The heart of the Old Testament; a manual for Christian students

Front matter

mbr

SHanK

■B

Preface

"Where can I find an Old Testament manual written by a modern scholar who believes thoroughly in the supernatural in both Testaments ?" You hold the answer in your hands. It is not an Old Testament History, though it follows the thread of the story from beginning to end; it is not a book on Old Testament Literature, though it opens up the poetical and prophetical books to the student; it is not a treatise on Old Testament Theology, though it calls attention to the rise and development of the great doctrines of the Hebrew Scriptures. The author has not limited himself to biography and history, nor to literary analysis and appreciation, nor to the growth of Bible doctrines ; but he has freely drawn from these and other departments of Old Testament study whatever seemed of most value to young people in Christian homes and schools in the twentieth century. His aim is to call attention to what is most worth while.

It may seem impossible to make a book that will be suitable for popular Bible study, and at the same time be adapted to use in high schools, colleges, and seminaries; but the attempt is here made. It is hoped that the book is not too difficult for the average reader, nor too elementary for students in schools and colleges.

The gist of the Old Testament revelation is here put before the student in thirteen chapters. A closing chapter presents a bird's-eye view of the Bible as a whole. A chart is appended in which an effort is made to suggest reasonable dates for the books of the Bible.

The wise teacher will take several recitations for some of the chapters. He will try to persuade the pupil to read viii PREFACE

the Bible references in full, that he may get his own firsthand impressions of the meaning of God's Word. If this Manual creates a thirst for richer knowledge of the Old Testament, and starts the reader aright as he opens the Bible, the author's aim will have been attained.

The favor with which the first edition was received leads the author to hope for continued usefulness for this new and revised edition. More than seventeen thousand copies of the first edition were sold. The Heart of the Old Testament has also been translated into Portuguese and into Chinese.

INTRODUCTORY

The Old Testament is part of a progressive revelation. God spoke in ancient times to the fathers through the prophets in many pieces and in many styles; in the fullness of time He spoke to us through His Son (Heb. 1:1, 2). The revelation of grace and redemption, begun in the earliest history of mankind, and continued through the patriarchs and the prophets, was completed in Christ Jesus and the Apostles.

The Bible is a unity; for in all its parts it is a history of redemption. That redemption was achieved by Jesus Christ, the central character of the Bible, for whom the Old Testament prepared the way. To Him all the prophets bore witness. Well do Christians retain the Old Testament in their Bibles ; for the earlier stages of the redemptive process are therein described. The germs of all the great Christian doctrines are found in the Hebrew Scriptures. They are still "profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction which is in righteousness: that the man of God may be complete, furnished completely unto every good work" (2 Tim. 3: 16, 17). These sacred writings are still able to make one wise unto salvation, through faith which is in Christ Jesus (2 Tim. 3: 15).

What folly to ignore writings of such mighty power! But there is a folly possibly greater even than neglect of these books : some Christian scholars interpret the Old Testament in the spirit of the unbelieving Jews, studiously explaining away all the types and prophecies that point forward to our Lord Jesus Christ. Let it be our aim in these studies to focus our attention on those facts

* INTRODUCTORY

and doctrines in the Old Testament that most concern us as Christian students. While all parts of the sacred writings are worthy of careful and frequent reading, some sections have a richer message for the modern Christian than others. It is our hope that these studies will give us many glimpses into the heart of the Old Testament, to the end that \vc may thereby get a more glorious vision of the heart of God.

Contents

Preface Introductory

I The Beginnings ....

II The Patriarchal Period .

Chapter I

1. GOD THE CREATOR

THE first verse of Genesis lies at the foundation of all the theology of the Bible. Dr. James P. Boyce had a great sermon on the first part of the verse — "In the beginning God." Back of all things, before all things, above all things stands God the great First Cause, the Creator.

