Missional Vision of the Old Testament and New Testament:

An Overview

When God calls His people into existence, He gives them a mission. There were no Old
Testament people of God without a mission; there is no election without a commission. God’s
call presupposes a call for action. Biblical theology is a mission-oriented theology.
The Hebrew Scripture knows nothing about an election for salvation but knows an election for
mission (Ex. 3:7-10; 7:1, 2; 19:5, 6; Jer. 1:5). The mission and the message of the Old Testament
people, even though both issues can be separated, belong firmly together. The mission includes
the proclamation of the message.1
Some scholars, however, argue that in the Old Testament there is no specific call to evangelize
the world. Eckhard J. Schnabel, for example, challenges Old Testament scholars, theologians,
and missiologists by claiming that there is no commission in the Old Testament (in contrast to
the New Testament) to go and evangelize the world. Abraham, Israel, and others, Schnabel says,
were only passive witnesses for God, a light to the world, but not actually engaged in mission per
se. He argues that there was nothing like an active programmatic plan to proclaim God’s
message to the whole world during the times of Israel’s monarchy or intertestamental Judaism;
thus, they did not engage in mission.2
In response to this claim, one must first acknowledge that the modern reader of the Hebrew
Scripture might have different questions and expectations than one can readily find answered in
the biblical text because the basic characteristic of the Old Testament is that of a storybook with
a metanarrative on salvation. It is neither a handbook on mission with a philosophy, nor a
blueprint for a programmatic missiological behavior. Also, the biblical language and imagery
employed in regard to the mission are different from what we use today.
One should not be surprised to find a lack of direct commands to mission, but instead there are
stories in which are expressed hints and observations as well as some explicit statements that
uncover the mission of God’s people in Hebrew Scripture. These incidental expressions witness
about the mission strategy in a different form, and they are not as straightforward as one could
wish.

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In addition, the metanarrative of the Old Testament unfolds only progressively God’s universal
plan for the whole world. It helps to realize that God had a global plan, a blueprint for the people
of God to fulfill, but it has not always been plainly perceived. Christopher Wright fittingly states
that “the mission of God is to bless all nations on earth. . . . Israel in the Old Testament was not
chosen over against the rest of the nations, but for the sake of the rest of the nations.” 3 God’s
plan for humanity can be expressed by the statement found in Isaiah: “‘Turn to me and be saved,
all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other’” (Isa. 45:22).4
David J. Bosch wittily states: “If there is a missionary in the Old Testament, it is God Himself
who will, as his eschatological deed par excellence, bring the nations to Jerusalem to worship
him there together with his covenant.” 5 If this is so, then one can deduce that God will not do it
Himself, but His working method will utilize humans to accomplish His objective (Gen. 12:1-3;
Ex. 19:4-6). John A. McIntosh defines God’s mission as doing everything possible to
communicate salvation to the world.6 Thus, God’s universal purpose is actually the “basis for the
missionary message of the Old Testament.” 7 God has a mission, and the believers in Him are to
participate in it.

A Twofold Mission
The mission of the Old Testament people was twofold:
● For Israel’s children and the following generations, there was to be an inward focus
(centripetal). Parents were expected to repeat the stories of deliverance to their children (Ex.
12:24-27; Deut. 6:4-9; Isa. 38:19): “One generation commends your works to another; they tell
of your mighty acts. They speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty, and I will meditate on
your wonderful works” (Ps. 145:4, 5). The account of God’s goodness was to be passed on from
each generation to the next. “Tell your children and grandchildren” (Ex. 10:2) is God’s crucial
instruction.
● For the other nations, the Gentile world (even to the distant islands [Isa. 66:19])—there was an
outward focus (centrifugal). The mission of the people of the Old Testament was directed toward
others who did not belong to the community of faith. There are a growing number of scholars
who take the Old Testament as a basis of biblical mission. Harold Henry, for example, speaks
about Moses as “the first missionary of whom we have any knowledge.” 8 Bosch mentions that
“stories of pagans like Ruth and Naaman who accepted the faith of Israel” 9 indicate the

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missionary nature of the Old Testament. Others recognize individuals such as Abraham,
Melchizedek, Jethro, Balaam, and Jonah as agents of God’s mission.
Prophets of God were not only speaking to their own people, but they also prophesied about
many nations as well; God will judge all (e.g., Jeremiah 46–51; Eze. 25–32; Amos 1–2; Jonah;
Obadiah). God was concerned with all nations, and the message of the Old Testament people
transcended Israel’s borders. God did not provide warnings to people without a purpose; He
always wanted to steer them to repentance (see Genesis 6:3; Jonah 3).

Universal Mission
The mission of the people of the Old Testament began only after the appearance of sin, when two
different ways of life were chosen (see two lines of genealogies—Cain and Seth—in Genesis 4;
5). The followers of God were to carry the message of salvation to others (Isa. 66:19; Ps. 67:2;
96:3). This mission was universal in scope. Unfortunately, God’s people did not always succeed
in their mission.
Because of his fall into sin, Adam failed in his mission to lead all his family to God. Allusion to
this function can be seen in Genesis 1:28. This implicit role for Adam and Eve derives also from
the fact that they were directly created by God Himself and created first. It follows that they
should keep the creation order and lead humanity in respect, admiration, and obedience to God in
order to maintain a right relationship with Him.
Arthur F. Glasser aptly states: “God called Adam and Eve to accept responsibility for this world
as his viceregents, to serve and control it under his direction and for his glory.” 10 The power of
evil was such a destructive force that it broke down good while letting evil triumph and
degrading people to such an extent that God had to intervene with the Flood (Gen. 6:5, 6, 11-
13).
The first hint about intentional mission activities in the Bible can be detected in Genesis 4:26
when Seth began to proclaim/preach the name of the Lord. This possible translation can be found
in Martin Luther’s and Robert Young’s versions. It seems that this mission was first family
oriented and gradually enlarged as humanity grew more numerous. Seth’s descendants continued
the proclamation, as is suggested by the phrase that “Enoch walked with God” (Gen. 5:24). But
as they mixed with the descendants of Cain’s line, they failed, and faithful people almost
disappeared (Gen. 6:1–8).

