Missions in the Old Testament

In the New Testament, we read of Jesus giving the Great Commission to go into the world and proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ, and then we see how His followers went about fulfilling their part in that mission. But God’s plan for missions actually appears throughout the Old Testament as well. 

Creation 

The biblical basis for missions begins with creation. God is the Creator of all things (Genesis 1:1)¹ and all people (Genesis 1:26-28; 5:1-2).² As a result, everyone on the earth belongs to him.³ We share common parents. All people belong to one human family. 

All Nations Blessed 

God’s plan has always been to bless all the peoples of the earth, as announced to Abraham, “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you”⁴ (Genesis 12:2-3).⁵ This promise was so significant that it was repeated to Abraham on two other occasions (18:18; 22:18), as well as to his son Isaac (26:4) and grandson Jacob (28:14). 

Israel’s Role in Bringing Blessing to the Nations 

The people of Israel were God’s “treasured possession, . . . a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:5-6).6 These are two of the roles they take in being the instrument chosen by God to bring restorative blessing to all people. They were also called to be “a covenant for the people,” “a light for the Gentiles” (Isaiah 42:6; 49:6),⁷ and “a banner for the peoples” (11:10).⁸

In the Psalms, Israel’s primary role in bringing blessing to the nations is one of proclamation.⁹ “Among the nations,” they announce what the Lord has done (126:2; 9:11) and describe His rule (96:10). They explain God’s law “before kings” (Psalm 119:46). They instruct the nations to praise the Lord (117:1; cf. 96:7, 9; 47:1), to tremble before Him (96:9; cf. 2:11), and to be joyful (100:1; cf. 47:1; Deuteronomy 32:43 [“nations”]).¹⁰ 

Israel’s role in bringing blessing to the nations also included praising God “…I will praise you, Lord, among the nations…” (2 Samuel 22:50); Psalm 18:49; 57:9; 96:3; 108:3)¹¹ and, as God’s servant, bringing “justice to the nations” (Isaiah 42:1).¹²

Immigrants and the Mosaic Law 

The Lord had a plan to bless the nations because He loves them (Deuteronomy 10:18), “watches over” them (Psalm 146:9), and even provides their “food and clothing” (Deuteronomy 10:18). Throughout the Mosaic law, God’s plan to bless the nations is revealed through a series of laws designed to teach Israel the necessity of showing compassion to the disadvantaged immigrants who lived among them. They should have understood this because of their own experience as immigrants living in Egypt.¹³

God’s people are told to love immigrants and treat them as one of their native-born (Leviticus 19:34; Deuteronomy 10:19).¹⁴ They were to show justice (Deuteronomy 1:16; 24:17). If they didn’t, they would be cursed (27:19). They were not to mistreat or oppress immigrants (Exodus 22:21; 23:9; Leviticus 19:33)¹⁵ or take advantage of an immigrant they had employed (Deuteronomy 24:14-15). 

Immigrants were to benefit from the social assistance of ancient Israel, for they received part of the tithe collected every three years (Deuteronomy 14:28- 29; 26:12-13). They were also part of the group allowed to harvest the land left fallow in the sabbath year (Leviticus 25:6) and the gleanings from the edges of the fields, the vineyards, and the olive trees (Leviticus 19:10; 23:22; Deuteronomy 24:19-21).¹⁶

The people of Israel and the immigrants living in their communities were to “be the same before the Lord” and, as a result, were to be treated the same under the law of ancient Israel (Numbers 15:15-16; Leviticus 24:22).¹⁷ The sabbath laws also applied to immigrants who could not be forced to work on Saturdays (Exodus 23:12; Deuteronomy 5:14). Immigrants were to observe the day of atonement and the feasts, just as Israel did.¹⁸

Joining Israel 

The Old Testament speaks of many immigrants who experienced the Lord’s blessing through their incorporation into the people of God. In his genealogy (Matthew 1:3, 5-6), Matthew seems to place a focus on the foreigners who were ancestors of our Lord Jesus, including Tamar, who appears to be a Canaanite (Genesis 38:6, 11 [cf. v. 1-2]), Rahab from Jericho (Joshua 2:1),¹⁹ Ruth from Moab (Ruth 1:4),²⁰ and Solomon’s mother Bathsheba who had been the wife of Uriah the Hittite (2 Samuel 11:3). 

