A SURVEY OF THE BIBLE
(“An Introduction To The Old Testament”)
John 5:39-40 and Luke 24:44-47 (NASU)
SOME OPENING REMARKS REGARDING
TONIGHT’S SCRIPTURE LESSONS
(1) I’m going to read two brief passages of Scripture this evening, as background for our “Introduction to the Old Testament”. However, they both come from the New Testament – starting with Jesus’ words to some unbelieving Jews in John Chapter Five, verses thirty-nine and forty, where He said:
39“You search THE SCRIPTURES because you think that in them you have eternal life; (and) it is these (i.e. these Scriptures you are searching) that testify about Me; 40… (yet) you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have (eternal) life” (c.f. John 5:39-40).
Today we usually interpret Jesus’ reference to “the Scriptures” (in verse thirty-nine) as a reference to BOTH the Old and New Testaments – and rightly so, since both do “testify about Him” (v. 39). However, when our Savior first spoke the words found in these verses, He was referring specifically to the Old Testament1 – because those were the only God-inspired “Scriptures” (v. 39) at that time (c.f. II Timothy 3:16) – seeing as how none of the New Testament books had yet been written.
Note, then, that our Lord said the people in His audience were looking for salvation in the right place, because the way of “eternal life” (v. 39) – which the New Testament tells us comes through faith in Christ (c.f. Acts 16:31; Romans 10:9) – can be found in the Old Testament! Unfortunately, many of these same Jews failed to believe that Jesus of Nazareth was the One to whom “the Scriptures” (v. 39) of the Old Testament pointed.
(2) Next, I want to read from Luke chapter twenty-four, starting at verse forty-four, where Jesus is speaking once again – this time to His disciples, during one His post-resurrection appearances – and says:
44“‘These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me IN THE LAW OF MOSES AND THE PROPHETS AND THE PSALMS must be fulfilled.’ 45Then He opened their minds to understand THE SCRIPTURES, 46and … said to them, ‘Thus it is written (i.e. written in the Scriptures) that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, 47and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem” (c.f. Luke 24:44-47).
Once again, while it’s true the New Testament clearly speaks “about” Jesus (v. 44) – “about” His “sufferings”, His “resurrection from the dead on the third day”, and the necessity of preaching “repentance for the forgiveness of sins in His name” (vs. 46-47) – in this instance, there can be no mistake that when Jesus referred to “the Scriptures” (in verse forty-five), He was referring specifically to the Old Testament. And one reason we know that, is because (in verse forty-four) He spoke of its division into, “the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms” (v. 44) – which clearly describes (or summarizes) the various groupings of writings found in the Old Testament, but doesn’t even come close to describing what’s found in the New.
We’ll talk more about the divisions of the Old Testament in a moment. Right now, I simply want you to see that Jesus said (in verse forty-four) that there are many “things written about Him” in the Old Testament “Law”, in books of the Old Testament “Prophets”, and even in the Old Testament Book of “Psalms” (v. 44).
Note, too, that He said (in verses forty-six and forty-seven) that there are many places IN THE OLD TESTAMENT that speak about His “sufferings” and death – about His “resurrection from the dead on the third day” – and about the necessity of “repentance for the forgiveness of sins”. In other words, there are many places in the Old Testament that speak about what we call “the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ”! Furthermore, Jesus said the Old Testament indicates these things would be “proclaimed in His name to all the nations” of the earth (vs. 46-47)!
