Old Testament Intro. (OTI) - part 5a: What OT Books are In/Out?

This is installment number 5 in a series of posts that have hit some of the highlights from the Old Testament Intro. class I took at Westminster. Today I'll start tackling an issue that has been debated quite a bit between Roman Catholics and Protestants. The issue is the Old Testament (OT) Canon. The OT canon is the official list of books that should be included in the Old Testament. In the table of contents in your Bible, the canon is the list of books you'll see. Anything that's not there is not part of God's word. Protestants have 39 books in the OT, while Catholics have added a few extras. These extras are called the Apocrypha, and they include books such as the Maccabees, the Book of Enoch, Additions to Daniel and the Psalms, etc...)

So, who has the right list? Should Protestants include the Apocrypha? But more importantly, why does this matter?

The OT is the foundation for our faith. The canon matters because it's God's word. Something written by a human author may have interesting or useful ideas, but we can take it or leave it without eternal consequences. However, rejecting the word of God is rejecting God's message of salvation:

• “You have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (2 Tim 3:15).
• ”You have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God” (1 Pet 1:23)
  

We need some way to draw a line so we can say what is God's word and what isn't. John Frame put it well when he said this: “It is God's intention to speak personal words to us, words that have more authority than any other. These words govern our use of all other words and all other knowledge. They must be distinguished from all other words for us to know that these are God's words and not man's.”

We assume two important things when we talk about the canon:

1. God has spoken (See this post on the authority of God's word)
   
2. The Holy Spirit enables God's people to recognize God's word (1 Cor. 2:14, 1 Thess. 2:13).
   

Because God has spoken, His word is final. The authority of God's word doesn't depend on pastors, scholars, or even the church. We can be wrong! Pastors can't choose what they like and throw out what they don't like. Catholics believe that people (the church) have the final say in defining the canon. Protestants believe the reverse: no one (not even the church) is in a position to approve or disapprove God's word. There is a huge difference! Catholicism believes that God's word submits to the church. But Protestantism believes that the church submits to God's word.

This reminds us that God is the all-powerful Creator, and we are dependent creatures. When God speaks, we should humbly submit to Him and worship Him as our supreme ruler, even if we don't have all the answers. All too often, we expect God to answer to us, when we must answer to God. Humility before God means that we receive His word as truthful and trustworthy.

CANON AND REDEMPTIVE HISTORY

God's word has always come to God's people when God saves them. After God saved Israel from slavery in Egypt, Moses wrote the first 5 books of the Bible to record God's history and law: "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. "You shall have no other gods before me......” (Exodus 20:2-3)

At each point in redemptive history, God gives His people everything they need to know until the next act of salvation:

• "These words the LORD spoke to all your assembly at the mountain out of the midst of the fire, the cloud, and the thick darkness, with a loud voice; and He added no more. And He wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me.” (Deut. 5:22)
• "Everything that I command you, you shall be careful to do. You shall not add to it or take from it. “ (Deut. 12:32 )
  

The OT doesn't stop at Deuteronomy. God continued to work among His people. After God had saved Israel from her enemies and given them the land of Canaan, Joshua did something important: “Joshua wrote these words in the Book of the Law of God.” (Jos. 24:26)
Joshua added to the first 5 books of the Bible so that God's people would remember what God did and why He did it.

So, we begin to see a pattern in scripture. Whenever God saves His people, He also gives them His Word so they will understand and respond in the right way. When God saves, God speaks.

Notice something very important. When Joshua wrote new scripture, it was added to what was already written by Moses. The first 5 books weren't thrown away- God added new words to His old ones. Scripture builds on itself.

IN THESE LAST DAYS.....

Fast forward a few thousand years from the book of Joshua to the New Testament. When Jesus Christ came, God performed the ultimate act of salvation. Jesus Christ is the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Fully God and fully man, Jesus is the only mediator who can bridge the gap between man and God, the one we were created to love, serve, and obey. In this greatest act of salvation, shouldn't we expect God to bring additional revelation? He does!

“Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son” (Heb. 1:1-2)

In the past, God spoke through prophets like Moses and Joshua. In these last days, Jesus Christ speaks as God Himself. And since all scripture builds on itself, Jesus Christ isn't going to throw away the OT. He didn't come to abolish the law and the prophets, but to fulfill them (Matt. 5:17).

If you're still reading, thanks for hanging in there. We have seen up to this point that when God saves His people, He speaks to them. And as He continues to work, He adds to His word. This process keeps moving forward until the ultimate act of salvation found in Jesus.

The history of God's salvation should lead us to humble worship. He is not only the all-powerful Creator, but in Jesus Christ, He is our loving Savior. God stooped down to save us and then speak to us so that we could know His salvation. The canon isn't some dry, boring topic for scholars to debate. The canon is what God has provided to His people so that we may know Him and worship Him. How kind and gracious of God to do that!

So, if we want to know what should be included in the OT, we should ask ourselves, “What was the OT that Jesus had?” What was recognized by God's Son and God's people as the official word of God? Did the Jesus's Bible contain the Apocrypha? To answer this question, stay tuned to my next post....