A hearty acceptance of the fact that God actually created the heavens and the earth without the use of preexisting materials, would lift one above the malaria of most modern heresies. He who begins the study of religion with this simple truth lays a solid foundation for all his future thinking. Murphy does not overstate the significance of these opening words of the Bible when he remarks : "This first verse denies atheism ; for it assumes the being of God. It denies polytheism, and, among its various forms, the doctrine of two eternal principles, the one good and the other evil; for it confesses the one Eternal Creator. It denies materialism; for it asserts the creation of matter. It denies pantheism; for it assumes the existence of God before all things, and apart from them. It denies fatalism, for it involves the freedom of the Eternal Being." Hold fast 15 lG THE HEART OF THE OLD TESTAMENT

always to the fundamental fact that the universe came into existence through the creative action of God. Matter is not eternal ; God alone is from everlasting to i lasting. God is not confined within the universe; lie is over all as well as in all. Much of the false philosophy of our time would fade away, if this truth were universally accepted.

2. TIIK ORDER OF CRF,A1

The universe was not cotnpli in all its

ted it. V. that the earth, the planet in which our c!

But for •

•th might have

and void i 1:2

'.inued. I

r the coinir. |

It i> interesting I

in the order of creation. In both | lower

limax in tin

'■r<i bj n • •

1 not ok the fact that the autl after j-cicnt fie | the language of ap-

. life. Had h< I mine

tenninoloL'. the narral

»mer and the y

forget the wise saying of dinal Baronius : "The intention of Holy Scripture is to teach us how to go to heaven, and not how the heavens go."

Many of the best modern scientists have marveled at the wonderful insight of the author of Genesis. Nothing short of supernatural guidance will account for the width and the accuracy of his knowledge in that early time. And yet we must not make the mistake of assuming that the first chapter of Genesis is a scientific treatise. It is rather a great religious poem celebrating the glory of God as the Creator of all things. We should study Genesis as a religious book, if we would get the knowledge and uplift it was intended to impart.

Many Christian students now recognize the six days of creative activity as standing for periods of indefinite length. The universe is possibly millions of years old. The earth, on which we live, is probably much older than we ever imagined it was in our childhood. God takes time to accomplish His work. One day is with the Lord as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day. God is not in a hurry. Just as the seventh day of rest from creation seems, according to Genesis, to stretch all the way from the creation of man to the present time, so the preceding days of creative activity were almost certainly long periods. In the language of the Bible the word day often refers to a period of indefinite length.

3. CREATION OF MAN

Finally, after long preparation, the earth was ready to receive its chief tenant. "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness : and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth" (Gen. 1:26). Why does God use the plural, saying, "Let us make man in our image?" With whom is he taking counsel? Of the many answers to this question we name only three: (1) Delitzsch thinks the words are addressed to the angels, as belonging to a higher order

18 Tin: HEART OF THE OLD TESTAM1

of spiritual beings. (2) Others suggest that G

rag to Himself, using the royal style of earthly princes. (3) Still others think that there is a suggi of a plurality of persons in the Godhead, a foreshadowing of the doctrine of the Trinity, which was atti: to be more full

ferrcd. \ lis us that Go.l man in His

own ii

God?

Dr. Wilton, in

hi which man I MM

form or I intelk for he has DOl like

God W< 'l ai a fuli:

rather in 1 qualities of mil tute him i

fdlov. him. '1 1

nature

tion :

man count

in ( '* .. ith man-.

it is '<• man and woman and united them in hi ' '■■ of chil-

dren, i Ian for the

.. :h of the family through the birth of children triirinal inheritance, wl.cn he enjoyed unbroken fcllow-

4. Till. SABBATH

A God rested from } rt activity. He

was not wearied; but He could now contemplate with satisfaction a completed universe. His work of preserving and renewing the world goes on still.

