Week of December 11th Old Testament Part 1

First of all, a HUGE thank you to everyone who brought food to share for our Christmas pot luck lunch.  We really enjoyed the variety of foods from around the world, the fellowship time just chatting over lunch, and a relaxing time to get to know one another better.  A real blessing!

We began a new study booklet called "God's Amazing Book".  This is a 12 lesson study which will take us all over the Bible as we take an overview of this book which is the most important book in the entire world!  Even if you have studied the Bible for years and years, there is more to discover, and in fact, oftentimes the more you learn, the more you realize there is still more to learn.

The lesson focused mostly on the first five books of the Old Testament, which are often referred to as The Law, The book of Moses, the Pentateuch, or for Jews, the Torah.   

In Genesis we learn about the creation of the world and our origins.  God is unexplained.  He is unexplainable.  Exodus details the Israelites deliverance from Egypt.  Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy describe the rituals, sacrfices, offerings and regulations for the priests. 

The historical books of the Old Testament give accounts of the lives of the Israelites and their struggle to maintain not only order within their people but also hold of their promised lands.

But we now have the New Testamanet, and Christ came and changed it all.

Well can’t we just get rid of these Old Testament books then?  I mean, why do we need them?

If you are a Christian, the Old Testament is your spiritual history. The promises and calling of God to Israel are YOUR historical promises and callings. 

The sacrificial system established in Leviticus lays the foundation for the New Testament.  I didn’t understand this until very recently, really, about 5 years ago, when I studied the Old Testament.

In order to understand who Christ was and what He did, we must begin with the Old Testament, which contains prophecies concerning the coming of Christ as a “guilt offering” (Isaiah 53:10). In fact, the whole sacrificial system established by God in the Old Testament set the stage for the coming of Christ, who is the perfect sacrifice God would provide as atonement for the sins of His people (Romans 8:3; Hebrews 10).  The Old Testament system is a process of substituting something for our sins in order to be right with God.  

The sacrifice of lambs played a very important role in the Jewish religious life and sacrificial system. When John the Baptist referred to Jesus as the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29), the Jews who heard him might have immediately thought of any one of several important sacrifices. With the time of the Passover feast being very near, the first thought might be the sacrifice of the Passover lamb. The Passover feast was one of the main Jewish holidays and a celebration in remembrance of God’s deliverance of the Israelites from bondage in Egypt. In fact, the slaying of the Passover lamb and the applying of the blood to doorposts of the houses (Exodus 12:11-13) is a beautiful picture of Christ’s atoning work on the cross.

The sacrifices had to be done again and again, but with Christ - he was the perfect sacrifice - and the final sacrifice, the once and for all sacrifice, designed by God. 

The Old Testament points to the New Testamanet - they are linked and cannot be broken.  

Now for a couple Do’s and Dont’s regarding the OT! (from "How to Read the Bible for all its Worth", by Fee/Stuart)

Do see the Old Testamanet as God’s inspired word for you.

Don’t see it as God’s commands to you.

Do see the Old Testament law as the basis for the old covenant, and therefore Israel’s history.

Don’t see the Old Testament law as binding on Christians in the new covenant where specifically renewed.

For a very long time as a Christian, the Old Testament meant to me Outdated, Weird, Foreign, Difficult to Read.  It is easier to open up the Bible in the New Testament, definitely. 

But what a revelation I experienced when I finally did realize what it mean that Jesus is my sacrifical lamb.  That for centuries people had to follow sacrificial rituals in order to be holy in the presence of God.  That in many other religions of the world today, there is a requirement of cleansing before entering the place of worship.  Or there is a sense that they must earn their way to God’s favor.  With Christ, and the foundational laid in the Old Testament, we can access God anytime.  We can come here and worship him, we are all equally loved by God.  God doesn’t love anyone more because she knows her scriptures.  God doesn’t love anyone more because she prays so much or knows all the perfect Christian religious rituals.  God loves us all, and welcomes us all, no matter what our situation.  We can thank Jesus for this - He is everything.  He turned the Old Testament upside down really!!

Amen for that!!

We hope that you have a lovely Christmas break!  

Our next class will be January 8th.

Please complete pages 12-17 in your booklet.