Leaven Leaven

Volume 5 Issue 4 The Mind of Christ Article 12

1-1-1997

Benefits of Studying the Old Testament Benefits of Studying the Old Testament

Warren Baldwin

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Recommended Citation Recommended Citation Baldwin, Warren (1997) "Benefits of Studying the Old Testament," Leaven: Vol. 5 : Iss. 4 , Article 12. Available at: https://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/leaven/vol5/iss4/12

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The Mind of Christ 39

Benefits of Studying theOld Testament

As a Christian I have inherited abody of literature, the Bible, that isdiverse in its authorship, its back-ground, and its subject matter. Someof the material reads as if it werewritten yesterday in and for myworld (e.g., a father's concern for hisill child, Mark 5:23), and some of itreads as if it were written at anothertime in another world for anotherpeople (e.g., Numbers 7)-which, infact, it was.

So I wonder sometimes, Whatam I supposed to do with the OldTestament? The sacrifices, the rituals,and the religious leadership of theOld Testament do not conform to theway I worship and practice my faithtoday. They reflect the mentality andlifestyle of "another world." Further-more, I have been taught that the OldTestament was written for Jews andthe New Testament for Christians.Thus the main focus of my studymust be on the New Testament. Butthe fact that the Old Testament is apart of my Bible makes it difficult forme to dismiss, even if it is farremoved from the circumstances ofmy life. The Old Testament demandsattention. It demands a reading.

For me, one compelling reason toread the Old Testament is the exten-sive use Jesus made of it in his

Warren Baldwin

ministry. When Jesus stood in thesynagogue at Nazareth and read,"The Spirit of God is upon me,because he has anointed me to preachgood news to the poor ... " (Luke4: 18-19), he was reading from theOld Testament (Isa 61: 1-2). Is it notrather striking that Jesus used the OldTestament to both announce andvalidate his ministry? Instead ofbeginning his public ministry with adeclaration of something new, abreakaway from the old and out-dated, Jesus rooted his ministry in theold. He looked back at a history ofGod's dealing lovingly and patientlywith his people. He rooted himself ina long tradition of salvation history.He declared himself to be the fulfill-ment of what God had been workingtoward for a long time (Luke 4:21).And the story of that work of God ispreserved for us in the Old Testa-ment. Maybe the Old Testament waswritten at another time in anotherworld for another people. But as Ibecome the recipient of Jesus'ministry to the poor, the imprisoned,the blind, and the oppressed, I movecloser to that other world. I become apart of that ages-old salvationhistory, and it becomes my history aswell.

Another striking passage is foundin Mark 12, in which Jesus waschallenged by a teacher of the lawwho had heard Jesus debating withthe Sadducees. "Of all the command-ments, which is the most important?"

So I wonder sometimes,What am I supposed todo with the Old Testa-ment?

(Mark 12:28). Jesus replied, "Lovethe Lord your God with all your heartand with all your soul and with allyour mind and with all yourstrength" (Deut 6:4-5). And the nextpart of his answer is from Leviticus19:18: "Love your neighbor asyourself." Now, we would expectJesus' answer to come from the OldTestament, because the questionconcerned the law and the command-ments. What we might not expectfrom Jesus' answer is the premiumthat he placed upon these twocommands-"There is no command-ment greater than these" (Mark12:31)--nor that he would use thesetwo commandments to judge thecharacter and quality of a person's

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40 Leaven, Fall, 1997

heart. The questioner's spiritual statewas assessed by Jesus to be "not farfrom the kingdom of God" (v. 34),and two Old Testament passagesserve as the criteria to make thatjudgment.

Commands, examples,and inferences-anapproach that may ex-clude the Old Testamententirely.

Jesus didn't need somethingfresh and innovative to let hisinquirer know his proximity to thekingdom. He relied on somethingold. Jesus is the way, the truth, andthe life. He is the embodiment ofGod's love. He is the sacrifice bywhich I may have eternal life. And heread the Old Testament. That is acompelling reason for me to read it.

Secondly, Jesus is not the onlyone who made extensive use of theOld Testament. The apostles and theearly church did so as well. Peter'ssermon at Pentecost and Stephen'sspeech to the Sanhedrin were derivedstraight from the Bible-the OldTestament. When the noble Bereanssearched the Scriptures every day,they were studying the very textsfrom which Paul was preaching-theOld Testament. The Scriptures usedto school Timothy in faith, wisdom,salvation, and everything needed tobe thoroughly equipped to do everygood work were those of the OldTestament. The spiritual health andvitality of the early church wassustained by the old Scriptures. Theycan certainly serve us in the sameway today.

A third reason we ought to givemore attention to the Old Testamentis that we need to allow God to speakto us through the pages of the entireBible. That may be overstating theobvious, but think about it. For thoseof us who are preachers, we often goto the text for a sermon. We mayalready have an idea in mind forwhich we are seeking a text, or wemay be sifting for some preachablenugget. In either event we read witha narrow focus, and we risk forcingthe Word to conform to an agenda weneed it to serve. In so doing, we mayallow the more profound truths orthemes of Scripture to go unnoticed.That is especially true if we arelooking for material that conforms topropositional preaching, with com-mands, examples, and inferences-an approach that may exclude theOld Testament entirely.