God gave the sabbath to man as a great blessing. "The sabbath was made for man," as a reminder of his kinship to God. Six days man is to labor and do all his work, and on the seventh, like God at the close of creation, he is to cease from his regular work (Gen. 2: 1-3). The sabbath is the best day of all the week, when spent in rest from toil and in deeds of charity and mercy. Dr. Welton puts the matter properly when he says : "As God rested on the seventh day from his work of creating, while yet he continued and continues to work in the kingdom of his providence and grace, so man, in imitation of his example, must abstain on that day from his secular occupations, and concern himself with sacred and eternal things."

The Old Testament in many places puts great honor upon the sabbath, and pronounces blessings upon those who observe it properly (Ex. 20: 8-11 ; Isaiah 58: 13, 14; Jeremiah 17:19-27). As Christians, we are not under the strict ceremonial laws of the Mosaic system as to the sabbath. Our Lord, while observing the sabbath as God originally meant it to be observed by His chosen nation, refused to be bound by the burdensome traditions of the scribes and Pharisees. And Paul proclaims the freedom of believers from the burdensome requirements of the ceremonial law (Rom. 14: 5, 6; Gal. 4: 8^11 ; Col. 2:16, 17). In the Lord's Day we have the best elements of the Jewish sabbath, with none of its onerous restrictions.

5. THE FIRST HOME

Genesis 2 : 4-25 gives a charming account of man's first home. There has been much speculation as to the site of Eden. The most probable location is in lower Babylonia near the head of the Persian Gulf. Jehovah

20 THE HEART Ol THE OLD TESTAM1

God prepared a delightful home for Adam, and ] him in the midst of a beautiful garden rich in earth's •.its. lie gave him ment, free

from anxiety and toil, in caring for the garden.

alone, having no 1. ciate

ring him

man.

■ thcrs

beautiful I

-

1 He

•nan work I

getic natures look forwa .e service

id. The sen-ants of the King will ever

serve Him.

We now approach a great mystery — the entrance of sin into man's heart and life. The story in Genesis, intelligible to little children by its simplicity and naturalness, has kindled the admiration of many of the profoundest philosophers. No other account of the entrance of sin into the human race will ever displace this wonderful story; and we do well to let it make its impress on our minds, by reading it over and over again. A score of questions arise that we may not be able to answer to our own satisfaction; but we shall not go astray on the fundamentals, if we let the author of Genesis be our guide.

If our first parents were to be confirmed in innocence and goodness, they must have moral education. They must be left free to choose between obedience to God's requirements and disobedience ; and God's requirements were not burdensome. We must not imagine that God wished to keep them in ignorance of anything good and helpful. From the experimental knowledge of evil God wished to restrain them ; and such a limitation was thoroughly reasonable and beneficent. Experimental knowledge of evil brought with it an evil conscience, and so they were ashamed in the presence of one another and frightened at the approach of God. Such knowledge was not a blessing, but a curse.

The first temptation came from without. The tempter appeared as a serpent, insidious and artful. He raised the question whether God is not unkind and arbitrary in withholding from His creatures the right to use the good things by which they are surrounded. When he succeeds in winning a hearing, he boldly accuses God of falsehood, and intimates that God is jealous of His creatures, lest they rise to His own plane of knowledge. The tempter thus injects a terrible doubt into the mind of Eve. Who ever parleyed with the tempter and came away unsoiled in thought ? A look at the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, instead of removing doubt as to

22 THE 111 NT

God's reason abl

jt ; a? e oommai.

■ entered sin into \

sad day for rarth and b

Go .

l'.Ut : in the

>»med to a

I ■ t are

g hearts - >» as

' I » face the rid.

VAN *ACE

The sacred writer foil - first

ord gives to them sons. :rnagined that the son whom she welcomed as a gift from Jehovah would one day make his hands red in his brother's blood.

