Intro. to the Old Testament: "Written for Our Learning."

Introduction:

Charles Spurgeon once said, ““Nobody ever outgrows Scripture; the book widens and deepens with our years.”

While I do not agree with him on everything, I most certainly agree with this statement.

Many preacher that I look up to have told me something to effect, “I have studied the Bible my whole life, and I still learn new things in every book, every study.”

Makes me wonder, how much do I really know right now?

With this thought in mind, this evening we will begin a series on the books of the Bible.

In each book, we will study the who it was written to, the purpose of the book, the character of God revealed in the book, and application to us today.

They will be an overview of each one of the books.

Certainly, I hope this will be as beneficial to you, as I hope it will be to me.

Therefore, let us begin our first study this evening.

Discussion:

What is the Bible?

Knowing God and Obeying God.

The 39 books of the Old Testament and 27 books of the New Testament form one complete book- the Bible- setting four great truths:

Why Study the Old Testament?

First truth, the Biblical account of creation is real. All evidences support the literal 24-hour days of creation.

How can this be true? How can One bring into existence, something from nothing?

We do not know, but “By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible” ().

The second truth, Christ was with God from the beginning. He and God are one.

The Old Testament begins with Christ as “the word of God who became flesh” (; ).

The New Testament ends with “the grace of our Lord, Jesus Christ...” ().

The third great truth, God is sovereign. Over and over again, God demonstrates His supreme power and authority.

God demands obedience to His commands, as seen in many Old and New Testament examples.

It was told to King Saul, it is better “...to obey [God] than sacrifice” ().

Jesus said, “If you love Me, obey my commandments” ().

“...Eternal salvation” is promised “to all who obey Him” ().

As for the fourth great truth, God does not force anyone to obey Him.

In , scripture tells us, “....Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.” It is a personal choice.

Every individual must give an account to God for his choice ().

God’s Revelation of Himself to Man:

One of the supreme aims of the Bible is to make the true God known to man. Therefore, it is most important for us to “know God.”

God makes Himself known to man so that man can know his own nature, since he is made in the likeness of his creator.

In , the Word of God tells us, “Let US make man in OUR image, according to OUR likeness....So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He create them.”

Christ came into the world to “declare” the Father, to explain, to make God known to man ().

In , Christ said, “He that has seen Me has seen the Father.”

He demonstrated God in the form of man.

How did God reveal Himself through Christ? He revealed Himself to man through Christ by:

His works of creation ().

Means of His miracles (;).

His rule over men and nations (Daniels 2:47).

His perfect word, the Holy Scriptures.

We need to realize that there are two sides to God’s nature. He is both merciful and just.

Too many people see only “God is love” (), but we must also see that He is a God of “vengeance” on those who do evil ().

He is the God of mercy and justice, of goodness and wrath.

What is God like? What kind of God do we worship?

If we think of Him as only a God of love, or only a God of wrath, our worship and our service will be wrong.

Therefore, it is very important for us to know what the true God is like.

The Book of Books:

The word “Bible” comes from “Ta Biblia,” Greek for “the books” ().

It is a collection of 66 books contained in the Old and New Testaments.

They make one perfect book, the complete revelation of God’s will for man.

Division of the Old Testament: The thirty-nine books of the O.T. are divided into five groups:

The Books of Law (Pentateuch)- Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy.

The Twelve Books of History- Joshua-Esther.

The Five Poetical Books-Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes.

The Five Major Books of Prophecy- Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel.

The Twelve Minor Prophets- Hosea- Malachi.

It should be understood that these divisions are general, and that the books of law are also historical, and that the poetry have prophecies found in them and in the books of history as well. That is why the Hebrew Bible divides it differently.

Divisions of the Hebrew Bible: The Hebrew Bible contains the same material, but in a different arrangement.

The Law- The same five books as the Old Testament arrangement.

The Prophets- Joshua-Kings, and 15 books of prophecy.

The Writings- Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Ruth, Song of Solomon…and the rest of the books not in the other two categories.

Why Study the Old Testament?

The Old Testament gives us an explanation of how the universe and all things began ().

It tells us who we are, where we came from, and in whose image we are made ().

It explains the Origin of sin and man’s need for a Savior.

In , God tells Adam, “Of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” God was not only talking about physical death here, but spiritually as well.

In , Adam and Eve sinned against the Lord when the “ate” of the tree. As a result, they died spiritually and were separated from God.

Therefore, man needed a Savior, Jesus Chris (Genesis 3:15).

It gives the historical background necessary for understanding the New Testament.

Many New Testament passages cannot be explained without a knowledge of the Old Testament, for example:

Consider , “Here mortal men receive tithes, but there he receives them, of whom it is witnessed that he lives. Even Levi, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, so to speak, for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him. Therefore, if perfection were through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need was there that another priest should rise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not be called according to the order of Aaron?”

Without the knowledge of the Old Testament, you may wonder...

Consider , “

Who is Levi, Aaron and Melchizedek?

What is the Levitical priesthood? What is the order of Melchizedek?

The Old Testament answers these questions.

Many “types” were given in the Old Testament to explain their anti-types in the New Testament, for example:

Christ is our Passover: Well what is a Passover?

The atoning sacrifice of His blood: What is that? The sacrifice that was sprinkled on the Ark and Mercy seat.

The tabernacle: It represents “God’s dwelling” place in the Old Testament, but for the new, it represents the Church.

The priesthood: In the Old Testament, they were those who offered the sacrifices to God, but in the new, it represents all Christians.

The Old Testament gives us many eternal principles such as the love of God, faith, obedience to God, God’s concern and care for man, His supreme authority over all nations.

It helps us to see the majesty and grandeur, the power and wisdom of God.

The Old Testament gives us many graphic life stories designed to warn us against evil and guide us toward right and good.

It convinces us of the inspiration of scriptures and Deity of Christ through its fulfilled prophecies.

Purposes of the Old Testament?

The examples of those who lived under the law were written for our learning (; ).

Consider , “For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.”

Consider , “Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.”

They testify to the Deity of Christ (2; ).

Consider , “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.”

John 1:14

begins with, “In the beginning GOD created the heavens and the earth.”

John goes on to tell us in , “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”

They help us understand principles of righteousness (; ; ; ; ).

Faith and Obedience of Abraham: Consider the , “Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God. You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.”

Patience of Job: Consider , “Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord—that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.”

Courage of Elijah, moral purity of Joseph, the consequences of disobedience of Saul ().

The Jewish covenant of the Old Testament served the purpose of making the Jews know sin (: ) and bring them to Christ ().

Consider , “What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, “You shall not covet.”

tells us the same thing, but it adds in verses 23-25, “But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.”

The law foreshadowed many New Testament institutions (; ).

, “For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect.”

, “…You also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”

Christ lived under the dispensation of the law of Moses ().

Consider , ““Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”

In His death, as the perfect offering for sin, He fulfilled the law and “took it out of the way, nailing it to the cross” (; ).

, “For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.”

Conclusion: