Lesson Notes

Introduction

Tonight we move from general to more specific Bible study, kicking off 4 weeks that will hopefully help  you better understand and study major types of Bible writings. We’ll begin with Old Testament writing as a whole, then next week biblical narratives, like Old Testament history and gospel accounts of Jesus’ life, followed by poems & prophecy, then letters. I also plan to shoot a bonus online-only episode on parables before we finish. But first, we have some unfinished business from last week….

Wrapping Up on Key Understanding #2: Read Carefully in Context

• Example – Matthew 18: 20 – are we really without God when we’re by ourselves?
  • Read Matthew 18: 15-20 -> this is about church discipline and the authority of a congregation of believers to determine who should be out of fellowship
• Example – Matthew 7: 1 – should we really not judge?
  • Read Matthew 7: 1-6 -> judge with humble honesty and without hypocrisy
  • Confess and deal with our sins first before being ready to help another deal with theirs, but we absolutely have to judge to avoid casting pearls before swine
• Principle: Let Scripture interpret Scripture if you’re struggling to understand
  • Let clearer Scripture inform your understanding of less clear Scripture
  • God won’t contradict Himself and the Bible writers weren’t stupid
  • When we’re struggling and think something would contradict Scripture, it won’t
  • Matthew 18: 20 appears to contradict Matthew 28 and elsewhere that God is always with us
  • There is abundant teaching about God’s presence with every Christian
  • So study harder, and begin by doing deeper analysis of the context, as we did with Matthew 18: 20
• Principle: Understand the author’s key themes and main ideas for the whole book
  • You can get help with this from study Bibles and commentaries!
  • Think about how this passage fits into those themes and ideas
• Principle: When studying what key words mean, do it in context
  • How that author typically uses those words is most relevant
  • Words have a range of meaning and often context is critical to help us understand which particular meaning is intended

Questions/Discussion

Understand & Study the Old Testament

• What I just concluded was a general approach to help understand and study ANY Scripture passage. Tonight we’ll focus specifically on Old Testament passages.
• You should understand and study the Old Testament
  • 2 Timothy 3: 14-17 is about the Old Testament
  • It leads us to salvation in Jesus and is useful for many things!
  • The Old Testament is 77% of the Bible by length!
  • The Old Testament describes things the New Testament assumes: creation; God’s holy, righteous, merciful, gracious, patient, loving and faithful nature; mankind’s fallen, yet image-bearing nature; sin; God’s plan of redemption, etc.
  • Your understanding and appreciation of the New Testament should grow immensely through study of the Old Testament
• The Old Testament has many different forms of writing – historical narratives, lists of laws, poems, prophesies, psalms, and proverbs – there are helps for studying each of these
  • What we’ll discuss in weeks to come applies equally to Old and New Testament
  • Tonight I offer a few extra considersations when studying Old Testament passages
    • Because the Old Testament is much less familiar to us
    • It isn’t taught or preached as much in churches
    • Tehre’s a much larger cultural and time gap between us and them
    • The names and places are much weirder!
    • The Old Testament is organized far less chronologically
• Background: The Old Testament primarily addresses God’s dealings with the nation of Israel, though always with an eye to the redemption of all nations and creation
  • It provides history from creation to the formation of Israel as the covenant people of God with specific attention to the line of humanity from which Israel and ultimately Jesus is born
  • It presents the terms of God’s covenant dealings with mankind in general and particularly with the nation of Israel
  • It describes the giving of a particular land to the covenant people, the history of that land, and the leadership of that land from judges through kings and exile
  • It details Israel’s repeated betrayal of that covenant through idolatry and injustice and God’s patient efforts through numerous prophets, catastrophes, and foreign invasions to restore at least a remnant of Israel to faithful obedience
  • Keep that timeline I gave out handy for background orientation as you study
• Principle: Always remember where you are in the big story of the Bible!
  • The Old Testament describes creation, the fall, and our need for a redeemer to restore things back to right relationship with God
  • The Old Testament will present many who represent certain qualities or aspects of that redeemer, yet fall short of our ultimate redeemer, Jesus Christ
  • The Old Testament isn’t a random bag of strange, wonderful, or horrifying stories. It’s one long story with many sub-plots and episodes that all work toward one conclusion – Jesus Christ who fulfills the promise and plan of God.
    • Major story of Genesis 12 – King David: God keeps His promises despite many obstacles. God is faithful.
    • Major story of King Solomon – Malachi: God is patient with sinful Israel for many generations and God ultimately acts in justified judgment. God is just. But He will always restore a remnant because He is faithful.
    • Where do God’s faithfulness and justice intersect? The cross of Christ!
• Principle: As you read and study, always ask how the passage points toward Jesus!
  • The Old Testament isn’t merely “all about” Jesus, but it all points toward Jesus
  • Is there a prophecy or promise?
  • Something revealing God’s redemptive nature, plan, and new covenant in Christ?
  • Someone or something similar to Jesus and His work or dissimilar (e.g. sacrifice, Exodus, great people like David, the sinful failings of great people like David)?
  • Someone who is an important part of the family line leading to Jesus?
  • Someone or something that makes clear the hopeless depravity of mankind and our need for a redeemer?

