My head is buzzing with the Old Testament at the moment. We’re covering Malachi in bible study (which means I’m writing studies on Malachi), I’m studying a correspondence course on the Old Testament wisdom writings, and the minor prophets, and I’m listening to some lectures on “Preaching the Old Testament”.
It’s amazing how long you can go to church and Sunday School and various Christian groups, and not understand anything much of the Old Testament. I’m learning a lot with everything that I look into, which is good, but a little humbling.
All this learning present a further obstacle: when I’m writing bible studies on the Old Testament, I don’t want to focus on sharing how much I’ve learned (an easy trap to fall into); I want people to see the challenges that each passage has for them. As interesting as it might be to share these tiny details that I’ve picked up, if it doesn’t have some impact on the way that we live, then it’s just more learning for the sake of it.
im constantly amazed at wot ppl do (& DONT) know about the OT and how little they know about how it fits together.
that is the part that i think is lacking in many preaching series, giving ppl the big picture and the tools for putting each verse in the context of the chapter, chapter in the context of the book and book in the context of the Bible.
not that im a massive fan of matthias per se but if you have ppl that are really keen to understand the big picture, there is a set of resourses called “The Bible Overview” which are helpful.
having an overview of God’s unfolding revelation throughout time and how each sunday school story contributes to the big picture is immensely powerful in understanding the handiwork of an awsome God.
mat.t