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You Have Put All Things Under His Feet

Psalms 6, 8–10, 14

November 13, 2022 • Psalm 8, Psalm 9, Psalm 10, Psalm 14, Psalm 6

THE PSALMS we study this week are especially timely, coming as they do after a contentious midterm election in the United States. At the end of the day, regardless of how the vote turned out, God is still on His throne, and He, for one, was not surprised by the results.


We also discuss a psalm not usually interpreted as messianic. Psalm 8 includes several verses quoted by the author of Hebrews:


What is man that you are mindful of him,

    and the son of man that you care for him?

Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings

    and crowned him with glory and honor.

You have given him dominion over the works of your hands;

    you have put all things under his feet… (Psalm 8:4–6, ESV)


These verses are quoted in Hebrews 2:6–8, where it’s clear that “the son of man” refers to Jesus, the Messiah. Most Bible teachers don’t see it that way, for some reason.


We dig deeper into the title “Son of Man” and how it emerged as a messianic title during the first century BC in the Book of Parables, chapters 37–71 of the Book of 1 Enoch. That was written by an Essene living near the Sea of Galilee before the end of the reign of Herod the Great—in other words, before the birth of Jesus.


Even though we only see the term used in a messianic context in Psalm 8:4 and Daniel 7:13 (where it’s a description—“one like a son of man”—not a title), the Book of Parables uses it 17 times of the messianic figure who is prophesied to execute judgment on the the wicked, both human and divine, and Jesus applied it to himself more than 80 times in the New Testament.


Significantly, “the son of man” does not appear in any Jewish literature from the first centuries BC or AD other than the Book of 1 Enoch and the New Testament.


For more details on the Essenes, the parables of Enoch, and their influence on the New Testament, we recommend the research of Dr. John Ben-Daniel.

Together in the Garden of Love

March 10, 2024 • Song of Songs 6, Song of Songs 7, Song of Songs 8, Proverbs 1

IT’S APPARENT why the Song of Solomon is not often preached in church.  It is a beautiful and poetic description of the love and desire felt by a husband and wife, but the euphemisms that describe physical intimacy between Solomon can raise awkward questions from children in the congregation! But if you have been blessed with a loving marital relationship, you know. We also begin the proverbs of Solomon this week. Chapter 1 emphasizes the importance of wisdom, which begins with the fear of (or reverence toward) God. We also explain why the personification of Wisdom in Proverbs 1, and later in Proverbs 8, does not mean that there is a feminine aspect to the godhead, nor does it mean that God has a “wife.”

As a Lily Among Brambles

March 3, 2024 • Song of Songs 5, Song of Songs 1, Song of Songs 2, Song of Songs 3, Song of Songs 4

THE SONG OF SOLOMON has layers of meaning. On the surface, it’s a beautiful depiction of the intimate relationship between a husband and wife. At a deeper level, it’s a picture of the mutual love between Christ and his church. We discuss the first five chapters and note the bride’s description of herself as “very dark, but lovely,” which is not based on racial characteristics but implies one whose skin is darkened by the sun—a laborer, one of lower social status than her husband. Nonetheless, the husband, who may be Solomon, is clearly in love with his bride.

The Prayer of Solomon

February 25, 2024 • 2 Chronicles 1, Psalm 72

SOLOMON’S PRAYER for wisdom pleased God, who honored Solomon’s wish and granted him more besides. 2 Chronicles picks up the story of Solomon from the beginning of his reign around 971 BC. At this time, the tabernacle of Moses was still at Gibeon, a city in the territory of Benjamin just north of Jerusalem, although the ark of the covenant was in Jerusalem. The wealth of Solomon is legendary. It’s possible that the political situation in the eastern Mediterranean after the Bronze Age Collapse around 1200–1175 BC left a power vacuum that was filled by the kingdom of David and Solomon, but the hand of God was in all of the events. We detour briefly into the history of the era and how such seemingly unconnected events like the Trojan War (c. 1200 BC) may have created some of the political entities, like Kue (probably Mycenaean Greeks) mentioned in 2 Chr. 1:16, with which David and Solomon had dealings. We also discuss Psalm 72, a prayer for the new king, and note the interesting connection made by the Jewish scholars who translated the Septuagint between “oppression” and usury (Ps. 72:14), the practice of lending money with an unreasonably high rate of interest. It sounds like present day credit cards!