An Honest Debate.com

People often tell me they have trouble getting anything out of the Old Testament, particularly the historical sections of the Old Testament. Perhaps you have this problem. Let me offer a principle (and this would apply to the New Testament too); when you read the Bible you will get more out of it if you’re looking for something.

For those struggling with the Old Testament histories, I suggest that they approach the task by looking for the Old Testament writers’ philosophy of history, because it is one of the most important and valuable things we can glean from the Old Testament.

Let me explain what I mean when I speak of the Old Testament writers’ philosophy of history. The raw data of history are the recorded records of events, persons, places, dates, times, diaries, letters, etc. An historian’s philosophy of history is an organizational tool s/he uses to sift through the data in an effort to tell us the story s/he thinks the it is trying to tell us. The nature of the story, then, told will depend on the philosophy of the story teller.

The most popular philosophy of history in modern times has be “the assent of man,” philosophy, which views history from an evolutionary perspective as the story of man’s progress. The principle rival to this theory is the Marxist philosophy of history, which views history in the story of the strong exploiting and oppressing the weak. This view, which continues to thrive even after the fall of the Soviet Union through post-modernism, is the dominant historical philosophy in academia today.

The authors of the Old Testament historical narratives also had a point of view, and unlike most modern historians, they readily admit it. For example, after telling the story of a particular king, the Biblical authors will invariably say something like; “This king did many other things that are not recorded in this book.” In other words, they admit they have selected certain facts to tell the story they want to tell, and they acknowledge that they have omitted many other facts.

So what story did they want to tell? As you read their histories you will discover that they wanted to tell us the story of Israel from God’s perspective. The Psalmist tells us that “God has established His throne in the heavens and His sovereignty rules over all.” The book of Daniel tells us that “God rules in the affairs of men.” The Old Testament histories show us how he has done this. Thus, the Old Testament authors did not view history as a story about us, but a story about God. From their perspective, history was really, HIStory.

The practical advantage of knowing this is that it gives us a perspective too, not just for understanding the past, but for understanding our own times as well. Because the unchanging God who ruled in the past rules in the present too; and the when we understand what he was has done in the past we will have a better way of understanding what He’s doing in the present. So that when something bad happens and someone asks, “Where was your God?” we will be able to answer, “He was the same place He has always been, doing the same things He has always done.”