Old Testament Review (Part One)

For the next three days I'll elaborate on comments I made on Sunday, September 25th in my attempts to summarize the Old Testament. My post today will focus on the importance of remembering, a common theme in my writings.

In our Old Testament readings, we saw many occasions where the law and history of the people of Israel were reviewed. Examples include:

Deuteronomy 4--a review prior to entry into the Promised Land

Joshua 8:30-34--Joshua reviews the Law in its entirety

Almost all of 1-2 Kings and 1-2 Chronicles--genealogies, kings, events, etc.

Nehemiah 13 from today's reading is the final occurrence in the Old Testament, and in all instances, the rationale was the same--they needed to remember their history and to know from where their special relationship with God derived, as well as what he expected of them. 

We do the same exact thing today--we commemorate birthdays, anniversaries, memorable events, and when we reach those milestones, we reflect, and sometimes remind others, on what makes them special. My older daughter was home this weekend, and she wanted to see The Lion King in 3-D. Her younger sister couldn't make it home, otherwise that would have been a fun family outing, since I'm pretty sure that's the first movie the four of us saw together. When we get together in a couple of weeks, I'm going to ask them what their favorite movie that we saw together was (I'm pretty sure I know the answer, and I've narrowed it down to Monsters Inc. or Finding Nemo--I'll keep you posted). 

If history was just a bunch of dry events that occurred that have no relevance or meaning to us today, we'd be wasting our time reviewing it, but for us, it was nine months well-spent. As I mentioned yesterday, we are all much more familiar with the New Testament because we're exposed to it so much more--twice as many readings from the lectern, much more common theme material for sermons and Bible studies, and a greater source of comfort--it's the Gospel, as opposed to the Law. I'll elaborate on a pretty simple theme on Thursday, but without the Law, not only is there no need for the Gospel, but the Gospel is impossible to explain. 

The next time you find yourself reading the Old Testament and finding your mind wandering, remember that it's the integral prelude to the New Testament. Imagine walking in on Hamlet at the beginning of Act V, Scene I, at which point Hamlet picks up a skull and states to his companion, "Alas, poor Yorick--I knew him, Horatio." Unless you've seen the previous four acts, you have no idea who Hamlet or Horatio is, or why he's holding a skull. It would  be impossible, and the Old Testament is just as vital for our understanding of the New.

Scott