Why did Jehovah accept Abel's offering and reject that of Cain? Chiefly because Abel offered in faith, and Cain offered in unbelief. The Lord was patient toward Cain, and sought to turn him from the murderous impulse in his heart. Genesis 4 : 7 should probably be rendered: "If thou doest well, shall there not be a lifting up (of thy countenance) ? and if thou doest not well, sin is crouching (like a wild beast) at the door, and unto thee is its desire; but thou shouldest rule over it." The Lord urges Cain to conquer the wild beast of hate before it springs to do murder. But Cain nursed his hatred until the opportunity came to slay his brother in secret. Speedily Jehovah came to reckon with the murderer. Cain's angry question, "Am I my brother's keeper?" has often come unbidden to selfish human lips down the centuries. The murderer becomes a wanderer on the face of the earth.

From the wicked line of Cain there came wonderful discoveries and inventions. One of his descendants, a polygamist, celebrated in martial song his prowess in slaying a man that wounded him. Violence began to fill the earth.

The knowledge of God was kept alive in the family of Seth. We are told that in the days of Enosh men began to call upon the name of Jehovah in worship.

The fifth chapter of Genesis has been called by a famous preacher the History of Nobodyism. The author gives a catalogue of names with little additional information. When we remember, however, that many generations may be omitted in the summary, it is a distinction to appear in that roll of honor. Just as Matthew omits in the genealogy of our Lord the names of Ahaziah, Joash, and Amaziah, so Moses may have omitted from this genealogical register many unimportant names (Matt. 1:8).

One verse in the midst of this long cataluguc keeps it from being dull and commonplace. "And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him" (Gc: 24). In the midst of wickedness and infidelil kd a life of faith and piety; not apart from his fellows, but as the head of Id. His fellowship with

God v ung to tl • that He

away from the sinful world to be with Himself. God

lated him. thai

■ longevity of man in ' "

than it h: n in the ' 'haps

man's life

'I he btu

. grew in

' e tl..-it man

k'C is

the realm nman Nun

the real i 1 over t)

ng mankind.

■ flood. !

rah. He would n beginning with Noah.

is often asked strict!. 1, or whether it merely covered the west-

ern | a. The main purpose of die Flood was

to d :ul men. Possibly a partial delug*

sufficient to accomplish that purpose. Of course nothing but the mighty power of God could account for the Flood described in Genesis. All who reject the supernatural must reject the Flood as a historical fact. Our Lord Jesus refers to it in such a way as to seem to teach that it was a historical fact; and His authority is sufficient for all who believe in Him as the Son of God. He who existed before Abraham, He who was in the midst of the heavenly glory before the foundation of the world, surely He knows the story of the Flood.

After the terrible deluge, Noah came forth and offered sacrifices to Jehovah. The promise was made that never again should the earth be destroyed by a flood. The sacredness of human life receives a new emphasis in the covenant with Noah (Gen. 9:5, 6). The rainbow is invested with a rich significance as the pledge that Jehovah will no more destroy the earth with a flood (Gen. 9: 8-17).

The Bible does not show partiality to the pious, but tells the truth about them. Noah drank wine until he became drunk. The conduct of his younger son was disgraceful, and brought upon him a curse. Shem and Japheth inherit a rich blessing as the reward of their filial reverence (Gen. 9:20-27).

9. FROM NOAH TO ABRAHAM

The tenth chapter of Genesis contains much information concerning the tribes and peoples adjacent to Israel. It is not intended, however, to be a history of the world between Noah and Abraham.

The eleventh chapter of Genesis tells the story of the tower of Babel, and traces the genealogy of Shem down to Abraham. The inspired author moves on rapidly until he comes to Abram.

10. FACTS AND DOCTRINES OF CKEAT VALUE TO THE CHRISTIAN

What facts and doctrines, from the brief account of the Beginnings in the first eleven chapters of Genesis, have been taken up into the faith and life of Christians?

