Doctrines (posted Thursday, November 1 2007)

Most of the Bible is made up of Old Testament Scriptures, and the vast majority of them teach either the history of Israel or the future of Israel in prophecy. Yet modern Christians keep the Old Testament as part of the faith.

Why do Christians today need the Old Testament?

What was the original purpose of the Old Testament?

Moses acted as the original scribe for the nation of Israel, giving them an unalterable record of the Law and promises of God. By referring to these, future generations of Jews would know that they were living in accordance with the rules laid down according to the agreements made by their forefathers with God.

- Exodus 24:3-4 When Moses went and told the people all the Lord's words and laws, they responded with one voice, "Everything the Lord has said we will do." Moses then wrote down everything the LORD had said.

- Exodus 34:27-28 Then the Lord said to Moses, "Write down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel." Moses was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant - the Ten Commandments.

- Deuteronomy 31:9-13 So Moses wrote down this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to all the elders of Israel. Then Moses commanded them: "At the end of every seven years, in the year for canceling debts, during the Feast of Tabernacles, when all Israel comes to appear before the Lord your God at the place he will choose, you shall read this law before them in their hearing. Assemble the people - men, women and children, and the aliens living in your towns - so they can listen and learn to fear the Lord your God and follow carefully all the words of this law. Their children, who do not know this law, must hear it and learn to fear the Lord your God as long as you live in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess."

In fact, any king over Israel was required, upon coronation, to write a copy of the Law for his own study and to remind him how to correctly follow the Lord.

- Deuteronomy 17:18-19 When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the priests, who are Levites. It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees

The Old Testament also records how written copies of the Law led to great revivals in Israel when the people heard the Law of Moses for themselves and turned back to God. For example, see the record of how Ezra continually read from the Law of Moses to Israel when they were rebuilding the temple after returning from Babylon, or also see the previous revival from idolatry under King Josiah.

- 2 Chronicles 34:14-15,18,29-32 While they were bringing out the money that had been taken into the temple of the Lord, Hilkiah the priest found the Book of the Law of the Lord that had been given through Moses. Hilkiah said to Shaphan the secretary, "I have found the Book of the Law in the temple of the Lord." He gave it to Shaphan. [...] Then Shaphan the secretary informed the king, "Hilkiah the priest has given me a book." And Shaphan read from it in the presence of the king. [...] Then the king called together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. He went up to the temple of the Lord with the men of Judah, the people of Jerusalem, the priests and the Levites - all the people from the least to the greatest. He read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant, which had been found in the temple of the Lord. The king stood by his pillar and renewed the covenant in the presence of the Lord; to follow the Lord and keep his commands, regulations and decrees with all his heart and all his soul, and to obey the words of the covenant written in this book. Then he had everyone in Jerusalem and Benjamin pledge themselves to it; the people of Jerusalem did this in accordance with the covenant of God, the God of their fathers.

What does this have to do with Christ?

In addition to recording a written history of the agreement between God and Israel, the Old Testament provided prophecy that the Jews could look for in their coming Messiah and future kingdom. When Jesus Christ came to earth as the Messiah and King of Israel, these writings proved His claim.

- Luke 24:25-27 He said to them, "How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?" And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.

- Luke 24:44-45 He said to them, "This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms." Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.

- John 1:43-45 The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, "Follow me." Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. Philip found Nathanael and told him, "We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote - Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."

- John 5:39-40,46-47 "You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life. [...] If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?"

Why does a Christian need to know what the Old Testament says?

Now that modern Christians have the New Testament, it is tempting to think that the Old Testament is no longer relevant. In fact, these Scriptures were all that the early church had before the New Testament was written, and it was from these that early Christians learned.

- Acts 8:30-31,35 Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. "Do you understand what you are reading?" Philip asked. "How can I," he said, "unless someone explains it to me?" So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. [...] Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.

- Acts 17:11-12 Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. Many of the Jews believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men.

- Acts 28:23 They arranged to meet Paul on a certain day, and came in even larger numbers to the place where he was staying. From morning till evening he explained and declared to them the kingdom of God and tried to convince them about Jesus from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets.

The Apostles refer to the Old Testament dozens of times in teaching the New; and because they are rich in typology and depth, they are still part of our inspired canon. While we are not required to follow the Mosaic Law, we do learn and receive hope and inspiration from its teachings.

- Romans 15:4 For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

- 1 Corinthians 10:6 Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did.

- 1 Corinthians 10:11 These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come.

- 2 Timothy 3:16-17 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

- James 5:10-11 Brothers, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job's perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.

- 2 Peter 2:5-9 If he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others; if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard) if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment.

- Jude 1:7 In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.

Therefore, modern Christians, even though we are not bound under the Law, can learn from those who were. The Old Testament is not only a record of God's covenant with Israel, but a teaching aid for those of us under the new covenant of Grace.