03-05-24 #11 Plan for Israel I answers

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Week 8 Topic Reading Assignment Mar 5 God’s Plan for Israel: Gathering for Salvation of the World I Lohfink, 21-31 WS #11 Salvation of the Whole World I Lohfink begins this section with the claim that “God’s concern is not first of all for Israel, but for the whole world” (21). He notes that the Bible begins with the creation of the world (Genesis) and ends with the new creation of the world (Revelation). Lohfink comments of the significance of the New Jerusalem in terms of the salvation of the world and how its gates will be opened for the pilgrimage of nations, where all people will live in the light of the new city (23). At the end of this section, Lohfink makes the claim that this “eschatological city” (i.e., at the end of time), “God’s new society,” is something that only comes about through the particularity of a concrete time and a concrete place: Abraham and the people of Israel. God starts in one place with one person…Lohfink will call this “the Abraham principle.” This is what is scandalous to many: the scandal of particularity. Why Israel? Why are they so special? What about everyone else? We will see, however, that Israel’s “election” is not a privilege, but a responsibility to be the light for the nations, so that God can save the whole world. In his next section, “The Salvation of the World Demands a Concrete Place,” Lohfink will write about the covenant with Abraham. You might remember what we read in Lohfink, pp. 20-21 as we concluded our study of The Fall. Lohfink ends this section with three “stories” about God’s hesitation to create the world…these stories point to the fact that others have wondered about the big questions we are pondering. The point Lohfink makes is that these stories reveal that there is not only a history of sin in the world, but there is also a history of trust and freedom that is not misused. He points to Abraham (the Father of Faith), who God sees as a rock upon which God can save the world. He also points to Israel who accepts the Torah (the Law or the Commandments) because they will stand as a witness to the world of what it is to be in relationship with God. As we continue in the course, we will look at these two entities: Abraham and Israel, and how they cooperate with God for the salvation of the world. So, for now, we will focus on Abraham and his great faith…a faith that is so strong that God believes that he can use Abraham to save the world. We also see how Israel, as the offspring of Abraham, is given a special role by God to save the world. Worksheet #11 Questions 1) Provide a few examples of the connections about creation/new creation between the Genesis text and Revelation text (21-22).
God’s concern is for the entire world. The first book, Genesis, begins with the creation of the world out of chaos. The last book, Revelation, presents us with an image of God’s new world, God’s new creation, in which all creation will find its perfection. (This prophetic vision is in Rev 21:1-22:5.) John (author of Revelation) purposefully connected his great closing vision with the opening chapters of Genesis. Some examples: “In the beginning…God created a new heaven and a new earth” (Gen 1:1) “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away” (Rev 21:1). At the beginning of creation, God placed the primeval sea, the embodiment of chaos, within its boundaries (Gen 1:1-10), so at the end, the chaotic flood is destroyed, so that it can no longer threaten the earth: “and the sea was no more” (Rev 21:1). While after the fall, the fertile ground was cursed (Gen 3:17-19), now it is said: “Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more (Rev 21:4). Genesis contains the primeval story in which humans attempt to build a city and within it a tower that would reach to heaven. The attempt failed and people were scattered over the whole earth (Gen 11:1-9). Now, in Revelation, the city is a success. It does not arise out of human arrogance but comes down from heaven as God’s building plan to counter every previous city (Rev 21:2, 10), and this eschatological city does not scatter humanity, but gathers it (21:24). 2) Give a few examples of how the New Jerusalem is not just a “city,” but represents the new society for the whole world (22-25). John speaks of the new creation as a “city” and not as a “garden,” although the motif of Paradise is not absent from the image of the city in Revelation. For John, the new, redeemed creation is a “new society” in which there are “encounter, gathering, and full mutual communication.” The new Jerusalem is not only a world city; this city is the world. It is a city on the hill…it has cosmic dimensions. It reaches to the heavens and so joins heaven and earth. The wall of the city has three gates on each of its four sides…these twelve gates are never closed. These open gates are connected to the image of “the pilgrimage of nations” to Jerusalem at the end of time. (See Isa 60:1-11.)
The light goes out from Jerusalem and the Gentiles will see it and stream to it. Also, there is a reference to the kings of the world bringing their treasures to Jerusalem (Rev 21:24-26). Hence, this new city is international…it welcomes all of the nations that is good, perfect, and beautiful. It gathers to itself all the treasures of the earth. John details all the materials with which the city is adorned: pearls, gold…the city glitters and glows in colors. Another “personal” image is added: the bride. The city is “prepared as a bride adorned for her husband” (Rev 21:2). This introduces the image of the wedding, and with it the wedding feast. The feast of the city knows no time…there is neither sun nor moon “for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb” (Rev 21:23). The city is not “in” nature; nature is integrated into the city. Within the new city, Paradise arises anew, and in an enhanced form compared to the beginning, for the tree of life that stood in the middle of the garden of Paradise (Gen 2:9) is replaced (with reference to Ezek 47:7, 12) by a long row of trees. Only because society has become whole is nature also whole and intact and able, in turn, to heal: “the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations” (Rev 22:2). Finally, there is no Temple. This is something new. Until now, the Temple was seen as the center of the eschatological Jerusalem. For John, there is no need for the Temple because God dwells in the midst of the city: “Its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb” (Rev 21:22). The vision shows that God is not concerned for just one people, but for all the nations. God’s care is not only for every individual, but for society. God cares not only for the soul, but also for matter, for culture, for history, for the whole makeup of the world. Everything is included in the feast of the new creation. 3) What does Lohfink think that the history of revolutions teaches us? How is God’s principle different? (26-27) Lohfink begins by noting that God desires the salvation of the whole world. He notes that many people have tried to change the world. Revolutionaries, however, always face a problem: they are short of time. So, for them, in order to change the world in a relatively short period of time, they can only change
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