Biblical Arc of Mission in the Old Testament

We have said the purpose of ANCC is: Making Jesus Known to Everyone, Everywhere.

We have said one of our four priorities is:

Mission: Reaching out with the Good News, both home and away 

Today and next time I speak, I shall be outlining some biblical basis for this through the OT and NT.,

the biblical arc of missions.

Now, for some of you I will not go deep enough into a particular area. We need to remember that theology is a trying to define the vastness of God in human terms, it is a bit like a kaleidoscope, a huge pattern but we look at one segment at a time.

Theology emerges after people encounter God in His self-disclosure and His sending them on their mission within His overarching mission. 

Sadly, today, it seems possible to have theology without mission, but I would suggest it is impossible to have mission without theology, for theology always begins with an encounter with the missional God. 

If anything, much of the church has a theology of ‘non-mission’, preferring to blend in to society and its norms.

When we think of the biblical arc of mission, we are considering one of two things:

There is a redemptive-historical whole. Mission must be understood as central to the whole of the Biblical story. 

There is the literary whole. [How each book fits together and how each book fits within the whole Bible.]

We are focussing on the redemptive-historical whole.

Overview:

God’s Wounded Heart - Abraham - Israel as a Signpost/Example - Prophets - John the Baptist - Jesus - Spirit - Paul/Church.

The missionary heart of God and his missionary purpose is revealed from Genesis, right throughout the Old and New Testaments, up to the book of revelation.

Mission should be based not on isolated passages of Scripture but rather on the ‘thrust of the central message of Scripture’. In other words, either missions - properly understood - lies at the heart of the biblical message or it is so peripheral to that message that we need not be overly concerned with it.

We must learn to read the Bible in a way that takes seriously its missionary direction. 

Introduction to Theology

Mission is the mother of theology … [the early Church] because of its encounter with the world was forced to theologise.

But this is true of the Old Testament too. Theology emerges after people encounter God in His self-disclosure and His sending them on their mission within His overarching mission. 

A missional hermeneutic (interpretation of Scripture) might be defined as ‘ a way of reading the Bible for which mission is the hermeneutical key….A missionary hermeneutic of this kind would not simply be a study of the theme of mission in the biblical writings, but a way of reading the whole of Scripture with mission as its central interest and goal.’

We must allow Scripture to speak for itself as the missionary manual rather than impose our views upon it. 

It is not controversial to claim that the Bible tells one story. [It is a meta-narrative]. It is a meta-narrative about the meaning and destiny of universal history.

1. God’s Broken Heart - God is Seeking:

God’s mission does not begin in the New Testament, it begins in the Garden of Eden. After Adam and Eve have eaten of the fruit of knowledge of good and evil, God seeks them:

Gen. 3:8-9: Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”

This is not about information and geography, God is all knowing, omniscience, He knows where Adam is. It is about relationship. 

There is a picture of the mission of God here. God is seeking Adam and Eve, but they are hiding. Much has been written about us seeking God, but actually the first seeking was done from God’s heart. It is in His heart to seek us.

If we are all pictured as dependant, the biblical picture is also of our being separated from God. We can see God seeking us, uninvited, even un-welcomed (we are hiding too). 

From this moment on it becomes clear that God’s mission is what the Bible is about. It tells a story in which mission is a central thread. 

Mission is what the Bible is all about. 

2. Abraham

The biblical story does not begin with Abraham, Genesis 1-11 provides the universal backdrop against which Abraham is chosen.

First eleven chapters of Genesis show the universal dimensions of a divine plan that embraces all  humanity and all creation. Important themes are introduced:

• The God of Abraham and Israel is the creator of heaven and earth;
• there is only one true God, and there is none other;
• he is the God not only of Israel, but of all nations;
• he is the sovereign ruler over the whole earth and all of history;
• all nations have descended from one man created in God’s image to love, worship, and serve him;
• all peoples are living in revolt against him, shape their cultures and society in rebellion, are accountable to him, and are under his judgement.
• the scope of God’s redemptive promise is creation-wide, with his promise being to under the damaging effects of human sin in all creation, for all nations and all of humankind.

God sought Abraham: 

It is God who chooses Abraham, not Abraham who travels to Canaan in search of God. 

It is God who chooses Moses to deliver his people, not Moses whose compassion first stirred by the plight of his people. God chooses Jeremiah, who discounts his calling. He sought Isaiah, Jonah, everyone.

God was seeking. He seeks you!

God does not reject the nations but chooses Abraham precisely for their sake:

Genesis 12:1-3:The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.

2“I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you..

Genesis 12:1-3 is the ‘gospel in advance’ referred to by Paul in Galatians 3:8: Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.”.

Genesis 26:4: … all the nations of the earth will be blessed. 

What is being said in these few verses is a theological blue print for the redemptive history of the world.