Other foreigners who became part of the nation of Israel include Judah’s Canaanite wife (Genesis 38:2), many who joined Israel when they left Egypt (Exodus 12:38), Moses’ Midianite father-in-law Jethro (Exodus 3:1; 18:1-12 [cf. v. 27]) and his family (Numbers 10:29), Moses’ Cushite wife (Numbers 12:1), foreigners who lived with Israel during the days of Joshua (Joshua 8:35), Doeg the Edomite (1 Samuel 21:7), Ahimelech the Hittite (1 Samuel 26:6), Zelek the Ammonite (2 Samuel 23:37), Ithmah the Moabite (1 Chronicles 11:46), Ishmaiah the Gibeonite (1 Chronicles 12:4), Obil the Ishmaelite (1 Chronicles 27:30), Araunah the Jebusite (2 Samuel 24:16), Rehoboam’s Ammonite mother Naamah (1 Kings 14:21), Zabad the son of Shimeath from Ammon, and Jehozabad, son of Shimrith from Moab (2 Chronicles 24:26).²¹

Non-Israelites Blessed Through Association with Israel 

The Old Testament talks about many non-Israelites who experienced the promised blessing through their association with, or incorporation into, the people chosen by God. One example is Melchizedek, the king of Salem and “priest of God Most High.” He fed Abram bread and wine, blessed him, and received Abram’s tithe (Genesis 14:17-20). He described the Lord as “God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth,” who had delivered Abraham’s enemies into his hand (vv. 19-20). 

Balaam reiterated the promise of blessing to the people of Israel. Balaam was a prophet from Pethor near the Euphrates River who was asked by Balak, king of Moab, to put a curse on Israel (Numbers 22:5-6). He replied that he could only do as God commanded (22:18; 23:26; 24:13) and could only speak the words the Lord put in his mouth (22:38; 23:12; 24:13). “The Spirit of God came on him” (24:2), and the Lord “put a word in Balaam’s mouth (23:5; cf. v. 16), he heard “the words of God,” and saw “a vision from the Almighty” (24:4, 16). Speaking about the Lord, he declared, “God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind” (23:19).²² Rather than a curse, he pronounced blessings from God for Israel (23:20-21). Intriguingly, he appears to be aware of earlier blessings pronounced by Jacob to Judah (“The people rise like a lioness; they rouse themselves like a lion…” [23:24; cf. 24:9])²³ and by the Lord to Abraham (“May those who bless you be blessed and those who curse you be cursed!” [24:9]).²⁴

The Lord told Elijah to travel to Zarephath of Sidon to meet a widow who would feed him (1 Kings 17:8-9). She had faith to give Elijah the last of her flour and oil. She was rewarded with a jar of flour not used up and a jug of oil that did not run dry (vv. 12-16). Sometime later, her son became ill and stopped breathing, and she wondered if her son would die as punishment for her sin (vv. 17-18). Elijah asked God to “let this boy’s life return to him,” and he was healed (vv. 21-22). The woman testified to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord from your mouth is the truth” (v. 24). 

Naaman experienced God’s blessing through physical restoration, which led to his testimony of God’s greatness. The “commander of the army of the king of Aram” was healed through the ministry of the prophet Elisha (2 Kings 5:1-14). As a result, he declared, “Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel” (v. 15) and vowed to “never again make burnt offerings and sacrifices to any other god but the Lord” (v. 17). 

God’s blessing to the nations advanced through the ministry of Daniel and his friends when the people of Judah were in captivity in Babylon. When Daniel was able to explain to Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, the details and meaning of his dream, the king said to Daniel, “Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, for you were able to reveal this mystery” (Daniel 2:47). 

The blessing was carried throughout the kingdoms of Babylon and Persia through the decrees made by powerful kings who saw the power of the Lord. When Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were unharmed in the blazing furnace, Nebuchadnezzar praised God and declared any “nation or language who say anything against” their God would “be cut into pieces and their houses be turned into piles of rubble, for no other god can save in this way” (3:28-29). 