Jt may be instructive to nam' I the most ini-

(1,1 tted the physical universe, Thi

and the earth came r ''vity

All life, whether pi

Use

All I

innocent. Th:

the tcmi'tatiuii

and the in i I in man ■

■ > mankind along wit!.

the i

noch walk

line of Shem. His ere to gh nd the religion of

Jehi i

The universe is under moral law. Sin lea punishment. Justice and mercy are blended in the rule. Sin and violence grew in volume and power until the earth had to be cleansed by the great judgment of the Flood. The grace of God shone forth in the preservation of Noah and in the covenant God made with him after the Flood.

Chapter II THE PATRIARCHAL TERIOD

11. THE WORLD IN ABRAHAM'S DAY

RECENT research make- Abraham a comparatively modem character. He was brought up it I ancient city in the fertile- valley of the lower hup!' near the head of tl b°Ut 200 ° BL '

Babylonia " ™

Ur was a city of iv I P (,f Sin -

the- moon-god The cities of Babylonia contained n-me various deities of the- country. lt jng can; ; water into all parts of tt«t

fertile- plain. Tl ' !l/< (1 M<

v.ell advanced. '1 he- art of writing had long cultivated, and mar- .tracts

long prior to Abraham h.v rought to I

tpade ol modern explorers. Two tl Abraham there were- kings in the ancient cities of the region from which Abraham came. The- sun and the moon and the stars were- objects of worship throu Ionia. Polytheism, or the worship of many prevailed everv\vh<

Egypt was also hoary with age. The great pyramids had been standing for centuries before Abraham % the Nile valley. Egyptian civilization had already reached its zenith.

via and Canaan were also inhabited long before the days of Abraham. Haran, the city at which he sojourned for a while on the way from Ur to Canaan, was als6 a center of the worship of the moon-god. 28

The coming and going of Abraham perhaps made little impression on the countries he visited. He came and went as the head of a family possessing flocks and herds and sojourning in tents. He was regarded as a sort of Bedouin chieftain by the peoples among whom he sojourned. Men little dreamed that the future moral and religious progress of the world depended in great measure upon the life and work of this dignified chieftain.

12. THE CALL OF ABRAM

How did it come about that Abraham should mean so much to the religious progress of mankind? The secret is disclosed in Genesis 12 : 1-3 : "Now Jehovah said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto the land that I will shew thee : and I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and be thou a blessing: and I will bless them that bless thee, and him that curseth thee will I curse : and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed." The electing love of Jehovah calls Abram to be a blessing to all mankind. Rich promises are laid as a foundation on which Abram is to build a life that shall be a blessing to all the families of the earth. Was there ever a loftier ideal held before the mind of a man? And right nobly did Abram respond to the divine promises and command. He followed Jehovah, as He led him far from his home and kindred into a strange land.

Whenever Abram's heart stood in special need of reassurance, Jehovah graciously renewed His promises. He also repeated the command that Abram should live on the highest possible moral and religious plane. Before entering into the covenant of circumcision, Jehovah said unto Abram, "I am God Almighty ; walk before me, and be thou perfect" (Gen. 17:1). Jehovah urges

Abram to live in close touch with Himself and thus lead a life of moral perfection. High commands these!

13. ABRAM WORSHIPS JEIK'YAH

When Abram arrived at Shcchcm, in the center of Canaan, Jehovah appeared to him and promised that lie would give to his lecd tins land. Abram at once built an altar to Jehovah and v ■ *C patu-

arch went in the land of | « «■* . to

fefaovah, and ca His name in public worship

ng on the hills about bmi. and the immoral and CHld I wcre

: the urnhip whid - (>1 - Ur

jOUrtl in :

left I ThlS m

mt for t-

Ued from

ncd throu; " f l 1C

altar " "J nam*

for his high calling by 1 ' 'P° f thehving

God.

14. ASSAM

modern criti think the picture of Abram there were no instances of m hifl i te lie" concern; tttiftll ***•

shows him as our brother in n. **. »

patriarch I pt in disgrace, after suffering rebuke

at the hands of a heathen king.

