Alastair's Adversaria - Biblical Reading and Reflections: June 19th (Ezekiel 40 & Acts 17:16-34)

Episode Date: June 18, 2021

Ezekiel's visionary temple. Paul's speech on the Areopagus. My reflections are searchable by Bible chapter here: https://audio.alastairadversaria.com/explore/. If you are interested in supporting this project, please consider supporting my work on Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/zugzwanged), using my PayPal account (https://bit.ly/2RLaUcB), or buying books for my research on Amazon (https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/36WVSWCK4X33O?ref_=wl_share). You can also listen to the audio of these episodes on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/alastairs-adversaria/id1416351035?mt=2.

Ezekiel chapter 40 in the 25th year of our exile at the beginning of the year on the 10th day of the month, in the 14th year after the city was struck down. On that very day, the hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me to the city. In visions of God he brought me to the land of Israel, and set me down on a very high mountain, on which was a structure like a city to the south. When he brought me there, behold, there was a man whose appearance was like bronze, with a linen cord and a measuring reed in his hand, and he was standing in the gateway. And the man said to me, Son a man, look with your eyes and hear with your ears, and set your heart upon all that I shall show you,

for you were brought here in order that I might show it to you. Declare all that you see to the house of Israel. And behold, there was a wall all around the outside of the temple area, and the length of the measuring reed in the man's hand was six long cubits, each being a cubit and a hand-breadth in length. So he measured the thickness of the wall, one reed, and the height, one read. Then he went into the gateway facing east, going up its steps, and measured the threshold of the gate, one reed deep, and the side rooms, one read long and one read broad, and the space between the

side rooms, five cubits, and the threshold of the gate by the vestibule of the gate at the inner end, one read. Then he measured the vestibule of the gateway, on the inside, one read, then he measured the vestibule of the gateway, eight cubits, and its jams, two cubits, and the vestibule of the gate was at the inner end, and there were three side rooms on either side of the east gate. The three were of the same side, and the jams on either side were of the same size. Then he measured the width of the opening of the gateway, ten cubits, and the length of the gateway, 13 cubits. There was a barrier before the side rooms, one cubit on either side, and the side rooms were six cubits on either side. Then he measured the gate from the ceiling of the one side room to the ceiling of the other,

a breadth of 25 cubits. The openings faced each other. He measured also the vestibule, 60 cubits, and around the vestibule of the gateway was the court. From the front of the gate at the entrance to the front of the inner vestibule of the gate was 50 cubits, and the gateway had windows all around, narrowing inwards toward the side rooms and toward their jams, and likewise the vestibule had windows all around inside, and on the jams were palm trees. Then he brought me into the outer court, and behold there were chambers and a pavement all around the court.

Thirty chambers faced the pavement, and the pavement ran along the side of the gates, corresponding to the length of the gates. This was the lower pavement. Then he measured the distance from the inner front of the lower gate to the outer front of the inner gate, a hundred cubits on the east side and on the north side. As for the gate that faced toward the north,

belonging to the outer court, he measured its length and its breadth, its side rooms, three on either side, and its jams and its vestibules were of the same size as those of the first gate. Its length was 50 cubits, and its breadth, 25 cubits. And its windows, its vestibule and its palm trees, were of the same size as those of the gate that faced toward the east. And by seven steps, people would go up to it,

it and find its vestibule before them. And opposite the gate on the north, as on the east, was a gate to the inner court, and he measured from gate to gate a hundred cubits. And he led me toward the south, and behold, there was a gate on the south, and he measured its jams and its vestibule. They had the same size as the others. Both it and its vestibule had windows all around, like the windows of the others. Its length was 50 cubits and its breadth, 25 cubits, and there were seven steps leading up to it, and its vestibule was before them, and it had palm trees on its jams, one on either side, and there was a gate on the south of the inner court, and he measured from gate to gate toward the south, a hundred cubits. Then he brought me to the inner court through the south gate,

