BEREAN BAPTIST BIBLE COLLEGE & SEMINARY

“Old Testament Aspect of Mission”

An
Assignment
Submitted To
Prof. Dr. P.J. Jeremiah

In partial fulfillment of the Requirement of the Biblical Theology of Mission for

Master of Theology (counselling)

Due Date: __14-10-2021________ Submitted Date: ____14-10-2021__

Expected page count: ___20____

Signature: ____________________

By
Mwikwm mochahary
#5641
2020-2021
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 TABLE OF CONTENT

1. Introduction
2. Biblical meaning of mission
3. Need of God’s mission
4. Purpose of God’s mission
5. God’s mission in the old testament
5.1. Creation
5.2. God’s Mission with Noah
5.2.1. God’s covenant with Noah and sons
5.3. God’s Mission with Abraham
5.4. God’s Mission with Moses
5.4.1. Israelites in Wilderness
5.4.2. God’s covenant with Moses
5.4.3. Moses’s responsibility
5.4.4. Moses received the ten commandment
6. God’s Mission In the Poetry Books
6.1. The Book of Psalms
6.2. The Book of Job
6.3. The Book Proverb
6.4. The Book of Ecclesiastes
6.5. The Book Song of Solomon
7. God’s mission through prophet
7.1. The Book of Isaiah
7.2. The Book of Jeremiah
7.3. The Book of Ezekiel
7.4. The Book of Daniel
7.5. The Book of Jonah
7.6. The Book of Habakkuk
7.7. The Book of Malachi
7.8. Mission of the Prophetic Hope
 7.8.1. Reconciliation with God
7.8.2. Return to the Promised Land
7.8.3. Reestablishment of Davidic Kingship
7.8.4. Rebuilding of the Temple
8. Conclusion
BIBLEOGRAPHY
1. Introduction
This paper is the study about the God’s mission in the Old Testament. The
mission in the Old Testament is based on the prophecy of the coming Messiah
Jesus Christ who will save the world from the sins once and for all. From the
beginning the day Adam sinned till Malachi it has been all about the preparation
of the way for the coming Redeemer. It is a very important to know the God’s
mission in Christian life to grow in carrying the God’s mission to the world, one
must know the God’s mission. Here it is bringing out the some of the aspect of
God’s mission in Old Testament, and how God’s has been working to fulfill His
mission in the Old Testament.
2. Biblical meaning of mission
The word “mission” comes from the Latin word “Missio” translates as Greek
apostole, “a sending” 1. It is used to signify all that God does in the world and all
that he is doing to accomplish his objective, the complete exaltation of the
fame of his name: “I will be exalted among the nations; I will be exalted in the
earth.
Mission has a secular meaning; it often refers to either an underlying purpose
(as in the term “mission statement”) or a specific campaign or objective. But it
is also used to define the scope of all that God has given his church to
accomplish within the mission. It may include all that God has called the
church to do in the world 2.
Here, the word mission means a sending and it is the center biblical theme
describes the purpose of God’s action in the human history.3 God has to his
people the task, of spreading the message of his salvation to the world called
God’s mission. The people who carry out this mission are therefore called
missionaries.4

1
https://www.britannica.com accessed on 07-10-2021
2
https://www.imb.org accessed on 08-10-2021
3
https://en.m.wikipedia.org accessed on 08-10-2021
4
Don fleming,Bible knowledge Dictionary,(pilot book india,1990),296.
3. Need of God’s mission
Mission is necessary because man’s sin has cut him off from the life of God and
left him in the power of sin (Genesis, 3:24; Rom 1:21-25). God however has
made a way of salvation. The Bible records the development of God’s plan for
the salvation of man worldwide. God chose one man (Abraham) to the father one
particular nation through whom God’s blessing would go the to all nation but the
although Israel as a whole failed to carry out its task, out of it came one person,
Jesus Christ, who was savior of the world (Luke 2:10-11 gal 3:16). He built a new
people of God, the Christian church to whom he entrusted the mission of taking
the message to people everywhere.
4. Purpose of God’s mission
Purpose of God’s mission is to redeem a lost world and to extend the kingdom of
God to the ends of the earth. The heart of His mission was sending Christ in the
fullness of time to die for the sins of the world. The vision of His mission fulfilled
is a multitude which no man can count from every tribe, people, language and
nation gathered around the throne of God worshipping the Lamb.5God’s mission
is to establish the God’s kingdom It fact, the kingdom is the focus of God’s
mission, and that kingdom mission involves the whole of creation. This goal is
universal and include every people on earth.6
5. God’s mission in the old testament
God’s mission is all about redemption, to save the lost world. According to the
genesis, God’s created everything that came to pass, everything that we see on
the earth. He created everything in perfect ways but later the first man and
women who was created by God. They were failing to obey or maintain the
stander which was given By God and Adam and eve became the enemies of
God by committing sins, the relationship was broken between God and Adam.
According to the revelation in Old Testament, God has been trying to bring back
the lost soul and to make relationship with Him again. By seeing the revelation in

