The Economy of God
Paul interprets or understands God’s
economy as God’s saving act or plan (or dispensation) of his people –
believers/Christians – in his opportune time (Ephesians 1:9-10, 3:2 & 9). God’s
economy is his saving act or plan of his people not only spiritually in God’s
kingdom but also materially in this world. The economy of God includes his
saving plan or act of his people as well as his various governing activities
for his people as we can find in the Old Testament and Jesus’ proclamation in
the Books of Gospels, especially in John. Our study of economics is about
decision making for an individual as well as for a nation as a whole to
maximize our satisfaction while we live in this world. Our study of God’s
economics is to know God’s and his people’s decision making to maximize their
satisfaction or happiness in the household of God.
God Blesses His Household
God’s economy is found initially in
Genesis 1:26-28: “26Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image,
after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and
over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth.’ 27So
God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and
female He created them. 28And God blessed them, ‘Be fruitful and
multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of
the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves
upon the earth.’” God created man in their (=triune God's) image and in their
likeness. The phrase, “in their image, in their likeness” Genesis 1:26-27),
does not mean that man was created according to God's appearance but according
to God's character and disposition. Man was given personality that made him
think, feel, will and judge. Man was given conscience, morals and ethics. So,
when he did something against God, he felt guilty. God's goodness,
faithfulness, and righteousness were also given to the man. God's Spirit was
given to the human couple so that they could worship God in spirit and in
truth. God blessed human beings – Adam and Eve – that he created and wanted
them to be fruitful (prosper), multiply (increase in number), and fill the
earth and subdue it. What God wanted when He created the human couple, they who
were in God's image would be fruitful, increase in number and fill the earth as
God's ambassadors. The birds of the air, the fish of the sea, and animals and
plants on the earth were all created to be ruled over by people. The purpose of
God's creation of man was to rule over the fish of the sea and the birds
of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures
that move along the ground.
However, as Adam and Eve fell, they
lost most of their power to rule over the birds of the air, the fish of the
sea, and the animals and plants on the earth as well as their eternal life.
Human lifespan was reduced to less than 1,000 years from eternity (Genesis 5).
Later, as human sins and trespasses became widespread on the earth, the human life
was again reduced to 120 years (Genesis 6). Even after Adam and Eve fell, God’s
economy (management of his household) continued. God saved Noah and his family
from the great flood (Genesis 6-8). God restored his blessings (for Adam and
Eve) in Genesis 1:28 for Noah and his family in Genesis 9:1-3 and 7. Genesis 9:1-3 states: “1And
God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and
fill the earth. 2The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon
every beast of the earth, and upon every bird of the air, upon everything that
creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea; into your hand they are
delivered. 3Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you; and
as I gave you green plants, I give you everything.’” Then, God repeats his
blessings upon Noah and his family one more time in Genesis 9:7: “And you, be
fruitful and multiply, bring forth abundantly on the earth and multiply in it.”
We can see the goal of the economy of God is to let human beings that were created
according to God’s image and likeness “be fruitful, multiply, and fill the
earth and subdue it” from the very beginning. Has the goal of the economy of
God been changed? God wants his household, Christians, to be fruitful,
multiply, and fill the earth.
God
in Genesis 12:1-3 called Abram and told him: “1Now the LORD said to
Abram, ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the
land that I will show you. 2And I will make of you a great nation,
and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.
3I will bless those who bless you, and him who curses you I will
curse; and by you all the families of the earth shall bless themselves.” Why
did God call and select Abraham as a member of his household? God probably
foresaw his genuine mind and faith. God promised to give Abraham and his descendants
three things – land (Canaan), nations, and blessings. God continued to appear
Abraham whenever he began to doubt God’s promises to reconfirm him that his
promises would be fulfilled for sure.
God
blessed Abraham’s son Isaac, Isaac’s son Jacob, Jacob’s sons Joseph and Judah.
God did not forget the Israelites although they had lived a slavery life in
Egypt for 430 years. God saved the Israelites from the hand of the Egyptians
and lead them through Moses and then Joshua to the land of Canaan, “a land
flowing with milk and honey” (Exodus 3:8, 17, 13:5, 33:3; Lev. 20:24; Deut.
6:3, 11:9, 26:9, 15, 27:3, 31:20; Joshua 5:6), the land that God had shown
Abraham first. God’s blessings continued throughout the history of the
Israelites even when they turned away from God. God had been patient and waited
until they returned to him. When the Israelites returned to him, his blessings
were restored. God’s blessings – an act of God’s management of his household –
reached its highlight when he had sent his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to
the world and let him die on the cross.
