Sunday Sermons
The Exciting Text
The Exciting Text
Teaching the Old Testament
When Jesus cited and explained the verses in the Old Testament that applied to Him, the disciples said to themselves, “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). This text indicates that the Old Testament is a very amazing text and can be taught in a way that is exciting to one who is interested in God’s truth. In like manner, David loved to study the Old Testament Scriptures, “O how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day” (Psalm 119:97).
Genesis
1:1 “After practically a lifetime of study, Herbert Spencer (1820-1903), the British philosopher, declared that there are basically five fundamentals of science: time, force, action, space and matter. Little did Spencer know that he was but echoing what had been written----more than 3,000 years prior to him. ‘In the beginning (time), God (force), created (action), the heavens (space), and the earth (matter)’” (A Study Course in Christian Evidences. Bert Thompson & Wayne Jackson, p. 125).
Chapters 1-3: Observe the logical order of creation, sound scientific principles (life comes from life and that after its “kind” (1:11), and the reason that man is different from the animals (1:26). The fact that God ceased creating (2:1), and the institution of marriage (2:25 “and the man and his wife”). Notice how the devil entices the woman (3:1-5), first there is the questioning of a clear command (3:1), then the flat denial (3:4), the appeal to pride (3:5), and finally the appeal to the eyes and desires (3:6). This chapter also explains the presence of strained relationships, human suffering, death and why nature does not easily cooperate with man (3:16-19).
Chapter 4: Adam and Eve sinned yet free will has not been lost in the process (4:7 “If you do well”). Ancient man is not primitive but very advanced (4:16-22). 5:4 This verse explains where Cain might have acquired his wife. Consider some of the amazing things about the pre-Flood world. Lifetimes reached almost to 1000 years, men of immense size existed (6:4), and this world did have its hero’s (6:4 “men of renown”).
6:15: The length of a cubit in the ancient world varied, but it ranged from 17.5 inches to 22.5 inches. If the shorter cubit is used then the ark measured 437.5 feet long, 72.92 feet wide and 43.75 feet high. It had three decks or levels (6:16), making a total deck area of approx. 95,700 square feet, this would be the equivalent of slightly more than the area of 20 standard college basketball courts. Its total volume using such figures would have been 1,396,000 cubic feet, which would place it well within the category of large ocean-going vessels of today. Note that the dimensions of the ark are completely logical. In fact, the same ratio found in these dimensions is still used in ship building to this day (length 10 times the height, six times the width). It had a carrying capacity of 522 standard railroad stock cars, each of which could carry 240 sheep size animals. Various writers note that a vessel so constructed in this manner uses space very efficiently and becomes more stable as its cargo increases. The ark could be tilted through any angle up to just short of 90 degrees and could immediately thereafter right itself. 9:6, 13-15: The basis for capital punishment and the meaning of the rainbow.
Chapter 10: This chapter is unique for it is the only document that comprehensively gives the origins for the ancient nations. 10:2-5 The name of Japheth himself is found in secular literature as Iapetos the legendary father of the Greeks and Iyapeti the reputed ancestor of the Aryans in India. “Madai” was the ancestor of the Medes. “Javan” father of the Ionians and Greeks. The name “Tiras” may refer to the Etruscans who inhabited Italy. “Tarshish” refers to the early settlers of Spain and North Africa. “Kittim”, inhabitants of Cyrpus. 10:6-7 “Cush” refers to Ethiopia and “Mizraim” just happens to be the Hebrew word for Egypt.
12:1-3: Abraham is given three basic promises that are played out in the rest of the Old Testament and New Testament. The promise of land (12:1), which land was given to the nation of Israel during the conquest (Joshua 21:43-45), and which Solomon ruled over (Genesis 15:18; 1 Kings 4:21). The promise that his descendants will become a great nation (12:2), which was fulfilled in the nation of Israel and all the nations will be blessed by one of Abraham’s descendants, which was and still is being fulfilled in Jesus Christ and the preaching of the gospel message (12:3; Galatians 3:16).
Abraham/Isaac/Jacob: Jacob’s name will be changed to “Israel” after wrestling with an angel! Thus from this point on the descendants of Jacob will gradually grow into the nation of Israel (Genesis 37:28).
Genesis 37-Exodus 1: Explains how the Israelites ended up in Egypt and in bondage.
Exodus 3:14: The name of God, “I am who I am”, that is the self-existent one.
Exodus chapters 7-13: The 10 plagues, God’s correspondence course to Pharaoh and the Egyptians concerning “Who God Is”.
Exodus 20: This chapter reveals the beginning of the first covenant, an agreement with a specific nation (Exodus 31:13 “a sign between Me and you throughout your generations”; Deuteronomy 5:1-3). In the rest of this book other commandments are delivered and the tabernacle is built.
Leviticus: Laws of holiness and worship. Numbers: On the way to Canaan, rebellion and wilderness wandering as a consequence. Deuteronomy: A second giving of the Law to a new generation and Moses’ final speech. Exodus 20 through Deuteronomy covers 40 years.
