Walt Kaiser observes, “Instead of receiving the Old Testament with gratitude as a gift from God, all too many in Christ’s church view it as an albatross around the necks of contemporary Christians. They struggle with questions like these: What is the significance of the Old Testament for us today? Why should believers even bother with the Old Testament now that we have the New Testament?”
Kaiser recognizes the problem that is afoot in much of the contemporary church which essentially causes us to be Bible-believing evangelical redactors. We treat the Old Testament like it is somehow less than the inspired Word of God.
To help against this not only unhealthy but unbiblical thinking, Kaiser wrote Preaching and Teaching from the Old Testament: A Guide for the Church.
Kaiser includes four big reasons why preachers and teachers need to spend time in the Old Testament:
- It is the powerful word of God
- It leads us to Jesus the Messiah
- It deals with the questions of life
- It was used as the exclusive authority in the early church
The book essentially promotes the priority and practice of preaching and teaching from the Old Testament. In the first third of the book we see “The Need to Preach and Teach from the Old Testament” and then in the final two thirds Kaiser gives us practical instructions in the section entitled “How to Preach and Teach from the Old Testament”. In each of these sections the author interacts with the various biblical genres and explains how to faithfully teach in these various sections. It is also helpful to note that Kaiser provides a sample sermon in each of the sections so that readers may see first hand what the author is talking about.
I really enjoyed Kaiser’s continual emphasis upon the need to connect the dots of biblical theology in the pulpit. The preacher must serve his people by showing how the specific passage relates to the rest of the book, that particular stage of redemptive history and God’s overall activity in the work of redemption.
Overall I think the book is very helpful in the sense that it rebukes preachers and teachers who are neglecting 2/3 of the Bible while at the same time it serves to help the same guys to be more balanced and biblically faithful in their ministry. And further, the book is not so overly technical that it alienates non-preachers. Truly all Christians who read and study the Bible would be helped by this training on reading and understanding the OT. In this sense the book is truly beneficial to the church.
Discounted copies are available at Amazon.com
