Gary A. Anderson, That I May Dwell Among Them: Incarnation and Atonement in the Tabernacle Narrative

Anderson, Gary A. That I May Dwell Among Them: Incarnation and Atonement in the Tabernacle Narrative. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2023. xvi+254 pp. Hb; $35.99.  Link to Eerdmans

Gary Anderson in Hesburgh Professor of Catholic Thought at the University of Notre Dame. His previous books include Sin: A History (Yale University Press, 2010) and Charity: The Place of the Poor in the Biblical Tradition (Yale University Press, 2013). Like his The Genesis of Perfection: Adam and Eve in Jewish and Christian Imagination (WJKP, 2001), That I May Dwell Among Them carefully examines a theme from the Old Testament that is related to later Christian theology. Rather than start with incarnation and atonement in the New Testament and then “salvage” the Tabernacle narrative, Anderson starts with the Old Testament text. He develops what the Tabernacle narrative says about God dwelling with his people and providing atonement before he moves forward to the New Testament and Christian theology. Throughout the book, Anderson is guided by Brevard Child’s canonical method, which enables him to see connections between Leviticus and the creation story (see, for example, the citation of Childs on page 161).

The Tabernacle narrative is tedious, repetitive, and difficult for many Christian readers to read. Aside from popular studies that overuse (and abuse) typology, most Christian readers ignore this section of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers. Anderson suggests this is unfortunate, especially since the gospel of John uses tabernacle language (Exodus 25) to describe the “word became flesh.” The purpose of the Word becoming flesh is to reveal God’s glory, a consistent theme with Exodus 40:34–35. Anderson’s book argues the Tabernacle revealed God’s glory and presence to Israel. The Tabernacle Narrative is a large section of the Pentateuch: Exodus is devoted to the building of the Tabernacle, Leviticus 1-10 to the service of the Tabernacle, and Numbers 1-10 to how the Tabernacle guided Israel to Canaan.

A chapter briefly overviewing the reception of the Tabernacle narrative Christian Bible sets the agenda for the book. On the theological level, how do we better understand the person of Jesus in the light of the Tabernacle? How can the sacrificial system shed light on Jesus’s sacrifice? He returns to these themes in the book’s final two chapters (on incarnation and atonement). To make these theological observations, Anderson provides a detailed study of the Tabernacle Narrative.

The second chapter is devoted to the inauguration of the Tabernacle. Anderson connects creation and the Garden of Eden to the Tabernacle, as is common in biblical theology today. However, he observes a similar “pattern of sevens” in the creation and Tabernacle Narrative. God speaks to create in Exodus 25–39. God speaks to Moses to do seven things leading up to the erection of the Tabernacle (Exodus 40). This pattern of sevens is seen again in the ordination of the priests (Leviticus 8). Exodus is focused on the structure of the Tabernacle, while Leviticus is focused on its altar and service. For this reason, Anderson suggests the temple Tabernacle narrative has two climaxes. In Exodus, the furniture and other implements are front and center. Leviticus describes the altar and the sacrifices.

Chapters 3 and 4 (Seeing God and Serving God) describe the divine presence in Numbers 4, and the tamid sacrifices in Exodus 29. Anderson carefully studies the Levitical families who cared for the tabernacle and its furniture. The Ark of the Covenant is the main sign of God’s presence, that God “really dwells in the Tabernacle” (59). Looking at the sacred things in the Tabernacle is similar to some aspects of seeing God. Although Anderson does not mention it, it is possible that the description of the Tabernacle in Exodus is a form of ekphrasis (a literary genre describing a static image, usually a piece of art). Both chapters include the Second Temple period reception of the Tabernacle Narrative. The theme of “seeing” is found in Jewish coinage from the Bar Kokhba Revolt depicting the temple (65–66). He introduces the tamid sacrifice by describing a carpet mosaic from a synagogue at Sepphoris depicting Aaron’s first sacrifice. In addition, he includes references to the Tabernacle and temple in the Dead Sea scrolls in Rabbinic literature. Anderson includes examples from post-biblical sources in both cases because they “build upon a foundation that is deeply biblical” (67).

Chapters 5 and 6 discuss the theophany in Leviticus 9. All four sons of Aaron commit errors, but Moses reprimands only two of them. Anderson sees a connection with creation theology here. He argues a “textual chasm” exists between Leviticus 8-9. Leviticus 8 lays out the offering details, and then Leviticus 9 begins the liturgical process (114). The priests begin to act on their own, but they immediately suffer their “first accident” (117). Leviticus 10 describes Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron who offered “strange fire” before the Lord, and fire came from the Lord and consumed them (Lev 10:1–2). There is no consensus on what exactly they did wrong. Anderson observes that this is much like Cain and Abel. As soon as creation is finished, there is a sacrifice, and God rejects a sacrifice.

Chapters 7 and 8 discuss the priestly narrative in the larger canonical setting. First, Anderson discusses the golden calf incident (Exodus 32). The golden calf story is likely from a different source and was inserted at this point for theological reasons. By venerating the golden calf, the people spurn the type of sanctuary described in the previous chapters of Exodus and its worship. Although Anderson does not state this, this is like Jeroboam, who rejected Solomon’s Temple and returned to worship of the golden calf (1 Kings 12:25-33). Anderson has a long citation from Karl Barth, which mentions Jeroboam (158), but his main interest is connecting this story to Genesis and original sin. The second larger canonical connection Anderson draws is to Genesis 22 in the binding of Isaac. He points out several potential allusions to Isaac’s binding in Moses’s intercession prayers, especially Exodus 32. Moses’s prayers always look back to the “unilateral and unconditional offer on God’s part to Abraham” (164). Using the Aramaic Levi document, Anderson grounds the tamid in the story of the binding of Isaac. He also references rabbinic literature and the mosaic at Sepphoris as other examples of Second Temple (and later) connections between the tamid and the binding of Isaac.

Conclusion. Anderson’s That I May Dwell Among Them is a rich study of the Tabernacle Narrative. By drawing canonical connections back to Genesis, he demonstrates the original creation story shapes this somewhat obscure material. By drawing canonical connections forward to the New Testament, he makes reasonable application of the Tabernacle narrative to theological issues such as incarnation and atonement.

 

NB: Thanks to Eerdmans for kindly providing me with a review copy of this book. This did not influence my thoughts regarding the work.