I've been working a little on the question of how to preach the OT Law. How do you preach the sacrificial laws of Leviticus or the rules on how to build the tabernacle in the last chapters of Exodus? how do you preach OT civil legislation about stoning people?
In the case of the sacrificial system, Christians believe Christ as satisfied it a la Hebrews. The same with the sanctuary. I can only think of two ways to preach it: 1) in terms of the principle of God meeting people where they are at and 2) figuratively in terms of Christ.
How would you preach/teach these parts of the OT that the NT considers part of the "old" covenant?
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4 comments:
Does the "meeting people where they're at" stuff really hold any water, if God truly demands moral absolutes?
If stoning people is absolutely wrong, why would God accept it as a temporary solution?
If all scripture is pointing us to God, then wouldn't preaching the Hebrew scriptures in such a way as to define the holiness, majesty, love, etc...of our Creator God enable the people we lead to understand Him, trust Him, and worship Him. That would then also allow us to demonstrate these characteristics in Christ as well, showing how he is truly the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
"1) in terms of the principle of God meeting people where they are at and 2) figuratively in terms of Christ."
Lots of overlap there.
"If stoning people is absolutely wrong, why would God accept it as a temporary solution?"
We could ask that question about several things, including having multiple wives (at the same time), no?
IMHO, what happens in the OT is that some things emerge, and God brings other things, like Torah, into existence in order to prevent humanity from destroying itself before the coming of Christ.
In Acts, we read, "In the past, God overlooked these things, but now commands all to repent."
FRGreg, I stumbled across a blog this morning where one can post a +1 after a comment they like. I would like to hopefully inaugurate this practice here. I don't know if you are always right, but you make a lot of sense.
+1
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