Rest is a wonderful thing. It is most blessed when one rests in such a way that a delight in God is strengthened. Praying, reading good books, studying the Scriptures, having sweet communion with friends and family—these have produced a Spring Break ’08 for which I will always be grateful.
Consider it a blessing or a curse, God has given me a voracious appetite for books. Whenever I have a break from my studies, I consume book after book, satisfied at the abundance potluck of wisdom present in so many theologians today. After purchasing Bruce Waltke’s An Old Testament Theology, this long-awaited book has not been a disappointment. I am over one hundred pages in, and he is essentially still introducing his presuppositions to biblical theology, the approach that is the backbone of his enormous book.
On poetics and intertextuality, Waltke goes to great lengths to parse various types of literary forms present in the Old Testament. Despite its consistent intricate nature, it is a tremendous feast for the soul. Consider the following paragraph from the book:
A contrast can be discerned in the type scenes involving meeting a bride at the well in Haran. In one scene, Abraham’s servant meets Rebekah at the well when he is in prayer, trusting God to lead him to the right bride for Isaac. In a second story, Abraham’s grandson Jacob is at the well in his flight from his murderous brother, Esau. This story relates that there is a huge rock over the well, such that three shepherds cannot move it, but Jacob moves it single-handedly. The “bride at the well” narratives contrast a servant who is strong in prayer with Jacob, who is strong in brute strength; they contrast a happy wedding with an unhappy wedding. The former is rewarded with a beautiful and virtuous bride whose faith in I AM outstrips that of her husband; the latter gains a beautiful bride who clings to her old family idols. The message, though not initially perceptible, becomes clear: Power in prayer is greater than power in human strength in establishing God’s kingdom, but nowhere does the narrator of Genesis command his audience to pray (118, emphasis mine).
What wonderful insights! May God grant me a wife like Rebekah, not like Rachel. May her beauty be primarily an inward beauty (1 Pet 3), of a soft heart and humble spirit that loves God and yearns to do his will. Similarly, may I be a man of prayer, like the faithful servant of Abraham that sought God’s face. May I not be tempted by superficial and temporal beauties, but may God grant an eternal, transcendental view of his beauty and its reflections in his covenant people.
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