OLD TESTAMENT 101 NOTES

AN INTRODUCTION TO KEY THEMES OF THE OLD TESTAMENT

DR. PHILIP BENCE

Phil’s favorite Bible Study websites:
http://www.biblestudytools.net/
http://www.biblegateway.com/
http://www.bible-researcher.com/index.html

What is the Bible?
            The Bible is . . . 
                    not a philosophy book, although many find in it a good philosophy for life.
                    not a theology book, setting forth a long list of beliefs one must hold, although it certainly contains theology.
                    not a book of rules for life, although it certainly contains many of God’s instructions.
                    not even an instruction manual, although you may hear church leaders call it that.

The Bible is primarily a story book. It’s a ‘novel’ full of true stories (sometimes true stories of people telling fictional stories, e.g., parables), in which God through chosen people fills us in on his interaction with the world and the people he made. You might even call the Bible a long love story between God and his people.

The Bible’s story moves from the time God created the world and people, to the time when he chose one person and one nation. The Bible accounts narrate God’s long interaction with that nation, with this story coming to a climax when God himself becomes a human being.

         The Bible includes books like Psalms and Proverbs where it is a little harder to discern the story line. But these Bible portions are still part of the story. For example, the Psalms give us a collection of the songs God’s people sang at various points in their story. Proverbs gives us a collection of the wise sayings important to God’s people as their story unfolded.

          The Bible is a story of God’s interaction with the world and its people. In one sense, it’s a historical story. It describes how God interacted with his people thousands of years ago.

In other ways, the Bible offers a contemporary story.

          First, the Bible offers a contemporary story in the same way any good story is contemporary. As you read any other good story, you find yourself identifying with its characters. As you read the Bible’s stories, you will find yourself saying, “Yes, that person is just like me.” Or “he is quite different from me.” “Those circumstances are like some I have faced.” Or, “these situations are like none I have ever known.”

           Second, in a more specific way, we can find ourselves in the Bible story. God, who is the primary character in the story, is a consistent God. His character, his wisdom, his power, his love have not changed. We interact with this same God today. As we read the ancient stories, we can see patterns of God-humanity interaction that he and we still live today.

            So as you read the Bible, do your best to ‘enter’ the biblical world. How did the human characters see God? How did they see the world? How did they see themselves and each other?

            (To give you a simple example of how context [literary, cultural, chronological, geographical] impacts the interpretation of words, consider the sentence, “It’s going to rain.” We all know what these words mean—‘Moisture will fall from the sky.’ But think of how many different connotations these words can carry.)

             When you have at least tried to enter the biblical world, to interpret biblical words and commonly accepted truths from the perspective of their original hearers, then you are better equipped to ask questions about the world of today, For example, How do the perspectives of various biblical characters correlate with your own? How do these perspectives differ from yours? What would happen if you tried putting on biblical perspectives? How would you change? How might God change you?

            I may be suggesting a manner of reading (living) Scripture that is new to you. Don’t throw out all the good methods you have been using. Serious Bible study (that’s a totally different seminar!) can only help you more realistically enter the world of Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Mary and Jesus, Paul, Priscilla and Aquila.

         We begin with what Christians traditionally call ‘the Old Testament.’ Broadly speaking, the word ‘testament’ involves a solemn statement or agreement.

The value of the biblical title ‘Old Testament’ is that it helps Christians begin to see the connection between the two ‘testaments.’ The disadvantage to this title is that, in 21^st century English, the word ‘old’ implies outdated or inferior.

What other titles might be more suitable?

            Some call the Old Testament books “the Hebrew Scriptures.” But this implies that these documents are not Scripture for Christians.

            Jews call these books the “Tanakh.” This is an acronym working with the first letters in the Hebrew names for the three sections of the Old Testament:
                    Torah—“The Law,” “The Teaching”  
                    Nevi'im—“The Prophets”
                    Ketuvim—“The Writings”

            Compare Luke 24.44--“Then he said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled” (underlining added).

A Few Thoughts on Hebrew, the Language in Which the Old Testament Was Written:

            Daniel 2-6 and parts of Ezra 4-7 were written in Aramaic. The rest of the Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew.

The Hebrew language contains many similarities to other ancient languages of the middle eastern world, and likely evolved from them after the Israelites settled in the Promised Land.

The alphabet contains 22 letters, all consonants. In medieval times, a system developed of denoting vowels by placing specific combinations of points above or below relevant consonants.

