That’s the question I was recently asked via email and I’ve posted the full answer at The Christward Collective. Bullet points below:

1. Focus on the Original Message
2. Learn Old Testament History, Geography, and Culture
3. Develop the skill of summarizing and modernizing
4. Vary Your Genres
5. Ask Two Questions
6. Balance Moral Lessons and Christocentric Interpretation
7. Remember that Old Testament Believers were Believers

Read the rest here.

John Newton taught that the Gospel of Jesus Christ was revealed immediately after Adam and Eve’s first sin and became the object of faith from that moment on.

The Lord Jesus was promised under the character of the seed of the woman, as the great deliverer who should repair the breach of sin, and retrieve the ruin of human nature. From that hour, he became the object of faith, and the author of salvation, to every soul that aspired to communion with God, and earnestly sought deliverance from guilt and wrath (Works, Vol. 3, p. 3).

Newton went on to say that although this revelation of Christ was initially veiled under types and shadows, “it was always sufficient to sustain the hopes, and to purify the hearts, of the true worshippers of God.” Newton even goes so far as to say that they were Christians.

That the patriarchs and prophets of old were in this sense Christians, that is to say, that their joy and trust centered in the promised Messiah, and that the faith, whereby they overcame the world, was the same faith in the same Lord with ours, is unanswerably proved by St. Paul in several passages; particularly in Heb. xi. where he at large insists on the characters of Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, and Moses, to illustrate this very point.

What about when the law came at Sinai? Did that change or annul the Gospel promises? No, says Newton.

His grace always preserved a spiritual people amongst them, whose faith in the Messiah taught them the true meaning of the Levitical law, and inspired them with zeal and sincerity in the service of God.

John Owen puts it even stronger.

That the faith of all believers, from the foundation of the world, had a respect unto [Christ], I shall afterwards demonstrate; and to deny it, is to renounce both the Old Testament and the New. (John Owen, Works, Vol. 1, p. 100).

Owen, however goes on to argue that their faith was different to ours in this respect, that “this faith of theirs did principally respect his person” but they little understood “his office, or the way whereby he would redeem the church.”

He gives Peter as an example of this distinction in Matthew 16:16 where he confesses faith in Christ’s person but then almost immediately rejects the idea that he would save by suffering and dying (v. 22).

Owen accepts that the Old Testament, especially the sacrificing work of the priests, revealed Christ’s office and work also, but much of that was in shadow form, especially when contrasted with the “glorious revelations they had of his person” so that “their faith in him was the life of all their obedience.”

In answer to those who wonder what’s the point of reading the Old Testament, Owen argues that with the benefit of New Testament light, “The meanest believer may now find out more of the work of Christ in the types of the Old Testament, than any prophets or wise men could have done of old.”

Despite this disadvantage that Old Testament believers labored under, Owen vehemently refutes the idea that there was ever any way of salvation for anyone apart from faith in Christ.

From the giving of that promise the faith of the whole church was fixed on him whom God would send in our nature, to redeem and save them. Other way of acceptance with him there was none provided, none declared, but only by faith in this promise.

After a survey of Old Testament believers to prove his point, Owen returns to clarify his basic person/work distinction.

It is true that both these and other prophets had revelations concerning his sufferings also. For “the Spirit of Christ that was in them testified beforehand of his sufferings, and the glory that should follow,” (1 Pet. 1:11)….Nevertheless their conceptions concerning them were dark and obscure. It was his person that their faith principally regarded. Thence were they filled with desires and expectations of his coming, or his exhibition and appearance in the flesh. With the renewed promises hereof did God continually refresh the church in its strait and difficulties. And hereby did God call off the body of the people from trust in themselves, or boasting in their present privileges, which they were exceedingly prone unto.

ADAMS, JAMES E., War Psalms of the Prince of Peace. Phillipsburg: Presbyterian & Reformed,, 1991.

BARRETT, MICHAEL P., Beginning at Moses. Greenville, SC: Ambassador-Emerald, 2001. **

BEEKE, JOEL and SELVAGGIO, ANTHONY (eds), Sing a New Song. Grand Rapids: Reformation Heritage Books, 2010.

CHAPELL, BRYAN, Redeeming the Expository Sermon. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2005.