Joshua: Conquest of Canaan. Judges: Military deliverers. Ruth: A love story that involves the great-grandmother of king David and describes what life was like during the period of the judges. This period covers the years 1450-1050 B.C.
1 Samuel: The reign of King Saul. 2 Samuel: The reign of King David. 1 Kings 1-11: The reign of Solomon. This period is known as the “United Kingdom”.
1 Kings 12-2 Kings 25: The “Divided Kingdom” period. The Kingdom of Israel (the 10 northern tribes) will exist from 931 to 721 B.C. and then are removed off their land by the Assyrians. The Kingdom of Judah (the two southern tribes) will survive until 586 B.C. when they are removed by the Babylonians. Babylonian Captivity will last from 606 to 536 B.C.
Ezra: Return from captivity, the temple is rebuilt (536-458). Nehemiah: Rebuilding the walls around Jerusalem (444). Esther: The Jews saved from annihilation in the Persian Empire (480-470). The reader should note that all the prophets fit into somewhere into previous historical time periods.
Job: The problem of suffering especially for the righteous. Psalms: Prayers and praise. It is noteworthy that the “second Psalm” is actually called the “second Psalm” in the New Testament indicating that books are not being lost in the transmission process (Acts 13:33). Proverbs: A tremendous amount of practical wisdom packed into short sayings that are often pointed and humorous (22:24-25; 23:26-35; 26:10). Ecclesiastes: The uncertainties of life under the sun. This is the book that mentions the water-vapor cycle (1:7), challenges such cherished secular beliefs as pining our hopes on posterity (2:18-19), that nature is “free” (1:5-6), that there is truly something “new” under the sun (1:10), or that things can make us happy (2:1-11). Song of Solomon: The beauty of true love verses infatuation.
Exciting texts in the Prophets
Isaiah 40:22: “The word ‘compass’ in Proverbs 8:27 and the word ‘circle’ in Isaiah 40:22 are both translations of the same Hebrew chuwg, an excellent rendering of which is ‘circle’. It could well be used also for ‘sphere’, since there seems to have been no other ancient Hebrew word with this explicit meaning (a sphere is simply the figure formed by a circle turning about its diameter)” (The Biblical Basis for Modern Science, p. 246). 45:1: God predicted more than 150 years in advance the name of the specific individual who would serve His purpose of restoring Israel to her land. “To approach the Bible with an anti-supernaturalistic basis and say that the references to Cyrus were added later, after he released the captives, causes the passage, as stated earlier, to lose its emphasis on God’s uniqueness in predicting the future. This would mean that God is no different from idols---the very point Isaiah is disproving!” (Bible Knowledge Comm. p. 1099). “Cyrus, founder of the Persian Empire, first came to the throne of Anshan in Eastern Elam in 559 B.C. In 549 he conquered the Medes and became the ruler of the combined Persian and Median Empire. In 539 he conquered Babylon (Daniel 5:30) and the very next year issued a decree that the Jews could return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple (2 Chronicles 36:22-23; Ezra 1:1-4). In doing this Cyrus was serving God’s purpose as if he were God’s shepherd” (p. 1099). Isaiah 53: A detailed picture of the life of Jesus some 700 years before He was born. Remember, Isaiah was in print before Jesus was ever born; in fact, the entire Old Testament had been translated into the Greek language around 280 B.C. The Dead Sea Scrolls, which are copies of every book in the Old Testament except Esther date 100-200 years prior to the birth of Christ and also mention all these prophecies, thus these prophecies were not written after the fact. Some 300 prophecies exist in the Old Testament that predict various events in Jesus’ life, including the place of His birth (Micah 5:2), and the exact price of His betrayal (Zechariah 11:12-13).
Jeremiah 31:31-34: Predicts the arrival of the New Covenant.
Ezekiel 26:1-6: The prediction that the city of Tyre will be thrown into the sea, will become a bare rock and a place for the spreading of fishing nets. Nebuchadnezzar besieged the mainland city in 585 BC and continued the siege for 13 years, the city being destroyed in 573 BC. When Nebuchadnezzar finally entered the city, most of the people had moved to an island one-half mile off the coast and fortified a new city there. The city remained a powerful city for several hundred years. Alexander the Great laid siege to the city about 332 BC when they would not cooperate with him in his plans to conquer the Persians. Since Alexander possessed no fleet he demolished the mainland city and with the debris from the old mainland city built a 200-foot wide causeway to the new city. This causeway demanded that the old city be entirely leveled and scraped down to bedrock. Even today the causeway still exists with the site of the mainland city being a bare rock occupied by fishermen.
Daniel 2:36-44: Daniel predicts the world empires that would follow the Babylonian Empire, which included Persia, Greece (under Alexander the Great) and the Roman Empire. Added to all such details the Bible also contains detailed prophecies of what would happen to cities such as Babylon and Nineveh. It contains such unusual events as a man being swallowed alive by a great fish, a prophet being commanded to marry a harlot, a young man killing a giant, and time standing still.
Mark Dunagan/Beaverton Church of Christ/503-644-9017
www.beavertonchurchofchrist.net/mdunagan@easystreet.com
