A Question about Centripetal Force
In Biblical Studies there are debates about whether God intended Israel's ministry to the nations to be centripetal or centrifugal . Centripetal ministry is about inward movement, drawing the nations inward toward Israel to learn from its example and glorify God by wanting to emulate the way Israel lives in obedience and blessing. Centrifugal ministry is about outward movement, actually going to the nations in order to share the blessings of God with them. While both seem to be at work in the Old Testament, the basic mode of operation for Israel seems to be the inward, centripetal kind of ministry. Israel was intended to live in such a way that the other nations would want what they had. They were supposed to be the model of obedience, worship, and love. Of course there were exceptions, Jonah for example, who was explicitly sent to Nineveh to preach repentance. This is an example of centrifugal ministry, but it’s an exception in the Old Testament. In the New Testament, there is ...