I. The Claims of the Old Testament Concerning Itself

We do not follow the laws of the Old Testament today, but we will be better able to understand the significance of the claims of the New Testament if we first understand the claims the Old Testament writers made concerning their writings.

Note what these writers claimed regarding their writings:

A. The Writers Claimed to Write Commands Given Directly to Them from God for the People.
Exodus 24:3,4 - Moses wrote in a book "all the words of Jehovah" [cf. v1-8].

Deuteronomy 30:9,10 - Moses said God would bless the people "if you obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep His commandments and His statutes which are written in this Book of the Law." If they disobeyed Him, however, they would be under a curse (cf. 28:58,59).

Jeremiah 30:1-2 - The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, "Thus speaks the Lord God of Israel, saying: `Write in a book for yourself all the words that I have spoken to you.'" Jeremiah claimed that God told him to write down in a book the words God spoke to him.

Expressions such as "Thus saith the Lord," or "The word of the Lord came to me," are found literally thousands of times in the Old Testament.

Folks are mistaken when they claim the Bible writers did not know they were writing revelations of God's will intended to serve as law or authority people must follow. They did know it and they said so.

[Cf. Deuteronomy 31:9-13,24-29; Exodus 17:14 & 24:12; 34:1,27,28; Deuteronomy 4:13; 5:22; 10:2,4; Exodus 32:15,16; 31:18; Deuteronomy 9:10; 29:20,21,27; Numbers 33:2; Deuteronomy 27:1-8; Jeremiah 36:2 (see chap. 36); 25:13; 51:60; Isa 30:8; Hab. 2:2; Nahum 1:1; 2 Chronicles 26:22; Joshua 24:26; 1 Samuel 10:25]

B. These Writings Were Intended to Serve as Law or Authority for both the Present Generation and Future Generations.

Deuteronomy 31:24-29,9-13 - The words Moses wrote were a law intended to prevent the people from departing from God. This included future generations.

Deuteronomy 17:18-20 - Future kings of Israel were to have a copy of the law that they might keep them and do them, departing neither to right nor left.

Folks are mistaken when they say the writings were intended only for the current generation to whom they were addressed, not future generations. In fact, the messages were written down for the expressed intent that they would be preserved for people in the future.

[Psalm 102:18; Exodus 17:14; Deuteronomy 28-30; Isaiah 30:8]

C. By God's Guidance, Later Generations Did Use the Old Testament Writings as a Pattern of Authority.

Joshua 1:7,8 - After Moses died, Joshua was told to use the book of the law written by Moses as his guide that he might observe all the commands written therein. When he died, Joshua in turn charged the nation of Israel to follow the commands written by Moses (23:6).

2 Chronicles 34 & 35 - A copy of the law of God given by Moses was found in the temple. Josiah used it to restore the worship and service of God.

Note 34:14-19; Read 34:29-31 - This illustrates perfectly the "restoration principle." God's written word is so designed that, by simply studying and following it, we can restore the pattern of God's service even after years of departure and apostasy.

Nehemiah 8:1-9:3 - A similar example occurred when God's people returned from Babylonian captivity. They restored their service to God by studying the written record of the laws God had revealed.

It is a serious mistake to think that God's word is not intended to serve as a pattern of guidance, or that later generations should not study and adhere to it as the guide for right and wrong. The Scriptures say that is exactly how they should be used. To reject these claims is to say they are not good books at all, but are false and misleading. Why accept them as being from God at all? If they are wrong about this, how could we know what they say is right and what is wrong?

[Nehemiah 13; Ezra 6:18; 7:10; 2 Kings 22,23; Daniel 9:2; 2 Chronicles 17:9; 2 Kings 17:37; Josh 8:30-35; 1 Kings 2:3; 2 Kings 14:6; 1 Chronicles 16:40; 2 Chronicles 23:18; 25:4; 30:5,18; 31:3,4; Ezra 3:2,4; Nehemiah 10:34ff; Daniel 9:11,13; Isaiah 34:16]