God Provides for His Household
God
is wise and smart. He does not spare his blessings in managing his household,
knowing that it is a way to attain the goal of the best management of his
household – his people. God is always willing to provide anything for his
household, like human parents. Abraham was the first person who experienced God
the provider (Jehovah-Jireh). In his conversation with Isaac on their way to
Mt. Moriah, Abraham answers his son, Isaac when he is asked, “Where is the lamb
for the burnt offering”: “God will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my
son.” (Genesis 22:8). When Abraham showed his love of God more than anything
else, the angel of God stopped him killing his son. And like his confession of
“God will provide,” Abraham found a ram caught by its horns in a thicket and
sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. He called that place “The
LORD Will Provide (=Jehovah-Jireh)” (Genesis 22:14).
Jesus
in Matthew 6:25-34 tells us not to worry about our life, what we will eat or
drink; or about our body, what we will wear. Jesus tells his disciples about
God who provides: “31Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What
shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32For
the Gentiles seek all these things; and your heavenly Father knows that you
need them all” (Matthew 6:31-32).
God Feeds His Household
When
the whole community grumble against Moses and Aaron in the desert about food,
God tells Moses in Exodus 16:4-5: “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for
you; and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I
may prove them, whether they will walk in my law or not. On the sixth day, when
they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather
daily.” God fed the Israelites with manna and quail.
God’s
people may ask God for daily food, believing that God feeds us. Agur in Proverbs
30:7-8 asks God: “7Two things I ask of thee; deny them not to me
before I die: 8Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me
neither poverty nor riches, feed me with the food that is needful for me.” Jesus
also teaches the Lord’s prayer to his disciples, in which we ask God, “Give us
today our daily bread.” (Matthew 6:11; Luke 11:3). By asking God for daily
bread in our prayer, we acknowledge that God feeds us every day.
Jesus
proclaims that he is the bread of life. Jesus in John 6:32 says: “For the bread
of life is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world”; in John
6:35: “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he
who believes in me will never be thirsty”; in John 6:48-51: “I am the bread of
life. … I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of
this bread, he will live forever.” Jesus, “I AM” (Ἐγώ
εἰμι,
egó eimi), had come down to earth to give us eternal life.
God Guides/Leads His Household
God
guides or walks with Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, and Moses and
the Israelites since their exodus from Egypt. God guides the Israelites in
front of them. Exodus 13:21-22 states: “And the LORD went before them by day in
a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire
to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night; the pillar of
cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the
people.” The psalmist in Psalm 48:14 confesses: “For this God is our God for
ever and ever; he will be our guide even to the end.” Jesus in Matthew 28:20
promises us to be with us: “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of
the age” as Jesus Christ is Immanuel (= God is with us).
God Protects His Household
God
protects people in his household. Although Adam and Eve fell, God protects them
by making garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. God
protected Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, and the Israelites in their
journeys. The psalmist in Psalm 18:2 states: “The Lord is my rock, my
protection, my Savior. My God is my rock. I can run to him for safety”; in
Psalm 46:1-3: “1God is our protection (refuge) and our strength. He
always helps in times of trouble. 2So, we will not be afraid even if
the earth shakes, or the mountains fall into the sea, 3even if the
oceans roar and foam, or the mountains shake at the raging sea”; and in Psalm
144:2: “He protects me like a strong, walled city, and he loves me. He is my defender
and my Savior, my shield and my protection.” (NCV). David and other psalmists
describe God in their psalms as מָגֵן (magen, shield: Psalm 3:3,
7:11, 18:2, 18:30, 18:35, 28:7, 33:20, 89:18, 115:9-11, 119:114, 144:2),[1]
מַחֲסֶה
(machaseh, refuge, shelter, protection: Psalm 14:6, 46:1, 61:3,
62:7, 62:8, 71:7, 73:28, 91:2, 91:9, 94:22, 104:18, 142:5),[2]
מָצוּד
(matsuwd, stronghold, fortress: Psalm 18:2, 31:2-3, 66:11, 71:3,
91:2, 144:2),[3] and/or
מִשְׂגָּב
(misgab, high tower, stronghold, refuge: Psalm 9:9, 18:2, 46:7, 46:11, 48:3,
59:9, 59:16, 59:17, 62:2, 62:6, 94:22, 144:2).[4]
God is our shield, refuge, and stronghold/fortress, who protects us and let us
escape to him from all dangers. He covers us with his feathers, we are safe
under his wings (Psalm 17:8, 91:4).
God Helps His Household
God
helps his people in his household whenever they ask for his help. 1 Samuel 7:12
states: “Then Samuel took a stone and set it up, and called its name
‘Ebene’zer,’ (אֶבֶן הָעֵזֶר, stone of the help) for he said, ‘Hitherto the LORD
has helped us.” God helped his people – Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph,
Moses, Joshua, and the Israelites – in their journeys so that they were not
stumbled and did not go astray. The Psalmist in Psalm 46:4-5 exhorts: “There is
a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the
Most High. God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved; God will help
her right early.” God is always there to help his people whenever they reach
out their hands for help as God is Jehovah-Shammah (יְהוָ֥ה-שָֽׁמָּה,
The LORD is there) as is in Ezekiel 48:35. God is near us even today and is
willing to help us whenever we ask him for help.
