1. Abraham: A People to Bear God’s Name
Abraham opens the story by openly honoring God’s name.
His life provides a preview to the later history of the faith family: He made God’s name known in worship.
God made His name great by dramatic redemptive power. The result was an occasion of multi-national worship with the messianic figure of Melchizedek presiding. Abraham was blessed to be a blessing—with further purpose—in order that the nations would bless God Himself with their grateful worship.
Genesis 12:1-3 The First Installment of the Great Commission
Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
Abraham does not do the most zealous missionary job on the front end.
Genesis 12:10-20
[10] Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land. [11] When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, “I know that you are a woman beautiful in appearance, [12] and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me, but they will let you live. [13] Say you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that my life may be spared for your sake.” [14] When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. [15] And when the princes of Pharaoh saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house. [16] And for her sake he dealt well with Abram; and he had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels.
[17] But the LORD afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. [18] So Pharaoh called Abram and said, “What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? [19] Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her for my wife? Now then, here is your wife; take her, and go.” [20] And Pharaoh gave men orders concerning him, and they sent him away with his wife and all that he had.
Abraham lies about his family saying his wife is his sister.
1. Genesis 12:7-8 Abraham publicly calls on the name of the LORD
[7] Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him. [8] From there he moved to the hill country on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. And there he built an altar to the LORD and called upon the name of the LORD.
2. Genesis 14:18-24 Abraham publicly named the LORD as the one who would bless him and he functioned as a priest by offering worship gifts on behalf of other nations
[18] And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.) [19] And he blessed him and said,
“Blessed be Abram by God Most High,
Possessor of heaven and earth;
[20] and blessed be God Most High,
who has delivered your enemies into your hand!”
And Abram gave him a tenth of everything.
[21] And the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the persons, but take the goods for yourself.” [22] But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have lifted my hand to the LORD, God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth, [23] that I would not take a thread or a sandal strap or anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’ [24] I will take nothing but what the young men have eaten, and the share of the men who went with me. Let Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre take their share.”
a. Abraham made God’s name known by his worship
b. God made his name great by redemptive power through his people
c. The result was a multi-national gathering to “bless” the LORD
3. Genesis 22:15-18 Abraham, through worship, has his global purpose affirmed
[15] And the angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven [16] and said, “By myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, [17] I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, [18] and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.”
2. The Exodus: God’s Glory Put on Display
The pivotal moment when God revealed Himself globally by name, distinguishing and honoring His name above any other god
All Scripture prepares for, predicts, reflects and results from Christ’s person and work!!!
The Exodus is one such event.
Exodus 9:13-16
[13] Then the LORD said to Moses, “Rise up early in the morning and present yourself before Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, “Let my people go, that they may serve me. [14] For this time I will send all my plagues on you yourself, and on your servants and your people, so that you may know that there is none like me in all the earth. [15] For by now I could have put out my hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, and you would have been cut off from the earth. [16] But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.
It is only half of the story to say God’s word was to say, “Let my people go.” There is a purpose clause!
“Let my people go, that they may worship me.” (Exodus 8:1, 20; 9:1, 13; 10:3)
No doubt, the people thought they were being rescued for themselves. The immediately begin to grumble, right?
God did not rescue them for them. He rescued them so they could worship him!
God was bringing global attention to his name!
Isaiah 63:10-14
[10] But they rebelled
and grieved his Holy Spirit;
therefore he turned to be their enemy,
and himself fought against them.
[11] Then he remembered the days of old,
of Moses and his people.
Where is he who brought them up out of the sea
with the shepherds of his flock?
Where is he who put in the midst of them
his Holy Spirit,
[12] who caused his glorious arm
to go at the right hand of Moses,
who divided the waters before them
to make for himself an everlasting name,
[13] who led them through the depths?
Like a horse in the desert,
they did not stumble.
[14] Like livestock that go down into the valley,
the Spirit of the LORD gave them rest.
So you led your people,
to make for yourself a glorious name.
Joshua 2:1-11
[2:1] And Joshua the son of Nun sent two men secretly from Shittim as spies, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.” And they went and came into the house of a prostitute whose name was Rahab and lodged there. [2] And it was told to the king of Jericho, “Behold, men of Israel have come here tonight to search out the land.” [3] Then the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, “Bring out the men who have come to you, who entered your house, for they have come to search out all the land.” [4] But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. And she said, “True, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from. [5] And when the gate was about to be closed at dark, the men went out. I do not know where the men went. Pursue them quickly, for you will overtake them.” [6] But she had brought them up to the roof and hid them with the stalks of flax that she had laid in order on the roof. [7] So the men pursued after them on the way to the Jordan as far as the fords. And the gate was shut as soon as the pursuers had gone out.
[8] Before the men lay down, she came up to them on the roof [9] and said to the men, “I know that the LORD has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you. [10] For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you devoted to destruction. [11] And as soon as we heard it, our hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man because of you, for the LORD your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath.
Exodus 15:3, 7, 15
[3] The LORD is a man of war;
the LORD is his name.
[4] “Pharaoh’s chariots and his host he cast into the sea,
and his chosen officers were sunk in the Red Sea.
[5] The floods covered them;
they went down into the depths like a stone.
[6] Your right hand, O LORD, glorious in power,
your right hand, O LORD, shatters the enemy.
[7] In the greatness of your majesty you overthrow your adversaries;
you send out your fury; it consumes them like stubble.
[8] At the blast of your nostrils the waters piled up;
the floods stood up in a heap;
the deeps congealed in the heart of the sea.
[9] The enemy said, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake,
I will divide the spoil, my desire shall have its fill of them.
I will draw my sword; my hand shall destroy them.’
[10] You blew with your wind; the sea covered them;
they sank like lead in the mighty waters.
[11] “Who is like you, O LORD, among the gods?
Who is like you, majestic in holiness,
awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?
[12] You stretched out your right hand;
the earth swallowed them.
[13] “You have led in your steadfast love the people whom you have redeemed;
you have guided them by your strength to your holy abode.
[14] The peoples have heard; they tremble;
pangs have seized the inhabitants of Philistia.
[15] Now are the chiefs of Edom dismayed;
trembling seizes the leaders of Moab;
all the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away.
Nehemiah 9:9-10
[9] “And you saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt and heard their cry at the Red Sea, [10] and performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh and all his servants and all the people of his land, for you knew that they acted arrogantly against our fathers. And you made a name for yourself, as it is to this day.
God was also judging the “gods” of Egypt
Exodus 12:12
[12] For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the LORD.
God’s mission was not primarily to kill people, but to devastate one of the most highly regarded collections of false “gods” in all the earth.
If God, the Lord Jesus, had wanted to destroy people he could have done that in a flash. But he had a larger purpose by destroying the idols of Egypt.
Exodus 9:15-16
[15] For by now I could have put out my hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, and you would have been cut off from the earth. [16] But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.
3. The Conquest: God’s Glory Defended
The conquest of Canaan is God’s way of establishing the purity of Israel’s worship.
The conquest of Canaan must be viewed from the right, and frankly, only proper worldview. Then and only then will the conquest be seen as gracious rather than harsh.
Genesis 15:1-16
[15:1] After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” [2] But Abram said, “O Lord GOD, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” [3] And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” [4] And behold, the word of the LORD came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” [5] And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” [6] And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness.
[7] And he said to him, “I am the LORD who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.” [8] But he said, “O Lord GOD, how am I to know that I shall possess it?” [9] He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” [10] And he brought him all these, cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other. But he did not cut the birds in half. [11] And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.
[12] As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him. [13] Then the LORD said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. [14] But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. [15] As for yourself, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. [16] And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”
God is patient and kind, not desiring anyone to perish. He grants generations to people to repent. The problem is not God. The problem is that man’s sinful state is such that man desires rebellion rather than life. We are desperately sick!
I’m not that patient. If one were to profane my name and take a swipe at me my default would be to unload all my cross fit glory on that one. I would incapacitate them quickly with great joy and zero remorse.
Not God. He is offended and his name is demeaned, yet he is patient and waits for mankind to repent and make much of him.
So, what is the conquest for?
A. Justice (just recompense)
Deuteronomy 9:5
[5] Not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart are you going in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations the LORD your God is driving them out from before you, and that he may confirm the word that the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
God was bringing justice for great wickedness
Judges 1:7
[7] And Adoni-bezek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and their big toes cut off used to pick up scraps under my table. As I have done, so God has repaid me.” And they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.
God’s righteousness is acknowledged by a Canaanite king as justice.
B. Destruction of the most deadly cancer among humanity (tearing down false worship)
God was demolishing systems of false worship to preserve the devotion of his people.
Deuteronomy 4:15-24; 6:13-15; 7:1-8
Canaanite worship would turn Israel’s heart away from the LORD
[15] “Therefore watch yourselves very carefully. Since you saw no form on the day that the LORD spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire, [16] beware lest you act corruptly by making a carved image for yourselves, in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female, [17] the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air, [18] the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth. [19] And beware lest you raise your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, you be drawn away and bow down to them and serve them, things that the LORD your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven. [20] But the LORD has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be a people of his own inheritance, as you are this day. [21] Furthermore, the LORD was angry with me because of you, and he swore that I should not cross the Jordan, and that I should not enter the good land that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance. [22] For I must die in this land; I must not go over the Jordan. But you shall go over and take possession of that good land. [23] Take care, lest you forget the covenant of the LORD your God, which he made with you, and make a carved image, the form of anything that the LORD your God has forbidden you. [24] For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.
Deuteronomy 6:13-15
[13] It is the LORD your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear. [14] You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are around you— [15] for the LORD your God in your midst is a jealous God—lest the anger of the LORD your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth.
Deuteronomy 7:1-8
[7:1] “When the LORD your God brings you into the land that you are entering to take possession of it, and clears away many nations before you, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations more numerous and mightier than yourselves, [2] and when the LORD your God gives them over to you, and you defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. You shall make no covenant with them and show no mercy to them. [3] You shall not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons, [4] for they would turn away your sons from following me, to serve other gods. Then the anger of the LORD would be kindled against you, and he would destroy you quickly. [5] But thus shall you deal with them: you shall break down their altars and dash in pieces their pillars and chop down their Asherim and burn their carved images with fire.
[6] “For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. [7] It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the LORD set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, [8] but it is because the LORD loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
Joshua 23:6-8
[6] Therefore, be very strong to keep and to do all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, turning aside from it neither to the right hand nor to the left, [7] that you may not mix with these nations remaining among you or make mention of the names of their gods or swear by them or serve them or bow down to them, [8] but you shall cling to the LORD your God just as you have done to this day.
God did not even want his people to mention the names of these false “gods”
C. Guarding God’s name (idolatry would profane the name)
God’s fame is tied to God’s name. The honoring of the LORD as all in all is vital. Idolatry robs God of fame / glory.
Idols are functional saviors. This is why the “gods” of Canaan were always either agriculture or fertility “gods”. The people’s worse hell was either lack of food or the inability to procreate and keep the family line in tact. So, the people poured their resources into these demonic entities in hopes of rescuing themselves from the hell of no food or no children.
By relying on these false “gods” the people were saying, very practically, that “I AM” is NOT.
God’s name / fame / glory was at stake in his people’s worship.
Numbers 14:13-20
[13] But Moses said to the LORD, “Then the Egyptians will hear of it, for you brought up this people in your might from among them, [14] and they will tell the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that you, O LORD, are in the midst of this people. For you, O LORD, are seen face to face, and your cloud stands over them and you go before them, in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night.
[15] Now if you kill this people as one man, then the nations who have heard your fame will say, [16] ‘It is because the LORD was not able to bring this people into the land that he swore to give to them that he has killed them in the wilderness.’ [17] And now, please let the power of the Lord be great as you have promised, saying, [18] ‘The LORD is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but he will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, to the third and the fourth generation.’ [19] Please pardon the iniquity of this people, according to the greatness of your steadfast love, just as you have forgiven this people, from Egypt until now.”
[20] Then the LORD said, “I have pardoned, according to your word.
God was ready to destroy all of Israel and start over with Moses. But Moses pleads with God on the basis of guarding his name because his people bears his name. God relents and ends with the mission statement: “But indeed, as I live, all the earth will be filled with the glory of the LORD!”
4. The Temple: God’s Glory for All Nations to See
The temple is God’s way of signaling that people from every nation could encounter and worship Him personally.
Deuteronomy 12:1-14
[12:1] “These are the statutes and rules that you shall be careful to do in the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess, all the days that you live on the earth.
[2] You shall surely destroy all the places where the nations whom you shall dispossess served their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree. [3] You shall tear down their altars and dash in pieces their pillars and burn their Asherim with fire. You shall chop down the carved images of their gods and destroy their name out of that place. [4] You shall not worship the LORD your God in that way. [5] But you shall seek the place that the LORD your God will choose out of all your tribes to put his name and make his habitation there. There you shall go, [6] and there you shall bring your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and the contribution that you present, your vow offerings, your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herd and of your flock. [7] And there you shall eat before the LORD your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your households, in all that you undertake, in which the LORD your God has blessed you.
