Lawrence Boadt: Unifying Themes Of The Old Testament
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Lawrence Boadt offers ten great themes of the Old Testament that he sees are unifying themes contained among the books. He asserts that the first and most important theme within the Old Testament is that God is one.1 The other themes relate to this first one. God is an actor in history2 (2nd) who demands a personal response (3rd) from us—a response that includes prayer and praise to God (4th). God's people are called into a covenant (5th) with Him, and maintain important traditions (6th) related to that covenant with God. However, God's perfection and people's imperfections frequently lead to tensions between God's will and our often sinful and selfish response. (7th) These tensions, nonetheless, do not remove the hope about the future (8th) that saturates the hearts of God's people as they consider how God will act on their behalf to deliver, restore, and transform them. This hope is tied to the conviction that the world and all creation possess were made good in the eyes of God their maker.…show more content… God making us in God's image is the first sign. In Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, and Moses, among others, we see God's desire to form and sustain a covenantal relationship with His people. Furthermore, the blessings and curses of Deuteronomy 27-28 served to ensure that God's people would always go through a daily process of remembrance and renewal of their Godly image and likeness, and of their covenant with the living God. In addition, the leadership of the judges, priests, prophets, and kings were ultimately established to sustain, fortify, and prolong the people of Israel's relational covenant with God Almighty. Indeed, Genesis 1:26 establishes from the beginning the unique relationship that the Creator God has with the human race, and the desire the Lord has to enter into, and enjoy a covenantal relationship with humanity. This is an intriguing and fundamental theme that resounds throughout the Old