Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.
One of the most famous political speeches of all time was given on January 20, 1961, by President John F. Kennedy at his inauguration. In that speech, Kennedy delivered the now-infamous line: “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.” Kennedy’s remarks are very powerful as they employ a common structure that conveys opposing ideas. They focus on two entities: you and the country. He then compares those two entities with opposite actions—the country’s service to you and your service to the country.
Kennedy utilized a common literary technique called chiasm. The root of the word “chiasm” is chi, as in the letter “X” in the Greek alphabet. A chiastic literary structure takes a concept or idea and reverses its order, much like a cross or an X. For example, the most basic chiastic structure is ABBA. That is two points (A and B) and the direct reverse of those two points (B and A). Kennedy’s statement is an ABBA chiastic structure. Notice there are two points (your country and you), and the reverse of those two points (you and your country) also reverses the underlying meaning of the statement. So, do not ask how your country can serve you; rather, ask how you may serve your country.
Chiastic structures can extend beyond the simplicity of ABBA and may encompass concepts rather than just words. While ABBA represents the most basic form of this technique, one could also encounter any number of points within a chiasm (Example: ABCDDCBA). Additionally, some chiasms feature a single common central message, where points A and B converge around a central point X (ABXBA).
This literary tool is significant because it is frequently utilized throughout the Old and New Testaments. Some common examples of this technique in the Scriptures include:
“But many who are first will be last; and the last, first” (Matt. 19:30).
“And whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted” (Matt. 23:12).
“And Jesus was saying to them, ‘The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27).
Needless to say, there are many such structures in the Bible. In fact, this literary tool is implemented in nearly every book of the Bible! Some New Testament scholars even argue that the totality of Luke-Acts forms one giant chiastic structure, with the ascension of Christ being the central focus or point. This is evident as Luke ends on this point, and Acts picks up from there.
Furthermore, this structure is not confined to isolated verses, short passages, or whole books; it is also found in God’s redemptive story itself. All of redemptive history is one massive chiastic structure. God is a speaking and revealing God, who communicates personably. He is not like the silent, non-existent pagan gods. He is the Triune God who has spoken to us throughout redemptive history and has, in these last days, spoken through the Word of God, the second person of the Trinity (John 1:1, Heb. 1:1-2). Just as the Lord used deep and rich literary and poetic structures in His revealed written word, He does so throughout His redemptive story. History is not arbitrary. History is going somewhere because the author of the world decreed it before the foundations of the world (Acts 2:22-24, Eph. 1:4-5).
There is much more to say about this idea, but I find that keeping ideas simple and foundational helps us comprehend and apply them. With that being said, we can look at redemptive history through the lens of an ABCXCBA chiastic structure. That is,
- A: Creation
- B: Fall
- C: Old Covenant
- X: Cross
- C: New Covenant
- B: Restoration
- A: New Creation
This is to say, God created this world perfect and blameless. He formed a world with no darkness, sin, and death (Gen. 1:31). He created our first parents to have dominion over this creation (Gen. 1:28). God gave them one law, one commandment: do not eat of this tree (Gen. 2:17). And yet, they did. They ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In doing so, they sought to be autonomous—that is, they sought to be a law unto themselves and rejected the commands of God. The Scriptures teach that this action by Adam and Eve brought physical and spiritual death into the world, an event which we call “The Fall” in theology (Gen. 3:6-7, Rom. 5:12).
However, even though God told Adam that the day he ate of the tree he would surely die, we find the God of all graces pouring out grace upon Adam and Eve. At that moment, they did not die. At least not physically. The gracious Triune God, rather than destroying Adam and Eve and the entire creation (which He would have been justified in doing), decided instead to make a covenant with man. God promised that a promised seed would come through a woman, that would bruise the head of the deceiver (Gen. 3:15). God continued to make covenants and promises throughout the Jewish age with Noah (Gen. 9:8-17), Abraham (Gen. 12:1-3), Moses (Ex. 19:5-6), and David (2 Sam. 7:12-13). God also promised that He would send a son who would step into this world to reign over a kingdom (Isa. 9:1-7). This son would be the seed promised to Adam (Gen. 3:15), born of a virgin (Isa. 7:14), born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2), the true prophet (Deut. 18:15), the true priest (Num. 25:10-13, Gen. 14:18-20), and the true king (2 Sam. 7:12, Ps. 110).
We are also told that this son would be cut off and will have to die to atone for his elect people (Dan. 9:26, Isa. 53). And 2,000 years ago, all of those promises –, all of those covenants – became a reality in the person and work of the Prince of Peace and Word of God Jesus Christ. The Scriptures teach that He suffered and died for our transgressions against his holy law upon a cross on Calvary (Isa. 53:5, Rom. 5:8). In doing so, the incarnate God-man became the propitiation for the sins of his people (Heb. 2:17). We are told that Christ established a New Covenant in His blood (Jer. 31:31-34, Luke 22:20, Heb. 8:6-13). When this New Covenant goes into a hostile unbelieving world, it goes to restore it. This New Covenant will encompass the whole world: every tongue, every tribe, and every nation (Rev. 5:9, 7:9). All nations will flow to Mount Zion to worship the Lord (Isa. 2:2-4). All will bow before the King of Kings and kiss the Son (Ps. 2:12). Finally, we are told that once all of Christ’s enemies are put under His feet, He will come again physically to consummate the New Heavens and New Earth (1 Cor. 15:24-28, Rev. 21:1-5).
I hope this simple summary of redemptive history shows us that God’s story was predestined to unfold in a poetic way. A: God creates, B: Adam falls, C: God promises, X: God saves, C: God keeps his promises, B: the second Adam restores, A: God creates anew. History is God’s story that He has graciously called us to participate in.
This structure of history is not just beautiful, poetic, and majestic. It is also Reformed. Only a Reformed eschatology accounts for such a perspective. God creates the world perfectly, and it slowly decays and falls into darkness until the central point in history occurs. That central point is simultaneously the most evil act committed, and the most glorious act committed. The cross is the central theme of history. After the cross, and after the king takes his throne at his ascension, we find a displacement of darkness and sin in the world. We find steady growth for the kingdom of God until the day comes when there is no more sin and no more death. It is only in a Reformed eschatology that we find this chiasm in history, which sees the cross of Christ actually reversing the effects of sin, rather than continuing them for the next 2,000 years until God finally takes us out of this world. No, the truth of redemptive history is that God will redeem this very world back to Eden.
God is the master storyteller, and His story is the greatest story ever told.
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Fred Beall
Fred Beall is an author and Reformed Christian apologist. He is happily married to his wife Rose, and together they homeschool their two boys. Fred is the author of The Collapse of the Watchtower: A Critique of Jehovah’s Witnesses from a Vantillian Presuppositional Perspective. Actively involved in the Church of the King in McAllen, TX, Fred contributes to teaching and preaching. Professionally, he serves as a Registered Nurse with a specialization in Nephrology.
April 12, 2024
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