Why Study the Old Testament?

Transcript

When Jeremiah gets published, there are a couple things that need to go at the front of the book. One is GR 460. It is a Historical Background. Should go before the study starts. There may be something else that should go at the front also.


GR 440
03/07/1982
Why Study the Old Testament?
Psalm 119:97-104
Gil Rugh

As we begin our study of Jeremiah, let’s consider why we should study the Old Testament. The same reasons that would drive us to the Old Testament would also drive us to the New Testament. The Scriptures clearly indicate that we are to be a people of the Scriptures, including the Old Testament.

Psalm 119 shows David’s appreciation of God’s Word. David had a very limited portion of the Scriptures available to him, primarily the books of the Law. But he stressed their importance, saying they were sweeter than honey to his taste. God’s Word made him wiser than his teachers because he had as his instructor the revelation God had given. The Word of God kept him from evil.

We are going to consider some key New Testament passages that show us why we ought to have an understanding of what the Old Testament says.

The first simple, basic reason for studying the Old Testament Scriptures is that they are the Word of God given to men, and therefore, are profitable for us. In 2 Peter 1:17,18, Peter recorded his own experience in having been an eye witness to the glory and majesty of Jesus Christ. Peter was on the Mount of Transfiguration when the innate glory of the Son of God was displayed. The voice from heaven confirmed the glory of the Son as being one with the Father. Peter heard it himself. In verse 19 he says, “We have the prophetic word made more sure.” He continues, “But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God” (vv. 20,21).

This shows clearly that the Old Testament Scriptures did not originate with men, but with God. “No prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation” (v. 20). More clearly stated, no Scripture is a matter of its own origination, or did not have a private origin. As the Scriptures were given, it was not that men decided to say something. No prophecy of Scripture was ever made by an act of human will.

Then how was prophecy given? Men were involved as the spokesmen. But did Scripture find its origin in their minds or wills? No. “But men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God” (v. 21). “Moved” often refers to carrying something. These men were carried along by the Spirit of God, so they spoke from God. Here is a human instrument being moved and empowered by the Spirit of God to speak a message from God. The Holy Spirit is crucial in this. In 1 Corinthians 2 we’re told that it is the Spirit of God who understands and knows the depths of God. So the Spirit of God moved men to speak a message from God.

The Spirit of Christ, the Holy Spirit within the prophets, was speaking about the sufferings of Messiah and of His glory. “As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful search and inquiry, seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow” (1 Peter 1:10,11). Those prophets did not understand the message they were preaching. They studied their own prophecies in an attempt to understand them. Theirs was a supernatural message from God, through men to men.

Second Peter 1 becomes the foundation for our study of Old and New Testament alike. This is not a message from men, but a message from God through men. The difference is crucial. “And so we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention” (v. 19). The present tense indicates to be paying attention. Since this is the Word of God, it behooves us to be paying attention, to be giving heed, to be following it. So, very simply, the reason we’re going to be studying the Old Testament Scriptures is because they are the Word of God, a message from God to us. God does not say anything that is insignificant and unimportant. Therefore, it behooves us to be paying attention, to be giving heed to what He has said.

The second reason for us to be involved in the study of the Old Testament Scriptures is that they were written to teach and instruct us. Romans 15:4 says, “For whatever was written in earlier times,” referring to the Old Testament, “was written for our instruction,” stressing the purpose of this instruction and teaching, in order that, “through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”

Two matters connected to the Scriptures are perseverance and encouragement. Perseverance means to abide under something. It means patience or endurance, to have fortitude or steadfastness. Endurance is produced by the Scriptures. “of the Scriptures” connects both to the perseverance and to the encouragement. By our being taught and instructed by the Scriptures, patience or endurance is produced in our lives. God gives perseverance or endurance through the Scriptures.

Connected with perseverance is encouragement. This word is related to paraclete, meaning comfort, consolation or exhortation. The paraclete, the Holy Spirit, is the One who comes along side of or gives help or aid. That’s why He’s called the Comforter. Here the Scriptures are said to be a comforter, an encouragement to us. In the context of our endurance and patience, we have the comfort, the encouragement, the sustenance necessary to endure. That comes through the instruction and teaching of the Scriptures. In the context of this passage, we’re talking about the Old Testament Scriptures, that which “was written in earlier times.” This would also be true of the New Testament, but now we’re focusing particularly on the significance of the Old Testament.