(3) In both of tonight’s Scripture lessons, then, our Lord Himself underscores a point we made last time – namely that, even though the Bible as a whole touches on a wide variety of topics,2 related to both our physical and spiritual well-being – and even though it tells us a great deal about who God is, and what He is like2 – the central message of “the Scriptures” as a whole (c.f. John 5:39; Luke 24:45) – INCLUDING THE OLD TESTAMENT – is that of redemption, through the Person and Work of Jesus Christ! Hence, one writer said, “the Bible is about Christ from beginning to end”5 – and that, “the task of interpreting any particular passage of Scripture is not complete until we have related it to the Bible’s central message of salvation through Jesus Christ.”6
A FEW BASIC FACTS ABOUT THE OLD TESTAMENT
(1) Having said that, then, we start with some basic facts about the Old Testament – like the fact it contains thirty-nine books – starting with the Book of Genesis, and ending with the Book of Malachi. (a) These books are arranged (more or less) in historical order. In other words, the subject matter starts at “the beginning”, with the creation of the universe in Genesis chapter one (c.f. Genesis 1:1) – and closes (many hundreds of years later) with a prophetic promise (in the last two chapters of the Book of Malachi) that a special “messenger” will precede the coming of God’s Messiah (c.f. Malachi 3:1; 4:5-6) – a prophecy that was fulfilled some four hundred years later, with the arrival of John the Baptist (c.f. Luke 1:76; Matthew 11:14), prior to the first coming of Christ.3
Even though the books of the Old Testament are generally arranged in historical order, there is some occasional repetition and even backtracking. For example, we find King Hezekiah’s illness, and God’s subsequent restoration of his health, recorded in both the Book of Second Kings and the Book of Isaiah (compare II Kings 20 and Isaiah 38-39) – even though they are separated by ten other books. We also find that some of David’s psalms were written much earlier historically than they first appear to have been, given their location in Scripture (compare Psalm 34 and I Samuel 21)
(b) This leads us to the fact that, the books of the Old Testament are not necessarily arranged in the order in which they were written. For example, many think the Book of Job was written first,4 before Moses wrote the Book of Genesis – even though the latter is located at the beginning of the Old Testament, while the former is located roughly in the middle. Likewise, some think the Books of Esther and Nehemiah were among the last to be written4 – even though they both appear roughly in the first one-third of the Old Testament.
(c) The longest book in the Old Testament is Psalms, with one hundred fifty chapters – the shortest is Obadiah, which consists of one chapter with twenty-one verses. The longest chapter in the Old Testament is Psalm One Hundred Nineteen, which has one hundred seventy-six verses – while the shortest is Psalm One Hundred Seventeen, which only has two.
(2) One important thing to keep in mind when reading and studying the Old Testament, is that it contains many different kinds of literature19 – from poetry to proverbs – prophecy to parables – historical narratives, to genealogies, to long lists of laws. It also contains many different figures of speech19 – from metaphors to hyperbole – similes to personifications – understatements to parallelisms.
(a) The point is that each of these different kinds of literature – as well each of these various figures of speech – must be recognized for what they are, AND interpreted accordingly. Hence, for example, we should never interpret a poetic passage the same way we interpret a historical narrative – nor should we take every figure of speech literally, as though God (for example) actually has “wings” (c.f. Psalm 91:4), which He does not. Or that in the days of Moses, the cities of Canaan had walls that “reached to the skies” (c.f. Deuteronomy 2:18, NIV), which they did not (rather, this is an example of what’s called hyperbole, or deliberate exaggeration). To fail to recognize the kind of literature we are reading – or to interpret figures of speech literally – is often at the root of many errors in doctrine, and many more misinterpretations of particular passages of Scripture.
(b) Am I saying, then, that we should NOT interpret the Old Testament “literally”? I would never say that! We SHOULD interpret all Scripture, including the Old Testament, as literally as possible!
To do that, however, we must take into account the type of literature we are reading, as well as the figures of speech being used – so that we interpret Scripture according to what R. C. Sproul calls, “the normal rules of grammar, speech, syntax and context.”20 In other words, we must interpret history as history – poetry as poetry – and proverbs as proverbs. Moreover, we must recognize hyperbole for what it is – metaphors for what they are – and similes for what they are. The thing we must NOT do is interpret historical narratives (for example) as though they were allegories – or prophetic passages in the Book of Daniel the same way we interpret the Ten Commandments.
To interpret the Old Testament literally, we must first recognize the various forms of literature and figures of speech contained there in – and then seek to explain whatever passage we are studying accordingly.
(3) As far as the divisions of the Old Testament are concerned – (a) it’s interesting to note that in tonight’s Scripture lesson from Luke Chapter Twenty-Four, Jesus divided the Old Testament into three broad categories – namely, “the Law of Moses … the Prophets and the Psalms” (c.f. Luke 24:44). As it turns out, this was a common way to divide the Old Testament in our Savior’s day7 – with “the Law of Moses” referring primarily to the first five books of the Old Testament (i.e. Genesis through Deuteronomy) – “the Psalms” referring primarily to the five poetic books of Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon – and “the Prophets” encompassing all the rest, including books you and I wouldn’t necessarily label “prophetic”, like Judges and Ruth.
(b) A more frequent division found in Scripture, however, simply divides the Old Testament into “the Law and the Prophets” – hence, in a verse commonly known today as “the Golden Rule”, Jesus said: “In everything … treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is (in other words, ‘this sums up’) THE LAW AND THE PROPHETS” (c.f. Matthew 7:12). In another place, when asked, 36“which is the great commandment in the Law?”, Jesus answered: 37“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind … (and) 39You shall love your neighbor as yourself” – after which He went on to add: 40“On these two commandments depend THE whole LAW AND THE PROPHETS” (c.f. Matthew 22:36-40) (see also Luke 16:16; Acts 13:15; Romans 3:21).
