Summary

In this final episode, we look at Webb and Oeste’s insightful final chapter. Here, they look at how the death, resurrection, and final victory of Jesus forever changes – and in fact undoes – the place of warfare and violence in God’s kingdom. Jesus’ death undoes ethnic strife and conflict, but rather makes for peace, reconciliation, and forgiveness. We think about the power of having a God who meets us and even suffers with us in our hurt, and in the hurt and torment of the world. We look at the way that war in the New Testament is conceived of as spiritual struggle, and especially at the way that Revelation (though often used wrongly!) provides the ultimate subversive war text as Jesus himself on the last day speaks defeat of the enemies of God, and speaks peace into existence.


Notes

1) Exodus 26:31-37 gives instruction for the creation of the veil that separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies. The Holy Place was where the priests performed their regular duties, and contained the altar of incense, the table for the bread, the lampstand. The Holy of Holies held only the Ark of the Covenant, and only the High Priest could go there, and only once a year, on the Day of Atonement. The Ark of the Covenant represented God's presence. He was envisioned as enthroned upon it, "between the cherubim" (Isa 37:16). The direct, unmediated presence of God was dangerous to sinful humans. The instructions in Leviticus 16 that detail how the high priest is to enter the holy place is closer to hazmat protocols than what we perceive of as worship. Thus when the curtain tears at Jesus' death, access to the divine is suddenly, vividly, and even (one might say) violently restored.


2) Webb and Oeste scooped up much that they had to leave on the cutting room floor and included it in a fabulous set of appendices, which are available for free (link below). They are well worth the read to investigate many of these issues further.

https://www.ivpress.com/Media/Default/Downloads/Excerpts-and-Samples/5249-Appendixes.pdf


3) Our thanks and appreciation to our partners:

A production of the Centre for the Study of Bible and Violence.
https://www.csbvbristol.org.uk/


Podcast cover art by Studio of Broken Things
https://www.facebook.com/ISA4048


Intro music "Br1ghter" by Tape Machines (feat. Le June & Nbhd Nick)