In this blog series we have set out to examine the nature of the term gospel. But in order to fully understand the gospel, we’ve had to work very hard to lay the Biblical foundations upon which the gospel rests. We’ve learned about God’s original purpose in creation: humanity was created as God’s image-bearers, so that they might exercise his rule and reign over creation. (God’s Kingdom) In order for humanity to accomplish this vital task, they must 1) properly worship the one true God and 2) live in obedience to him. If humanity is able to fulfill this role, then all creation will function and flourish in the way that God intends. In other words, God’s blessing will come upon the whole world.
The same dynamics of this larger narrative of God and humanity are precisely those found in the story of God and Israel. One of the most important Biblical concepts people need to grasp is this: Israel is a microcosm for all humanity. God has created all human beings, and loves every single one. But in order to achieve his loving purposes for all humanity, God chose one man (Abraham) and his family (Israel) to reach out to the whole world. I like to think of it in terms of food. Picture the whole human race as an apple pie. Israel is like a very small slice of the pie. This small slice is no different than the rest of the pie, but is simply a representative sample of the whole. In the same way, Israel represents all humanity before God. What God does for Israel, he does for the sake of all people. We should not be surprised then that God’s covenant with Israel requires exactly the same elements we’ve noted above: proper worship and obedience.
There is however, a dark side to this relationship. The covenant holds out the promise of blessing, but also threatens the curses of covenant failure. Moses warns the children of Israel: “However, if you do not obey the LORD your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you: You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country. Your basket and your kneading trough will be cursed. The fruit of your womb will be cursed, and the crops of your land, and the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks. You will be cursed when you come in and cursed when you go out.” (Deuteronomy 28:15-19) The remainder of Deuteronomy chapter 28 describes, in horrifying detail, the exact nature of the curses. This makes for some of the most sad and difficult reading in the Bible. Israel shall suffer disease, drought, defeat, destitution, and death. God’s covenant purpose of bringing blessing to all nations will be, not just thwarted, but turned on its head. Instead of faithful Israel being a light to the nations, unfaithful Israel will serve only as a terrible warning. “You will become a thing of horror and an object of scorn and ridicule to all the nations where the LORD will drive you.” (Deut. 28:37)
The ultimate covenant curse will be exile. Foremost among Israel’s covenant blessings was the promised land. “Hear, O Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the LORD, the God of your fathers, promised you.” (Deut. 6:3) But if Israel is unfaithful, God will ultimately drive them from the promised land into exile. “You will be uprooted from the land you are entering to possess. The LORD will scatter you among all nations, from one end of the earth to the other.” (Deut. 28:63-64)
So, God’s covenant with Israel is certainly not all peaches and cream. It sets before Israel a stark choice. “See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees, and laws; then you will live and increase, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.” (Deut. 30:15-16)
Once more, let’s recall that Israel represents all of humanity before God. You might think it unnecessary to repeat this point, but in my experience this is one of the most difficult things for Christians to grasp. The drama of the whole human race is played out in Israel. Israel must offer to God proper worship and obedience in order that they might find life and flourishing in the promised land. So too, the human race must offer to God proper worship and obedience in order that life and flourishing might come to the whole world.
Now, of course, the Old Testament documents the tragic story of Israel’s ultimate covenant failure. Instead of faithfully worshiping the one true God, Israel chased after the idols of the nations around her. And the corruption of her worship led to the corruption of her conduct. As the prophets attest, Israel was filled with violence, immorality, and injustice. Again and again through the prophets, God patiently and persistently called Israel back to himself. But again and again, Israel rejected her God and went her own way. Finally, God sent the pagan Babylonian armies under King Nebuchadnezzar against his people, and they were indeed taken into exile. This is how the Chronicler completes his long story of God and Israel: (you can easily imagine the tears streaming down the cheeks of the writer) “The LORD, the God of their fathers, sent word to them through his messengers again and again, because he had pity on his people and on his dwelling place. But they mocked God’s messengers, despised his words and scoffed at his prophets until the wrath of the LORD was aroused against his people and there was no remedy. He brought up against them the king of the Babylonians, who killed their young men with the sword in the sanctuary, and spared neither young man nor young woman, old man or aged. God handed all of them over to Nebuchadnezzar.” (II Chronicles 36:15-17)
So, dear reader, let’s take a deep breath and summarize our train of thought once more. 1) The one true God who created all things fashioned mankind to be his image bearers; that is, they would exercise his rule and reign (God’s kingdom) over the created order so that the world would function and flourish in the way he intended. 2) Instead, humanity rebels, with disastrous consequences. Rather than flourishing, the world is filled with misery and death. 3) In order to restore his original design, God chooses one man (Abraham) and promises to bring blessing to the whole world through his descendants, the nation of Israel. 4) God makes a covenant with Israel. Through proper worship and obedience, Israel will serve as God’s image bearers once more, bringing blessing upon themselves. Moreover, Israel will then be a light to the nations, so that all people can see God’s loving and wise purposes for the creation. 5) Tragically, Israel herself repeats (or “recapitulates” if you prefer that rather more formal term) the rebellion of Adam in the garden. Just as Adam and Eve are driven from the garden, Israel is exiled from the promised land.
What is God to do now? Humans have ruined his creation. And God’s rescue project, his covenant with Israel, seems to be a failure as well. The covenant was supposed to be the vehicle by which God would bring about his kingdom. But the vehicle is off the road and stuck in the ditch. Yet even the apparent catastrophe of Israel’s covenant failure is not beyond the purposes of God. For even when the covenant was originally ratified, God foresaw the unfaithfulness of Israel, yet also foretold a time of covenant renewal. “When all these blessings and curses I have set before you come upon you and you take them to heart wherever the LORD your God disperses you among the nations, and when you and your children return to the LORD your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today, then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you.” (Deut. 30:1-3) “The LORD will again delight in you and make you prosperous, just as he delighted in your fathers, if you obey the LORD your God and keep his commands and decrees that are written in this Book of the Law and turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.” (Deut. 30:9-10)
In seeking to understand the gospel, the importance of understanding Deuteronomy chapter 30 can hardly be overstated. For this passage sets out a key sequence: first, Israel’s covenant failure and exile, but then a time of covenant renewal, a time when Israel would again offer God proper worship and obedience, leading to life and prosperity. In short, this passage asserts that God is utterly determined to set the world right, and that he will still accomplish his purposes through Israel, his chosen instrument.
We are, at last, in a position to begin directly examining the Old Testament roots of the term “gospel.” We begin with a well known passage from Isaiah 52: “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, ‘Your God reigns!’ Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices; together they shout for joy. When the LORD returns to Zion, they will see it with their own eyes.” This passage was, of course, written to Israel in exile. Isaiah envisions a messenger bringing “good news” and “good tidings,” proclaiming that Israel’s exile is finally over. The exiles will finally be able to return to their land. At the time of exile, God had withdrawn his presence from rebellious Israel; now, the watchmen of Jerusalem will be able to see God’s glorious presence return to dwell again with his people. And crucially, it will mean that God is establishing his kingdom. (“Your God reigns!”)
Let’s take a look at another closely related passage, Isaiah 40. This dramatic chapter begins by announcing the end of Israel’s exile: “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for.” Verses 3-5 anticipate the return of God to again dwell with his people: “make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God” Verses 6-8, in context, affirm that these events will occur in fulfillment of the unbreakable word of God: “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.” The passage then goes on to proclaim, “You who bring good tidings to Zion, go up on a high mountain. You who bring good tidings to Jerusalem, life up your voice with a shout, lift it up, do not be afraid; say to the towns of Judah, ‘Here is your God!’ See, the sovereign LORD comes with power, and his arm rules for him.” Again, the good tidings proclaim that exile is over, that God will return to dwell again with his people and establish his kingdom.
These passages are important because they anticipate the time of covenant renewal spoken of in Deuteronomy chapter 30 and elsewhere. They’re also important because the very same words are used to denote the “good news” in the New Testament. Therefore, when people heard Jesus proclaim the “good news,” we can be sure that their minds would have been filled with these same thoughts and themes. The good news meant the redemption of Israel; she would be brought back into right covenant relationship with her God, offering him true worship and obedience. Then she could again enjoy life and blessing. Then, too, she could be a light to the nations.