A Process for Understanding & Studying the Old Testament

• First and foremost, carefully apply the process I introduced last week.
  • Read carefully in context to understand what the passage means and what it meant to its original audience.
    • Take time to read carefully in context
    • While we always look for the Christ connection, the Old Testament isn’t merely a trampoline to quickly jump to Jesus.
  • Helpful context questions
    • Is it before or after God’s promise to Abraham (Genesis 12)?
    • Is it before or after God’s covenant and Law given through Moses at Mount Sinai (Exodus 20)?
    • Is it before or after Israel settled in the land of Canaan (Joshua)?
    • Is it before or after the division of Kingdoms after Solomon (1 Kings 12)?
    • Is it before or after the exile to Babylon?
• Determine what respolnse the passage called for at that time.
  • The Old Testament reveals what God expects, longs for, and is seeking from His people. These passages demand a response.
  • Determine if that response is still necessary and what it would look like in Christ.
    • Is it to take action, to repent, or to acknowledge our inability to meet God’s standard thus driving us into the arms of Jesus?
    • Many Old Testament prophets called for showing practic al justice and mercy toward the poor, vulnerable, and defenseless.
      • Is that still valid for us? You better believe it!!!
• Now seek the Christ connection!
  • Promise, prophecy, God’s redemptive nature and plan, preservation of the family line, need fora redeemer, correspondence, etc.
  • Some helpful correspondences (from How to Preach & Teach the Old Testament for All Its Worth by Christopher J. H. Wright)

Old Testament Reality	Link to Christ
Events
Creation	Jesus is the Word of God through whom all things were created.
Exodus	Jesus is the one who defeats all oppressing powers and liberates people from slavery.
Gift of Land	Jesus is our inheritance and grants “rest” from enemies.
Anointing of King David	Jesus is the anointed messianic King, son of David.
Return from Exile	Jesus brings forgiveness, restoration to God, and a new covenant.
Persons
Adam	Jesus is the perfect image of God.
Noah	Jesus rescues from judgment.
Abraham	Jesus lived in perfect faith and obedience.
Melchizedek/Aaron	Jesus is the perfect High Priest.
Moses	Jesus is the liberator of His people and the mediator of the new covenant.
Joshua	Jesus (the Greek form of Joshua) is the Savior and leader of His people.
David and Solomon	Jesus is God’s anointed King.
Esther</td?	Jesus is the one who saved His people at the risk/cost of His own life.
Institutions
Passover	Jesus is the sacrificial lamb whose blood protexts from death.
Temple, Priesthood, Sacrifices	Jesus is the “place” through whom we have perfect atonement, forgiveness, and access into God’s presence.
Jubilee	Jesus brings release and restoration for those enslaved.

• Practice – Read in context, response, Christ connection
  • Judges 17: 1-6
  • 1 Samuel 17: 24-49