www.wonershchurch.com
Sermon 76
Sermon
by Ian Scott Thompson at Wonersh on 25th February 2007
Whats the Point of the
OT? Genesis to Deuteronomy
What’s
the point of the Old Testament?
No 2: Genesis-Deuteronomy
What is the point of the
Old Testament? Second sermon in
series. James Cooke spoke two weeks ago,
and gave us an Introduction to the OT. Tonight
we’re going to look at the first chunk, Genesis-Deuteronomy.
But first, some Laws – Toddler Property Law.
Toddler
Property Law
If I like it, it's mine.
If it's in my hand, it's
mine.
If I can take it from you,
it's mine.
If I had it a little while
ago, it's mine.
If it's mine, it must
never appear to be yours in any way.
If I'm doing or building
something, all the pieces are mine.
If it looks just like
mine, it's mine.
If I saw it first, it's
mine.
If you are playing with
something and you put it down, it's mine.
If it's broken, it's
yours. No, wait - all the pieces are mine.
Overview of Genesis to Deuteronomy
|
|
To
refer back to James Cooke's Sermon timelines. Tonight we’re covering the first two lines,
down to around 1500 BC. |
|
|
|
|
|
On
a more detailed view, we’re covering Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses and
stopping with Joshua. |
|
|
|
|
|
We’re
talking about the first five books, which the Jews call the Torah, the Law;
and some scholars call the Pentateuch, the five scrolls. |
Characteristics of Torah / Pentateuch
Given
as history, but much is concerned with Commandments, and explaining why, for
example, sexual purity and food laws are important.
Names
of Books come from a Greek translation of 200BC called the Septuagint. Jews use first word, so Genesis is Bereshith,
“In the beginning”.
Genesis-Deuteronomy
I’ve
gone through and summarised them, five chapters at a time.
|
Genesis: |
Exodus: |
|
1-5 Creation |
1-5 Moses
birth & calling |
|
6-10 Noah |
6-10 Plagues |
|
11-15 |
11-15 Passover
& Red Sea |
|
16-20 Ishmael, |
16-20 Manna,
10 Comms |
|
21-25 Isaac &
Rebecca |
21-25 Covenant |
|
26-30 Jacob &
Rachel |
26-30 Tabernacle
& Priests |
|
31-35 Jacob |
31-35 Golden
Calf |
|
36-40 Joseph in
prison |
36-40 Making
the |
|
41-45 Joseph in
charge |
|
|
46-50 Jacob &
family in |
|
|
Leviticus: Laws |
Numbers: wilderness
to |
Deuteronomy: |
|
1-5 Offerings |
Census |
Warnings & Commandments |
|
6-10 Ordinations |
Purification |
Great Command & Remembering |
|
11-15 Food &
Hygiene |
Leaving Sinai |
Tithes & Promised Land |
|
16-20 Atonement
& Holiness |
Rebellion |
Passover & Justice |
|
21-25 Festivals |
Victories & Balaam |
Purity & Marriage |
|
26-27 Obedience |
Offerings |
Obedience & Punishment |
|
|
Plains of |
Final Instructions |
Creation: our modern concerns are with
science and timelines, but Genesis is not written as science or
history. In a Radio phone-in this week,
a whale expert was asked whether a man could live in a whale’s stomach,
and he answered no, the digestive juices would kill him in minutes. Well, “that’s put paid to the story of
Jonah,” said the presenter! Scores of
listeners phoned in to say that it’s not clear that it was a Whale: the Bible
says “great Fish.” But then one single listener
pointed out, quite rightly, that nobody had classified mammals then, so the
difference between whales and fish was not appreciated. Fair point!
We argue over questions now, which were beside the point then. Likewise, we measure dates relative to an
event which was still a thousand years in their future. Science may tell us how the universe
works and what it is composed of; history and archaeology may tell us when
events happened and what conditions were like; but the Bible is more concerned
with human behaviour, and the relationship of God to mankind.
James Cooke mentioned
several other issues with the OT.
For example, the view that the Violence in the OT is un-Christian.
James responded, “The violence really isn’t at all surprising because the OT is
set in violent times and it’s clearly a story of a people learning what God is
like.” Certainly in Genesis, Exodus and
Numbers, we see God’s people wiping out whole tribes, ethnic cleansing,
sometimes at God’s explicit command.
These stories are difficult for our culture to understand or
sympathise with today; but that may be less to do with our advanced ethics and
more to do with the peace and comfort we live in: our soldiers in
The peculiar Laws of
ancient history seem useless and irrelevant today.
