To the Testaments — Once Again
One of the visitors to the site, David Mosley, responded to my reflections on the importance of using the Old Testament to understand Revelation. You may recall that I argued that consulting the Old Testament is not an option, it is required. David commented about how we seem to fail to appreciate and understand the Old Testament. He wrote: “I grew up in a church of Christ where the Old Testament was good mainly for two things: 1. Look only at passages that refer to Jesus. 2. For good “Bible Stories” for us to learn.” He concluded by noting that he remembers a statement frequently made: “We are a New Testament church.” Such a declaration needs to be challenged. If we really believe that then we are denying the authoritativeness of God’s Holy Word.
A few months ago I received a complimentary copy of a book by one of my former teachers, Dr. Ronald Heine. The other evening I began Reading the Old Testament with the Ancient Church: Exploring the Formation of Early Christian Thought (Baker, 2007). In the preface Ron connected with me when he observed on p. 11:
I am part of an evangelical tradition that began in the nineteenth century with the dream of restoring the church of the New Testament. The leaders of this tradition placed a great emphasis on the New Testament but neglected the Old. They failed to perceive that the Old Testament was the Bible of the church of the New Testament. Many evangelical communions make that same error. None of them, including my own, would claim that the Old Testament is not Scripture or that it should not be a part of the Christian canon. Its vital connection with the church’s gospel of Jesus Christ, however, is rarely understood today and even less frequently taught in the church.
Let me repeat: The Old Testament’s vital connection with the message of the Book of Revelation cannot be over-emphasized. If I use the Old Testament to understand Revelation, then I will see how John’s writing is indeed timeless. If I use the newspaper headlines to interpret the various passages in the last book of the New Testament, then its meaning will never be captured. Every book of the Old Testament save Esther and Ruth are explicitly echoed in Revelation. That should say something to us, shouldn’t it?
If you want to get serious about the study of Revelation you must take a look at the book edited by D.A. Carson and G.K. Beale, Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2008), specifically pp. 1081-1161 and Beale’s outstanding commentary, The Book of Revelation: A Commentary on the Greek Text – New International Greek Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998). Oh, how I wish that Beale would write an abridged edition so that it would be available to preachers and teachers!
To the Testaments again and again, and not only with regard to Revelation but for every other writing in the New Testament canon.
Thanks, David. And thank you God for your Holy Word.
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Dr. Lowery,
Oh how much I appreciate both yours and David’s comments. I recall teaching a Sunday School lesson on Matthew chapter 5, and when i began to teach on verses 17-20, someone challenged me by asking if I was trying to say that the Old Testament was absolute truth. I looked bewildered at them, and gave a pretty firm “yes!” I didn’t see them in class again.
Why are we so afraid of the Old Testament? What is it that makes us want to stick to the last 27 books of the Bible? By doing so we miss out on a treasure trove of biblical connections. When we base oursleves as “New Testament” churches, we miss out on who Jesus really was. He was Jewish, as were the original apostles. The heritage of our faith and the basis for the New Testament is found in Genesis through Malachi. If we neglect to understand it at all, then we often misinterpret what our New Testament authors meant to convey.
All that to say, Amen! Though I still do not understand the Old Testament as well as I would like, I have been given the grace to understand the need for Old Testament literacy in order to really grasp the New Testament. To the Jew first, then to the Gentile; let us not forget that.
Gary,
I certainly agree with what you said, though I would make one point. To the Jew first, then to the Gentile, but not be the Jew first and then the Christian.
It is amazing to me how often going to extremes gets us into trouble. While I have often seen churches cling to and only to the NT and forsake the OT, I have seen individuals who cling to the OT and nearly forsake the NT. I’ve seen them with the tassels on their shirts, refusing to touch food that has been defiled. Why is it the middle path has come through as at least seeming like the right path? Maybe I’m seeing things that aren’t there, but maybe we need just need to stop overacting and over-reacting to the problems of the past. I really wish more people, myself certainly included, could take more of the good out everything, not just the familiar, not just the Christian, but everything.