Bucket list 26 – begin to understand the purpose of the Old Testament

March 16, 2014

We have the opportunity to study and discuss the Old Testament in Sunday school this year. Very honestly this is not my favorite set of scriptures. I know and partially understand the marvelous settings from the Old Testament including the creation, the flood, The Abrahamic covenant, the rule of Kings, Jacob Israel, Joseph’s Egyptian rise and triumph, and many, many others. Each has a unique and abiding value and serves to assist us in our quest to understand our role on earth; however, I want more understanding related to the concept of the Old testament being a “type”, or reference to our Savior Jesus Christ.

Some people get all frustrated in trying to legitimize Old Testament history and timelines declaring that the whole thing is rubbish because we have empirical evidence that the earth is 500,000,000 years old and that man came from protoplasm crawling out of the prime evil ooze. My recommendation and my understanding come from my belief that God is eternal and works with God’s law and God’s time. For example I was playing with longevity in Adam’s time and trying to understand how humans could live to be over nine hundred years old and how women could bear children at the age we commonly refer to as “old” in our time. The answer is simple – they were working with God’s law and God’s time.

The understanding I am trying to receive from the Old Testament is two-fold:

1.       Why Old Testament people did the things they did that seem crazy to us?

2.       How our understanding how these stories about people who lived thousands of years ago can bless our lives?

If we begin to understand the culture and the history of people in the generations of Adam and Noah, some of the blessings we can receive from their time on earth will begin to come through to our understanding. Why did Joseph have to go through the degradation and torture he underwent at the hands of his brothers? Is this a “type” reflective of the live, crucifixion, and resurrection of the Savior? What of father Abraham being offered up to sacrifice by heathen gods; Abraham’s requirement to sacrifice Isaac to the Lord? Surely, these examples are more of the same. Even Jonah and his big fish experience related back to the Savior. The more I read and ponder the people and their activities during Old Testament times, the more I understand why they acted in ways that seem completely irrational and illegal in so many instances.

Do these stories mean we should go out and kill our brother, have sex with the beautiful lady next door, sell our brother into slavery because we think he will try to become our ruler, or start worshiping golden cows because someone has saved us from slavery, then went off to talk to God and left to our own device for a short time? To the contrary it shows us the misery and discontent these actions bring into our lives and hearts and offers us an alternative way of living. We could live in a state of anarchy with everyone on his own, to plunder and exploit in the Darwinian survival of the fittest fashion, or we can live in peace and pleasantry under the commandments our Heavenly Father has provided.

Will there be people who will continually attempt to deprive us of our freedoms, our right to worship, to speak, to own property, to bless our children and grandchildren? Absolutely! Our job is not to force a single soul to do what we want them to do. Ours is to provide for our loved ones in as honorable and godlike manner as we can, showing compassion and love through example and good works.

May God ever be with us as we forage in the scriptures and prayers for better ways to love and honor our God, our friends and our family, and ourselves.

Duane Jacobs, grandfather, father, uncle, cousin, brother, and friend