A short discussion of Covenant Theology and its problems

What does there no longer being "jew or greek" mean to you?

It means that the boundary markers between the ethnic groups that used to divide those who were Abraham's family from those who were not have been broken down because of the work of the Messiah. In the context of Galatians, this means that Jewish and gentile Christians should eat together, not separately in recognition that they are now part of the same family. The broader application of that point is that since God has one family, not two, the united jew+greek family is the true family of Abraham and heirs according to the promise.

There is neither male nor female either.

That's actually not what Paul says. He doesn't stick to the same structure when he gets to male and female. Says there is neither Jew nor Greek and there is neither slave nor free, but he then says, there is not male and female. This is cognate with the language of Genesis 1. But that is neither here nor there. Paul's point stands in contrast to the view expressed by the Talmudic blessing in which men bless God for not making them women. Paul says instead that maleness and femaleness are no irrelevant to one's status with respect to the Messiah.

Please exegete Ezekiel 37 for me

It's a great passage.

The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. 2 He led me all around them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. 3 He said to me, “Mortal, can these bones live?” I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” 4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. 5 Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. 6 I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord.”

We start with Ezekiel in the valley of the dry bones, a clear metaphor for the plight of Israel. God's question to Ezekiel and then his response indicate that God intends to restore Israel. This is also an important passage because it holds the beginnings of Jewish thought about resurrection which would be developed more in Daniel and in the intertestamental period before being dramatically refocused by the resurrection of Jesus.

7 So I prophesied as I had been commanded; and as I prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. 8 I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them; but there was no breath in them. 9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath: Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.” 10 I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude.

God does as he promised and Ezekiel sees the bones reconstituted.

11 Then he said to me, “Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.’ 12 Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: I am going to open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you back to the land of Israel. 13 And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people. 14 I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act, says the Lord.”

The metaphor is made explicit, and Ezekiel, equipped with his vision from the Valley, is told to take the message to Israel in person.

15 The word of the Lord came to me: 16 Mortal, take a stick and write on it, “For Judah, and the Israelites associated with it”; then take another stick and write on it, “For Joseph (the stick of Ephraim) and all the house of Israel associated with it”; 17 and join them together into one stick, so that they may become one in your hand. 18 And when your people say to you, “Will you not show us what you mean by these?” 19 say to them, Thus says the Lord God: I am about to take the stick of Joseph (which is in the hand of Ephraim) and the tribes of Israel associated with it; and I will put the stick of Judah upon it,[e] and make them one stick, in order that they may be one in my hand.

God provides another symbol of the restoration of Israel, this time concerning the reunification of the norther and southern kingdoms.

20 When the sticks on which you write are in your hand before their eyes, 21 then say to them, Thus says the Lord God: I will take the people of Israel from the nations among which they have gone, and will gather them from every quarter, and bring them to their own land. 22 I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king over them all. Never again shall they be two nations, and never again shall they be divided into two kingdoms. 23 They shall never again defile themselves with their idols and their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions. I will save them from all the apostasies into which they have fallen, and will cleanse them. Then they shall be my people, and I will be their God.

Again the metaphor is made explicit, and the unified kingdom is to come under the rule of one king; the people will be cleansed and no longer practice the evil that resulted in exile in the first place. The last sentence provides a summary of the finished state.

24 My servant David shall be king over them; and they shall all have one shepherd. They shall follow my ordinances and be careful to observe my statutes.

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