The Unstoppable God of Mission 2

“I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted” (Job 42:2, ESV).

So Job answers the Lord.

Most of us reading this verse would agree with our brother Job. We confess the omnipotence and sovereignty of God. We acknowledge His capabilities in our prayers. We speak of His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.

And when we turn to the Scriptures, we are quick to recognize such power and glory throughout the New Testament. God’s mission is unstoppable. His gospel continues to spread in spite of opposition from both within and without the covenant community.

For example, in Acts, internal forces attempt to thwart the advancement of the Kingdom. Ananias and Sapphira lie to the Holy Spirit, die, but the outcome of the tragedy is that “more than ever believers were added to the Lord” (Acts 5:14). The Hebrew and Greek-speaking Jews encounter conflict over food distribution. Evangelization is hindered. Yet, the matter is resolved and the Word “continued to increase,” even penetrating the hearts of the priestly class (Acts 6:7). Internal conflict leads to the first Church council. Some were arguing the Gentiles needed circumcision for salvation (Acts 15:1). A resolution arrives.

External forces also attempt to thwart the advancement of the Kingdom but are no match for the arm of God. When rebuked and threatened, Peter and John state they will continue to speak of what they have seen and heard (Acts 4:20). Saul is converted as he attempts to arrest followers of the Way (Acts 9:1-18). Herod kills James and imprisons Peter (Acts 12). But before the chapter ends, Herod is devoured by worms; and in the following chapter, Paul and Barnabas are sent on their first missionary journey. The book concludes with Paul under house arrest, but his proclamation about the Kingdom and Jesus continues “without hindrance.”

And on and on the New Testament goes. Numerous passages reveal that God’s purposes always prevail. He is the unstoppable, apostolic God.

However, I wonder if we realize the Old Testament is also filled with numerous examples of diabolical attempts to thwart the missio Dei. Do we see them beyond Genesis 3? Do they leap out at us? Are we looking for them, knowing Genesis through Malachi is filled with sinful men and women connected to the covenant community? Do we even see the mission of God in the Old Testament?

I have started to look for the opposition passages and God’s unstoppable nature. One came to my attention this past week. I had read and preached Jeremiah 29 on several occasions. Israel was going into Babylonian captivity. Before they would return to the Promised Land, God told them to make themselves at home in Babylon. They were to “multiply there,” and “seek the welfare of the city” and “pray to the Lord on its behalf.” Now, God tells them that if things go well for Babylon, then things will go well for Israel.

It looks as if God’s mission is on pause. Nothing is going to happen in Babylon. Things will get fired up again once Jeremiah’s prophecy is fulfilled and Israel returns home.

Over the years, I read this passage and turned my attention toward the selfish: Be a light in the darkness, but you care for Babylon, so you can get care for yourself.

But here is a passage that resonates the Abrahamic covenant (Gen 12:1-3). Become numerous, do not decrease (v. 6). Be a blessing (v. 7). God is stating in this terrible time in Israel’s history that He is going to be faithful to His covenant (and mission) and use Israel to be a blessing to the nations–even when she is living in exile.

Christopher J. H. Wright stated it well:

“The exiles had a task–a mission no less even in the midst of the city of their enemies. And that task was to seek the welfare of that city and to pray for the blessing of YHWH upon it. So they were not only to be the beneficiaries of God’s promise to Abraham (in that they would not die out but increase), they were also to be the agents of God’s promise to Abraham that through his descendants the nations would be blessed.  The promise had said “all nations”–enemy nations not excluded. So let Israel assume the Abrahamic position in Babylon” (The Mission of God, 99-100).

Wow.

Nothing can stop God from completing His plans. The mission of God surges throughout the Bible–both in the New Testament. . . and most definitely in the Old Testament.