leaved with personal narrative. The book concludes with a discussion of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, marked in many instances but not all by speaking in tongues or some outward manifestation. This may be the most controversial for some, including myself, who would affirm that conversion and Spirit baptism go together. Yet I do think there is an important point in what he teaches. In many of our churches, we are effectively binatarians and do not instruct people in the presence and power of God’s Spirit in their lives, nor affirm the value of laying on of hands and praying for the fullness of the Spirit’s work in our lives. We would agree that this empowering presence is meant for all of the people of God.

I know of places where such things as Seng describes happen regularly. They believe God can work in power and they act in light of this knowledge. I wonder if what may hinder us in the places where this is not so is a combination of a very naturalistic outlook, and maybe more than a hint of fear that we really don’t want God to be that real. Maybe we fear abuses or excesses, but it always has seemed to me that the remedy for abuse is not disuse but proper use. What most persuaded me though was that God’s partnership with us in miraculous works is really no different from his partnership in the things we would deem more ordinary, and yet would seek to do in the power of God.

 

 

Review: The Theology of the Book of Isaiah

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Theology of IsaiahThe Theology of the Book of Isaiah, John Goldingay. Downers Grove, InterVarsity Press, 2014.

Summary: Taking the book of Isaiah as a whole and as it would have been read by its first readers, Goldingay both considers the theologies present in each major section of Isaiah, and traces the theological themes emerging from the book as a whole.

I wish I had this book a few years ago when I was teaching Isaiah in an adult ed class at my church. Isaiah’s 66 chapters encompass a sweeping vision extending from the reigns of Ahaz and Hezekiah to the post-exilic destiny of Israel and the nations. Most of the commentaries on Isaiah are multi-volume or lengthy single volume works. What makes this a great resource is that it is both a concise work and yet gives the reader a good grasp of the framework of the book and key theological themes, crucial to understanding the book. What is also refreshing is that rather than pursuing the endless discussion of “how many Isaiahs are there?” he simply deals with the book as we have it, “the book called Isaiah”.

Goldingay notes what many of us who have taught Isaiah have seen–this is no ordinary book of sequential narrative or discourse. Rather it is a collection of prophecies occurring over an extended period of time. Goldingay contends that this collection can be considered as five or six “collages” that make up the book: Chapters 1-12; chapters 13-27 (or a separate collage of 24-27); chapters 28-39; chapters 40-55; and chapters 56-66. The first part of the book then delineates the major theological themes to be found within each “collage”.

The second part of the book explores the theology that emerges from “the book called Isaiah” as a whole. The themes he explores, each in a short chapter are:

  • Revelation: Words of Yahweh mediated through human agents
  • The God of Israel, the Holy One, Yahweh Armies
  • Holy as Upright and Merciful
  • Israel and Judah
  • Jerusalem and Zion Critiqued and Threatened
  • Jerusalem and Zion Chastised and Restored
  • The Remains
  • The Nations
  • The Empires and Their Kings
  • Divine Sovereignty and Human Responsibility
  • Divine Planning and Human Planning
  • David
  • Yahweh’s Day

One thing that the reader should be aware of is that Goldingay does not read Isaiah in light of the New Testament but as its first readers would have considered it, which is actually careful scholarship and interpretation controlled by what is found within the book itself. This is most evident in his discussion of the “servant” passages, which he treats in terms of Israel, the prophet, and eventually Cyrus. I think he is right in the sense that these were in fact the only interpretive options that would have made sense to the first readers. Yet, this seems to evade the question of who in fact fulfilled this–neither Israel, Isaiah, nor Cyrus completely do so. The question the Ethiopian eunuch asks Philip recorded in Acts 8:34 reflects this enigma: “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?”

One of the most significant insights comes in his discussion, which recurs at several points of holiness as uprightness and mercifulness (mispat and sedaqa). He writes at one point:

“Mispat and sedaqa thus suggests the faithful exercise of power in community. People with power control resources; they will therefore make sure that ordinary people can share in resources such as land and food. People with power do control decision making in court, which meets at the city gate; they will see that judicial decisions are made in a fair way. People with power control what happens in community worship; they will make sure that it is offered in a way that is faithful to Yahweh.” (p. 22-23)

Israel in Isaiah’s day, and the church in our own have rarely worked with such a comprehensive vision of holiness, and we see that this is both Israel’s problem, and the realization of this vision, Yahweh’s intention. Goldingay’s approach teases out important themes like this, and Yahweh’s ultimate intention not only for Israel but the nations that might often be missed.

I would commend this book for anyone looking for a concise treatment of this book, including those, like me, who might be attempting to teach “the book called Isaiah” in an adult ed setting. Yet there is also the academic depth to make this an assigned text either in a seminary level course on Isaiah, or a wider survey of the prophets.