and he measured the south gate. It was of the same size as the others. Its side rooms, its jams, and its vestibule were of the same size as the others, and both it and its vestibule had windows all around. Its length was fifty cubits, and its own. It's length was fifty cubits, and its breadth, 25 cubits, and there were vestibules all around, 25 cubits long and 5 cubits broad. Its vestibule faced the outer court, and palm trees were on its jams, and its stairway had eight steps. Then he brought me to the inner court on the east side, and he measured the gate. It was of the same size as the others. Its side rooms, its jams, and its vestibule were of the same size as the others, and both it and its vestibule had windows all around. Its length was 50 cubits,

and its breadth, 25 cubits. Its vestibule faced the outer court, and it had palm trees on its jams on either side, and its stairway had eight steps. Then he brought me to the north gate, and he measured it. It had the same size as the others. Its side rooms, its jams, and its vestibule were of the same size as the others, and it had windows all around. Its length was 50 cubits, and its breadth, 25 cubits. Its vestibule faced the outer court, and it had palm trees on its jams, on either side, and its stairway had eight steps. There was a chamber with its door in the vestibule of the gate, where the burnt offering was to be washed, and in the vestibule of the gate were two tables on either side, on which the burnt offering and the sin offering and the guilt offering were to be

slaughtered, and off to the side, on the outside, as one goes up to the entrance of the north gate, were two tables, and off to the other side of the vestibule of the gate were two tables. Four tables were on either side of the gate, eight tables on which to slaughter, and there were four tables of hewn stone for the burnt offering, a cubit and a half long, and a cubit and a half broad, and one cubit high, on which the instruments were to be laid with which the burnt offerings and the sacrifices were slaughtered, and hooks, a hand-breadth long, were fastened all around within, and on the tables the flesh of the offering was to be laid. On the outside of the inner gateway there were two chambers in the inner court, one at the side of the north,

gate facing south, the other at the side of the south gate facing north, and he said to me, this chamber that faces south is for the priests who have charge of the temple, and the chamber that faces north is for the priests who have charge of the altar. These are the sons of Zadok, who alone among the sons of Levi, may come near to the Lord to minister to him. And he measured the court, a hundred cubits long, and a hundred cubits broad, a square, and the altar was in front of the temple. Then he brought me to the vestibule of the temple and measured the jams of the vestibule, five cubits on either side, and the breadth of the gate was 14 cubits, and the side walls of the gate were three cubits on either side. The length of the vestibule was 20 cubits,

and the breadth 12 cubits, and people would go up to it by ten steps, and there were pillars beside the jams, one on either side. Ezekiel chapter 40 is a long, challenging, yet remarkable passage concerning the design of a new temple. It's a vision packed with specific measurements. It suggests the possible presence of insights for the attentive hero or reader, while perplexing many, a popular line of futurist interpretation has regarded Ezekiel's visionary temple as a third temple yet to be built in Jerusalem. However, read in the context of the book as a whole, I believe that we should take a different approach to interpretation. In getting to grips with this prophecy, we should begin by getting our bearings. In the vision of chapters 8 to 11, the Lord abandoned

the temple in Jerusalem for the abominations performed by the people. The throne chariot of that vision and of the vision of chapter 1 seem to have similarities with the temple, suggesting an association between the divine throne chariot and the architectural edifice of the temple. Ezekiel chapter 40 is part of a series of prophecies of restoration of the people, of their return to the land, reunification as a single people and under a single Davidic king. In the chapters that follow, a vision of a restored Israel will be presented in detail. This is what Israel should and could be. Many Christians take this vision to refer to the age of the church. However, it seems to be dealing more specifically with realities pertaining to an old covenant time. There is a continuing sacrificial system, priesthood,