5
https://therankinfile.com accessed on 08-10-2021
6
Chaig ott, the mission of the church, (baker academic, 2016), 93.
Old Testament, God made the promises, choosing the people, making covenant,
establishing the leaders, kings and choosing some prophets to fulfill His mission.
5.1. Creation
God’s created everything that came to pass for His own glory, but man is a very
special among the creation. Man's involvement in the process of those created in
the divine image took the form of a command (Gen. 1:28). Giving commands is
God's way of engaging His agents in His mission from the beginning to the
end.7The first divine words to human beings were about their relationship, not to
God, but to the earth. Adam and Eve shared in the one who possessed or
exercised creative power (dominion), namely God, the creator. The creative
involvement gave the pair a care-giving and nurturing act, as opposed to an act
of exploitation.8 God's blessings (Gen. 1:22, 2:3) indicated that His power and
strength formed an integral part of the power-sharing image, a giving-over of
what is God's to others to use as they will. In Genesis 1:26 and 9:1, God
determined to renew His commitment to men after the flood to show His intended
purpose towards men from the beginning to the end. 1 Before the fall, everything
God created was perfect. Gen. 1:4,10, 12, 18, 21, 52). Man's mission included a
service both to God, the creator, and His creation. However, the fall in Genesis 3
resulted in curses and promises that changed perfect created beings to imperfect
ones (Gen. 3:15). This resulted in an act of love, salvation by grace, a sin-
offering and sacrifice both to God and fellow men.9
God placed His creature Adam and eve in the Eden of Garden to communicate
and fellowship with him and God set the instruction to His creature not to eat the
fruit of Good and evil but they ate it. They disobey the comment of God and
relationship was broken between God and man. They become sinners, Man does
not seek out God in repentance; he does not attempt to atone for his sins
instead, man hides from God in the garden. This is still man’s tendency (Rom.

7
Carson, D.A., Guthrie, D. & Donald, J.S, New Bible Commentary: 21st century edition.( Downers
Grove, ILL: Inter Varsity Press, 1994),345-346.
8
Carson, D.A., Guthrie, D. & Donald, J.S, New Bible Commentary: 21st century edition,(Downers
Grove, ILL: InterVarsity Press1994),364.
9
Rendtorff, R. The covenant formula: An exegetical and theological investigation,( Edinburgh: T.
& T. Clark, 1998), 364.
3:9-18). From this narrative it is clear that man is both unwilling and unable to
turn to God in repentance on his own accord. God must intervene and intervene
He does. “God comes into the Garden from without, seeks out Adam, and both
judges and shares the redemptive promise with him, God was on a mission to
Adam. He had no other man to send, so he sent himself.”10 God is a missional
God. He seeks out rebellious man to redeem him (Gen. 3:9). God promises and
provides for redemption (Gen. 3:15). By the shedding of blood God covers their
shame (Gen. 3:21).
This is the first sign of mission in Scripture; this is the defining moment for
everything that follows. From the Genesis narrative it is clear that “Mission is not
ours; mission is God’s.
5.2. God’s Mission with Noah
As man multiplied and filled the earth, rather than imaging God and representing
His rule, man was characterized by self-worship and rebellion. Indeed “every
intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Gen 6:5). And in
this context God seeks out Noah and redeems him from the wrath to come. In
God’s covenant with Noah (Gen 6:17-22; 8:20-22; 9:8-17) we see the scope of
God’s mission. Just as the curse touched the farthest regions of God’s creation
so God’s mission reaches as far as that curse is to be found. In the flood we see
both God’s judgment upon the curse and
Foretaste of the New Heavens and the New Earth. Noah was a preacher of the
blessing of righteousness that God offered to a perverted generation for 120
years, because the people began to multiply, quickly forgot his Creator and any
supposed revelations that God might have given during the pre-Naomi period.
No one believed that God was serious about judging man’s sin. Whatever was
revealed was ignored and man again chose to be independent of God, sliding
into sin’s deceptive addictions. The message of Noah was that God is righteous
and holy and will judge sin. Noah realized that since God is a righteous God of
judgment, it was important to reach his fellow humans before God's judgment fell.

