Academic
Now and Not Yet : Theology and mission in Ezra-Nehemiah
Outline : The books of Ezra and Nehemiah have, for various reasons, suffered comparative neglect in Old Testament scholarship. As Dean Ulrich demonstrates, though, these texts form a literary unit that contributes to the Bible's progressively unfolding story of God's saving activity. Ezra–Nehemiah focuses not so much on effective leadership as on how to be a godly participant in God's story. The moral teaching appears in the larger context of God's acts and promises. Howeveras a literary unit is part of the Christian Bible that tells God's grand story of saving activity. It focuses not so much on how to be an effective leader but on how to be a godly participant in God's story. God may be concerned about human conduct, but the moral imperatives appear in the larger context of God's acts and promises. However exemplary Ezra and Nehemiah the men may be, Ezra–Nehemiah the book is concerned with how God's people contribute to building the new (and New) Jerusalem - God's redeemed community that is bigger than any individual person. Mission, which is participation in God's purpose for his world, is a key factor in the book's message. Ulrich views Ezra-Nehemiah as the record of the beginning of a new work of God among his people after the exile. He reads it as part of a trajectory that leads eventually to the first coming of Jesus and beyond. This new work, which enables God's people to be restored presently ('now') in their relationship with God, involves both hope in God's promises ('not yet') and obedience to his instruction concerning mission.
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