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Genesis 1 to 11 is universal in scope. Before the Flood, when the iniquity was rapidly growing,
the Spirit of God was striving with people to call them to repentance, unfortunately in vain (Gen.
6:3, 5). In addition, God called Noah to be His messenger, to be a preacher of righteousness to
the people of that world (2 Peter 2:5), and to call all people to make the right decision for God
and enter the ark. The Biblical flood was worldwide; therefore, His mission had to be worldwide,
too. He was like a savior for his generation, but the Tower of Babel soon finished the good
beginning after the Flood (Gen. 11:1-9). God, for the third time, had to start from scratch, but
this time with Abraham (Gen. 12:1; 15:7).
The universality of the mission was explicitly mentioned for the first time in regard to Abraham.
The Great Commission of the Old Testament declares: “All peoples on earth will be blessed
through you” (Gen. 12:3). The Lord stresses it three times to Abraham (Gen. 12:3; 18:18; 22:18).
He is to be a light to the whole world. God’s seven-fold blessing contained the key imperative
phrase (in the center position): “I will bless you. . . . Be a blessing. . . . and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you” (Gen. 12:2, 3).
Note the imperative in the divine statement, which is usually overlooked. God commands
Abraham to be a blessing to others because He blessed him. The Lord’s blessing cannot and
should not be taken selfishly. Abraham needed to live for others. Genesis 12:2, 3 was therefore
God’s programmatic statement for Abraham and those who would follow the same faith. Walter
Kaiser accurately articulates that this text provides “the formative theology” for “a divine
program to glorify himself by bringing salvation to all on planet earth.” 11 Abraham thus became
the special messenger, missionary, to the entire world, with a mission that would only later be
carried by Israel and fully fulfilled by Ebed Yahweh (Isa. 42:1-9; 49:1-7; 50:4-9) on an even
larger scale because He would be the Salvation (not only that he would declare, bring, or
proclaim it) for the whole world (49:6).
In many places where Abraham traveled and lived, he built altars and called on the name of the
Lord (Gen. 12:7, 8; 13:4, 18). In this way, he witnessed about his unique God. Abraham’s first
“missionary” journey to Egypt failed, however, because of his disbelief, and he had to be
escorted out (12:10-20). Later, he fulfilled his prophetic role in regard to the king of Sodom
(14:17-24). He grew through his defeats (described in Genesis 16; 20), struggles, and victories
(18:16–33; 22:1–19) in such a way that at the end God stated that “‘Abraham obeyed me and did
everything I required of him, keeping my commandments, my decrees and my instructions”

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(26:5). The knowledge about the God of Abraham was to grow in the world in such a way that
even “the nobles of the nations [will] assemble as the people of the God of Abraham” (Ps. 47:9).
Abraham’s God would meet them, and they were to follow Him. “‘All nations on earth will be
blessed through him’” (Gen. 18:18) because God’s ultimate wish is always to bless all humanity.

Abraham is AN INSTRUMENT IN God’s mission.

Genesis 10, a previous chapter containing a table of 70 nations (a symbolic number standing for
the totality of nations), introduces the narrative about Abraham, which means that Abraham was
to be a blessing to the whole world. Abraham also needed, however, to be a teacher to his
children. He was to teach them about the true God, instruct them about God’s ways, and direct
them to keep His law in order that they might live according to “the way of the Lord” (Gen.
18:19) and do everything according to the will of God.
Abraham’s universal mission was repeated to Isaac (26:4), and reaffirmed to Jacob (28:13-15;
35:11, 12; 46:3) and Moses (Ex. 3:6-8; 6:2-8). Moses together with Israel needed to continue this
universal mission to the whole world, starting as being light to the Egyptians, spreading out by
the Exodus (Josh. 2:8-12), and continuing on throughout the many centuries (Isa. 42:6, 7). The
purpose of the ten plagues in Egypt and the crossing of the Red Sea was not only to show that the
Egyptians’ gods were nothing (Ex. 12:12), but also to demonstrate to the Egyptians that God was
the Lord (Ex. 7:5, 17).
God called Israel to an ethical distinctiveness (Lev. 11:44, 45; 18:3; Micah 6:6-8). They were to
be committed to a holy life, because only in this way could they live to the glory of God and His
name, attract people to Him, be a light to the nations, and the nations could see their wisdom
(Deut. 4:6; Isa. 58:8; Eze. 36:23). Moses’ speech to Israel, when he stressed the importance of
obedience to God and His law (Deut. 4:5-8), implies the visibility and some kind of missionary
activities of Israel.
The mission of the Old Testament people can be summarized by God’s ideal for Israel: “‘Now if
you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured
possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests [thus, a
mediatorial role of Israel for other nations is anticipated; they should be the means of bringing
people to God] and a holy nation’” (Ex. 19:5, 6).

