Old Testament II

The Apostles assumed the canonical givenness of the Old Testament as their Scriptures. The Church confesses that the God of Israel's identity is bound up in the person and work of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit who attests to His work. When interpreting individual passages, one must be sensitive to the overarching mind of Scripture's total witness. The Rule of Faith provides the correct hypothesis for Scripture. For the Old Testament, history is a predicate for revelation and revelation governs our understanding of history. Israel's God, Yahweh, is to be worshipped alone. The revelation of the divine Name demands understanding that Name in context of His soteric movement toward his people. Within the Oneness of God there is a plurality of Otherness.

This lecture will explore the canonical shaping of the Psalter. The Psalms are fresh and alive. God is the author of Scripture and because of this we listen for His soul-shaping word in our liturgical use of the Psalms. The Psalms are the biblical manna from God. The Elohistic Psalms, Psalms of Asaph, David, and Korah are covered along with the five book structure of the Psalter. The Psalter is not merely human words with expression to God. The Psalter is God's word to us.

Explore psalms of lament and praise. Lament psalms reflect disorientation of life before God. The Lament psalm form is address, lament, and petition with motifs designed to move God to act. There is a confession of trust, a vow of praise and a declaration of praise. The Lament psalm moves us to praise. Explore Psalm 73 and find that confession of faith comes into conflict with what the psalmist is experiencing and is reoriented as he sees who God is.

The whole title of the Psalter is "Praises". Praise is an activity and an identity. The praise of God was at the center of the total lives of the people both individually and corporately. What is the chief end of man? To glorify God and enjoy him forever. Understand that to live is to praise and to praise is to live. The Psalter should shape your preaching and teaching and be incorporated in the normal worshipping life of your church and as individuals living lives before God.

This lecture contains reflections on Job. Suffering can push us over the edge. Job's suffering is extreme but it is the suffering of all God's people. We see God humbles and justifies Job at the same time. Job reminds us of the haunting challenge, "Is God enough?"

There are two main genres of wisdom literature: Didactic wisdom and Critical or Speculative wisdom. A major theme of Proverbs is the fear of Lord. The fear of God is the place where true wisdom is possible. In Ecclesiastes we find that the fear of God and obedience overrides wisdom in any cases of conflict ion. Explore that the Megilloth continues to function as liturgical markers in Jewish ceremonies and festivals.

This lecture covers the Synchronic approach of looking at the XII as a whole and the Diachronic approach or how the individual parts came together as a whole. Ordering of the XII in the Septuagint (LXX) and Hebrew text (MT) are different. The LXX orders the books chronologically and the MT shapes the order more thematically. There is an argument for the thematic shaping of the XII as a whole due to connecting words and thematic connections. The XII have been brought together to be individual witnesses to be read on their own but as a whole they give us insight into the theological unity of the book and its claims with a primary claim on the issue of theodicy.

Hosea is the signal book of the XII and has a prophetic word against Israel. Hosea expands on the basic charge that the people have abandoned God. Hosea gives a hermeneutical and interpretive challenge both for ancient Israel and all who would read the book of the XII. The book of Joel is set between Hosea and Amos - God is always ready to relent if the people turn back.

Jonah, Micah, and Nahum are bound together by intertextual appeals to Exodus 34. Find that critical scholars see in Micah contradicting views on the nations. The answer lies in Jonah and Nahum. They represent eschatological possibilities for the future because God is the same as in Exodus. He is primarily merciful but he is still holy and just. Jonah and Nahum function to show two very different portraits of Nineveh. The Book of the XII concerns why evil happens with the answer being, trust God.

This lecture focuses on the poetic features of the Psalter. The distinction between poetry and prose is more gradual and fluid than clear cut. One defining characteristic of poetry is terseness. Parallelism, or the repetition of words, phrases, or ideas is another. Poetry also uses Imagery or metaphor. There are four types of metaphors. Perceptual metaphors are based on the senses while pragmatic metaphors compare the activity or result of one thing with another. Synesthetic metaphors compare different senses while images of association are sometimes used as metaphors. Explore that praise, lament, thanksgiving, royal, liturgical, king, and wisdom psalms constitute the Psalter.

The call of Jeremiah was unique because he was called from before the womb. This lecture looks at theological and pastoral reflections on his call. Calvin is unrestrained in relating the truths of Jeremiah's call to that of ordained ministry. Jeremiah's response of humility is a response to be affirmed. In reflecting on Jeremiah's ministry, we find his is a ministry of the Word.

The book of Ezekiel is carefully crafted as Israel's history is interpreted through the prophetic lens. Ezekiel points out Israel's sin as defiling the sanctuary. Ezekiel is primarily concerned that the people might worship God properly. The account of the Valley of Dry Bones brings to light the prophetic word out of Ezekiel- that God will bring life out of death.

The Writings work off the stability and anterior authority of the Law and Prophets. They are a reflection on the significance of life lived under the authority of the Law and Prophets. Explore a little of the life and approach of Hermann Gunkel on the Psalter which has shaped the way studies of the Psalter are done to this day. Gunkel's form of historical criticism posit the view that Psalms were in the cultic life of Israel, not in historical events. His focus on the "then and there" is to neuter the eschatological essence of the Psalms and prophetic role in anticipating the coming kingdom of God.

