1. HOW TO UNDERSTAND AND APPLY THE OLD TESTAMENT
TWELVE STEPS FROM EXEGESIS TO THEOLOGY
Jason S. DeRouchie, PhD
Professor of Old Testament and Biblical Theology
Bethlehem College & Seminary
Elder, Bethlehem Baptist Church
Spring 2019

2. INTRODUCTION A JOURNEY OF DISCOVERY AND ENCOUNTER
The Interpretive Task
Overview of the Interpretive Process: TOCMA

3. “The good hand of his God was on him
“The good hand of his God was on him. For Ezra set his heart to study the Law of the Lord, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel.” (Ezra 7:10)

4. “The good hand of his God was on him
“The good hand of his God was on him. For Ezra set his heart to study the Law of the Lord, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel.” (Ezra 7:10)

5. Biblical Interpretation:
The Interpretive Task
Biblical Interpretation:
Definition:
Exegesis (Greek exēgēsis = ex “out of of” + agō “to bring”): The personal discovery of what the biblical authors intended their texts to mean.
2 Pet 1:21. Men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
Theology (Greek, theos “God” + logos “a formal accounting, reckoning”): A reasoning or study of God

6. The Interpretive Task Exegesis
Genre, Text, Grammar, Structure, Words, Context
Theology
1. Biblical Theology: How God’s Word connects together and climaxes in Christ
2. Systematic Theology: What the Bible teaches about certain theological topics.
3. Practical Theology: The proper Christian response to the Bible’s truths.

7. Foundational Presuppositions:
Biblical interpretation necessitates that we view Scripture as God’s Word.
Old Testament:
Isa 8:19–20. Should not people inquire of God? … To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn.
Mark 7:13. [You make] void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down.
Mark 12:36. David himself, in the Holy Spirit, declared, “‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet.”’

8. Foundational Presuppositions:
Biblical interpretation necessitates that we view Scripture as God’s Word.
Old Testament
New Testament:
1 Cor 2:13. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.
1Cor 14:37. If anyone thinks that he is a prophet, or spiritual, he should acknowledge that the things I am writing to you are a command of the Lord.

9. Foundational Presuppositions:
Biblical interpretation necessitates that we view Scripture as God’s Word.
All Scripture:
2 Tim 3:16. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.
2 Pet 1:21. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

10. Foundational Presuppositions:
Biblical interpretation necessitates that we view Scripture as God’s Word.
Implications:
Scripture is infallible (a sure and safe guide) in matters of faith (doctrine) and practice (ethics).
Scripture is inerrant (entirely true and trustworthy) in matters of fact (whether history, chronology, geography, or the like).
God’s words are pure (Ps 12:6), trustworthy (119:42), true (119:160), right (119:172) and cannot be broken (John 10:35)

11. Biblical interpretation assumes that Scripture’s truths are knowable.
2 Pet 3:16. There are some things in [Paul’s letters] that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.
Ps 119:105, 130. Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path…. 130 The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple.
2 Tim 2:7. Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.

12. Biblical interpretation requires that we respond appropriately.
2 Tim 3:16–17.  All Scripture is … profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
Our prayer:
I: Incline (Ps 119:36)
O: Open (Ps 119:18)
U: Unite (Ps 86:11)
S: Satisfy (Ps 90:14)

13. Biblical interpretation requires that we respond appropriately.
2 Tim 3:16–17.  All Scripture is … profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
Our prayer:
I: Incline (Ps 119:36)
O: Open (Ps 119:18)
U: Unite (Ps 86:11)
S: Satisfy (Ps 90:14)

14. Biblical interpretation that culminates in application demands God-dependence.
1 Cor 2:14. The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.
2 Cor 3:14. But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away.

15. Ten Reasons the OT Is Important for Christians
The OT was Jesus’s only Scripture and makes up ¾ of our Bible (75.55%).
The OT substantially influences of our understanding of key biblical teachings.
We meet the same God in both Testaments.
The OT announces the very “good news/gospel” we enjoy.
Both the old and new covenants call for love, and the OT can teach us much about love.
Jesus came not to destroy the Law and the Prophets but to fulfill them.
Jesus all the OT points to him.
Failing to declare “the whole counsel of God” can put us in danger before the Lord.
The NT authors stressed that God gave the OT for Christians.
Paul commands church leaders to preach the OT.

16. Overview of the Interpretive Process: TOCMA
TEXT
OBSERVATION
CONTEXT
MEANING
APPLICATION
Exegesis
Theology

17. Overview of the Interpretive Process: TOCMA
TEXT––“What is the makeup of the passage?”
Genre
Literary units
Text criticism
Translation

18. Overview of the Interpretive Process: TOCMA
TEXT––“What is the makeup of the passage?”
OBSERVATION––“How is the passage communicated?”
Clause and text grammar
Argument-tracing
Word and concept studies

19. Overview of the Interpretive Process: TOCMA
TEXT––“What is the makeup of the passage?”
OBSERVATION––“How is the passage communicated?”
CONTEXT––“Where does the passage fit?”
Historical context
Literary context

20. Overview of the Interpretive Process: TOCMA
TEXT––“What is the makeup of the passage?”
OBSERVATION––“How is the passage communicated?”
CONTEXT––“Where does the passage fit?”
MEANING––“What does the passage mean?”
Biblical theology
Systematic theology

21. Overview of the Interpretive Process: TOCMA
TEXT––“What is the makeup of the passage?”
OBSERVATION––“How is the passage communicated?”
CONTEXT––“Where does the passage fit?”
MEANING––“What does the passage mean?”
APPLICATION––“Why doe the passage matter?”
Practical theology