Tag Archives: Old Testament

Those foolish Bereans

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“As soon as it was night, the brothers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue. Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. Many of the Jews believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men.” (Acts 17:10-12)
You know, we’ve often held the Bereans up as examples. But I realized the other day how misguided they were. I’m sure that one of the first lessons that Paul taught them was that the Old Testament was nailed to the cross and that they couldn’t search the Scriptures until he finished writing the New Testament.
At least that’s how I”ve heard it taught.

The Table of the Lord: Old Testament Meals

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All right, let’s get started. In an earlier post, I talked about the importance of meals in the worship of the Old Testament. In fact, I don’t think that it’s an exaggeration to say that Old Testament worship was structured around meals, particularly the annual feasts which the Israelites celebrated.

Here’s a brief summary of what we see in the Old Testament:

  1. Covenants were confirmed with sacrifices, followed by meals
    • Genesis 26:28-31; 31:22-55
    • Exodus 24:3-11 (Here’s a post talking about this passage’s relationship with the Lord’s Supper)
  2. “Peace offerings” or “fellowship offerings” involved community meals
    • Leviticus 3:1-17 and 7:11-38
    • Deuteronomy 12:6-7; 27:7
    • The psalms speak often of these events
      • Psalm 50:14,23; 56:13; 107:22; 116:13-19
  3. These community sacrifices were held at important times in the nation’s history:
    • Covenant renewal at Mt. Ebal (Deuteronomy 27:1-8; Joshua 8:30-35)
    • Coronation of Saul (1 Samuel 11:15)
    • Movement of the Ark to David’s tent (1 Chronicles 16:1-3),
    • Dedication of the altar (2 Sam. 24:25; 1 Chronicles 21:27-22:1)
    • Dedication of Solomon’s temple (2 Chronicles 7:1-10)
    • Covenant renewal under Asa (2 Chronicles 15:8-15)
    • Purification of Hezekiah’s temple (2 Chronicles 29:27-36)
    • Hezekiah’s Passover (2 Chronicles 30:22-27)
    • Dedication of Mannaseh’s altar (2 Chronicles 33:16)
    • Consecration of the walls of Jerusalem (Nehemiah 12:35-43)
  4. Paul relates the Lord’s Supper to these sacrificial meals
    • 1 Corinthians 10:16-21

Throughout the history of God’s people, their relationship with Him and their relationship with one another has been shaped by shared meals. It shouldn’t surprise us to find that these times of sharing would continue under the New Covenant. Note, though, that the emphasis is on community. These are not individualistic, sit-in-the-corner-and-close-your-eyes moments. These are community celebrations. We’ll see that the New Testament repeats that emphasis.

Old Testament? Bah! Humbug!

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I’ll confess that it was one of the lowpoints of my years in ministry, one of the times when I did not stand up and defend someone who deserved it. We were in a heated discussion in a men’s meeting, and a young man said, “Well, in the Old Testament…” An older Christian sitting next to him immediately cut him off: “My Bible says it was nailed to the cross.”

I didn’t speak up at this outrageous comment. My excuse is that I was dumbfounded not only by the words but by the unChristian way in which they had been uttered. Still, it’s no excuse. What if some of those present gave credence to this man’s words, especially since he had been a respected Bible teacher for decades?

I’ve done it since then, but I’ll do it again. Let me proclaim my support for God’s Word. I’ll take my stand alongside Paul, who wrote to Timothy: “But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2Tim 3:14-17) The Scriptures that Timothy knew from his infancy were not Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. No, when Timothy was a lad the New Testament didn’t exist. Paul is talking about the first two-thirds of the Bible. And look at what he says:
The Old Testament can make you wise for salvation through faith in Jesus.
The Old Testament is useful for teaching, etc.
The Old Testament prepares us for every good work.

Part of our confusion comes from that very designation, Old Testament. In our minds, we somehow connect Genesis through Malachi with the pact that God made with the physical nation of Israel, with the Mosaic Law. We somehow forget that the Bible of the early church was what we call the Old Testament. When they studied Scripture, that’s what they studied. When Timothy was told to be a student of the Word, that’s what Paul was talking about.

Nailed to the cross? Hardly. The Old Testament is alive and well and waiting to be studied by the church today as it was by the early church.

Why do you think people want to remove the Old Testament from Scripture? Is it just to win certain arguments? Or is there something else there?