CHAPELL, BRYAN, Christ-centered Preaching. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2005. **

CLOWNEY, EDMUND, The Unfolding Mystery. Phillipsburg: Presbyterian & Reformed, 1988. **

CLOWNEY, EDMUND, Preaching Christ in All of Scripture. Illinois: Crossway, 2003. **

DE GRAAF, S.G., Promise and Deliverance (4 vols). Phillipsburg: Presbyterian & Reformed, 1977.

DILLARD, RAYMOND AND LONGMAN , TREMPER, An Introduction to the Old Testament. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994.

EDWARDS, JONATHAN, The Works of Jonathan Edwards, vol. 9, A History of the Work of Redemption. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1989. **

DREW, CHARLES, The Ancient Love Song. Phillipsburg: Presbyterian & Reformed, 2000. **

FAIRBAIRN, PATRICK, The Typology of Scripture, 2 Vols. Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel, 1989. **

FAIRBAIRN, PATRICK, The Interpretation of Prophecy. Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1993.

FRANCE, RICHARD T., Jesus and the Old Testament. Vancouver: Regent College Publishing, 1998. **

GOLDSWORTHY, GRAEME, According to Plan. Illinois: IVP, 1991. **

GOLDSWORTHY, GRAEME, Preaching the Whole Bible as Christian Scripture. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2000. **

GORDON, ROBERT, Christ in the Old Testament, 4 Vols. Glasgow: Free Presbyterian Publications, 2002. **

GREIDANUS, SIDNEY, Preaching Christ from the Old Testament. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999. **

GREIDANUS, SIDNEY, The Modern Preacher and the Ancient Text. Leicester: IVP, 1988.

HANSON, ANTHONY T., Jesus Christ in the Old Testament. London: SPCK, 1965.

HENGSTENBERG, ERNST W., Christology of the Old Testament, 2 Vols. London: T & T Clark, 1875.

HOWARD, DAVID M., Interpreting the Historical Books. Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2006.

KAISER, WALTER C., The Uses of the Old Testament in the New. Eugene: Wipf & Stock Publishers, 2001. **

KAISER, WALTER C., Preaching and Teaching from the Old Testament. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2003.

KAISER, WALTER C., Messiah in the Old Testament. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1985. **

KEACH, BENJAMIN, Preaching from the Types and Metaphors of the Bible. Grand Rapids: Kregel, MI, 1972.

KENT, KISSLING, AND TURNER (eds), Reclaiming the Old Testament for Christian Preaching. Downer’s Grove: IVP, 2010.

LAW, HENRY, Christ is All, 5 Vols. Staffs, England: Tentmaker Publications, 2005.

LEVEBVRE, MICHAEL, Singing the Songs of Jesus. Tain, Scotland: Christian Focus, 2010. **

MACARTHUR, JOHN, The Jesus You Can’t Ignore. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2008.

MASTERS, PETER, Not like any other book. London: Wakeman Trust, 2004.

MATHEWSON, STEVEN, The Art of Preaching Old Testament Narrative. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2002.

MERRILL, EUGENE H., A Kingdom of Priests. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1987.

PENNY, ROBERT L. (ed), The Hope Fulfilled. Phillipsburg: Presbyterian & Reformed, 2008.

POYTHRESS, VERN S, The Shadow of Christ in the Law of Moses. Phillipsburg: Presbyterian & Reformed, 1991. **

PRATT, RICHARD L., Designed for Dignity. Phillipsburg: Presbyterian & Reformed, 2000. **

PRATT, RICHARD L., He Gave Us Stories. Phillipsburg: Presbyterian & Reformed, 1993. **

ROBERTSON, O. PALMER, The Christ of the Covenants. Phillipsburg: Presbyterian & Reformed, 1980. **

ROBERTSON, O. PALMER, The Christ of the Prophets. Phillipsburg: Presbyterian & Reformed, 2004.

ROBINSON, HADDON, Biblical Preaching. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2001.

ROBINSON , HADDON AND LARSON,CRAIG BRIAN  The Art and Craft of Biblical Preaching: A Comprehensive Resource for Today. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2009.

RYDELNIK , MICHAEL, The Messianic Hope. Nashville: B&H, 2010.

RYKEN , LEYLAND AND LONGMAN III, TREMPER (eds), The Complete Literary Guide to the Bible. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1993.

SELVAGGIO, ANTHONY, A Proverbs-driven Life. Wapwallopen: Shepherd Press, 2008.

STEPHEN, JONATHAN. Close Encounters with the Son of God. Epsom: DayOne, 1998. **

STEWART, ALEXANDER, The Tree of Promise. Edinburgh: W P Kennedy, 1864.

