Written in Former Days

Introduction

One of the most difficult things we must do when studying the Bible is reconciling the Old Testament with the New Testament. It is a topic that has filled libraries of books, endless hours of debate, drawn denominational lines, and at the worst of times cut people off from true fellowship with and salvation in Christ. How should a Christian read the commandments given to Moses in the old covenant? Should Christians keep the Sabbath day? Does the circumcision of infants in the OT mean infants should be baptized in the NT era? What is God’s plan for national and ethnic Israel? How should God’s promises in the OT be interpreted; do they apply to Christians or not? None of these are easy questions to answer and we must recognize that, even if we feel very sure of our beliefs.

In theology, we explain the development of the OT and NT with what is called progressive revelation. This describes the gradual way in which God has revealed himself to people through the covenants and promises he makes and through the things that he does to show himself. This highlights the relational way God approaches humanity. When we first meet someone, we do not share everything about ourselves with them. Instead, there is a gradual process of building trust, experiencing life together, and becoming closer so that more private things may be shared, such as your darkest fears or greatest hopes.

Likewise, when God revealed himself to Abraham, he did not give him a systematic theology book explaining every detail of what God would reveal himself to be, nor did he even give him the Law as he did with Moses. In fact, Abraham knew very little about the LORD when he first believed. We’re not even sure if he realized that YHWH is the only God there is when he left to wander the land of Canaan. Compare this with what the Israelites in Moses day knew about God, or what the Prophets knew about God, or what the disciples first knew, or what we know today. God is constantly and consistently revealing himself to human being, and when engaged with faith he reveals more and more through his Word and his deeds.

So how should we, who live in the light of God’s greatest display of himself in the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, read and understand those earlier revelations of God? Thankfully, Paul here assures us that there is much to gain from a thorough study of the OT that is for our instruction and encouragement, leading to a hope that does not perish. The OT and NT are not at odds with one another any more than the conclusion of a great novel is at odds with chapter 1. However, if we are to understand either side of our Bibles, we must know how to read the story in such a way that we a benefited by how God has revealed himself rather than led astray by our own ideas.

Instruction and Encouragement: The Purpose of the Old Testament for the New Covenant Believer

“For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction.” The question we have to tackle tonight is: why should Christians read the OT? At first, we might just think we should read it because its part of the Bible we have been given, but when you get to know the content of the OT you can see the problem. God revealed himself progressively over time, which means that God did not reveal as much about himself to Abraham as he did to Moses, and not as much to Moses as he did to David, and not as much to David as he did to the Prophets, and all this culminating in the grand revelation of Jesus Christ. Hebrews 1:1-2

Hebrews 1:1–2 ESV

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.

The problem, then, is asking what we could possibly gain from reading earlier revelations from God when we have the final and perfect revelation through Jesus Christ until the eschaton. If we have the perfect, why read what was imperfect? If the point of the OT was to bring us to the revelation of Christ, why read it after the appearance of Christ? If someone has achieved their PhD in physics, why should they go back and study a physics textbook from high school?

And yet, Paul is clear that whatever was written in former days, that is before the coming of Christ in the OT, was written for our instruction. He says this right after quoting Psalm 69:9 in verse 3, clearly teaching the believers in Rome that the OT Scriptures were necessary.

This may seem odd to them because when it comes the food laws, which are commanded in the OT, Paul sides with the ‘strong’ believers who realize that what you eat does not make you unclean. Those commandments about food have been fulfilled in the coming of Christ as referring to a heart that is either pure or impure, as Jesus clearly taught in Matt 15:11. So Christians are not bound to the Law of Moses, which was a covenant made with the nation of Israel in expectation of the New Covenant made in Christ. Heb 8:6

Hebrews 8:6 ESV

But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises.

Hebrews 8:13 ESV

In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.

So if the Old Covenant, which the OT was build around, is “obsolete” in the light of the new covenant which it was leading God’s people to, what is the purpose of the Old Testament? How is it that we are instructed by it if the perfect fulfillment has come in Christ?

This question has been a point of debate throughout church history, but as we study the New Testament and the early church Fathers, we not only see that the early church read the OT extensively but we can see why.

