MODULE: MISSIOLOGY: YEAR TWO: THERESA .N. OZOEMENAM: DATE:12th OCTOBER 2007
The uniqueness and universality of God:
The book of Genesis explains how God created the whole world including the humanity. This God’s r started from the time of Adam but unfortunately man failed God. However, God has a purpose of restoring humanity to Himself through Noah, but due to their stuborness and disobedience God used the flood to wipe away man and other creatures. Except Noah and his house holds and other living creaturs in twos were saved. Psalm 24 explains how God is the LORD over all nations and Deutronomy 4;35 acknowledges the LORD As the God of the universality. We see how Genesis explains God choosing Israel through Abraham in order to bless the nations, affirming his purpose and mission through the book of Revelation 7 as fulfilment. Thus the whole Bible from my own point of veiw and perspective is all about God ’s mission.
The purpose of God blessing the nation:
God’s purposes has a purpose for his people as they continue to develop into a faith community
Furthermore, in Genesis 3:15-16, the first promise of a Redeemer, through which the cause of death can vanquished. This also explains God’s purpose and plan and it is of historic redeemption, on how God chose the very seed of Abraham to be the line of the messiah and even the heirs of the promise. This can be found in Gen. 12:1-3, Gal. 3:6-9 & 29 and Mathew 1:17.
The election of Israel for that purpose:
Therefore, the bible from Genesis to Revelation can be summed up as a missionary book , relating from God to his lost people for total reconciliation. Psalm 24 pointing out that God is a universal God and not only for Israel alone but of the whole world. This affirms that the idea and purpose of God is for the people of all nations to multiply and fill the earth. All these above events and individuals point out to the direction of election of Israel, for the purpose of God to be fulfilled through their individual mission. And it was only symbolic in nature as the book of Deutronomy pointed out. Gen. 15:13 explains of ”God’s promise of coming deliverance to Israel who was living in Egypt.” ”God graciously raised up Moses to be their librator”.
Interaction of Israel and the nation:
The book of Exodus however explains how the patriach Jacob ended up bringing his own family to Egypt in order to avoid being starved as famine enraged in the very promised land of canaan. It is assumed that Exodus tells us about the Israelites deliverance from Egypt. moreover, as God uses Moses to bring their journey to mount Sinai, all these includes the events which had occured during their sojourn. Alan Cole adds, that ”it is enough that with later Israel, we know and believe that such an event happened, and that we interprete it as a saving act of God.” ”Indeed, to Israel it was the saving act of God which overshadow all others.” We moreover understand Solomon programme of routine activites which brought about the political awareness and vision of the people of Israel in a foreign land. However, ”the possibility of reaching other nations being incorporated into all other winning empires is of boasting to Yaweh”. since ”Yaweh is regarded as the ruler of all nations through Israel and even throughout the Davidic son, it shows the golden era of that period” Kings 4: 20-21; and 5: 13
The ethical dimentions of Israels visibility:
The book of Leviticus is also seen as a mission book because it represents its content and the purpose which means the calling of God’s people. Leviticus represents the very calling of the levites to come and minister before God. (Yaweh). leviticus is also a primer regarding the moral and ethical instruction which the choosen God’s people are to follow. We can therefore say that by God people following his instruction, it is a way of God calling back his people for total reconciliation. ”Yaweh as a God of warrior and who reign for ever and ever.”’ And these religious regulations, moral, saintary etc. points out that God is ‘Holy’ and wants holiness for his people a good relationship.
The eschatological in gathering of nations:
The book of numbers is seen as a book for mission to use to mould the new generation of Israel and the whole world into a unified nations which God has already prepared to conquer the nations he has created. Nevertheless, Duetronomy again shows how God rule convenantly and universally as creator of heaven and earth. It also demostrates how God is the complete source of all human power and authority. The instructions and laws and responsibility shows how God’ mission were carried out by both individual and the people. Duetronomy as a mission book was even qouted by Jesus Christ Himself during the LORD’ s answers to devil’s temptations in the book of Mathew 4: 1-11; duet.6:13-16; Duet. 8:3. Also some of the New testament writers used some qoutations from the book of Duetronomy as many as two hundred times.
Conclusion: Thus we can rightly say that the Pentateuch books are a way of mission to restore and reconcile God’s people to Himself. Hence, all the pentateuch themes focus mainly on developing the nation of Israel through God’s prophets and the whole nations of the world through his beloved son Jesus Christ.