Judges presents a kind of repetition – it presents more of a downward spiral that is a movement of sin, judgment, repentance, and restoration. The function of the introduction in Judges is to mark the beginning of a period of disobedience which stands in sharp contrast to the period which precedes it. Judges also sets up the need for a monarchy. The introduction of Judges is a key witness to the whole book. Israel is without a leader and the people are not submitting to Torah. The downward spiral is paradigmatic of Israel’s subsequent history. The judges also represent the lack of stability of leadership in Israel in their ad hoc character. The motif of Judges is that Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord-they served other gods. The prologue and epilog of Judges reveal the theological force of the book.

In the Pre-modern tradition of Irenaeus and Calvin, there was understanding of the fundamental unity of the Old and New Testament. Irenaeus held that the fathers received and accepted revelation from the Son himself. Calvin held that the Old and New Testament converge on God’s revelation of himself in Jesus Christ. In modern times, recognition of the shared subject matter between the Old and New Testament has been lost. This lecture investigates the Critical approach and the loss of the figural or typological approach to reading the Old Testament. Explore how according to Wellhausen and Duhm, the prophets were creators of Israel's religion and its monotheistic claims. The Form-Critical approach or emphasis on the oral tradition of prophetic literature is also covered with its intention to isolate forms of speech from their literary context. Come to understand that the prophets speak in both a foretelling and forthtelling way.

Jeremiah is often called the weeping prophet. The message in Jeremiah is to return to the Lord, submit to the Babylonians, and don't treat your people badly. During this ministry, Jeremiah comes into conflict with Hananiah who brought a message of peace. The prophetic ministry of discernment is to know when it is a time of mercy or judgment. The internal structure of Jeremiah is thematically and theologically shaped. Jeremiah witnesses to the pride of man and its deleterious effects but Jeremiah 30-33 is a book of consolation.

The narrator of I & II Samuel gives emphasis to David’s story and the importance of David. Samuel is mediator from the period of the Judges into the period of the monarchy. Was God for or was he against the monarchy? The problem was not the monarchy but the motivation to be like every other nation. This lecture will show that the Torah shapes and defines one who walks in the way of the Lord. The corrosive affects of sin are present through the whole book of Samuel. YAHWEH’s will is primarily known by the active work of the prophets. You will find that there is an emphasis on prophetic authority in Samuel.

Bernard Duhm advanced the standard critical notion as we know it today. The result was a scholarly consensus that Isaiah 1-39 and 40-66 were born out of different times and had beginnings that were independent from each other. The critics were saying the prophets were foretellers, not primarily forthtellers. (naturalistic worldview) The critical conclusion undercuts the notion of predictive prophecy. There is a consistent theme and vocabulary throughout the whole of Isaiah. The common theme is "I will be your God and you will be my people." Isaiah witnesses to the fact that God's judgment is real, swift, and mighty but it also attests that God's divine rejection of "no" is not his final word. His "yes" is his final word.

The Book of Isaiah is bracketed by rebellion in chapters 1 and 66. A theme in Isaiah 1-39 is that if the people of God refuse to be his people, then they will be no people at all. A look at Isaiah 40-66 shows that the central dramatic figure is "The Word of the Lord." Who is the servant in Isaiah chapters 40-48? For the nature of prophecy, old words become new and fresh for future generations.

Solomon is a man of peace who builds the temple but there is a transition to Solomon’s disobedience in pursuing foreign gods. The theological characteristics of Israel’s history include the graciousness of God’s covenant. There is also a focus on the evils of idolatry. Rewards and punishments are according to obedience and disobedience. There is an importance of keeping the Mosaic Covenant. The showdown between Elisha and the kings of the northern kingdom is examined. Theological matters in the Book of Kings are that the monarchy flows from the reign of YAHWEH and there is a Messianic hope of the Covenantal promises to David.

Deuteronomy provides the theological and semantic basis for the Deuteronoistic history of Joshua and Kings. The break between Deuteronomy and Joshua is a move from Torah into the Prophets and this break has significant hermeneutical implications. Joshua sites Deuteronomy in its canonical form as the book of the Torah. The Mosaic office is shown to include Covenant mediator, law giver, intercessor, priest and prophet. Explore that the historical books – Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings belong within the division of the Prophets. This is important because the object of their biblical witness is to testify to the working out of prophetic word in the life of the nation. Joshua’s role was not a continuation of the Mosaic office. Was the nature of Israel’s history telling Critical Realism or Impressionistic Painting? The historicality and historicity of the preserved material is examined.

Why do we have a Deuteronomistic History? This lecture will explores that Joshua to Kings explains why the nation went into exile. It reflects a pattern of divine judgment and forgiveness. It is a pattern for the nation under judgment to hope in the promises of forgiveness. The prophetic word is Israel’s history for subsequent generations who come under judgment of God. Joshua is to lead the people into the promise of life that comes out of the book of Deuteronomy.