Hermeneutics - the science and art of interpreting the Bible
There are different hermeneutics that leave you with different conclusions and applications. Here are a few:
1. Literal interpretation - plain meaning, historical-grammatical approach
2. Allegorical interpretation - tangible things represent intangible ideas
3. Moral interpretation - be like the good guys, not the bad guys
4. Christological interpretation - all of Scripture is interpreted in light of the full revelation of Christ
5. Redemptive-historical interpretation - all of Scripture bears witness to the redemption Christ brings us
A moralizing, imitative approach to the stories of Israel is a recipe for interpretive disaster.
Intertexuality - the layering of the Scriptures. Every new layer of Scripture interacts with and interprets former layers. This means the texts interprets texts. Scripture is a multilayered web of interconnections that gradually constructs the Big Story of Scripture.
Everything from Genesis to Malachi, in one way or another, is about Jesus the Messiah (See Luke 24:27, 44; John 5:39, 46-47; John 1:45; Acts 3:18; Acts 3:24; Acts 10:43; 2 Corinthians 1:20).
THE TANAK: EXACTLY HOW LONG IS THE BIBLE?
For the earliest followers of Christ, their Bible was only the Old Testament. When those first Christians discussed Christ, the discussed Him from the Old Testament. It would be roughly fifteen years after Jesus' ascension before the first New Testament book was written. The first Christians read from the TANAK or TANAKH.
T = Torah; the Pentateuch, the first five books of the OT - Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy
N = Nevi'im; the prophets - Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, 12 minor prophets
K = Ketuvim; the Writing - Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, Chronicles
To talk about Jesus in the early years of Christianity meant you used the Bible that Jesus used. You would have used the Tanak. In the New Testament, when Scripture is mentioned, it's almost always speaking of the Old Testament (with the exception of verses like 2 Peter 3:16). The Tanak contains the contents of the Christian faith. The NT does not contain any new doctrines that were not founded in the OT.
TO THE TORAH!
The NT explains and interprets the OT for us. But even Joshua through Malachi help us to understand Genesis through Deuteronomy. The Torah is almost like a mini-Bible. Every author of the Tanak sat at the feet of Rabbi Moses.
Martin Luther - "Moses is the source from which the holy prophets and also the apostles, inspired by the Holy Spirit, extracted divine wisdom." "Show us one word in all the books outside of Moses that is not already found in the books of Moses."
The history of Israel, from Joshua to Kings, can only be rightly understood in light of Deuteronomy. The Psalms praise God for creation and recount the Exodus. The wisdom literature expands the divine wisdom of the laws of the Torah.
We must ask, "Why does Moses get quoted more in the NT than Jesus?" Because Jesus affirmed that all things had been written about Him in Moses and the prophets.
The Torah gives Christological language to us so that we may know Jesus as the Commander of the Army of the Lord (Joshua 5:14), the promised seed of David (2 Samuel 7:11-16), the Lord's begotten Son and King (Psalm 2:7), the Wisdom alongside God at creation (Proverbs 8:22-31) and the leader of our exodus (Isaiah 11:16).
The Apostle John starts of his book with "In the beginning..." as if to say, "To understand Jesus, I need to quote Genesis 1:1." Matthew narrates Jesus' life by using the pattern found in Moses' life (hostile leader trying to kill baby boys, coming out of Egypt, going into the wilderness, assembling of twelve, dispensing of the law on a mountain).
MONTY PYTHON AND METALEPSIS
There is a profound difference between knowing the meaning of a word and knowing what that word means when it is drawn from a movie, spoken in a specific scene and by a certain character. The weight of those words can only be realized when one understands their origin, setting, context and connotation.
If Joshua quotes Deuteronomy, or if David alludes to Exodus or if Ezekiel echoes a phrase from Genesis, you won't understand the full meaning of what the author is communicating unless you know they are doing this. At best, we will sub-interpret the text or misinterpret it all together.
Metalepsis - the borrowing of other biblical material by quoting, echoing, or alluding to it.
Joshua 5:15 doesn't just quote Exodus 3:5 but is telling us more. The Commander of the Army of the Lord is not some angelic or super-human being. HE is God leading Israel to her land of rest. The NT shows us Christ leading us to our Sabbath Rest in the New Creation.
Matthew 10:34-39 alludes to Micah 7:6 but we are not told this. You just have to know the "movie quote." You have to understand Micah before you can understand Matthew. Micah is saying that a person's own enemies are those in his household. In the larger context Micah is also lamenting that there are no righteous people around him. Micah could only follow and trust God. Now when you listen to Jesus'' words in Matthew 10:34-39 you can see that Jesus is telling us that we should only put our faith in Him. This is metalepsis.
If we try to read the NT apart from the OT we will not get the right understanding of the NT.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Why is a moralistic approach to interpreting the Scripture so popular? Why is it also so dangerous?
2. What do Jesus and His disciples say about the OT and the centrality of Christ?
3. What is the Tanak? Why is it important to understand that the first Christians only had the OT as their Bible? Does this change your view of the OT?
4. How should the church's preaching, teaching and worship reflect this understanding of the OT?
5. Why is it important to understand the concept of intertexuality?
6. Read Luke 9:28-36. In what ways is this passage connected to the OT? What "movie quotes" do you hear?
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