Mission in the Old Testament - Israel as a Light to the Nations

Great review of how the OT is full of the missio Dei. I especially enjoyed the the early chapters of this book relating to the Pentateuch.

A revised edition of the older version. A precise and concise guide of God's mission for Israel to the gentiles in the Old Testament.

Very good read! Interesting points are developed throughout this book.I recommend all Christians should read and study this book.Our God from the beginning of time is a missionary God!!!

When did God first begin to send the news of Himself and His salvation to the four corners of the gentile earth? Wasn't it in the apostolic age, with Paul the Apostle to the Gentiles? In this book Kaiser goes back much farther. He says that God has always had a missionary heart for the whole world, and desired from the earliest Old Testament times for the whole world to know of the coming Man of Promise-and for Israel to be His active emissary in spreading that news.Kaiser begins by pointing out that Genesis 1-11 is "decidedly universal in its scope and outlook." Israel was not yet in the picture, and God dealt directly with all inhabitants of the earth until finally choosing Abraham's line.Kaiser's contention is that God didn't forget the rest of the world when He chose Abraham. Instead, God was choosing Israel to be His light and emissary to the rest of the world. In Exodus, for example, God delivered Israel not only for their own benefit, but so that "the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD."After this promising start, Kaiser looks at: -King David -the Psalms -the stories of Ruth and Naaman -Isaiah's Suffering Servant passages -Jonah, the minor prophets -and the apostle PaulHis studies of the PSALMS and the stories of NAAMAN and JONAH are the most instructive, original, and compelling. Kaiser examines Psalms 67, 96, and 117, showing that God's desire was for the whole world to recognize Him as the only true God. He points out such evangelistic declarations as: "I will sing to You among the nations," and "proclaim among the nations what [Yahweh] has done."Likewise in the stories of Naaman and Jonah, Kaiser examines God's motive for telling these specific stories. Kaiser says of the Naaman story, "Why spend so much space in the biblical narrative to tell this story?...the divine revelation wanted us to see that Yahweh was truly calling all the families of the earth-even one's enemies-to the same Savior and salvation." Kaiser's exegeses of these two stories are not only insightful, but delightful! He explores them with the interest of a story-teller, in the process discovering God's heart for all nations. I was particularly struck by the contrast Kaiser drew between Jonah (judgmental, selfish, Israel-oriented) and God (merciful to the Ninevites, concerned for them, not just for Israel).The book is more than worth buying and reading, if only for these three sections (Psalms, Naaman, Jonah; Chs. 2,3,5). Sadly, the rest of the book is less convincing. In his look at the Davidic promise, for example, he tries to show the promise of David's Seed was to be a "charter for humanity," taught to all nations. Unfortunately, "charter for humanity" is his own translation of 2 Samuel 7:19, which differs markedly from most accepted translations. This highlights an effort on Kaiser's part throughout the book to prove that Israel's message of salvation was strictly based on proclaiming a "Man of Promise." But his evidence is weak, as his example of Naaman shows: In one passage, Naaman says "Yahweh" rather than "Elohim." According to Kaiser, this proves a belief in a coming Messiah. In Jonah he also overlooks the fact that Jonah preached only a message of simple repentance.This points to the book's greatest weakness-Brother Kaiser fails to address the verses and positions that might contradict his thesis. John Piper, for example, believes mission to the Gentiles did not begin until Pentecost, and points to some persuasive verses for this idea (i.e. Acts 15:14-18, Romans 16:25-27, Ephesians 3:4-10). Kaiser provides no rebuttal or explanation for these arguments, which are the majority position in conservative evangelistic circles.In spite of these weaknesses, Kaiser provides a brief (75 page text) and valuable overview of the Old Testament with an eye for God's heart for mission. The writing is accessable, and the chapters on the Psalms, Naaman, and Jonah challenged me deeply to take a second look at God's heart. From the book I learned that the same God who so loved the world in John 3 was still so-loving the world back then. I'm not so certain that He commissioned Israel as an active outgoing agent for that mission, however.

Mission in the Old Testament argues that Israël was responsible to tell other nations about Yahweh. Some argue that Israël was intended to be a silent witness by example. Kaiser demonstrates that God intended that Israël be a verbal witness to other nations. He argues that missions began in the Old Testament. We do not have to wait until the Gospels to discus the concept of missions.