Secret knowledge required to understand the Old Testament?

Many Christians shy away from reading the Old Testament because they think an ordinary reader cannot really understand it. The IVP Introduction to the Bible begs to differ: “There is no special, secret knowledge required for the interpretation of the OT.” At the same time it acknowledges that God’s revelation in the OT first came to the Hebrews in the Near East thousands of years ago. So we must first make an effort to understand what it meant to them. The IVP introduction gives some helpful pointers to how we can gain a lot from a careful reading of the text:

1 Read broadly: Often in our forays into the OT we tend to atomize our Bible reading. Much better to read it often and in large chunks (and that is just what we are doing this year!). Take time to trace the story, the themes and common threads. Note how people interact with the same God we worship today. When we engage in this process, we will learn lessons of history and culture unconsciously, as if by osmosis.

2 Read inquisitively: Ask questions as you read (and some of you have already posted their questions on this blog!). For example, when we get to Isaiah, it will be helpful to ask what the historical context was: What happened during the reign of Ahaz and Hezekiah? We will find some answers in the books of Kings and Chronicles. Cross-referencing within the Bible can help to gain broader understanding (e.g. the place of Abraham in the New Testament). A concordance or a good Bible website will be helpful for this.

3 Read guide books: Even if you have bought a Bible-in-a-year edition to make reading easy, it will be extremely helpful to have a Study Bible to hand. If you find a book particularly challenging and you want to dig deeper, a commentary will be a great help. Many of them will go into too much detail as we march through the OT at quite a pace – there are one-volume commentaries which may be a good half-way house (e.g. Alister McGrath’s NIV Bible companion). Bible guides (like the IVP Introduction or the Lion Handbook) can provide general introductions to the Bible and specific books.

4 There are some great books that help us develop tools in reading our Bibles: they give us confidence that we can hear God’s voice even in more difficult texts. One that I have found useful is Dig Deeper.

One last encouragement: When Paul wrote 2 Timothy 3:16 he was referring to the Old Testament!
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.”

(To be continued…)
Have you got helpful hints on reading the OT? Let us know!