I had the strangest question asked of me the other day - or at least, strange for me. I was asked whether during our worship services if we read only the Gospels. I said, "No, we read an Old Testament reading, a Psalm, an Epistle, and a Gospel text." Feeling pretty good about myself because we cover all aspects of the Bible, the response by this person somewhat shocked me. This individual went, "Why? The Old Testament was for the Jews, not Christians. You shouldn't be reading the Old Testament."
I admit, the statement stunned me. I mean, really stunned me. Don't read the Old Testament? What? How on earth could anyone think such a thing? But, there are apparently a large number of people who think the Old Testament was only for Jews and the New Testament is only for Christians, and that one has no real bearing on the other.
So why did this stun me? Because the Bible as a whole tells us such a rich story of how God has acted in the world, it would never occur to me NOT to read the whole thing. Now don't get me wrong - I understand how you can read just the New Testament and hear the gospel and not know the whole history that goes back for thousands of years with the Israelites and still have faith. The Good News of Christ's death and resurrection transcends a people and history. Knowing the "full" story is not necessary for faith in Christ.
And let's face it - if you try to wade your way through a book like Leviticus - you probably don't read any further. It's like reading a nation's charter. (YAWN!) Unless you're interested in the legalese of how a nation in the midst of a violent, tribal, kill-or-be-killed world that is intended to be God's representative on earth is to conduct and order themselves, you'll probably fall asleep a few times trying to get through it.
Yet... in the New Testament, Jesus himself engages those Levitical and Mosaic laws. "You strain a gnat but swallow a camel," is but one reference Jesus makes regarding the absurd way in which purity laws were being carried out in place of caring for the poor and the neighbor (also found in Leviticus). Love your enemy/neighbor was not a new insight from Jesus. It came directly from Leviticus 19.
Once you know about Jesus, how can you NOT want to delve into the whole story? How would you not want to know about the deep symbolic significance that is embedded throughout the New Testament that shows how all these things that happened in the Old Testament were leading up to Christ? I would find it hard to understand many of the points Jesus engages with the Pharisees and Sadducees if I didn't know the background of the issue they were "debating" - issues that can be traced back to the Old Testament scriptures. The questions Jesus gets asked are always directly related to Hebrew scripture and tradition. It's usually an interpretation issue. The Jews have always thought scripture meant this, while Jesus corrects and re-interprets the meaning for them.
Plus, understanding the Old Testament lends to further understanding and richness of faith, as the writers of the New Testament knew and understood. For instance, in Romans 9 alone, Paul quotes Genesis, Moses, David and Isaiah. That's just one chapter of one letter in the New Testament where four different Old Testament scriptures are utilized to talk about what God has done for humanity through Christ. The entire Book of Hebrews was written to talk about the Temple system in Jerusalem that had come before and been such an integral part of Jewish worship, and utilizes that imagery to describe how Christ is now the High Priest that intercedes on our behalf and how Christ IS the new Temple. From the High Priest to the Holy of Holies, Jesus embodies the entire system, moving worship from a place to a person.
To signify who He is, Jesus demonstrates His Godly power through the familiar Old Testament prophets - controlling the powers of nature, healing the sick and raising the dead - all are reminiscent of the prophets Elijah and Elisha. He links himself on more than one occasion to Moses, and claims Isaiah's prophecies were talking directly about Him.
Both Peter and Stephen in Acts give brief histories of the Hebrew people in order to help their listeners understand who and what Jesus is. How all the things that have come before through Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and all the kings and prophets who followed, were leading up to how God was going to reconcile not just Israel, but the entire world, to Himself.
Israel was meant to be a holy nation that shared God's message with the surrounding nations. Their task was to be God's emissaries in the world, His chosen people that would bring all the nations of the world to Him, so that they could know Him. Israel failed in that endeavor, instead choosing to compromise their faith in order to adopt many of the neighboring nations' pagan practices, forsaking God and descending into the sins of their neighbors.
And most important - the Old Testament lays out for us God's vision for our world. It lays out his promises and his desires for all of humanity. If you read through Revelation 21, all you're going to find is a repeat of the promises made in the Old Testament over and over again. God tells Israel over and over if they would only follow his instructions - all the nations would stream to Jerusalem for healing and restoration.
The promises for Israel and our futures lie embedded in the Hebrew scriptures and find their fulfillment in Jesus Christ. To ignore the Old Testament is to ignore the promises of God. And I gotta admit, I kinda like God's promises from the Old Testament. "I will turn their mourning into joy," (Jeremiah 31:8-13), "See, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind." (Bet you thought that one was unique to Revelation - not so. Isaiah 65 said it first.) "On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine—the best of meats and the finest of wines. On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations;he will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove his people’s disgrace from all the earth.The Lord has spoken. In that day they will say, 'Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us. This is the Lord, we trusted in him;let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.'" (Isaiah 25)
That's just to name a few. Pretty cool promises that aren't JUST for the Jews or Hebrews. They're for the world.
