we engage in the task of Old Testament theology. This task is an act of worship, a means of proclaiming God to the Church and the world, and a way of establishing the criteria for distinguishing true and false witness to the God of the Old Testament.3
While Old Testament theology surely begins in the Old Testament and its discrete witness of God, it does not end in the Old Testament. Rather, it is necessary to recognize that, with the coming of Christ, Old Testament theology constitutes one element within a reciprocal theological “loop” in which the New Testament reinforces and expands upon the theology of the Old Testament even as the Old Testament informs and provides a crucial framework for the New Testament.
Respecting and studying the discrete witness of the Old Testament cannot be separated from the canonical task of describing the Triune God as he is presented in both the Old and New Testaments. At the same time, it is important to recall that the Old Testament is a Christian Testament. As Barr notes, “Insofar as a position is Christian, it is related to the Old Testament from the beginning.”4 Striking the balance, then, between treatments of the Old Testament separate from the New Testament and the construction of more canonical readings, which look back upon the Old Testament from the standpoint of the New, is essential to the work of Old Testament theology. Ultimately, the Old Testament proclaims the gospel in harmony with the New Testament offering unique revelation of God’s plan for restoring his kingdom.
Old Testament Theology and the Gospel
The gospel encompasses far more than the salvation message though it is surely right for us to identify and celebrate the gospel message as communicating “what we must believe to be saved.”5 As John Goldingay notes, “‘Gospel’ does not come into being only with the coming of Jesus. In speaking of Jesus’ story as ‘gospel,’ the early Christians were thinking of his story in terms that had already been applied to Israel’s story.”6 The point is not to minimize the importance of Christ to the gospel, but to recognize that, as Kevin Vanhoozer suggests, that the gospel entails “a series of divine entrances and exits, especially as these pertain to what God has done in Jesus Christ.”7
The gospel, the “good news,” involves the transformation of social, political, economic, and ecological structures, systems, and relationships in the victory of Christ over sin on the cross. It is the good news that God’s order will be restored and the effects of sin will no longer plague God’s creation. The gospel entails the realignment of all aspects of the created order according to God’s wisdom. While this broader sense of the gospel is prominent within the New Testament, the Old Testament’s treatment of the gospel within the context of the nation of Israel and the nations with whom they come into contact offers a distinctive picture of the various intersecting areas of creation impacted by the gospel.
Issues, for instance, of politics, bureaucracy, corporate care of the disenfranchised, as well as the intersection of religious and national leadership, feature prominently in the Old Testament. This prominence should not suggest a sharp distinction between a “corporate” orientation in the Old Testament and an individual orientation in the New. Such characterizations deny the communal, political, and social aspects of the New Testament, as well as the individual spirituality developed within the Old Testament.8 In truth, even the separation of individual and communal is misleading in so much as it overshadows the interdependent relationship between individuals and the communities of which they are a part.
Another aspect of the Old Testament’s unique presentation of the gospel is related to the manner in which the gospel is articulated. Unique depictions of human suffering and emotion may be found in the wisdom, poetic, and prophetic literature of the Old Testament. Job’s debates in the midst of suffering, the imprecatory prayers of the Psalter, and the anguished cries voiced by Jeremiah represent raw, impassioned expressions of God’s people who struggle to reconcile their situation with their understanding of God. God’s faithfulness and single-minded desire to restore a right relation between himself, his people, and his creation demonstrates his worthiness, compassion, and empowering presence among those who believe in him.
Old Testament theology provides present-day believers with resources to align their lives with God’s character and to participate with Him as he transforms creation. The Old Testament serves as one of the resources available to present-day believers as they seek to live theologically in modern-day contexts by looking back and remembering the past acts of God amongst his people. Engaging in Old Testament theology is an act of memory in so much as “memory is the central faculty of our being in time . . . the negotiation of past and present through which we define our individual and collective selves.”9 In other words, as believers engage in Old Testament theology, they seek to understand themselves, the historical community of faith of which they are a part, and the whole of creation in light of and in relation to God.
Introduction to This Old Testament Theology
The manner in which an Old Testament theology is structured has an impact on the overall theology itself. The current volume has been organized based on Old Testament themes arranged to follow the general storyline of the Old Testament as it appears in the protestant canon with two additional chapters discussing Old Testament theology in light of the contemporary interests in the increasing influence of multiethnic discourse and the growing influence of digital technologies in today’s world. Themes will be addressed through a broad, synthetic treatment of the theme and its appearance throughout the Old Testament, as well as through a more focused treatment of the theme within a key passage in which the topic is developed. The theme will then be discussed in relation to the New Testament with a particular emphasis placed on the relation of these themes to the gospel. Finally, each chapter will examine the implications for the modern-day believer and community of faith.
The thematic chapters are arranged with the intention of communicating the storyline of the Old Testament. Chapter 2 addresses the Old Testament’s treatment of creation with an exegesis of Genesis 1. This discussion of creation is followed by the ancillary themes of “abundance and faithfulness” (chapter 3), structural evil (chapter 4), and covenant (chapter 5). These four chapters provide an overview of the primordial history and transition into the patriarchal age with the formation of the covenant. This portion of the Old Testament theology seeks to establish a basis for understanding God as benevolent creator whose love and care for His creation endures despite human rebellion.
Chapters six through nine address themes deriving from Israel’s initial liberation from Egypt (chapter 6) to the establishment of God’s temple (chapter 9) with intervening chapters related to Torah (chapter 7) and the messiah in the psalter (chapter 8). These themes were chosen as they represent key events in the formation of the nation of Israel and the definition of Israel’s relationship to God. This section of this book demonstrates the distinct character of God as Sovereign over Israel, as well as the potential for Israel to live a unique, God-empowered life with God amongst the nations through obedience to God’s commands.
The final thematic section discusses the enduring presence of God among his people (chapter 10), as well as the sort of loyalty and trust required of God’s people during times of turmoil and transition (chapter 11). Human suffering (chapter 12) will be examined alongside the themes of hope (chapter 13) and renewal (chapter 14). This final thematic section demonstrates God’s continued presence with His people despite difficult circumstances. It also addresses the manner in which God safeguards His people in order to usher in renewal.
Following the thematic section, the multiethnic church and the impact of the digital age will be addressed. “Old Testament Theology for a Multiethnic Church” will offer an introductory exploration of the possibilities and challenges of involving global voices in the task of Old Testament theology. The chapter focuses Old Testament theology