10
Daniel M. Carroll R, “Biblical Perspective on Migration and Mission: Contribution from the Old
Testament,” in Mission Studies (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2013), 9-26.
He revealed Himself to Noah and gave him the message of righteousness that
God offers, even though he found no takers for his message. But people did not
listen the message and not turning from their wrong doing later God brought the
judgment upon the earth kill of the people except Noah’s family. He cleans the
earth and made a new earth.11
5.2.1. God’s covenant with Noah and sons
All the existing population of the world is descendants of Noah and his seven
family members after the deluge. Noah was neither a Jew nor part of the
covenant that God made with Abraham and the people of Israel. He was a
Gentile, yet according to Heb 11:7 he “became heir of the righteousness which is
by faith” and found “grace in the eyes of the Lord” (Gen 6:8). Peter called him a
“preacher of righteousness” (2 Peter 2:5). This is the righteousness that is by
faith, which he preached for 120 years (Gen 6:3). With a father who understood
God’s message to the world and having listened to the message of
righteousness by faith for over a hundred years, surely the world after the flood
would be filled with the knowledge of God as Noah’s family spread out and
repopulated the earth. The diversity within the human race was embedded within
the three sons, Ham, Shem, and Japheth. God made a covenant through Noah
for the whole human race, “Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him,
saying, ‘Now behold, I Myself do establish My covenant with you, and with your
descendants after you’” (Gen 9:8-9). Again it is evident that God was concerned
for the whole human race from the new beginning after the flood just as He had
been after Adam.12
5.3. God’s Mission with Abraham
Abraham's divine call would result in a blessing for him, his family and all the
nations on earth (Gen. 12:1-3). This came at a time when people on earth faced
divine judgement (Gen. 3:15). Through Abraham, God had a divine program to
glorify Himself, thus bringing salvation to all creation. This is the beginning of

11
Roger E. Hedlund, God and the Nation: A Biblical Theology of Mission in the Asian Context
(Delhi: ISPCK, 2014), 14.
12
Glover, R. H. "The Bible and Missions: The Missionary Character of the Scriptures,(Bibliotheca
Sacra, 1936)., 93, 101-109.
mission when understood within the context of both the sending command and
the blessing in God's Great Commission in the Bible. The blessing given to
Abraham (Gen. 12:1-3) compares to that given to Adam and Eve (Gen. 1:28) in
that there is a command to be fruitful and increase in number, and to fill the earth
and subdue it.
The universal mission of God message was revealed to Abraham, “Now the Lord
said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country unto a land that I will shew thee: I
will make of the Great nation, and I will bless thee” (Gen. 12:1-2 KJV). Abraham
was called from his geographical location, culture, and comfort to cross cultures
on behalf of God. Not only this, but he was promised that from him would come a
great nation, even the Messiah (through whom all families of the earth would be
blessed). This is precisely how all missiology’s would identify a cross-cultural
missionary. This means that, as a missionary, Abraham’s mission would
ultimately bless all people by all people groups, whether they are large or small.
Theologically, the reaffirmation of the Abrahamic covenant comes in Genesis 22
only after Abraham successfully passes the test of obedience to God. Since
Abraham trusted God with his lineage, then it is within his lineage that the
Messiah will be found.
This is not the only way in which Abraham was a missionary. His very wandering
itself constituted missional activity. Through his unwilling discussion with
Abimelech in Genesis 20, he reveals that his God has the power of life and death
and is the one true God. Through Abraham, God was narrowing his focus to a
particular people but He did not do this for the purposes of exclusion. In fact, W.
Bryant Hicks wrote of this, “Israel was his God’s special treasure for the very
purpose of being a blessing to them other nations.” 13 Theologically, then,
Abraham stood as an Old Testament example of a missionary: he carried the
message of God cross-culturally while anticipating the future Messiah who would
redeem the sins of the world. The “blessing” Abraham’s descendants were to
pass on to the world. Abraham discovered the amazing grace of God who

13
W. Bryant Hicks, “Old Testament Foundations for Missions” in Missiology, (Nashville: Broadman
& Holman, 1998), 56.
granted to him the righteousness of God (Gen 15:6) and thus perfect acceptance
before the Lord. This was the “blessedness” of Abraham (Rom 4: that
“righteousness” would be granted or “credited” to any of his descendants (Rom
4:6-9) and to anyone in the world who would be willing to trust in His Word as did
Abraham (Rom 4:3). The “blessing” of God is not that He will provide prosperity,
happiness and healing to His followers, but rather acceptance before a holy God.
Thus, the OT message is a universal message for all mankind and not a Jewish
message. If only someone would tell the rest of the world. This was the message
of righteousness by faith that was the blessing which Abraham and his
descendants were expected to pass on to all the “families of the world.” 14 In what
first appears to be a dramatic narrowing of God’s mission God calls Abram and
establishes a covenant with him and his offspring (Genesis 12:1-3, 7; 13:14-17;
15; 17:1-22; 18; and 22:1-18). But this is not a narrowing of God’s mission. God
is not abandoning the nations for the sake of Israel. He is not blessing Israel at
the expense of the nations. No, He has called and will bless Israel for the sake
of the nations. The cosmic scope of His mission remains as the means by which
He accomplishes this mission narrows its focus upon the singular seed of the
woman, the offspring of Abraham, and as we will see later the descendant of
David in whom God’s mission finds its fulfilment.
5.4. God’s Mission with Moses
Through a series of events recorded in Genesis 37-Exodus 1 the mission seems
to be lost and it appears that God’s people have been forgotten and enslaved.
But this too was all part of God’s mission to make Himself known (Gen 15:13ff.).
God demonstrates His redemptive might to the nations as He rescues His people
from pharaoh and brings them to His Mountain. God then establishes a
covenant with his people (Ex.19-24) and declares that they are to be a kingdom
of priests and a holy nation. Beyond God’s mission it is clear that His people,
“Israel definitely had a sense of mission, not in the sense of going somewhere