I admit, the statement stunned me. I mean, really stunned me. Don't read the Old Testament? What? How on earth could anyone think such a thing? But, there are apparently a large number of people who think the Old Testament was only for Jews and the New Testament is only for Christians, and that one has no real bearing on the other.
So why did this stun me? Because the Bible as a whole tells us such a rich story of how God has acted in the world, it would never occur to me NOT to read the whole thing. Now don't get me wrong - I understand how you can read just the New Testament and hear the gospel and not know the whole history that goes back for thousands of years with the Israelites and still have faith. The Good News of Christ's death and resurrection transcends a people and history. Knowing the "full" story is not necessary for faith in Christ.
And let's face it - if you try to wade your way through a book like Leviticus - you probably don't read any further. It's like reading a nation's charter. (YAWN!) Unless you're interested in the legalese of how a nation in the midst of a violent, tribal, kill-or-be-killed world that is intended to be God's representative on earth is to conduct and order themselves, you'll probably fall asleep a few times trying to get through it.
Yet... in the New Testament, Jesus himself engages those Levitical and Mosaic laws. "You strain a gnat but swallow a camel," is but one reference Jesus makes regarding the absurd way in which purity laws were being carried out in place of caring for the poor and the neighbor (also found in Leviticus). Love your enemy/neighbor was not a new insight from Jesus. It came directly from Leviticus 19.
Once you know about Jesus, how can you NOT want to delve into the whole story? How would you not want to know about the deep symbolic significance that is embedded throughout the New Testament that shows how all these things that happened in the Old Testament were leading up to Christ? I would find it hard to understand many of the points Jesus engages with the Pharisees and Sadducees if I didn't know the background of the issue they were "debating" - issues that can be traced back to the Old Testament scriptures. The questions Jesus gets asked are always directly related to Hebrew scripture and tradition. It's usually an interpretation issue. The Jews have always thought scripture meant this, while Jesus corrects and re-interprets the meaning for them.
Plus, understanding the Old Testament lends to further understanding and richness of faith, as the writers of the New Testament knew and understood. For instance, in Romans 9 alone, Paul quotes Genesis, Moses, David and Isaiah. That's just one chapter of one letter in the New Testament where four different Old Testament scriptures are utilized to talk about what God has done for humanity through Christ. The entire Book of Hebrews was written to talk about the Temple system in Jerusalem that had come before and been such an integral part of Jewish worship, and utilizes that imagery to describe how Christ is now the High Priest that intercedes on our behalf and how Christ IS the new Temple. From the High Priest to the Holy of Holies, Jesus embodies the entire system, moving worship from a place to a person.
To signify who He is, Jesus demonstrates His Godly power through the familiar Old Testament prophets - controlling the powers of nature, healing the sick and raising the dead - all are reminiscent of the prophets Elijah and Elisha. He links himself on more than one occasion to Moses, and claims Isaiah's prophecies were talking directly about Him.
Both Peter and Stephen in Acts give brief histories of the Hebrew people in order to help their listeners understand who and what Jesus is. How all the things that have come before through Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and all the kings and prophets who followed, were leading up to how God was going to reconcile not just Israel, but the entire world, to Himself.
Israel was meant to be a holy nation that shared God's message with the surrounding nations. Their task was to be God's emissaries in the world, His chosen people that would bring all the nations of the world to Him, so that they could know Him. Israel failed in that endeavor, instead choosing to compromise their faith in order to adopt many of the neighboring nations' pagan practices, forsaking God and descending into the sins of their neighbors.
And most important - the Old Testament lays out for us God's vision for our world. It lays out his promises and his desires for all of humanity. If you read through Revelation 21, all you're going to find is a repeat of the promises made in the Old Testament over and over again. God tells Israel over and over if they would only follow his instructions - all the nations would stream to Jerusalem for healing and restoration.
The promises for Israel and our futures lie embedded in the Hebrew scriptures and find their fulfillment in Jesus Christ. To ignore the Old Testament is to ignore the promises of God. And I gotta admit, I kinda like God's promises from the Old Testament. "I will turn their mourning into joy," (Jeremiah 31:8-13), "See, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind." (Bet you thought that one was unique to Revelation - not so. Isaiah 65 said it first.) "On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine—the best of meats and the finest of wines. On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations;he will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove his people’s disgrace from all the earth.The Lord has spoken. In that day they will say, 'Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us. This is the Lord, we trusted in him;let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.'" (Isaiah 25)
That's just to name a few. Pretty cool promises that aren't JUST for the Jews or Hebrews. They're for the world.
No comments:
Post a Comment