tribal apportioning of the land, and Jerusalem temple. The prophecy also focuses upon realities the boundaries of the land of Israel. In the book of Revelation, several elements of Ezekiel's prophecy of restoration are recalled in John's vision of the New Jerusalem, yet there are several clear contrasts between Ezekiel's vision and John's vision, which challenges the suggestion that the primary referent of Ezekiel's vision is in the age of the church. This does not mean, of course, that Ezekiel's vision should not be regarded as anticipating and prefiguring elements of the age of the church. It definitely does this. But as a prophecy, it is especially concerned with its own age. Daniel Block observes, for instance, the absence of eschatological language in this vision,

things like on that day or in the latter days. Clearly, a physical version of Ezekiel's temple, as he literally describes it, was never built. Indeed, it is not clear that such a building could even be built. Like the New Jerusalem as described in Revelation, we shouldn't regard Ezekiel's temple as a literal building, but as a symbolic building. The dimensions of the New Jerusalem in Revelation chapter 21 are extreme. It's a cube of about 1,380 miles, or 2,200 kilometres in its height, length and width. Understood this way, the vision is bizarre. The meaning of the dimensions becomes more apparent when we consider the form in which the measurements are given to us in the text itself, has 12,000 stadia with a wall of 144 cubits.

These numbers, 12 by 10 by 10 by 10, and 12 by 12, clearly have symbolic significance, connecting the edifice with the perfected Israel and people of God. The fact that it is a cube connects it also with the cube of the Holy of Holies. Ezekiel chapter 43 verses 10 to 11 gives the hero of this book a sense of the purpose of the extended description of the temple and its measurements. As for you, son of man, describe to the house of Israel the temple that they may be ashamed of their iniquities, and they shall measure the plan. And if they are ashamed of all that they have done, make known to them the design of the temple, its arrangement, its exits and its entrances,

that is, its whole design, and make known to them as well all its statutes, and its whole design and all its laws, and write it down in their sight, so that they may observe all its its laws and all its statues and carry them out. A crucial thing to notice is that no instruction is ever given to build this temple. Rather, Ezekiel is guided through an existing visionary structure and told to measure it. The dimensions of the tabernacle and the Solomonic temple, their contents and their rituals, were given in some detail because they were symbolic buildings, buildings designed to communicate something of the truth. As buildings, they represented many different things. They stood for the cosmos, for the people as a whole, and for the individual

Israelite. The meaning of these buildings was to be understood in part through seeing their physical form and the performance of practices ordained within them. However, much of their meaning would also have been revealed textually. Only a very small handful of people in a generation would see inside the inmost part of the temple. But every Israelite should have a sense of what was within it, from the instructions delivered to Moses for its construction recorded in the Book of Exodus. Likewise, hardly anyone would have measured the actual edifice, but the exact measurements were given in the instructions delivered to Moses. People would have reflected upon the tabernacle and temple,

not merely as physical constructions, but also as textually represented. Ezekiel's temple never became a physical construction, and it never will, but it is an exceptionally elaborate and developed literary representation. of a symbolic building, of a perfected Israel, of Israel as it could be. As a symbolic building, its meaning is rich and multifaceted, but it likely requires close and sustained communal meditation and reflection to start to discern it. In particular, the Lord declares that close consideration of the temple design would lead Israel to be ashamed of their iniquities and spur them to obedience.

As we too consider Ezekiel's temple, we need to puzzle over how. how it would accomplish this end. The chapter begins by dating the vision, in the 25th year, the 10th day, and the 14th year after the city was struck down. As a book, Ezekiel has an unusual number of dates in it, and these dates are often recorded with a surprising degree of specificity, which raises the possibility that something more might be going on.

Back in chapter 1 verses 1 to 2, the dating of Ezekiel's first prophecy was recorded as follows. In the 30th year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I was among the exiles by the Kibar Canal, the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God. On the fifth day of the month, it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiakin. That dating is surprising. We're never informed as to what the 30th year is dated from, and the fifth day of the month is repeated in the reference.

