Copyright holder: Tyndale University, 3377 Bayview Ave., Toronto, Ontario, Canada M2M 3S4 Att.: Library Director, J. William Horsey Library Copyright: This Work has been made available by the authority of the copyright owner solely for the purpose of private study and research and may not be copied or reproduced except as permitted by the copyright laws of Canada without the written authority from the copyright owner. Copyright license: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License Citation: Idestrom, Rebecca G. S. “Why Study the Old Testament?” The Pentecostal Testimony 73 (October 1992): 30-31,42. ***** Begin Content ****** TYNDALE UNIVERSITY 3377 Bayview Avenue Toronto, ON M2M 3S4 TEL: 416.226.6620 www.tyndale.ca Note: This Work has been made available by the authority of the copyright owner solely for the purpose of private study and research and may not be copied or reproduced except as permitted by the copyright laws of Canada without the written authority from the copyright owner. Idestrom, Rebecca G. S. “Why Study the Old Testament?” The Pentecostal Testimony 73 (October 1992): 30-31,42. [ Citation Page ] THE BIBLE [ Column ] Why Study The Old Testament? by Rebecca G.S. Idestrom [ Located on left hand column ] At least six good reasons to persevere in the daunting task of understanding the Old Testament. People have often expressed surprise when they have found out that I am a student of the Old Testament. Some, even well-meaning Christians, are as- tonished because they think that it is an unusual subject matter to study. Why is that? Probably one reason is that many know very little about the Old Testament (OT); it seems obscure and too difficult to comprehend. Part of the problem is that many of our churches do not study the OT on a regular and consistent basis. Neglecting Large Body of Truth Ask yourself how many sermons on the OT have you heard in the last six months? How many Bible studies and Sunday school classes have dealt specifically with the OT in the last year in your church? Or more personally, when did you last study or read the OT devotionally? The reality is that many Chris- tians are very ignorant and neglectful of the OT, the re- sult being that they are ignor- ing most of the Bible since the OT makes up three-quarters of it. But why study the OT? This is a valid and important question. First, I will present some of the reasons I have heard why people do not study the OT. Secondly, I will attempt to outline some rea- sons why we not only should but rather must study the OT as responsible disciples of Christ. Reasons given for not studying the OT • The OT has no relevance for Christians today; it is sim- ply an historical document with laws which no longer apply. • The New Testament (NT) superseded the OT; the OT represents the old dispensa- tion and therefore is no longer relevant. • The NT is more important than the OT because it is the story of Christ and presents the heart of the gospel. • The OT seems to present a more primitive way of life than the NT (the evolution- ary theory of progressive revelation and development argument). • The OT records many ac- tivities which are difficult for the modern person to ac- cept or condone; the OT de- scribes questionable and dis- tasteful behaviour. For example, it seems to condone war and violence, patriarchal society, subjugation of women, et cetera. • The OT is too difficult to understand and interpret, so why bother? Leave it to the theologians and scholars. In reality, the difficulty involved in comprehending the OT text is probably the main reason why people do not even try to study it. The [ Page ] 30 other main factor is that al- though many Christians be- lieve, in theory at least, that the OT is valuable and im- portant, in practice, most treat the OT as if it is of lesser value than the NT. The NT becomes the primary focus in Christian teaching and preaching. Although there is some validity and truth in the argu- ments stated above, many are somewhat problematic and give a false impression of the OT. Unfortunately, I do not have the space here to dem- onstrate this, except to say that these arguments do not present a complete and fair picture of the OT. Reasons Why We Should Study the OT 1. The OT is God’s Word The main and fundamen- tal reason why we must study the OT is that the OT is Holy Scripture; it is God's Word revealed to His people. The fact that the OT is divine rev- elation makes it essential to read and understand it. Just because we now have the NT does not mean that the OT is no longer God's Word. How can it be God's revelation to the Israelites and then sud- denly cease to be God's Word? The NT itself refers to the OT as the inspired word of God (2 Timothy 3:16) and states that we must be careful to pay attention to it (2 Peter 1:19). The Bible also says that God's Word is eternal (Psalm 119:89, Isaiah 40:8). The OT remains divine revelation and Holy Scripture to the com- munity of believers. 