By the patience or endurance and encouragement that comes from the Scriptures, we are given hope (Romans 15:4). This hope of the believer becomes the guiding focus and motivation in our lives. We’re looking for the blessed hope, the appearing in glory of our Savior, Jesus Christ. We have hope through the instruction and teaching of the Scriptures which give us patience, endurance and encouragement in the context of our hope. If we become discouraged, we need to come back and be immersed and saturated with the truths of the Word of God, that we might be sustained, given endurance and encouragement in anticipation of the hope that we have in Jesus Christ. As we study the Old Testament Scriptures, we expect that the Spirit of God will be producing endurance and encouragement in us in preparation for the coming of Jesus Christ.

Another advantage of studying the Old Testament is that it gives us examples. Why did God write so much of our Bible in what we call the Old Testament? He could have given messages to Israel and let them be lost along the way if they’re not significant to us. What difference does it make to me what Jeremiah had to say to Israel about the coming judgment and destruction of the nation 600 years before Jesus Christ? It could seem a little outdated 2500 years later. But God had a significant purpose in that He is giving examples to us.

First Corinthians 10 talks about the experiences of Israel as God brought them out of the land of Egypt. In the first four verses, all were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized into Moses, all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink.

“Nevertheless, with most of them God was not well-pleased” (v. 5), so they died in the wilderness. “Now these things happened as examples for us” (v. 6). As an example they were a form, figure, or pattern for us to look at and see how God works. We’re to learn that we are not to crave evil things (v. 6), not to be idolaters (v. 7), not to act immorally (v. 8), not to try the Lord (v. 9), not to grumble (v. 10). “Now these things happened to them as an example” (v. 11). These things were an example or a warning, a pattern for us to look at and be warned by.

I wonder, as I’ve considered these matters, if some of the problems we have today in the Church might come from our being ignorant of the examples that God has given us. We have problems of craving evil things, of idolatry, covetousness, immorality, which is the plague of the Church today, problems of trying the Lord, of grumbling, complaining Christians. These are serious matters.

God has given us a picture book of the Old Testament. He tells us to look at the patterns and examples He has given us. They will help us to understand what He thinks of this kind of conduct and how He deals with it. “Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction” (v. 11). This instruction means admonition or warning.

The Old Testament examples were written that we might be admonished, instructed, warned. As we study the Old Testament, we expect that the Scriptures will be admonishing us regarding our conduct, because what was true for the people of God then is true for the people of God today. God’s attitude toward their conduct will be His attitude toward our conduct. Just as sin was unacceptable for them, so it is unacceptable for us. Just as God demanded righteousness of them, so He demands righteousness of us. Just as He chastened them for rebellion, so He chastens us for rebellion. And as we examine their lives, we will see the reflection of our lives. We ought to be admonished and warned so that our conduct can be brought into conformity to the Word of God.

Second Timothy 3 is a key passage on the profitability of the Scriptures. This passage tells us that we study the Scriptures because they are profitable in every way. This relates to the first reason we looked at--that the Old Testament is the Word of God given to men; therefore, we ought to pay attention. Now we’re told that it is profitable.

In 2 Timothy 3:16 we read, “All Scripture is inspired by God.” In this context, he’s talking about the Old Testament Scriptures. Of course, it’s true of the New Testament as well. In verse 15, he indicated that Timothy knew from childhood the sacred writings. The Old Testament is all Timothy had when he was a boy, because the New Testament had not been written yet. So the immediate context is the Old Testament Scriptures that he had just talked about. The word “inspired” is a compound word meaning God-breathed. All Scripture is God-breathed.

This is the same idea we had in 2 Peter 1 where men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. Here we’re told that God breathed the Scriptures. They came out from God. They came through men from God. He breathed them. He is their source, their origin. That’s why the Word of God is alive and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword as Hebrews 4 tells us. Because it has its source and origin in God who is life, who Himself is all powerful; the Scriptures have power.