[8] “You shall not do according to all that we are doing here today, everyone doing whatever is right in his own eyes, [9] for you have not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance that the LORD your God is giving you. [10] But when you go over the Jordan and live in the land that the LORD your God is giving you to inherit, and when he gives you rest from all your enemies around, so that you live in safety, [11] then to the place that the LORD your God will choose, to make his name dwell there, there you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and the contribution that you present, and all your finest vow offerings that you vow to the LORD. [12] And you shall rejoice before the LORD your God, you and your sons and your daughters, your male servants and your female servants, and the Levite that is within your towns, since he has no portion or inheritance with you. [13] Take care that you do not offer your burnt offerings at any place that you see, [14] but at the place that the LORD will choose in one of your tribes, there you shall offer your burnt offerings, and there you shall do all that I am commanding you.
God desired to establish his name at the temple for his dwelling
How does this play out?
1. God revealed himself by his name
It would be a place of revealing himself to his worshipers.
2. The temple was a place of encounter (Exodus 25:8)
[8] And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst.
3. Solomon’s dedication of the temple made clear this was a place that “all peoples” of the earth can know God’s name / fame / glory (1 Kings 8:41-43)
[41] “Likewise, when a foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, comes from a far country for your name’s sake [42] (for they shall hear of your great name and your mighty hand, and of your outstretched arm), when he comes and prays toward this house, [43] hear in heaven your dwelling place and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to you, in order that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your people Israel, and that they may know that this house that I have built is called by your name.
4. The nations come, particularly, the Queen of Sheba (1 Kings 9:25)
[25] Three times a year Solomon used to offer up burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar that he built to the LORD, making offerings with it before the LORD. So he finished the house.
There are two ways to travel from Europe / Asia to Africa. Two roads (King’s Highway, International Coastal Highway). All nations had to pass through Jerusalem to get from these continents.
God was moving the good news from Jerusalem to the nations. He began there and is still sending the good news through the nations.
(See Kingdom Strikes Back)
5. Plunge Into Idolatry
Just when it looked as if Israel was going to make God’s name widely known among the nations, Solomon led the way in idolatry.
1 Kings 11:1-8
[11:1] Now King Solomon loved many foreign women, along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, [2] from the nations concerning which the LORD had said to the people of Israel, “You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love. [3] He had 700 wives, princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart. [4] For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father. [5] For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. [6] So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and did not wholly follow the LORD, as David his father had done. [7] Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites, on the mountain east of Jerusalem. [8] And so he did for all his foreign wives, who made offerings and sacrificed to their gods.
Idolatry profaned, or made common, the name of international renown that God had sanctified, or exalted, in the view of the nations.
Then began centuries of up and down struggles with idolatry. God finally removed the people from the land, sending them among the nations into a time of captivity known as the Exile.
Isaiah 2:8
[8] Their land is filled with idols;
they bow down to the work of their hands,
to what their own fingers have made.
Isaiah 44:9-20
[9] All who fashion idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit. Their witnesses neither see nor know, that they may be put to shame. [10] Who fashions a god or casts an idol that is profitable for nothing? [11] Behold, all his companions shall be put to shame, and the craftsmen are only human. Let them all assemble, let them stand forth. They shall be terrified; they shall be put to shame together.
[12] The ironsmith takes a cutting tool and works it over the coals. He fashions it with hammers and works it with his strong arm. He becomes hungry, and his strength fails; he drinks no water and is faint. [13] The carpenter stretches a line; he marks it out with a pencil. He shapes it with planes and marks it with a compass. He shapes it into the figure of a man, with the beauty of a man, to dwell in a house. [14] He cuts down cedars, or he chooses a cypress tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it. [15] Then it becomes fuel for a man. He takes a part of it and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Also he makes a god and worships it; he makes it an idol and falls down before it. [16] Half of it he burns in the fire. Over the half he eats meat; he roasts it and is satisfied. Also he warms himself and says, “Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire!” [17] And the rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, and falls down to it and worships it. He prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god!”
[18] They know not, nor do they discern, for he has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see, and their hearts, so that they cannot understand. [19] No one considers, nor is there knowledge or discernment to say, “Half of it I burned in the fire; I also baked bread on its coals; I roasted meat and have eaten. And shall I make the rest of it an abomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?” [20] He feeds on ashes; a deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, “Is there not a lie in my right hand?”