2.The OT was the Bible for Jesus and the early Church Sometimes we forget that Jesus and the early Christians did not have the NT; their Bible was the OT. So when- ever the NT speaks of the Scriptures it is referring to the OT text. The appearance of Jesus did not invalidate the OT as Scripture. He came to fulfill the Law (Torah) not to abolish it (Matthew 5:17-19). If the OT was Holy Scripture to Jesus and the disciples, surely it remains inspired Scripture for 20th century Christians. 3. The OT reveals God’s salvation plan Paul exhorted Timothy to continue to learn "the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus" (2 Timothy 3:14-15). The OT is a record of salvation-his- tory; the divine plan of salva- tion is revealed in God's dealings with His people, de- livering them from slavery, oppression and exile, culmi- nating in the Messianic hope and promise. Thus, the OT prophesies and prepares the way for the Messianic fulfill- ment in Jesus Christ. Jesus Himself claimed that the OT Scriptures testified about Him (John 5:39, Luke 24:44, 45). As Timothy, we too must study and know the Scrip- tures in order to understand God's plan of salvation for His people. 4. The OT reveals many theological truths The OT records the hu- man experiences of a people who struggle in their relation- ship and commitment to their God. It dramatizes the victo- ries and failures, the joys and sufferings, the trials and chal- lenges of ordinary human be- ings; providing practical examples of how God deals with His people and what their responses should be. Consequently, we have much to learn fromthese biblical stories. In fact, Paul said "these things hap- pened to them (the Israelites) as examples and were writ- ten down as warnings for us" (1 Corinthians 10:11). He also said they were written to teach and encourage us so that we might have hope (Ro- mans 15:4). We must study the OT in order to learn from the past and apply these truths to our present experience. 5. In order to understand the New Testament Imagine if our Bible only contained the NT and not the OT? How would this affect our understanding of the Bible? There would be many things that we would not be able to understand or explain. The fact is that the OT is foundational in trying to interpret the New. It pro- vides the necessary back- ground and historical context for the Messianic promise, from its beginning to its ful- fillment in Jesus. The story of divine mercy and salvation does not begin in the NT; it began in the beginning, when God created the heav- ens and the earth. Therefore, it is necessary to study the OT in order to further our under- standing of the NT. 6. In order to understand human history and experience A knowledge of the OT is also important in trying to understand the history and culture of western civiliza- tion, since the Bible has played a decisive role in shap- ing our society. One example is its significant influence upon literature, art and mu- sic. In fact, some English lit- erature courses require a ba- sic knowledge of the Bible in order to appreciate the litera- ture. Thus, on a broader level, the OT sheds light on our human experience and what has shaped our history and society. A practical example where a knowledge of the OT is helpful is during the singing of hymns in the church wor- ship service. Many of the hymns that we sing cannot be fully appreciated and com- [ Page ] 31 WHY STUDY p. 31 prehended without some knowledge of the OT. Take for example the hymn "Guide Me, 0 Thou Great Jehovah." It uses OT terms and images like pilgrim land, bread of heaven, fire and cloudy pillar and Canaan. Another example is the phrase "Here I raise mine Ebenezer" from the hymn "Come, Thou Fount" which alludes to the story in 1 Samuel 7. We need to know these OT stories in order to appreciate the meaning of hymns in our worship. Should our hym- nal be thrown out simply because the Christian com- munity has become bibli- cally illiterate? We must get back to our Bible and get to know all of it. Rise to The Challenge We have examined a number of reasons why it is important for Christians to study the Old Testament and have come to the con- clusion that it is very im- portant. However, a prob- lem still remains, namely that the Old Testament is hard to interpret and un- derstand. Although the task may seem daunting, we need trained teachers and preachers to rise to the challenge to expound the Word of God from the Old Testament and make it meaningful to us today. ■ Miss Rebecca G.S. Idestrom is taking her PhD in Old Testament studies at the University of Sheffield in England. [ Page ] 42 ***** This is the end of the e-text. This e-text was brought to you by Tyndale University, J. William Horsey Library - Tyndale Digital Collections *****