STUART, DOUGLAS, Old Testament Exegesis. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2001.

VAN GRONINGEN, GERARD, Messianic Revelation in the Old Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1990.

WALVOORD, JOHN F, Jesus Christ Our Lord. Chicago: Moody, 1969.

WRIGHT, CHRISTOPHER J. H., Knowing Jesus through the Old Testament. Illinois: IVP, 1992. **

YOUNG, EDWARD J., My servants the prophets. Eugene: Wipf & Stock Publishers, 2001.

You’d probably grab your diary and photos back, kick him out of the door, and rebuke him for his cheeky self-centeredness. “How dare he think these things are all about him!”

So why do we do that with the Bible, especially with the Old Testament. We pick up this old collection of “pictures” and stories and the first question we ask is, “What’s in this for me?” or “What does this say to me?” How dare we!

Cheeky self-centeredness
This cheeky self-centeredness is not quite so common when we deal with the New Testament as more people recognize that the letter to the Corinthians was written to a specific people at a specific place at a specific time for a specific purpose. Same with Paul’s letters to the Romans, to the Galatians, to the Ephesians, etc. Teachers and preachers will often explain New Testament verses in their original context before drawing application to today’s readers and listeners.

But when we come to the Old Testament, people read Genesis or Ruth or Isaiah as if it was written directly to the 21^st century western Christian, with hardly a thought about the original writer, the original audience, or the original reason for writing. I must confess, that’s how I used to read the Old Testament, and even preach it.

Revolution
However, my approach to the Old Testament was revolutionized by Dr. Richard Pratt’s Old Testament Introduction lectures and his book, He Gave Us Stories. Pratt insisted that we must research when an Old Testament book was written, who wrote it, and why. That will give us the original message to the original audience, enabling us to make more accurate application to similar audiences meeting similar challenges today.

Tomorrow, we’ll survey the original message of a number of Old Testament books and how that guides us to understand their message to us.

In a similar way, Christians go back to the Old Testament to build a bigger and better picture of Jesus Christ. By connecting with His past, we connect better with Him and deepen our love for Him. The Old Testament connects us with Jesus’ past in the following ways (read the rest of this post at Christianity.com where I explain the following points):

1. We are reading Jesus’ Bible
2. We are learning Jesus’ language
3. We are singing Jesus’ songs
4. We are feeling Jesus’ feelings
5. We are hearing Jesus’ voice
6. We are seeing Jesus in action
7. We are admiring Jesus’ trophies

Full post here.

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Big thanks to Dirk Naves for his patient and excellent creative work, and to Kim Bowyer at Nelson’s for her helpful counsel and enthusiastic support of this project.

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• An increased understanding of the sovereignty of God. If God is supremely and perfectly sovereign, the Old Testament era was not a mistake (Plan A) that God put right with the coming of Jesus (Plan B). No, it was part of His one perfect plan of salvation (Plan Grace) that He began publicly unfolding in Genesis 3.
• The desire to honor the whole of God’s Word. There’s no point in defending the inspiration and inerrancy of the whole Bible in principle if in practice we only use a small percentage of it. We want to avoid what may look like a practical denial of the divine inspiration of the Bible.
• The powerlessness of mere moralism. Preachers and hearers have realized that the “Be David” and “Don’t be Saul” sermons from the Old Testament leave people without hope or help. Without Christ, no matter how hard we try, we will never be David and we’ll default to Saul.
• The popularity of biblical theology. Many gifted theologians have demonstrated the way multiple biblical themes can be traced all the way through Genesis to Revelation, proving the unity of God’s saving plan in both Testaments.
• Willingness to use the New Testament to interpret the Old. Preachers have taken more seriously Jesus’ and the Apostles’ view of the Old Testament, especially their presentation of it as Christ-promising, Christ-revealing, and Christ-testifying Scripture.
• Christian hunger. God’s people have recognized that they can’t understand many parts of the New Testament without knowing the Old Testament better. But they also long for Old Testament instruction that will increase their knowledge of Christ.

All these factors have given preachers increasing desire, confidence, and enjoyment in preaching Christ from the Old Testament. There are, however, inevitable weaknesses in any new movement, and one of them is the tendency to use the same interpretative method in every Old Testament sermon.

