Getting the References

From a good article by Carolyn Arends - In on the Joke of the Bible: Why we can't get the New Testament Without the Old.

In my quest to learn the "Gospel Language," I have often been oblivious to the shared experience assumed by the biblical writers. Jesus and his earliest followers were Jews; they held in their collective memory a particular story of a particular people, loaded with mutually understood points of reference. When I've read the New Testament only dimly aware of the symbolic world of the Old Testament, I've barely skimmed the surface of an ocean of meaning.

Maybe the most significant reference I've missed has to do with Jesus' final words on the cross. That awful cry—My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?—has haunted my struggle to understand exactly what transpired (Matt. 27:46; Mark 15:34). Was Jesus, for a devastating moment, utterly alone and without hope? How that cry is processed has all sorts of implications for theology—not least for the way we conceive of the Atonement and of the relationality of God's triunity. More personally, it shapes the way I perceive my own experiences of abandonment.

Certainly, I've grasped that Jesus' choice of 12 disciples has something to do with Yahweh's calling of the 12 tribes of Israel. But until recently, I remained oblivious to the way his baptism and desert temptation evoke the foundational story of the Israelite Exodus through Red Sea waters and into the wilderness. I've been duly impressed with the Lord's ability to command the stormy waters to be still (Matt. 8:26-27), but I've missed the Israelite shock at this man from Nazareth doing something that, according to the Hebrew Scriptures, only Yahweh can do. And although I've understood some of the significance of Jesus' transfiguration right before the eyes of Peter, James, and John, I've forgotten that the Israelites had been waiting since the Exile for the Shekinah—the visible glory of the Lord—to return.

Most Christians haven't thought enough about Psalm 22. Much more at the link - Good article! 

Old and New

Here's some very clarifying insights from Tim Keller on interpreting the Old Testament from the vantage point of the New Testament. The specific context of the comments is the accusation the Christians "pick and choose" texts to condemn homosexual behavior, but the interpretive concepts apply across the board.

I find it frustrating when I read or hear columnists, pundits, or journalists dismiss Christians as inconsistent because “they pick and choose which of the rules in the Bible to obey.” What I hear most often is “Christians ignore lots of Old Testament texts—about not eating raw meat or pork or shellfish, not executing people for breaking the Sabbath, not wearing garments woven with two kinds of material and so on. Then they condemn homosexuality. Aren’t you just picking and choosing what they want to believe from the Bible?”

It is not that I expect everyone to have the capability of understanding that the whole Bible is about Jesus and God’s plan to redeem his people, but I vainly hope that one day someone will access their common sense (or at least talk to an informed theological advisor) before leveling the charge of inconsistency.

First of all, let’s be clear that it’s not only the Old Testament that has proscriptions about homosexuality. The New Testament has plenty to say about it, as well. Even Jesus says, in his discussion of divorce in Matthew 19:3-12 that the original design of God was for one man and one woman to be united as one flesh, and failing that, (v. 12) persons should abstain from marriage and from sex.

However, let’s get back to considering the larger issue of inconsistency regarding things mentioned in the OT that are no longer practiced by the New Testament people of God. Most Christians don’t know what to say when confronted about this. Here’s a short course on the relationship of the Old Testament to the New Testament:

Abortion as Child Sacrifice

I commend to your attention an article by Tyson Supasatit at wayfaring stranger (but not lost) entitled Child sacrifice as analogous to abortion.  This is an unpleasant subject, but we need to face the reality of what went on then, and is going on now.

"A study of child sacrifice in the Old Testament yields some basic lessons that Christians can apply to the modern debate surrounding abortion. The Old Testament repeatedly conveys God’s abhorrence of child sacrifice. God commanded the Israelites through Moses, “Do not give up any of your children to be sacrificed to Molech [a Canaanite god], for you must not profane the name of your God. I am the Lord.”[1] God says that child sacrifice is antithetical to true worship, and that the Israelites profane His name if they practice it while claiming to be His specially chosen people. Despite this clear command, the Israelites did eventually sacrifice their children to Molech. The author of Chronicles condemns various Israelite kings for sacrificing their own children and for allowing their subjects to do so. Later, prophets warn the Israelites against child sacrifice, reminding them of God’s command given in Leviticus. The command is clear, yet the Israelites repeatedly fall into this sin."

The article is an excerpt from his upcoming book Learning to to Do Right: Social Justice in the Old Testament. Much more at the link.

Delighting in Leviticus?

For all of you who have ever started to read through the entire Bible and had your heartfelt plans and intentions die in the wilderness of the Book of Leviticus, please check out Daring to Delight in Leviticus at The Gospel Coalition Blog

I just read it last month - it's not that hard!

Balanced Diets

Surveys estimate that around 8-percent of contemporary Christian sermons derive their origin from texts in the Old Testament. A good thought from the late OT scholar Gleason Archer:

“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?”

- G. L. Archer, “A New Look at the Old Testament,” Decision, August 1972, page 5.

Hat Tip: (I Can’t Get No) O.T. Preaching « Miscellanies

Why So Little Preaching From the Old Testament?

Tony Reinke at "Miscellanies" asked a good question : Why is the Old Testament shut out of church? His answer quotes an article by Dr. Ralph Davis at Reformation 21.

“…Maybe this is why the OT is shut out of the church. We do not have the right approach. I am not convinced that there is a ‘problem’ with the OT. I do not think the ’strangeness’ or ‘distance’ or the language of the OT is much of a problem; nor is our difficulty with the OT mainly a matter of techniques. Rather we get off track in our interpretation of the OT because our eyes are fastened on the wrong ‘object.’ I do not mean that we cannot consider methods and genre and criticism and problems, but for crying out loud there is a living God waiting to reveal himself in the OT and we so easily take our eyes off of him! If he is my exceeding joy (Ps. 43:4) then I should delight in seeing him in the OT. If he is the fountain of living waters (Jer. 2:13), I should be thirsting and craving for him as I read its texts…”

Amen and amen! We need more preaching of the whole Bible, not just the parts we like to put on our refrigerator doors; not just the parts that please the ears, and not just the parts easy to understand. Jesus said the whole thing is about Him!