14
James A. Meek, the Gentile Mission in Old Testament Citations in Acts (New York: T&T Clark,
2008), 127.
but of being something.”15 God has both a mission and a people for this mission
He is making Himself know through Israel. As a holy nation they will
demonstrate God’s character and as a kingdom of priests they will mediate His
presence.
5.4.1. Israelites in Wilderness
The Israelites were God’s chosen people; they were descendants of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob. They had been in Egypt for four hundred years (cf. Exodus 1),
and eventually Moses was called (cf. Exodus 3) to lead them out of Egypt and
speak for God. This was to result in Israel being a blessing to all nations by living
and proclaiming the message of God. Unfortunately, they did not always do this.
In fact, they looked out for their own interests. Israel’s rejection of God’s plan for
them to be a kingdom of priests and their priestly role. “The people began looking
out for her own interests becoming a club of the pious and forgetting her calling
to be sharers of blessing.”16 However, the missionary intentions for Israel did
become a missionary reality, that the Law was given to Israel in order to form
them into the kind of nation that God would use to mediate the blessings of
redemption to all other nations. This explains, at least in part, the wilderness
wanderings. While it was a punishment for the lack of faith in God, it nonetheless
was a time where they lived by the Law given at Sinai, and began to grow
accustomed to it.
This is not to say they were ultimately successful. However, the wilderness time
culminated in the conquest narratives of the book of Joshua. In chapter 2, two
spies were sent to Jericho, and they lodged at the house of Rahab, “a harlot”..
While they are there, she protects the men, and lies to the king of Jericho as to
their whereabouts. This act is said to be an act of faith by the author of the book
of Hebrews. However accidental the meeting of the spies and Rahab seemed, it
was orchestrated as an act of mission from one people to another. Joshua 2:9
and 11 explain, “and she said to the men: ‘I know that the LORD has given you
the land for the LORD your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth

15
Max loehr, A History of Religion in the Old Testament (New York: Charles Scribner’s sons,
1936), 33.
16
Walter C. Kaiser, “Israel’s Missionary Call”, in Perspectives…..13.
beneath” (NKJV). This is the optimal result God intended: the evangelization of
people from every tribe and tongue, and it was accomplished via the Israelites’
wandering experience and its ending.
5.4.2. God’s covenant with Moses
The same intimation is to be seen in the divine message through Moses to Israel
at Sinai. Exodus 19:5-6 says: "if you will obey my voice and keep my covenant,
you shall be my special possession among all peoples; for all the earth is mine,
and you shall be my kingdom of priests and a holy nation (italics mine)." Kaiser
shows that these are the three ministries God specifies for Abraham's
descendants. In the first place, they were to be God's special possession. The
fact was that Israel was to be God's son, His people, His first-born (Ex 4:22), and
now His special treasure. The emphasis here is on the "portability" of the
message of God’s gracious offering of the blessing. Likewise these verses
indicate that God has placed a high value on people. This is exactly as Malachi
3:17 describe His people as "jewels."
The failure and faithlessness of God’s people is nothing new. From Noah and
Abraham to the constant grumblings of Israel in the Exodus this is a theme that
runs through Scripture. So as Israel prepares to enter the Promised Land God
establishes another covenant with them in addition to the Mosaic Covenant
(Deut. 29:1). This covenant promises both blessing for obedience as well as
curses for disobedience. But God’s mission would not fail. He will make Himself
known among the nations in Israel’s victories, as His people dispossess their
enemies, and in their failures as He disciplines His people, and ultimately He will
make himself known as He restores them in their eventual repentance. This
covenant gives Missional understanding to everything that follows in the history
of Israel.17

