The Old Testament.

Why is it that we misunderstand the Old Testament?Why is this a problem?This is one of the questions raised by Paul Copan in his book"Is God A Moral Monster-Making sense Of The Old Testament God."

As a way of answering this question,let me just point to my own Christian experience.Nearly every time I go to church,or bible study,the message,or study topic seems to be from the New Testament.Now I'm not saying that this is bad.After all we do live in an age of New Testament grace.The central truth of the Bible is contained in New Testament Gospel.Much of Paul's teachings to first century Christians were directed at pointing out how we are to live out the ideals of the Christian religion.And so,it seems natural,perhaps that most teaching and preaching in our day would be from the New Testament.

But I really wonder if we haven't developed a bias against teaching from the Old Testament.And this would be a problem,as the Old Testament and the New Testament really must be understood in the light of each other.For instance,without a firm understanding of Old Testament prophesy,we have no basis to identify the Jesus of the New Testament as our Messiah.That is to say,the Old Testament points the way,while the New Testament fulfills the prophesy.

Many people,in fact I would venture many Christians, are challenged by Old Testament narratives,such as the story of Abraham's sacrifice of his son Isaac.The ancient world was a far different one than the one we find ourselves in,or,in fact,the one that first century Christians find themselves in.Yet,it's only by examining Old Testament stories with a close and critical eye that we can discover that the bibles truths are eternal-as relevant today as they ever were.Through Abraham we discover the power of faith,while looking ahead in history to the time of Christ and ultimately to his second coming.We see enough of God's plan to trust in it's ultimate fulfillment and to be thankful that He walks with us through the whole of history.

There is a wonderful story in the Book Of Joel,for instance that tells of a war,in which nearly all is destroyed,using the symbolism of locusts.Modern Christians can look to this story and see,in their everyday lives the truth of a Savior who "restores what the locusts have taken"Yet most often,you will not hear this story in church.you will need to find it by yourself through reading scripture.That is all fine and good for those who read faithfully,but how many do not?

Again,it is hard to over stress that both parts of the Bible belong together.One explains the other more fully.So,what we really need is more Old Testament teaching,if my experience applies to most Christian congregations