Kairos Le C. Lasta The Old Testament Background (Sentence Outline) I.

Rel 61 D

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All books of the Bible, whether the Old Testament or the New Testament, are parts of continuous record of Gods self-disclosure of His nature and will to Israel and the world. a. The close relationship of the Old and the New Testament suggests that there is a fundamental unity between them. i. But this unity is often unnoticed with the emergence of those who are more forcibly impressed with the wide diversity of religions and moral convictions which is also found in the Bible. ii. The contrast between the moral teachings of the Old and the New Testament is presented especially sharp focus in the Sermon on the Mount. iii. The diversity within the Bible can be easily exaggerated. 1. Those who look uncritically to the Bible for proof-texts in support of their positions find themselves in hopeless controversy as to which particular teaching is to be taken as the absolute authority. 2. Those who seek to attack the Bible in an effort to show that it is inconsistent and therefore unreliable as an ethical guide. First task in order to understand the underlying unity of biblical ethics is to identify the major characteristic themes of biblical morality. a. It is theocentric or God-centered. b. It has an imperative tone. c. It is concerned with persons and communities of persons rather than with ideals and patterns in the abstract. d. It has equalitarianism in its estimate of human worth. e. It has emphasis upon salvation from evil rather than aspiration after the good. Perhaps the earliest piece of Hebrew legislation in the Old Testament is the document found in Exodus 20:22-23:33, which is generally referred as the Covenant Code. a. There are two types of requirements set forth in the Covenant Code. i. The unconditional Words which appears as unqualified, direct demands addressed to the second person. ii. The conditional Ordinances which are introduced by conditional clauses and consist of directions to judges who are charged with the dispensation of justice. b. The Covenant Code, like the Ten Commandments which immediately precede it, is ascribed to God as its author, and Moses is assigned the role of mediator of the law to the Israelites. c. Hebrew ethics begins, not with the demand for loyalty of the self to itself or even to society, but with the assumption that those to whom it is addressed are bound to God and that God has bound Himself to them.

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d. The imperative character of the morality of the Covenant Code has already been indicated by what has been said about the two types of laws of which the document is composed. e. Consideration has also been given to the fact that there is extremely close relationship between the worship of God and the service of the neighbor so that the religion and morality are inseparable, but an additional word is needed to indicate the extent to which the Covenant Code is concerned with the needs of ones neighbors rather than with idealistic or abstract norms of truth and justice. f. The equalitarianism of the Covenant Code has been suggested in what has been said about the concept of justice which directs special concern to the needy and distressed. g. The characteristic concern of Hebrew morality with salvation from evil is suggested by the very ratification of the covenant. In contrast to the simple conditions of a primitive agricultural society which are presupposed in the Covenant Code, the economic conditions and international involvements of the Hebrews in the time of the great prophets of the eight to the sixth centuries were quite complex. a. The moral teaching of the prophets is theocentric is clearly indicated by the characteristic manner in which they speak of themselves as being called and commissioned by God to be His mouthpieces and speak in His behalf to Israel. b. While Amos, Hosea, Micah, and Isaiah are sometimes referred to as the ethical prophets of the eight century because of their special emphasis upon Gods demand for right conduct from His worshippers, these prophets were far from being more interested in ethics than they were in religion. i. Their moral teaching was derived from their understanding of God, who had revealed Himself to them as a righteous God, rather that from some rationalistic theory of virtue and the highest good for man, or from mere enthusiasm for the ideal of human equality, or some conception of the solidarity of mankind based upon such essentially humanistic notions as the organic nature of society and the prudential concept of one world or none. c. Prophetic morality is theocentric which is further indicated by the prophets understanding of human evil in terms of sin. i. In the Old Testament, Sin has two meanings: (1) an impersonal conception associated with taboo and (2) the personal conception of disobedience to God or rebellion against God. 1. The first usage of the meaning of sin comes with the notions of unclean, accursed, and holy. 2. Within the context of the meaning of sin as disobedience to God, the term is used in two more specific senses: (1) the basically ethical sense of transgressing a moral law and (2) the basically religious sense of rebellion against God. d. The accusations which the prophets make both against individuals and against nations are concrete and specific rather than abstract and general.

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VI. VII. VIII.

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i. The prophets frequently speak of the justice which God requires of Israel in terms of her obligation to be faithful to the covenant. ii. Despite the fact that the prophets see Gods fundamental requirement as justice and judgment as the reward for injustice, they nevertheless see the divine mercy as transcending the divine wrath. There was discovered in the Temple a code of law which the King made the basis of his effort to purify the worship of Yahweh, also known as the Deutoronomic Code. a. It specifically authorizes the taking of interest from foreigners. b. It reflects a more highly developed and consistent humanitarian concern than does the Covenant Code. A third major code of law is known as the Holiness Code (found in Leviticus) because of its special stress upon the holiness of Yahweh. Because of every person grew more concern on ones fate, thus, there was an increasing concern for the value and destiny of the individual. The conviction underlying all biblical thought and conduct is the faith that God is sovereign and that He is just. a. The later prophets, job, and some psalmists were thus led to reject the earlier notion the piety is rewarded in this life in terms of material prosperity. As the Israelites monotheism became more explicit, the prophets saw all of the nations as subject to one God and yet all as being in rebellion against Him. a. The prophets had looked for the establishment of a new age upon earth rather than for an other-worldly kingdom. b. The imagery of which the writers used were highly symbolic and frequently bizarre, but in essence it represented and intensification and universalization of the prophetic view of the history of Israel as a drama of rebellion, chastisement, and redemption.