Sermon Tone Analysis

What OT Laws Apply to Us Today?

This is a question asked by many, both in the Church and in society as a whole.

Tad touched on this briefly in his LGBTQ series that he finished last week because the answer to today’s question has a lot of bearing on that issue.

While I am going to try to answer that question as best I can today, before I get to it I want to briefly touch on the OT as a whole so we set the foundation for what we are talking about and where it is located.

When most non-churched people think about the OT, they think about eating apples, crazy huge floods, parting seas and, a whole lot of “thou shalls” and “thou shall nots.”

This is unfortunate.

So, before we talk about the “thou shalls” and the “thou shall nots” I want to make sure we have a basic understanding of what is in the OT.

The OT, or probably better said, the Hebrew Bible, is a collection of 39 writings by about 32 authors (remember Moses for the first 5; David, Sons of Korah, etc for Psalms) over time period of approximately 1200 years (give or take a some centuries based on the scholar analyzing the timeline).

1.

What is the OT

a. 4 Main Genre’s of writing (and a few minor genre’s like apocalyptic writings)

i.

The Law

1. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy

ii.

History

1. Joshua, Judges, Ruth, Samuel (1&2), Kings (1&2), Chronicles (1&2), Ezra-Nehemiah, Esther

iii.

Poetry (Or Writings)

1. Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs

iv.

Prophets

1. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi

Just like you wouldn’t pick up a Stephen King novel and expect it to read like a biology textbook, each of these genres have a similar pattern or framework for what we find in them:

b.

Prophets

i.

What to we expect to see?

1. Rebuke of Israel

2. Pronouncement of Judgement

3. Future Hope

a. Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign.

Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

(Isa 7:14)

b.

There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.

And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.

And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD.

He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear, but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.

Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins.

The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them.

The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den.

They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.

In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.

(Isa 11:1-10)

c. “I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him.

And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.

(Dan 7:13-14)

d. “At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people.

And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time.

But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book.

And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.

And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.

(Dan 12:1-3)

c.

Poetry

i.

What do we expect to see?

1. Praise of God

a. Praise the LORD!

Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens!

Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness!

Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp!

Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe!

Praise him with sounding cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals!

Let everything that has breath praise the LORD!

Praise the LORD!

(Psa 150:1-6)

2. Wisdom for life

a.

The end of the matter; all has been heard.

Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.

For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.

(Ecc 12:13-14)

3. Future Hope

c.

Who has ascended to heaven and come down?

Who has gathered the wind in his fists?

Who has wrapped up the waters in a garment?

Who has established all the ends of the earth?

What is his name, and what is his son's name?

Surely you know!

Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.

(Pro 30:4-5)

d.

History

i.

What do we expect to see?

1. Story of Israel

2. God working in the world

a.

A Future Hope

Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples, but if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there I will gather them and bring them to the place that I have chosen, to make my name dwell there.’

(Neh 1:8-9)

e.

The Law (Torah)

i.

What do we expect to see?

1. Laws! Right?

(Yes & No)