The Old Testament Expounded

God’s Master Plan for Man Revealed

Many people have neglected the Old Testament, yet this is not supposed to be so.

Matthew 5:17-19

Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. ¹⁸ "For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. ¹⁹ "Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Every word that you see in the Bible must come to pass. There are some that have been fulfilled, and there are some that have not yet been fulfilled. All must be fulfilled.

Here are a few statements worth noting:

1.   The Old Testament is God concealed. The New Testament is God revealed.

2.   The Old Testament is God contained; the New Testament is God explained.

3.   Logos is the written Word, that which has been indicated and written. Rhema is the revealed Word; it is the spirit of the Word. When you get revelation, you say you got rhema. God will never reveal to you a Word you have never studied. Unless you know the Word, forget revelation. You must know the written Word. Understand what is known first, before you get a revelation.

John 14:26

But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.

A believer must know the Bible, inside and out, for the Holy Spirit to bring you things to remembrance.He cannot remind you of something you do not know. You have to study the Word, for you to give Him something to remind you of.

That being said, it is important for us to study the Word of God in its entirety. Many people shy off from studying the Old Testament, as they do not understand even where to start. If you do not have understanding of how to go about the OT study, you might get lost. The purpose of this teaching is to give you a summary of the OT books, how they are divided and so on, so that when you start studying you know where to start, based on the structures of the OT. 

The OT has five structures, as indicated in the image below:

The five Books of Poetry and Wisdom teach you the wisdom of life, and the hidden secrets. These five poetry books are the hinges of the Bible. They are where the eyes of people are either opened, or closed.

The first five books of the Bible are the foundations of the Bible, the Torah, as this is where you begin to understand who God is. You understand how man got created, how sin came in, and the redemption of man. God is not studied; God reveals Himself. You cannot search God and find Him out. When God was dealing with people, they got to understand who He is, by His dealings with man. There is still a massive part of God that we will never know, until probably eternity. The more God deals with us, the more we know Him. Revelation will continue for eternity. Moses wrote the five books, which are called Torah, or Pentateuch.

The 12 books, between Joshua and Esther, are the History Books. They contain the story of the twelve tribes of Israel, and God’s dealings with them. If you want to understand the history of the Bible, study the twelve tribes of Israel.

There are 17 books of prophets, both minor and major. Prophets were the mouth piece of God. God chose the prophets to be His voice on earth. The prophets were listening to God day and night, and revealing His Word to His people.

Amos 3:7

Surely the Lord GOD does nothing, unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.

Whenever people went wrong, God used a rod to punish them, which are the six major empires (Egypt (Pharaoh and Ramesses), Assyrians, Babylonians, Medes & Persia, Greeks and Romans. These are not to be taken as divisions or structures of the Bible, but are worth understanding as they have been mentioned a lot in the OT books. God created bad and evil in the OT and used it for His glory. The six nations were appointed by God to do the work for Him, when His children rebelled against Him. 

It is not easy to figure God out; it is actually impossible. We cannot figure out God's ways completely, as to why He created bad things or used evil things in the OT, to bring out His purpose. We know God by faith, by studying His interactions with us. What clearly comes out from the OT is how patient God is, in that all the while the Children of Israel were in rebellion He did not wipe them out, rather He put up with them, time and again restoring them when they repented. God is still patient to date, not willing that any man perishes, but all come to repentance. 

Let us delve in to a study of the 5 structures of the OT, and draw the main lessons from the books that make up these structures.

A. Poetry and Wisdom

1.      Job

The book of Job teaches us about the sufferings of a righteous man. Job had 7 sons and 3 daughters. Sheep is representative of sons, while camels are a representative of daughters. This is why we are told that Job had 7 sons and 7,000 sheep, and 3 daughters, and 3,000 camels. Nothing in the Bible happened for no reason. A sheep is a representative of a man in that he provides food and protection/covering, just like a sheep. A camel is a representative of a woman in that she carries the family on her back, literally, and can go for long through hardships, as she has been designed by God that way, just like a camel.

The spirit of moving to and fro is evil, and from the devil, as we see Satan saying he was doing, at the beginning of the book of Job (Job 1:6-7). Just as Job did not know everything that he did not know about, we should not desire to know everything that happens in our lives. There are some things that are not yet at our level of our explanation. If you do not get the revelation, leave it. You can never understand everything. Trying to understand God is like trying to fit all the waters in an ocean into a bucket. Our minds are too small to comprehend the greatness and wisdom of God. Just like Job, learn to trust God even through hard times, especially when you do not know why things are the way they are.

The three friends of Job, Zophar, Bildad and Eliphaz, were looking for the reason why Job was tormented. This is how men do things; when they see someone suffering, they start looking for why the person is suffering. Sometimes there is no reason why men suffer. God deals with men in two ways: retribution, which is where when people did good, He did them good, and when they did bad, He did them bad, esp in the OT. The other way God deals with people is with sovereign power, where He does whatever He pleases.

Psalm 115:3

But our God is in heaven; He does whatever He pleases.

Ephesians 1:11

In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will…

God does whatever He pleases, according to the counsel of His will. It pleased God to allow Job to go through what he went through.

Proverbs 13:21

Evil pursues sinners…

Job was not evil, yet he was pursued by evil. If you are going through something in which you did not participate in the source, please understand you are a vessel in the hand of God, for a serious calling. Sometimes, like Job, you feel like God has moved away. Job only suffered for 9 months. Suffering causes our days to seem like years. Still, keep your mind focused on God, and keep trusting Him, that He knows what He is doing with you.

Job 7:3-6

So I have been allotted months of futility, and wearisome nights have been appointed to me. ⁴ When I lie down, I say, 'When shall I arise, and the night be ended?' For I have had my fill of tossing till dawn. ⁵ My flesh is caked with worms and dust, my skin is cracked and breaks out afresh. ⁶ "My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, and are spent without hope."

God does not talk too much. His Words are few and heavy. Job experienced the silence of God.

Job 23:8-10

"Look, I go forward, but He is not there, and backward, but I cannot perceive Him; ⁹ When He works on the left hand, I cannot behold Him; When He turns to the right hand, I cannot see Him.¹⁰ But He knows the way that I take; When He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold."

While going through trials, do not try to pressure God into speaking to you. Times of silence come our way to teach us to trust God and hold on to His Word and faithfulness. He will speak to you, just keep focused on Him. He knows what He is doing.

Finally, God spoke to Job:

Job 38:1-2

Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said: "Who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge?”

When you speak words without knowledge, you darken the counsel of heaven. Speak to God His Words, which are words of knowledge, even when talking to Him about your problem.

Enjoy life, even if you are suffering, in this world.

God never apologized to Job at the end of the story, and did not even tell him why he went through all he went through. You do not have to know why you are going through all you go through; you do not have to know everything. Just trust God. Some people complain heavily to God and try to manipulate Him to move, through their prayers. At the end, God is sovereign, and you cannot figure Him out.

2.      Psalm

The book of Psalm teaches you prayer and worship, and devotional life. Most of the Psalms were written by David (73). Some chapters of Psalm were written by Moses (Psalm 90), 12 by Asaph (director of music in the OT), 2 by Solomon (Psalm 71 and 127), 10 by the descendants of Korah, while Ethan and Heman wrote 1 each. The other chapters do not have information on who wrote them.

If you want to understand the book of Psalm, you have to break it into 5 structures:

• Psalm 1-41: Personal experience, written by David, when he was going through some dark things. There are some things you go through and do not share with people, such as David. Reading these chapters will help you realize you are not alone. Here is where you see David praying the prayer of the evening (Psalm 4), and the prayer of the morning (Psalm 5). It is in this structure that David says the Lord is His Shepherd (Psalm 23). The end of the first structure says, “Blessed be the LORD God of Israel From everlasting to everlasting! Amen and Amen.” Psalm 41:13.

• Psalm 42-72: These are also psalms by David, that talk about Elohim, God almighty, and praises Him. The end of the second structure says, "...and blessed be His glorious name forever! And let the whole earth be filled with His glory. Amen and Amen. ²⁰ The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.” Psalm 72:19-20

• Psalm 73-89: I call these the dark psalms. Some prayers we make are so that we can overtake people we are comparing ourselves with. Psalm 73 answers the question why the wicked prosper, while the righteous suffer. The one thing that characterizes the rich, is fear. The more wealth you acquire, the more security you need. When you get money, you start worrying about security. Just have enough. The writer of Psalm 73 says he stopped wondering why the wicked were prospering and envying them when he went to the house of God, and understood their end (v. 17). He acknowledge he was evil for envying the wicked. Psalm 89 ends saying, “Blessed be the LORD forevermore! Amen and Amen.” Psalm 72:52

• Psalm 90-106: This is the books of the King. It has relations with Jesus Christ. Psalm 106 ends saying, "Blessed be the LORD God of Israel From everlasting to everlasting! And let all the people say, "Amen!" Praise the LORD!” Psalm 106:48

• Psalm 107-150: The books of praise. The book of Psalms will teach you that whenever you are tense, use it to loosen that tension. Worship is what loses the tensions. Whenever you are tense, worship God. Psalm 150 ends saying, "Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!" Psalm 150:6.

The book of Psalms will teach you how to chasten your soul by prayer, worship and fasting (Psalm 69:10). Chasten your soul through worship and prayer. You are a spirit, living in a body, and possessing a soul, as we saw in the last teaching I gave. Your spirit is perfect and complete; it is your soul that prevents you from manifesting all the goodness that is in your spirit. This is why you have to keep chastening your soul, and bringing it into subjection. Chasten your soul through prayer, worship and fasting, just like David. The book of Psalm can guide you into accomplishing this.

3.      Proverbs

Proverbs was written by Solomon, in his mid-life, when he was around 40-60 years. This book teaches you how to live. It contains a collection of wise sayings.

1 Kings 4:32

He [Solomon] spoke three thousand proverbs, and his songs were one thousand and five.

Just like the book of Psalm, the book of Proverbs is divided into categories. Understanding these categories will guide you into a study of the book of Proverbs.

• Proverbs 1-9: These proverbs are full of wisdom for the young. Over 10 times he says, “…my son”. “My son, hear the instruction of your father, And do not forsake the law of your mother;” Prov. 1:8. “My son, if sinners entice you, Do not consent.” Prov. 1:10.

• Proverbs 10-24: These proverbs contain wisdom for all people

• Proverbs 25-29: These proverbs contain wisdom for leaders.

• Proverbs 30-31: These proverbs contain wisdom for disciples, the beloved of the Lord.

Such words of wisdom as are found in Proverbs include to stay away from alcohol (Prov. 23:30-35); not to keep stepping your foot in your neighbours house lest he hates you (Prov. 25:17); not to be surety for those who borrow, being a guarantor (Prov. 22:26-27); not to keep friends with angry people (Prov. 22:24-25); to be diligent and hardworking (Prov. 22:29); not to trouble your house lest you inherit the wind (Prov. 11:29a); not to be hasty to acquire wealth, as hasty wealth and wealth that is gotten in ways that are not godly disappears very first, as fast as it came (Prov. 10:2, 13:11).

If you want to walk and live in wisdom, study the book of Proverbs. 

4.      Ecclesiastes

This was written by Solomon in his old age. It teaches you how to age in a godly way. 

Ecclesiastes 11:9:  

Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth; Walk in the ways of your heart, and in the sight of your eyes; But know that for all these God will bring you into judgment.

Because death will come, enjoy life, but with the fear of God in you. The universe is made of cycles (Eccl. 1:4-7). What you do in secret will catch up with you, later. Whatever you do, what is God saying and will God say about it?

God through Solomon teaches us not to rush things, as everything has its own time (Eccl. 3). He makes things beautiful, in its own time (Eccl. 3:11). Be patient, as your time comes. There is a section of your life that God has hidden in you, that you cannot know, as that is God’s wisdom:  

Ecclesiastes 3:11

“He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.”  

Everyone has their own time, so be patient and wait on God. Do not rush:  

Ecclesiastes 5:1

Walk prudently when you go to the house of God; and draw near to hear rather than to give the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they do evil. Do not be rash with your mouth, and let not your heart utter anything hastily before God. For God is in heaven, and you on earth; Therefore let your words be few.

Whenever you want to fast and pray, sit down and ask God for His will for your life. As He reveals His will for your life, keep walking with Him and His Word. His will for your life is revealed as you walk with Him; it is not revealed instantly. Start moving, and His will will become clearer as you walk. So, start moving.

Sometimes there are areas of our lives that are not ready to go where He wants us to get to. He desires for us to mature more than anything else. He takes the prayers we make to Him, and will use them to help us mature, and help us to know how to pray. When praying, pray for God to deal with your emotions. Even when you get where you want to get, your emotions can hinder you from getting there, or destroy you when you get there. Pray for maturity too, as without maturity pride comes in, and this is a sign of childishness. Talent without maturity is dangerous and extremely risky. It is a bad recipe. Many people have talents, but have no maturity. Desire to mature spiritually and emotionally. Overcome emotions and feelings, and stop doing things because you feel like and not doing some because you do not feel like. Doing things by feelings is childishness. Mature up and do things by faith.

Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, Before the difficult days come, and the years draw near when you say, "I have no pleasure in them": ² While the sun and the light, the moon and the stars, are not darkened, and the clouds do not return after the rain; 3 In the day when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men bow down; When the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look through the windows grow dim; ⁴ When the doors are shut in the streets, and the sound of grinding is low; When one rises up at the sound of a bird, and all the daughters of music are brought low; ⁵ Also they are afraid of height, and of terrors in the way; When the almond tree blossoms, The grasshopper is a burden, and desire fails. For man goes to his eternal home, and the mourners go about the streets… ⁷ Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it. Ecclesiastes 12:1-7

It is important to understand the finishing of this great book, that teaches us how to age in a godly way. Solomon uses metaphors in the opening verses, to describe the changes that happen to the body of a person when they age, and the signs that one is growing old. The “keepers of the house” are the hands; old people’s hands tremble for no reason. The “strong men” are the legs; old people’s legs start bending. The “grinders” are the teeth, where they grow less and start missing. “Those who look through the windows” are the eyes, and these grow dim as one ages. The “doors” are the mouths; old people speak less words, and most of the time their mouth is shut. The “daughters of the music” are the ears; as one ages, their ears are brought low, meaning the hearing becomes less sharp. Old people also wake up very early due to lack of sleep, and are afraid of height, as they are afraid of falling. The “almond tree” blossoming talks of the hair becoming white, another indication of old age creeping in. This is because the leaves of the almond tree are usually pink before blossoming, and after blossoming turn to white, just like the human hair, which turns to white/grey when we age. The “grasshopper” talks of the skeleton, where he says it becomes a burden, meaning the bones start becoming heavy and it becomes a burden to move around. The “desire” talks of sexual desires, where one's sexual desires go low. In all these he is talking about old age, as it starts creeping in. 

As this starts to happen, he reminds us of the whole point that we live:

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man's all. ¹⁴ For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil.

The duty of man is to fear God and keep His commandments. This is why we are on earth. As days go by, keep in mind that your duty is to fear God, and keep His Word.

5.      Songs of Solomon

It has 8 chapters, and teaches us how to love. It was written by Solomon as he was a young man, before he started marrying. It is also divided into structures, that breakdown the whole message of the book:

• Songs of Solomon 1-3 teaches us about courtship.
• Songs of Solomon3-5:1 teaches about wedding.
• Songs of Solomon 5:2-8 teaches about marriage.
  

Songs of Solomon also teaches us how lovers disagree (Song. 5:1-8). Marriage, as it is said, is not a bed of roses, and Solomon spells it out in these verses. You have to know how to deal with conflict when it arises during marriage.

There is one major thing that is taught and repeated thrice in the book of Songs of Solomon: Do not play with love.

Songs of Solomon 2:7
I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or by the does of the field, do not stir up nor awaken love until it pleases” 

Songs of Solomon 3:5
I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or by the does of the field, do not stir up nor awaken love until it pleases.

Do not arouse love, until its time. Love can hurt. To show the seriousness of the matter, he repeated this one more time: 

Songs of Solomon 8:4.
I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, do not stir up nor awaken love until it pleases.

Love is serious business, if I may say. Love is dangerous, actually. If you are not ready for it, leave it.

Songs of Solomon 8:6-7.
Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm; For love is as strong as death, jealousy as cruel as the grave; Its flames are flames of fire, a most vehement flame. ⁷ Many waters cannot quench love, nor can the floods drown it. If a man would give for love all the wealth of his house, it would be utterly despised.

Love and jealousy are relatives. Even God is a jealous God (Ex. 20:5). Stay and prepare yourself until you are ready to love one person. Until you are ready to love one person through marriage, do not arouse love.

Let God help you get a spouse; do not trust in your own eyes, as they will mislead you. That way, you will maintain a good relationship even with Him (Prov. 19:14). 

Ps. In the next teaching we will look at the Torah Books, in depth. 

-- Teacher Sammy Nyanjom

(09/11/14 Sunday Service Sermon, Teaching Transformation Ministry.)
Teacher Samny is a friend of Teaching Transformation Ministry. We are located along the Thika-Ruai Flyover Junction (at the Thika Rd./ Bypass intersection), Next to Eastgate Restaurant.