I spent much of last year in the Old Testament.
Other than checking on things, and listening to the entire Gospel of Luke (perfect for Advent), I’ve wallowed in the pre-Jesus part of the Bible.
I’ve taught Bible study for many years.
Somehow, though, I’d missed a lot of important truths in the Old Testament.
And the parallelism between the Old and New Testaments?
I see it everywhere now!
Why did I miss Old Testament facts?
An excellent question for someone who has been reading the Bible diligently since she was 15.
Some of it had to do with the Bibles I’ve read over the years.
I generally change translations every decade or so, and read the Scriptures paying attention to nuanced differences, particularly in language.
For the last 20 years, I’ve been reading either a Life Application Bible (NKJV) or a Lutheran Study Bible (ESV translation).
I’ve loved those editions because of all the footnotes (BOB notes–“bottom of the Bible” notes) that explain everything.
Cross-references abound.
But, apparently, I still had trouble grasping the fullness of the Old Testament stories and/or the pointing to the past, as well as the future in Scripture.
But last year that all changed.
How did I read the Old Testament differently?
I listened instead.
You can read about my appreciation for the Bible Project. When COVID shelter-in-place began, we watched the entire drawing/explanation of the Bible over five nights.
Somehow, this Bachelor of Arts in English Literature had not seen all those parallelisms before.
The Scriptures came alive in a new way. I’m looking for the parallels, now. In the past, I’d apparently only registered them and moved along.
Better, though, were the many insomnia-inspired nights when I listened to Calvary Chapel Santa Barbara Teaching Pastor David Guzik teach through books of the Bible.
(Calvary Chapel pastors traditionally start at Genesis and preach chapter by chapter all the way through the Bible. When they finish Revelation, they return to Genesis).
A lot of Guzik’s teachings are recordings of his Wednesday night Bible classes. I usually could listen to one before I fell asleep.
The teacher takes classes.
After nearly 30 straight years of Bible study teaching/ leading/ facilitating, I took classes this year.
and led by hooks in their lips.
Painting by James Tissot
ORBIS Ministries started class in all their teaching modules by examining Scripture passages. (They explained what they taught came out of Scripture, rather than being read into Scripture).
Since many points came out of the Old Testament, particularly about prophets, I reacquainted myself with the books of Samuel and Kings.
It soon became clear, however, that Guzik’s teaching and Ken Fish’s exegesis explained the Scriptures in a way I hadn’t seen before.
Fascinating.
The scriptures come alive!
All Bible students know the 2 Timothy 3:16-17 passage:
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man [and woman] of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”
2 Timothy 3:16-17 (ESV)
Most of us who read the Bible have experienced the shock of what is seemingly a “new verse we’ve never seen before,” spring up to surprise us with biblical truth.
That’s because the Scriptures are alive. Each time we open the Bible we’re new–we bring our current life into the eternal book.
When we read verses pertinent to our experience at that moment, the verses shout their truth.
The Bible doesn’t change. Our experiences and lives cause us to approach the Scriptures with different ideas.
Last year, I listened and read the Old Testament with different ears.
God awarded me keener insight and understanding as a result.
Why the Old Testament and not the new?
It’s always easier to read the New Testament because it revolves around Jesus.
The Gospels are stories. The Epistles explain how to live as a Christ-follower.
Jesus lived in our historic time–our Western calendar begins at His birth. We can grasp the history and events better. They’re more approachable time-wise. Many of us in the west learned something about Roman history in school.
But the Bible is a Middle Eastern book and can be tricky to fully comprehend when we read it with western eyes.
The Old Testament can seem confusing, particularly the books of the prophets, when we try to understand what happened all those years ago. Not to mention why.
But the Old Testament, like the New, is about the Messiah.
You cannot fully understand who Jesus is/was and why He came without a grounding in the Old Testament.
I’ve known that since I read Jesus in Genesis, decades ago.
Edith Schaeffer pointed back to the same ideas in Christianity is Jewish.
You can’t adequately understand much of the New Testament, particularly the symbolism, without a grounding in the Old.
I’ve read the Bible for years (Like Calvary Chapel teaches, Genesis to Revelation). But I didn’t always catch some of the nuances–and thus missed important parallelisms and their implications to my faith.
Cross-referencing two teachers
Isaiah 1:18 reminds us, “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord.”
We can’t simply take passages of Scripture at random. They need to be cross-checked to other passages of the Bible so we can ensure we’re understanding it correctly.
Since I was studying new ideas with Ken Fish of ORBIS, and hearing new teaching from David Guzik of Enduring Word, I cross-referenced them.
Did they agree with each other?
Guzik’s explanation of the book of Jeremiah, helped me put Fish’s teaching on prophecy into context.
It was very helpful.
They may not have agreed with their interpretation of specific passages, but they were close enough to give me confidence in both teachers.
And then, of course, I always had the benefit of the Lutheran Study Bible’s bottom of the Bible notes (BOB).
Why does everything return to Exodus?
Isn’t it interesting when many spiritual elements in your life point to the same Bible passages?
(See “How I Recognize God’s Voice.”)
That happened in the summer.
While I listened to Guzik’s Exodus teaching, Fish talked about Moses, and then the VBS director asked me to write a play about Escaping from Egypt.
Scripture came alive–I saw the story differently. My audio VBS play was richer because of what I had learned from my teachers about the Old Testament.
The value of the Old Testament for guidance.
While researching the life of Lettie Cowman, long-time president of the Oriental Missionary Society (1928-1949), I learned of her love for the Old Testament and how it affected the ministry.
When Lettie felt God suggesting a change in the ministry, according to long-time friend and associate, Esther Erny,
She would go away, spend time in prayer, and she’d come out with some isolated portion of scripture, often somewhere in the Old Testament, feeling God had given her that word for that advance. And then, having had that, she had faith to believe God was calling, and she would accept and make plans to go forth.
OMS Archives, “Who was Mrs. Cowman?” by Esther Erny
Lettie Cowman knew the Bible backward and forwards, spent long hours studying it, and often found her guidance in the pages of the Old Testament.
It was the Word of God, and she went with it.
Those words Lettie read in the Old Testament changed the lives of many people, for the good. They directed people to Jesus.
That’s why reading and learning and wallowing in the Old Testament for a year is so valuable.
Try it.
Tweetables
The value of a year in the Old Testament. Click to Tweet
Why should Christians study the Old Testament and how? Click to Tweet
The importance of studying the Old Testament. Click to Tweet
The pastor during my teenage years loved the Old Testament. He preached from the Old Testament on Sunday evenings and shared its richness. Sunday evenings were the best. A few years later I had him as a professor in a Christian college. I took Old Testament coursework from him. He had left the pastorate to become a professor. His love for the Old Testament impressed me. It also has influenced me throughout my years of teaching in children’s ministries. Great post.
And you are blessed, Norma, by that heritage. Too many people only “major” in the New Testament and pay little, if any attention to the Old. And yet, how do you even begin to understand Jesus without a depth of knowledge of God from the Old Testament?