Posted on 07/06/2014 3:19:13 AM PDT by HarleyD
“You’ll find our text this morning in the Old Testament…” I know this is a rare announcement on a Sunday morning, but when you heard it last, what did you think? “Oh no! Not another historical lecture.” “We’re going to get a whipping with the law today.” “Why? I came to church to hear about Jesus.” “What’s Israel and Babylon got to do with my family struggles?”
Or maybe you didn’t just think it. You said it or emailed it to the pastor afterwards. And pastors are feeling the pressure. Some surveys put the ratio of Old Testament to New Testament sermons at 1 to 10. Some would like it nearer 0 to 10.
But might this imbalance in the spiritual diet of most Christians explain many of the spiritual problems in the modern Church and in modern Christians? Or as Gleason Archer put it: “How can Christian pastors hope to feed their flock on a well-balanced spiritual diet if they completely neglect the 39 books of Holy Scripture on which Christ and all the New Testament authors received their own spiritual nourishment?”
Where did the Old Testament go?
It wasn’t always like this. The Church used to have a much more balanced diet. So how did we get here?
1. Liberalism: The sustained attack on the Old Testament by liberal scholars has shaken many Christians’ confidence in this part of the Bible.
2. Ignorance: It is almost impossible to understand large parts of the Old Testament without knowledge of the historical context and geographical setting. But, while this knowledge was once widespread, many now know little or nothing of biblical history.
3. Irrelevance: Some look at the historical and geographical details of the Old Testament and wonder what possible relevance can events and places from thousands of years ago have for me? And anyway, the New Testament teaches that many Old Testament practices have stopped. So, why study them?
4. Dispensationalism: Although unintended, the dispensational division of Scripture into different eras tends to relegate the Old Testament to a minor role in the life of the Church, and of the individual Christian.
5. Bad Examples: Bad examples of Old Testament preaching and teaching are easy to find and even easier to ridicule. The malpractice of some, however, should not lead to the non-practice of others.
6. Laziness: Studying the Old Testament is often more intellectually demanding than the New Testament. The familiar paths of the Gospels seem much more inviting than Leviticus, 2 Chronicles, or Nahum!
7. Christ-less preaching: Perhaps the greatest reason for so little interest in the Old Testament is that there has been so much Christ-less teaching from the Old Testament. At a popular level, Old Testament preaching has often degenerated into mere moralism (e.g. “Ten lessons from the life of Moses”). At an academic level, there seems to be a determination to downplay and even remove any possibility of Christ-centeredness in the Old Testament. Little surprise then that many turn away from the Old Testament and towards the New in order to find and enjoy Jesus.
How do we get the Old Testament back?
How can we fight and even reverse these trends? Well, we must combat liberal theology by treating the Old Testament as the inspired Word of God. We must patiently study biblical history and geography, and learn how to profitably connect the past to the present. We must avoid the weaknesses of dispensationalism. We must identify and avoid bad practice, as well as search for, value, and learn from good preaching and teaching models. And we must be willing to put in the hours, the sweat, the toil, and the tears, as we break up the long-untilled ground of the Old Testament.
Above all, despite the prevalence of Christ-less moralism and the pressures of Christ-less academia, we must strive to find and enjoy Christ in the Old Testament. That alone is what makes Old Testament study profitable and enjoyable. It also produces the wonderful blessing of Christ-centered spiritual heartburn (Luke 24:32).
Adapated from Jesus on Every Page by David Murray.
There are a few things that might need to be “re-aligned”, for lack of a better term.
1. You have to get rid of those teaching Dominionism, which is all that ‘new Jerusalem’ stuff. (D’ey’s only duh one and only!)
2. There is the fallacy, even taught among Pentecostals, that there is no need for the OT, except ‘to show where we came from, until the cross’.
3. There is the fallacy, even among Pentecostals, that the Jews have no chance of redemption, but when you look at the OT, and to ‘the letters’, it is written: ‘To the Jew FIRST, and then to the Gentile’.
4. There are too many churches that teach, (sorry) “Christ, yo’ buddy”. (How d’at to be, iffen dah woids ‘Lawd a lawds is d’ere?)
The God of the Old Testament was a lot of things, "yo' buddy" wasn't one of them...
That's how it is with many facets of modern worship, actually: it's all about having fun and feeling good. People don't want to worship God at a reverential service; they want to go to a service with rock bands and jam out like they're at a concert. They don't want to have a Bible study that covers OT historical information; it's far better to talk about familiar concepts from the New Testament because that makes for a fun social experience.
Ditto. Raised as a Catholic I’ve never noticed any paucity of Old Testament reading. Jewish Tradition is also referenced very frequently.
Good point...... And may I add that is the case also in most evangelical bible-based Protestant churches. For instance in our presbyterian PCA church it is considered true that to properly study the New Testiment we MUST use the references in the Old Testiment for understanding in the full context.
That's called a concordance and is found in many good study bibles such as the "New American Standard". It is very handy to have .... Actually essential .
As a child I thought (mistakenly) that the Old Testament God was a cruel and angry God, and that the New Testament portrayed a kind a loving God.
Little did I know at that time how much the Gospel writers and Jesus used the Old Testament in their teachings. Especially Matthew. But all have some quotes.
“4. Dispensationalism: Although unintended, the dispensational division of Scripture into different eras tends to relegate the Old Testament to a minor role in the life of the Church, and of the individual Christian.”
Dispensational theology simply teaches that all the a scripture is for us, but it isn’t all about us.
The best verse-by-verse exposition of the OT I’ve ever heard is from dispensationalists.
Actually, I think he's referring to the cross reference index with regard to that "middle column" he refers to. The concordance is generally in the back.
The first Bible Study I taught was Exodus. It seemed easy because there was so much history in it.
When it came to teaching Isaiah, though, I had to do a lot more studying and preparation.
Genesis was fairly easy.
So were the Psalms — a two part series.
Women of the Old Testament opened my mind to life in those days.
In other words, I have learned so much from the Old Testament.
I would like to teach Ezekiel and Daniel for I think they tie into the Book of Revelation, which I have taught.
The Early catholic Church had the same Old testament as Jews from 70—90 AD
Catholic church still has the same old testament today!
Jesus didn’t have the New Testament. He lived the Old Testament. I also wonder about His ruling of the world as King of Kings, which laws will be enacted. The Old Testament law is the Father’s love for His children. My favorite book- Leviticus. Can’t read the New without the Old. Maybe we should change the name “Old.” The Word is living and timeless.
All my would-be Christian life was unsatisfactory until I visited synagogue and learned Torah and other Jewish literature over the year I spent there.
Thank God.
I’d recommend the experience to any committed Christian.
Without reading the Old Testament, it’s very hard to understand what Jesus and the New Testament writers are talking about. It’s like trying read modern English literature without being aware of Shakespeare.
My son and I observed that Isaiah is like “Hamlet”: the book that contains at least 50% of everyone’s quotations and imagery. Jeremiah is “Julius Caesar,” with the dirty political intrigue. Ezekiel is “The Tempest,” where you can’t really be sure what’s going on, but it’s cool.
The love of the Father to His children of Israel is missed by many. Today, even more so with the degradation of men and lack of fathers. Satan hates good fathers, because they are representative of the Father. The Pentateuch came to me as a law of love once I became a parent. I would not want anyone else but “Abba” being my buddy.
His choice of the tiny nation was not only because of their tenacity in keeping the copy of His Law intact for thousands of years but to glorify His Name through them and bring the knowledge of His love for all nations culminated in the life of His Son. Jesus did not come to abolish the Law but to fulfill it. The laws prophesying His life, the sacrifices, etc., were fulfilled, but the laws concerning how we are to live, every one still stands.
This separation of meaning behind each Law will probably be revealed during His reign on earth. Will murderers who are unrepentant live on death row? I think not. Will adulterers live? I think not. Accountability is the greatest means of prevention. If you think you can get away with breaking the law, you will. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom [and IMHO love, joy, and peace].
Dear null and void,
As to: “4. There are too many churches that teach, (sorry) “Christ, yo’ buddy”.
The God of the Old Testament was a lot of things, “yo’ buddy” wasn’t one of them...”
Why do you think I said that? Because there ARE churches teaching that Christ is a buddy.
Yes.
I always tell people who say “well that’s just the Old Testament” do you believe God is schizophrenic? He says something in the Old Testament and then changes his mind and says something different in the New Testament? Even Jesus said that the old laws were still valid. God does not change his mind. Whatever he says is forever.
I’m not disagreeing with you, I intended to emphasize your point, not contest it.
Sorry I wasn’t clear on that.
Genesis was fairly easy.
Genesis is not easy. There's a lot going on (even if you're not into nephelim-obsessed nuttiness).
For instance, I've been through Genesis studies where it was walked through, a bare history. We never discussed anything the New Testament said about the significance of Abraham.
I would like to teach Ezekiel and Daniel for I think they tie into the Book of Revelation, which I have taught.
The more you read the prophets, the more you'll get out of the Apocalypse.
Every time I go through Revelation, I'm impressed by how much John drew from the Old Testament, esp. the prophets. It's almost like he's providing an authoritative NT commentary on the prophets.
Ezekiel is “The Tempest,” where you can’t really be sure what’s going on, but it’s cool.
And Zechariah?
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