What is your favorite Bible parallel or reversal?

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For lack of a better term, that is. One thing that has always fascinated me and strengthened my soul is the wealth of situations in Scripture where the negatives of the OT were canceled out by the blessings of the NT, or when something was paralleled.....For example, the friendship of Jonathan and David is mirrored in St. John the Forerunner and Our Lord Himself. I love in Matthew 21:15 how the Lord restores Peter after the threefold denial. He cancels out a failure and infuses blessing and healing. Or like the serpent in the desert with Moses, the Cross is a parallel. Or how the Theotokos is the New Eve and New Ark, etc...

What is your favorite OT-NT or NT-NT parallel or "cancelation" story, for lack of a better term. I love redemption and these types of topics.

After a couple weeks of evolution warfare, talking about communism, and inter-TAW battles, I thought it would be a healthy topic....if anyone other than me is interested in this line of thought....
 

Macarius

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I love this stuff!! Great topic for discussion. It can also be a really fruitful way to tackle some of the most challenging passages of the OT.

I might pick Joshua's cleansing of the land and Christ's cleansing of sin and death from the Kingdom.

Or Psalm 1:1's "wicked... impious... pestilent" as a comparison to sinners (those who know the truth but don't obey it), pagans (those who may act with righteousness but lack the true faith), and heretics (those who teach falsehood and encourage sin) in opposition to the Apostles, who teach true faith and true righteousness to save the wicked and the impious.

The opposition of Israel "whoring" itself (a common word in Judges) in idolatry in opposition to the virgin Bride of Christ who, in full obedience, becomes the mother of all the saved and the Queen of heaven.... I like that one too.
 
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Joseph Hazen

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I loved, when I was coming into Orthodoxy (and still do) hearing the hymns that do this. Orthodoxy seems full of paradoxes and juxtapositions and other long words that have x's in them. I think my favorite though is St. Peter's three-fold "You know I love you" to cancel out the "I don't know him." The Lord knows I need to come back and try again after denying Christ.

Or, you know, my favorite might be Pascha. I love that by death Christ defeated Death. If nothing else that move shows that God has a sense of style.
 
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Joseph Hazen

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I loved, when I was coming into Orthodoxy (and still do) hearing the hymns that do this. Orthodoxy seems full of paradoxes and juxtapositions and other long words that have x's in them. I think my favorite though is St. Peter's three-fold "You know I love you" to cancel out the "I don't know him." The Lord knows I need to come back and try again after denying Christ.

Or, you know, my favorite might be Pascha. I love that by death Christ defeated Death. If nothing else that move shows that God has a sense of style.
 
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~Anastasia~

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All of this is (mostly) new to me. Not that the story of what happened is new, but the Orthodox way of looking at it. And I just marvel every time.

Y'all have mentioned my favorites, and it's hard for me to choose only one.

I have to admit Pascha with the singing of "by death trampling down upon death" was really awesome. I wasn't too long from having first heard about death having swallowed a man, and encountering God.

But Mary in contrast to Eve was a pretty awesome one too. I was thinking often on that for a few weeks.

And most recently, the realization of the way Christ restored Peter by asking 3 times, when Peter had denied him 3 times.

I just love the way it all fits together. Those kinds of observations are beyond wonderful and really appeal to me.

I wish there was a book of those. I'm sure there are plenty I don't know (like David and Johnathan, compared to Christ and John the Beloved).

Great topic. :)
 
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Macarius

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Kylissa: take a look at Melito of Sardis' On Pascha from SVS Press. I don't think its too expensive. It's a 2nd century homily from Greece / Asia Minor and is absolutely filled to the brim with this stuff.

It manages to preach the entire Gospel from the Old Testament. Really a fantastic and moving text.

The Canon of St Andrew of Crete is another amazing resource for this kind of imagery.

There's tons more, but those get you the two biggies (Paschal Joy and Lenten Repentance).
 
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~Anastasia~

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Kylissa: take a look at Melito of Sardis' On Pascha from SVS Press. I don't think its too expensive. It's a 2nd century homily from Greece / Asia Minor and is absolutely filled to the brim with this stuff.

It manages to preach the entire Gospel from the Old Testament. Really a fantastic and moving text.

The Canon of St Andrew of Crete is another amazing resource for this kind of imagery.

There's tons more, but those get you the two biggies (Paschal Joy and Lenten Repentance).

Thank you so much, Macarius! That does sound like something I'd be very interested in. :) I will definitely put it at the top of my list, and start looking for it. :)
 
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inconsequential

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My favorite is one of Moses' parallels as a type of Christ and how he often makes Christ's mighty acts more apparent to my worldly eyes. As he leads the chosen to an apparent dead end Red Sea/Cross and the enemy thinks his victory is imminent, only to have "I've got Him!" turn into "He's got me!"
 
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Mary of Bethany

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Kylissa: take a look at Melito of Sardis' On Pascha from SVS Press. I don't think its too expensive. It's a 2nd century homily from Greece / Asia Minor and is absolutely filled to the brim with this stuff.