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Specific Examples of Missionary Activities
The question remains: Was Israel’s witnessing passive or active? Did they actually go to foreign
countries to speak about their living, loving, and holy God? As mentioned above, opinions differ.
There are only a few examples of active witnessing. One may consider the following cases of
how God called specific individuals or people and sent them to accomplish particular tasks:
● Joseph was brought to Egypt by jealousy and the intrigues of his brothers, but God changed it
in such a way that he became a savior for Egypt and his family and a witness for a true God
(Gen. 45:5-8; 50:19-21).
● God called Moses and sent him to Egypt to encounter Pharaoh and the Egyptian gods (Ex.
12:12). It is explicitly stated that God sent him there, which means that Moses was
commissioned by God to present to Egypt a living Lord (Ex. 3:10-15; Deut. 34:11).
● For Naaman, the commander of the army of the king of Aram, it was through the initiative and
witness of a young slave Israelite girl in Syria that he became acquainted with the true God of
heaven (2 Kings 5:15).
● The prophet Elisha went to Damascus. When he was there, Ben-Hadad, king of Aram, sent his
messenger to him to inquire if he would recover from his illness (2 Kings 8:7-15).
● The most obvious missionary activity is recorded in the Book of Jonah. This prophet was not
willing to go and fulfill God’s commission. At the end, he wondered what was wrong with God
when He saved the cruel Ninevites. Jonah saw the salvation of Ninevites as evil, and he refused
to agree with God’s compassion (Jonah 3:10; 4:1). In a dramatic way, God taught His prophet
about the universality of God’s salvation (4:6-11). The Lord demonstrated His unselfish love for
all, even for the enemies of His people.
● The Prophet Isaiah, at the conclusion of his book, declared that God will send missionaries to
the whole world (Isa. 66:19). The result will be that “‘from one Sabbath to another, all flesh shall
come to worship before Me,’ says the Lord” (vs. 23, NKJV).
● A number of Old Testament prophets (Amos, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel) dedicate large
portions of their books (Obadiah’s whole book) to pronounce judgments against other nations,
which suggests that God was purposely working for these nations. They were responsible for
their behavior and accountable to the Lord.

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Jeremiah sent Seraiah to Babylon with a scroll, which first had to be read aloud, and then a
symbolic act of sinking the scroll had to be performed (Jer. 51:59-64). Seraiah’s case offers a
unique example of a prophetic message that could be heard in a foreign land and provides the
evidence that the oracles against foreign nations could be actually delivered in the foreign
countries. Daniel and his three friends witnessed to Babylon’s top officials and the king about the
true God (Daniel 1–3). They helped Nebuchadnezzar to know the Most High God.
After his conversion, described in Daniel 4, he wrote a letter to all nations about the mighty Most
High God who had humbled him and about the King of heaven who would reign forever (Dan.
4:1-3, 37). Daniel also witnessed to the last Babylonian king, Belshazzar (Daniel 5), to Darius
the Mede and the high Medo-Persian officials (Daniel 6), and possibly even to Cyrus (Dan. 1:21;
6:28; 10:1), who issued the decree to allow the Jews to return home from Babylonian captivity (2
Chron. 36:22, 23; Ezra 1:1-4). Glover rightly describes Daniel as a missionary.
● Witnessing to Gentiles is presented in the Psalms, the missionary book par excellence: “I will
praise you, Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples” (Ps. 57:9); “Praise
the Lord, all you nations; extol him, all you peoples” (117:1, 2).
It is also true that the geographical location of Israel (placed at the main crossroads of Middle
East international routes, between Egypt and Assyria or Babylon) was a very significant factor in
the Israelites’ being witnesses for their God and an object lesson for the nations. Different
cultures, merchants, religions, nations, and people were meeting there, and people were
confronted with a different system of beliefs.
The importance of the worldwide mission of Israel is underlined in the fact that the temple in
Jerusalem would be the mega-world center for a true worship (Isa. 2:2) and that everyone would
come there and learn how to worship the true God (Isa. 2:3, 4; 56:2-8; 62:9-11). The Israelites
would become teachers of righteousness: “This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘In those days
ten men from all languages and nations will take firm hold of one Jew by the hem of his robe and
say, “Let us go with you, because we have heard that God is with you”’” (Zech. 8:23).
During the time of the Exile, Daniel pronounced a blessing on those who would lead others to
righteousness (Dan. 12:3). It is noteworthy to stress that his message has an international
connotation and perspective (2:31-47; 7:1-14). It is God who “‘changes times and seasons; . . .
deposes kings and rises up others’” (2:21).

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Additional Biblical Support
The righteous acts of God during the Exodus were heard about by many other nations (e.g.,
Joshua 2:8-11). Hiram, the king of Tyre, spoke very highly about the Lord, God of Solomon:
“‘Because the Lord loves his people, he has made you their king. . . . Praise be to the Lord, the
God of Israel, who made heaven and earth!’” (2 Chron. 2:11, 12). The queen of Sheba visited
Solomon because his fame had reached her far country (1 Kings 10:1-9; 2 Chron. 9:1-8). These
narratives suggest that other nations also heard about the God of Israel and Solomon’s wisdom.
Paradoxically, sometimes God’s people needed to go through troubles or even be sent into exile
so that they might accomplish their primary mission—to be a light to the world.
Two missionary Psalms (67; 96) express very eloquently a universal mission and focus on God’s
promise to Abraham that he and his posterity would be a blessing to all the families of the earth.
Psalm 67 is built on the Aaronic benediction from Numbers 6:24-26 in which the name of the
Lord, Yahweh (which expresses the idea of a personal God of His covenant people), is changed
for God (elohim) to stress the universal call of God to all nations to praise Him: “May God be
gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine on us—so that your ways may be known on
earth, your salvation among all nations. May the peoples praise you, God; may all the peoples
praise you. May the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you rule the peoples with equity and
guide the nations of the earth. May the peoples praise you, God; may all the peoples praise you.
The land yields its harvest; God, our God, blesses us. May God bless us still, so that all the ends
of the earth will fear him” (Ps. 67:1-7).
In Psalm 96:2-9, the psalmist calls believers to proclaim God’s salvation among the nations:
“Sing to the Lord, praise his name; proclaim his salvation day after day. Declare his glory among
the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples. For great is the Lord and most worthy of
praise; he is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the Lord
made the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and glory are in his sanctuary.
Ascribe to the Lord, all you families of nations, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to
the Lord the glory due his name; bring an offering and come into his courts. Worship the Lord in
the splendor of his holiness; tremble before him, all the earth.”