First, the OT is like a foundation on which the truths revealed in Christ is built. Once the foundation is laid, the builders are ready to focus on the structure that will be built on top. However, if the foundation is compromised, the building will not stand. If the physics expert forgets the foundational truths he learned in high school, his career as a physicist will be over. In the same way, the NT can only exist and make sense in light of the truths revealed in the OT. Without the old, the new makes no sense and does not stand without its foundation. When Paul and Silas visited the Bereans, the noble Jews there studied the OT Scriptures and compared them with Paul’s message; they came to the conclusion that Paul was right based on the OT they studied. In Paul’s sermon to the gentile philosophers in Athens, Pal refers to the creation account in Genesis as a foundation for the understanding of man’s relationship to God. The book of Hebrews is written to show the Jewish readers how Christ is present in the OT. Without the OT foundation, the Gospel message cannot exist.

Second, the OT gives us the context for the coming of Christ. It shows us how man fell, how God was merciful, and the prophecies that are fulfilled in Christ. Without knowledge of these things, the grand reveal in the NT is not so glorious or meaningful. Knowing the story of the serpent on the pole makes the cross more significant. Knowing the story of Abraham sacrificing Isaac makes the death of Christ more powerful. While the NT gives us the climactic moment in salvation history, the OT provides the chapters of rising action that lead to that climactic moment. Every two years I read through Lord of the Rings, but I don’t just read the last half of Return of the King, rather I start at the beginning and work my way to the grand moment of victory for the characters. Without the beginning of the story, the end is not significant or moving.

Third, the OT teaches us who God is, which is important if we are to believe in his only begotten Son. The works of God in the history of his relationship with humanity display the kind of God he is, which is significant if we are to follow this God and believe in him. Knowing his mercy, his faithfulness, and his wrath as revealed gives the cross meaning and our worship of God knowledge.

Fourth, the OT provides numerous examples, both good and bad, of how God should be worshiped. There we learn that God deems someone as righteous on the basis of faith. Genesis 15:6

Genesis 15:6 (ESV)

And (Abraham) believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.

There, we see the example of Joseph, who trusts God’s providence and as a result brings salvation to God’s people. There, we see that the continued unbelief of the Israelites who left Egypt caused God to deny them the promised land. The author of Hebrews warns us on this basis in Heb 3:12

Hebrews 3:12 ESV

Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.

and later, elaborate in Heb 4:1-2

Hebrews 4:1–2 ESV

Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened.

Their example of unbelief should assure as that the same God will deal harshly with the proud and unbelieving among his people today.

So we see, there is much to learn from the many character that pop up throughout the story of the OT. David, Ruth, Jacob, Hezekiah, Samson, Rahab, Manasseh, Jonah, and many others. Through the lens of the NT, we can see clearly the relevance of these people and their actions in how one must relate to God.

Fifth, the two great commandments which are revealed in the OT, to Love God above all else and to love our neighbour as ourselves, continues into the NT. Although these commandments were often revealed in the image of laws that were bound to fade away with the coming of Christ, such as food laws, the essence of these two commands still stands and, through the blood of Christ and the strength of the Holy Spirit, Christians are obligated to fulfill them in all righteousness as those unified with the perfect man, Jesus.

Two Extremes to Avoid

The OT primarily exists for NT Christians, as Paul states that whatever was written beforehand was written for our benefit. We are instructed and encouraged by the OT to purpose the Jesus of the NT. Our faith in him is based on a 4000 year-old history of salvation the OT Scriptures give us. It gives us the encouragement we need to endure, as Job, Abraham, and David did, to receive all the promises in God through Jesus Christ.

So now that we can see why studying the OT is important for Christians and that is has much to instruct us in, this does not take away the difficulty there is in understanding exactly how we are to read the OT and interpret it. There are two dangers that we can easily fall into in our study.

Overemphasizing what is Old

First, there is the danger of overemphasizing what is old at the expense of what is newly revealed in Christ. This can take the form of the Judeizer heresy which sprung up in the Galatian church, which taught that all Christians must first be circumcised as Jews to be saved. Milder forms of this error can easily be found in classic covenantal theology. Binding Christians to keep the Sabbath day, interpreting infant baptism as a continuation of Jewish circumcision in Presbyterian churches are two examples. Theonomy, the idea that the church must grow through political takeover, is based on an overemphasis of the OT. The so-called prosperity gospel thrives on reading OT promises of prosperity for Israel as literally applicable to the church here and now, rather than in the New Earth.