It manages to preach the entire Gospel from the Old Testament. Really a fantastic and moving text.

The Canon of St Andrew of Crete is another amazing resource for this kind of imagery.

There's tons more, but those get you the two biggies (Paschal Joy and Lenten Repentance).


Yes, the Canon of St Andrew is almost nothing but these kinds of reversals. It's the first place I really came across this sort of imagery as a new Orthodox Christian. It's wonderful!

Mary
 
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Macarius

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Really interesting tidbit I ran across yesterday that seemed to fit the theme of this thread...

So, Ruth is called a "woman of worth" (or valor, or honor) by Boaz, and the phrase Boaz uses is, in Hebrew, identical to the phrase used to introduce the woman of virtue at the end of Proverbs. In the way the books are ordered in the Hebrew Bible, Ruth does not occur after Judges and before 1 Samuel (as it typically appears in Christian Bibles); instead, Ruth follows immediately after Proverbs, which concludes with the passage about the virtuous woman. Ruth, then, appears like a narrative description of that virtue.

But the virtuous woman at the end of Proverbs is, more or less, the personification of Wisdom from the beginning of Proverbs. And Wisdom is associated, in most Christian tradition, with Christ the Word. Ruth, a foreigner, is redeemed by Boaz (the word used for Boaz's "kinship" with Ruth is the same root as "redeemer" and refers to his moral obligation to take care of her since she is next of kin). Once redeemed, she bears a child - that child "becomes" (or kind of is) the Davidic Line which prophetically refers to Christ. This "replaces" (or redeems) the tragic childlessness of Naomi.

Naomi is Israel, and Ruth the Gentile. Redeemed by a moral Jewish man, Ruth is able to become Christ like (Wisdom), to birth Christ into the world (like the Church), and to redeem the barrenness of the first covenant.

Just thought that was a cool typological take on the Book of Ruth, and wanted to share.
 
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ArmyMatt

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Really interesting tidbit I ran across yesterday that seemed to fit the theme of this thread...

So, Ruth is called a "woman of worth" (or valor, or honor) by Boaz, and the phrase Boaz uses is, in Hebrew, identical to the phrase used to introduce the woman of virtue at the end of Proverbs. In the way the books are ordered in the Hebrew Bible, Ruth does not occur after Judges and before 1 Samuel (as it typically appears in Christian Bibles); instead, Ruth follows immediately after Proverbs, which concludes with the passage about the virtuous woman. Ruth, then, appears like a narrative description of that virtue.

But the virtuous woman at the end of Proverbs is, more or less, the personification of Wisdom from the beginning of Proverbs. And Wisdom is associated, in most Christian tradition, with Christ the Word. Ruth, a foreigner, is redeemed by Boaz (the word used for Boaz's "kinship" with Ruth is the same root as "redeemer" and refers to his moral obligation to take care of her since she is next of kin). Once redeemed, she bears a child - that child "becomes" (or kind of is) the Davidic Line which prophetically refers to Christ. This "replaces" (or redeems) the tragic childlessness of Naomi.

Naomi is Israel, and Ruth the Gentile. Redeemed by a moral Jewish man, Ruth is able to become Christ like (Wisdom), to birth Christ into the world (like the Church), and to redeem the barrenness of the first covenant.

Just thought that was a cool typological take on the Book of Ruth, and wanted to share.

now that is interesting.

I also love how we say that the painlessness of Mary's birth of Christ reversed the pain given to Eve after the Fall.
 
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Dorothea

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I also love how St Nektarios of Aegina points out that the Garden of Gethsemane points to Eden. man's fall and his redemption both began in Gardens.
Oh, that's soooo cool! I hadn't thought of or heard that before! Thank you for sharing this!
 
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~Anastasia~

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Kylissa: take a look at Melito of Sardis' On Pascha from SVS Press. I don't think its too expensive. It's a 2nd century homily from Greece / Asia Minor and is absolutely filled to the brim with this stuff.

It manages to preach the entire Gospel from the Old Testament. Really a fantastic and moving text.

The Canon of St Andrew of Crete is another amazing resource for this kind of imagery.

There's tons more, but those get you the two biggies (Paschal Joy and Lenten Repentance).

Thank you again.

May I ask a bit more about this? I found the canons - complete I think. It's a 77 page PDF.
If anyone is interested: http://www.saintjonah.org/services/greatcanon_sts.pdf

I was wondering about the Paschal homily? I found this:
On the Passover - Melito of Sardis - Kerux 4:1 (May 1989)

And just wondered if that's all of it?

Thanks so much again!
 
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Joseph Hazen

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I just remembered this one. I love it too:

Today he who hung the earth upon the waters is hung upon a Tree, (x3)
He who is King of the Angels is arrayed in a crown of thorns.
He who wraps the heaven in clouds is wrapped in mocking purple.
He who freed Adam in the Jordan receives a blow on the face.
The Bridegroom of the Church is transfixed with nails.
The Son of the Virgin is pierced by a lance,.
We worship your Sufferings, O Christ (x3)
Show us also your glorious Resurrection.
 
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