Foundations for Christian Mission, Mentor's Guide, MG04

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F O U N D A T I O N S F O R C H R I S T I A N M I S S I O N

I. Biblical Foundations: Defining the City

Video Segment 1 Outline

The City as Sign of Independence and Rebellion

Early Genesis thus establishes a general worldview in which the image of the city is an anti-God state of affairs that attempts to thwart God’s rule over the world. It is a place where culture subverts religion for its own purposes rather than advancing the glory of God. Genesis provides this background to an Israel living in the midst of a futile creation, a theme developed in the Exodus account of Israel’s oppressive servitude to an Egyptian city-building program (Exod. 1.8–14; 5.5–21). God’s original intent for his image bearers was to build society for the glory of God. They were to multiply and spread out over the earth, extending the rule of God over creation as God’s vice-regents (Gen. 1.26–28). Because they exercised autonomy [independence from God], the first man and woman were cursed and driven out of God’s presence to await the fulfillment of God’s promise to deliver them from that curse (Gen. 3, esp. vv. 15 and 24). All efforts at city building from this point on are reassertions of that original autonomy.

~Leland Ryken. The Dictionary of Biblical Imagery . (electronic ed.). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2000. p. 151.

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A. Word usage and general definitions

1. Hebrew, îr (pronounced ‘eer’)

2. Critical difference between a city and a village: cities were a collection of houses and buildings surrounded by walls .

a. Lev. 25.29-31

b. 1 Sam. 6.18