The problem stems from an improper reading of the OT in one significant area: a refusal to read the OT in light of the NT. The saying is true that “the new is in the old concealed, the old is in the new revealed.” In other words, Christians are to read the OT through the lens of the Gospel and the centrality of the coming of Christ. The NT tells us how to read the OT. If we ignore this, we are lost to our own imaginations. The NT tells us that Christians are not obligated to keep Sabbath days (Colossians 2:16-17) because Christ has been revealed as our true rest (Heb 4:3-7). It makes it clear that food laws are obsolete, having served their purpose to show that God’s people must be holy and separate from the uncleanness of this world. It shows that the Kingdom of God is not pushed as a political agenda in the governments of this world, but is a spiritual/political reality which is hidden from the world’s eyes (John 18:36). The OT must always be read with the NT interpreting it if we are to see it correctly, just as the events in a thrilling movie only all make sense at the conclusion of the film.

Overemphasizing what is New

The other danger is an overemphasis of the New that causes us to reject the Old entirely. This is the error of classic dispensationalism which teaches that the OT only refers to God’s plan for the Jewish nation, and not for the Church. Many in this camp argue that the promises in the OT cannot apply to Christians in any way, despite the Apostle Paul referring to the Church as true Israel and the Jerusalem above. He says in 2 Cor 1:20

2 Corinthians 1:20 (ESV)

For all the promises of God find their Yes in (Christ).

Notice how Paul speaks of the church receiving the blessings prophesied by Isaiah in Galatians 4:26-27

Galatians 4:26–27 ESV

But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. For it is written, “Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear; break forth and cry aloud, you who are not in labor! For the children of the desolate one will be more than those of the one who has a husband.”

And when Paul speaks of how the Gentiles are saved in Romans 11, he talks of them as branches being grafted into the tree of God’s people Israel. It is not a separate tree of covenant, people, but the same. Therefore, the Gentiles who are grafted into God’s covenant people in Christ share the promises and heritage of OT Israel.

So we see that the clear teaching in Scripture is that the OT ultimately refers to God’s spiritual people, which in the NT is called the Church. These promises ultimately refer to a heavenly inheritance and now we are, as it were, in the wilderness of the exodus waiting for our entrance into a greater promised land than what God’s people received in the days of Joshua (Hebrews 4:8). The story of the OT is the story of our spiritual heritage and the history of God’s promises which we will one day receive in glory. Let us never deny ourselves the grace that is in the first half of our Bibles for us.

The Result: Endurance and Encouragement Leading to Hope

While Christians may always disagree on how exactly to read every passage of the OT in light of the coming of Christ and the establishment of the Church, there is no doubt that it is important for us to read today. How will we grow in faith without the revelation of God as the LORD, full of mercy and compassion, faithful in steadfast love, forgiving sin but not letting the guilty go unpunished? What confidence do we have that Jesus is the Christ without the OT passages that prophecy about him? What comfort would we have without the Psalms? How lost we would be every time the NT quotes or references the OT, which is very often. Its been estimated that up to 1/3 of the NT is either a quote, reference, or teaching based on the OT.

That part of the Bible exists to instruct you and encourage you so that you can endure in the faith and with joy receive the blessings of God on the final day. It is full of grace that will strengthen your faith if you go into it with the light of Christ as your translator. It is quite the journey to learn how to interpret the OT in this way, but ultimately the OT leads us to Jesus, so let that be your guiding principle as your study them. A helpful tip is to ask yourself the following questions when you read the OT:

What did the writer mean when he wrote this, and how did the original readers understand it?

What is the context of this passage and the main idea of this text?

What has changed in this history of salvation since then? What has remained the same?

How does this passage point me to Christ and the promises I have in him?

Above all, seek God in the Scriptures as a lamp to your feet and a light to your path which leads you to Jesus and his finished work on the cross and in the empty tomb. Let the Scriptures encourage you, not with empty theology but with real worship, adoration, and obedience. In our text, Paul follows up this passage with the correct and glorious result of the instruction of the OT, and with this we will close: Romans 15:5-6

Romans 15:5–6 ESV

May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.