The lines of text are written from right to left.

Because of the concise nature of the Hebrew language (It, for example, contains a relatively limited vocabulary and lacks precision in verb tenses), spoken or written Hebrew often communicated with great emotional power.

Hebrew poetry has its unique characteristics we examine in greater detail later in the seminar.

Hebrew thought and language focused on the concrete, rather than the abstract. (The King James Version [and its descendents] often communicates the original concreteness more clearly than some of the newer translations.)

Look, for example, at all the concrete terms in Psalm 1: “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.”

Other examples of concreteness—

In Psalm 103:8, “The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love,” the word behind anger could literally be translated ‘nose.’ (An angry person gets red in the face; his nostrils may enlarge.)

The Hebrew word behind ‘father’ literally describes “one who gives strength to the family” and ‘mother’ indicates “the one that binds the family together.”

A Summary of God’s Overall Plan:

            God evidently sought to create a world God could enjoy, the focal point of which would be people, created in God’s own image.

To these people, God would reveal God’s character.

With these people, God could enjoy perfect relationship.

Key Old Testament [Biblical] Themes: 

Sin

            People, individually and collectively . . .
                        choosing their own plan over God’s best plan
                        rejecting God’s offer of trusting relationship with him
                        not loving God with all their being
                        not loving neighbor as themselves

The Covenant God Gives (in summary form)
                    I am in charge. I could do anything I choose.
                    I choose you as my people.
                    I choose to relate to you in a special way.
                    I choose to love you and freely give myself to you.
                    I choose to make myself vulnerable, accountable to you.
                    If you, my people, return that love to me in trust and obedience (to my plan [which I have chosen for you, knowing it is the best way for you]), then as your loving, powerful, wise God, I will work things out well for you. (If you do not trust me and follow my good way, your life will be much harder.)

 God’s Love and Grace
                     God gives his people more than they deserve.                                    God gives himself [salvation] to God’s people.
                     People during the Old Testament era were saved by God’s grace, not by their performance of the law!
                     The law had the same purpose in the Old Testament it does in the New Testament (to reveal God’s character and plan).
                     God remains faithful to God’s covenant.

One Confusing Old Testament Detail:

            The Old Testament books do not appear in chronological order.

A Few Troublesome Old Testament Questions:

            1. The all-knowing, all-loving, all-powerful God chose plans that ‘did not work.’
                        Plan A  Let’s place humanity in the ‘perfect place’—the Garden of Eden.
                        Plan B  Let’s start over with a new group—the flood.
                        Plan C  Let’s choose a single nation by which to reach the world—Abraham, Sarah, and their descendents.
                        Plan D  Let’s send Jesus to become a human being, and the Holy Spirit to live within humanity.  

            2. The all-loving, all-wise God causing or ordering the death of men, women, and children, in order to accomplish God’s plan   [The problem of evil]
                        e.g., Sodom and Gomorrah        [Genesis 19:25 ]
                        The Conquest of the Promised Land     [Joshua 6:17 ]
                        Saul and Amalekites    [1 Samuel 15:3]   

                How could brutal war fit in God’s plan?
                        Some argue that the Canaanites were wicked idolaters and deserved extermination.  “Joshua was doing a favor to the world, by cleaning out that particular mess.”
                        Or . . .
                        God was revealing himself to his people as the one true God, more powerful than the gods of the nations. God was establishing a place where God could nurture God people, so they could be evangelists to the world. 
                        These may be the best possible answers, although many people struggle to answer the Old Testament war question definitively.

A SURVEY OF OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY

(A specific problem relating to reading Old Testament history)
            We have no early external sources for the period up and through the period of the judges. We have documents and artifacts that help confirm culture, described in the early books, but no external references to the people or events they contain.

(Two problems relating to reading any history)
            1. All history is selective. The Old Testament writers gave their con temp oraries (and us) the information that best suited their (and God’s) purposes, relating primarily to the ideal means of relating to God and each other. The biblical writers did not fill in all the details we might like.
            2. In an important sense, there is no way we can prove the historicity of any historical event. We can only look at the evidence and draw our own conclusions. Scholars have developed many theories to explain how the Bible books developed and how much historical accuracy they contain. Many of us continue to believe in the historical accuracy of biblical history. Others do not. Each person must make his or her own choice.

