Is the Old Testament still relevant in our life today?

My answer to the question is most emphatically “YES!” however I would still have to show why and that is the intent of this discourse.

The ACCURACY of the whole / entire Bible is without question. Nicky Gumble, in his ALPHA series, quotes the numbers of historical documents that prove the validity and accuracy of the Holy Bible. Lee Stroeble, in his “The case for...” book series, also makes mention of the historical proofs. The counter arguments, especially of the King James Only factions, are at pains to argue tat the base documents used in translating original language texts into English were themselves flawed. Unfortunately, this same argument can also be used against their King James Only approach. The modern day scientific discoveries, including historical documents, archaeology, improved translation techniques from ancient manuscripts ALL emphasize the correctness and accuracy of the Bible.

It is this BIBLE, the one, entire book, that has been accepted by the Christian church worldwide for the last ±1600 years as Holy Scripture, inspired by God, written out by mankind. Of itself, the Bible says “ All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,” 2 Timothy 3:16 NIV I noticed that Paul, a scholar of the Jewish intellectual class by education and training, who only knew the Old Testament (The Tanakh, Jewish Bible, contains more than the Torah which only refers to the Pentateuch or the first 5 books of the Bible) uses the words ALL SCRIPTURE. Here is a precedent set by a highly educated man that there are no parts that deserve to be left out of the Bible.

The church leaders since earliest time have accepted the complete Bible, comprising of two COVENENTS, the OLD and the NEW. Both carry equal weight and importance and are instrumental in assisting each Christian to grow in their understanding of who God is. This is the goal of the entire Bible, that each believer grow in their intimate relationship with a God who desires that we understand who He is. The Old Testament continuously highlights His grace, His kindness, His mercy, patience etc as well as His implacable dismissal of sinful behaviour.

Which raises the questions concerning MORAL or ETHICAL behaviour imparted to our values and standards from the 10 Commandments as found in Exodus. At issue here is the assumption that, if we were educated and raised throughout childhood without any reference to the Old Testament, would we espouse the same moralistic behaviour codes?

“At the outset we must recognize that the Bible is neither an ethical treatise nor a handbook of morals. .. Rather, the Bible is a gathering of traditional materials that gradually emerged among the people of ancient Israel and early Christianity and eventually became their authoritative statements about their God, the nature of their believing community and their terms for living. Morality and ethics, like religion and theology, are observable in this literature, but they can be recovered only with a method capable of identifying moral values in what began as folk or community literature before it was made normative as religious canon.  “

Old Testament Ethics

by Douglas A. Knight

Mr Knight refers to the Bible as 'a collection of material' and in this he is correct. The early scriptures were communicated from generation to generation through the oral traditions of those families. It was only in later years that these oral histories and family traditions were recorded.

Each human born has an inbuilt 'conscience' or moral understanding of acceptable and non-acceptable behaviour relevant to the society in which they are raised. For example, in no known modern society, is it acceptable behaviour for one man to 'steal' another man's female mate or wife through experiencing sexual intercourse (adultery). This behaviour type always results in aggressive displays of anger, often coupled with violent acts towards the woman and / or the offending male. This does not sound like 'acceptable behaviour.'

Similarly, all acts of murder result in a cry for retribution from the victims relatives / friends and there is often a cycle of vengeance killings that take place. Acceptable?

"This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time," declares the LORD. "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. Jeremiah 31:33 NIV Emphasis is mine.

What is the purpose of the 10 Commandments? Are they there to instruct us about our behaviour? I do not believe that this is the primary aim of this code of behaviour. The 10 Commandments sets a standard of righteous lifestyles that is acceptable to a holy, sinless God. The commandment demonstrate how impossible it is for us as humans to achieve these standards on our own strength of will or personality. No matter how hard we try, we will always fail at some point. Like a mirror, the commandments show up our imperfections and sinfulness. Therefore we do not enjoy reading nor contemplating them. The Commandments are included in the Old Testament to point the way to Jesus, so that those who fully trust in Him by discovering that He is the only way for sinful people to be acceptable to God.

In reading Biblical history we soon discover that Abraham's family were not alone on the earth, nor was Moses and the Israelites. When Moses led the Israelites through the wilderness or desert, he encountered other families and./or tribes. When Joshua was commissioned to lead the Israelites into their 'Promised Land' one condition was that they had to defeat, destroy and decimate the families and tribes already living in that land. Why? Their values and beliefs, behaviour and culture would have compromised the Israelitic belief system of monotheism (one God!) as well as a value system in it's infancy. In a culture where children were sacrificed to a so-called deity by burning the children alive, the Israelites stood out for their recognition of the value of human life, from infancy through old age.

In teaching methodology there are two acceptable formats to follow, positive and negative instruction. Positive says “do it this way...” whilst negative instructs using “do you see the error in this?...” For example, a parent would instruct their child to eat using utensils according to their family custom. However, if they were at a restaurant and saw another child 'mis-behaving' during the meal, they may draw their child's attention to this and emphasize the unacceptable behaviour.

The history of Israel, the poetry, the love songs, the very nature and names of God are constantly highlighted in the Old Testament, using all the imagery of literary prose and vivid descriptions so that the generations to follow have a clear idea and understanding of who God really is, of acceptable vs unacceptable behaviour within this family of Christian brothers and sisters.

'Throw away the 10 Commandments and simplify life?” is a suggestion that has been made to me.  I do not think so - rather this will complicate matters even further. Where there are no boundaries, anarchy reigns, peace is non-existent and people live in fear. But my Bible teaches me that perfect love (Jesus in His sacrificial death and resurrection) drives out all fear. Where Jesus is, there is an inherent desire to adhere to boundaries of behaviour that are attractive to those who do not know Jesus as Saviour. That places the Old Testament of the Holy Bible clearly relevant in today's world!