The Old Testament Witness to Christ and His Kingdom, Student Workbook, SW09

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T H E O L D T E S T A M E N T W I T N E S S T O C H R I S T A N D H I S K I N G D O M

followed them, and the Rock was Christ” (v.4). He instructed the ex-pagan Corinthians from the OT, exhorting them based on the analogy he drew between the hardheaded Israelites and the stubborn Corinthians. He warned them of the perils of idolatry, and exhorted them not to follow the example of Israel who because of their disobedience and sexual immorality twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. He recounted the Israelite’s disobedience and testing of the Lord, and warned them not to put Christ to the test nor grumble as they had done, lest they suffer the same fate as they who were destroyed by serpents, and by the Destroyer. Paul ends his exhortation based on the experience, analogy, and life lessons learned from the Israelites, and instructed them on the reason behind the experiences recorded in the OT . “Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come” (v. 11). So, from Paul’s own use of the OT with believers who had no orientation to it–how did he explain its function in the Church? The answer is simple and plain. The experience of the Israelites was given as a typos (example) for us to follow and derive spiritual wisdom from, to instruct us in the ways of the Lord , those for whom the very end of the ages has come. In a real sense, the richness and benefit of the Word of God, the OT, is rooted in its ability to coincide with our experience. There is much time between us and the history of the Israelites, but there is no difference in the relationship we have with the Lord. Their experience was written for our instruction ; the very lessons, experiences, insights, revelations, and happenings that they endured and enjoyed are given to lead us into God’s very own will and blessing for our lives . At the very heart of the OT is this analogy of faith , this connection that all of God’s people have as human beings and as the cherished of the Lord. Perceived in this way, the OT is demythologized from its so-called difficult and hard-to-understand and apply status. When we read the stories of the people of God in the OT, according to Paul, we read our own story , and we can avoid the horrible disciplines they received, or, alas, learn the very same lessons they had to learn because of our own inability to listen and respond to his voice. This connection that the people of God have regardless of the time, place, or era is the very ground on which we study and apply the OT. It is not simply the record of the happenings of the ancient people, Israel and their neighbors. In a very real sense, it is our story , and we can use their experience as an example, a model, a means of learning God’s will and ways for our lives today. This is how our Lord referred to the OT’s messages and stories. Notice the allusion he gave to Nicodemus in speaking of salvation to humankind:

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