Adapted from Irving Jensen, Survey of the Old Testament, p. 170

The Old Testament Story Line (with even more detail)

Pre-Old Testament
            Many people assume the fall of an angel named Lucifer, subsequently called Satan?
            This may be our best guess, but this theory has no definitive biblical support.  

Genesis: “The book of beginnings”

            The Bible’s first 11 chapters describe the proto-history of all humanity.  The first eleven chapters offer a narrative offering insights into the origins of humanity and a statement of the universal human problem/condition.  

                    Creation           Genesis 1-2
                    Fall                   Genesis 3-4 (one of two most crucial
                                             turning points in all Scripture)
                    Flood               Genesis 6-9
                    Babel                Genesis 10-11

Key elements of this story (followed by challenging reflection questions):
        1. God created a perfect world.
              (If God did not create at least the best possible world, is God truly all-loving, all-wise, all-powerful?)
        2. One component of God’s creation was human choice.
              (Why did God’s creation have to include human choice?)
        3. Within the biblical account, Adam and Eve (the first human beings) exercised that choice in a negative way.
               (Could Adam and Even have continuously used their free choice positively?) 
        4. All the effects of sin resulted.
               (Why did the sins of the first people result in such universally tragic consequences?)  
        5. Sin multiplied.
               (To what degree was humanity helpless to resist the multiplication of sin? Why did God not intervene in a positive way sooner?)
        6. Within the biblical account, God responded by destroying most of early humanity and much animal life in a flood.
               (Why did God choose to flood the earth? What did God hope to accomplish?)
        7. God rescued a few people and sets of animals from the flood.
               (Did God feel that starting over with a few people might reverse the effects of pre-flood sin?)
        8. God established a covenant with the people God rescued. God would never again destroy the world.
               (Why did God give this covenant?)
        9. Within the biblical account, humanity at temp ted once again to reach God’s level.
                (How and why did the people hope this tower would change their circumstances?)
        10. God responded by dividing people up into distinct language groups.
                 (What did God think this would accomplish?)

A Christian worldview, based merely on Genesis 1-3

1.1  God is eternal
                        one
                        spirit
                        creator  [wise—All that he made he saw as good; 1:31 ]
                        powerful [See also 1.3, 16.]
                    [The world is not an accident.]
        1.6  God retains control of the world God had made. [God accomplishes the further ‘specialization’ of creation.]
        1.21, 24  God is creative.  [Look at the variety of creatures he made.]
        1.26  The “us” may indicate that God, even in himself, is somehow social.
        1.26  God exercises his will.  God chooses to create beings uniquely made in God’s own image.
        1.26  Humanity--We owe our existence to God.  He is our maker.
                       Human beings are made in the image of God.  [We are unique among all creation.
                       We are given authority to rule over creation.  [We are given stewardship over creation.]
            This world remains God’s world.  [God has the right to give us authority over it.]
        1.27  Humanity--We are made male and female.                                                Both genders are created in God’s image.  God transcends gender.
        1.28  God is a communicator.  God communicates with persons.
                     Humanity--We too are communicators.  We can comprehend what God says.
        2.8,9  God is a caring provider.  He loves.  [He made a garden for the first pair.]
        2.16,17  God speaks with authority [“You are free to . . . You must not . . .]
                    Humanity--We are under God’s authority.
        2.17  God knows what is best for humanity. [“When you eat of the forbidden fruit, you will die.”
                    Humanity--We too are given power to make choices.  Specifically, we have the power to flow with God’s plan or to reject it.
        2.18  God is aware.  [“It is not good for man to be alone.”]
                    Humanity--We are social creatures.
        2.23-25  We are sexual creatures, given opportunity for special relationships between a man and a woman.
        3.7   We experience shame.  For good and bad, we are self-conscious creatures.
        3.7   Disobedience to God breaks our free and open relationships with other persons.  See also 3.12,16.
        3.8   Disobedience to God breaks our free and open relationships with God.
        3.17-19, 23 Disobedience to God breaks our free and open relationships with the world around us.
        3.21   God still cares for humanity after disobedience.
        3.15   God offers a hint of hope for the future. Salvation comes from God.

The creation account
        The Biblical account of creation [1.1-2.3] is simple and straightforward. Knowing precisely how and when God created is nowhere near as simple.
             In sequence, God created the . . .                                                      Universe  1.1-5                  Matter
                Earth and life on it 1.6-31       Life