When we see such anomalies in the text, it's usually a good sign to look closer, Examining the text more closely, James Bejohn argues that the repetition of the fifth day of the month makes more sense when we appreciate Ezekiel's numerological preoccupations with the Jubilee. The Jubilee occurred after 49 years, in the 50th year. Ezekiel's prophecy makes a lot of use of Jubilee-related numbers, 25, half a Jubilee, 49 and 50. And nowhere in the book of Ezekiel is more use made of these numbers than in Chapter 40, Adding together the numbers in chapter 1 versus 1 to 2, we get 30 plus 4 plus 5 plus 5 plus 5, which makes 49.

This is curious, especially when we consider the awkwardness of the repetition that makes this sum work. However, it might easily be chalked up to randomness. The claim, however, that it is random, is weakened by chapter 40 verse 1, where we have three numbers, 25, 10 and 14, which again totaled to 49. 25 is also half a Jubilee, an auspicious number in this chapter, often repeated. The picture is filled out by some further details that an observant hero might notice. First, the 25th year of the exile is 20 years after the vision of chapter 1. That vision was dated in the 30th year, so we are now in the 50th year. This lends plausibility to the claim that the numbering was that of the Jubilee year itself.

Second, the events occur at the turn of the year. seemingly the same time that the downfall of Jerusalem was described as occurring in 2 Chronicles chapter 36 verse 10. Yet the turn of the year is here connected with the 10th of the month. Some have connected this detail with Exodus chapter 12 versus 1 to 3, where on the newly appointed first month on the 10th day, the children of Israel had to take a lamb for the Passover. However, there is another possibility, as Bajan argues, the 10th was the first of a special sort of year, the Jubilee year. In Leviticus chapter 25 versus 8 to 10, the law of the Jubilee is recorded for us. You shall count seven weeks of years, seven times seven years, so that the time of the seven weeks of

years shall give you 49 years. Then you shall sound the loud trumpet on the 10th day of the seventh month. On the day of atonement, you shall sound the trumpet throughout all your land, and you shall consecrate the 50th year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. it shall be a Jubilee for you, when each of you shall return to his property, and each of you shall return to his clan. The tenth of the month, on the turn of the 50th year, by the dating of chapter 1 verse 1, might well be the day of the Jubilee. The numerous allusions to Jubilee in the numbers of this passage, and those that follow, only give further weight to this theory. Ezekiel is taken to a very high mountain in the land of Israel in his vision. While the temple is presumably in Jerusalem, there is no

really high mountain there, rather the mountain should be understood as the symbolic cosmic mountain, upon which he sees the structure of the visionary temple like a city. When he is brought to the mountain, he sees a man with an appearance like bronze, with a linen cord and a measuring reed, who would guide him through the edifice as the figure in chapter 8, and give him its measurements, using the cord and the reed to do so. When reading these chapters of Ezekiel and reflecting upon their symbolic numbers. It is important to bear in mind that it is sacred space that is usually measured. The measurements are significant in their details, but the fact that we have measurements at all is an indication that we are dealing with locations that are marked out from common realms.

The extensive measurement of the temple's city and land in this and the chapters that follow serve to indicate the spread of holy status beyond the immediate realm of the temple itself. The measurements begin with the first part of the temple complex that Ezekiel encounters, the surrounding wall. The wall is measured with the measuring reed that the man has. We are told the length of the measuring reed itself, six cubits, which would be about ten and a half feet, and more curiously, that the cubits in question were long cubits. Block notes that the regular cubit were six spans or hand breaths, whereas this one would have been the equivalent of seven.

As Stephen Cook notes, this closely corresponds with the length of the Egyptian royal cubit. Interesting though that fact is, given the Jubilee themes that pervade this chapter, we should probably recognize a symbolism in the unit of measurement itself, a six-span measurement lengthened to the equivalent length as a seven-span measurement, although it's important for later measurements to bear in mind that the hand-breadths or spans were also lengthened in terms of it. This might remind us of the order of the week, made up of six regular days and one holy day of the Sabbath. By distinguishing the measurement being employed from the regular measurement, the hearer is made to think of the connection with the Sabbath more generally.

