Category Archives: Old Testament

Ten principles for interpreting narratives

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The following ‘ten commandments’ will help keep the preacher on the straight and narrow when dealing with Old Testament narratives:-

  1. An Old Testament narrative usually does not directly teach a doctrine.
  2. An Old Testament narrative usually illustrates a doctrine or doctrines taught propositionally elsewhere.
  3. Narratives record what happened-not necessarily what should have happened or what ought to happen every time. Therefore, not every narrative has an individual identifiable moral of the story.
  4. What people do in narratives is not necessarily a good example for us.
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Jesus, the true and better

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‘All the major figures and leaders of the Scriptures point us to Christ’, writes Tim Keller.  Consider the following:-

Jesus is the true and better Adam, who passed the test in the garden and whose obedience is imputed to us (1 Corinthians 15).

Jesus is the true and better Abel, who, though innocently slain, has blood that cries out for our acquittal, not our condemnation (Hebrews 12: 24).

Jesus is the true and better Abraham, who answered the call of God to leave the comfortable and familiar and go out into the void “not knowing whither he went” to create a new people of God.

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Christ is Isaac…Jacob…Joseph…

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Tim Keller, in his recent book, Preaching: Communicating Faith in a Sceptical Age, has this fine quote from Calvin, showing how the great characters of the Old Testament point forward, in different ways, to their fulfilment in Christ:-

He [Christ] is Isaac, the beloved Son of the Father who was offered as a sacrifice, but nevertheless did not succumb to the power of death. He is Jacob the watchful shepherd, who has such great care for the sheep which he guards.
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Preaching the Minor Prophets

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Alison Lo notes that the Minor Prophets resonate strongly with our contemporary church and society, with their themes of ‘social justice, religious corruption, financial impropriety and social and political unrest’.

They offer rich material for the preacher, then, and the following principles will help.  I summarise:-

  1. Consider the historical and cultural context.  Each prophet spoke into a specific situation: sometimes this is indicated by the heading of the book (Hos 1:1; Amos 1:1; Mic 1:1, etc.).
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Heroes and villains

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In his book Jesus on Every Page (54-59), David Murray discusses the pitfalls involved in preaching from Old Testament characters.  Among other things, writes Murray, this approach is

  1. Man-centred – It puts God in the background, when he should be in the foreground.  We should be preaching, not human character traits, but God’s nature, character and will.
  2. Moralistic – It turns the Old Testament into a manual of do’s and don’ts, rather than a revelation of God’s actions.
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Those imprecatory psalms

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The Psalms are the best-loved and most-used part of the Old Testament.  But from time to time they flare up in fierce expressions of anger against the psalmist’s enemies.  See, for example, Psa 5; 11; 17; 35; 55; 59; 69; 109; 137; 140.  To many readers, these ‘imprecations’ are ‘barbarous’, ‘vindictive’, and even ‘a disgrace to human nature’.  Some churches direct that they should not be used liturgically.

But, at the very least, these imprecatory psalms serve to remind us that life is not a bed of roses, and troubled Christians need the opportunity to express their fears and frustrations to God in worship.  …

Rethinking slavery in the Old Testament

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‘Slavery’ is one of those words that tends to prompt a knee-jerk reaction.  ‘The Bible condones slavery; how can we then take the Bible seriously on this or any other matter?’

But hold on for a moment, urges Gordon Wenham.  Maybe we are too ready to read back into the Old Testament teaching on slavery our own ideas about what is actually meant by that term.  Maybe ‘slavery’ isn’t even the best word to use.  What if Exodus 21:2, instead of being translated,

‘When you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve six years, and in the seventh he shall go out free, for nothing.’…

Starting-points for studying Exodus

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What the Exodus story means for us will depend to a large extent on our own point of view.  John Goldingay discusses a number of ‘lenses’ through which Exodus has been, and continues to be, seen.

1. Pietism.  The pietist ‘lens’ is concern with my personal relationship with God.  Biblical stories then become ‘lessons’ or templates for how God deals with us today.  In typical Goldingay fashion, however, there is a reluctance to affirm that the story of Moses and exodus prefigure God’s saving work in Christ.  …

On the historicity of the exodus

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When John Loftus (God or Godless, chapter 5) claims that ‘archaeologists have shown us there was no…exodus by the Israelites from Egypt’ I believe that I can easily show this to be mistaken and misleading.

Of course, if I were to point to the standard Christian reference works, then my assertion that most or all of them accept the historicity of the exodus might be met with the response, “Well, they would, wouldn’t they?” …

What we learn from creation

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Bible commentator Matthew Henry notes that in creation we observe:-

1. Great variety, several sorts of beings vastly differing in their nature and constitution from each other. Lord, how manifold are thy works, and all good!

2. Great beauty. The azure sky and verdant earth are charming to the eye of the curious spectator, much more the ornaments of both. How transcendent then must the beauty of the Creator be!

3. Great exactness and accuracy.…