I want to introduce to you an approach to understand the OT. First of all, I show you how the NT writers read the OT, and then I use Genesis 14 as example to illustrate how to use the approach that was used by them.
What is the basic content of the OT? The basic content of the OT is to convey how God saved the Israelites to demonstrate how He would work out the salvation for the whole world. It always consists of types, prophecies and promises, concerning God’s salvation in time to come, whereas the NT is the testament of the fulfilment of the types, prophecies, and promises. So, on the one hand, the NT writers need to read the OT in the perspective of typology (ref to the last post in my blog).
On the other hand, the NT writers view and use each independent episode, for example, how the main character making decision in a moral dilemma, as an object lesson to explain ethical principles or spiritual reflections to educate, edify or warn NT readers.
So, NT writers use the OT’s materials as types, models and analogies:
1. Types: The New Testament tells us about the fulfillment of what the OT promised. This is testified by Jesus himself, “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself (Lk. 24:27) -- Jesus explained to the two disciples during their walk to the village called Emmaus that what had happened to Him had to happen according to the scriptures. There were prophecies embedded in OT figures, events, or things and we call them Types. The images of a perfect high priest, king, prophet, or of a lamb, sacrifice, feast, temple and even the entire ritual system are intended to be types.
2. Models: “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” (2 Tim. 3:16). Here, “all scripture” refers to the OT. We can see that whether Jesus or NT writers always take OT stories or laws of Moses as basic reference to explain further what they means in the new era. NT writer has viewed Abraham as our spiritual model. In fact, the religious and ethical aspects of the laws are also treated as models.
3. Analogies: In the NT, writers like to use OT believers to make comparison with Christians in order to draw spiritual lessons. 1Cor 10:1-12, “For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, .. nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, or they were overthrown in the wilderness… Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction,…” From this OT events quoted by Paul to warn the Corinthian church, we see a typical example of an analogical use for spiritual reflection.
These three: types, models, and analogies, are vivid and self-explanatory illustrations of instruction used by the NT writers to encourage modern believers so that their lives can be encouraged, corrected, reproved, and trained and that they may be “complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:17)
Let’s take Genesis 14 as an example. The Story of Gen 14 is about this. After leaving from Abraham, Lot settled in Sodom. Lot and his family became captives after four kings invaded Sodom and Gomorrah. When Abraham heard the news, he deployed his servants to fight against the four kings. After Abraham won the battle, the kings of Sodom and Salem went out to congratulate Abraham in the Valley of Shaveh. Abraham gave a tenth of everything to Melchizedek, the king of Salem, who was the high priest of the Most High God, but rejected goods given by Bera, the king of Sodom, who was a wicked king.
1. A Spiritual Lesson from an Analogical Perspective:
Abraham offers a tithe to Melchizedek, who serves the same God as he serves. This testifies of his faith on and gratitude to God: God the one and only one who has led him to win the battle shall be acknowledged and honored. On the other hand, by not receiving the gifts of Bera, Abraham shows that he hates what God hates, stands firm not to be an ally of God’s enemy, and makes it explicit that his wealth is not gained from the evil king (ref to Gen 14:23). Thus, Abraham’s action exemplifies to whom a modern Christian should accredit his success, and how one can solely rely on God’s power in a world hostile to Christianity.
This is what I mean by a “spiritual lesson”, because it reflects Abraham’s faith at a particular stage of his spiritual journey.
2. A Moral Lesson through Exemplary Behavior:
Abraham and his servants are not trained officers and soldiers. In a state of emergency, out of love, to rescue his nephew, Abraham risks his life and the lives of his servants to fight against the well-trained military alliance of the four kings, who have just proven strong and ferocious enough to defeat the five kings. Abraham is not only courageous but also forgiving as Lot’s departure is due to the disputes between their individual herdsmen at the time when both of them lived in the hill country between Bethel and Ai. Abraham demonstrates how an elder should treat a young relative and be ready to help in time of need.
The above is classified as a moral lesson because it reveals a high moral standard of how one should relate to his fellow brothers and sisters.
3. A Typological Lesson from the NT perspective:
Melchizedek means “righteous” and the king of Salem, means “king of peace.” Melchizedek appears only in Genesis 14. Neither his genealogy nor his parents’ names are mentioned. And there is no record of his beginning of days and end of life, which is rare among OT heroes, whose lineage can always be traced back to Noah.
In the book of Hebrew, Melchizedek is used as a type or a symbolic feature to explain the everlasting priesthood role of Christ. All characteristics of the person Melchizedek fit well to explain Jesus, who plays the role of a high priest, which is not based on the legal requirement, according to the priestly line passing down from Aaron, but is based on the power of an endless and indestructible life after the order of Melchizedek (ref. Hebrew 7:15-17).
I have shown to you how we can learn three lessons in one same story through the approach. However, not all the three lessons are always implied in a given passage. It is possible but difficult for us to learn typological lessons from the OT without referring to the New Testament.
To explain to you further how a careful reading of a passage can help in understanding typology, I use Luke 13:10-17 to illustrate.
In Luke13:10-17, Jesus heals the crippled woman, who is bound by the Satan for eighteen years. The Jewish leaders are angry because Jesus does not even want to delay a day for the healing, as it seems that there is no difference for the woman who has already suffered for eighteen years. “But the ruler of synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the Synagogue ruler said to the people, ‘There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath.’” (Luke 13:14).
This incident has been commonly interpreted by saying that Jesus was acting with God’s authority. However, in this narrative, Jesus is actually portrayed as a Redeemer who rescues the woman from the bondage of Satan, and the Sabbath is portrayed as a day for deliverance. “That is why it was not merely generally appropriate that this woman should be healed, and if it happened to be on the Sabbath, well and good. The claim was that the Sabbath day was the most appropriate day, because that day celebrated release from captivity, from bondage, as well as from work.”
Therefore, the Lord answers the synagogue ruler, “You hypocrites! Don’t each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?” (Luke 13:15-17). Thus the common doing of untying one’s ox and donkey from the stall on Sabbath becomes an effective illustration of Jesus’ justification.
Sabbath is a type, prophesizing the day of deliverance and healing. It is the day to manifest God’s power.
I gave a series of teaching on Old Testament Background in Mandarin: