In the previous section of this series on a practical theology of good works we looked at the good works that God himself has done as recorded in the Bible. We did so in order to gain God’s perspective on good works. Specifically, we looked at God’s good works in creation, his good works with respect to the fall, his good works in history, his good works in the Incarnation, his good works in the life of Jesus Christ, and his good works in Redemption.
Beginning with this post I will review the topic of good works from the opposite perspective, that is, from the believer’s perspective. I will do this first of all by looking at how believers’ practiced good works in the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, and then by reviewing the biblical teaching about good works in the Pentateuch. Following the Pentateuch, I will do the same with the following biblical sections: Old Testament historical books, wisdom literature and poetry, major prophets, minor prophets, the gospels, Acts, Paul’s epistles, Pastoral epistles, and Revelation.
There are many examples of believers doing good works in the Pentateuch. Below is an extended, but still incomplete, list of them with their biblical references. This list is a lot of material. After all, it covers believers doing good works from just after the fall to just before the Israelites enter the Promise Land. But as we make our way through it we will see some patterns begin to emerge about good works, patterns that will become clearer in the rest of the Bible.
Examples of believers practicing good works in the Pentateuch
- Abel’s offering (Genesis 4:4)
- “At that time people began to call on the name of the Lord.” (Genesis 4:26)
- Enoch walked faithfully with God (Genesis 5:21-24)
- Noah builds an ark
- Abram travels to the Promised Land (Genesis 12)
- Abram gives Lot his choice of the land (Genesis 13:6-8)
- Abram rescues Lot from the four kings (Genesis 14)
- Melchizedek blesses Abram (Genesis 14:19)
- Abram gives Melchizedek a tenth of his spoil (Genesis 14:20)
- Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness. (Genesis 15:6)
- Abraham circumcises his household (Genesis 17:23)
- Abraham shows hospitality to three visitors (Genesis 18:1-8)
- Abraham sacrifices Isaac (Genesis 22)
- Rebekah gives water to the servant’s camels (Genesis 24)
- Esau forgives Jacob (Genesis 33)
- Joseph resists Potiphar’s wife (Genesis 39)
- Joseph interprets the dreams of Pharaoh’s cupbearer and baker (Genesis 40)
- Joseph interprets Pharaoh’s dream (Genesis 41)
- Judah offers himself as a hostage in place of his brother Benjamin in the presence of Joseph (Genesis 44)
- Joseph forgives his brothers (Genesis 45)
- Joseph intercedes for his family before Pharoah (Genesis 47:1-12)
- Jacob blesses his sons (Genesis 48)
- Joseph reassures his brothers that he will not seek revenge (Genesis 50)
- The Hebrew midwives, Shiphrah and Puah, disobey Pharaoh and spare male newborn babies (Exodus 1:11-21)
- Jochebed, Moses’ mother, makes a waterproof papyrus basket and places him in it to save him (Exodus 2:1-4)
- Moses sister suggests to Pharaoh’s daughter that she find someone to nurse him. (Exodus 2:7)
- Moses’ mother nurses him for Pharaoh’s daughter (Exodus 2:8-10)
- Moses rescues the seven daughters of the priest of Midian and waters their flock (Exodus 2:15-17)
- Moses agrees to go back to Egypt and confront Pharoah (Exodus 4:18ff)
- Moses and Aaron represent God’s people before Pharaoh and perform miracles (Exodus 5:1-11:9)
- Moses leads the people of God in celebrating the first Passover (Exodus 12)
- Moses leads God’s people out of Egypt (Exodus 13)
- Moses leads God’s people through the Red Sea and into the wilderness (Exodus 14:1-15:21)
- Moses prays over the battle of the Amalekites (Exodus 17:8-15)
- Jethro counsels Moses on how to better organize his rule (Exodus 18)
- Moses receives the Law from God on behalf of God’s people (Exodus 20-23)
- Moses raises funds for the tabernacle (Exodus 25-30)
- Moses intercedes for God’s people when they fall into idolatry (Exodus 32)
- Moses replaces the broken tablets (Exodus 34)
- Moses oversees the building of the Tabernacle and accoutrements (Exodus 36-40)
- Moses ordains Aaron and his sons (Exodus 8)
- Aaron begins his ministry (Exodus 9)
- Moses takes a census of the community (Numbers 1)
- Moses anoints and consecrates the Tabernacle (Numbers 7)
- Joshua and Caleb give a good report after exploring the promised land (Numbers 13)
- Moses intercedes for his people before God that he not destroy them (Numbers 14:10-19)
- Moses takes a second census (Numbers 26)
- Moses brings a new generation of Israelites to the entrance to the Promise Land, repeats the law, and renews the covenant (Deuteronomy)
What can we learn about doing God’s good works from these examples in the Pentateuch? Here are a few principles.
What we see in this list is believers doing the good works that God created them and saved them to do
Just as we saw in the previous section on God’s good works, God does not just ask believers to observe him doing his good works. Instead, he invites us to participate with him in doing them, which we do by faith and with obedience. Thus, the list above is a list of believers joining in with God as he employs them to accomplish his good works, his purposes.
This list of believers doing good works is not a random list
At the time they do their good works, the believers on our list do not always understand the purpose of what they are doing. They can’t see the effect of their good works because they do not know the future. Or, they may have a prophecy about the future, as is the case with Abraham, but they do not know the details about how it will work out. So, in general, they just know that what they are doing is pleasing to God and therefore has meaning and fits within God’s purpose.
Besides not knowing the future, or not knowing it in detail, these believers are often unaware that God intends for their good works to “fit together” with the good works of other believers. It is only as we see them in the context of the biblical narrative that it becomes clear that their good works build on the works of others in order to accomplish God’s grand design. For example, Moses’ good works build on the good works of Joseph. Joseph’s good works build on the good works of Jacob. Jacob’s good works build on the good works of Isaac. Isaac’s good works build on the good works of Abraham. And Abraham’s good works build on the good works of Noah.
All of these good works, whether great or small, play a critical role in the outworking of God’s plan
Had anyone in this chain of good works not done them, the chain would have been drastically altered. Had Jochebed not put her baby, Moses, in a wicker basket on the Nile, the Exodus would not have happened the way it did. Had Rebekah not given water to Abraham’s servant’s camels, history would be completely different. Had Judah not offered himself up to save his brother Benjamin, Joseph may never have revealed himself to his brothers.
Therefore, doing God’s good works form critical building blocks in accomplishing his purposes.
All of these good works are unique to the people, times, places, and circumstances in which they are done
God does not tell Moses to build a boat to cross the Red Sea. He tells him to walk through it. On the other hand, God does not tell Noah to part the waters, he tells him to build a boat so he can float upon them. Moses isn’t asked to sacrifice a loved one, Abraham is. Jethro doesn’t interpret Moses’ dreams, like Joseph does with Pharoah. Instead, he gives him wise counsel. God does not promise Abraham that he will lead his people to the Promise Land like he promises Moses. That would make no sense to him because he is already in the Promise Land and he has no people to lead.
Often believers’ sin alters their experience of God’s plan, which makes it more difficult for them to do God’s good works
Many of the believers above commit sins, sometimes grievous sins. Moses murders an Egyptian. Later, he loses his temper again and strikes a rock, in disobedience to God. Judah has sex with a prostitute. Abram lies about his wife to Pharaoh. Jacob’s sons sell their brother Joseph into slavery in Egypt and then lie about it to their father. And let’s not forget Noah, who gets drunk and strips himself naked.
When believers in the Pentateuch sin, their sin does not alter the outcome of God’s plan itself. It does, however, affect how they experience God’s plan by making following him and doing his good works more difficult. Moses’ committing murder resulted in him spending 40 years in Midian and his hitting the rock in anger resulted in him not entering the Promise Land. Judah’s sexual immorality foreshadow his and his brother’s depravity in selling Joseph into slavery, which alienated them from their father even more.
Believers pay a price for doing God’s good works that can involve isolation, persecution, and even death
The motif of believers experiencing isolation appears frequently throughout the Bible, and the Pentateuch is no exception. For example, God isolates Noah on a boat so he can judge the world around him. Abram leaves his home and relatives to follow God to a land where he is a complete stranger. Joseph becomes isolated in a prison in Egypt. The children of Israel become isolated from Egyptian culture as pariah slaves for four hundred years. Moses becomes isolated in the land of Midian for forty years. The unbelieving children of Israel get isolated in the desert for forty years. God often uses different means of isolation from this world to prepare his people for doing good works
Believers also can experience persecution and death for doing God’s good works. Joseph’s brothers persecute him and almost kill him. Abel’s brother, Cain, does kill him. The Egyptians persecute the children of Israel by enslaving them. And Moses experiences the ridicule of his people when he tries to intercede for them before Pharaoh.
Examples of teaching about good works in the Pentateuch
We have seen that the Pentateuch gives us a great number of examples of believers doing good works. We now turn to the Pentateuch’s teaching about good works.
The Pentateuch contains many different types of commands, such as commands that are prohibitions, commands relating to the Tabernacle, priests and Levites, commands relating to feasts and other observances, commands relating to food, and commands relating to social conduct, such as marriage and property rights. Observing all of these commands were good works in themselves because in doing so the Israelites fulfilled their covenant relationship with God.
On the other hand, there are specific commands in the Pentateuch that enjoin all members of the fledging Israelite nation to take positive action in relation to their fellow citizens. Here is an extensive (but again, not exhaustive) list of these positive types of commands.
- Genesis 18:19 – “For I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.”
- Exodus 21:5-6 – A servant who loves his wife and children and can remain with them and his master, but he must do so permanently.
- Exodus 23:4 – Return your enemy’s donkey to your enemy.
- Leviticus 19:3 – “Each of you must respect your mother and father, and you must observe my Sabbaths. I am the Lord your God.”
- Leviticus 19:9-10: “When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, nor shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your God.”
- Leviticus 19:18 – “Love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.
- Leviticus 19:32 – ‘Stand up in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly and revere your God. I am the Lord.”
- Leviticus 19:34 – “The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.”
- Leviticus 19:36 – “Use honest scales and honest weights, an honest ephah, and an honest hin. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt.”
- Deuteronomy 6:17, 18 – “Be sure to keep the commands of the Lord your God and the stipulations and decrees he has given you. Do what is right and good in the Lord’s sight, so that it may go well with you and you may go in and take over the good land the Lord promised on oath to your ancestors.”
- Deuteronomy 7:11 – “Take care to follow the commands, decrees and laws I give you today.”
- Deuteronomy 10:12-13 “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?”
- Deuteronomy 10:18-19 – “He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing. And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt.”
- Deuteronomy 14:28, 29 – Instructions for the 3 year tithe for Levites, aliens, widows and orphans
- Deuteronomy 24:19 – “Leave remnants of your harvest for aliens and widows.”
- Hebrews 11:1 – “Love the Lord your God and keep his requirements, his decrees, his laws and his commands always.”
- Deuteronomy 11:8-9 – “Observe therefore all the commands I am giving you today, so that you may have the strength to go in and take over the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, and so that you may live long in the land the Lord swore to your ancestors to give to them and their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey.”
- Deuteronomy 15:1 – “At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts.”
- Deuteronomy 15:7-11 – “If anyone is poor among your fellow Israelites in any of the towns of the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward them. Rather, be openhanded and freely lend them whatever they need. Be careful not to harbor this wicked thought: “The seventh year, the year for canceling debts, is near,” so that you do not show ill will toward the needy among your fellow Israelites and give them nothing. They may then appeal to the Lord against you, and you will be found guilty of sin. Give generously to them and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to. There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land.”
- Deuteronomy 24:19-20 – Similar to Leviticus, this passage instructs leaving part of the harvest for the poor, the fatherless, and the widow.
Here are some key lessons we can learn about doing good works from the Pentateuch’s teaching.
There are few instances of anyone actually doing these particular good works during the period covered by the Pentateuch
I can find only two examples that come close to these positive social commands in the Pentateuch. The first is Abram showing humility and longsuffering by giving Lot the first choice of the land. The second is Rebekah treating a foreign servant with dignity and respect by giving water to his camels. The relative absence of the descendants of Abraham practicing the kind of social norms that these commands promote my be attributed to ignorance and rebellion. But these types of commands are foreshadowed in Genesis 18:19 where the Lord says about Abraham, “For I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.”
In contrast to the good works listed beforehand — good works which were unique to the people, times, places, and circumstances in which they were done — the good works commanded in this list are intended to be a universal, daily feature of the entire Jewish nation
There are individual good works and there are communal good works. Individual good works are the good works that God leads certain people to do at a specific time and place. Communal good works are good works that the entire community must do. The first list above refers to individuals in the Pentateuch doing the specific good works God leads them to do. The second list above refers to the communal good works that God commands the entire nation to do for each other.
The focus of these good works is amelioration
As such, communal good works improve the social circumstances of everyone in the community, especially those on the periphery, and reflect the nature of God as righteous and just. We can see, then, that individual good works promote the purpose of God (the means to the end) while communal good works promote the character of God (the end itself).
The beneficiaries of these good works are many: the poor, Levites, sojourners, widows, orphans, the fatherless, debtors, servants, parents, the elderly, one’s neighbors, business customers, and even one’s enemies
- The poor
Deuteronomy 15:7-11 – “If anyone is poor among your fellow Israelites in any of the towns of the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward them. Rather, be openhanded and freely lend them whatever they need. Be careful not to harbor this wicked thought: “The seventh year, the year for canceling debts, is near,” so that you do not show ill will toward the needy among your fellow Israelites and give them nothing. They may then appeal to the Lord against you, and you will be found guilty of sin. Give generously to them and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to. There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land.”
- Levites
Deuteronomy 14:28, 29 – Instructions for the 3 year tithe for Levites, aliens, widows and orphans
- Sojourners
Leviticus 19:9-10: “When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, nor shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your God.”
Leviticus 19:34 – “The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.”
- Widows
Deuteronomy 24:19 – “Leave remnants of your harvest for aliens and widows.”
- Orphans
Deuteronomy 14:28, 29 – Instructions for the 3 year tithe for Levites, aliens, widows and orphans
- The fatherless
Deuteronomy 10:18-19 – “He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing. And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt.”
- Debtors
Deuteronomy 15:1 – “At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts.”
- Servants
Exodus 21:5-6 – A servant who loves his wife and children and can remain with them and his master, but he must do so permanently.
- Parents
Leviticus 19:3 – “Each of you must respect your mother and father, and you must observe my Sabbaths. I am the Lord your God.”
- The elderly
Leviticus 19:32 – “Stand up in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly and revere your God. I am the Lord.”
- One’s neighbors
Leviticus 19:18 – “Love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.
- Business customers
Leviticus 19:36 – “Use honest scales and honest weights, an honest ephah, and an honest him. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt.”
- One’s enemies
Exodus 23:4 – Return your enemy’s donkey to your enemy.
The purpose of these good works is to mirror the character and love of God in the daily lives of Israel’s citizens
Deuteronomy 10:12-13 “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?”
God intended for the Israelites to know his character and to love him for it by serving him in a way that reflects his character.
In essence, these positive commands describe God’s vision of “heaven on earth.” By them God intended for the nation of Israel to be an outpost of heaven in this fallen world, an outpost where God’s character has extremely practical consequences.
And so, when believers today pray “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done,” we, too, are praying for heaven on earth. And by “thy will,” Jesus is referring to these universal communal commands. They are the will of God for believers in a fallen world with respect to the poor, pastors, sojourners, widows, orphans, the fatherless, debtors, servants, parents, the elderly, one’s neighbors, business customers, …and, yes, even our enemies.
This post first appeared in NewCommandment.org.
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