For the rest of this post, click on over to Ed Stetzer’s blog where I’m contributing to an ongoing discussion about Christ-centered interpretation of the Old Testament. Previous posts by Dr Daniel Block (Part 1 and Part 2). Future posts by Dr. Walter Kaiser and Dr. Bryan Chapell.

Psychologists will often help these children by introducing them to small amounts of the food now and again, then gradually increasing the size and frequency of the food until the child is able to swallow and even enjoy what was previously unpalatable.

In some ways, this is what was happening in the Old Testament. God was gradually habituating His people to accept not only an unpalatable deliverance but an unpalatable deliverer.

Unpalatable Salvation
The deliverer was unpalatable because, like all sinners, Old Testament sinners wanted to deliver themselves and did not like to admit that they needed outside help.

The deliverance was also unpalatable because it was not going to be a glorious straightforward smashing of their enemies, but the deliverer would suffer pain, humiliation, and death in order to smash their sins.

Thus, from Genesis 3 onwards, we have the institution of sacrifice that pointed people away from themselves to a substitute in their place, and that also underlined in red how suffering and death were necessary for salvation.

Further, from Genesis 3 onwards, God raised up numerous deliverers of His people, but all of them experienced pain and humiliation on the way to delivering God’s people. The three greatest examples of that are Joseph, Moses, and David.

All of these were God’s way of habituating His people, of preparing them gradually to accept, embrace, and believe His plan of a coming Deliverer whose deliverance would involve humiliation and suffering before glory would eventually arise. As Leyland Ryken says in The Complete Literary Guide to the Bible:

It seems clear that a “narrative typology” lies behind the composition of these texts. The author wants to show that the events of the past are pointers to those of the future (p. 110).

That’s one way we can get from Joseph to Jesus – by seeing Joseph as part of God’s gradual habituation of the people for His ultimate deliverer.

How can we be sure?
Some might look at the Joseph story and say, “Well there are indeed many parallels between Joseph and Jesus, but how can you be sure that God meant this to be part of His preparation of His Old Testament people for Jesus?”

Well, consider this. In the New Testament, God explicitly picked out less obvious parallels in the Old Testament (like Melchizedek and Jonah) as part of His preparation of His Old Testament people for Jesus. If He is explicit about these less obvious parallels, how much more easily should we conclude the same for the more obvious and major Old Testament characters like Joseph. Clearly, Jesus and the New Testament authors saw Jonah, Melchizedek, Moses, etc., as samples of a larger body of prophetic parallels (or “types”).

The Spirit of Christ
Also, we know that the Spirit that was in Joseph was the Spirit of Christ, shaping and forming his character in such beautiful Christ-like ways. Joseph did not become such an outstandingly gifted, godly, and gracious man by natural personality or by his own efforts. There’s no more extraordinary story of human forgiveness in the whole of human history, and that could only be accomplished by the work of the Holy Spirit filling him and fueling his wise and loving dealings with his murderous brothers.

So how do we get from Joseph to Jesus? Three ways:

1. By God’s gradual habituation of His people
2. By arguing from the lesser to the greater (if less Christ-like characters were types, how much more Joseph).
3. By the work and indwelling of the Holy Spirit in Joseph’s life conforming him to the image of Christ.

• Link verses to Christ’s crucifixion
• Connect sermons to Christ’s death and resurrection.
• Present Christ as the eternal Logos, who is also active in Old Testament times (especially as the Angel of Yahweh, God’s Wisdom, etc.)
• Preach God-centered sermons (as Christ is God, a God-centered sermon is Christ-centered).
• Substitute the name of Christ wherever we see “Jehovah” in the Old Testament (because Christ is Jehovah).

As the New Testament is full of preaching Christ, it must be our guide and model. Gredianus quotes C. H. Dodd’s survey of Apostolic preaching, which identified six core themes:

1. The age of fulfillment has dawned.
2. This has taken place through the ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus.
3. By virtue of the resurrection, Jesus has been exalted at the right hand of God, as Messianic head of the new Israel.
4. The Holy Spirit in the Church is the sign of Christ’s present power and glory.
5. The Messianic Age will shortly reach its consummation in the return of Christ.
6. The proclamation always closes with an appeal for repentance, the offer of forgiveness and of the Holy Spirit, and the promise of salvation.

Greidanus concludes that “a quick scrutiny of these six elements indicates that preaching in the New Testament church indeed centered on Jesus Christ – but not in the narrow sense of focussing only on Christ crucified, nor in the broadest sense of focussing only on the Second Person of the Trinity or the eternal Logos.”

