Month: August 2012

The People of God in Daily Life. As the People of God are formed, God is able to transmit his wisdom for daily life. In such books as Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Wisdom of Solomon, and Sirach, mothers and fathers, kings, and sages give counsel through wise sayings about situations faced by ordinary people every day – morality, romance, marriage, injustice, discouragement, laziness, and sexual purity, to name a few.

The People of God in Rebellion. Despite the people’s often extreme unfaithfulness, God never passes judgement or takes disciplinary action before warning them about the consequences of their actions. God always sends messengers, emissaries, or prophets “rising early and speaking” (Jeremiah 35:14, KJV) to warn the Israelites that their abandonment of the law, their “whoring” after other gods, and their neglect of the poor would bring disaster upon their heads. From Isaiah and Hosea, Joel and Amos, Obadiah and Micah, and Nahum and Zephaniah the people hear but still reject God’s message – and as a result suffer occupation and domination by foreign powers.

(From The Life With God Bible)

Related Post with Diagram: A Panoramic View of God’s Purpose in History

The People of God in Travail. Job represents human suffering for all time. “The greatest of all the people of the east” lives a life of influence and luxury, but he loses everything, including the respect of his friends and of his wife, who advises him to “Curse God, and die” (Job 1:3; 2:9). But through his misfortune and grief, throughout his doubts and questions, through his pain and suffering, he perseveres and points us to the way of being faithful to God in spite of our circumstances.

Just as Job represents human suffering, so Israel becomes a type of the suffering servant. This, in time, evolves into a crucial part of the Jewish messianic expectation: “He was despised and rejected by others; a man of suffering. . . . He was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities. . . . He was oppressed, and he was afflicted , yet he did not open his mouth; . . . The righteous one, my servant, shall make many righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. . . . He poured out himself to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors” (Isaiah 53:3, 5, 7, 11-12).

The People of God in Prayer and Worship. Worship of God was formalized during the exodus with the ark of the covenant and the tabernacle. However, with the emergence of the monarchy the king established Jerusalem as the center of worship. The Psalms establish a liturgical framework for public worship with all the accoutrements – festivals, pilgrimages, a sacrificial system, a priestly class, and musicians.

(From The Life With God Bible)

Related Post with Diagram: A Panoramic View of God’s Purpose in History

The People of God in the Promised Land. When the Israelites arrive on the borders of Canaan, Joshua, Moses’ successor, becomes their leader as they enter the Promised Land. Commanded by God to totally eliminate the Canaanites, the Israelites disobey, settling into Canaan and adopting many practices of their neighbors. They are obedient to Mosaic law throughout the lifetime of Joshua, but after his death its influence diminishes. When the Israelites begin to do “evil in the sight of the Lord (e.g. Judges 2:11; 3:7), the surrounding tribes attack them. Because there is no political entity to unify and protect them, the people call out to God and he sends someone to rescue them. After the crisis they are faithful to God for a time, but then they fall into disobedience again. They cry out again, are rescued again, and the cycle repeats. The phrase “all the people did what was right in their own eyes” describes these times (Judges 21:25).

The People of God as a Nation. In spite of the Israelites’ many failings, God remains faithful to them. When they ask to be ruled by a king, God tells them the consequences of their choice. Even though their request indicates that they do not want God as their king, in time Israel is transformed into a nation with a monarch. The second king, David, consolidates his power and brings the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem, the political capital. Under David’s son Solomon, Israel becomes a center of commerce and trade, and the Temple is built. The people survive the division of the country into two parts – Israel and Judah – and a succession of corrupt rulers. Still they continue their pattern of alternately forsaking and returning to God. As a consequence, God allows Israel (the Northern Kingdom) and then Judah (the Southern Kingdom) to be conquered and their ruling class taken into captivity. God’s presence (shekinah), which had been with the People of God since the exodus, departs.

(From The Life With God Bible)

Related Post with Diagram: A Panoramic View of God’s Purpose in History

The panoramic view of biblical history helps us understand the progressive nature of how God has mediated his presence with individuals and groups over the ages to form an all-inclusive community of loving persons. In turn, a brief overview of biblical history helps us grasp how the divine drama took concrete forms in each age as people encountered God. These forms are determined by social context, the idiosyncrasies of individual characters, the specific purpose of diving action, and the limits of human response.

The People of God in Individual Communion. In the beginning God creates the world and places the first humans in the Garden of Eden to work and care for it. Here we see Adam and Eve in partnership encountering God face-to-face. “Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man” (Genesis 2:22, NIV). But Adam and Eve disobey God’s instructions, are banished from the garden (Genesis 3:6-7), and suffer social and physical consequences: domination, alienation, travail, suffering, and mortality. For generations God’s Spirit continues to strive with human beings during a downward spiral into immorality and political chaos. Finally, God destroys everyone except Noah and his family (Genesis 6:1-7:23).

The People of God Become a Family. With God’s appearance to Abram (Genesis 12:7), God promises to work through a nomadic, ethnic, patriarchal family to bring blessing to all peoples on earth. But Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob all struggle with the promise: Abraham tries to force its fulfillment, Isaac lies about the identity of his wife, and Jacob tricks his brother out of his birthright. Joseph completes the next step in God’s plan as he brings his family from Canaan to the land of Goshen, in the nation of Egypt, where they multiply and develop into tribes.

The People of God in Exodus. But eventually a new king who “did not know Joseph” comes to power in Egypt and enslaves the Israelites, whose “cry for help rose up to God” (Exodus 1:8, 2:23). God hears their groans and responds by sending a reluctant, tongue-tied Moses to lead Abraham’s descendants into the Promised Land. During their journey, God gives the people the Mosaic law, the tabernacle, and the ark of the covenant to remind them of his presence.

(From The Life With God Bible)

Related Post with Diagram: A Panoramic View of God’s Purpose in History

1. Invite people who are pursuing God’s vision into your home. Ask them questions about what God is doing around them.
2. Put as much effort into involving your children in ministering to others as you do into getting them to play sports of the piano. Have a family project to expose your children to a suffering world – feed the homeless, sponsor a child, visit a juvenile jail, host international students, or take a missions trip.
3. Even if you have to change churches, involve your family in a body of believers where the worship is alive, the Bible is talked about warmly, people tell what Jesus is doing, and the youth program is geared toward ministry, not entertainment. Support the church by driving, cooking, praying, or whatever is needed.
4. Take your children to camps, conferences, and missions trips where they can deepen their understanding of God’s vision for them.
5. Pray for the Lord to bring along other adults who will take an interest in your children and support you in discipling them.
6. Decide on a ministry activity that you can do with your children weekly.
7. Take a training course with your children in how to share your faith, and then do it together.

From Ignite the Fire by Barry and Carol St. Clair