Beware of Reading the Old Testament!

01.31.21 --19:00

There is nothing like a warning label to peak someone’s attention. But normally, warning labels present legalistic jargon in a tiny font that requires a legal dictionary to interpret and a magnifying glass to see. The warning above is not according to that style, in fact it is more like the beginning of a sentence and should be followed by a comma instead of an exclamation mark.
Beware of exercise, you might live longer. Beware of fruits and vegetables, they could help your overall health. Beware of reading the Old Testament, it might change your view of the God you claim to follow.
Such warning claims use a little misdirection in order to perpetuate a new way of thinking. That is exactly why Christians should be wary of reading the Old Testament–they might think about their place in the world in a different light.

Other advertisers try to get your attention with the bigger and louder is better routine.
THE OLD TESTAMENT CAN BE GOOD FOR YOU! THE OLD TESTAMENT DESCRIBES THE GOD JESUS CALLED FATHER!
Then there is the catchy phrase: “If you want to imitate Jesus, you should probably get to know his Bible as well as he did!”

With so many options, how does one communicate the value of the Old Testament to Christian Spiritual Formation? Sometimes a list works just as well, and permits the reader to focus on his or her particular interests.

1) The Old Testament is the Bible/Scripture for all the New Testament writings.

There are at least 237 Old Testament passages identified as quotations in the New Testament (Accordance Bible Software, www.accordancebible.com) starting with Genesis 1:27 and ending with Malachi 4:5, “Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD. 6 “He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse.” (NAS95) Normally, the NT merely includes part of the OT verse, as in Matthew 17:10, “Elijah is coming and will restore all things;” or as in Luke 1:17, “TO TURN THE HEARTS OF THE FATHERS BACK TO THE CHILDREN.” You will already have noticed that by including the entire sentence in Mal 4:5 & 6 at the beginning of this paragraph you now know a reason is attached to the coming of Elijah. By knowing and examining the Old Testament passages, we gain a fuller understanding of what is being referenced by the NT writer.

The Old Testament was the mental framework for the New Testament writers about who God is and where we as humans fit into the world of their creator God. From the OT framework they understood who Jesus is and how Jesus fit into this world of their creator God. Without the OT frame to help our understanding of who Jesus is, we will end up making Jesus in our own image rather than in a biblical image. Avoiding the Old Testament places Christian Spiritual Formation at risk of simply becoming another self-help attempt.

2) The Old Testament paints the picture of a God who is “slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness.”

Spiritual Formation is no different from any other target-oriented activity, we usually hit what we aim at. If we possess a false narrative about God, God’s character, or God’s activities, then this false narrative will prevent us from being transformed into the image of God (Eph 5:1). The direct phrase “slow to anger” appears in 13 verses in the Old Testament in the NAS95 translation and in only 8 in the KJV translation. The word “lovingkindness” appears in 181 verses in the NAS95 and only 29 in the KJV translation, because the KJV often uses the word “mercy” instead. Reality recognizes that
“All the paths of the LORD are lovingkindness and truth

To those who keep His covenant and His testimonies.” (Psalm 25:10)
While the world tells us the God portrayed in the OT is one of anger and wrath. Which portrait will we let shape our view of God?

3) The Old Testament portrays the extent of God’s pursuit of humanity as faithful recipient of God’s kindness.

The OT portrait of God is a masterpiece which includes main figures, side figures, small details, various lighting effects, shadows, and layer upon layer of paint to create an image to which one returns again and again to comprehend in all of its glory. And the portrait is not a “miniature” that one can send to someone else as a representation, but a portrait that covers the height and breadth of a wall of heaven! It may take eternity to fully appreciate the totality of the portrait.

But one critical essence of the portrait is God’s initiating pursuit of humanity. Beginning in Genesis, God creates humanity in the very image of the Godhead, male and female he created them. The Bible then records a series of human failings, failings to live according to the covenant(s) God enters into willingly and without coercion. God is not represented as failing, but humans are. Yet despite repeated failure on the part of various humans, God continues to pursue, day after day, month after month, year after year, decade after decade, century after century, millennium after millennium throughout the millennia!

Our false narrative hinders us because we live in the present and think that God should respond as our microwave oven, even to the point of our determining the length of time for our preparation and God providing us a “ding” when the time is completed! The biblical narrative tells us that life is not about me, it is about God working in me to accomplish HIS WAYS.

4) The Old Testament reveals the Incarnational activity of God.

From creation itself, humanity has had difficulty with the Incarnational activity of God. Genesis 3:8 indicates “They heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.” (NAS95). When God visits Abraham by the Oaks at Mamre, he provides insight into Sarai’s future motherhood. (Gen 18). At Mt Sinai the people respond to God’s presence among them by requesting of Moses “Speak to us yourself and we will listen; but let not God speak to us, or we will die.” Moses replied “Do not be afraid; for God has come in order to test you, and in order that the fear of Him may remain with you, so that you may not sin.” (Ex 20:19-20)

The Incarnational activity of God is designed to demonstrate his lovingkindness to us as we keep his covenant and testimonies. It is precisely when we avoid the incarnational interaction by God that sin creeps into our life.

More fully, Jesus comes as the Logos of God, the Word going forth from the divine godhead, the three in one, and “became” flesh. Choosing no longer to exist separate from humanity, God became human. This “became” concept is complicated: God “in flesh being”, bringing a new existence, bringing about all things, and most importantly demonstrating “grace and truth” (John 1:17), the two primary characteristics of the God of the Old Testament. Yet, even this incarnational activity presented problems to humanity.

Beware of Reading the Old Testament, the Old Testament is CRITICAL for spiritual formation. Yet it remains difficult. “Time”, “study”, and “rethinking our narratives” are necessary to begin the process of understanding the Old Testament. But it takes “time, study and rethinking our narratives” to begin the process of placing ourselves in the position for God the Father to transform our lives into the image of Jesus the Son through the working of the Holy Spirit. There is no worse feeling than getting part way through a project and realizing that something was left out at the beginning due to personal ignorance or inexperience and the whole project must be torn away and started over once again. Fortunately, God doesn’t require us to start over, only to follow him from where we are in the now time to where he wishes us to be.

Stan Harstine, Ph.D.

Biblical Perspectives on Pressing Matters

Beware of Reading the Old Testament!