In these instances, “the Law” probably refers to the first five books of the Old Testament (i.e. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy) – while the term “prophets” probably takes in everything else (from Joshua through Malachi).
(c) In both cases, however, the point is that these divisions (as used in Scripture) refer to the Old Testament in its entirety – that is, to all thirty-nine books, regardless of how they are arranged or grouped (because they haven’t always been arranged or grouped the way we have them today). Hence, when Jesus talked about “all (the) things which (were) written about (Him) in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms” (c.f. Luke 24:44), He was simply saying that EVERY PART of the Old Testament bears witness to Him in some manner.8 Likewise, when He referred simply to “the Law and the Prophets” (c.f. Matthew 7:12; etc.), He had the ENTIRE Old Testament in mind – from Genesis to Malachi!
(d) Around 200 B.C., the Old Testament (which was originally written in Hebrew, and just a little Aramaic)3 was translated into Greek. This translation (known as the Septuagint) essentially gave us the arrangement and divisions we are familiar with today9 – those divisions being, first of all, the LAW, which includes the first five books of the Old Testament, from Genesis through Deuteronomy – then HISTORY, which encompasses the next twelve books, from Joshua through Esther – followed by POETRY, which includes five books, starting with Job and ending with the Song of Solomon – and finally, PROPHECY, which includes the last seventeen books of the Old Testament, from Isaiah through Malachi.10
This last group of books is sometimes divided further, into the Major and Minor Prophets – with the Major Prophets consisting of five books, from Isaiah through Daniel – and the Minor Prophets consisting of the remaining twelve books, starting with Hosea and ending with Malachi.
(4) The Holy Spirit is, of course, the Divine Author of ALL Scripture (c.f. II Peter 1:20-21) – including every book found in the Old Testament. (a) At the same time, however, it’s also true that He chose to work through various human authors, enabling them to write the thirty-nine books of the Old Testament. Hence, Peter talked about 10“the prophets (of old) who prophesied (about) the grace that would come … 11(doing so BY THE) SPIRIT OF CHRIST within them …” (c.f. I Peter 1:10-11) – while Jesus said “David” was being led by “THE HOLY SPIRIT” when he wrote Psalm One Hundred Ten, which opens with these words: “The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at My right hand, until I put Your enemies beneath Your feet’” (c.f. Psalm 110:1; Mark 12:35-36). As a matter of fact, toward the end of his life, David said (in reference to many of his psalms): “THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD SPOKE BY ME, and His word was on my tongue” (c.f. II Samuel 23:1-2).
(b) The human authors used by God the Holy Spirit to write the various books of the Old Testament came from all walks of life – including kings, prophets, and priests3 – one or two government officials – and even some shepherds.
For example, both David and Solomon were KINGS (c.f. I Kings 2:11; 4:1) – yet David wrote many of the psalms found in the Psalter (II Samuel 23:1; see also the headings to various psalms, like Psalms 3-9) – while Solomon is believed to have written the books of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon (c.f. Proverbs 1:1; Ecclesiastes 1:1; Song of Solomon 1:1).
PROPHETS like Isaiah and Jeremiah, Jonah and Nahum, Daniel and Zechariah wrote (or were at least responsible for the content of) the books that bear their respective names (c.f. Isaiah 1:1; Jeremiah 1:1; Jonah 1:1; Nahum 1:1; Daniel 7:1; 8:1; Zechariah 1:1). In Daniel’s case, however, it’s interesting to note that he spent far more time serving as a GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL in a foreign country than he did prophesying or writing prophetic books (see Daniel 1:17-21; 6:1-3)
“Ezra the PRIEST” (c.f. Ezra 7:11-12; Nehemiah 8:2, 9) is thought to have written the books of Ezra and Nehemiah11 – while the authorship of the Book of Ezekiel is clearly attributed to “Ezekiel the PRIEST” (c.f. Ezekiel 1:1-3).
David was, of course, a SHEPHERD long before he became King of Israel (c.f. I Samuel 16:11-12) – while Amos, author of the book that bears his name, was a “(SHEEPHERDER) from Tekoa” (c.f. Amos 1:1).