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There are also other texts in Psalms that call for missionary activities among the nations: “Give
praise to the Lord, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done. Sing to
him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts” (Ps. 105:1, 2). “I will speak of your
statutes before kings and will not be put to shame” (119:46). “Our mouths were filled with
laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, ‘The Lord has done
great things for them.’ The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy” (126:2,
3). “They [the Lord’s faithful people, according to verse 10] tell of the glory of your kingdom
and speak of your might, so that all people may know of your mighty acts and the glorious
splendor of your kingdom” (145:11, 12). “My mouth will speak in praise of the Lord. Let every
creature praise his holy name forever and ever” (vs. 21). The psalmists thus declare that they will
praise God among the nations (57:9; 108:3), and the kingdoms of the earth should “sing to God”
(68:32). Thus, the whole earth will “be filled with his glory” (72:19).
As a result of these witnessing exercises, Egyptians and Ethiopians will submit to the Lord (Ps.
68:31); all kings will bow down to him and all nations serve the Davidic King, the Messiah
(72:11), God will be “feared by the kings of the earth” (76:12), and will judge all the nations as
His inheritance (82:8), and “all the nations . . . will come and worship” before the Lord (86:9).
Foreigners then will be like the natives enjoying the benefits of citizenship (87:4–6), and “all
people” will know of God’s “mighty acts” (145:12).
The Prophet Isaiah explained that the descendants of Israel would be a spectacle to all nations of
God’s goodness to them: “Their descendants will be known among the nations and their
offspring among the peoples. All who see them will acknowledge that they are a people the Lord
has blessed. I delight greatly in the Lord; . . . he has clothed me with garments of salvation and
arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a
bride adorns herself with her jewels. For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden
causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness and praise spring up before
all nations” (Isa. 61:9-11).
God foretells the bright future of Zion and Jerusalem in these terms: “The nations will see your
vindication, and all kings your glory; you will be called by a new name that the mouth of the
Lord will bestow” (Isa. 62:2). Isaiah speaks about missionaries who “‘will proclaim [the Lord’s]
glory among the nations’” (66:19). Isaiah continues by stressing what the Lord will do: “‘I will
select some of them also to be priests and Levites’” (vs. 21). The Book of Isaiah ends with the

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international and worldwide dimension of worship: “‘From one New Moon to another and from
one Sabbath to another, all flesh shall come to worship before Me’” (vs. 23, NKJV). In this
context it is interesting to notice Isaiah’s rebuke to King Hezekiah for not fulfilling his God-
given mission by not sharing God’s salvation message with the Babylonian emissaries but
instead showing off his royal treasures (2 Kings 20:12-19; 2 Chron. 32:31).
The Prophet Zephaniah strikingly notes that “the nations on every shore will worship [the
Lord],” not only in Jerusalem, but “everyone in its own land” (Zeph. 2:11), and remarkably
states that God will “purify the lips of the peoples, that all of them may call on the name of the
Lord and serve him shoulder to shoulder” (3:9). God projected that even from beyond Cush
(Ethiopia) will come His worshipers who are called His people to serve Him: “From beyond the
rivers of Cush my worshipers, my scattered people, will bring me offerings” (vs. 10). The NIV
Study Bible comments: “Israel’s God will be acknowledged by the nations, and God’s people
will be honored by them (cf. vss. 19, 20).” 12 Greg King underlines that God’s true worshipers
“will be the recipients of international fame and honor” 13 and that “peoples from the most distant
places . . . will experience salvation and will worship Yahweh on His day. He is the redemptive
King not only of the Judahites, but also of people from many nations.” 14 Thus, “on two occasions
(2:11; 3:9, 10), Zephaniah depicted worship of Yahweh taking place on a worldwide basis by
those who are delivered from the judgment. . . . There will be so many that they will stand
shoulder to shoulder, serving Yahweh unitedly (3:9).”15 Because of that, God is depicted in a
unique activity (never again mentioned in the entire Old Testament). He is singing over His
people with joy: “‘The Lord your God is with you, the mighty warrior who saves. He will take
great delight in you, in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with
singing’” (3:17).
The prophetic word of God was to be promulgated to others, but this word needed to be
accompanied by godly behavior. In this way, the God of Israel would be attractive to all nations,
and they would come and worship Him (Isa. 56:6, 7; 61:9-11; 62:2). As a result of such
activities, kings would issue edicts in favor of Jerusalem’s temple (Cyrus, Darius, and
Artaxerxes). Otherwise, the people of God would be a byword and object of scorn (Joel 2:17;
Eze. 36:20, 21). God is either dead or alive in people’s minds. Consequently, it depends to a
great degree on the behavior of His followers; their deeds are a stronger witness and speak louder

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than words as to whether their God is in their lives or not (Eze. 20:41; 36:23; Hosea 1:9; 2:21-
23).
If God’s remnant people truly accomplish His task, then people will come to the Lord and
become His faithful followers. Isaiah and Micah prophetically envisioned a time when “Many
people’s [nations] will come and say, ‘Come, let us go up to . . . the temple of the God of Jacob.
He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths’ ” (Isa. 2:3). Zechariah underscored
it very emphatically: “‘Many nations will be joined with the Lord in that day and will become
my people’” (Zech. 2:11).
The people of God in the Old Testament were to be an object lesson for other people and nations.
When nations saw what God had done for them, they should have recognized the God of Israel
as a living God and followed Him because He was the true King. Thus, God was showing
Himself holy through His people in the sight of many nations (Joshua 2:9-14; Isa. 61:9-11; Eze.
7, 27-29). This is a different type of evangelism than what Christians usually have in mind: not
so much by proclamation, but by being a living example of God’s intervening grace. Witnessing
without practical lifestyle support is empty, harmful, and destructive. It can never be
overemphasized that the exemplary conduct of God’s people was and is the best witness for the
Lord. “‘I will show the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations,
the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord,’
declares the Sovereign Lord, ‘when I am proved holy through you before their eyes’” (Eze.
36:23).

