The importance of exclusion
After finding at least a date range for the book, it is
important to understand the frame of reference for the target audience
including the revealed Scriptures, the state of the world at the time, and the
culture in that area. For example, a post exile Jew would have a very different
view of the world when compared to a Jew in Solomon's kingdom. Not to mention
the amount of Scripture that would be available (or at least in existence) for
the former would far exceed the amount for the latter. And while we can study
Ruth in light of Judges, we should not look for help with the time-locked
message of Ruth in the Davidic Psalms.
We must start to exclude books of the Bible that were
written after the date that has been established for our study passage. This in
and of itself can be a daunting task as there are quite a few books that have a
range of possible dates, however, if we apply a little common sense, we can
safely exclude books that may have been written at the same time but would not
have had been widely distributed at the time. We are truly blessed to have the
completed Word of God!
The second thing that we may need to exclude is historical
events that happened after the target passage/study. For example, reading a
prophecy in Daniel from today's perspective is pretty straightforward; God
called it! But to the original audience, it would have a whole other meaning,
perspective, and purpose. Knowing history is very helpful in the other two
perspectives, but it can be a hindrance in the time-locked if we're not
careful.
A third exclusion candidate is modern theological concepts
that may not have been revealed. For example, while the Old Testament testifies
to the Messiah coming to die as the final sacrifice, that knowledge was
shrouded in mystery. However, in Acts, the apostles used the Old Testament to
preach Jesus Christ crucified, buried, and risen, and the Word had great effect
on the hearers, even to salvation!
Another modern theological concept that might have to be
ignored for Old Testament books is the great mystery revealed in Ephesians -
that the Jews and Gentiles are both equal sharers in the body of Christ! While
there are hints in the Old Testament of the reality of this concept, it is
definitely not stated plainly or understood by any of the original hearers of
the Old Testament. Jonah would be a prime example of this.
There are several other ideas expressed in the New Testament
(permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit, types of Christ, fulfillment of the
Law in Jesus Christ, and more) that may need to be excluded from our thinking
when addressing any Old Testament book from the time-locked perspective.
No comments:
Post a Comment