Understanding and Applying the Old Testament: Twelve Steps from Exegesis to Theology
Delve into the process of comprehending and utilizing the Old Testament through twelve systematic steps, starting from text analysis, observation, context, meaning, and concluding with practical application in today's context. Learn how these steps can guide a deeper understanding of biblical passages and the application of their teachings in personal, communal, and global contexts.
Download Presentation
Please find below an Image/Link to download the presentation.
The content on the website is provided AS IS for your information and personal use only. It may not be sold, licensed, or shared on other websites without obtaining consent from the author. Download presentation by click this link. If you encounter any issues during the download, it is possible that the publisher has removed the file from their server.
E N D
Presentation Transcript
HOW TO UNDERSTAND AND APPLY THE OLD TESTAMENT TWELVE STEPS FROM EXEGESIS TO THEOLOGY Jason S. DeRouchie, PhD Professor of Old Testament and Biblical Theology Bethlehem College & Seminary Elder, Bethlehem Baptist Church Spring 2019
STEPS IN THE JOURNEY Part 1: Text What is the makeup of the passage? 1. Genre 2. Literary Units and Text Hierarchy 3. Text Criticism 4. Translation Part 2: Observation Part 3: Context Part 4: Meaning Part 5: Application
STEPS IN THE JOURNEY Part 1: Text Part 2: Observation How is the passage communicated? 5. Clause and Text Grammar 6. Argument Tracing 7. Word and Concept Studies Part 3: Context Part 4: Meaning Part 5: Application
STEPS IN THE JOURNEY Part 1: Text Part 2: Observation Part 3: Context Where does the passage fit? 8. Historical Context 9. Literary Context Part 4: Meaning Part 5: Application
STEPS IN THE JOURNEY Part 1: Text Part 2: Observation Part 3: Context Part 4: Meaning What does the passage mean? 10. Biblical Theology 11. Systematic Theology Part 5: Application
STEPS IN THE JOURNEY Part 1: Text Part 2: Observation Part 3: Context Part 4: Meaning Part 5: Application Why does the passage matter? 12. Practical Theology
12. PRACTICAL THEOLOGY Goal: Apply the text to yourself, the church, and the world, stressing the centrality of Christ and the hope of the gospel. God Gave the Old Testament to Instruct Christians General Guidelines for Applying the Old Testament
God Gave the OT to Instruct Christians NT Reflections on the Main Audience of OT Instruction Rom 15:4. For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. (Cf. 4:23 24) 1 Cor 10:11. Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come.
2 Tim 3:1517. From childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. 1 Pet 1:10 12. Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, 11 inquiring what person or timethe Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. 12 It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you.
OT Reflections on the Main Audience of OT Instruction Moses o Deut 9:6 7. Know, therefore, that the LORD your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stubborn people. 7 From the day you came out of the land of Egypt until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against the LORD. o Deut 29:2 4. And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them: You have seen all that the LORD did before your eyes in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land, 3 the great trials that your eyes saw, the signs, and those great wonders. 4 But to this day the LORD has not given you a heart to understand or eyes to see or ears to hear.
o Deut. 30:6, 8. And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live . 8 And you shall again obey the voice of the LORD and keep all his commandments that I command you today. o Deut 18:15. The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers it is to him you shall listen.
Isaiah o Isa 29:9 11. Astonish yourselves and be astonished; blind yourselves and be blind! Be drunk, but not with wine; stagger, but not with strong drink! 10 For the LORD has poured out upon you a spirit of deep sleep, and has closed your eyes (the prophets), and covered your heads (the seers). 11 And the vision of all this has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed. When men give it to one who can read, saying, Read this, he says, I cannot, for it is sealed. o Isa 29:18. In that day the deaf shall hear the words of a book, and out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see. o Isa 30:8. And now, go, write it before them on a tablet and inscribe it in a book, that it may be for the time to come as a witness forever.
Jeremiah o Jer 30:2 3. Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Write in a book all the words that I have spoken to you. 3 For behold, days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will restore the fortunes of my people, Israel and Judah, says the LORD, and I will bring them back to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall take possession of it. o Jer 30:24 31:1. The fierce anger of the LORD will not turn back until he has executed and accomplished the intentions of his mind. In the latter days you will understand this. 31:1 At that time, declares the LORD, I will be the God of all the clans of Israel, and they shall be my people. o Jer 31:33. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Daniel o Dan 12:4, 8 10. But you, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book, until the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase. 8 I heard, but I did not understand. Then I said, O my lord, what shall be the outcome of these things? 9He said, Go your way, Daniel, for the words are shut up and sealed until the time of the end. 10 Many shall purify themselves and make themselves white and be refined, but the wicked shall act wickedly. And none of the wicked shall understand, but those who are wise shall understand.
