From the Calf to the Cross

This volume examines the declaration of the divine name in the golden calf narrative (Exodus 34:6-7), and its trajectory across the biblical canon. The sweep of the divine declaration leads to God’s self-disclosure in the incarnation, to the cross and consummation, and affirms a consistent picture of God’s character in both testaments.

Petter stresses that Yahweh’s declaration of himself must be analyzed alongside Yahweh’s declaration about Israel, ‘I have seen this people and indeed, it is a stiff-necked people’ (Exodus 32:9). Israel’s character manifests itself in the storyline. The stiff-necked declaration contributes to the biblical-theological arc that leads to the gospel in the New Testament. It sets up a tension that anticipates a costly confrontation. At the cross of Christ, God’s mercy and justice collide with our stiff necks. Petter demonstrates the remedy for stiff necks, and shows how the two declarations work in tandem, so that attempts at creating false dichotomies fall short.

Where there is lack of clarity about God’s character, and the tendency to downplay the relevance of the Old Testament at both the scholarly and popular levels, a robust biblical theology that considers the character of God in Scripture has profound implications for the church.