God’s Working With Gentiles (Outside of Israel)

God called His people to a certain mission, and His people needed to fulfill that mission, but God
also worked outside of Israel. The Old Testament remnant was not an elect elite group who
would be uniquely saved, but they were elected for a mission. This does not mean, however, that
God did not also use other individuals or did not work for other people outside of the main
community of faith. How this was done is not always revealed to us; it is simply stated.
Examples of God’s working with different people outside of Israel include:
● Melchizedek, king of Salem and the priest of the God Most High (Gen. 14:18-20).
Melchizedek appears suddenly on the scene as an unknown character, blesses Abraham, and
expresses his strong belief in the Creator God who gave victory to Abraham over their enemies.

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Abraham, as an expression of his love and gratitude to God for all he received from God, gave
his tithe to Melchizedek. Because Melchizedek faithfully served the Lord, he became a type for
Christ (Heb. 7:1-3, 11-17).
● Jethro, the priest of Midian and Moses’s father-in-law (Ex. 18:1). After hearing from Moses
what the Lord had done for Israel in Egypt, Jethro praises Yahweh: “‘Praise be to the Lord, who
rescued you from the hand of the Egyptians and of Pharaoh, and who rescued the people from
the hand of the Egyptians. Now I know that the Lord is greater than all other gods, for he did this
to those who had treated Israel arrogantly’” (Ex. 18:10, 11).
● Balaam, a prophet of God. Balaam pronounces messianic prophecies (Num. 24:17-19) in the
midst of his apostasy (Numbers 22–24), which cost him his life (31:8).
● Rahab, the prostitute in Jericho. Rahab heard about the God of Israel, believed, helped two
Israelite spies, saved her family from destruction, and joined the people of God (Joshua 2:1-21;
6:17, 25). Rahab later married Salmon, son of Nahshon, one of the prominent princes of Judah
(Num. 7:12), and became an ancestor of the Messiah.
● God worked with other nations, e.g., the Cushites, Philistines, and Arameans. The prophet
Amos boldly proclaims God’s intervention for these nations: “‘Are not you Israelites the same to
me as the Cushites?’ declares the Lord. ‘Did I not bring Israel up from Egypt, the Philistines
from Caphtor and the Arameans from Kir?’” (Amos 9:7). There are no historical records about
these activities of God, and there is no other biblical passage that witnesses about them except
this text in Amos.
● God gave the Canaanite people 400 years of grace to repent and return to Him (Gen. 15:13-
16). Similarly, before the Flood, God offered 120 years of grace (6:3). In both cases, however,
rebellion against God continued.
● The nations were judged by God. As already mentioned, many prophets uttered oracles against
foreign nations (Isaiah 13–23; Jeremiah 46–51; Amos 1–2). This suggests that God has revealed
to them the truth and that they were accountable for their actions to God (see especially the
books of Jonah and Obadiah).
● Nebuchadnezzar, the famous Babylonian king, wrote a letter to the pagan world about his
dramatic conversion story and powerfully witnessed about God’s eternal kingdom and the Most
High God who humiliated him and revealed His sovereignty to him (Daniel 4).

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God ultimately puts together these two different groups (God’s faithful remnant—people from
the mainstream of His church, and people who work outside of this pattern). “Insiders” and
“outsiders” belong together. Melchizedek came in contact with Abraham (Gen. 14:18–20);
Rahab with Israel (Joshua 2); Jethro with Moses (Exodus 3; 18); Naaman with Elisha (2 Kings
5); Nebuchadnezzar with Daniel (Daniel 1; 2; 4); Ahasuerus [Xerxes] with Esther (Esther 1–9).
Moabite Ruth expressed this so eloquently to Israelite Naomi: “‘Your people will be my people
and your God my God’” (Ruth 1:16).
Isaiah describes this multiethnic relationship with amazing words and provides a vivid picture:
“In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will go to Egypt and
the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together. In that day Israel
will be the third, along with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing on the earth. The Lord Almighty will
bless them, saying, ‘Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my
inheritance’ ” (Isa. 19:23–25). This is a stunning statement. Not only Israel, but also Egypt and
Assyria are called the people of God, and they are to worship together.

God, the Missionary

God has a breathtaking mega-plan to bless and save the whole world. For that purpose, however,
He uses human instruments, and through them He leads people to Himself (Isa. 45:22). From the
very beginning, the horizon of mission for the Old Testament people was to be worldwide.
Adam, Seth, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and others had their mission to fulfill.
The ultimate, intentional purpose of God in electing Abraham, or Israel, was to become a
blessing, light, and witness to the entire world about the true God so that everyone could come to
a saving knowledge of the living and loving Lord. The goal of God’s plan was always to invite
all human beings to salvation. From the very beginning, the plan of redemption was never
concealed nor reserved only for one family, group, or nation. Through Abraham and his
posterity, all the families of the earth were to be blessed. The Old Testament vision of mission
was all-inclusive.
Mission is about more than merely going somewhere, sending someone, or doing something.
Mission is primarily about being—being a special people with a special message that needs to be
modeled in real life. This has implications for Christian ecclesiology, and particularly for
Adventist ecclesiology, which can be summarized in several points:

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● Mission means identification with God’s ultimate goal for saving humanity and working out
this plan.
● Being is more important than sending. The call to an ethical lifestyle and living tangibly the
message of God was a crucial focus that is to be emphasized in our modern times.
● The worldwide scope of the mission of God’s people did not change. As God had a deliberate
plan to save the world during the time of the Old Testament dispensation, so He has it today.
● The mission and message are inseparable. The essentials of the message did not change. It has
had new and different emphases during the passing of time, but basic principles of salvation were
valid all the time. Paul, for example, built the doctrine of justification by grace through faith in
Jesus Christ on key texts derived from the Hebrew Scripture according to the structure of the
Hebrew canon: Genesis 15:6 (Torah); Habakkuk 2:4 (prophets), and Psalm 32:1, 2 (writings).
God’s people of today ought to proclaim the “eternal gospel.”
● The Old Testament community of faith and its message was eschatological and future oriented.
The biblical-eschatological paradigm should provide a pattern for our thinking today. God is
coming to establish His eternal kingdom. This eschatological focus provides powerful fuel for
mission. The hope of the second coming of Jesus Christ is the hope of all hopes.
● Prophets constantly spoke against false religious systems and warned against the infiltration of
paganism into true worship. So the task of God’s people today is to present first of all the true
picture about God, reveal His true character, who He is, and point the attention of all to Jesus
Christ while also unmasking firmly, but lovingly and wisely, the Antichrist with its apostate
religious system.
● God uses two different groups: insiders, the faithful remnant (principal stream of the
community of believers); and outsiders, those who serve God faithfully according to their light
but work outside of His eschatological movement. The faithful remnant has a special God-given
mission, but outside the mainstream, God has His messengers, individuals, or communities who
also proclaim the truth. The Lord desires to put these two different streams together by drawing
them closer to each other because His ultimate goal is to have only one flock (Isa. 14:1; 56:3-8).
As a part of our commitment to mission, we need to recognize God’s work outside our own
community of faith.

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MISSION IN THE NEW TESTAMENT: AN OVERVIEW
God, the Author of Mission. There is only one place to start in speaking of “mission” from a
New Testament standpoint. And that place is God. The New Testament writings make clear,
from one end to the other and in many different ways, that “mission” emerges from the heart, the
will, and the actions of God. As the Gospel Writers make abundantly clear, God is the Sovereign
of the heavens and the earth, whose reign (the “kingdom of God” or the “kingdom of heaven”) is
the ultimate “good news” (Mt. 4:23; 9:35), “good news” of healing, forgiveness, compassion,
inclusion, love for enemies, and reconciliation for the estranged. This is a message so good that
neither children nor stones can keep silent about it (Lk. 19:40), a message that calls out for
universal “[proclamation] throughout the world to all the nations” (Mt. 24:14). This “good news”
about “God’s reign” is the impelling and compelling heartbeat of Jesus’ earthly ministry, the
central theme of his proclamation (Mt. 4:23; 9:35) and the undeniable impetus behind his deeds
of power and compassion (Mt. 11:5//Lk. 7:22; Lk. 4:18-19).
Paul has his own way of speaking about God’s “good news” (Rom. 1:1). Paul identifies this
“good news” as “the [good news] concerning [God’s] Son, . . . Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 1:3,
4). And he makes clear that this “good news” has to do above all with God’s decision to work
through the death of Jesus to “reconcile the world to himself” (2 Cor. 5:19; cf. Col. 1:20) and to
“reconcile [estranged human factions, Jews and Gentiles] to God in one body” (Eph. 2:16). And
in his letter to the Philippians Paul recites an even earlier hymn of the church that depicts just
such a divine will for cosmic redemption and reconciliation: “Therefore God also highly exalted
[Jesus] and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee
should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:9-11). Viewed from Paul’s
perspective, the very heartbeat of God, “God’s good news” (Rom. 1:1), is God’s will for the
redemption of humankind and of all creation (Rom. 8:18-25), and the reconciliation of all who
are estranged from God and from each other (2 Cor. 5:19; Col. 1:20; Eph. 2:16). And it is this
“good news” of God and this will of God for “reconciliation” and “redemption” that is, for the
New Testament writers, the ultimate source out of which “mission” grows.
But there is still more. The God whose reign is the ultimate “good news” and the God who wills
and works for the redemption and reconciliation of humankind and all creation is also the God
who “calls” people away from their ordinary pursuits and “sends them out” (the very vocabulary

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of “mission”) to participate in God’s purposes for the world. The God of the New Testament
writers is a “calling” and “sending” God. John the Baptist is a “man sent by God” to prepare the
way for Jesus (Jn. 1:6). For Luke God is the one who has “sent” Jesus to the Jewish people to
“bless” them by “turning [them] from [their] wicked ways” (Acts 3:26). In John’s Gospel Jesus
is pre-eminently the “Son” who has been “sent” into the world by his “Father” to carry out God’s
saving purposes (John 3:17, 34; 5:36, 38; 6:29, 57; 7:29; 8:42; 10:36; 11:42; 17:3, 8, 18, 21, 23,
25; 20:21). And in the Gospels we witness God commissioning Jesus for messianic ministry at
his baptism through the gift of the Spirit (Mk. 1:10//Mt. 3:16//Lk. 3:22; Jn. 1:32-33) and the
divine proclamation that Jesus is God’s “Beloved Son” (Mk. 1:11//Mt. 3:17//Lk. 3:23). Jesus, for
his part, instructs his disciples to “ask the Lord of the harvest [i.e., God] to send out laborers into
his harvest” (Mt. 9:38//Lk 10:2b). And Jesus tells his listeners about this “sending” God in a
story about a landowner in another country who “sends” his slaves [i.e., the prophets] and
eventually his son [i.e., Jesus himself] to collect the produce of his vineyard from the resident
tenants (Mk 12:1-12//Mt. 21:33-46//Lk. 20:9-19). In similar fashion Jesus tells a story of a
man/king who “sends” his slaves [i.e., Jesus’ disciples] out to invite people to a banquet/wedding
feast for his son [i.e., Jesus himself] (Mt. 22:1-10//Lk. 14:16-24). In 2 Corinthians Paul tells his
readers that it is God who has “entrusted” to him the “ministry of reconciliation,” transforming
him into an “ambassador for Christ” who calls on the Corinthians to “be reconciled to God” (2
Cor. 5:18, 19, 20). And in his first letter Peter proclaims to his readers, “But you are a chosen
race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the
mighty acts of him [i.e., God] who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Pet.
2:9; emphasis mine).
The picture thus far is clear and vivid. “Mission” for the New Testament writers emerges from
God’s own saving and redemptive purposes for humankind and all of creation. And God both
“calls” and “sends” people—the prophets, John the Baptist, Jesus himself, Jesus’ own disciples,
the early Christians to participate in these saving and redemptive purposes. Thus “mission” is,
fundamentally and before all else, God’s saving and redemptive initiative in the world.
Jesus, God’s Pre-eminent Missionary and Sending Agent. But crucial as it is, the New Testament
message of God’s saving and redemptive purposes for the world and God’s actions to “call” and
“send” people to carry out those purposes is merely the beginning of the New Testament story.
The heart of the New Testament story, the urgent word that jumps off of every single page, is the

