🌍 Misheni ya Ulimwengu — Sehemu ya 2: Mataifa Katika Mpango wa Mungu🌍 World Missions — Unit 2: The Nations in God’s Plan

Utangulizi: Misheni Haikuanza Katika Agano JipyaIntroduction: Missions Did Not Begin in the New Testament

Wakristo wengi hudhani kwamba wazo la misheni lilianza Yesu alipotamka Agizo Kuu, au labda Paulo alipoondoka kwenda kwa Mataifa. Lakini ukweli ni wa zamani zaidi sana. Moyo wa Mungu kwa ajili ya mataifa yote unapita kama uzi wa dhahabu kuanzia kurasa za kwanza za Mwanzo hadi ukurasa wa mwisho wa Malaki. Yesu aliposema "mkawafanye mataifa yote kuwa wanafunzi," hakuwa akileta wazo jipya; alikuwa akivuna mbegu ambayo Mungu alikuwa ameipanda zamani sana. Kwa hiyo, ili kuielewa misheni, ni lazima tuanzie si Yerusalemu bali katika Agano la Kale, ambamo Mungu alifunua tangu mwanzo kabisa kwamba kusudi lake la kuokoa liliukumbatia ulimwengu wote.Many Christians imagine that the missionary idea began when Jesus spoke the Great Commission, or perhaps when Paul set out for the Gentiles. But the truth is far older. The heart of God for all the nations runs like a golden thread from the first pages of Genesis to the last of Malachi. When Jesus said "make disciples of all the nations," He was not introducing a new idea; He was bringing to harvest a seed that God had planted long before. To understand missions, then, we must begin not in Jerusalem but in the Old Testament, where God revealed from the very beginning that His saving purpose embraced the whole world.

I. Ahadi kwa IbrahimuI. The Promise to Abraham

Mpango wa kimisionari wa Mungu umeandikwa ndani ya agano lenyewe ambalo kwalo alimwita Ibrahimu. "nami nitakufanya wewe kuwa taifa kuu, nitakubariki, na kulikuza jina lako; nawe uwe baraka... na katika wewe jamaa zote za dunia watabarikiwa" (Mwanzo 12:2–3, SUV). Angalia upana wa ahadi hiyo: si jamaa moja, si taifa moja, bali jamaa zote za dunia. Mungu aliirudia baada ya utii wa Ibrahimu juu ya Mlima Moria: "na katika uzao wako mataifa yote ya dunia watajibarikia" (Mwanzo 22:18, SUV).The missionary plan of God is written into the very covenant by which He called Abraham. "I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing... and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed" (Genesis 12:2–3, NKJV). Notice the reach of that promise: not one family, not one nation, but all the families of the earth. God repeated it after Abraham's obedience on Mount Moriah: "In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed" (Genesis 22:18, NKJV).

Huu ndio ufunguo wa Agano la Kale lote. Israeli lilichaguliwa, lakini kamwe si kwa ajili ya Israeli peke yake. Israeli lilikuwa mfereji; ulimwengu ulikuwa lengo. Mtume Paulo aliliona hili waziwazi, naye aliiita ahadi kwa Ibrahimu kuwa si kitu kidogo kuliko injili iliyohubiriwa mapema: "Na andiko, kwa kuona tangu zamani kwamba Mungu atawahesabia haki Mataifa kwa imani, lilimhubiri Ibrahimu habari njema zamani, kusema, Katika wewe mataifa yote watabarikiwa" (Wagalatia 3:8, SUV). Baraka ilikusudiwa siku zote kutiririka kupitia jamaa ya Ibrahimu hadi miisho ya dunia.Here is the key to the whole Old Testament. Israel was chosen, but never for Israel's sake alone. Israel was the channel; the world was the goal. The apostle Paul saw this clearly, and he called the promise to Abraham nothing less than the gospel preached in advance: "And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, 'In you all the nations shall be blessed'" (Galatians 3:8, NKJV). The blessing was always meant to flow through Abraham's family to the ends of the earth.

