A Starting Place for Interpreting the Old Testament Prophets

By Joel D. Wolfe

A Starting Place for Interpreting the Old Testament Prophets proposes that Christian interpreters of Scripture should begin their study of the Old Testament prophetic books by connecting the language used in prophetic speeches to truths contained in the gospel message. Prioritizing the historical setting, as presented in many current books on Bible interpretation, can tend to discourage observing gospel connections and can leave students of Scripture encumbered with so many questions that they lose sight of the relevance of their study. As a way to demonstrate the extensive nature of the connections between the gospel and these Old Testament prophetic writings, the book also lists one gospel connection for almost all of the chapters in the Old Testament prophetic books that consist of prophetic speeches. Joel D. Wolfe has taught Bible interpretation in colleges and has an M.A. in Practical Theology (Regent University) and a B.A. in Pastoral Ministries (Liberty Christian College).

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Feb 5, 2018
• ISBN: 9781387566181

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A Starting Place for Interpreting the Old Testament Prophets

A Starting Place for Interpreting the Old Testament Prophets

By Joel D. Wolfe

Copyright

Copyright © 2018 by Joel D. Wolfe

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review or scholarly journal.

First Printing: 2018

ISBN 978-1-387-56618-1

Joel D. Wolfe, 110 Holland Circle, Pelham, AL 35124  [e-mail]

Scripture quotations are from the Digital American Standard Version © DASV Bible, 2011, Ted Hildebrandt. Used by permission. http://faculty.gordon.edu/hu/bi/ted_hildebrandt/dasv/00_dasvindex.htm

Chapter One: The Priority of Observing Gospel Connections

I have had the privilege of working on staff at two different Bible colleges. During that time, I taught Bible interpretation to students in twenty different classes. In each of those classes, I presented an orientation to interpreting Scripture that my professors taught to me when I attended both Bible college and graduate school. This orientation is succinctly described in the preface to the text that was used in my Bible college classes when I was a student. The process of interpreting Scripture was described as involving two tasks: First, our task is to find out what the text originally meant… Second, we must learn to hear that same meaning in the variety of new or different contexts of our own day (Fee and Stuart 2003, 15). In graduate school, I took courses on inductive Bible study from Charles Holman. (Charles Holman’s connection to the spread of the inductive Bible study method is noted in Long 2014, 28). The training I received provided me with beneficial skills to use in the interpretive process, but the basic orientation did not change. As stated in the influential text by Traina, The beginning point of exegesis should be the meaning of a Scriptural unit in its specific historical situation (Traina 1980, 182). A more recent popular text on biblical interpretation graphically illustrates this orientation by describing the interpretive process as a journey. A picture is presented containing a biblical town on one side and a modern town on the other with a river flowing between the two towns (Duval and Hays 2012, 46). The authors state, "We are separated from the biblical audience by culture and customs, language, situation, and a vast expanse of time. These differences form a barrier – a river that separates us from the text and that often prohibits us from grasping the meaning of the text for ourselves (Duval and Hays 2012, 40). The interpretive process is said to contain steps to help us apply Scripture. Following the steps of the Interpretive Journey provides us with a procedure that allows us to take the meaning for the ancient audience and to cross over the river to determine a legitimate meaning for us today" (Duval and Hays 2012, 41). This historical orientation to Bible interpretation – seeking to understand the original context first – has proven to be very useful, and it suites the historical nature of the Bible as it depicts God’s interactions with humanity in history. I have recently reached the conclusion, however, that this historical orientation to interpretation is not the best starting place for one type of biblical literature. The thesis of this book is this: Christian interpreters of Scripture should begin their study of the Old Testament prophetic books by connecting the language used in prophetic speeches to truths contained in the gospel message.

The conviction that the Christian should start one’s study of the Old Testament prophets by connecting language phrases with gospel realities began to crystallize for me as I reflected on Acts 3:18. As Peter preaches, he says, But the things which God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Messiah would suffer, he has fulfilled. Luke records Peter repeating this thought a little later in the sermon, All the prophets from Samuel and those who spoke after him, predicted these days (Acts 3:24). Peter uses the phrase all the prophets when discussing Old Testament pronouncements related to the truths of Christ. Earlier in Luke’s writings, he uses a similar phrase to describe the content of one of Jesus’ conversations with some of his disciples, Then beginning from Moses and from all the prophets, he explained to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself (Luke 24:27). These phrases emphasize an expansive view of the resonance between the Old Testament books, particularly the prophets, and the realities of Jesus as the Christ. I recognize that there are various ways that scholars can qualify the use of all in these passages. Regardless of qualification, however, I perceive that these statements reflect an approach to Old Testament prophetic literature that seeks extensive connections between them and Jesus. This was not the approach to Old Testament prophetic literature that I was taught or that I ended up teaching to others.

An emphasis on observing the historical setting first can cause one to lose the motivation to find broad connections between the prophetic literature and the gospel. The statistics that Fee and Stuart present in their book would seem to discourage looking for gospel connections, "Less than 2 percent of Old Testament prophecy is messianic. Less than 5 percent specifically describes the new-covenant age. Less than 1 percent concerns events yet