God's Design: A Focus on Old Testament Theology
By Elmer Martens

            God's Design is a book written by Elmer Martens, whose stated goal in writing this book is to lay bare the essence of the Old Testament message by using categories derived from a specific text of Scripture, then classifying the whole of the Old Testament using those categories (ix).  To attain this goal, Martens utilizes categories drawn from Exodus 5:22-6:8, specifically the four themes of that text, deliverance, community, knowledge of god, and the abundant life, summarized in the meta-theme of God's design.  He then lifts these categories and applies them as a template to the remainder of the Old Testament split into three temporal sections (pre-monarchial, monarchial, and post-monarchial) and tests the validity of his template against their respective texts.

Summary

            In the first section, Martens applies the template of God's design to the pre-monarchial period of Israel's history.  The aspect of deliverance and salvation is seen through the picture of Yahweh as divine warrior and in the cultic practices of sacrifice.  The community aspect is seen in the portrayal of the covenant and its relationship between God and the people of Israel.  The knowledge of God can come about simply through knowledge of creation found in the primeval prologue in Genesis, but for the nation of Israel in the pre-monarchial era, God was supremely revealed through the event of the exodus.  God may also be known through the cultic practices displayed in His words and laws.  Finally, the abundant life category of Martens' template focuses primarily on the promise of land, which is realized after the death of Moses by Israel under the leadership of Joshua.

            In the second section, the time period of the monarchial era, Martens employs this design template, as well as using a secondary text to demonstrate the validity of his approach, that of Hosea 2:14-23.  He argues that the same design elements are present in the Hosea passage as in the Exodus passage.  The category of deliverance is quite different in the monarchial era, in that instead of having Yahweh as divine warrior, Israel has its own standing army.  The divine warrior image is not totally relieved of duty, because it is seen broadly in the Day of Yahweh expressions.  The main deliverance aspect of this section, though, is found in the expectation of the Messiah.  The community found within the covenant in the pre-monarchial era is re-covenanted according to the newfound king under the Davidic Covenant, and is held subject to that covenant by the words of the prophets.  The knowledge of God, mainly found in the exodus event in the previous section, is now found largely in the experience of God in the monarchial section.  Finally, the abundant life aspect of God's design is found in not just land, but also in a quality of life.

            The third and final section Martens uses to test the template of God's design is that of the post-monarchial writings of Israel.  Just as he related his categories through Hosea in the monarchial era, in the post-monarchial era he utilizes a tertiary text, Ezekiel 34:17-31.  The aspect of deliverance is stretched largely in this section in that instead of continued preservation, Yahweh seems to hand over Israel into the hands of her enemies.  Deliverance, though, is seen as a future promise for a faithful remnant.  The idea of community in covenant seems all but established in this period of Israel's history, but it is actually just the activation of the covenant curses promised in the original covenant.  The covenant is once again re-crafted as the New Covenant and the community is promised a future.  The knowledge of God is once again defined by experience in the post-monarchial era, though it is focused specifically on prayer more than in the other two eras.  Israel also experiences God in the events of judgment and salvation.  Finally, the category of abundant life is seen once again in the land, though the mood is quite different from the previous era of the monarchial period.  The land is pictured as that which was taken, but graciously given back to Israel as a gift.  Martens then concludes his book with a chapter devoted to showing God's design in the creation account, another chapter devoted to the relationship between God's design and the nations of the world, and the final chapter speaking to the continuance of God's design in the New Testament.

Strengths

            Martens has presented the reader with a book boasting many strengths.  The main strength that this book possesses is that Martens has taken seriously the text of scripture.  Instead of employing external categories onto the text, he rejects the interposition of foreign categories onto the text that are not organic within it.  This approach is an excellent way to do biblical theology.  In undertaking this approach, Martens "assumes" that there can be a unifying theme to Scripture, a view that is not universally espoused by those writing biblical theologies (4).  Rather than succumb to the pressure to concede on a unifying theme and admit there are "many different pictures" to be painted by the landscape of Scripture, Martens attempts "to paint the best possible picture" (4). 

