The God Who Makes Himself Known (Blackburn): The Missionary Heart of the Book of Exodus (NSBT Vol. 28) / January 01, 2012

Requires Accordance 11.2 or above.

Also available in the 42-volume NSBT bundle. See list of other NSBT volumes.

The Lord’s commitment to make himself known throughout the nations is the overarching missionary theme of the Bible and the central theological concern of Exodus.

Countering scholarly tendencies to fragment the text over theological difficulties, Ross Blackburn contends that Exodus should be read as a unified whole, and that an appreciation of its missionary theme in its canonical context is of great help in dealing with the difficulties that the book poses. For example, how is Exodus 6:3 best understood? Is there a tension between law and gospel, or mercy and judgment? How should we understand the painstaking detail of the tabernacle chapters?

From a careful examination of Exodus, this New Studies in Biblical Theology volume demonstrates that

• the Lord humbled Pharaoh so the world would know that only God can save
• the Lord gave Israel the law so that its people might display his goodness to the nations, living in a state of order and blessing
• the Lord dealt with Israel’s idolatry severely, yet mercifully, for his goodness cannot be known if his glory is compromised

In the end, Exodus not only sheds important light on the church’s mission, but also reveals what kind of God the Lord is, one who pursues his glory and our good, ultimately realizing both as he makes himself known in Christ Jesus.

About the Series:
Addressing key issues in biblical theology, the works comprised by New Studies in Biblical Theology are creative attempts to help Christians better understand their Bibles. The NSBT series is edited by D. A. Carson, aiming to simultaneously instruct and to edify, to interact with current scholarship and to point the way ahead.

New Studies in Biblical Theology volumes focus on three areas:

• the nature and status of biblical theology, including its relationship to other disciplines
• the articulation and exposition of the structure of thought from a particular biblical writer or text
• the delineation of a biblical theme across the biblical corpus

While volume notes interact with the best of recent research, the text of each work avoids untransliterated Greek and Hebrew or too much specialist jargon. The volumes are written within the framework of confessional evangelicalism, but they also engage a variety of other relevant viewpoints and significant literature.