He lives his life as a faithful Jew even as he ushers in this great change.īecause Christ replaces the temple and because “his ministry opens up a new way to engage with God,” what he accomplishes is “the messianic salvation.” His work makes available “the blessings of the new covenant” (109). In other words, “Jesus fulfills the hopes of the Old Testament writers and replaces all the provisions for engaging with God that were laid upon Israel” (102). “Develop” is the right word since Jesus’ life and ministry demonstrate a massive shift: his coming marks the end of the temple’s role in the life of a true worshiper. Focusing on Matthew and John in particular, he demonstrates how these two Gospels “develop a picture of Jesus as the fulfillment of everything that the temple stood for and the focus of worship under the new covenant” (81). Peterson’s next terrain to cover is the Gospels. These attitudes are not limited to those particular actions, but instead spread out into “faithfulness and obedience to all the covenant demands of God.” In other words, worship is a matter of one’s “total lifestyle” (73).
Each of these terms connects these attitudes with actions associated with the tabernacle and temple. This enlightening chapter covers terminology that demonstrates Old Testament worship as grateful submission, service, and reverence. Peterson then examines Old Testament vocabulary for worship, describing the human side of engaging with God. The symbols of the ark, the tabernacle, and then the temple entailed a whole system of worship that acknowledged God’s initiative to make himself known. It was given “first to the patriarchs of Israel and then, through the events of the exodus from Egypt and the encounter on Mount Sinai, to the nation as a whole” (48). The key to understanding its view, he says, is that “the God of heaven and earth has taken the initiative in making himself known.” And this action on God’s part is progressive.
He begins his test by surveying the Old Testament to determine its overall view of worship. Peterson proposes to test the following hypothesis against the data of Scripture: “ worship of the living and true God is essentially an engagement with him on the terms that he proposes and in the way that he alone makes possible” (20, emphasis his). Pretty much everyone reading this review should read this book. Those interested in good biblical theology should read this book. So I just want to be clear from the starting block: anyone involved with the worship ministry of a church should read this book. Not only that, but you want to reread nearly every sentence because you’re afraid you’ve missed something. $26.00.ĭavid Peterson’s Engaging with God is one of those books that ends too soon.
David Peterson, Engaging with God: A Biblical Theology of Worship.
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