I think sometimes we modern followers of the Way brush over the Old Testament - you know, the beginning bit of the Bible - far too quickly. If you take a look, all the themes in Genesis (for instance) are repeated again in the New Testament, just louder, and with more clarity. More to the point, the OT deals with the relations of God with his people corporately, whereas the NT deals mostly with God in relation to idividuals. But I don’t think God changes his dealings that much in the 500 intervening years: he’s always dealt with individuals, and always with his people: the tricky thing is that his people are made up of, like, actual people.

Take an OT instance: God saying “I Am who I am.” How many times did Jesus edge those words into a statement or sermon? Think about what it means - I don’t need explaination. Or alternately interpreted “I am the one who is.” I exist, and that’s enough. Or again “I will be here, as I am here.” I will always be present with you. How often does that seminal idea germinate in the New Testament?

I’m of the opinion - can I have some backup here? - that every aspiring preacher should be dumped into an ice-cold bucket of Old Testament study and be held down until they surface into the New and can say “So that’s what it’s like to breathe!”

Dan (Of course, my opinion is light a fart in a tornado.)

Tags: scripture