This is a sort of sabbatical measurement, each measurement standing as it were, for a week, crowned with its Sabbath. The temple is oriented towards the east, which of course is where we get the word oriented from. The east gate would be the most natural place to begin a tour of the temple. The gate is approached with steps. Later we are informed that there are seven of these steps in the corresponding gates on other sides, so we should presume that there are seven here. The steps in different parts of the temple invite us to think of a movement into the temple as an ascent up, something that was always symbolically the case.

As you move into the holier parts of the tabernacle or temple, you are symbolically ascending to the presence of God. Within the gate there are three side rooms, each with a one reed or six cubits square floor plan, presumably to serve as guard rooms. Each were separated by five cubits. Pass these side rooms was the vestibule, a larger room that was the final room when would pass through before one left the gate. Perhaps we are to see some significance in the fact that the gate had seven chambers, six side rooms of equal proportions, a reed or six cubits square, presumably devoted to the labour of guarding, and a larger antechamber, which would be the last of the rooms that you would pass through, this might be a visual

representation of the Sabbath. The gate was 25 cubits in width, and from the front entrance to the exit, 50 cubits in length. If we tot up all of the measurements of the specific parts that are described, the 50 cubits measurement can be confirmed. The entrance of the gate was tall, 13 cubits, and the gate itself was 60 cubits high. The gateway was decorated with palm trees. Next came the outer court, surrounded by 30 chambers and a pavement. The inner court was set back from the interior of the outer court by 100 cubits on each of three sides. The northern gate is described as pretty much identical to the eastern gate by which Ezekiel first entered, although we are also told that it was opposite a gate to the inner court and that it had seven steps,

again a sabbatical number. We shall presume the Eastern Gate also had this number of steps. The Southern Gate, described next, is the same as the Northern Gate. Next, moving up from the Southern Gate to the Outer Court, Ezekiel and the Man enter the inner court by its Southern Gate, which has the same dimensions and features, save for the fact that its stairway has eight steps. Perhaps there is some significance in seven steps plus one,

much as the Jubilee is seven-seventh-seventh-sevens plus one as the fifth. year. The east and the north of the inner court also have gates with the same features as the southern gate that Ezekiel described. We should note that six gates have been described. The seventh gate is the gate to the sanctuary itself. In verses 38 to 43, the measurement of the temple complex is briefly suspended for a description of facilities for the preparation of sacrifices. Here the key number is four, a number connected with the altar, with its four sides and four horns. As Leslie Alan observes, the locations for the preparation of the sacrifices distinguished between the relative holiness of the sin and guilt offerings and the burnt offerings and peace offerings. In verses 44 to 46,

Ezekiel records the chambers for priests, one located at the north facing south and the other at the south gate facing north. These are for the priestly guardians of the temple and and the altar respectively. The priestly gods guard the realm of God's holiness, represented by the temple, and the people represented by the altar. Those performing these roles must not only be Levites, but must be Zedokites. The chapter ends with measurements of the inner court, which is a hundred cubits long and broad, a square. We should probably recall the fact that the Holy of Holies, or most holy place, the inner sanctuary, was a square, and the holy place was a rectangle with a two to one length to breadth ratio. The tabernacle was set in a courtyard with a two to one length to breadth

ratio. To understand the significance of the dimensions of different temples and sanctuaries in scripture, it's important to compare and contrast their respective measurements and proportions. Note that Ezekiel's temple gates have a two to one length to breadth ratio, while its courts are more sacred squares. This is an amplification of the holiness of the place. The final seventh gate is, is into the temple itself, which will lead to the throne room of the Lord, the great final square. There are ten steps leading up to this, as Bajana observes to enter the temple, you would ascend twenty-five steps, seven for a gate to the outer court, eight for a gate to the inner court, and ten to the temple itself.