“All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable” (2 Timothy 3:16). It almost becomes redundant to say that the Scripture is God-breathed, has its source and origin in God, and then to say that it’s profitable. Since it’s from God, it has to be profitable. But we need to be reminded of that.

As you have read the Old Testament, have you ever wondered why God took all those pages to say what He meant? God is a good editor. If He had wanted to write a condensed version, He could have done it very simply. It’s not that He is beset by verbosity. It’s good for me to be reminded that all Scripture, in its entirety, has been breathed from God and is advantageous, useful. God wouldn’t have given it if it were not. He gives examples of how it is useful or profitable in my life. These examples are important, because as we study the Old Testament, we will be looking for these things to be accomplished in our lives.

For Teaching. All Scripture is God-breathed and is profitable, first, for teaching. As we saw earlier, “Whatsoever things were written in earlier times were written for our instruction” (Romans 15:4). This refers to teaching. We are taught and instructed by the Scriptures.

For Reproof. Secondly, the Scriptures are profitable for reproof. Reproof means conviction, censure, punishment. In this context, we are dealing with believers. The Word of God is used by bringing reproof or censure to us because it speaks about our conduct. As I study the Scriptures, I can expect to be reproved, censured by God, punished from the standpoint that it speaks against improper conduct in my life. It brings conviction. As I study the Old Testament, I will see myself more and more like the nation Israel. I am censured and reproved by the Word of God.

For Correction. The Scriptures are also profitable for correction. This refers to restoration or improvement, to setting things right. It’s profitable to show me what’s wrong and also to put me into a right relationship and to correct my actions. It includes the negative and the positive. Both must be accomplished. The Scripture is profitable to reprove me, but also for restoring me, for setting me right. That’s tremendously encouraging. If all the Scripture did was to tell me what was wrong, I would be left without hope. But praise God, the Scripture which reproves me as I submit to its truths also brings about the corrections as well.

For Training in Righteousness. The next phrase, “training in righteousness,” is broad. Training is often associated with child training--discipline, correction, instruction. We are being trained as children in righteousness which is to characterize our lives. We are righteous positionally in the heavenlies in Christ, but now we are being trained in practical righteousness. How? Through the Scriptures. This is the same righteousness Peter exhorts in quoting the Old Testament, “You shall be holy, for I am holy” (1 Peter 1:16). This demand encompasses all areas of our lives, both positionally and practically.

We are to be a people trained in righteousness. How does that come? From the Word of God. Note 2 Timothy 3:17: “That the man of God may be adequate.” This expresses purpose, in order that God’s purposes might be accomplished. A Greek lexicon gives the meaning of adequate as complete, capable, proficient, able to meet all demands. So when it says, “That the man of God may be adequate,” it is another way of saying that I might be everything God desires me to be. This is why the Scriptures are given from God. They are profitable to make me everything God wants me to be.

Connect that with the next statement. “Equipped,” the perfect participle, passive tense, “having been equipped, furnished for every good work.” So the Scriptures are totally and completely sufficient. That’s why we’re going to be looking into the Old Testament Scriptures. Because this is God’s resource to make us everything He wants us to be, to enable us to do everything He wants us to do.

There is one other matter in this context which we need to see. Back in 2 Timothy 3:15 it says that we study the Old Testament because it gives the wisdom that leads to salvation. “That from childhood you have known the sacred writings,” referring to the Old Testament Scriptures, “which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” The Old Testament Scriptures make you wise to salvation that comes by faith in Jesus Christ.

As we study the Old Testament Scriptures, the same thing will be accomplished as when we study the New Testament. Attention will be focused on the Person and Work of Jesus Christ. As we are confronted with the revelation of God in His Son, we are made wise regarding salvation. We are confronted with the reality that salvation has always been and will always be a matter of faith in the revelation that God has given, a matter of right relationship with Him through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ.

So we study the Old Testament Scriptures, not just for our own development and growth, but also because of their emphasis on salvation. We’ll see salvation repeatedly in the Book of Jeremiah. In practically every message, Israel is challenged and confronted with the salvation of Jehovah that they are so callously rejecting.

It is important for us to recognize another concept as we study God’s Word. Our ability to understand what God is saying is not a matter of human intellect, but a matter of spiritual illumination.

In 1 Corinthians 2:8-16, we have a reminder that God’s wisdom is a revealed wisdom. It’s not the wisdom of mankind. It is “the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory; but just as it is written, ‘Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love Him.’ For to us God revealed them through the Spirit” (vv. 8-10). These are things you could not find by searching with your eyes and ears and the use of your mind. They are matters that can only be discovered by the revelation of God. If God had not given this revelation, we would be in total ignorance of these things.

“For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man, which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God” (v. 11). You don’t know what another person is thinking about. The spirit within that person knows what’s going on inside that person. That is an intimacy which you cannot invade or perceive. The only way you can know what is going on in that person’s mind is if he reveals it to you. That’s what Paul is saying about God. The Spirit of God knows the depths of God, and He is the One who has revealed God.

Verse 12 says, “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things freely given to us by God.” It’s the Spirit of God who understands and knows the depths of God. It is the same Spirit of God who has revealed God to men and who now indwells men so that men might know the depths of God. The One who knows God intimately has revealed God and now indwells us to give us understanding of His revelation.

It’s as though I wrote you a letter, sent it through the mail, then arrived at your house to read and interpret the letter for you. That’s exactly what God has done. He has written us a letter, sent it to us and now He himself indwells us. He’s the One who wrote the letter, and He’s also the One who gives us understanding and insight.

Continuing, Paul said, “Which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. But a natural man,” the psuchikos, soulish, natural man, apart from the Spirit of God, “does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him” (vv. 13,14). The Greek word for foolishness is the word from which we get the English word moron. These things are moronic to him. “And he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised,” or discerned. “But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no man. FOR WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, THAT HE SHOULD INSTRUCT HIM? But we have the mind of Christ” (vv. 14-16).

It is possible for every believer to have a grasp of the depths of God as revealed in the Scriptures. Your human intellect is not the determining factor. You must be willing to use your mind, but the issue is the indwelling person of the Spirit of God. On the other hand, you may be brilliant in intellect, but if you do not have the Spirit of God residing in you, the message of God will make no sense. It will be foolishness and will lack relevance and significance. To you it will only be so many words written so many years ago which have nothing to do with anything as far as you’re concerned. The distinguishing matter is the presence of the Spirit of God in your life.

The fact that God has spoken cannot be changed. If I write you a letter and you deny that it is from me, that does not change reality. It simply means that you have not perceived reality; but the letter is still from me. That fact cannot be changed.

Similarly, God has spoken a message that has been communicated through men, and we have it today. The crucial determining factor in your relationship to this revelation is your response to its message.

The basic message of the Scriptures from Genesis in the Old Testament to Revelation in the New Testament is that the eternal God has sent His Son to be the Savior of the world. He had to do that because we human beings are sinful. We have rebelled against Him and are guilty before Him. All of us are sinners under condemnation, and He demonstrated His love for us by having His Son come to earth and die on a cross to pay the penalty for our sins. He was raised three days later because that penalty had been paid. The Old Testament Scriptures prophesied this. That’s why they make us wise to salvation.

God’s plan for salvation has been eternally the same. When you come to recognize and believe that you are a sinner and believe that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died for you personally, at that instant of time you are forgiven and cleansed from all sin for all eternity. At the same time, the Spirit of God Himself comes in and takes up residence in your life. Because of His presence, you have the ability to understand the truth of the revelation that God has given of Himself.

Now, let us review. We study the Old Testament because it is God’s Word, God-breathed, given to men. We study the Old Testament because it was written for our instruction to give us patience and encouragement that we might have hope. We study the Old Testament because it gives us examples for our instruction and admonition. We study the Old Testament because it is profitable in every way to make us everything God wants us to be and to equip us to do everything God wants us to do. We study the Old Testament because it makes us wise to salvation, gives us wisdom and unfolds to us the truth of salvation made possible through faith in the death and resurrection of the Son of God.