Studies in Old Testament History

Studies in Old Testament History

The New Testament is the outgrowth and development of the Old. There is no revelation in the gospels or the epistles which is not in its essence contained in the elder Scripture; though to make it manifest required the incarnation of God's Son and the descent of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, to understand the New Testament it is necessary to study the Old Testament. We cannot appreciate Matthew's point of view of Christ as the Messiah until we have looked upon the throne of David, and Solomon in all his glory; the theology of Paul is blind until read in the light of Moses and Isaiah; and Hebrews will obtain a new meaning when placed side by side with Leviticus. Every chapter in the New Testament has its references to parallel passages in the Old Testament. When we open the Old Testament we find it, first of all, a book of history. We are apt to look upon the Bible as a dictionary of doctrine, wherein we are to search for sentences as proof-texts. But instead it contains the story of redemption in the form of a history. We see how God chose a family and pruned off its dead branches and caused it to grow into a nation; then, how he trained and disciplined that nation through fifteen centuries, until upon it blossomed the Divine Man. The history of the Bible is the history of humanity, of literature, of ethics, of religion, of doctrine; and no one who studies it carefully will fail of an abundant reward for his endeavor.[8] In most works upon Bible history the purpose of the author seems to be merely to arrange in chronological order a series of events without much regard to their importance or their relations to each other. The successive reigns of kings, the chronicles of courts, the reports of battles form the contents of most histories, whether sacred or secular. Works like these have their value in the statement of those facts which form the basis and working material of history. But mere facts chronologically arranged do not constitute a history, any more than words alphabetically arranged constitute a literature. True history records processes, the relation of cause and effect, the formative influences and their result in national life. The true history of England shows not annals of kings and achievements of warriors, but the development of a mighty people. The true history of Greece gives the secret springs of that intense activity which in two centuries called forth more great men in more departments of life than all the rest of the world could produce in a thousand years. The true history of Israelwhich is the history of the Old Testamentshows how a little people in their mountain-eyrie grew up to a destiny more glorious than that of the proudest empire of all the earth, the honor of giving religion to mankind. ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 36444
Author: Hurlbut, Jesse Lyman
Release Date: Jun 16, 2011
Format: eBook
Language: English