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word about Jesus, Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus the Messiah/Christ, Jesus the Son of God, and
ultimately Jesus the Risen Lord of the church. And it is this Jesus who is not only the pre-
eminent “missionary” on behalf of God’s kingdom and God’s own “sending agent,” but
ultimately the focus, the message, and the driving force behind all Christian “mission.”
The prominent New Testament picture that we have of the earthly Jesus comes to us from the
Gospels, the Synoptic Gospels on the one hand and John on the other. In the Synoptic Gospels
we see Jesus as one who is compelled and impelled by the “good news” of God’s reign, the
“kingdom of heaven [that] has come near” (Mt. 4:17). As Luke tells us, Jesus knows himself to
be “sent” on behalf of God’s “good news.” When the crowds find Jesus in a deserted place and
seek to prevent his departure from their area, Jesus replies, “I must proclaim the good news of
the kingdom of God to the other cities also; for I was sent for this purpose” (Lk. 4:43; cf. Mk.
1:38). And throughout the Synoptic Gospels we witness Jesus as God’s pre-eminent
“missionary,” the one who demonstrates the presence of the reign of God in his verbal
proclamation and in his ministry of mercy among the people. In Matthew’s words, “Jesus went
throughout Galilee teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom
and curing every disease and every sickness among the people” (Mt. 4:23; cf. 9:35; 11:1). And
then Matthew depicts Jesus’ ministry in vivid color and sharp detail. First we listen to Jesus’
inaugural address on the “kingdom of heaven” (5:3, 10, 19, 20; 6:10, 13, 33; 7:21) in chapters
five through seven, the Sermon on the Mount. And then, in chapters eight and nine, we watch in
virtually breathless amazement as Matthew walks us through “a month (or is it two or three or
six?) in the life of Jesus of Nazareth” and we witness his non-stop ministry of “powerful deeds”
(Mt. 11:20, 21, 23; 13:54, 58; 14:2) and “healing” (Mt. 4:23, 24; 8:7, 16; 9:35; 12:10, 15, 22;
14:14; 15:30; 17:18; 19:2; 21:14).
The “mission” that we witness here and elsewhere in the Synoptics is characterized above all by
Jesus’ power, his compassion, and his concern for whole human beings and for people in vital
community with God and with each other. And it is here, Jesus indicates, in the midst of this
holistic mission, that the “kingdom of God/heaven” is present. In the midst of a debate with his
opponents about the source of his power, Jesus announces, “But if it is by the finger of God that I
cast out the demons, then the kingdom of God has come to you” (Lk. 11:17; cf. Mt. 12:28). And
when John’s disciples ask Jesus if he is indeed “the one who is to come” (Mt. 11:2-3), Jesus
responds with a detailed account of his wide-ranging ministry among the people: “Go and tell

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John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed,
the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them” (Mt. 11:4-5).
In the Gospel of John Jesus is above all the “Son” who has been “sent by [his] Father” (see the
discussion above). And here Jesus’ “mission” is not to proclaim the “kingdom of God/heaven”
but rather to “make [God] known” (Jn. 1:18) through his own incarnation, the embodiment of
God in human form as the “Word become flesh” (Jn. 1:14). Accordingly, Jesus describes his
mission as “work[ing] the works of the one who sent me” (Jn. 9:4; cf. 5:19-22, 30). And Jesus’
actions are depicted not as “powerful deeds” (dynameis: Mt. 11:20 et al) which serve above all to
amaze the public but rather as “signs” (semeia: Jn. 2:11, 18, 23; 3:2; 4:48, 54; 6:2, 14, 26, 30;
7:31; 9:16; 10:41; 11:47; 12:18, 37; 20:30) intended to point people toward God.
But if Jesus is God’s pre-eminent “missionary,” Jesus is also God’s foremost “sending agent.”
The Jesus who comes to “proclaim the good news of the kingdom” (Mt. 4:23; 9:35) does not
carry out his mission by himself. Instead, early in his ministry he calls disciples to “follow” him
as apprentice missionaries whom he will teach to “fish for people” (Mk. 1:17//Mt. 4:19; cf. Lk.
5:10). In the midst of his ministry Jesus then “sends” these disciples out on their own,
empowered with his very authority and commissioned to the very tasks that make up his own
ministry (Mk. 6:7-13, 30//Lk. 9:1-6, 10; Lk. 10:1-20; Mt. 9:35-11:1). Nor is this the end of the
matter. As Jesus prepares his disciples for the tumultuous days to come, he assures them that
before the end arrives “the good news must first be proclaimed to all nations” (Mk. 13:10//Mt.
24:14). And the Gospels of Matthew, Luke, and John conclude, each in their own distinctive
fashion, with the Risen Jesus commissioning his disciples to an ongoing mission in the wider
world (Mt. 28:18-20; Lk. 24:44-49; Jn. 20:19-23). In Matthew’s Gospel Jesus charges his
disciples to “make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of
the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you”
(Mt. 18:19-20a). In Luke’s account Jesus informs his disciples, “Thus it is written, that the
Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and
forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem” (Lk.
24:46-47). And in John’s Gospel Jesus says very simply, “Peace be with you. As the Father has
sent me, so I send you” (Jn. 20:21). As followers of Jesus, God’s pre-eminent missionary, Jesus’
disciples have a mission vocation fashioned on Jesus’ own mission, a mission vocation for all
time, one that will take them “to the end of the age” (Mt. 28:20).