Later, Daniel interpreted another dream for Nebuchadnezzar, anticipating the king’s madness (Daniel 4:25). Nebuchadnezzar had a dream about a great tree which was cut down (vv. 10-17). He called Daniel to interpret, recognizing that “the spirit of the holy gods” was in him (vv. 8-9, 19). Daniel explained the tree symbolized the king himself, who would be driven away to “live with the wild animals” (v. 25). Daniel warned the king to renounce his sins and to be “kind to the oppressed” (v. 27). A year later, the king boasted of the great city of Babylon he had built as his royal residence by his own “mighty power and for the glory of [his] majesty” (v. 30). His judgment was immediate. He “lived with wild animals,” ate grass like an ox, and was “drenched with the dew of heaven” (vv. 31-33). At the end of the appointed time, the king raised his eyes “toward heaven,” and his sanity was restored (v. 34). He “praised . . . honored and glorified” God and experienced the restoration of his honour, splendor, throne, and greatness (vv. 34- 36). In his right mind, he described the Lord as “the Most High God” and “the King of heaven” (vv. 2, 17, 34, 37). He affirmed God’s sovereignty “over all kingdoms on earth” (v. 17; cf. vv. 35, 37) and the eternal nature of God’s rule (“His dominion is an eternal dominion;²⁵ his kingdom endures from generation to generation” [v. 34; cf. v. 3]). He acknowledged God’s miracles (vv. 2-3) and also spoke of God’s goodness (“everything he does is right and all his ways are just” [v. 37]). 

Daniel was trustworthy and blameless as a representative of God’s people in captivity (Daniel 6:3-5). Government bureaucrats knew Daniel’s only weakness was his reverence for the law of his God and convinced King Darius to decree anyone praying to a god or human other than the king would be thrown into a den of lions (vv. 5-9). Well aware of this decree, Daniel went home and continued his regular practice of prayer and thanksgiving to God with “the windows opened toward Jerusalem” (v. 10). The bureaucrats relayed this information to the king, who felt he had no choice but to throw Daniel into the lions’ den (vv. 13-16). Aware of Daniel’s faith (cf. v. 23), the king said to him, “May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!” (v. 16). 

Early the next morning, the king hurried to learn what had happened, asking, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?” (v. 20). Daniel testified, “My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, Your Majesty” (v. 22). The accusers and their families experienced the judgment they had planned for Daniel (v. 24). King Darius wrote a decree of blessing (“may you prosper greatly” [v. 25]) “to all the nations and peoples of every language in all the earth” (vv. 25-27): 

I issue a decree that in every part of my kingdom people must fear and reverence the God of Daniel. “For he is the living God and he endures forever; his kingdom will not be destroyed, his dominion will never end. He rescues and he saves; he performs signs and wonders in the heavens and on the earth. He has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions.” 

Another king who experienced the blessing of God through his contact with the captive people of Judah was Cyrus, who recognized it was “the Lord, the God of heaven” who had given him “all the kingdoms of the earth” (2 Chronicles 36:22-23). “The Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia,” and he announced God had appointed him “to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah.” He encouraged any of God’s people who desired “to go up” and offered them his blessing, “may the Lord their God be with them” (v. 23). Isaiah recognized God’s calling upon Cyrus, referring to him as “the Lord’s shepherd” and “the Lord’s anointed” (Isaiah 44:28-45:1). 

The Nations Will Seek the Lord 

At the dedication of the temple, Solomon anticipated future blessings for the nations. Solomon asked God to listen to the prayers of those from distant lands who come to the temple because of the Lord’s “great name,” “mighty hand,” and “outstretched arm” (2 Chronicles 6:32). He asked the Lord to “hear from heaven” and to “do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you” (v. 33; cf. 1 Kings 8:41-43). 

Isaiah spoke of a time of blessing when those from the nations would serve the Lord, love Him, worship Him, and obey Him, for God’s house “will be called a house of prayer for all nations” (Isaiah 56:3-8). Foreigners would not be excluded from God’s people, for the Lord will bring them to his holy mountain “and give them joy in [his] house of prayer” (vv. 3, 7). The Lord will gather both the exiles of Israel as well as “others . . . besides those already gathered” (v. 8). 

Zechariah described “many peoples,” “the inhabitants of many cities,” and “powerful nations” praying to the Lord and seeking him (Zechariah 8:20-23). They will say to each other, “Let us go at once to entreat the Lord and seek the Lord Almighty. I myself am going’” (v. 21). The desire to be with the people of God will be so great, the Lord Almighty announces, “in those days ten people from all languages and nations will take firm hold of one Jew by the hem of his robe and say, ‘Let us go with you, because we have heard that God is with you’” (v. 23). Even “the survivors from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the Lord Almighty, and to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles” (14:16). The nations who don’t worship God “will have no rain” and will experience plagues (vv. 17-19). ²⁶

Isaiah saw a time of peace when the nations would be taught by God, obey Him, listen to His decisions, and fashion their weapons into agricultural implements (Isaiah 2:1-4).²⁷ The nations will find peace when they rally to the Lord (11:10) and join with Israel (14:1). Israel will be a banner for the peoples (11:10; 62:10; cf. 18:3).²⁸ Nations and kings will come to their light (60:3). As a result, some from the nations would become worship leaders (66:20-21). 

