The proposition of this book is that God's design is the key to the content of the Old Testament. Is that new feature not to be found in the declaration of the fourfold design.
A GRID FOR THE OLD TESTAMENT MESSAGE
After a look at Genesis, we will examine the rest of the Old Testament systematically, always keeping in mind the fourfold purpose of God. We will try to show that the core of the Old Testament message revolves around God's design or purpose, as shown by a study of Exodus 5:22-6:8.
Earlier anticipation of God’s purpose
GOD’S FOURFOLD PURPOSE ANTICIPATED IN PRIMEVAL HISTORY
Another component in the design of God according to Exodus 6 is the knowledge of God: 'And you shall know that I am God, the Lord your God.' The theophanies described in the patriarchal narratives are early evidence of God's purpose: 'And they shall know that I am God.' In a vision Abraham hears God repeat the previous promise (Gen. 15). Once again in the oaks of Mamre before the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah 'the Lord appeared' (Gen. 18:1).
PART 2
God’s design implemented
Gqd’s design
SALVATION AS DELIVERANCE IN HISTORY
Soon after, the Egyptians found their chariots in the middle of the sea. To what extent this joyous proclamation has continued as a reality in Israel's history, and how it relates to Jesus' statement, "The kingdom of God is here," while legitimate questions, are subject to further study.
SALVATION AS BLESSING THROUGH CULT
Forgiveness is one of the big words both in the Israelite cult and in Christian preaching. The reason for the importance of blood in these rituals is given in Leviticus.
THEOLOGICAL REFLECTIONS
In the language of the Pentateuch, the need for an intermediary, the priest, and his use of blood in the ritual is more widespread. The importance of the worshiper's repentance is presupposed in Leviticus as part of the sacrificial experience.
God’s design
THE COVENANT COMMUNITY AND LAW
In hortatory fashion, but in accordance with the next element of the treaty, the regulations, Joshua says: 'Now fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and faithfulness.' The appeal is initially not to observe the individual commandments, although there is an allusion to the second commandment in the admonition: 'Put away the gods that your fathers served on the other side of the river and in Egypt' (Josh. 24:14) . The way in which Israel was to view the law is best formulated in the declaration: 'The Lord commanded us to follow all these laws, to fear the Lord our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as at this day' (Dt. 6,24; cf. 4,5).
THE COVENANT COMMUNITY AND THE PROMISE
Paraphrasing it, it might read: "I, and no other, will be your God." The note, however modest in the formula of the covenant, is clear and unequivocal in the first of the ten words: "Thou shalt have no other gods before me" (Ex. 20,3). Pma', which is still repeated today by the descendants of ancient Israel, reads: 'The LORD our God is one LORD' (Dt. 6:4).
THE COVENANT AND COMMUNITY
Israel was considered Yahweh's people, both for redemption and covenant. God's plan: The tribes of Israel's covenant community presented themselves in the assembly of God's people.
- KNOWING GOD: THE POSSIBILITY
- KNOWING GOD IN THE LARGER WORLD
- KNOWING GOD THROUGH THE EVENT: THE EXODUS
- KNOWING GOD THROUGH THE WORD: CULTIC WORSHIP The exodus, an event played in the arena of international powers, repres-
A Jewish writer made the content of the period in the expression, the 'I-You', memorable. Through Yahweh's action in which the Egyptian army is defeated by the collapse of the waters 'the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD' (Ex. 14:4,18). So a people is holy in the sense that 'the man whom the LORD chooses will be holy' (Nu. 16:7).
- LAND AS PROMISE AND FULFILMENT
- LAND AS GIFT
- LAND AS A BLESSING
- LAND AS DEMANDING A SPECIFIC LIFE-STYLE
As used in the Bible, the phrase essentially refers to the fertility of the earth. The land was a favored land because 'the eyes of the LORD your God are always upon it'. In the seventh year, the creditor was not allowed to demand annual payment of the produce of the land.
God’s design tested
Prologue
Hosea 2:14-23
You are my people,” and you will say: The second purpose is God's purpose to create a life of security and abundance in the land. God's deliverance is also seen in the expression: 'I will remove the bow, sword and war from the land' (line 18). The promise from the book of Exodus "I will bring you into the land" is reminiscent of the expression: "I will sow it into the land for myself" (verse 22).
Deliverance
THE DAY OF YAHWEH
A third suggestion for the origin of 'the day of Yahweh' is that its background is divine war. Because of Israel's sin, which Amos emphasizes forever, the day of Yahweh will mean Yahweh's battle. Amos reveals an entirely new wrinkle in the language of 'the day of the LORD.'.
Text 1 Subject Character Effect Figure of speech I
- MESSIANIC EXPECTATIONS
In summary, deliverance components loom large in the concept of the Day of Yahweh, although Amos and others emphasize judgment.*The day will be a day of judgment or salvation, depending on one's relationship with God. It is said of both Saul and David that 'God's spirit came mightily upon him'. The ideal of a 61 owes this insight about Saul to Rolf Knierem, 'The Messianic Concept in the First Book of Samuel', in F.
The 8 covenant community and the new functionaries
COVENANT AND KINGSHIP
Kaiser Jr., 'The Blessing of David: a Charter for Humanity', in John Skelton, ed Prophets (Philadelphia: Presbyterian & Reformed Publishing House, 1974), pp. God's covenant with David and the establishment of an on-going dynasty is proof of the monarchy's legitimacy. Both the Sinaitic and the Davidic covenant are, like all covenants, conditional.* The condition is loyalty. 8.
COVENANT AND THE PROPHETS
The prophet shared with the priests the responsibility for the spiritual welfare of the community. Scholars have gathered considerable evidence to try to show that the prophet's proclamation must be understood in the context of God's former covenant with Israel. Their emphasis on a people's loyalty to Yahweh and the announcement of the judgment to come made these men of God reinterpreters of the covenant.
The experience of God
THE EXPERIENCE OF GOD EXPRESSED IN THE PSALMS
The LORD does not pass over those who are humble and of a contrite heart.' The psalm ends with a word of praise to the LORD. First, God's majesty: 'The LORD is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens!' (verse 4). At the coronation of Queen Elizabeth in 1953, Lewis remarked that “the pressure of that huge, heavy crown on that small, young head is a symbol of the condition of all people.
THE EXPERIENCE OF GOD IN WISDOM LITERATURE
She was with Yahweh from the beginning of creation: 'The Lord created me at the beginning of his work. The Book of Ecclesiastes, given to raise questions more than to offer answers, nevertheless ends by maintaining: 'The end of the matter; everything has been heard. Clines, 'The Arguments of Job's Three Friends', an unpublished paper presented at the Society of Biblical Literature, New York, 1979.
Life and land
- THE GOOD LIFE IN THE LAND
- THE GOOD LIFE AND MANAGEMENT OF THE LAND
- LOSS OF LAND AND THE GOOD LIFE
- THEOLOGICAL REFLECTIONS
For a recent discussion see Henri Blocher, 'The Fear of the Lord as the "Principle" of Wisdom', Tyndale Rtdletin p. It is in the Israelite salvation story that the precise nature of the design is explained. Walther Zimmerli, 'The place and limits of wisdom within the framework of Old Testament theology',.
God’s design reaffirmed
Hosca 2:14-23 Ezeki&34:17-31
- THE APOCALYPTIC VISION: DELIVERANCE
- THE SUFFERING SERVANT: DELIVERANCE
- SUMMARY
This is a victory in which the saints of the Most High, perhaps the Israelites,6 share power and greatness, because "the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the people" (Dan 7:27). My servant (will) make many righteous; and he will bear their iniquities. In his short but valuable study of the Servant Songs, Blocher notes the repeated use of 'many' in the fourth song, and claims quite plausibly that it is the technical term of 52:15; 53:ll Many refers to those who receive sacrificial suffering. The Qumran community uses the term 'many' as a regular official title for a century before Christ.
Covenant and community in the post-exilic period
- AN INTERPRETATION OF THE EXILE: A BROKEN COVENANT We shall need to understand, as Israel had needed to understand, that the
- AFFIRMATION OF COVENANT FORMULA
- THE EXPERIENCE OF GOD WITHIN THE CULT
- ISRAEL’S EXPERIENCE OF GOD IN THE EVENT
- THE EXPERIENCE OF GOD IN THE WIDER WORLD
- SUMMARY
The nations together with their gods are not able to bear witness to 'the former things', namely events in the past, which have now been fulfilled. Furthermore, God's command was clear, this time to the descendants of those who left Egypt; yet 'the children rebelled against Me' (Ez. 20:21). But in both the Old and New Testaments, God's concern extends to the nations." The Isaiah texts, and the Ezekiel texts, no less, repeat the phrase that was known from the exodus: "I am the LORD." At the exodus, its meaning is its meaning. name is exposed: Yahweh was a salvation name.
Land
HISTORICALLY: LAND RECOVERED
Ezra and Nehemiah report the visitations of the group to settle on the land. The Promise of Israel's Restoration to the Land in Mont Graduate School, lY72), p. The issue is of more interest than historical developments for our purpose - Why was it important that the remnant of the people return to the land at all. One of the reasons for the return is introduced into the discussion about the nature of God.
THEOLOGICALLY: LAND AS SYMBOL
Nor was it a strange word, for the association between upright living and the land was well established in tradition. In the preceding pages we have already had occasion to see how the nations belittled Yahweh's name because his people had to go out of the land. The author compares with Hebrews the rest that was made possible in the land with the rest that should be enjoyed by the Christian (Heb. 3-4).
Divine design
In context, this must be a future gathering, because the return under Zerubbabel is for Zechariah a past event. The subject of the earth is a major one in the Old Testament, not least because of the themes associated with it. These themes, along with the overarching divine plan, are brought into sharper focus in the New Testament.
THE DIVINE DESIGN AND THE KINGDOM OF GOD IN MATTHEW
One of Jesus' emphases is that in him is the fulfillment of the Old Testament hope. Jesus explained that the coming of the Kingdom of God means the destruction of the very principle of evil. The affinity between aspects of the divine plan in the Old Testament and Jesus and his message of the kingdom in the New is close.
THE DIVINE DESIGN AND RIGHTEOUSNESS IN ROMANS Romans commends itself as a summary statement of the Old Testament,
Romans is usually considered the most systematic and comprehensive treatment of the meaning of God's coming in Christ. The theme of the letter, which is the righteousness of God (Rom. echoes the Old Testament theme of deliverance. Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God" (Rom. 15:7) are significant because of Paul's view of the church.
Bibliography
From the point of view of Old Testament theology, Tyndale was absolutely right: Romans was written as an introduction to the Old Testament. These two books are not mechanically organized around a fourfold purpose, but their central themes resonate with themes familiar from the Old Testament. T.,]esus and the Old Testament: His Apphtion of Old Testanrent I'assuges to Himself and His Mission (London: Inter-Varsity Press, 197 1).
Index of subjects
Index of authors Index of Bible references
Index of Hebrew and Greek words
EDITEDEN
RAMSEY MCHAELS
