Why Study the Old Testament?

10/15/17

3. The Old Testament is the Bible that Jesus and the Apostles used.

1. 1. Jesus used it, not only to show who he was, but to teach people.

1. The temptation in the Wilderness (Matt. 4:1-11) – compare to the 40 years of the Israelites wandering in the wilderness.
   1. Request (v. 3): “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.”
   2. Response (v. 4): Deut. 8:3 – “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”
   3. Context: Moses is recounting to the Israelites how God has provided for them throughout the 40 years of wandering before they cross over the Jordan.
   4. Request (vv. 5-6): “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down” (from the pinnacle of the Temple). He even uses Scripture (Psalm 91:11-12) – “He will command his angels concerning you and on their hands, they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.”
   5. Response (v. 7): Deut.6:16 – “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.”
   6. Context: The fuller explanation of the Greatest Commandment
   7. Request (vv. 8-9): “All these I will give you, if you fall down and worship me.”
   8. Response (v. 10): Deut. 6:13 – “You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.”
   9. Context: The Greatest Commandment
2. The Sermon on the Mount
   1. Verse 3 – “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” – Isaiah 66:2 – “All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the Lord. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.”
   2. Verse 4 – “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” – Isaiah 61:2-3 – “to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to grant to those who mourn in Zion—to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.”
   3. Verse 5 – “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” – Psalm 37:11 – “But the meek shall inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant peace.”
   4. Verse 8 – “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” – “Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully.”
   5. Verse 9 – “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” – Psalm 34:7 – “Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.”
   6. Verses 10-11 – “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.” – Isaiah 51:7-8 – “Listen to me, you who know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear not the reproach of man, nor be dismayed at their revilings. For the moth will eat them up like a garment, and the worm will eat them like wool, but my righteousness will be forever, and my salvation to all generations.”
   7. Verse 12 – “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” – 2 Chronicles 36:16 – “But they kept mocking the messengers of God, despising his words and scoffing at his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord rose against his people, until there was no remedy.”
   8. The “You have heard that it was said to those of old… But I say to you” statements are mostly drawn from the Ten Commandments.

• Other Teachings throughout Matthew.
  1. Matthew 12:1-8; cf. 1 Sam. 21:3-9; Hos. 6:6
  2. Matthew 12: 15-21; cf. Isaiah 42:1-3
  3. Matthew 12:38-42; cf. Jonah; 1 Kings 10:1-13
  4. Matthew 15:1-9; cf. Exodus 20:12; 21:17; Isaiah 29:13
  5. Matthew 21:12-16; cf. Isaiah 56:7; Psalm 8:2
  6. Matthew 22:41-46; cf. Psalm 110:1 (the most quoted verse in the NT)

1. A difficult passage from John
   1. John 10:31-38 – ³¹ The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. ³² Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?” ³³ The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.” ³⁴ Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods’? ³⁵ If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be broken— ³⁶ do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? ³⁷ If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me;     ³⁸ but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.”

1. 1. The disciples quoted from the OT (John 1:45; 2:19-22; 12:16; 19:24, 28, 36)
   2. Paul used it quite extensively (In Romans 9-12, he quotes the OT 36 times from Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, 1 Kings, Psalms, Proverbs, Isaiah [10 times], Jeremiah, Hosea, Joel, and Malachi.