People have often said to me that they don’t understand the
Bible and particularly the Old Testament. ‘What relevance does
it have for me?’ is the constant cry. I think when we begin to
see it as an invitation to enter into the mystery that is God things
become clearer. The Bible from beginning to end is the story of faith
discovered and lived out. It’s primary purpose is to reveal God
and as we read the stories of an ancient people we become more and
more aware that their story is our story. There’s nothing new
under the sun and just as the Israelites were being invited into intimacy
with God so we are too, and just as they made mistakes on the journey
so do we. In the Old Testament
are 46 books, which show the slow development in understanding of
how God acts in human life. Some Christians have a shorter Old Testament
because they don’t include the Apocrypha, but in essence the
Word is the same for all of us. The call is the same and we’re
all invited to make the same response. Enter into the mystery that
is God and find life. Let go of the false gods within you that stop
you entering into the mystery that is God and begin to journey.
The first five books of the Bible are known as the Pentateuch a
Greek word meaning five containers. These books contain the law and
are known in Hebrew as the law or the Torah. The first five books
of the Bible are not necessarily the oldest. Just because Genesis
comes first doesn’t mean it was written first in fact it was
probably written as late as 500B.C. The stories in Exodus, the second
book of the Bible are probably some of the oldest written as they
tell of the escape of the Hebrews from Egypt which in many ways is
the real beginning. The Israelites discovered their need of law if
they were to be one people. They wrote it down in the books of Leviticus
and Numbers. The book of Deuteronomy, which is the fifth book of the
Bible, is a beautiful account of the drawing together of the Hebrews
into a people.
God is constantly inviting us to know who we are and to experience
the saving power of God in our lives. We too are called to be a people
and to know the presence of God with us. Who says it has no relevance
to today’s world? In a culture in which people are searching
for identity and meaning and in which people are enslaved in every
way it has incredible meaning.
We then move into a group of books we call the Historical Books.
They were written down many hundreds of years after the event and
what they’re trying to tell us, is real truth, that God was active
in the lives of people. The whole purpose of these writings is not
to give us an accurate record of Israel’s history but to glorify
God, the God who is constantly setting them, an unfaithful and hypocritical
people, free. Make the connections! It’s the same God and it’s
the same people battling with the same realities.
There are stories of religious heroes in the books of Samuel, Kings,
Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah and Maccabees as well as in the books of
Ruth, Tobit, Judith and Esther. The reason they were heroes is very
clear; because of their faithfulness to the God who they experienced
in their lives. The message to us is “be faithful to God and
you will find life, meaning, purpose and direction”.
The next group of writings is called the Wisdom books. Job, the
psalms, Ecclesiastes, The Song of Songs, the books of Proverbs and
Ecclesiasticus all show how people who were listening to the Lord
came to some very wise human conclusions. These writings give us a
very down to earth common sense approach to God and the world. They
show us how the call of God, to know us passionately, comes through
the very ordinary circumstances of life, good or bad.
The last Part of the Old Testament contains the Prophets: Isaiah,
Jeremiah, Lamentations, Baruch, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos,
Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephania, Haggai Zechariah
and Malachi. The prophets were sent to speak to Israel and to constantly
call the people away from their false Gods and back to the only God
who could bring them life.
Over and over again the same themes are to be found. It’s God
who does the freeing, the saving, the life giving. Yet we always think
we can do it on our own and who constantly fall flat on our face.
It’s very important to realise that no single passage of the
Bible can be taken in isolation from the whole. Each book is to be
read in the context of all the others. Identify the themes and know
that it’s calling you to life. If we simply go searching after
phrases and lines we can prove anything from the Bible. To be able
to interpret it in our age and our time the whole thrust of the Bible
needs to be understood and the themes that recur over and over again
identified.
So read the Old Testament with fresh eyes and know that it’s
telling your story as it tells its ancient stories. Let it reveal
the secret of life to you and experience deep within yourself the
God who brings life.
