New, While the Same
By Anthony Casperson
8-10-24

In the Wheel of Time book series, readers learn that there is a prophecy about the Dragon Reborn. The first Dragon had been a man named Lews Therin Telamon. But there would come a time in a new generation where the essence of the Dragon would be embodied in the Dragon Reborn.

Throughout the generations between the old and the new, many reminders of the Dragon would arise. People who had a presence of Lews Therin, but not the fullness of his essence. Readers witness that these reminders had increased as the real Dragon Reborn’s birth grew ever closer.

This is all from the background of the story, until we come to the actual Dragon Reborn, named Rand al’Thor.

A whole lot more goes into the fantasy series, but for our purposes here, it’s enough to understand that the new is the embodiment of the old. He’s not something totally different. Or completely opposed to that which came before. He is the power and essence of the old given flesh in the new.

This idea intersects with our summer blog series’ conclusion as we take a look at a passage from the New Testament. Remember, our goal has been to show the error of the perspective that the “God of the Old Testament” is angry and judgmental, while the “God of the New Testament” is loving and gracious. As if there are two gods in the bible.

Rather, Yahweh is the same in both the old and the new. And in that effort, we perused various OT passages that used the refrain from Exodus 34 of Yahweh being a God who is “gracious and merciful, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.” He’s ready to forgive—even after generations of rejection—if we only accept his offered hand of forgiveness.

And that’s the same offer regardless of the covenant to which he stands loyal.

We can see that Jesus specifically embodies this refrain of God as we turn to John 1. The titular Apostle introduces us to the Word who was with God in the beginning. And is that very same God.

This Word of God—the Second Person of the Trinity, the very essence and power of God—has long been the manner through which God interacts with his chosen people. It’s through his Word that God spoke the universe into existence. And through that very same Word gave his many promises, both of judgment and forgiveness.

Though there’s much that can be said of the opening verses of John, our focus on this Word of God comes in John 1:14. The Word is God made flesh as he dwelt among humanity. The glory of the unique Son of God, full of grace and truth.

More astute readers among us might object that this verse doesn’t belong in our series because no part of the series’ refrain occurs. Nowhere, do we witness any part of “merciful and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.”

But I would explain that it does appear. There just happens to be a difference in language as we shift from the Hebrew of the OT to the Greek of the NT. And on top of that, the language of John 1:14 specifically points us directly back to Exodus 34. Essentially saying, this new we find in Jesus is the exact same essence of truth as what we find in the old.

In the context of Exodus 34, we can see that people of Israel had pitched their tents/tabernacles around Mt. Sinai. And God had come among them by settling his presence upon the mountain. And the reason why Exodus 34:6—the verse where God’s repeated refrain of his bio first occurred—came about is because Moses asked to see Yahweh’s glory.

With that in mind, let’s look more closely at John 1:14.

It says that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. That word for “dwelt” is a less common word for the concept. And is built off of the Greek word for “tent/tabernacle.” The Word came to be among us as he “tabernacled” with us. Just like how Yahweh had come among the Israelites in their tabernacles. John’s use of this verb is meant to draw our attention back to Mt. Sinai and the Exodus.

But he doesn’t stop there. No, he draws us ever closer to Exodus 34 when he writes “we have seen his glory.” What was it that Moses had asked to see back in Exodus? God’s glory. Just as Moses bore witness to the back trail of God’s glory—for no one can see the fullness of his glory and live—John and those with him bore witness to the glory of God made flesh.

And to get us directly to the refrain of God’s bio, John does indeed quote part of it. It’s just obscured to us because of differences in language.

Remember that the Hebrew word translated as “steadfast love” is something that’s difficult to translate into English. Well, it’s just as difficult to translate into Greek. The ideas of steadfast love, covenant loyalty, mercy, and grace could all be blended together to give us the beginning of understanding for that word. A special sort of grace.

And, if one were to translate the Hebrew word for “faithfulness” from Exodus 34:6, they might also translate it as “truth/truthfulness.” As a matter of fact, when I first learned Hebrew, “truth” was the primary definition for this specific word.

Thus, when John writes that the Word is “full of grace and truth,” he’s translating the idea of “abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.”

Jesus is the ultimate embodiment of God’s repeated bio. He’s the refrain of God’s mercy made flesh. The very truth about God’s willingness to offer forgiveness—no matter how far down the path of destruction we’ve gone. The newness of the covenant might be a different extension of the old, but he is the same God with the same loyalty to those with whom he made the covenant.

The new is the embodiment of the old. He’s not something totally different. Or completely opposed to that which came before. He is the power and essence of the old given flesh in the new.

That is who Jesus is. He’s not some new god, totally alien to the one from the OT. No, the Word is the very same thing that he had been for the covenant made with Israel around Mt. Sinai. This Word of God—the Second Person of the Trinity, the very essence and power of God—is the manner through which God interacts with his chosen people. It’s through his Word that God speaks new life into existence. And through this very same Word, he gives his many promises—both of judgment and forgiveness.

He’s the offered forgiveness, through the cross. If we accept his sacrifice.

Witness the glory of Yahweh made flesh. See the God who is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. The God who doesn’t give sin a free ride to forgiveness, but does offer a way toward freedom from it through the cross. The God who attends to generation after generation through a repetition of offering forgiveness, even after our ancestors repeatedly rejected him.

See the glory. See the steadfast love and faithfulness—the grace and truth. See the offered hand of forgiveness. And accept it.