The theme of ascent to God's holy presence continues. A question to consider, what are some of the other sacred structures that are measured in scripture? can you think of lessons we can learn by comparing and contrasting the measurements of some of these other structures? Acts chapter 17 versus 16 to 34 Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols. So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who happen to be there,

some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also conversed with him and some said what does this Bavala wish to say others said he seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection and they took him and brought him to the ariopagus saying may we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting for you bring some strange things to our ears we wish to know therefore what these things mean now all the Athenians and the foreigners who live there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new. So Paul, standing in the midst of the Ariopagus, said, Men of Athens, I perceived that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship,

I found also an altar with this inscription to the unknown God. What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you, the God who made the world and everything in it, being loved. Lord of heaven and earth does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything, and he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far,

from each one of us, for in him we live and move and have our being, as even some of your own poets have said, for we are indeed his offspring. Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead. Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some marked, but others said, we will hear you again about this.

So Paul went out from their midst, but some men joined him and believed, among whom were Dionysius the Ariopigite and a woman named Amaris and others with them. Facing a threat to his safety earlier in Acts chapter 17, Paul was moved away from Berea by some of the believers in verse 15. Paul was now in Athens alone, waiting for Silas and Timothy to rejoin him. No longer a great centre of power and population, the population of Athens had dwindled considerably by Paul's day. Once one of the most powerful cities in the world, Athens was now overshadowed by the Roman city of Corinth. Athens still had considerable symbolic value on account of its continuing association with culture and learning.

Paul was deeply distressed at the abundance of idols and images within the city. This reaction was a characteristically Jewish one, much that Paul says in this passage will reflect common Jewish polemics against idolatry. Consistent with the general pattern of his missionary work, Paul first focuses upon the synagogue, where he reasons daily with the Jews and with Gentile worshippers. He also speaks to the wider population within the marketplace. Among the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers who encounter him, the accusation is made that he is a babbler or seed picker and a proclaimer of foreign gods.

They seem to think that he's just a dabbler. He picks up one philosophical notion here, another over there, and strings them together without any thought to how it all fits. These charges challenge both Paul's spiritual authority. and the right of the religion that he proclaimed to a place within Athenian life. Some commentators have suggested that the second charge that Paul proclaimed foreign gods arose from the misconception that resurrection was a female deity alongside Jesus. This charge also recalls the charge that was made against Socrates.

This is not the first time that Luke seems to have referred to Socrates within his text. In chapter 5 verse 29, there is another allusion to Socrates, as the Apostle. speak about the fact that they must obey God rather than the man. In aligning Paul with Socrates in this manner, Luke presents him as wise, and the Athenians as foolish and repeating the mistakes of their ancestors. This likely serves Luke's apologetic ends. Paul is then brought to the Ariopagus. Whether this is a situation resembling a formal trial,

or merely an attempt by a curious counsel to get a clearer sense of where Paul's teaching stands, is unclear. The softened form of the challenge to Paul might suggest the latter. The description of the Athenians and the foreigners of the city is not a flattering one. They are, as Luke characterizes them, driven by a lazy and a fadish curiosity, rather than by a genuine love for and commitment to the truth. Robert Garland has argued that there were three criteria for the introduction of a new religion to the city of Athens. First, the sponsor must claim to represent a deity.

Second, he must provide evidence that the deity is eager to reside in Athens, and third, the deity's residence in Athens must benefit Athenians as a mark of its goodwill. In the speech that follows, Paul subversively addresses each of these conditions. The manner of Paul's speech provides evidence of his scholarly training. His opening reference to the extreme religiousness of the Athenians has an ambiguity that he will proceed to exploit, As a reference to the piety of his audience, it could be regarded as a shrewd attempt to create a favourable impression. However, through his reference to the altar of the unknown god, Paul paints a picture of an excessive, superstitious piety.