Jesus
was willing to help people whenever they came to him. He never rejected people
who came to him to be healed, comforted, or helped. The coming Christ was depicted
as ‘Wonderful Counselor’ in Isaiah 9:6. Jesus considers himself “the Helper”
and thus tells his disciples in John 14:16: “I will pray the Father, and he
will give you another Counselor (= Helper), to be with you forever”; in 14:26:
“But the Counselor (= Helper), the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my
name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I
have said to you.” As Jesus promised his disciples, the Holy Spirit came upon
us as another Helper and leads us in the right direction.
God Heals His Household
God heals
his people’s wounds when they come to him. God tells the Israelites in Exodus
15:26: “If you will diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD your God, and
do that which is right in his eyes, and give heed to his commandments and keep
all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases upon you which I put upon the
Egyptians; for I am the LORD, your healer (יְהוָ֥ה-רֹפְאֶֽךָ,
Jehovah-Rophekha).” The psalmist in Psalm 103:2-3 praises God: “Bless the LORD,
O my soul and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who
heals all your diseases;” in Psalm 147:3: “He heals the brokenhearted and binds
up their wounds.” Hosea exhorts the Israelites in Hosea 6:1: “Come, let us
return to the LORD; for he has torn, that he may heal us; he has stricken, and
he will bind us up.” God heals his people not only their physical wounds but
also spiritual wounds.
Luke
in his Gospel emphasizes Jesus’ healing ministry. It seems to be natural that
Luke as a physician was interested in Jesus’ healing of people who came to him
(Luke 6:6-11, 7:1-17, 7:21, 8:26-56, 9:37-43, 13:10-17, 14:1-6, 17:11-19,
18:35-43). Jesus’ healing is continuous work of God’s healing as Jehovah-Rapha
(The LORD heals). Jesus’ healing ministry is an important part of the economy
of God that takes a good care of his people and was succeeded by his disciples
(Acts 3:1-10, 9-32-43, 20:7-12).
God Teaches/Instructs His Household
God
teaches his people that each of them can manage his/her own household
successfully. God tells Moses in Exodus 4:12: “Now therefore go, and I will be
with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.” Isaiah 54:13 states: “All
your sons shall be taught by the LORD, and great shall be the prosperity of
your sons.” The psalmist in Psalm 71:17 confesses: “O God, from my youth thou
hast taught me, and I still proclaim thy wondrous deeds.” The Hebrew word, יָרָה
(yarah or yara), means
teach, instruct, or direct.[5]
The noun form, Torah (תּוֹרָה), is from this verb, יָרָה (yarah or
yara). It literally means instruction or teaching and generally refers to
Moses’ five books, Pentateuch (Genesis to Deuteronomy) and is translated as
“Law.” Torah also refers to the oral tradition of Law and more widely refers to
God’s instructions in the Old Testament.
Teaching,
along with healing, is an important part of Jesus’ public ministry. He taught
his disciples about the kingdom of God. Even after he was resurrected, Jesus
taught his disciples about the kingdom of God during forty days before his
ascension (Acts 1:3). Jesus commanded his disciples in Matthew 28:19-20: “Go
therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them …, teaching them to
oversee all that I have commanded you.” We as his disciples continue to teach
people to bring them to God’s household.
God Gives a Victory to His Household
God
wants his people to win the victory in their life. By winning a battle or a
war, each person in God’s household can maximize his/her satisfaction. God let
his people win the battles – the Israelites defeated while they were marching
toward the land of Canaan, in the land of Canaan, etc.” When Moses defeated
Amalek in Exodus, he built an altar and called the name of it, “The LORD is my
banner (= Jehovah-Nissi)” as God gave the Israelites a miraculous victory in
the fight against Amalek.
Paul
in 1 Corinthians 15:56-57 states: “The sting of death is sin, and the power of
sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord
Jesus Christ.” Paul encourages us to fight a good fight, believing that God
will give us the victory: “I have fought to the good fight, I have finished the
race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of
righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that
Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing” (2 Tim.
4:7-8).
God’s Governing Activities
The
economy of God in the Bible – the Old Testament and the New Testament – can be
defined as God’s governing and/or managing activities of his household,
including beginning of his household by creating it, blessing people of his
household, providing their needs, feeding them, guiding/leading them,
protecting them, teaching/instructing them, and giving them a victory in their
fight against the evil power, etc. The purpose of the economy of God as we saw
at the beginning of this chapter is to let his people “be fruitful, multiply,
and fill the earth.”
[2]
Ibid., “4268. machaseh or
machseh.” BibleHub. Retrieved from https://biblehub.com/hebrew/4268.htm
[4]
Ibid., “4869. misgab.” BibleHub. Retrieved from https://biblehub.com/hebrew/4869.htm
[5]
Ibid., “3384. yarah or yara.”
BibleHub. Retrieved from https://biblehub.com/hebrew/3384.htm
No comments:
Post a Comment