What about the great texts of theOld Testament that proclaim theabounding love, compassion, andgrace of God toward a stubbornpeople? What about the great textsthat show a penitent people entreat-ing God to hear their cry for mercy?What about the great texts that revealthe tension and even doubt of aperson trying to understand God andmake sense of difficult circum-stances? Many of these texts do notaccommodate a propositional style ofpreaching; thus, they get neglected.And that is a shame. We need todevelop the ability, first for ourselvesand then for the benefit of those whohear our sermons, to allow the Bibleto speak on its own terms and then tofeel the impact of that message. Itmay be that some of our sermonsneed to be spiced more frequentlywith a sense of awe, love, andappreciation at God's greatness and

glory and less frequently withappeals to action.

So far I have provided reasonsfor studying the Old Testament. Thereasons are quite simple: Jesus readand preached from the Old Testa-ment, the apostles and the earlychurch were students of it, andreading the Old Testament is the onlyway we can allow the entire Word ofGod to speak to us. What benefits arethere for those of us who will read ittoday? Elizabeth Achtemeier answersthat question in Preaching from theOld Testament. Commenting on thevalue of reading the Old Testament,she writes, "[The Old Testament] isthe sacred history of God's wordsand acts that bear with them the giftand power of new life. And ourpeople never know the truth andnever become new creatures untilthey enter into that sacred story." Shelater adds that "an ignorance of theOld Testament has serious conse-quences. If we in the church do notknow the Old Testament and do notpreach from it to our people, weleave them with no means forproperly understanding and appropri-ating the Christian faith."!

Similarly, Donald Gowan writes,"[The Old Testament] is ... a part ofthe broader, canonical traditionpreserved for us by the believingcommunity and so a valuable witnessto what it means to believe in theGod and Father of our Lord JesusChrist."? In short, the Old Testamentconstitutes an invaluable part of theinformation we have about our God,salvation, and godly living.

In closing, I offer to those of uswho preach and teach the Word ofGod, both Old and New Testaments,the following challenges:

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1. That we resist the tendency ofmany Christians to use the OldTestament merely for an occasionalillustration for a "New Testament"sermon or as a proof text for a pointwe are making. The Old Testamentdeserves a more honest and dignifiedtreatment than that.

2. That we recognize the value ofthe Old Testament in its own right. Itis the Word of God. It was the textfor the preaching of Jesus and theapostles. And it still can be andshould be the text for much of ourpreaching today.

3. That we look for and developthe great themes and subjects of theOld Testament. Creation, family, sin,call, promise, obedience, community,restoration, and numerous othertheologically important themes can

("Forgiving Ourselves" continued from pg. 38)

on humility. We struggle with egoand control because we are acutelyaware that there is no room for pridebefore our Maker. But unfortunately,as many have hammered the messageof humility, trying to make sure thatthe overly proud understand, somelisteners have retained only words ofcondemnation. Their Christian livesare bound up, about as successful asif John Newton had tried to write"Amazing Grace" without joy.

It is difficult to reach family andfriends whose faith is haunted bytheir fears, but it is imperative thatwe try. I used to think it was only thegentle among us-those woundedsouls for whom God's grace should

only be meaningfully appropriated inour understanding and faith if weallow the Old Testament message tobe read in our study and heard in ourpulpits.

4. Finally, that we allow the OldTestament to reveal the nature of theGod we serve. He is the creator. Heloves, calls, forgives, repents,punishes, yearns, pleads, gets angry,and forgives again. As we trace thehistory of God's dealing with hispeople (our spiritual ancestors)through the Old Testament, we gaininsights about our God. "The OldTestament, in short, provides thebasic framework for viewing all oflife as lived under God. The NewTestament largely assumes thatframework and builds upon it."3 It isupon the Old Testament that we aredependent for a large portion of our

be the warm blanket of their sadexistence-who experienced suchtrepidation, but increasingly I'vefound fear all around: the faithfulsojourner fearing death because shemay not have "earned" her way,another trembling with a secret forwhich he believes he's condemned.An old German proverb says, "IfGod were not willing to forgive,heaven would be empty." Paul livedthat truth, not because he thought hedeserved it, but because he recog-nized grace for what it is-a gloriouslife raft. Paul's faith was a celebra-tion. But Paul, unlike many of us,had learned to take God at his word.

The Mind of Christ 41

insight about God and his nature.

"Preach the Word; be prepared inseason and out of season; correct,rebuke and encourage-with greatpatience and careful instruction" (2Tim 4:2). What was "the Word"Timothy had available to him tofulfill this admonition from Paul?The Old Testament. Read it.

WARREN BALDWIN PREACHES FOR THE

CHURCH OF CHRIST IN CODY, WyO-

MING.

Notes1Elizabeth Achtemeier, Preaching

from the Old Testament (Louisville:Westminster/John Knox, 1989), 15, 21.

2DonaJd Gowan, Reclaiming the OldTestament for the Christian Pulpit(Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1981), 4.

3c. Leonard Allen, The CruciformChurch (Abilene: ACU, 1990),57.

c. S. Lewis once said, "If Godforgives us, we must forgive our-selves. Otherwise it is almost likesetting ourselves up as a highertribunal than him." God has providedthe means. He has laid out the terms.No strings. Unconditional. Believeon him, and in that rebirth, the recordis purged. Maybe it's time to read thegospel again, to shut down ourinternal critics. God doesn't ask thatwe deserve it, which is a good thing,since we never could.

MARCIA J. GALLES is a member ofthe Church of Christ in Camarillo,California.

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