NT Reflections on Christ as the Key to Understanding the OT Israel s inability to grasp the Scriptures o John 5:39 40. You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. o Rom 11:7 8. Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened, 8as it is written, God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear, down to this very day.
o 2 Cor 3:14. But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away.
Jesuss person and work reveals the mystery. o Mark 4:11 12. And he said to them, To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, 12so that they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven. o Rom 16:25 26. Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages 26 but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith.
o John 2:2022. The Jews then said, It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days? 21 But he was speaking about the temple of his body. 22When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken. o John 12:13 16. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel! 14 And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, 15 Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey s colt! 16 His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him.
General Guidelines for Applying the OT Exod 19:4 6. You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles wings and brought you to myself. 5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; 6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.
General Guidelines for Applying the OT Establish the original revealed application. Identify the audience of the application. o The type of questions: Does the passage target individuals, groups, or institutions? If such differentiation cannot be made, why not? If the object is individuals, what kind (e.g., believing remnant or faithless rebel, parents or children, powerful or weak)? If the object is a group, what kind (e.g., community of faith, a nation, clergy, a profession)? o Exod 19:4 6?
List the external life issues of application. o The types of questions: What aspects of life is the passage most concerned with? What do we encounter that is similar to or at least closely related to what the passage deals with? Is the application directed toward matters that are more interpersonal in nature? Is the concern social, economic, religious, spiritual, familial, financial, or something else? Does the passage relate directly to the people s relationship with God? o Exod 19:4 6?
Clarify the nature of the application. o Types of questions: Does the passage inform the mind, supplying faith, or direct the will, giving instruction? Does it supply more an indicative or an imperative? Does it speak more to the heart or the hands? o Exod 19:4 6?
Determine the time focus of the application. o Types of questions: Does the passage call for present faith or action? Does it look back to something in the past or ahead to something in the future? o Exod 19:4 6?
Fix the limits of the application. o Types of questions: Is the passage primary or does it function more as background or support? Is the passage part of a larger passage that suggests a clearer application than your passage does on its own? Does the passage call for a response that could be misunderstood or taken too far? In what ways does passage apply? o Exod 19:4 6?
Summary for Exodus 19:46 o The text supplies a synthesis of the old covenant by addressing the nation of Israel s redemption and life-calling in relation to the world. o It explicitly informs but also implicitly directs, calling for action and motivating this call by the promise of global impact. o The words target every member of the community and address surrender to Yahweh that impacts every facet of life in every present and future generation.
Determine the theological significance of the passage. Clarify what the passage tells us about God and his ways o Aspects: About God : his character, desires, values, concerns, and standards About his ways : his actions and purposes in redemption) o Exod 19:4 6? Yahweh is one who delivers in order to create a people who can display his excellencies. God is an able warrior (19:4) who commands, establishes covenants, and treasures some more than others (19:5). He is a God who motivates through promises and who desires his people to mediate and display his greatness in the world (19:6).
Assess how Christs fulfillment of the OT impacts our application of this passage. o Types of questions: Does the passage speak directly to old covenant structure that get transformed in the new? How has the progress of salvation history influenced how we hear and may apply this text? How does the passage anticipate Jesus s life and work, the church age, or the consummation? Does the text express time-bound or culturally bound elements that can no longer relate to us on this side of the cross? Does the NT quote or allude to the particular text in a way that clarifies its lasting value for Christians?
o How does Christ fulfill Exod 19:46? The exodus from Egypt typologically anticipated a greater, more universal second exodus from sin that Jesus himself embodies. Isa 11:10 12, 16. In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious. 11 In that day the Lord will extend his hand yet a second time to recover the remnant that remains of his people, from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Cush, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the coastlands of the sea. 12 He will raise a signal for the nations and will assemble the banished of Israel, and gather the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth . 16 And there will be a highway from Assyria for the remnant that remains of his people, as there was for Israel when they came up from the land of Egypt.
Luke 9:3031. And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, 31 who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.
Christ fulfilled the charge of this text as the perfect royal priest, bringing us to God and empowering us to serve him. Rom 5:18 19. Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. 19For as by the one man s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man s obedience the many will be made righteous. Heb 4:15. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 2 Cor 5:21. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Christ now empowers us to magnify God as he has. 2 Cor 3:18. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord,are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. 1 Pet 2:9. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
Summarize the lasting significance of the passage for today.