(c) We will talk more about the authors of each individual Old Testament book as we work our way through this series. For now, I just want you to see that the men used by the Holy Spirit to write these books came from a wide variety of social backgrounds and personal histories. For example, Moses was a murderer and fugitive (c.f. Exodus 2:11-15) – Daniel was an exile in a foreign land, and later an official in a pagan government (c.f. Daniel 1:1-6; 6:1-3) – Hosea married a prostitute, who proved to be unfaithful (c.f. Hosea 1:2-3; 3:1-3) – while Jonah deliberately disobeyed the Lord, when told to go to Nineveh and cry out against it (c.f. Jonah 1:1-3).
Though some were better than others, none of the men whom the Holy Spirit used to write the various parts of the Old Testament were free from sin – which makes the accuracy and inerrancy of their writings all the more remarkable – and brings God greater glory, for having been able to put the Old Testament together, using such weak and defective “tools” (c.f. II Corinthians 12:9)!
(C) JESUS IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
(1) The name “Jesus” appears over nine hundred times in the Bible – but not once in the Old Testament.12 The title “Christ” appears almost five hundred times in the Bible – but not once in the Old Testament.13 How then could Jesus say (in the Gospel of John) that the Old Testament “Scriptures” “testified about Him” (c.f. John 5:39)? How could He say (in Luke’s Gospel) that there are many “things … written about (Him) in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms” (c.f. Luke 24:44)?
One writer says He could do so because, “the Old Testament as a whole, through its promises, its symbols, and its pictures of salvation, looks forward to the actual accomplishment of salvation that took place once-for-all through Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection ...”14
(2) For example, there are numerous prophecies in the Old Testament that were fulfilled by Jesus (some say over three hundred)15 – from the place of His birth, in Bethlehem (c.f. Micah 5:2) – to the manner of His death, which was by crucifixion (c.f. Psalm 22:16-18). From His lineage as a descendant of both Abraham and David (c.f. Genesis 22:18; Jeremiah 23:5) – to His entrance into the city of Jerusalem riding a donkey (c.f. Zechariah 9:9). From His being betrayed into the hand of his enemies for thirty pieces of silver (c.f. Zechariah 11:12) – to standing silent before His accusers (c.f. Isaiah 53:7). From being hated without cause (c.f. Psalm 69:4) – to His ascension into heaven (c.f. Psalm 66:18).
It is statistically impossible that one man could fulfill over three hundred prophecies (as Jesus did), and not be God’s promised Savior. Hence, He was right when He told the Jews (in John Chapter Five): “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; (and) it is these that testify about Me” (c.f. John 5:39). Indeed, we could say that all the prophecies found in the Old Testament (regarding God’s promised Messiah) have been “written down, so that we might believe Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God – and that by believing we might have eternal life in His name” (c.f. John 20:31).
(3) The Old Testament also speaks of Jesus through various types – with a “type” being defined as an illustration or pre-figuring, a foreshadowing or picture of something (or in this case, Someone who is) to come.16
The Old Testament is full of types that point to Christ. Some are people, like Melchizadek or Isaac (c.f. Psalm 110:4; Genesis 22:2) – while other are things, like the veil in the temple, or Noah’s Ark (Hebrews 10:19-20; 11:7). Still other types are events, like the crossing of the Red Sea (c.f. Exodus 14:29-30) – or a ceremony, such as the Passover (c.f. I Corinthians 5:7).
Each “type” is like a piece of a larger puzzle, that when taken together gives us a picture of the Person and Work of God’s promised Savior – and points us to Jesus of Nazareth as that Savior.16
(4) But, is Jesus really at the center of Old Testament Scripture? Can references to Him be found from Genesis to Malachi – whether they be prophecies or types – promises or pictures? Consider the following sampling of Old Testament allusions to Christ, book by book.17 For example –
in Genesis, He is the Seed of the woman (c.f. Genesis
3:15) –
in Exodus, our Passover lamb (c.f. Exodus 12:21) –
in Leviticus, our burnt offering (c.f. Leviticus 1:3) –
and in Numbers, the bronze serpent to whom we must
look if we are to be saved (c.f. Numbers 21:4-9; John 3:14-15).
In Deuteronomy He is the Prophet who will be like
Moses (c.f. Deuteronomy 18:15, 18) –
in Joshua, Rahab’s scarlet cord (c.f. Joshua 2:18) –
in Judges, the One who delivers us from the oppression
of our enemies (c.f. Judges 3:9) –
and in Ruth, our Kinsman-Redeemer (c.f. Ruth 3:9, NIV).