For the New Testament Church, preaching Christ meant preaching “the birth, ministry, death, resurrection, and exaltation of Jesus of Nazareth as the fulfillment of God’s old covenant promises, his presence today in the Spirit, and his imminent return. In short, ‘preaching Christ’ meant preaching Christ incarnate in the context of the full sweep of redemptive history” (Greidanus, 4).

1. I want a reverent and diligent handling of the text of Scripture. For too long the Old Testament text has been treated with less respect than a daily newspaper. It’s been attacked, lampooned, and neglected, not just by those outside the church but also by many within it. So I want to be sure that an author views the Old Testament as the inspired Word of God, and then works hard to mine the maximum meaning out of each precious word.

2. I expect any interpretation to start with the original context and park there for a while. Many books and sermons seem to regard the Old Testament as something hot-off-the presses and addressed directly to 21st century culture.  They fail to consider the original message to the original audience thousands of years ago and thousands of miles away. If you want to get on the wrong track immediately, and lead others astray, that’s a sure-fire way of doing it.

3. While accounting for the slow progressive unfolding of God’s truth over many years, the book should also portray that truth as having one clear and constant message. At times, some writers imply that God started with Plan A; and when that didn’t work He tried Plan B, then C, the D, etc. In other words, instead of seeing God’s message of a gracious salvation for sinners through the Messiah as one seed that gradually grows from root to shoot to stem to flower to fruit, they imply that God was forever starting over; planting then uprooting, replanting then uprooting, etc.

4. I look for a book that follows Jesus’ and His disciples’ example in using the New Testament to interpret the Old. I know of one Old Testament professor who refuses to allow any New Testament verse ever to be mentioned in his classes – kind of like studying with the lights off. Of course, we should not read into the Old Testament what was only known to those in the New; but as Christ and His apostles make clear, there was a lot more knowledge of the Gospel in the Old Testament than is usually thought.

5. The book must demonstrate that both Old and New Testament believers were saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, to the glory of God alone. Was Old Testament faith as clear or strong? Did Old Testament believers see Christ as we see Him? Were Old Testament believers in possession of as much of the Holy Spirit? No, no, and no again. However, they did have saving faith, it was in the Messiah alone, and without the internal work of the Holy Spirit regenerating, sanctifying, indwelling and preserving them, they had no hope.

6. The book must apply the truth to the modern Church. Too many Old Testament books are addressed only to the head. They stop way short of connecting the truth to people’s hearts and lives. Worship, communion, obedience, and service are almost swear words to some writers.

Well, you’re probably thinking by now, “There aren’t many good Old Testament books like that around today, are there?” You’re right, I’m afraid. But I’m glad to announce that a new one has just been added to their ranks. It’s this book on the Tabernacle by my friend Danny Hyde. And what a rare treat it is to read!

• Danny handles the text with reverent carefulness and rigorous diligence, mining the text for all its meat and milk.
• He describes the original context, people, and situation so graphically that eventually you wonder if he possibly lived in Tabernacle times!
• While respecting the varying degrees of revelation through the ages, he demonstrates the covenantal unity of God’s sovereign and gracious plan in both Testaments.
• He avoids the pitfall of imputing New Testament understanding to Old Testament believers, but also welcomes the graciously provided light of the New to understand the Old.
• And, at last, a modern book on the Old Testament that treats the believing Israelites as brothers and sisters in Christ rather than as slightly confused, animistic, legalistic idolaters.
• Of course, if you’ve read any of Danny’s previous nine million books  you’ll know that he has a passion to bless the Church with books that minister to the head, the heart, and the hand. This book is no different. It will lead you to worship, it will prompt obedience, and perhaps above all it will inspire you to commune with the God who delights to dwell among us and in us.

This will be a great book for pastors and teachers who have been inspired by the wonderful resurgence of interest in the Old Testament, and especially of a Christ-centered understanding of the Old Testament, and yet open their Bibles at Exodus and Leviticus and wonder, “Eh, what do I do now?” Danny shows you, “Here’s how!”

But any serious Christian will also benefit from this book. It will not only open up previously undiscovered parts of the Bible, it will also show you the wonderful unity of the Scriptures from start to finish. Above all it will inspire you to seek communion with God through Jesus Christ, Immanuel, God with us.

From the Foreword to God in our Midst by Danny Hyde.