Why Do We Teach So Much From the "Old Testament"???

Why Do We Teach So Much from the "Old Testament???"

On occasion, a question comes to me about our congregational practice.

A person who visits our congregation on occasion noted to one of our members that we spend alot of time in our messages talking about the "Old" Testament, as opposed to the "New" Testament. However, if someone comes to our Congregation weekly on Shabbat they would see that I consistently include the "New" Testament writings in my teachings and relate them back to the "Old," for the "New" Testament stands upon the shoulders of the "Old" - not vise versa.

Someone once said that the "Old Testament is the New Testament concealed, the New Testament is the Old Testament revealed." I am inclined to agree with that observation.

Yeshua said, "You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me" (John 5:39) and after His death and resurrection, He opened His Disciples' minds to those Scriptures that spoke of Him: "Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures " (Luke 24:27); "They said to one another, "Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?" (Luke 24:32); "Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures and He said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem." (Luke 24:45-47). "For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures , and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures ..." (1 Corinthians 15:3, 4)

The Scriptures that speak of Him is the "Old" Testament. Thus, proper teaching in a Messianic Congregation should incorporate both the "Newer" AND the "Older" Testaments - and we consistently do!

The "Scripture"

We read in the New Testament that: "All Scripture is 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) and "But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is {a matter} of one's own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God" (2 Peter 1:20, 21) and "Until I come, give attention to the {public} reading {of Scripture,} to exhortation and teaching" (1 Timothy 4:13).

When the Bereans heard the word from Shaul (Paul) Acts 17:11 says: "Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily {to see} whether these things were so."

The Scriptures they were examining daily to test out what Shaul (Paul) was saying was the "Old Testament."

Which brings up a most important rule in Biblical Hermeneutics: The Older revelation ALWAYS tests out the Newer - not the other way around! The Older Testament or TANAKH (an Hebrew acronym meaning the "Torah," the "Prophets" and the "Writings") checks out ALL New Testament revelation; the New Testament does NOT test out the TANAKH.

Other New Testament passages point out the importance of the "Scripture" (TANAKH) to us:

Yeshua said to them, "Did you never read in the Scripture , 'THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS BECAME THE CHIEF CORNER {stone;} THIS CAME ABOUT FROM THE LORD, AND IT IS MARVELOUS IN OUR EYES'?" (Matthew 21:42); "But Yeshua answered and said to them, "You are mistaken, not understanding the Scriptures nor the power of God" (Matthew 22:29); "How then will the Scriptures be fulfilled, {which say} that it must happen this way?" (Matthew 26:24); "But all this has taken place to fulfill the Scriptures of the prophets. Then all the disciples left Him and fled" (Matthew 26:56); "Every day I was with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize Me; but {this has} {taken place} to fulfill the Scriptures " (Mark 14:49); "And according to Paul's custom, he went to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures" (Acts 17:2); "Now a Jew named Apollos, an Alexandrian by birth, an eloquent man, came to Ephesus; and he was mighty in the Scriptures" (Acts 18:24); "...for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, demonstrating by the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ" (Acts 18:28); "...which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures ..." (Romans 1:2); "For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope" (Romans 15:4); "...but now is manifested, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, has been made known to all the nations, {leading} to obedience of faith..." (Romans 16:26); and 2 Peter 3:16 - "...as also in all {his} letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as {they do} also the rest of the Scriptures , to their own destruction."

The "Scriptures" alluded to in ALL the above passages are those of what Christians today call the "Old Testament" NOT the "New Testament" (though the later New Testament writings by extension are just as authoritative as Older Testament Scripture).

WHY??? The "New" Testament Scriptures were just being written at the time!

Altogether, the New Testament quotes the Older hundreds of times! An index in the Jewish New Testament by Dr. David Stern catalogs 695 separate quotations from the books of the Old Testament in the New (Jewish New Testament Publications, Jerusalem, 1989). There are many other passages where the Old Testament is referred to, as in cases where an Old Testament figure is mentioned, but no specific scripture is quoted. Depending on which scholar's work you examine, the number of quotations and references in the New Testament to the Old may be as high as 4,105 (Roger Nicole, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, 1979, Vol. I, p. 617).

The importance of the "Old Testament," referred also to by its Hebrew Name, the "TANAKH" - is evident in Yeshua's own response to Satan in the Wilderness when He refuted Satan by Torah passages alone and not by His own original words - though as God Incarnate, He would have had the authority in His words alone to refute him!

A Bit of History...

Shaul made his view of the TANAKH clear to Timothy, when he wrote that "from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures" (2 Timothy 3:15).