That blessing is not because the nation exists in itself, it is because Jesus was coming from Abraham’s seed. Jesus!

Abraham and the Israel

Abraham was the father of the Jews, God’s chosen people. They were chosen to be a light to all nations. Initially God chose a man and extended that blessing to his family, his clan, his tribe, all twelve tribes, and now, through Christ, the blessing is extended to all  nations. 

3. Israel

God chooses Israel to bring salvation to the whole world.

Sometimes we can read Scripture as though it’s all about Israel, but Israel was meant to be an example to the world. 

Israel was meant to show what it looks like when a people fully follow God, and what happens when they don’t. They became a living illustration of the preeminence of God, the love of God and the covenant nature of God, the faithfulness of God and the restorative power of God. 

In the Old Testament God chooses and forms Israel as a people with a view of bringing salvation to the ends of the earth. God’s way of carrying out His missions is to choose a particular people and then gather all humankind into that community. 

Israel must always be understood in terms of God’s whole missional intention. It has to do with God’s means of extending his blessing to the many.

Israel must be understood in the context of covenant as both privilege and obligations, gift and task, grace and responsibility.

When God’s people forget the purpose of their election, they stand under divine judgement (Amos 3:2). 

All nations belong to God, but Israel will belong to God in a unique way that will, on the one hand, demand covenantal obedience, and, on the other hand, be  exercised through a priestly and holy identity and role in the world… Israel’s election serves God’s mission. 

The mission of God through Israel can be described as universal, centripetal and eschatological. 

• It is universal: even though Israel is chosen to be God’s covenant people. The whole  earth and the nations are clearly in view. 

• It is attractional: Israel’s role is to be a light to the nations, to live their lives in such a way that the nations see the true and living God and are attracted to their lives and to their God.

• It is eschatological: the recognition of Yahweh by the nations in the life of Israel ‘is the meaning of Israel’s history and the content of her liturgy.’ 

A Display People to All Nations 

Exodus 19:3-6: Then Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the  mountain and said, “This is what you are to say to the descendants of Jacob and what you  are to tell the people of Israel: 4 ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I  carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. 5 Now if you obey me fully and  keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although  the whole earth is mine, 6 you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.”

The whole of the book of Exodus leads up to these words, which defines Israel’s redemptive role in history.

God charges Israel to be a ‘display-people, a showcase to the world of how being in covenant with Yahweh changes people.’

If Israel is faithful, their life will be attractive and draw the nations into the covenant with the Lord. In the later language of Isaiah, Israel is called to be ‘a light to the  nations,’ (Isaiah 49:6; cf. Matt 5:14).

 

The book of Exodus ends with God coming to dwell among his people (Ex 25-40). 

“It is a matter of presence - the presence of the People of God in the midst of mankind and the Presence of God amongst His people.” 

Blessed to be a blessing

Israel Blessed to be a blessing: What these texts demonstrate is that the blessing of forgiveness and salvation that God granted to Israel was meant to eventually reach all the people groups of the world.

Israel was blessed in order to be a blessing to the world.

This is expressed best in Psalm 67:1-2: May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine on us—so that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations.

Blessing came to Israel as a means of reaching the nations. This is the hope of the Old Testament: The blessings of salvation are for the nations.

The mission of God’s people is to take their role in this plan. The horizon of God’s mission is the ends of the earth.

The Old Testament is replete with promises and expectations that God would one day be worshipped by people from all the nations of the world. 

The blessings of salvations were never intended [exclusively] for the Jews. God’s ultimate plan includes all nations, every tribe and tongue.

The blessing promised not only to Abraham but through Abraham was for all nations.

God’s promise was given ‘so that’ (Genesis 12:2) all the people of the earth would be blessed. Israel was to be God’s missionary people to the rest of the world and that plan is still being rolled out.

Now we are Abraham’s seed by faith, and the earth’s families will be blessed only if we go to them with the gospel. This is God’s plain purpose citing.

Mosaic Law

• Israel Mosaic law gives us a divinely authorised way of life, which manifests both the ‘universal and enduring principles of creation and the historical situation of a particular people (Israel) in a particular place (Palestine) at a particular time (the centuries between Moses  and Christ.)

Kings

Israel wants a king to be like other nations (1 Sam. 8:20; cf. 1 Sam 8:6). God grants then a king, but he incorporates the kinship into his covenantal and missional purposes. 

The Books of Kings narrate the failure of those kings and the consequent failure of Israel to  fulfil their mission. 

Psalms

God’s mission to nations is seen throughout the Psalms. [See bonus notes in the blog].

Prophets

The Prophet’s Message: They speak of an end-time event when God will rule the whole  earth and bring salvations to the nations (Isaiah 2:2-5; 52:10).

 

For this to happen, Israel themselves must first be converted. It is only when Israel is gathered, purified, and given a new heart to fulfil their calling that they can be a light to the world (Ezekiel 36: 22-32.)