Positive Outcomes for the Nations 

Many other positive outcomes arise when the nations encounter the Lord and His people: “…all nations on earth . . . will hear of all the good things” the Lord does for Jerusalem; they “will be in awe and will tremble at the abundant prosperity and peace I provide for it” (Jeremiah 33:9; cf. Psalm 2:11; 67:7; Joshua 2:9- 11). 

The Lord relented from His plan to punish the people of Nineveh when their king told them to repent. “Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish” (Jonah 3:8-9).²⁹ 

“The islands will look to [the Lord]” (Isaiah 51:5; 60:9). “Many peoples and powerful nations will . . . seek the Lord Almighty and entreat him” (Zechariah 8:21-22). “Many nations will be joined with the Lord” (2:11), the islands will put their hope in him (Isaiah 51:5; 42:4), and “all nations will . . . honor the name of the Lord” (Jeremiah 3:17; cf. Isaiah 60:9). 

“All nations” will travel to Jerusalem (Isaiah 2:2-3; Micah 4:1-2; cf. Jeremiah 3:17; Zechariah 8:20, 22). They will become God’s people (Zechariah 2:11; cf. Isaiah 19:25) and will be considered to be like “native-born Israelites” (Ezekiel 47:22; cf. Psalm 87:4). 

The Lord “will bring justice to the nations” (Isaiah 51:5; cf. 42:4). Israel, Egypt and Assyria will together become “a blessing on the earth” (Isaiah 19:23-24). “The Lord Almighty will bless them, saying, ‘Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance’” (v. 25).³⁰ Immigrants will receive an inheritance (Ezekiel 47:22-23), and the Lord’s salvation will “reach to the ends of the earth” (Isaiah 49:6; cf. Psalm 67:2; 1 Samuel 17:47). The Lord will pour out His Spirit “on all people” (Joel 2:28).³¹

Isaiah envisioned the Assyrians and Egyptians worshipping the Lord together with the people of Israel (Isaiah 19:23). God’s glory will be declared “among the nations,” including “Tarshish, . . . the Libyans and Lydians, . . . Tubal and Greece, and . . . the distant islands” (Isaiah 66:19-21). Those instructed to praise God include “the peoples” (Psalm 67:3), those “in the east” and “in the islands of the sea” (Isaiah 24:15), those “who go down to the sea,” “you islands,” “the desert and its towns,” and “the settlements where Kedar lives” (42:10-12). 

The Nations Gain Knowledge 

Various outcomes arise as the people of the nations encounter Israel and their God. One outcome is knowledge. God led Israel to cross the Jordan River on dry ground “so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the Lord is powerful” (Joshua 4:24). King Solomon prayed the Lord would answer the prayers of the foreigners who come to the temple”, “so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you,” “may know that this house I have built bears your Name,” and “may know that the Lord is God and that there is no other” (1 Kings 8:43, 60).³² The psalmist prayed, “May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine on us―so that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations” (Psalm 67:1-2).³³

Knowledge Through Hardships 

At times the knowledge of God coming to the nations arises through hardships. For example, the plagues experienced by Pharaoh and the people of Egypt resulted in their coming to know the Lord is Lord, He is Lord in the land of Egypt; there is no one else like Him “in all the earth,” and “the earth” belongs to the Lord (Exodus 7:5, 17; 8:22; 9:14, 29; 14:4, 18).³⁴

The people of Jericho were filled with fear when they heard the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt, across the Red Sea, and gave them victory over Sihon and Og. They knew the Lord had given them the land (Joshua 2:9-11). As Rahab testified, “the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below” (v. 11). 