II. Israeli Lilichaguliwa Kuwa NuruII. Israel Chosen to Be a Light

Mungu alipowatoa Israeli Misri, aliwaambia waziwazi kwa nini alikuwa amewatenga: "nanyi mtakuwa kwangu ufalme wa makuhani, na taifa takatifu" (Kutoka 19:6, SUV). Fikiria kuhani ni nini. Kuhani husimama kati ya Mungu na watu wengine, akimwakilisha Mungu kwao na kuwaleta kwa Mungu. Basi, kuwa ufalme wa makuhani kulikuwa ni kuwa taifa ambalo lingepatanisha, yaani lingepeleka, maarifa ya Mungu wa kweli kwa mataifa mengine yote ya dunia. Israeli lilikuwa tunu ya Mungu, lakini kwa kusudi kubwa zaidi sana kuliko lenyewe.When God brought Israel out of Egypt, He told them plainly why He had set them apart: "You shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation" (Exodus 19:6, NKJV). Consider what a priest is. A priest stands between God and other people, representing God to them and bringing them to God. To be a kingdom of priests, then, was to be a nation that would mediate the knowledge of the true God to all the other nations of the earth. Israel was God's treasured possession, but for a purpose far larger than itself.

Israeli lilipaswa kuidhihirisha tabia ya Mungu kwa uwazi kiasi kwamba mataifa yaliyowazunguka yangeona. Musa aliwaambia kwamba mataifa yatakaposikia sheria zao, yangesema, "Hakika taifa hili kubwa ni watu wenye hekima na akili" (Kumbukumbu la Torati 4:6, SUV). Nuru haikukusudiwa kamwe kufichwa chini ya pishi la taifa moja; ilikusudiwa kuwaangazia wote.Israel was to display the character of God so plainly that the surrounding nations would take notice. Moses told them that when the nations heard their laws, they would say, "Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people" (Deuteronomy 4:6, NKJV). The light was never meant to be hidden under the bushel of one nation; it was meant to shine out to all.

III. Mataifa Katika Nyimbo za IsraeliIII. The Nations in the Songs of Israel

Tukisikiliza kwa makini kitabu cha nyimbo cha Israeli, tutasikia mapigo ya moyo wa kimisionari karibu katika kila ukurasa. Zaburi zimejaa mataifa. "Mungu atufadhili, na kutubariki... Njia yako ijulikane duniani, Wokovu wako katikati ya mataifa yote" (Zaburi 67:1–2, SUV). "Wahubirini mataifa habari za utukufu wake, Na watu wote habari za maajabu yake" (Zaburi 96:3, SUV). "Mataifa yote uliyowafanya watakuja, Watasujudu mbele zako, Ee Bwana, Watalitukuza jina lako" (Zaburi 86:9, SUV). Watu wa Mungu walikuwa wakiimba juu ya ulimwengu uliovutwa kwa Mungu muda mrefu kabla mmisionari yeyote hajapanda meli. Maono ya kila ulimi kumkiri Bwana, ambayo tutakutana nayo katika Sehemu ya 3, tayari yalikuwa hai katika nyimbo zao.If we listen carefully to the hymnbook of Israel, we will hear the missionary heartbeat on nearly every page. The Psalms are filled with the nations. "God be merciful to us and bless us... that Your way may be known on earth, Your salvation among all nations" (Psalm 67:1–2, NKJV). "Declare His glory among the nations, His wonders among all peoples" (Psalm 96:3, NKJV). "All nations whom You have made shall come and worship before You, O Lord, and shall glorify Your name" (Psalm 86:9, NKJV). The people of God were singing of a world won to God long before any missionary set sail. The vision of every tongue confessing the Lord, which we will meet in Unit 3, was already alive in their songs.

IV. Manabii na MataifaIV. The Prophets and the Nations

Manabii waliyaendeleza maono hayo hayo, na hakuna aliyefanya hivyo kwa utukufu zaidi kuliko Isaya. Kuhusu Mtumishi wa BWANA atakayekuja, Mungu alisema: "nitakutoa uwe nuru ya mataifa, upate kuwa wokovu wangu hata miisho ya dunia" (Isaya 49:6, SUV). Kuhusu hekalu lake, Mungu alitangaza: "nyumba yangu itaitwa nyumba ya sala kwa mataifa yote" (Isaya 56:7, SUV). Isaya aliiona siku ambayo mataifa yangemiminika kwenye mlima wa BWANA ili kujifunza njia zake (Isaya 2:2–3). Na wa mwisho wa manabii alipiga sauti ile ile: "Kwa maana tangu maawio ya jua hata machweo yake jina langu ni kuu katika Mataifa... maana jina langu ni kuu katika Mataifa, asema BWANA wa majeshi" (Malaki 1:11, SUV). Agano la Kale linafunga likiwa bado linatazama nje, bado likitarajia mataifa kuja.The prophets carried the same vision forward, and none more gloriously than Isaiah. Of the coming Servant of the Lord, God said: "I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles, that You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth" (Isaiah 49:6, NKJV). Of His temple, God declared: "My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations" (Isaiah 56:7, NKJV). Isaiah saw the day when the nations would stream to the mountain of the Lord to learn His ways (Isaiah 2:2–3). And the last of the prophets sounded the same note: "For from the rising of the sun, even to its going down, My name shall be great among the Gentiles... My name shall be great among the nations, says the Lord of hosts" (Malachi 1:11, NKJV). The Old Testament closes still looking outward, still expecting the nations to come.

