The death and resurrection of Jesus extends far beyond our individual eternal fates. It brings the defeat of all the evil powers which plague the world. As we see the ever-presence of evil in our world, we should be reminded of the story of Scripture which sets evil in proper perspective. New Testament scholars frequently speak of the “powers” in the writings of the apostle Paul. By the powers, we refer to those spiritual forces which are invisibly at work in the world, holding sway over those who do not share in the victory of the Messiah. Probably the most well-known examples of the powers in Paul are Sin and Death, which Paul personifies, particularly in Romans 5-8. Sin and Death are not just consequences or ideas, they are active forces waging war upon the cosmos. Through human disobedience (Adam in particular), Sin enters the world, bringing Death with it (Rom 5:12-13). Sin’s power increases (5:20). Sin takes the good Law God had given Israel and coopts it, using it to bring humans under Death’s power (7:7-20), thus reigning over humanity with Death (5:21). The death and resurrection of Jesus, however, frees those “in Him” from Sin’s power (6:1-4). Jesus quite literally rescues us from Sin and its reign. Since Death was defeated through Jesus’ resurrection, it does not reign over him or over those who trust in Him (6:8-11). Sin must no longer be the commanding power over the follower of Jesus (6:8-14). We owe it allegiance no longer. A transfer of authority has taken place, freeing believers to live, through the power of the Son and the Spirit, faithfully before God.
This concept and narrative from Paul may be familiar to many. We find even greater significance in how this accords with the Old Testament. Israel was no stranger to oppression. The fledgling nation experienced it in Egypt. This story, likewise, is familiar to most. Though Israel had helped Egypt prosper through the leadership of Joseph, a new king who did not remember Joseph, or perhaps did not care to, worried about the growing number of the Israelites and decided to enslave them. After much conflict between Moses and his God and the Pharaoh and his gods, the Israelites are freed from their bondage. God freed Israel from the oppression of Egypt (and its powers) in order to bring them to a place of blessing and prosperity. The exodus becomes the paradigmatic event of salvation through the Old Testament. Israel remembers it through the keeping of Passover, it establishes a pattern for how they think of God (Deut 26:5-11), and they long for it whenever oppression again rears its head. That the exodus event serves as a soteriological paradigm is widely accepted. The event is first anticipated in Genesis 15:13-14, where God warns that Abraham’s descendants will be oppressed in Egypt but will be rescued and blessed with many possessions. Israel remembers and celebrates the exodus at the dedication of the temple (1 Kgs 8:46-53), but even here we find recognition that Israel would again, because of their sin, be subject to oppressors. And this is indeed what occurs. In 722 BCE, Israel is conquered and sent into exile by the Assyrians (2 Kgs 18). Israel’s transgression of the covenant with Moses, the covenant given as a result of the exodus, is cited as the reason for their captivity (2 Kgs 18:11-12). In 586 BCE, the southern kingdom of Judah experiences the same plight at the hands of the Babylonians (2 Kgs 24:10-25:30). It is probably no accident that the author includes a small note that the people (or at least a portion of them) fled to Egypt after the siege of Jerusalem (2 Kgs 25:26). Though the people flee to Egypt for refuge, there is a sense in which Israel is back where they started. In a foreign place(s) at the mercy of a foreign people(s) and displaced from the land which God promised to them. Some of the richest theological material in the Old Testament is found in the exilic and post-exilic prophets. Isaiah perhaps stands as the best example of the anticipation of a new exodus. Israel lived under the authority of foreign oppressors, just as they did at the hand of the Egyptians. They waited for God to bring them deliverance again, just as he had in Egypt and so many times thereafter. Take for example Isaiah 43:1-5: But now, thus says the Lord, your Creator, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel, “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine! When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, nor will the flame burn you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I have given Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in your place. Since you are precious in My sight, since you are honored and I love you, I will give other men in your place and other peoples in exchange for your life. Do not fear, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and gather you from the west. Or Isaiah 49:5-7 And now says the Lord, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant, to bring Jacob back to Him, so that Israel might be gathered to Him (For I am honored in the sight of the Lord, and My God is My strength), He says, “It is too [d]small a thing that You should be My Servant to raise up the tribes of My salvation may [f]reach to the end of the earth. Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel and its Holy One, to the despised One, to the One abhorred by the nation, to the Servant of rulers, “Kings will see and arise, princes will also bow down, because of the Lord who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel who has chosen You. Or Isaiah 51:10-11 Was it not You who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep; who made the depths of the sea a pathway for the redeemed to cross over? So the ransomed of the Lord will return and come with joyful shouting to Zion, and everlasting joy will be on their heads. They will obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing will flee away. Israel’s prophets anticipated the day when God would restore Israel, rescuing them from their foreign oppressors, bringing them back into the land, defeating their enemies, and establishing peace. Just as he did in Egypt when he led them through the waters and freed them from the pursuing Egyptians, so they waited for God to act again. Over and over again, the exodus is heralded as the paradigmatic event of salvation. When Israel needs deliverance, it is the recreation of the exodus which they expect. But did he ever come through? Did God fulfill his promises? Israel would continue to live under the authority of foreign oppressors. Though they were allowed to go back to the land, they never