Hermann Spieckermann, «God's Steadfast Love Towards a New Conception of Old Testament Theology», Vol. 81 (2000) 305-327

This article argues in favour of a conception of Old Testament theology that is aware of the different hermeneutical presuppositions due to the different canonical shapes of the Jewish and the Christian Bible, respectively. An Old Testament Theology based on the canon of the Christian Bible has to do equal justice to the Hebrew and to the Greek version of the Old Testament, acknowledging that the Greek version, the Septuagint, is a dominant factor for the emergence of Christian faith. Perceiving the Old Testament from a Christian point of view sheds new light on a central theological issue thus far underestimated in scholarly research: God's steadfast love. The contribution tries to show how this characteristic insight into God's true being is reflected and interpreted in the different parts of the Old Testament.

the most important issue, you may not focus on YHWH as a god of a nomadic people or a god of a mountain or a god who asserted his monotheistic claim over a long period of time, first coexisting with other gods, and later on contending with them. This would be the subject of a history of Israel’s religion. Aiming at Pentateuchal theology you should rather take monotheism as the starting point and direct attention to the theological topics which the composers of the Pentateuch emphasized most. In this respect it is obvious that in both the Deuteronomistic and the Priestly compositions and, accordingly, in the final shape of the Pentateuch, the events at Sinai are the center of interest. They are characterized by the contrast between theophany, legislation, covenant and vision of God on the one hand, and Israel’s breaking of the covenant on the other. The latter is illustrated by the Golden Calf and its adoration. The original revelation of that God who brings out of Egypt and preserves his people in the wilderness is immediately confronted with Israel’s original sin, namely their love affairs with other gods. God’s love story with Israel does not exist without adultery and disloyalty. The confrontation of God’s presence in Israel and Israel’s original sin provokes the question: How can God continue to be present in Israel — not as a destroyer, but even as a redeemer?

        In the situation of betrayed love Israel’s God himself describes his character in a new theophany and proclaims how he is going to treat Israel (Ex 34):