V. Yona, Mmisionari AliyesitaV. Jonah, the Reluctant Missionary

Kuna kitabu kimoja cha Agano la Kale ambacho, tangu mwanzo hadi mwisho, ni hadithi ya kimisionari — na pia ni kioo kilichoshikwa mbele ya watu wa Mungu. Mungu alimwita nabii Yona aende kuhubiri Ninawi, mji mkubwa wa kipagani wa Mataifa. Lakini Yona alikimbia upande ule mwingine. Kwa nini? Si kwa sababu aliogopa kwamba angeshindwa, bali kwa sababu aliogopa kwamba angefaulu. Hatimaye Ninawi ilipotubu na Mungu akauacha mji huo, Yona alikasirika, naye akakiri sababu halisi ya kukimbia kwake: "kwa maana nalijua ya kuwa wewe u Mungu mwenye neema, umejaa huruma, si mwepesi wa hasira, u mwingi wa rehema, nawe unaghairi mabaya" (Yona 4:2, SUV). Yona hakutaka Mataifa waokolewe.There is one Old Testament book that is, from beginning to end, a missionary story — and it is also a mirror held up to the people of God. God called the prophet Jonah to go and preach to Nineveh, a great pagan city of the Gentiles. But Jonah ran in the opposite direction. Why? Not because he feared he would fail, but because he feared he would succeed. When at last Nineveh repented and God spared the city, Jonah was angry, and he confessed the real reason for his flight: "I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm" (Jonah 4:2, NKJV). Jonah did not want the Gentiles to be saved.

Kitabu hicho kinamalizika si kwa maneno ya nabii bali kwa swali la Mungu: "Na mimi, je! Nisiuhurumie Ninawi, mji ule mkubwa, ambao ndani yake wamo watu zaidi ya mia na ishirini elfu, wasioweza kupambanua mkono wao wa kuume na mkono wao wa kushoto?" (Yona 4:11, SUV). Ni swali linaloning'inia juu ya kila mwamini. Yona alikuwa na kweli, lakini hakuwa na moyo kwa ajili ya waliopotea. Anatuonyesha hatari kubwa ya watu walio na maarifa ya Mungu lakini hawana mzigo wowote kwa ajili ya mataifa yasiyomjua. Huruma ya Mungu kwa mji uliopotea ndiyo kiini hasa cha misheni, nao ni mzigo ule ule ambao Bwana aliuweka mioyoni mwetu katika Agizo Kuu.The book ends not with the prophet's words but with God's question: "And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left?" (Jonah 4:11, NKJV). It is a question that hangs over every believer. Jonah had the truth, but he had no heart for the lost. He shows us the great danger of a people who possess the knowledge of God yet feel no burden for the nations who do not. God's pity for the lost city is the very heart of missions, and it is the same burden the Lord put on our hearts in the Great Commission.

Hitimisho: Ahadi ya Zamani Kuliko ZoteConclusion: The Oldest Promise

Kuanzia Ibrahimu hadi Malaki, Agano la Kale linasimulia hadithi moja inayoelekea daima kwa mataifa. Mungu alimchagua mtu mmoja, jamaa moja, taifa moja — si ili kuifungia baraka yake ndani, bali ili kuituma nje. Misheni kwa Mataifa si jambo jipya la Agano Jipya; ni utimizo wa ahadi ya zamani kuliko zote katika historia ya ukombozi. Tunapopeleka injili kwa watu wa dunia, tunakamilisha kile ambacho Mungu alikianza aliposema kwa Ibrahimu, "katika wewe jamaa zote za dunia watabarikiwa."From Abraham to Malachi, the Old Testament tells a single story that bends always toward the nations. God chose one man, one family, one nation — not to keep His blessing in, but to send it out. The Gentile mission is not a New Testament novelty; it is the fulfillment of the oldest promise in redemptive history. When we carry the gospel to the peoples of the earth, we are completing what God began when He said to Abraham, "In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."

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