Learning Messiah: Israel and the Nations: Learning to Read God’s Way Anew

by Edjan Westerman

Publisher:

Wipf and Stock

, 2018

Overview

Israel’s election, calling, and history make up a big part of Scripture. It could be said that they belong to the “DNA of the Bible.” But why is it then that the Christian narrative about the Messiah, Israel, and the nations, often seemed to have and sometimes even still has a different “genetic structure”?

Does Israel—together with its election and promises—leave God’s stage through a side door, when Jesus appears on stage? Does a changing of roles take place, within a different story? Does the Messiah function within it as some kind of “black hole” in which the eternal election and calling of Israel disappear?

How do we read God’s way?

The Holocaust made us realize that our de-Jew-ized reading and preaching of Scripture contributed in various ways to this catastrophe.

And we find ourselves confronted by the question: How does the narrative of the Bible then look when the whole of Scripture plays a decisive role, and the faithfulness of God toward Israel stays in the center?

This book presents an answer to these questions, calling us to learn to read God’s way anew, and to walk in it.

Key Features

• Examines the theme of the blessing of God in the Bible
• Explores the foundational relationships between God, His Messiah, and Israel
• Addresses historic Christian views on Israel

Contents

Part I: The Canonical Narrative: The Tanakh

• Creation and Waiting for Both the God of Israel and the Israel of God
• The Creation of the Camp of Israel and the Priestly Nation: The Beginning
• The Creation of the Camp of Israel and of the Priestly Nation: the Sequel
• The Creation of the Camp of Israel and of the Priestly Nation: Waiting for the Tora
• Liberated and Called: God’s Treasured Possession and Nation of Priests
• Israel’s Calling: Condition and Promise
• The Consecration of Priests and of Israel as a Priestly Nation: Waiting for the Eighth Day
• Priestly Nation around the One Sanctuary: Priests around the Dwelling
• Kingdom and Kingship of the People around the Dwelling of God
• The Calling Impeded by Israel’s Disobedience and the Opposition of the Nations
• Learning about the Eighth Day: Prophetic Words about the Messianic Time

Part II: The Canonical Narrative: The Scriptures of the New Covenant—the New Testament

• Two-Part Canon, One Narrative?
• In the Camp of Israel: The Eighth Day Breaks
• In the Camp of Israel: The Indwelling in the Segula-People
• In the Camp of Israel: The Avoda Fully Lived and Perfectly Accomplished
• In the Camp of Israel: The Priestly Nation Consecrated in the Sanctification of the Messiah
• In the Camp of Israel: The Royal Consecration and the Kingdom
• In the Camp of Israel: The Holy Nation Sanctified
• In the Camp of Israel: Blessing for the Mishpa?a of Abraham and the Nations
• The Camp of Israel: Waiting for the Return of the Shekhina—Israel and the Nations Advancing Toward the Tikkun Olam

Part III: Returning and Rethinking: Living in a “New” Canonical Narrative

• To Repent
• Returning and Rethinking
• Accompanying the Holy God Underway Toward the Tikkun Olam

Praise for the Print Edition

Ever since the Holocaust Christian theologians have reexamined previous Christian thinking about Israel. Most have rejected one aspect of supersessionism, that which posited an end to God’s covenant with the Jewish people . . . EJ Westerman provides us with a retelling of the biblical story in which Israel and her Messiah are at the center. This retelling sheds much new light on not only the Bible but the meaning of Israel and the nations. This is an important and helpful book for Christian theology, the Church, and Israel today

—Gerald R. McDermott, Beeson Divinity School/Samford University, Birmingham, Alabama

E. J. Westerman’s book sets the standard for a new genre of theological literature—a post-supersessionist biblical theology which re-casts the biblical metanarrative along the lines of R. K. Soulen’s The God of Israel and Christian Theology. His proposals will not be accepted by all, as they challenge a deep-rooted and prevailing paradigm. But anyone interested in a renewed biblical understanding of God’s ongoing purposes through Jesus the Messiah with both Israel and the Church and all nations, and a detailed exposition of the whole of Scripture in support of such an understanding, will take serious note of this exciting and radical approach.”

—Richard Harvey, Author of Mapping Messianic Jewish Theology

This new volume by Edjan Westerman is an impressive and ambitious re-reading of the bible as a whole, with the aim of articulating its coherent narrative in a way that does justice to the enduring significance of the Jewish people and to the unique salvific role of Jesus. While demonstrating knowledge of scholarly currents, Westerman presents his material in a popular and accessible fashion.

—Mark S. Kinzer, President Emeritus of the Messianic Jewish Theological Institute

Product Details

• Title: Learning Messiah: Israel and the Nations: Learning to Read God’s Way Anew
• Authors: Edjan Westerman
• Publisher: Wipf & Stock
• Publication Date: 2018
• Pages: 432
• Resource Type: Biblical Theology
• Topic: Theology

About Edjan Westerman

Edjan Westerman studied at the Theological Faculty of the Free University, Amsterdam (Old and New Testament). Following a period as a staff worker for the Dutch branch of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students, he served as a pastor within the Protestant Church in the Netherlands. The Dutch edition of Learning Messiah appeared in 2015, and was welcomed by a broad readership from all denominations. To find out more, also visit www.learningmessiah.com.