What are the "Holy Scriptures" Shaul refers to? At the time this was written, about A.D. 66, there was no "New Testament"-some of what has since then been called the New Testament hadn't even been written at that point. Shaul is referring very clearly to the Old Testament; those were the Holy Scriptures Timothy had been taught since childhood by his Jewish mother (Acts 16:1-3).

The Table below shows you the Time-Line of Events and approximately when the "New Testament" writings were written:

TABLE I

New Testament Books and Chronology

Approximate Dates Event

5-4 B.C. Yeshuas' Birth

26-27 A.D. Yeshuas' Baptism

28-30 A.D. Yeshuas' Crucifixion & Resurrection

33-35 A.D. Shaul's Coming to Faith in Yeshua

38 A.D. Kefa (Peter) Baptizes first Gentile (Acts 10)

44 A.D. Death of Herod Agrippa I, Acts 2:1-23

48-49 A.D. Shaul's First Mission Journey

48-60 A.D. Book of Galatians (?)
49 A.D. First Jerusalem Conference (Acts 15)

50-54 A.D. Shaul's Second Missionary Journey

50-53 A.D. Shaul in Corinth

50-52 A.D. I & II Thessalonians

54-58 A.D. Shaul's Third Mission Journey

54-56 A.D. 1 Corinthians

54-57 A.D. Shaul's Ministry in Ephesus

56-57 A.D. 2 Corinthians

55-58 A.D. Romans

58-68 A.D. Shaul's Final Journey & Martyrdom

58-62 A.D. Luke

60-63 A.D. Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians Philemon

62 A.D. Acts of the Apostles

63 A.D. Shaul's release from Prison

61-64 A.D. 1 Timothy

63-67 A.D. I Peter

61-68 A.D. II Peter

64-66 A.D. Titus

64-67 A.D. Hebrews

65-68 A.D. Kefa's Death

65-68 A.D. II Timothy

50-70 A.D. Matthew

67-70 A.D. Mark

70 A.D. Destruction of Second Temple

67-90 A.D. Jude

80-95 A.D. John

85-95 A.D. 1, 2, & 3 John

95-96 A.D. Revelation

Now, while Kefa (Peter) DOES allude to Shaul's (Paul's) writings in 2 Peter 3:16 - "...as also in all {his} letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as {they do} also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction" and equates his writings with the rest of the Scripture (TANAKH), those writings will actually NOT be canonized, that is - come to be regarded as Scripture until much later.

Canonization of the New Testament Writings

In the first three centuries of Early Christianity, there seems not to have been a New Testament canon that was complete and universally recognized.

One of the earliest attempts at solidifying a canon was made by Marcion, c. 140 AD, who accepted only a modified version of Luke (Gospel of Marcion) and ten of Paul's letters, while rejecting the Old Testament entirely.

The Muratorian fragment, dated at between 170 (based on an internal reference to Pope Pius I and arguments put forth by Bruce Metzger) and as late as the end of the 4th century (according to the Anchor Bible Dictionary), provides the earliest known New Testament canon attributed to mainstream (that is, not Marcionite) Christianity. It is similar, but not identical, to the modern New Testament canon.

The New Testament canon (as it is now) was first listed by Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria, in 367, in a letter written to his churches in Egypt (Festal Letter 39). That canon gained wider and wider recognition until it was accepted at the Third Council of Carthage in 397.

In short, the "New Testament" as we have it now was not given official authority as canon until well over 300 years AFTER the Apostles were martyred!

This is not to say that they didn't have the authority that they were eventually recognized to have, but simply that the Early "Church" did not really consider canonization of these writings as being a priority in "things to do."

What WAS considered authoritative by ALL of the New Testament writers AND the Messiah Yeshua, Himself?

No question about that: the "Old Testament (TANAKH)"! It was considered authoritative, relevant to the very day, essential to walking one's life as a holy person of God, and essential to salvation by of them!

"Wise to Salvation"

Though it may be surprising to some, Shaul clearly states that these same Scriptures "are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus" (2 Timothy 3:15). Salvation was available under the Old Testament Scriptures. And how was it available? In exactly the same way as it is in the "New" Testament: "Through faith which is in Christ Jesus."

The TANAKH contains ALL that a person needs to come to a saving faith and knowledge of Messiah Yeshua! Thus, it is evident that Gospel (Good News) is NOT exclusively contained in the first 4 books of the "New" Testament - it is in the "Older" Testament, too!

Shaul writes in 1 Corinthians 15: "¹ Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. ³ For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, ⁴ and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures..."