regained their independence. There was a brief stint, thanks to the Maccabees, when the Jewish people enjoyed self-rule for nearly 100 years (c. 142 BCE – 63BCE), but they otherwise were never freed from their oppressors. What does this have to do with Paul and the “powers”? Quite a bit I think. Israel struggled throughout its history trying to gain or maintain national independence. Though they enjoyed periods of self-rule under David, Solomon, and the Hasmoneans, most of their history is marked by invaders and conquerors. Egypt, Philistia, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome. The New Testament authors cast Jesus as the bringer of the new exodus. Matthew, perhaps, is most explicit, though the theme is present throughout the New Testament. Shortly after Jesus’ birth, king Herod tries to have him killed (sound familiar?). He and his parents flee to Egypt (Matt 2:13-15) but return to Israel after Herod dies (2:19-23). John the Baptist heralds Jesus’ coming, quoting from none other than Isaiah: “The voice of one crying in the wilderness, “Make ready the way of the Lord, make his paths straight!” (Matt 3:3) The rest of the passage in Isaiah 40:4- reads: “Let every valley be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; and let the rough ground become a plain, and the rugged terrain a broad valley; then the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all flesh will see it together; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” A voice says, “Call out.” Then he answered, “What shall I call out?” All flesh is grass, and all its [g]loveliness is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the Lord blows upon it; surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever. Get yourself up on a high mountain, O Zion, bearer of good news, lift up your voice mightily, O Jerusalem, bearer of good news; lift it up, do not fear. Say to the cities of Judah, “Here is your God!” Behold, the Lord [i]God will come with might, with His arm ruling for Him. Behold, His reward is with Him and His recompense before Him. Like a shepherd He will tend His flock, in His arm He will gather the lambs and carry them in His bosom; He will gently lead the nursing ewes.” John the Baptist quotes Isaiah to announce the news about Jesus, and Isaiah tells the people that Yahweh will return to restore the people, bringing them back from exile and bringing them blessing and peace. Following John’s declaration, we then find Jesus being tempted in the wilderness (Matt 4), going up to the mountain to give his Torah (“instruction”; Matt 5), performing miracles throughout the Gospel, and giving the new covenant (Matt 26:26-29). All of this clearly casts Jesus in the light of the new Moses who will be the agent for the new exodus. Another signal shines out in John chapter 10. The setting is no coincidence. Jesus is at the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, also known as Hanukkah. Hanukkah is the Jewish feast which celebrated the Maccabean revolt, the event which ushered in a brief period of self-rule for the Jewish people. At this feast, in Jerusalem, the people ask Jesus, “How long will You keep us in suspense? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly” (John 10:22f.). Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe; the works that I do in My Father’s name, these testify of Me.” Now what they likely meant by asking if Jesus was the Christ (i.e., the Anointed One) was “Are you the Anointed Servant of God who is going to bring us freedom from our oppressors (i.e., Rome)?” Their expectation was for the deliverance to take the shape of exodus as a deliverance from the empire which plagued them. Returning to Paul, when he personifies the powers in Romans and elsewhere, and speaks of Jesus as bringing freedom from their tyranny, he speaks in this long tradition of Jewish theology which anticipated God’s new exodus. In Galatians 1:4, Paul writes Christ “gave himself for our sins so that he might rescue us from this present evil age.” The age here is likely associated with the powers which rule over it. In Ephesians 2:1-2, he explains to Gentile believers that they were formerly dead under the authority of the “ruler of the authority of the air.” The world and its inhabitants under the rule of evil powers. In Colossians 1:13, he states God “rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” Those “in Christ” have been transferred from the authority of the dark powers to the kingdom of the Son. Redemption, the new exodus, has taken place, leading us from the clutches of the oppressive powers to the glorious kingdom. The signs of the new exodus run throughout the New Testament. Has God fulfilled his promises? Yes, and exceedingly beyond expectations. Rather than rescue from human oppressors, God has defeated the forces which empower them. Had God affected the rescue of Israel from Roman domination, another kingdom would have come along. Be it Egypt, or Babylon, or Rome, the evil powers of the world will find a way to bring sin, death, and destruction. Rather than deal with the manifestation of those powers, God dealt with the powers themselves. The Good News is far bigger than going to heaven when we die. When we proclaim the Good News, we proclaim that Sin, Death, and all the powers of evil have been defeated. We proclaim that God offers freedom from their clutches. We proclaim that life free from fear exists. The power of Sin has been extinguished through the cross and the power of Death has been nullified through the resurrection. Their reign has ended and this is Good News! I recently had the opportunity to hear from an organization which supports the persecuted Church. They alerted us to the various threats which face Christians across the world in places like North Korea, Somolia, and Iraq. The representative stated persecuted Christians from around the world frequently ask for us not to pray for their freedom from oppression, but rather for their faithfulness to God and the conversion of their oppressors. I cannot help but both marvel at the depth of their faith and rejoice in the kingdom-nature of their perspective. They, like Paul, recognize that our struggle “is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens” (Eph 6:12). The powers are on notice. They have been defeated. They desperately grasp at whatever footholds are still available. They are not yet vanquished completely. But they will be. Jesus is reigning “until all his enemies are put under his feet. The last enemy which will be vanquished is Death” (1 Cor 15:26).
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