VULNERABLE MISSION

MISSIO DEI 4.1 (FEBRUARY 2013): 163–172
the plans for building the tabernacle (35–40), which Blackburn treats briefly in chapter
7. The construction of the tabernacle signals that forgiven Israel can now fulfill her commission
to be a priestly kingdom and holy nation. God dwells in her midst—this is both
the object and method of Israel’s missionary vocation.
The main body of the work is well written, well researched, and for the most part well
reasoned. Blackburn’s commitment to reading the text in its canonical presentation as a
coherent narrative pays rich exegetical dividends, especially in tracing underappreciated
connections to the larger Exodus story in the wilderness narratives and Moses’s appeals
to God in Exod 32–34. So too, Blackburn’s insistence that the minutiae of the tabernacle
legislation carry theological, even missiological weight brings a welcomed corrective to
traditions that devalue priestly texts. Because his work is in an evangelical series on biblical
theology, Blackburn rounds out each chapter (and sometimes begins them) with reflections
on texts outside of Exodus, mostly connecting his emphases to New Testament
motifs. While this move helps further elucidate themes under discussion in some chapters
(e.g., his parsing of the relationship of gospel and law in ch. 4), in others it feels more
like an appendage that provides too terse a treatment. Blackburn concludes his work
with four brief observations concerning how mission in Exodus informs the mission of
the church. Because this is precisely the kind of theological payoff needed by churches
(and so often lacking in rigorous works of biblical theology), the book could have been
enhanced significantly if this chapter were longer than a thin five pages.
Blackburn’s book is a solid attempt to show how a missiological hermeneutic opens up
the interpretation of a central Old Testament book. Yet, the book suffers on two accounts.
First, Blackburn is in danger of instrumentalizing Israel’s election. His appreciation
of God’s larger purposes undersells the promises to the patriarchs as a reason for
the Exodus and creates some unnecessary tension with the subsequent history of God
with Israel. For example, how does Israel’s future interaction with the nations (e.g., Canaanites)
make sense of the missionary bent of Exodus, if this is indeed the governing
theme of her root narrative? The conquest, which itself draws on themes from Exodus,
fits this trajectory with difficulty. Israel as a “missionary people” may fit some of Isaiah’s
prophecy—a prophet who draws liberally on Exodus themes—but is this the most apt
theological backdrop for, say, the oracles against the nations? Moreover, what does it
mean for the nations to know Yhwh? Is the acknowledgement expected of the nations on
par with Israel’s acknowledgement? As a work of biblical theology, I would have liked
these questions addressed with more rigor. Second, and related, Blackburn’s definition
of mission will strike many as too narrow for biblical theology. He rightly stresses that in
Exodus Yhwh’s presence is what makes Israel holy—attending to Yhwh’s presence is to
make Israel distinctive, thus mediating knowledge of God. But does this fulfill the book’s
subtitle: The Missionary Heart of the Book of Exodus ? The missional theology of Exodus is
chiefly centripetal, and I am not certain it is the heart of the book, that is, the central
theme giving life to all else. Nevertheless, I recommend the book for students and scholars
alike, and I look forward to future works from Blackburn.
Nathan Bills
Assistant Professor of Old Testament
Lipscomb University
Nashville, Tennessee, USA
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