David’s victory over the Philistines happened so “the whole world [would] know that there is a God in Israel” and so “all those gathered . . . [would] know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s” 1 Samuel 17:46-47).³⁵

Positive Mixed with Negative 

Not all the results of association with Israel are positive. Some texts envision a future when the blessing for the nations is more opaque or obscure. An example of a prophetic text mixing blessing and some kind of hardship is Isaiah 45. The nations will hear the injunction to turn to God and be saved (v. 22). The Sabeans and those from Egypt and Cush will express their desire to find God (“Surely God is with you, and there is no other; there is no other god”). However, their wealth will be brought to Judah; they will arrive in chains and bow down to both Judah and the Lord (vv. 14, 23).³⁶

Isaiah 60 also has a mix of both positive and negative outcomes for the nations. Blessings are found in v. 3 (“nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn”), v. 6 (“Sheba . . . proclaiming the praise of the Lord”), and v. 9 (“surely the islands look to me”). On the other hand, the nations in this chapter bring their wealth to Judah (vv. 6, 7, 9, 11) and experience servitude (vv. 10-11).³⁷

The nations also bring their wealth to Israel in Isaiah 18:7 (“gifts will be brought to the Lord Almighty from a people tall and smooth-skinned, from a people feared far and wide, an aggressive nation of strange speech, whose land is divided by rivers―the gifts will be brought to Mount Zion, the place of the Name of the Lord Almighty”) and Psalm 72:10 (“…kings of Tarshish and of distant shores will bring tribute to him; the kings of Sheba and Seba will present him gifts”).³⁸ Are these gifts given out of thankfulness or as some kind of forced payment? 

Isaiah 25 speaks of a time when there will be “a feast of rich food for all peoples” (v. 6). At this time, death (“the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations”) is swallowed up forever as the Lord wipes away “the tears from all faces,” yet “Moab will be trampled” (vv. 7-10). Likewise, Amos 9:11- 12 mixes images which are both positive (the nations bear the Lord’s name) and negative (the remnant of Edom is possessed by Israel).³⁹

In addition to Isaiah 45:14, 23; 60:10-11; 25:10; and Amos 9:12, other texts talking about the nations serving Israel include Genesis 49:10 (“the obedience of the nations shall be his” [cf. v. 8]); Psalm 2:8-9 (“I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession. You will break them with a rod of iron; you will dash them to pieces like pottery”); 2:10-11 (“you kings . . . you rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear”); 72:8-11 (“May he rule from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth. May the desert tribes bow before him and his enemies lick the dust. . . . May all kings bow down to him and all nations serve him”); and Isaiah 49:23 (“Kings . . . and queens . . . will bow down before you with their faces to the ground; they will lick the dust at your feet”). 

Conclusion 

Collectively, the writers of the Old Testament have so much to say about blessing for the nations. They anticipate the grandeur of the New Testament which climaxes in the creation of “a new heaven and a new earth” (Revelation 21:1) and “the Holy City, the new Jerusalem” (v. 2). “The glory of God gives” light to the city, “and the Lamb is its lamp” (v. 23). “The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it” (v. 24). “The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it” (v. 26). And the leaves of the tree of life will be “for the healing of the nations” (22:1-2).

This is an excerpt from the book, On Mission Volume 5. Download your free copy today.

1. Cf. John 1:3, 10; Act 4:24; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Colossians 1:16; Hebrews 2:10. 
2. Cf. Acts 17:26. 
3. Psalm 24:1-2; cf. Genesis 14:19, 22; Exodus 19:5; Ephesians 4:6. 
4. Wenham rightly points out that though there is disagreement on whether to translate this as “‘be blessed,’ ‘bless themselves,’ or ‘find blessing,’ . . . it does not make much difference to the gist of the passage, which is that through Abraham all the peoples of the world will be blessed” (Gordon Wenham, Exploring the Old Testament: A Guide to the Pentateuch [Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2003], p. 154). 
5. God’s plan to bless all the families of the earth through Abraham is described by Paul as “the gospel in advance” (Galatians 3:8).
6. Cf. Deuteronomy 28:9-10 (“The Lord will establish you as his holy people, . . . Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they will fear you”). See also Revelation 5:9-10. 
7. Cf. 49:3 (“you are my servant, Israel”). 
8. Cf. 62:10; 5:26; 11:12; 18:3; 49:22. 
9. Jonah was told to proclaim to Nineveh the message given by the Lord (3:1-3). Cf. Isaiah 49:1 (“Listen to me, you islands; hear this, you distant nations”). 
10. The nations are described in various ways in these verses, including “all the earth” (Psalm 96:9; 100:1; 117:7); “families of nations” (96:7), “all you nations (47:1); “kings . . . rulers of the earth” (2:11), and “nations” (Deuteronomy 32:43). 
11. Cf. Isaiah 66:19 (“They will proclaim my glory among the nations”). 
12. Cf. Psalm 67:4 (“you rule the nations justly”) and 96:10 (“he will judge the people with equity”). 
13. Exodus 22:21; 23:9; Leviticus 19:34; Deuteronomy 10:19. 
14. Cf. Ezekiel 22:29; Malachi 3:5. 
15. Cf. Jeremiah 7:6; 22:3; Ezekiel 22:7, 29; Zechariah 7:10. 
16. Cf. Leviticus 25:35, 39-40. 
17. Cf. Numbers 15:14, 29. 
18. Exodus 12:48; Leviticus 16:19; Numbers 9:14; Deuteronomy 16:11, 14. 
19. Rahab recounted to the two spies of Israel what the people of Jericho had heard about the Lord giving the land to Israel and drying up the water of the Red Sea before declaring, “the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below” (Joshua 2:9-11). Cf. Hebrews 11:31; James 2:25. 
20. Ruth declared to her mother-in-law Naomi, “your people will be my people, and your God my God” (Ruth 1:16). 
21. Cf. Abishag from Shunam (1 Kings 1:3). 
22. The phrase is used also by Samuel (1 Samuel 15:29; cf. vv. 11, 31). Cf. Titus 1:2; Hebrews 6:18. 
23. Cf. Genesis 49:9, “Like a lion he crouches and lies down, like a lioness—who dares to rouse him?” 
24. Cf. Genesis 12:3, “I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse.”
25. Cf. Daniel 7:13-14 (“one like a son . . . was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed”).
26. Cf. v. 21 (“on that day there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the Lord Almighty”). 
27. Cf. Micah 4:1-3. 
28. Cf. 5:26; 11:12; 18:3; 49:22; 62:10. 
29. Cf. Jeremiah 3:17 (“all nations . . . . No longer will they follow the stubbornness of their evil hearts”). 
30. Cf. Psalm 2:9-11 (“you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth. . . . Blessed are all who take refuge in him”). 
31. Cf. Psalm 67:4 (“May the nations be glad and sing for joy”).
32. Cf. Zechariah 2:11 (“Many nations will be joined with the Lord in that day and will become my people. I will live among you and you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you”). 
33. Cf. Habakkuk 2:14 (“the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea”) which appears to be a combination of the ideas found in Isaiah 6:3 (“the whole earth is full of his glory”) and 11:9 (“the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea”). 
34. It is difficult to see the blessing of God upon the nations in the Pentateuch texts that speak of God’s command for Israel to destroy the Canaanites. The Midianites were judged because punishable by death in the Mosaic law (Numbers 25:16-18; cf. Leviticus 20:10-21; Deuteronomy 22:22; Exodus 22:20). The people of Israel were commanded by God to destroy the Canaanites (Exodus 23:33; Deuteronomy 7:1-2; 20:16-17) for various reasons: a) if Israel made a covenant with them (Exodus 23:33), they might become a snare to Israel (Exodus 34:12), and it might result in the people of Israel engaging in sacrifice to their gods (Exodus 34:15), b) Intermarriage with them would lead to idolatry which would be judged (Exodus 34:16; Deuteronomy 7:3-4; 20:18), and c) the wickedness of these nations defiled the land (Leviticus18:21-28). Cf. Genesis 15:16 (the sin of the Amorites was anticipated by God); Deuteronomy 9:4-6 (Israel was given the land, not because of their superior morality, but because of God’s promises to the patriarchs); Joshua 3:10; 11:3; 17:13, 18; 24:11. they had led Israel into idolatry and immorality (Numbers 31:15, 16; 25:1-3). These were crimes 
35. Cf. Isaiah 49:26 (“I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh; they will be drunk on their own blood, as with wine. Then all mankind will know that I, the Lord, am your Savior, your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob”). 
36. Cf. Isaiah 66:23 (“all mankind will come and bow down before me, says the Lord”); Philippians 2:10. 
37. Cf. Isaiah 49:23 (“Kings will be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers. They will bow down before you with their faces to the ground; they will lick the dust at your feet”).  
38. Cf. Psalm 68:29 (“kings will bring you gifts”).  
39. Cf. Acts 15:16-18.