            The next strength of this book is closely related to the previous one in that once the organic categories are established, Martens does a wonderful job not forcing them onto any text, but allowing the text to shape the template as needed.  This is most evidently seen in the changes of the category of deliverance between the temporal text divisions of the monarchy.  He takes the category of deliverance in the pre-monarchial era and sees it being accomplished by the divine warrior, Yahweh, and by the sacrificial system (39-40, 47ff.).  When moving to the monarchial era, though, Martens is sure not to force the previous results to shift along with the template; rather he notes that the divine warrior image is no longer in use do to the standing army of Israel.  Deliverance is seen, though, through the expectation of an anointed figure that God would send to lead and intercede for the people (157).  In the post-monarchial era, Martens observes that the divine deliverance once seen as coming from the Messiah is now to be expected as a cataclysmic event in which Yahweh would reveal Himself in the world (246-47).

            A final strength of God's Design is the exegetical insights that Martens brings out of the text in the context of arguing for God's design as the unifying theme of the Old Testament.  There were many places in the book where certain aspects of the text are laid bare by using his template, where it informs a better understanding of the passage.  A good example of his exegetical insight occurs in his dealing with the stipulations of the covenant with Israel.  Martens argues that the ten words are not a coercive law to which Israel must be loyal, or be threatened that they will lose the blessing of God; rather the stipulations are the right response to a personal God, Yahweh, who has already promised deliverance and salvation as part of His design, even before the stating of the ten words (80).  Related to this conception is the fact that the promises found in the covenant are not necessarily contingent on Israel's failure to follow the stipulations (86).  If that point is conferred, it is conceivable that God's design would never be fulfilled because of the faithlessness of Israel (185, 264).  The fact was, though, that God had designed salvation for his own purposes, and though not all would be delivered (by the reality of the presence of the remnant), God's character and purposes generated the design that brought about faithfulness to the people with whom He was covenanted (86). 

Weaknesses

            As helpful as Martens work is in gaining a comprehensive understanding the Old Testament, and in seeing a biblical theology done well, there is one major weakness to this book that cannot be overlooked.  This weakness is an issue of hermeneutics.  There are many passages, along with their ensuing categories, that one could choose to use in making a theme template for the Old Testament.  Why choose Exodus 5:22-6:8?  Why follow up with Hosea 2 and Ezekiel 34 in furthering the argument?  When reading through the Old Testament, these passages do not lend themselves to catching one's attention as overarching paradigms.  Would it not be better to use a more obvious theme, say those found in the covenants?  The covenants are repeatedly referred to as those passages that Israel should remember, continually used in every time period of the Old Testament. 

Martens argues that good reasons for choosing the Exodus 5-6 passage are that this text differentiates the name Yahweh from other names for God, it speaks of the beginnings of the people of God, and it answers the question of God's ultimate purpose (16-17).  These observations are true.  It is just as correct, though, to argue that the Abrahamic Covenant accomplishes the same goal of laying out a thematic pattern through which the rest of the Old Testament is to be interpreted.  This covenant template is originally found in the pre-monarchial era, even before the birth of the nation of Israel, but looks forward to the entire history of Israel.  This covenantal template can be lifted and put on the monarchial era to find the Davidic Covenant using much of the same language and stating the same truths as the previous covenant.  This covenantal template can be moved once again to the post-monarchial era and it displays the New Covenant, of which Jeremiah prophesied at the end of the monarchial era, and its effect on those enduring through the exile.  Reaching into the New Testament, this covenant template is seen as fulfilled, summing up the message of the Old Testament (Luke 22:20; Heb. 9:15); it is often the referent of much writing with regards to the salvation of Israel and the nations.

Conclusion

The point to be made, then, is that there are other methods and texts to be used in finding a unifying theme for the Old Testament, of which there are equally good arguments demonstrating their respective truths.  Martens, though, should be commended for the careful effort that he put into the schematizing of his thesis in God's Design.  This book is quite helpful in thinking through proper modes of biblical theology, as well as spurring exegetical thought on a variety of issues important to the field.

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