But Jesus didn’t think that the OT was out of date. He quoted from Deuteronomy, “You shall love
the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind and strength.” Jesus was steeped in the OT and much of what he
taught about the nature of God came from the OT. It’s remarkable how many themes emerge that
are precisely what people grapple with today, questions of identity, origin,
justice and morality.
Woman unexpectedly gained
job as housekeeper to a wealthy man. It
soon became obvious that she knew little about housekeeping, so he wrote her
some rules. Meals at 8, 1 and 7. Make beds early, wash up immediately after
meal, not throw tea-leaves down sink but out in the compost. Must not light oven and open the door to heat
the kitchen on cold days. She'd never
considered doing this, but suddenly it struck her as rather a good plan. Then she fell in love with him. Changed everything. Wanted to please him, therefore obeyed the
rules.
Some of the Old Testament
seems frankly unbelievable. But these
stories are written down because they are remarkable: nobody’s claiming
that miracles are ordinary. Some may be
picture-language; but in other cases, we are told that the people saw a
miracle, and attributed it to God.
A story can be taken at three levels:
·
Stories
about individuals
and groups of individuals
·
Stories
of God’s people and the
kingdoms of
·
The
story of God’s plan in history—
creation and redemption
What’s the point of Torah? (use NT)
OT is gospel in bud, NT is
gospel in flower.
I’ve picked two readings
to give us an example.
Genesis
12. 1-9 is the start of the story of Abraham, or Abram as he was before God
renamed him. On the face of it, it’s a
story, history, biography. But it’s
included in Genesis because of Abram’s place in the genealogy and history as
the father of the Jewish nation, because of God’s relationship with him as the
man God calls on a journey, and because of what we can learn about trusting God
and setting out with him. He’s old, he’s
wealthy, he has a large family, he should be thinking about settling down and
taking it easy. Instead of which he
obeys the call of God and sets out on a young man’s journey. An example to a nation of wandering nomads!
Luke
16. 19-31 is a story told by Jesus about a rich man and a poor man. How simple and timeless can it be? It could be mediaeval
Jesus happily uses the Old
Testament story as the base for his own creative invention: with Abraham as the
hero, he grabs their attention. He’s a
bit of a Robin Hood, punishing the corrupt rich and rewarding the suffering
poor, so you can hear the people cheering.
But with Jesus’ stories, there’s often a twist at the end, which we can
appreciate only with hindsight. The rich
man asks for resurrection as proof, to convince his five Jewish brothers
to repent; but father Abraham tells him that people who will not listen to
Moses and the prophets: such people will not be convinced, even by
resurrection.
I was brought up a
scientist, trained to observe and measure and draw conclusions. When I first became a Christian, I sought
long and hard for proofs of God. Could
one somehow record a miracle, measure it on a meter, photograph it on a
camera? Some evidence of God, to help
people to believe? Gradually I began to
see that there’s more to it than that.
Some people will not believe even if solid proof stares them in the
face; others will believe almost by instinct.
Evidence is helpful, but the inclination of the heart is more important.
Jesus’ story reminds us
that Moses and the prophets, and the Torah in particular, were the source data
for Jews. This was what God used to
reveal himself to them. Would they
believe it, or would they reject it? In
a way, it’s a test. If a young man goes
out on a blind date with a girl, he may be testing the water: is she just a
date, or a mate? Do I want to continue
the relationship, even spend my life with her?
Throughout our lives, our experiences of God are like dates, asking that
question with eternal life in mind, testing our openness to a relationship with
God. Will we accept him, or reject
him? In Romans
9 and Galatians
2-3, Paul explains that this is the significance of Abraham: that “he
believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.” Paul explains that it is those who trust God
who are the true descendants of Abraham.
The Law is there as a tutor, to educate us in what God requires, and
ultimately it is an exam which we cannot pass.
But after we find that we cannot please God by our own efforts, then we
see our need of Christ, and of God’s grace.
Summarise and look forward.
James Cooke told us an old
rhyme about the relationship between the Old Testament and the New Testament,
which I find very helpful:
“The New is in the Old concealed;
the Old is in the New revealed.”
In two weeks’ time, Colin
Sowter will look at Joshua-Nehemiah (Blue); then the following week on Mothering
Sunday John Metcalfe will look at the Writings (Psalms, Proverbs etc) (Purple);
after that, Margot will sort out the Major Prophets, and after Easter Brenda
will deal with the Minor Prophets(both in Green). As always with sermons, you can find them on
the Church Website afterwards. www.wonershchurch.com
Lord, inspire us with your
Spirit as we read your word, to find in it the glorious gospel of your dealings
with mankind, and your Son the Word made flesh for us and for our salvation.
Amen.