17
Roger E. Hedlund, God and the Nation: A Biblical Theology of Mission in the Asian Context.. 63.
 5.4.3. Moses’s responsibility
God askes Moses to lead the people out of slavery in Egypt to the promise land.
Moses was at first reluctant, thinking that the Israelites would not believe he had
heard the word of God18.
5.4.4. Moses received the ten commandment
Shortly, after the God delivered the people of Israel, out of slavery in Egypt by
crossing the red sea, they troubled through the desert to Sinai. Also called mount
Hober, Mount Sinai is a very significant place. It is here that God met and spoke
with Moses, telling Him why he had rescued Israel from Egypt. God had chosen
the people of Israel to his treasured possession. Israel would be made into a holy
nation of priests for God.
One day God called Moses to the top of the mountain. He gave Moses the first
part of his new system of law for the people, Ten Commandments summarizing
the absolute of spiritual and moral living that God intended for his people. God
continue to give direction to his people through Moses. When God finished
speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai, he gave him two tablets of stone inscribed by
the very finger of God. The tablets contained the Ten Commandments19
6. God’s Mission In the Poetry Books
Throughout the poetry books there is a very significance statement of the mission
of God. The wisdom books show the character of God, to honour him with fear,
“the fear of the LORD is the beginning knowledge” (Pro. 1:7). The wisdom books
teach us how to fear God and obey His Law. The Psalmist make realizes the
Creator of all the earth that the beautifulness praise Him where the people can
see the owner of their life. The true love can see by the writing of Song of
Solomon that God from above apart from that everything is vanity. The only thing
that mankind to follow is “To fear God and Obey His commandment” (Eccl. 12:).
While this is how the theology mission of flouring constantly in the writing of
poetry books to be make known of who he is, God.

18
https//www.bbc.com
19
www.Learnreligions.com
 6.1. The Book of Psalms
When David was king he wrote almost half of the Psalms in which he not only
revealed his own heart, but also the heart of God. The Psalms that refer to the
Gentile nations of the world. “Many of these references are to be fulfilled in the
ultimate reign of God and His Messiah over all the nations in the kingdom. They
all show God's concern and purpose for all the Gentiles. Many speak of Israel as
God’s channel of blessing to the nations and of God's purpose to bring salvation
to the nations”.20
 “Let all the people of the earth acknowledge the LORD and turn to him!
Let all the nations worship you!” (Ps22:27).
 “Let the whole earth fear the LORD! Let all who live in the world stand in
awe of him!” (Ps 33:8).
 “All the nations, whom you created, will come and worship you, O Lord.
They will honor your name.” (Ps 86:9)
 “Praise the LORD, all you nations! Applaud him, all you foreigners!” (Ps
117:1), Glover described the revelations given to the psalmist that made
their mission all too clear.
When the Jew would read these passages it never occurred to them that they
were to be the instruments to make this happen. From all indications they
thought that God would do this without their involvement, especially since they
did not want to get involved with the Gentile nations, which they despised. This
characteristic of God must have been a mystery to them or they refused to think
about it. The same spirit of impacting the nations of the world breathes in the
prayer with which Solomon dedicated the temple, when he made request in
behalf of “foreigners, who do not belong to your people Israel, will come from a
distant land because of your reputation. When they hear about your great
reputation and your ability to accomplish mighty deeds, they will come and direct
their prayers toward this temple. Then listen from your heavenly dwelling place
and answer all the prayers of the foreigners. Then all the nations of the earth will

20
Hicks W. Bryant, “Old Testament Foundations for Mission,” in Missiology,(Nashville: Broadman
& Holman, 1998), 56.
acknowledge your reputation, obey you like your people Israel do, and recognize
that this temple I built belongs to you” (1 Kings 8:41-43). And the divine
response was: “I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication that thou hast made
before me” (1 Kings 9:3). One has to wonder if the Jews, as they read these
passages and understood the heart of God for the Gentile nations, ever spent
much time specifically praying for the Gentile nations around them or others that
they had heard existed.
6.2. The Book of Job
The author of Job is unknown, and there are no textual hints as to his identity.
The non-Hebraic cultural background of this book may point to gentile
authorship. Job probably lived during the time of the patriarch Abraham, about
2000 to 1800 B.C. Like Abraham, Job’s wealth was measured in flocks and
herds. The mission of God through the life of Job which can clear by this a brief
following. Job teaches us that sometimes the righteous must suffer without
knowing the reason why; that is why it is important to trust God in everything.
When we see how great He is, like Job, we bow down in humble submission.
The main point is truth in God based on confidence in his character “who” rather
than an explanation for my circumstances “why”. 21 This is how God deal with the
life of Job for the example of the world who live in fear of God and follow his
commandment.
6.3. The Book of Proverb
While Davis was a composer of worship songs, his son Solomon was a writer
and compiler of proverb. Solomon wrote to help us walk among mankind. The
word ‘proverbs’ has a root meaning of “to be like”, the word “like” appears
repeatedly in Proverbs “like muddied spring or a polluted well is a righteous man
who gives way to the wicked”22 (25:26). The book proverbs contained only about
one-third of them. Yet, the wisdom contained within its pages crosses all cultures
and eras and provides us with more than enough to then about and do in a
lifetime! This is how God deals His mission through the writings of the wisdom

21
W. T. Purkiser, Exploring the Old Testament (Kansas City, Mo: Beacon Hill, 1967),213-14.
22
W. Graham Scroggie, “Proverbs” in Know Your Bible Vol. I. (London: Pickering & Inglis,1940),
56.
books. The wisdom is built up on an acknowledgement of God for who he is.
Therefore, Israel’s distinctive contribution to the thinking if the wise men of all
nations and times is that true wisdom is centred in respect and reverence for
God. This is the great underlying theme of the Book of Proverbs.
6.4. The Book of Ecclesiastes
The word Ecclesiastes derived from Greek which translates the Hebrew,
‘koheleth’ means “preacher or teacher”.23 It stands today as the clearest and
most sobering warning in all of Scripture for those who would seek to “do their
own thing”. Here is the theology mission of God deals in the book of Ecclesiastes
was focusing the main points of life which is “Life is meaningless apart from God,
the author of life.”
Ecclesiastes shows how futile and useless it is to pursue materialistic, selfish,
earthly goals as ends in themselves. The book points to God as the only source
of lasting personal fulfilment and meaning. The book of Ecclesiastes has a
powerful message for our selfish, materialistic age. It teaches that great
accomplishments and earthly possessions alone do not bring lasting happiness.
True satisfaction comes from serving God and following His will for our lives.
While, another important truth from Ecclesiastes, which we often overlook, is that
life is to enjoyed. “Every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his
labor it is the gift of God” (3:13).
6.5. The Book Song of Solomon
As the book of Songs of Solomon declared the Love of God through composing
Song of love from the bottom heart. With his large harem, how could King
Solomon write such a beautiful love song to one specific wife? Perhaps his union
with the Shulamite woman was the only authentic marriage relationship which
Solomon ever knew. Most of his marriage were political arrangements with other
nations. In contrast, the Shulamite woman was not a cultured princess but a
lowly vineyard keeper whose skin had been darkened by her long exposure to
the sun (1:6)

23
William W. Twyman, “Ecclesiastes” in Believer’s Bible Commentary, ed. By Art Farshtad
(Secunderabad: Authentic Books, 1995), 910.
“The great message of the Song of Solomon is the beauty of love between a man
and woman as experienced in the relationship of marriage. The song praises
sexual and physical side of marriage as a natural and proper part of God’s plan,
reflecting His purpose and desire for the human race”24 (Gen. 2:24). While, this
book also point beyond human love to the great Author of love. Authentic love is
possible in the world because God brought love into being and planted that
emotion in the hearts of His people. Even husband and wives should remember
that the love which they share for one another is not a product of their human
goodness but the love of God working in our lives. So, these song books so also
can call one of the most significance of God’s mission throughout the life the
entire Human race.
7. God’s mission through prophet
7.1. The Book of Isaiah
Isaiah stated, “Give thanks to the LORD, and call on His name. Make known His
deeds among the peoples; Make them remember that His name is exalted” (Isa
12;4; 2:2; 6:3; 11:9; 42:6-10; 60:3; 66:18-19). Their message is consistent:
God’s authority is over the world, especially in judgment. If the people will not
listen to His word then He will do a “strange work” (Isa 28:21; see 28:22-23).
God used Gentile nations and kings for His purposes. Sometimes God would
punish the Gentile nations through Israel, and sometimes He would punish Israel
through the Gentile nations. For Isaiah this was not unusual because he saw
God as Creator (Isa 40:12) and as the controller (41:4). In one of the most
remarkable prophecies of the OT, Isaiah describes how the king of Persia,
“Cyrus,” “he is my shepherd! And he will perform all my desire” (Isa 44:28). This
Persian king admitted that “The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the
kingdoms of the earth” (Ezra 1:2). Ezra recorded that it was the God of Israel
who “stirred up the spirit of Cyrus” such that he would give the decree to free
Israel (Ezra 1:1) after precisely 70 years of captivity (606-535 BC).
The famous quote from Isaiah 6:8 has God asking the Trinitarian question, “Who
will go for us?” with Isaiah’s response being, “Here am I. Send me!” (NASB)

