What Are Some Key Points to Keep in Mind as We Study the Old Testament?

***The bulk of this information was paraphrased from Jensen's Survey of the Old Testament.*** 

 A. God always acts in conformity to His nature.

Many of God's character traits are to be found in the OT. Even though there are passages in the OT that seem to contradict God's innate personage, we must remember that His knowledge far surpasses ours. Also, we must remember that despite our inability to understand fully the reasons and logic behind certain actions that we see God take in the OT, He is still sovereign and unchanging.

B. All history is in God's control.

Every event that occurs in history, is allowed or caused to happen by God.

C. Israel was God's divinely called and favored nation.

God chose and called Abraham to be the father of the nation through which God would later bless the whole world. This was not an act of favoritism, this was simply an act of grace (unmerited favor) toward Abraham. There was no reason for God to not show favor toward Abraham, He wasn't being unfair by not doing the same for everyone else because none of them, including Abraham, deserved God's grace.

D. God wanted to use Israel as His channel of communication to the rest of the world.

Evangelism is the purpose for which believers are still on earth. God desires to use saved humans in order to witness to unsaved humans. Israel, to a very great extent, failed this objective during its existence in OT times, and so God was not able to use Israel to the extent that He otherwise probably would have had they been more in line with what He asked of them.

E. Redemption is the key subject of the OT revelation.

There are many important doctrines contained in the pages of the first two thirds of the Bible, but the most important of these is the redemption of mankind through the blood of Christ. One of the reasons for studying the OT is to learn a framework, a foundation, for study of the NT. The OT revelations regarding redemption (of animals, people, nations, etc.) are all building up to the completion of God's redemptive work in His Son. We are learning the roots, the beginning of the redemptive story when we study through the OT.

F. The OT constantly points forward to the coming Savior and King, who is Jesus Christ.

It follows that if Redemption is the hot topic of the OT, and Christ is the fulfillment and means of redemption, then Christ is also a major topic in the OT. Christ does not lead a physical life in the OT as He does in the NT, but there are many types or examples of Christ scattered throughout the OT the point forward to a perfected example in the person and deity of Jesus Christ.

G. Miracles in OT times were one of God's ways to reveal Himself.

Jesus used miracles in the NT to prove that He was the Son of God come to earth. In the OT, God used miracles in order to convince men and nations that He was the King of kings and Lord of lords; there was (and is) no other true God.

H. There is a progression of revelation in the Bible.

As we progress from Genesis through to Revelation, we see a distinct cycle of doctrine being revealed. Each book builds on the ones before itself. As we study through the OT, we must be careful not to squish OT stories into NT doctrine, or remain in an OT mindset as we study the NT. Yet we must also be careful to remember that it all agrees and that the doctrines are consistent in Scripture. We must just remember to neither write between the lines nor overlook a line.

I. The OT is God's voice to us today, ancient as the book is.

The OT was inspired by a God who does not change and is ever relevant, so also must His Word to us be. "[I]t is correct to say that all spiritual lessons derived from passages in the OT have something to say, directly or indirectly, about these two timeless, vital life truths: way to God, or walk with God."