Reflection
Deedee1
2TheRealityandWorkofYahwehtheCreator1.pptx
The Reality and the Work of Yahweh the Creator
The Reality and the Work of Yahweh the Creator
The question of missionary work in the OT is seldom posed by the OT scholars.
Gerhard von Rad lists the term “mission” just once in the index of his two-volume Theology of the Old Testament.
In the section “Deutero-Isaiah: The New Saving Event” von Rad refers to the fact that the prophet portrays the salvation activity of Yahweh (YHWH) always with references to the pagan nations, thus introducing a new perspective into Israel’s outlook.
The prophet is convinced that YHWH’s acts of salvation for Israel will have consequences for the political environment of Israel.
The nations will recognize the impotence of their gods, they will be put to shame, they will turn to YHWH, they will bring scattered Israelites to Zion, they will worship YHWH.
The Reality and the Work of Yahweh the Creator
On one occasion YHWH speaks, through the prophet, directly to the nations: “Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.” (Is. 45:22)
The prophet designates Israel as a witness to the nations. (Is. 43:10; 44:8; 55:4)
This is all von Rad has to say about missionary activity or missionary concept.
Walther Zimmerli, in his Old Testament Theology in Outline, avoids the term “mission” entirely, even in his discussion of Is. 43:10; 44:8; 55:4.
He just referred to Israel as a “witness: to the nations.”
Creation and History
The OT begins with this sentence: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:1).
God created the cosmos, created the world, created man and woman.
When the book of Genesis speaks of the Creator, it speaks of total reality, the totality of the world (Gen. 1) and the totality of humankind (Gen. 2).
The book of Genesis is the first text of the sacred Scriptures of God’s people.
This means that Genesis 1-11 emphasizes right from the beginning in a fundamental way that the existence and the activity of YHWH is not limited by the borders of the people of Israel.
It concerns the entire cosmos and all humankind.
YHWH is the Lord of World history and the Lord of human history.
Creation and History
Everything that happens between Israel and their God, and everything that happens between an individual and God stands in this broad context.
The revelation of God the Creator is the revelation of God who blesses people.
The blessing of Adam and Eve implied in the command “Be fruitful and multiply” (Gen. 1:28) has consequences for all of the generations that follow -
For the depth of time (Gen. 5: genealogy from Adam to Noah)
For the width of space (Gen. 10: genealogy Noah’s descendants)
Human beings are intended to serve YHWH, who created the world.
They are to hear and listen to God’s voice and respond to what God says.
Creation and History
The conviction that YHWH is the Creator is thus linked, from the first pages of the Scriptures, with a universal perspective that surfaces repeatedly in central passages:
In the patriarchal narratives that speaks of God’s blessing for all families of the earth.
In Psalms, in which nations and kings, indeed all creation (Ps. 148) are called to praise YHWH.
In prophecies addressed to foreign peoples, as God uses other nations as his instrument > for example, to bring judgement upon Israel.
In the prophecies of Isaiah that promise salvation to the nations.
In the promise of the new heaven and the new earth (Is. 65:17; 66:22).
The Only True God
Israel, not only asserts God’s universality but also confesses YHWH as the one and only God.
Central passages that Israelites recite in the Shema twice every day speak of the uniqueness of YHWH: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one” (Deut. 6:4).
This confession is followed immediately by a fundamental reference to the Israelites’ obligation to be totally dedicated to this one God: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength” (Deut. 6:5).
In the Decalogue the first two commandments demand the exclusive worship of YHWH, who allows no other gods before him (Ex. 20:2-6; Deut. 5:6-10).
The Only True God
The confession that YHWH is one implies and emphasizes:
The unity and thus the continuity of the history between YHWH and Israel, his people.
The one worship to be offered to the one God, who dwells in the midst of Israel (in Zion).
The nothingness of other gods (Is. 43:10; 44:6).
The universality of YHWH’s salvation beyond Israel’s boundaries (Is. 40-66).
Is. 43:10 “You are my witnesses," declares the LORD, "and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me.”
Is. 44:6 "This is what the LORD says-- Israel's King and Redeemer, the LORD Almighty: I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God.”
The Only True God
If there is only one God, and if this God is YHWH, the God of Israel, and YHWH is the Creator of the world, the Lord of history, then there can be salvation only in Zion or emerging from Zion.
Thus, Israel's confession of the uniqueness of YHWH is the foundation for the missionary concepts.
However, concepts of mission do not automatically lead to missionary praxis.
OT scholars give varying dates of origins of “missionary concepts” in Israel.
Ernst Sellin—Moses
Otto Eissfeldt-to the time of conquest
Hans Walter--to the prophets
The Promise of Genesis 12:3
The blessing for the nation is a promise, not a command.
Abraham does not receive an assignment to carry YHWH’s blessing to the nations; rather, the nations are promised divine blessing if and when they see Abraham’s faith in YHWH and if and when they establish contact with his descendants (Gen. 22:16-18).
The Promise of Genesis 12:3
The meaning of the statement in Gen. 12:3c supplements the other assertions in Gen. 12:1-3:
Abraham will be blessed by God (Gen. 12:2b).
Abraham will be a blessing: when people bless each other, they will do so by using Abraham’s name (Gen. 12:2d).
All people who bless Abraham will in turn be blessed (Gen. 12:3a).
All families will find blessing in Abraham (Gen. 12:3c)—that is, Abraham will become a source of blessing for all people who seek the blessing of YHWH.
Abraham’s story tells Israel that the obedience to God’s will, with the goal of worshipping YHWH in the promised land, brings blessing—for God’s people themselves, but then also for the entire world.
The Relationship Between Israel, Israelites and Gentiles
There are essentially three options for understanding the relationship between Israel and other nations:
Individual non-Israelites or non-Jews are accepted as God’s people (Zech. 2:11).
God gives to a nation other than Israel the predicate “people of YHWH” (Is. 19:16-25), or particular nations are equated with the people of God (Is. 25:6-8).
The concept of the people of God is redefined: in the last chapters of the book of Isaiah membership in the people of God is no longer dependent on ethnic origin (Is. 56:3-8); pagans receive a position formerly reserved for Israelites (Is. 66:18-24).
The Relationship Between Israel, Israelites and Gentiles
THE EVIDENCE IN THE MOSAIC LAW
The Mosaic law stipulated that the Israelites must take care of the foreigner who lives within Israel.
The following stipulations are most relevant:
The alien must not be oppressed (Ex. 22:20; 23:9).
The alien must be treated justly in legal respects (Duet. 1:16; 24:17; 27:19) and like any Israelite in economic matters (Duet. 24:14).
The Sabbath laws apply also to the alien (Ex. 23:12; 20:10; Duet. 5:14).
The alien, provided that he is circumcised, may and indeed should participate in the Passover without any difference between him and indigenous Israelites (Ex. 12:19; 12:48-49; Num. 9:14). He can also participate in the day of Atonement (Lev. 16:29).
The Relationship Between Israel, Israelites and Gentiles
THE EVIDENCE IN THE MOSAIC LAW
5. Some cultic stipulations apply explicitly to the alien. The reason for the generally equal treatment of aliens and Israelites is the history of the people of Israel and their status as aliens in Egypt:
“The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God” (Lev. 19:34).
In this context we even find the statement that YHWH loves the alien: “He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing” (Deut. 10:18).
“The community is to have the same rules for you and for the foreigner residing among you; this is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. You and the foreigner shall be the same before the Lord: The same laws and regulations will apply both to you and to the foreigner residing among you” (Num. 15:15-16).