24
William W. Twyman, “Song of Solomon” in Believer’s Bible Commentary…, 920.
While Isaiah’s mission is not cross-cultural, in a very real sense it is counter-
cultural. This is because verses 9-10 state that the people of Israel will not hear
Isaiah’s message. They will reject it.
But Isaiah’s message is not simply regarding Israel and Strauss speak of this
when they write, “Isaiah reveals one of his key themes in an eschatological vision
of the nation’s coming to Zion to worship and learn from the Lord.” This is a goal
seen even in Old Testament times, so that the argument cannot be made that
Isaiah is only referencing the future. It is not as though he was giving a message
wholly irrelevant to the people of Israel. The biblical picture is one of the nation’s
coming to Christ in His kingdom; even historically wicked nations such as Egypt
and Assyria will do so. The message of Isaiah with respect to missions is that this
is a result of the redemptive motif that runs throughout the Old Testament. In
fact, one can make the argument that the context of Isaiah’s message is not
simply the fulfilment of redemptive history (Gen 3:15), though that surely is the
goal. Rather, the goal is also to show Israel’s failure to act as the missionary
entity they should have been. This suggests strongly that mission activity was
central to the theology of the Old Testament.25
7.2. The Book of Jeremiah
His ministry accordingly extended over the last tragic forty years of the kingdom
of Judah to the destruction of Jerusalem and the deportation of its inhabitants to
Babylon. After the fall city, Jeremiah was allowed to remain under the protection
of Gedaliah. After Gedaliah’s murder, however he went with some Jews to Egypt
(43-44). There he spent the last year of his life. Jeremiah’s prophecies are
directed as stern warning to Judah and Jeremiah to turn away from idolatry and
iniquity in order to avoid the inevitable punishment of the seventy years’ Captivity
in Babylon (25:1-14). The prophet’s messages, necessarily serve and
iconoclastic, met with intense opposition from all classes of society which had
become honey combed with evil and fanatically attached to pagan idolatry.
Therefore, Jeremiah declares the purpose of God saying “this time I will make

25
William Sanford Lasor and Frederic WM. Bush, Old Testament survey the Message, Form, and
background of the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1982), 298.
them know my power and my might; and they shall know that my name is the
LORD” (Jer. 16:21; 1:5; 3:17). He is all about getting people to know who He
is.26
7.3. The Book of Ezekiel
While Jeremiah was predicting the destruction of Jerusalem to those not yet
taken captive, Ezekiel was unceasingly prophesying the some fate for the
unrepentant city (1-24). However, unlike the other Major Prophets, Isaiah and
Jeremiah, his ministry exercised in exile did not have emphasis of social and
political reformation.
Ezekiel’s mission of consolation was directed toward showing that Jehovah was
justified in sending his people into captivity. This is the dominant theme. The
complaint of the discouraged exiles was “the way of the Lord is not equal”.
Ezekiel message from the Lord was “Hear now, O House of Israel, Is not my way
equal? Are not your ways unequal? (18:25). Proof it presented that instead of
blotting them out as God had done with other nations who had committed similar
abominations, His dealing with them, his people, were preventive and corrective
to teach them, “Know that He was God”, that the surrounding nations, who were
jubilant over their fall, would be judge and that the nation would finally be
restored in millennial blessing. Therefore, Ezekiel makes one of the clearest
statements of God’s purpose in working with Israel to reach all the nations: “It is
not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for my holy name,
which you have profaned among the nations where you went” (Ezek 36:22-23;
5:58).27
7.4. The Book of Daniel
Daniel was among the first Jews taken into captivity by the Babylonians in 605
B.C. He lived in Babylon throughout the entire seventy-year captivity. While there
he was appointed as a trusted aide to King Nebuchadnezzar. God used him as
his spokesman and prophet primarily to the king and the Gentile world. He was
God’s “man in the mansion”, so to speak! Another fork his ministry extended to

26
Merrill F. Unger, Introductory Guide to the Old Testament…, 323.
27
O. Eissfeldt, “Prophetic Literature”, in the Old Testament and Modern Study A Generation of
Discovery and Research, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1961), 156.
his Jewish brethren with him in exile. Among this first group taken were Daniel
and his companions. Daniel’s prayer to God toward the end of the book (Chps. 9)
is dated at 538 B.C., the very year that Cyrus of Persia issued his decree making
it possible for some of the captives to return to Jerusalem to restore their land
and rebuild the Temple (Ezra 1:1-4). The major contribution of the book of Daniel
arise from its nature as apocalyptic prophecy. Highly symbolic in language, the
prophecy was related to the events of Daniel’s near future, but even today it
contains a message for the future.
The successor to Cyrus, Darius witnessed the amazing protection of Daniel in
the den of lions then he wrote to “all the peoples, nations, and men of every
language in all the land” of his kingdom. He told them to “fear and tremble before
the God of Daniel; for He is the living God and enduring forever” (Dan 6:25-26).
This was God’s plan for the whole world.
7.5. The Book of Jonah
The prophet Jonah is a famous an Old Testament missionary. He was, in fact, a
prophet of God. Without rehashing the entire story of the book of Jonah, one can
say that he is acting as a poor missionary, but a missionary nonetheless. While
prophets normally brought messages to Israel and Judah, God did use prophets
to pronounce judgment on other nations. While that contributes to the popular-
level stereotype that the God of the OT was uninterested in the salvation of the
nations at this time, the story of Jonah proves otherwise. There was a real sense
of purpose and missionary calling to go answer the “missionary call to all people
sounding forth.”28 Interestingly, what begins the missionary call to Jonah is a
pronouncement of judgment. “Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and cry against
it, for their wickedness has come up before me” (Jonah 1:2, NASB). Jonah’s
response was that he did not want to; he would later say this was because he
knew that God was “gracious . . . and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in
steadfast love” (4:2, ESV). Even in the midst of pronouncing judgment, even

28
Johannes Verkuyl, “The Biblical Foundation for the Worldwide Mission Mandate,” in
Perspective,(Pasadena, CA: Willaim Carey Library, 2009), 44.
God’s disobedient prophet knew that it was for the divine purpose of forgiveness
and reconciliation.
This missionary story as one that always contained hope for salvation and the
forgiveness of sins in response to repentance. It was merely the attitude of the
prophet that revealed a singular focus on Israel alone with respect to redemption.
“Jonah wanted a God cut according to his own pattern: a cold, hard, cruel-
natured god with an unbending will set against the heathen. He cannot stand to
think of the Gentiles as part of salvation history.” Yet they clearly are a concern of
God’s, and God is not merely content to stand by, He sends his missionary to
proclaim the truth.
7.6. The Book of Habakkuk
He gave a glorious global purpose that God set forth: “For the earth will be filled
with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea” (Hab
2:14; Zeph 2:11; 3:9-10; Haggai 2:7; Zech 9:1l0; 2:11). The theme of God’s
judgment against unrighteousness also is woven throughout the book. God’s cats
of judgment are in accord with His holiness, righteousness, and mercy. The
question and answer technique of the prophet Habakkuk teaches a valuable
lesson about the nature of God. That God allowed Himself to be questioned by
one of His followers is an indication of His longsuffering mercy and grace.
7.7. The Book of Malachi
He concludes the OT with the declaration of intent of God: “My name will be
great among the nations, says the LORD of hosts”29 (Mal 1:11). Malachi wrote in
an attempt to confront the people with their sin and call them back to God. He
sought to balance their accountability to the Law of Moses with the unchanging
love of God. The Lord does not change. That means both his mercy and his
holiness are operative. The prophecy of Malachi is noted for its vivid portrayal of
the love of God as well as His might and power. Israel needed to be reminded of
these truths at a time when widespread doubt had dashed expectations of the
Messiah.

29
Irving L. Jensen, Jensen’s Survey of the Old Testament (Chicago: Moody Press, 1978), 469.
 7.8. Mission of the Prophetic Hope
7.8.1. Reconciliation with God
Throughout Scripture God promises that if His rebellious people would turn to
Him in repentance then He will return to them as their God and will gather them
as His people (II Chronicles 7:13-14; Jeremiah 30:8-22; 31:1; Ezekiel 34:30-31).
7.8.2. Return to the Promised Land
Furthermore, they are also promised a return to and the expansion of the
promised land (Isaiah 54:1-3; Jeremiah 30:3; Ezekiel 34:11-16).
7.8.3. Reestablishment of Davidic Kingship
There is also an emphasis upon the renewal of the promises of the Davidic
Covenant with particular emphasis placed upon the rule of the Davidic King
(Jeremiah 23:5-6; 30:9; Ezekiel 34:23-24).
7.8.4. Rebuilding of the Temple
The rebuilding of the Temple Also included in the emphasis upon the renewal of
the promises of the Davidic Covenant is the promise that a new temple will built
within a New Jerusalem and that God’s glory will return and He will dwell among
His people forever (Ezekiel 40-48).
8. conclusion
Mission is originated in the heart of God. The mission was started with God, from
the very beginning and His mission still goes on. God’s mission is carried out
throughout the Bible by God from the creation of time, then with the call of
Abraham, the laberative action of God, then with the prophets and with the
mission in Christ. The mission of Jesus started in the earth when God sent Him
to take the sins of this world. But His mission didn’t only start with the carrying of
sins from the world but by taking the form of humanity as He humbled Himself
and His mission was to fulfill the law that was prophesied and to free His children
from the from the bondage of sin as He gave Himself as a living sacrifice, died,
was buried, and was resurrected as He freed from the bondage of sin and gave
hope for all mankind. As for the mission of the Church, it is to evangelize the
gospel for the human for the salvation in Christ Jesus. The mission of church is
not just shear the gospel but also to nourish them in the word of God.
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Scriptures,Bibliotheca Sacra, 1936.
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