8 23 26 - The Bible For Grown ups | Week 3: The Old Testament

The story of the Bible does not really start “in the beginning” with Genesis. The story of the Bible starts with Jesus, and more specifically, with an empty tomb. Jesus did not write the Bible, but if Jesus had stayed dead, there would be no Bible, no church, no Christianity, and probably no remembered name of Jesus. The empty tomb changed everything because the cross was not the end of the story.

The disciples went from hiding like cowards to running into the streets of Jerusalem proclaiming that Jesus was alive. Luke says several people set out to write accounts of the life and teachings of Jesus because something remarkable had happened. Paul, the Jewish Pharisee turned apostle, carried the news of the resurrection across the Roman Empire, and Gentiles began trusting a Jewish rabbi as Lord.

The Gentile turn to Jesus created a new interest in the Hebrew Bible, what later Christians would call the Old Testament. Early Christians embraced those Jewish sacred texts as Christian Scripture, not because they were trying to become Jewish, but because their interest was Christological. They searched those texts for Jesus, and they found him everywhere. Paul had to warn Gentile believers not to get arrogant toward Jewish believers, because the church already had tension over how to understand Israel and the promises of God.

The Old Testament still causes confusion when it is handed over as one big book bound together with the New Testament. The Old Testament and the New Testament are both sacred and inspired, but they do not function in the same way. The Old Testament should be read for inspiration and motivation, but not direct application. Christianity does not exist because there is a Bible. The Bible exists because Jesus vacated a tomb.

Genesis shows God as Creator, then as the builder of a nation through Abraham. God promises that all the families of the earth will be blessed through Abraham’s seed. Exodus shows God freeing that nation from Egypt. Sinai gives the law, not as random religious fine print, but as civil and religious rules meant to make Israel stand out from the nations around it.

Leviticus may sound strange to modern ears, but the law was revolutionary in its own world. The sexual prohibitions, protections for the poor, care for widows, servants, and children, all flowed from Israel’s unique belief that people are made in the image of God. The surrounding gods used people. Israel’s God gave people dignity.

The kings show what happened when Israel wanted to be like everybody else. The prophets called the nation back to the mission. Isaiah 53 looked ahead to a suffering servant, despised, pierced, crushed, and yet somehow alive after death. First Corinthians 15 names what is most important: Christ died for sins, was buried, and was raised on the third day, just as the Scriptures said.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. The tomb comes before the book The empty tomb is the foundation underneath the Bible’s story. Christianity is not hanging by a thread on every hard Old Testament question being easy to answer. Faith rests first on the risen Jesus, and from there the Scriptures can be read with patience, honesty, and courage. [42:29]
• 2. The Old Testament sets the stage The Old Testament is not a flat rulebook where every command lands directly on modern Christian practice. Its great movement is God building a nation through whom the whole world would be blessed. That makes the Old Testament a long preparation for Jesus, not a disconnected pile of ancient religious material. [43:07]
• 3. The law was not backward The law can look strange when modern readers sit in the present and judge the ancient world with no context. In its own time, the law pushed Israel away from practices everyone else accepted and gave dignity to people other cultures often used or crushed. What can sound restrictive at first often reveals God protecting human life in a brutal world. [54:17]
• 4. The prophets remembered the mission The prophets were not just angry voices throwing judgment around. Their warnings called Israel back to the reason God formed the nation in the first place. The nation was meant to carry the promise of blessing, and the prophets kept pointing past the failure of kings toward the coming Savior. [58:25]
• 5. Jesus remains most important First Corinthians 15 does not say everything is unimportant, but it does say something is most important. Christ died for sins, was buried, and rose again on the third day. A person may still wrestle with hard texts while holding a rock solid faith in the risen Jesus.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [28:57] - Gratitude for God’s Presence
• [30:24] - The Bible for Grown Ups
• [33:51] - The Bible Starts With Jesus
• [36:52] - Gentiles and the Hebrew Bible
• [39:32] - Paul Warns Against Arrogance
• [41:38] - Reading the Old Testament Rightly
• [44:26] - God Builds a Nation
• [46:33] - Sinai and the Law
• [50:45] - Leviticus in Historical Context
• [55:50] - Kings, Power, and Failure
• [57:15] - Prophets Call Israel Back
• [60:25] - Isaiah’s Picture of Jesus
• [66:01] - What Is Most Important
• [68:21] - Invitation to Trust Jesus

1. In Genesis 12:1-3, what reasons are given for why God chose Abraham and began building a nation through him? [00:44:26]
2. According to Romans 11:1-2, how does Paul answer the question of whether God has rejected Israel, and what personal detail does he use to support his answer? [00:39:32]
3. In Isaiah 53:3-6, what words and phrases describe the suffering of the coming servant, and what does the passage say that suffering would accomplish?
4. In 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, what does Paul call “of first importance,” and what three events does he list in that message? [01:06:48]

1. If the empty tomb comes before the book, how does that change the way a person handles hard or confusing parts of the Old Testament? [00:42:29]
2. God told Abraham that all the families of the earth would be blessed through his seed. How does that promise help explain the overall purpose of the Old Testament? [00:43:07]
3. The Old Testament is to be read for inspiration and motivation, but not direct application. What does that protect believers from, and what does it still invite believers to see? [00:41:38]
4. Paul says the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus are “most important.” How can that keep a person grounded while still being honest about questions they have? [01:07:45]

1. When questions about the Bible start to feel heavy, is the starting point usually the hardest passage or the risen Jesus? What would it look like this week to begin again with what is most important? [01:06:48]
2. The Old Testament tells the story of God preparing the world for a Savior. How might reading it that way change the next book or passage that gets opened? [01:04:03]
3. God formed a people so that they would be a blessing to others. Where has life become more focused on fitting in, staying comfortable, or protecting personal space than on being a blessing? [00:45:21]
4. The law pushed Israel to stand out from the nations around them in the best ways possible. In what setting right now—home, work, school, friendships—is there pressure to blend in rather than live distinctly for God? [00:47:03]
5. The prophets kept calling God’s people back to the mission. What reminders are needed right now to come back to what matters most instead of drifting into distraction or compromise? [00:58:25]
6. Isaiah 53 shows Jesus carrying grief, sin, and guilt for others. Which part of that picture of Jesus is most needed right now: his compassion, his sacrifice, his forgiveness, or his willingness to suffer in our place? Why?
7. A person can wrestle with difficult texts and still have a rock-solid faith in the risen Jesus. Where is there a need for more patience with unresolved questions instead of shame, panic, or pretending? [01:07:45]