The Scriptures that Shaul is talking about is the TANAKH - for the "New Testament" writings were not yet written!

The Gospel is the power of salvation to those who have faith in Yeshua -"For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek (Romans 1:16)."

The Gospel (Good News) is contained in the Scriptures (TANAKH)! The TANAKH has EVERYTHING that a person needs to come to faith in Yeshua and obtain salvation, learn to walk a holy life as a saved person and be a true disciple of the Master!

Though the New Testament is necessary and good for us to have, people have been and will be saved by the Old Testament Scriptures (TANAKH) alone!

It is through them that Shaul preached to the Bereans and many came to faith (Acts 17:11-12), it is through them that Shaul preached in Pisidian Antioch (Acts 13:12-43), it is through them that Shaul spoke in Iconium (Acts 14:1), it is through them that Shaul reasoned with the Thessalonicans in Acts 17:1-4). We could go on and on...

What saved these people was the TANAKH - NOT the "New Testament" writings! There were NO "New Testament" writings at the time! If you look at these passages, we can see that the TANAKH contains EVERYTHING we NEED to bring to salvation BOTH Jews and non-Jews!

Building Upon the Foundation

At long last, I am finally getting around to answering the question: Why Do We Teach so Much from the "Old" Testament???

The answer is: if we are going to build the house (Beth Yeshua - House of Yeshua) so that it would last (should the Lord tarry), we MUST build it on a solid foundation!

Now, I am no carpenter; but I have watched houses being built. It seems to me that the foundation of the building takes the longest time to lay. It is by far the solidest part of the building. Everything else: walls, roof, etc., rests upon it. If the foundation is not solid, eventually the building will crumble. A building will last much longer if it is founded correctly.

In the Body of Christ, too many churches are "New Testament" churches only. They are "built" on the "New" Testament primarily. Their pastors principly teach from the "New" Testament and only on occasion go back to the "Old" Testament to illustrate a principle or a point.

I was raised in a "New" Testament church. They taught, "Where the Scripture speaks, we speak. Where the Scripture is silent, we are silent." As a "New Testament church," they teach that only what is found in the "New" Testament Scriptures applies to believers today.

Somewhere in their past history as a denomination they went through a split over the use of instruments in worship. Since the "New" Testament doesn't specifically refer to the use of instrumentation in the worship service, and since this church is "silent when the Scripture is silent," some within that denomination thought that it was improper that instruments be used in the worship - and so they broke off from those that thought it was ok to use instruments in worship.

Thus, as a "New Testament church" a split was created where one shouldn't have been, considering that the Scriptures (TANAKH) used by Shaul, Timothy, Kefa, and Yeshua and the other Apostles as a rule of life and worship all encourage the use instruments in worship!

See how limiting oneself to the New Testament Scriptures alone can pervert and undermine the true meaning of the entire Word of God? You can make the New Testament say anything if you take it away from the foundation of the Older Testament Scriptures. And the Church often does!

We have a church in our local area called the "New Testament Church." As I would drive on occasion to Spokane from where I live, I would watch as their church building was being built (from the very start). I noticed as I went by that they invested alot of time, material and energy on what should be (if we analogize this example with "Old" Testament Scripture) a very inconsequential task: that of laying the foundation of their building.

They insured that the dirt at the site was level, they laid rebar, they poured concrete, they let it cure (harden) and in short, did everything necessary to get that foundation just right! Only after the foundation was finished did they build the walls, etc. upon that well-laid foundation!

If they do this with a building that will one day return to the earth, why will they not do this with something that will last through Eternity?

That gets me to the point of the answer to my question: At Beth Yeshua, we spend so much time in the Old Testament to lay the solid FOUNDATION of the House (Beth Yeshua) we are building here in Priest River. IF we DON'T do that, then when every wind of doctrine or the storms of the world come at us, we would be shaken and the congregation would fall!

According to some of the "Old-timers" in Priest River, there was already a Messianic group here once. It seemed that personalities, doctrines, etc., got in the way and it eventually broke up.

I don't want to see that happen again. I would like to see a Messianic Congregation where people are being ministered to, where they are growing in the Messiah Yeshua and living and walking out the Torah in their lives, just as He did!

So, if it seems as though we dwell a little longer on the "Older" Testament than the Christian Churches do, please be patient with us. We're trying to find a balance where BOTH the Older and the Newer Testament Scriptures get their say in our lives; yet, we are laying a Foundation here - and that just seems to take a little longer...

This article is the viewpoint of Bruce R. Booker and does not necessarily represent the views of all the members of Beth Yeshua Messianic Congregation.