In the saturated market of Athenian idolatry, Paul identifies this monument to uninformed devotion as an object that epitomises the religion of the city, a religion characteristic of the times of human ignorance that he discusses in verse 3.3. Paul declares the transcendence and the sovereignty of God as the creator of all things. This deity is related to all human beings and is involved in the life and the destiny of the race. God's engagement in and ordering of humanity's life occurs in order that humanity might grope for him and find him. Such a transcendent deity who is reflected in humanity as his offspring cannot appropriately be represented by inanimate idols of our own creation, having introduced this transcendent personal providentially active deity intimately engaged in human affairs Paul proclaims the end of the age of ignorance and groping in the darkness with the revelation of Jesus as the bearer of God's salvation and judgment.

This message might remind us of one of the earlier run-ins that Paul had with idolatry, back in Listern in chapter 14, where Paul delivered a similar message in verses 15 to 17. Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men of like nature with you, and we bring you good news that you should turn from these vain things to a living God who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them. In past generations he allowed all the nations to walk in their own ways, yet he did not leave himself without witness, for he did good by giving you reins from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness. While Paul is speaking to pagans. He is presenting them with a message that is very clearly shaped by a Jewish understanding

of divine creation and providence. This is not a God who is distanced from the world. Rather, he is a God who is very close to everyone. He is a God who is our father, and he is the God in whom we live and move and have our being. He is the God who directs the affairs of man. He has divided the nations, appointed their times and their places of habitation, and now he is brought to an end the age of their ignorance, calling all people to respond to the message of Christ, who holds the destiny of the whole human race within his hands. He is the one who will judge all, something that's demonstrated by the fact that he was raised from the dead.

The religious marketplace of the Athenians may seem rather remote from that of the more secular world that we inhabit. However, we can learn much from Paul's approach to the Athenians, particularly from Paul's initial move. As to Morchalik argues, the altar to an altar to an unhabilist. unknown God is precisely the most appropriate place for proclaiming the Christian message. He claims, I am convinced that if anyone wants to preach the good news of the paradoxical God of the Bible, he has to find the altar to an unknown God. To speak about Christ at the altar to

familiar gods would be blasphemy or risk even greater misunderstanding than on that occasion at the Athenian Ariopagus. While Paul speaks of the altar to the unknown God and announces that he is proclaiming that God to them. We should observe that although he is finding common ground, he is completely subverting their religious system. The god that Paul proclaims cannot just be fitted into the existing pantheon as yet another god to be worshipped. He overturns the whole pantheon. He is, as Paul presents him, the god that shows the futility of all idolatry. He is the one true god and he is beyond the control or the representation of man. Paul's message at the ariopagus received a lukewarm response. His declarative

of a god who lays claim to humanity in Jesus Christ, his revealed and appointed agent of blessing and judgment, cut entirely against the grain of both speculative and superstitious religion, the forms of religion that prevailed in the city of Athens. The listless Athenian preoccupation with hearing something new was answered with a demand for absolute commitment. The darkness of superstition was scattered by the dazzling light of divine revelation. The council desiring to cast judgment on a new religion

found itself called to account before the bar of heaven. It is this same message that we are called declared to the powers and the rulers and the thinkers of our own age. In our societies, God is often experienced as the thoroughly known God, the God who hold no surprises. We can talk about ourselves as living in Christian countries, and this claim, although it can be an encouraging one for some Christians to hear, should excite some concerns.

In the comfortable alignment of Christianity and our national heritage, heritage and identity and culture, God is easily rendered familiar and unthreatening, a tame and mute idol to our cultural and social values. This sort of dynamic can especially be seen in civil religion, where Christian values are routinely appealed to with the assurance that they align in all principal respects with our particular movements, identities and solidities. In responding to this, we must join with Paul in proclaiming the transcendent God who stands above and orders all human affairs.

sustaining and upholding us in existence, closer to us than closeness itself, this God alludes all attempts to reduce him to an object of our mastery. Like Paul, we must locate the gaps in the captive webs of our cultural idolatries, declaring the identity of our God from these points and calling all to account. A question to consider, how does Paul's speech on the Ariopagus represent something of the conflict between Jewish and Christian patterns of religion and belief and the patterns of religious belief

that were more common in a Hellnistic context.