4. Ethnic groups

In Genesis 12:3 and 28:14, the Hebrew phrase for ‘all the peoples’ (kol mishpehot) is rendered in the Greek Old Testament pasai hai phylai. The word phylai means ‘tribes’ in most contexts. 

But mishpahah can usually be smaller than a tribe. For  example, when Achan sinned, Israel is examined in decreasing order of size: first by tribe, then by mishpahah (family), then by household (Josh. 7:14).

So the blessing of Abraham is intended by God to reach to fairly small groupings of people.

Ethnic groups/ in Psalms 22:27-28: All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him, 28 for dominion belongs to the Lord and he rules over the nations.

The phrase ‘all the families of the nations' is… So the hope in view is not just that ‘all the nations’ would respond to the truth and worship of God but that even smaller groupings, ‘all the families of the nations,’ would.

Look how Solomon prays for the non-Jews who visit the temple:

I Kings 8:41-43: “As for the foreigner who does not belong to your people Israel but has come from a distant land because of your name— 42 for they will hear of your great name  and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm—when they come and pray toward this temple, 43 then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Do whatever the foreigner asks of  you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your own people Israel, and may know that this house I have built bears your Name.

See how this is similar to a declaration in Isaiah 56:6-7: And foreigners who bind themselves to the Lord to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord, and to be his servants, all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it and who hold fast to my covenant— 7 these I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer. Their  burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations. 

5. Jonah/Nations

One of the most vivid confirmations and illustrations of God’s saving purpose for the nations is found in the Book of Jonah.

The point of the Book of Jonah is not the fish. It is about missions and racism and ethnocentrism. The point is: Be merciful like God, not judgmental like Jonah.

Jonah 3:10: When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened. 

This is what Jonah was afraid of.

Jonah 4:1-3: But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry. 2 He prayed to  the Lord, “Isn’t this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to  forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God,  slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. 3 Now, Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.” 

Jonah is not the model missionary. His life is an example of how not to be. 

The missionary implications of Jonah are not merely that God is more ready to be merciful to that nations than his people are but also that Jesus identifies himself as ‘something greater than Jonah’ (Matthew 12: 39-41.)

We cannot be Jonah’s when it comes to the mission of God. 

Wrapping It Up

God’s mission has existed from the beginning, to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10).

This began in the Garden of Eden with God’s broken heart.

God chose Abraham to create a nation. 

That nation was to be a demonstration of what it is to be in covenant with God. 

The Psalms and Prophets clearly show us that God has always wanted the nations.

Next time we will see how the NT builds on this OT foundation.

Blog Bonus:

Humanity is Dependant on God.

God’s existence is not dependent upon us. He exists outside of time. Our existence is dependent upon Him, for we are created by Him.

The biblical picture of humanity is that of dependance upon God. We are created, not spontaneously generated, and that fact establishes our dependance. Genesis begins slowly, deliberately: 

‘In the beginning God…’ Not man. It is God who brings humanity into existence, and from that beginning his very breath depends upon God. 

We are lost without Him.

Israel and the Law: The instruction Israel received in the Law indicates a threefold orientation for their lives to the nations.

They were orientated backwards to creation….  

• They were orientated forward: they were to be a sign or review of God’s goal for humanity and all creations at the end of history.
• They were orientated outwards: they were to confront and engage the pagan cultures of the day, embracing what was good but rejecting idolatry.

More Nation Promises - the now and not yet in Old Testament.

 

1. Exhortation that God be praised amongst the nations 

Declare his glory among the nations - the first category of texts expressing the hope that  the nations is a collection of exhortations [urging] that God’s glory be declared and  praised among the nations and by the nations. 

Psalms: 9:11; 47:1; 66:8; 96:3; 96:7,10; 105:1; 117:1; Isaiah 12:4; 34:1

2. Promises that nations will worship God 

Nations Shall Come to Your Light - The second category expresses the hope of the nations is a collection of promises that nations will one day worship the true God. 

Psalms 2:8 (cf. 111:6); 45:17; 47:9; 86:9; 87:6; 102:15; 102:22; 111:6. Isaiah 11:10; 25:6-7; 49: 6; 51:5; 52:10; 52:15; 55:5; 56:7; 60:3; 66:18-19.

3. Prayers that Nations will praise God

“Let all the Peoples Praise You, O God!” The third category of texts that express the hope of the nations does so with confident prayers that God be praised amongst the nations. 

Psalm 67:1-5; 72:11; 72:17.

4. Promise that the psalmist will do his part 

I will sing praises to you among the nations: The fourth category of texts that express the  hope of the nations announces the plans of the psalmist to do his part in making God’s  greatness known among the nations.

Psalm 18:49; 57:9; 108:3