The goodness of Jehovah rescued him from similar peril a second time at a later period. Some critics deem it unlikely that Abram would have repeated his blunder in representing that Sarah was his sister rather than his wife; but sin has a tendency to repeat itself in every life. Abram was not sinless. He climbed far up toward the peak of moral perfection; but its exalted crest ever beckoned him higher.

Abram's acquiescence in Sarah's suggestion that her handmaid take the place of the wife as the mother of the promised heir, seems to us now in Christian lands a serious moral lapse ; but it was not so regarded in Abram's day; and he must be judged by the standards of his own time. We must rather regard it as a test of his faith, and count it as a momentary failure of the man of faith to leave all in God's hands.

15. abram's generosity and nobility

It is pleasant to turn from the picture of Abram's disgrace in Egypt to the scene on the uplands of Canaan, when he generously offered to his nephew half of the land which Jehovah had already promised as his own inheritance. He might have dismissed Lot in anger, reminding him that his prosperity had come through their association together. He did nothing of the kind. Recognizing Lot as his near kinsman, he urged that they part in love, and offered Lot the choice of either the northern or the southern half of the land. Lot foolishly plunged down from the hills into the wicked district of Sodom, in the Jordan valley. Jehovah graciously renews to His generous servant the promise of a goodly land and a numerous posterity (Gen. 13:14-18).

16. abram's courage and unselfishness

When Lot was swept away by the four kings from the East, the courage and resourcefulness of Abram were equal to the occasion. Calling to his aid all his allies, he mustered the men of his own camp and pursued the invaders. By a skillful night attack he put the enemy to flight, and recovered Lot and all the other captives from Sodom.

On his return from the victory over the invaders, he was met by Mekhizedek, king of Salem, with bread and wine. Abram received tl ^I*' 1 "

chizedek, rejoicing to find in him a worshiper of God "

• nth <>f all. Abram t from the \h rain's courage and ignity of character are writ large in the fourteenth chapter of ( ienesis.

17. AUK

Lot n turn d 1 : :i1 rc "

fated

to tin 1 inally

the c; ty went Up to heaven, and |c:

dOWII I tlie city .

Vbraham l< to pi lom. He knew that there was one ri.^bt-

:nan in ti ity ; and he h< ; might

be more. Surely Lot had won at least nine others to a

; are it i would | Abraham was i 1 im-

nate, and Jehovah was gracious and generous. Abraham did not succeed in averting the destruction of the wicked cities of the Plain; but "God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of tb I the over-

throw" (Gen. 19:29). Abraham was really

answered. **The narrative of Abraham's intercession for Sodom teaches the long-suffering mercy of God, the efficacy of prayer, and the value in a city or nation of the leaven of righteous persons."

18. Abraham's faith sorely tested

When the great patriarch is first introduced in the sacred story, he appears as a man of faith. He obeyed the command of Jehovah to leave his home and kindred and follow the beckoning of his divine Friend as He led him forth into an unknown land. He counted Jehovah as faithful, and put all into His keeping. Wherever he went he worshiped Jehovah. Every promise from Jehovah he took at its face value. He wavered not through unbelief. His life was pitched on a high moral plane, and he enjoyed constant fellowship with the Most High. Jehovah had promised to make his descendants as the dust of the earth, innumerable.

After the night attack on the kings from the East, Jehovah graciously appeared to Abram in a vision to encourage him not to fear that he would be destroyed on account of his brave deed. "Fear not," said Jehovah in the vision; "I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward" (Gen. 15:1). This gracious revelation encouraged Abram to speak of his childlessness. Often had he wondered why God had given him no son. The word of Jehovah came to him with the assurance that he should have a son and descendants innumerable as the stars. "And he believed in Jehovah; and he reckoned it to him for righteousness" (Gen 15:6). Such strong faith in God is the finest righteousness men can offer. This is not mere intellectual belief, but a complete surrender of heart and life to God who promises. Such is the faith that brings justification (Gal. 3:6-9). It is also a faith that brings forth works of righteousness (James 2:20-26).