Do you tend to avoid reading or thinking about the Old Testament? Maybe you wonder if this part of the Bible even applies to us anymore. We have Jesus, we have a new covenant, and we have the New Testament: why do we need to read about the old stuff anymore? We don’t live in a monarchy, we don’t have animal sacrifice anymore. Sure, maybe I’ll read the Psalms and Proverbs, but even that’s pretty limited.
These are some of the things I have said and thought about the Old Testament at some point. Maybe you have asked similar questions. Because at least for me, it really is hard to find the meaning of the Old Testament for today.
This is particularly true when it comes to the prophets. You know, the second half of the Old Testament, the part after the interesting stories come to an end. In my experiences, reading the prophets goes like this: God calls [insert name here] and gives them a message to deliver. It is usually a message about the impending doom of a nation (usually Israel or Judah) because they have forgotten God. And tucked away in the message of doom is a message about restoration and the continuing love God has for His people. It’s not actually all gloom and doom.
Lately, I find myself trying to read the Old Testament more, specifically some of the prophets. Oddly enough, Jonah is one of my favorite books! I mean, who couldn’t love that story? Get on a boat with a random group of guys, a huge storm comes in, then you end up being swallowed by a huge fish. I mean that’s some movie type action. In my small group we are also doing a study on Malachi, and it has been really interesting to see some of the common themes in the prophets. Especially with how serious our covenant with God should be. Hearing from the prophets has also been really helpful in understanding the overarching story of God. With all this, I’m finally feeling like I’m getting the hang of some of the application of the prophets and Old Testament.
To continue my prophetic theme, I have been reading Hosea. Hosea starts off pretty interesting, like a lot of the books of prophets do. (I mean, remember how Ezekiel starts? By talking about this weird living creature in human form that has wings and four faces including human, ox, lion, and an eagle! (Ezekiel 1:10) What in the world is that! Now that I have completely terrified you for the day, I digress.) In the beginning of Hosea God tells him, “Go, marry a promiscuous woman, and have children with her, for like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulness to the LORD.” Um, okay?!? Obviously, the parallel that gets spelled out in Hosea is how marrying an unfaithful woman mirrors the unfaithful covenant that the Israelites have with God. But you’re telling me that God really wants Hosea to marry a woman and have children with her knowing she could be unfaithful? That’s an interesting way to start off this prophetic word.
If you’re not familiar with Hosea, he obeys and marries Gomer, and as they have three children, God continues to parallel Hosea’s life with the Israelites. They have a son, a daughter, and another son, each of whom which God names. And let me tell you, these names have some meanings that I wouldn’t want for myself, that’s for sure. Hosea’s first son was named Jezreel because God was going to put an end to Israel in the valley of Jezreel. His daughter was named Lo-Ruhamah which means “not loved,” and his third child was named Lo-Ammi which means “not my people.” I mean, talk about some names that are going to get you made fun of in school.
Then, God continues to talk about the punishment of Israel. He explains it as the same thing that’s happening with Hosea’s unfaithful marriage. When I was reading this, I re watched a video from The Bible Project about Hosea. (If you’re not familiar with the Bible Project, they do some really awesome videos illustrating and explaining the books and themes of the Bible, among other things, and I highly recommend you check them out!) Through Hosea, we learn that Israel worshiped other gods, broke commandments, were living social injustices in their communities, and then would just sacrifice to God like everything was okay. In the same way that Gomer was an unfaithful wife, the people of Israel were an unfaithful people to God. But then, something big happens: God tells Hosea to find Gomer and bring her back home. He tells him to pay her debts and forgive her even though she is adulteress, God tells to Hosea to, “Love her as the LORD loves the Israelites.” (Hosea 3:1)
The rest of the book of Hosea is a collection of poems that Hosea wrote about warnings of punishment for Israel. He also writes and gives them examples of countless times they have ignored and left God, Hosea didn’t really have confidence anything would change. And why would he? But then, in chapter 14 God says, “I will hear their waywardness and love them freely for my anger has turned away from them.”
This is the big moment. This is why the Old Testament is important and directly applies to God’s people today. Because this applies to you, and me. Romans 3:23 tells us that we “all fall short of the glory of God” and we need restoration. In other words, we’re all still like Gomer in Hosea. We screw up and need to be restored. At the end of Hosea, we find out that God will heal His land, but the only way we can be healed is by God’s mercy and grace. And in the New Testament, we see how He did that: by sending us His Son to be born, and to humble Himself to be like us. He relinquished His power for us, He related himself to us. He literally met us where we’re at and he died for our sins. But that story only comes as the continuation of the Old Testament story.
This is why I have been trying to read the Old Testament more. It’s not just outdated practices and laws or just songs and poetry. The Old Testament is the evidence that God has had His plan in motion for a long time. Its evidence of how God has promised and promised and promised restoration—even when His people didn’t (and still don’t) deserve it. God could have just skipped all the messiness of the Old Testament and the prophets and went straight to the Gospels, but he wanted to show us the type of people we are and the type of God He is. He brought His son Jesus to fulfill His promise to restore what is broken because He’s a forgiving, companionate, and merciful God. That doesn’t mean He doesn’t get angry or that he doesn’t show us His wrath, but He ultimately shows us the fulfilment of His promise to heal His people