I have a wonderful piece of furniture in my living room—a gramophone that once belonged to my grandparents. It's stately with its dark finish and curved legs. Occasionally, I insert a needle, play old 78 RPM records, and experience the sounds of yesteryear.
Admittedly, while it has personal value to me, and maybe even some actual monetary value as an antique, it isn't very practical. A stereo, CD player, and iPhone have long since replaced it as the usual source of audio enjoyment. Like so many things in life, my gramophone seems to be an irrelevant, quaint artifact of a bygone era.
Just as many cannot relate to listening to music from a gramophone, many cannot relate to listening to God from the Old Testament. Granted, it contains some fascinating stories and characters that draw us in, particularly as children. And we appreciate and value the Psalms, particularly as we age. But overall, many find the Old Testament isn’t very useful or practical for life today. The New Testament is seen as a replacement source of spiritual growth and so it is valued more. For too many, much of the Old Testament is simply an irrelevant, quaint artifact of a bygone era. Like a dated heirloom, people aren't sure what to do with it.
Like the gramophone, the Old Testament is a product of a different era when things were very different. Many don't know how to take what we read and apply it to 21st century life. To add to the confusion, Christian teachers today of different persuasions teach vastly different things. For example, some teach we should practice tithing, follow the dietary laws, and keep the Sabbath, while others say we don't need to.
One practical reason it is important not to neglect the Old Testament, is it gives us a better understanding of the New Testament. Like the last few chapters of an exciting novel, in the New Testament the pieces come together, the foreshadowing now makes sense, and the plot resolves. The actions taken in the Old Testament have new meaning as things play out in the New. Imagine how little you would understand a novel if you only read the last couple of chapters! Yet this is what many Christians do with the Bible.
In the hope of helping us apply the Old Testament to our lives today, here are three axioms.
The first is this: The value of the Old Testament is in its authority as the Word of God. We sometimes forget that the Old Testament was the Bible of Jesus and the Early Church. When they refer to the Scriptures as “inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16,17), they were referring to the Old Testament. Even those passages we place less value on, like the property laws of Leviticus 25, are God's Word, and as such are valuable and authoritative.
That leads to the second axiom: The authority of the Old Testament is in its theology. Every part of the Bible, even the genealogies and Levitical laws, is theological. That means once we understand what the Old Testament writings meant to the recipients, we need to ask, “What is the theology of this passage? What does it teach about God, man, and the world?” For example, the property laws of Leviticus 25 are couched in the theology that the earth is the Lord’s and we are stewards of it (v.23). God is also concerned about the transactions of our lives and wants us to carry them out in the fear of Him (v.17, 36, 43).
The final axiom is this: The theology of the Old Testament is the bridge to today. When we bring the theology, not the specific laws, of Leviticus 25 forward to the teaching of the New Testament and look at it through the work of Christ, we find it affirmed and expanded. We belong to Christ who redeemed us and commands, “Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31). The same theology applies today. In whatever we do, whether buying property or selling it, as in Leviticus 25, or driving our car, loving our spouse, or writing a test, we are to do it in such a way that we make the God who saved us look good.
My gramophone is the only way for me to experience the sounds of my 78 RPM records. Like the gramophone, the Old Testament brings to life an era long gone. Though its words are ancient, its truth is relevant and life changing…and worth listening to again and again.
