Resources for Transformational Development from the Old Testament: How do we use Old Testament Law? Part 1: Introduction

Today, I will be reposting some blogs that I posted last week. Hopefully releasing it bit by bit will encourage all of you to pause, read and think about the interpretation and application of the legal material in the Pentateuch for transformational development.

The series of blogs will concentrate on Exodus 20-23, Deuteronomy 5-30 and Leviticus 17-26. A common feature of these large blocks of material is that after the legal material is presented, there are sections concerning blessing for obeying the legal material, and curses for disobedience. In all three bodies of material are given in the context of a covenant between Israel and the LORD.  It is my contention that the legal material can be viewed as a means by which Israel was converted and turned “Godward,” to adapt the phrase turning a culture “Christward,” coined by Andrew Walls. This forming of a covenant with Israel and a turning of Israel Godward through a body of instruction was a preparation for God to dwell in Israel’s presence and bless Israel. This can be used as a model of development that places evangelism and discipleship at the heart of Christian development work. As a culture turns “Christward,” they are transformed into a people in whom the presence of God can dwell and bless.

                The Old Testament discipline in existence that can contribute most to the use of the Old Testament in development is Old Testament ethics. The basic question that ethics asks is “what is the good?” The large legal sections in the Pentateuch, by putting the blessings and cursings as the climax of the legal material, points to the good being enjoying a blessed life that is indwelled by God’s presence. A second and related question that relates to the first is, “how is the good achieved?” To answer this question, I draw on two concepts from John Rogerson, “Imperatives of Redemption,” and “Structures of Grace.” The imperatives of redemption are motive clauses that ground the law in the context of God’s gracious acts, usually the deliverance of Israel from Egypt. The structures of grace are laws that form a societal mechanism that implements God’s graciousness in practical terms. I use the legal material involving the release of the Hebrew slave as a case in point to illustrate both of Rogerson’s concepts.

Come back tomorrow. We can continue the discussion.