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Beyond the earthly ministry of Jesus, in the community of the earliest Jesus followers, the image
of Jesus as God’s “sending agent” lives on in vivid fashion. Saul the zealous Pharisee who is on
his own “mission” to eradicate the Jesus communities in Jerusalem and Damascus, has a life-
changing encounter with the Risen Jesus on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:1-19a). And afterward
Paul knows himself as an “apostle of Jesus Christ” (Rom. 1:1; 1 Cor. 1:1; 2 Cor. 1:1; Gal. 1:1;
Eph. 1:1; Col. 1:1; 1 Tim. 1:1; 2 Tim. 1:1; Tit. 1:1), as does Peter (1 Pet. 1:1; 2 Pet. 1:1). And the
Acts of the Apostles and the letters of Paul and other early leaders of the Jesus movement show
us the beginnings of this mission vocation, as the early Christians are “sent out” by Jesus to
“make disciples” (Mt. 28:19) and to “proclaim repentance and forgiveness of sins” in the “name”
of the Risen Jesus (Lk. 24:47). And here it is that the subject of mission becomes Jesus himself,
God’s Messiah, the one whom God has raised from the dead, the one whose mission on behalf of
God’s reign has now been vindicated beyond all challenge. As Peter puts it in his Pentecost
sermon, “Therefore, let the entire house of Israel know with certainty that God has made him
both Lord and Messiah, this Jesus whom you crucified” (Acts 2:36). And Paul, for his part,
focuses his entire (and considerable!) energies on proclaiming Jesus Christ and his death and
resurrection. To the Roman believers Paul proclaims “the [good news] concerning [God’s] Son,
who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be Son of God with
power according to the spirit of holiness by resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,
through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith
among all the Gentiles for the sake of his name . . .” (Rom. 1:3-5; emphasis mine).
The Holy Spirit: God’s Empowerment for Mission. Last but surely not least in our New
Testament perspectives on mission, there is one thing more. The New Testament writers, Luke
principal among them, make it clear that God’s mission, enacted through Jesus and Jesus’
followers, is empowered by none other than the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God at work in the lives
of Jesus and his followers in ways that reach far beyond human imagination and human
capabilities. The Gospel Writers, each in their own way, point to the descent of the Spirit on
Jesus at the time of his baptism as a crucial component of Jesus’ own calling into mission (Mk.
1:10//Mt. 3:16//Lk. 3:22; Jn. 1:32-33). And in Luke’s Gospel it is the Spirit-endowed Jesus (Lk.
4:1, 14) who returns to Nazareth his hometown and opens his public ministry in programmatic
fashion with the ringing words of Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has
anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives

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and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s
favor” (Lk. 4:18-19). Jesus’ mission is, for Luke, from first to last a Spirit-empowered and
Spirit-directed mission, a mission in which the prophecy of Isaiah 61:1 comes to its fulfillment in
the compassionate words and the healing actions of Jesus of Nazareth.
And so it is for Jesus’ disciples as well. In Luke’s account in Acts it is the descent of the Spirit
on the gathered believers in Jerusalem on Pentecost that causes the church to explode into
existence in dynamic, unstoppable, and highly public fashion (Acts 2:1-42). And throughout the
Acts of the Apostles it is ever again the Holy Spirit who invades human lives, transforms human
beings, and empowers the church richly to carry on its mission to proclaim the resurrection of
Jesus. And beyond the Acts of the Apostles the remaining letters of the New Testament are, for
their own part, filled to overflowing with references to the presence and the activity of the Holy
Spirit in the life of the church.

REFERENCES
Arthur F. Glasser, “Biblical Theology of Mission,” in Evangelical Dictionary of World
Mission, A. Scott Moreau, ed. (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2000), p. 127.
Christopher J. H. Wright, Knowing the Holy Spirit Through the Old Testament (Downers Grove,
Ill.: InterVarsity, 2006), pp. 99, 100.
David J. Bosch, “Reflections on Biblical Models of Mission,” in Toward the 21st Century in
Christian Mission, James M. Phillips and Robert T. Coote, eds. (Grand Rapids:
Eerdmans, 1993), pp. 175, 176.
David J. Bosch, Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology and Mission (Maryknoll,
N.Y.: Orbis, 1991), p. 1719.
Eckhard J. Schnabel, Early Christian Mission, 2 vols. (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity, 2004).
Greg A. King, “The Remnant in Zephaniah,” Bibliotheca Sacra 151 (October-December 1994),
p. 424.
Harold Henry, The Missionary Message of the Old Testament (London: Kingsgate, 1944), p. 15.
Jiri Moskala, “The Message of God’s People in the Old Testament,” Perspective Digest 15:2
(2010), pp. 4-18.

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Johannes Blauw, The Missionary Nature of the Church: A Survey of the Biblical Theology of
Mission (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1974), p. 17.
John A. McIntosh, “Missio Dei,” in Evangelical Dictionary of World Mission, A. Scott Moreau,
ed. (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker, 2000), pp. 631, 632.
NIV Study Bible (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1985), p. 1398.
Unless noted otherwise, all Scripture quotations in this article are from The New International
Version of the Bible.
Walter C. Kaiser, Jr., Mission in the Old Testament: Israel as a Light to the Nations (Grand
Rapids: Baker, 2000), p. 13.
__________, “The Day of the Lord in Zephaniah,” Bibliotheca Sacra 152 (January-March
1995), p. 21.

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