The Essence of the Old Testament

Ed Hindson, Gary Yates, Ed Hindson, Gary Yates

• Publisher: B&H Books
• Year: 2012
• ISBN:
  9781433677502
• Topic: Theologie & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblische Studien

The Essence of the Old Testament surveys the books from Genesis to Malachi. Based on thirty years of scholarly research and classroom teaching, a team of biblical scholars from Liberty University provides a practical, readable, and insightful introduction to the Hebrew Scriptures in canonical order.This uniquely illustrated, full-color volume features book introductions, background studies, outlines, surveys, theological concepts, practical applications, study questions, and helpful Hebrew word studies for English readers.Editors Ed Hindson and Gary Yates draw from a lifetime of teaching to provide a well tested and proven Old Testament overview written at the collegiate level, yet appropriate for pastors, scholars, and laymen alike. They represent the finest evangelical scholarship along with a passion to open windows of spiritual and practical insight into the biblical text.This exciting new survey of the Scriptures highlights the key elements of the Hebrew literature of the Law, the Prophets, and the Poets of the Old Testament. The history, archaeology, and wisdom of the biblical world are revealed with an eye on the application of their moral principles, theological insights, and practical application to today's world.

Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION

The Essence of the Old Testament

The Old Testament is a collection of 39 books that tell God's story. It is the story of His love for His people, not only the chosen people of Israel but all people worldwide. In the pages of these amazing books, one encounters a plethora of humanity: patriarchs, kings, queens, priests, merchants, farmers, warriors, women, children, prostitutes, saints and sinners, the godly and the ungodly. They are all there, each playing a significant role in God's story. Alec Motyer says they are "larger than life and yet intensely human, belonging to the distant past and yet portrayed with such vividness and relevance" that their stories come alive, just like people today.1

What is amazing about the Old Testament is the stark reality of these stories. This is not a collection of sanctified mythology that glosses over the faults of its heroes. Instead, the men and women of the Old Testament are portrayed as they really were, no holds barred. Philip Yancey observes, "In its pages you will find passionate stories of love and hate, blood-chilling stories of rape and dismemberment, matter-of-fact accounts of trafficking in slaves, honest tales of the high honor and cruel treachery of war."2

If you are unfamiliar with the contents of these 39 books, get prepared for some of the most exciting, challenging, and disturbing reading of your entire life. The human drama that encompasses the greater story of God's love will challenge your faith, blow your mind, and bless your soul. The personal narratives, national histories, passionate poetry, and predictive prophecies combine to weave the tapestry of the Old Testament. Jean-Pierre Isbouts notes that the principle thesis of the Hebrew Bible is the story of people who "were led, admonished, and ultimately saved by the power of one God, the creator of the universe, a Being passionately devoted to moral and social justice."3

THE CHARACTER OF GOD

The acts of God in the Hebrew Scriptures reveal the character of God. They portray Him not as an impersonal force but as a personal Being who sees each person's problems, hears their cries, is concerned about this sinful world, and, therefore, "comes down" to intervene in humanity's darkest hours. He walks in the garden, like a parent, calling: "Adam, where are you?" (Gen 3:9, author's translation). He appears to Moses in the burning bush, telling him that He is concerned about the Israelites' suffering, therefore, He has come down to rescue them (Exod 3:7–8). He stands at the foot of the bed of the boy Samuel, calling him by name, commissioning him to be His prophet (1 Sam 3:10). He requires those who claim His name to "act justly, to love faithfulness, and to walk humbly" with Him (Mic 6:8). He grieves over sin and condemns evil (Gen 6:6–8). Yet He extends grace and favor (Hb., hen) and shows loving-kindness (chesed) beyond anything that can be earned, merited, or deserved.

To the casual reader God's love seems to be extended to men like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and David. It also seems, at first glance, that His love is only for the people of Israel and no one else. But one need only read deeper into the pages of this incredible love story to discover that His love impacts the lives of the women and foreigners who intersect its pages. In these stories one will encounter Tamar, the Canaanite mother of Judah's sons (Gen 38:6); Asenath, Joseph's Egyptian wife, the mother of Ephraim and Manasseh (Gen 41:45–52); Jethro, the priest of Midian and his daughter Zipporah, Moses' Midianite wife (Exod 3:16–21); Rahab, the Canaanite harlot, who married into the messianic line (Josh 2:1; 5:25; Matt 1:5); as did the godly Moabite named Ruth, the great-grandmother of King David (Ruth 4:13–22); Bathsheba, David's mistress, then his wife and mother of Solomon (2 Sam 11:3–4,27; 12:24); Hiram, the king of Tyre, who supplied the materials to build the temple (1 Kgs 5:1–12); and Ebed-melech, an African Cushite who saved the prophet Jeremiah's life (Jer 38:7–13).

From the opening pages of the Old Testament in the book of Genesis to the last verse of Malachi, men and women, Israelites and foreigners are encountering God. His existence is assumed to be a self-evident reality. No attempt is made at an apologetic defense. The biblical text simply announces: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (Gen 1:1). He speaks creation into existence by fiat and pronounces it "good" (1:31). He creates human beings in His own image (Hb., tselem) and likeness (demuth) to have a relationship with Him and to rule the creation on His behalf (Gen 1:26–31).

THE PROMISE OF HOPE

But with the entrance of sin came spiritual and physical death, the corruption of the human race, and the long, difficult history of fallen humanity (Genesis 3). At every turn of the drama that follows in the ancient Hebrew text, God shows up. He makes the first sacrifice, sheds the first blood, and gives Eve the first prophetic promise of the Bible—the seed of the woman would ultimately crush the head of the serpent, Satan (Gen 3:15). No details were given, only a word of hope for the distant future. The fact that Eve assumed her firstborn son was probably that "seed' indicates she expected a literal human being to fulfill the promise.

But that was only the beginning. As the years rolled by and the reader turns the pages of the Old Testament Scriptures, the attentive person soon discovers that God is narrowing the field so that ultimately only one Person will fulfill this promise. He will not be any human being but a son of Abraham (Gen 12:1–3). He will not be a son of Ishmael but of Isaac (Gen 17:18–19). He w...