As one embarks upon the pursuit of God, as He has chosen to reveal Himself through the two main sections of what we call The Bible, there are certain questions and often misconceptions about The Old Testament portion of the book which naturally come to mind. High on any list of such things is the question of why we should be concerned with these older portions of Scripture since they really weren’t written unto us today. After all, these things contained in The Old Testament are predominantly for the Jews aren’t they?
It is a fair question which most assuredly deserves an honest answer. Top properly deal with this question let us remind ourselves that while not everything in The Scriptures is written directly unto us everyword in the Bible is written for us.
Within the context of The Scriptures, as a whole, God is revealing Himself as He desires us to know Him. The Old Testament is the record of the earliest dealings of God, The Creator, with His creation and most especially with mankind. The account of God’s interaction with man begins long before The Jews emerge upon the stage of human history. Before there was ever an ethnic or geopolitical basis for dividing one group from another, God was personally involved with the daily lives of men who walked upon this earth.
In The Old Testament we are introduced unto many of the characteristics of God before mankind had even been brought into existence through His hand. The knowledge of these is not the property of any one people or ethnicity but rather belong unto all men everywhere for all ages. In addition to this, the early parts of The Old Testament set the foundation for the major doctrinal themes which runs throughout the Bible with very few exceptions. A brief listing of these would include the following.
- The Doctrine of The Creation of all Things
- The Doctrine of The Trinity
- The Doctrine of Man
- The Doctrine of Satan
- The Doctrine of The Virgin Birth
- The Doctrine of Redemption
- The Doctrine of The Sovereignty of God.
- The Doctrine of The God The Father
- The Doctrine of God The Holy Spirit
- The Doctrine of God The Son
- The Doctrine of Grace
These are but a few of the teachings, which is what the word “doctrine” actually means which will be encountered early in the Old Testament writings. This is by no means an exhaustive listing. To discount the study of these early Scriptures, which were given through the Jews unto all men, is to leave oneself open for the intrusion of false doctrines that are propagated by false teachers and prophets who walk among us up to this very hour of human history.
Another question which comes up from time to time is that of the certainty that these Old Testament books are truly the only ones through which God chose to convey His revelations unto us. From time to time there is the announcement of some alleged “additional Old Testament writ” which has the potential to alter the interpretation of what we think we know about The Bible. Over the years there have been quite a few such books. A sample listing would include the following.
- The Book of Enoch
- The Book of The Wars of The Lord
- The Book of Asher
- The books of The Acts of Solomon
While this is, as stated, only a sampling of such works they do come around once in a while and attempt to make claims to the “right” to be included in the finalized collection of books.
Why were the thirty-nine works which we have today selected and why were so many others rejected by those who compiled the authoritative listing of books of The Old Testament. There are certain standards of measurement which were employed by the early Jewish leaders who undertook this task. Among the measuring tools were the following considerations.
- Was the book under examination written by an approved Prophet of God.
- Was the book being examined historically accurate in the mention of events depicted within its pages
- Did anything within the book being examined contradict the writing of a known Prophet of God who had set forth an accepted work which had already been included among the books of the Scripture.
- Had the book being examined been written by someone who was intimately associated with a recognized man of God whose works were already included among the body of Scripture.
- Did anything within the book being examined cast doubt upon Jehovah God’s prior accepted revelations of Himself which were consistent in all other accepted works.
These are some but not necessarily all of the strict, standards by which acceptance of a work was achieved. In all of this it is vital to never forget that the God who inspired the writers of His words is certainly more than able to move within the hearts of those who made these decisions to bring His will about.
I will deal with one final question which has been problematic for some to the point that they find study of the Old Testament to be a burdensome chore. That one item is the seeking of immediate application of certain portions encountered which will not be fully illuminated until the context of The New Testament actions involved in what they foreshadow come about. The New Testament is often enfolded in the Old, and The Old Testament is revealed in The New. Don’t look for some new piece of knowledge that you may immediately deploy in your life at every turn of The Old Testament.
Remember that you ought to seek Jesus Christ in every single book of these Scriptures which have been set forth above all else. Learn of God and His was in every study undertaken here. Do not be in a hurry to move along for the manner of the Illuminating of your heart to the deep things of God is designed so that you must spend time in His presence through meditation to receive fully what He has for you at each turn.
Let us go forth into the study of The Old Testament with confident and prayerful assurance that this is indeed God’s message unto us as we move forward. In beginning any Bible study, I have found it to be most helpful to recall Deuteronomy 29:29 which tells us the following.
“The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.”
(Deuteronomy 29:29)
Let us focus our highest and greatest efforts upon those things which God has given unto us and not allow ourselves to be lured away by speculation or hypothetical pursuit of what might be out there that we don’t know about. God has given us what we need to know in order to comprehend what He has chosen to reveal unto us. That, my friend, is more than sufficient to hold the attention of our endeavors as we begin the study of The Old Testament Scriptures.