Why Foreign Missions? 11. Luke and the Isaianic New Exodus The previous section argued that Luke uses Psalms 104-108 to frame the salvation historical narrative of Israel that comes to include the Gentiles. He also uses Isaiah 40ff for the same purpose. This point has been argued in detail by David Pao, and the following points present his argument. Pao’s thesis is that ‘the scriptural story which provides the hermeneutical framework for Acts is none other than the foundation story of Exodus as developed and transformed through the Isaianic corpus.’ [1] This is an important matter for a biblical theology of missions, for Is. 40ff is the key section of the Old Testament for the mission of John the Baptist, Jesus, and the early Church. Pao brings to attention the fact that Luke apparently frames his two volume work—Luke and Acts—with quotations from Isaiah: Lk. 3.4-6 (John the Baptist) from Is. 40.3-5 (the passage also explains calling Christianity ‘t