In First and Second Samuel, He is the Son who will sit
on David’s throne forever (c.f. II Samuel 7:12-13) –
in Kings and Chronicles, He is our reigning King (c.f. I
Chronicles 18:14) –
in Ezra, the Priest who teaches us God’s laws (c.f. Ezra
7:10) –
and in the Book of Nehemiah, the One who rebuilds the
broken walls of our life (c.f. Nehemiah 6:1).
In Esther He is our Advocate before the throne of God
(c.f. Esther 5:1-3) –
in Job, our ever-living Redeemer (c.f. Job 19:25) –
in Psalms, our faithful Shepherd (c.f. Psalm 23:1) –
and in Proverbs, our perfect wisdom (c.f. Proverbs
8:11).
In Ecclesiastes, He is the One who gives meaning to
Life, in a world filled with vanity (c.f. Ecclesiastes 1:2) –
in the Song of Solomon, He is our Beloved bride-groom
(c.f. Song of Solomon 2:16) –
in Isaiah, the Prince of Peace (c.f. Isaiah 9:6) –
and in Jeremiah, the Righteous Branch (c.f. Jeremiah
33:15).
In Lamentations, He is the man who has seen affliction,
and felt the rod of God’s wrath (c.f. Lamentations 3:1) –
in Ezekiel, the true Son of Man (c.f. Ezekiel 2:1-3;
Luke 7:34) –
in Daniel, the great stone that crushes the kingdoms of
this world (c.f. Daniel 2:34-35) –
and in Hosea, the faithful husband who redeems back
his unfaithful wife (c.f. Hosea).
In Joel, He is the One who judges the nations of the
earth (c.f. Joel 3:12) –
in Amos, the One who restores His captive people
(c.f. Amos 9:14) –
in Obadiah, the rightful possessor of the kingdom (c.f.
Obadiah 1:21) –
and in Jonah, the One whose life is brought up from the
pit after three days and three nights (c.f. Jonah 2:6).
In Micah, He is the Ruler who comes forth from
Bethlehem (c.f. Micah 5:2) –
in Nahum, the One whose anger no one can withstand
(c.f. Nahum 1:6) –
in Habakkuk, the God of our salvation in whom we are
to rejoice (c.f. Habakkuk 3:18) –
and in Zephaniah, the victorious warrior (c.f. Zephaniah
3:17).
In Haggai, He is the One who is with us in our work
(c.f. Haggai 2:4) –
in Zechariah, the One who builds the temple of the Lord
(c.f. Zechariah 6:12) –
and in Malachi, the One whom the Lord’s special
messenger will precede (c.f. Malachi 3:1).
(5) We may not find Christ in every verse – or even every chapter of the Old Testament – but we will certainly find Him in every book, either by way of prophecy or promise, type or picture. As one writer said: “many of the people, places, and events of the Old Testament bear witness to Christ. The law displays His righteousness – the sacrifices anticipate His atonement – the Tabernacle is a symbol of His incarnation – and the psalms are His praise. Likewise, the prophets, priests, and kings of Israel teach us about the prophetic, priestly, and kingly ministry of Jesus Christ.”18
Hence, as we survey each book of the Old Testament in the coming weeks, one of the things we are going to do is look for Christ – that we might see “(some of the) things which are written about (Him) in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms” (c.f. Luke 24:44).
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1The New Geneva Study Bible: Footnote on John 5:39;
p. 1671.
2http://www.wpcpca.org/Archive/02-22-09-pm.html
3MacArthur: The MacArthur Bible Commentary; “The
Nature and Purpose of the Bible”; p. vi.
4IBID; “The Progress of Revelation”; p. xxxvi.
5Ryken, Ryken and Wilhoit: Ryken’s Bible Handbook; p. 17.
6IBID; p. 21.
7The English Standard Version Study Bible: Footnote on
Luke 24:44; p. 2014.
8The New Geneva Study Bible: Footnote on Luke 24:44;
p. 1654.
9Boa: Talk Thru the Old Testament; p. 1.
10IBID; p. 2.
11The New Geneva Study Bible: Introduction to the Book
of Ezra; p. 646.
12BCS: Strong’s Concordance; Word #2424.
13IBID; Word #5547.
14The English Standard Version Study Bible: Overview of
the Bible: A Survey of the History of Salvation; p. 23.
15McDowell: Evidence That Demands A Verdict; p. 150.
16http://christology101.wordpress.com/2008/02/22/old-
testament-types-of-christ/
17Boa: Talk Thru the Old Testament; pgs. 9-246.
18Ryken: Ibid; p. 17.
19The New Geneva Study Bible: Interpreting the Bible; p.
2042
20Sproul: Knowing Scripture; pgs. 48-49.