6. God’s Persistence and Renewed Promise
God never ceased to pursue His original promise and purpose. The people were brought again into the land, the temple was rebuilt, and a Messiah was expected. God’s word about this restoration is clear; it was all for the fulfillment of His global purpose. Many other expressions of the psalmists and prophets clarify God’s purpose to be worshiped.
Ezekiel 36
God’s pursuit of his people and concern for his name
Isaiah 56:6–7
[6] “And the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD,
to minister to him, to love the name of the LORD,
and to be his servants,
everyone who keeps the Sabbath and does not profane it,
and holds fast my covenant—
[7] these I will bring to my holy mountain,
and make them joyful in my house of prayer;
their burnt offerings and their sacrifices
will be accepted on my altar;
for my house shall be called a house of prayer
for all peoples.”
God’s concern for his house / temple being a place for all nations
Mark 11:15-17
[15] And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. [16] And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. [17] And he was teaching them and saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.”
1. What kinds of prayers are described?
2. Who is offering these prayers?
3. Jesus did not just quote this verse. He taught about it during what was likely the most public hour of His ministry (Mark 11:17).
4. What kinds of prayer did Jesus want to see?
5. This passage is often used to encourage prayer on behalf of the nations. This is fine, but it may miss the point of Christ’s passionate teaching and temple cleansing: the hope that the nations themselves will pray in full-hearted worship.
7. The Glory of God in Jesus Christ
Jesus fulfilled God’s purpose to reveal His glory to the world in order to receive glory from the nations.
John 17
[17:1] When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, [2] since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. [3] And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. [4] I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. [5] And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.
[6] “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. [7] Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. [8] For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. [9] I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. [10] All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. [11] And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. [12] While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. [13] But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. [14] I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. [15] I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. [16] They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. [17] Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. [18] As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. [19] And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.
[20] “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, [21] that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. [22] The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, [23] I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. [24] Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. [25] O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. [26] I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
Matthew 6:9-15
[9] Pray then like this:
“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
[10] Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
[11] Give us this day our daily bread,
[12] and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
[13] And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
[14] For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, [15] but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
A. Praying for God’s Name to be Glorified. By the prayer He taught and the prayers He prayed, we can see how Jesus aimed His entire life at fulfilling the ancient purpose of making God’s name known. For God’s name to be “hallowed” or “sanctified” is for His namesake to be distinguished, exalted and honored. No prayer could be more basic to the mission purpose of God.
B. God is to be Worshiped by All Peoples. The text in Isaiah that Jesus quoted in the temple makes it clear that God rejoiced to receive worship arising from nations other than Israel. The temple was destined to become a place of worship that all peoples could easily access in order to meet God, bringing Him their prayerful worship.
12. Paul’s Passion for God’s Global Glory
Paul was motivated by the hope that God would be glorified among the nations.
Romans 15:14-24
[14] I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another. [15] But on some points I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder, because of the grace given me by God [16] to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. [17] In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to be proud of my work for God. [18] For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience—by word and deed, [19] by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God—so that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ; [20] and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else’s foundation, [21] but as it is written,
“Those who have never been told of him will see,
and those who have never heard will understand.” (cited from Isaiah 52:15)
[22] This is the reason why I have so often been hindered from coming to you. [23] But now, since I no longer have any room for work in these regions, and since I have longed for many years to come to you, [24] I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain, and to be helped on my journey there by you, once I have enjoyed your company for a while.
Paul’s desire to preach where Christ had not been named points to his understanding of God’s desire to be glorified among all peoples.
A. Our Motive Must be God’s Glory and not Human Compassion. When mission is merely a compassionate response to human need, motivation can be limited to feelings of concern toward people. Some mobilization can be limited to stirring up guilt. But when mission is defined primarily as an enterprise that brings about something for God, and secondarily as that which brings about something benefitting people, then both our motivation and our mobilization can be more balanced. Compassion may actually run deeper. We can be deeply moved by needs while acting boldly for God’s highest purpose.
B. The Task is Church Planting Movements. Matthew 28:16-20: Focusing on God’s glory helps us see the value of planting churches which will become an expression of the sanctified best of their particular culture. This may be one of the best grounds for planting church movements among every people group. The people group approach is not as important as setting our vision on the people group result.
C. The End is that the Kingdom of the World has Become if the Kingdom of Our Lord and of his Christ. Revelation 11:15
Theology in the Dirt 