Learning to Read the Old Testament

The battle against Amalek recorded in Exodus 17:8-16 contains some fascinating elements that help us think about how to read and understand the Old Testament. Within these verses there are a number of “firsts” that point us forward to events that will soon be happening. First, the fact that this is the first battle fought points forward to many more battles that will be fought in order to secure the promised land. Second, we see the image of Moses standing before the Lord on top of a hill and then writing things down, which will be repeated in a greater way as he later ascends Mount Sinai to receive the entirety of the law from the Lord. Third, not only are we introduced to Joshua, who will lead the people after Moses dies, but we are also introduced to Hur, whose grandson Bezalel will be one the chief craftsmen employed in building the tabernacle. Finally, this is the first time Moses is recorded as building an altar, a task he will later oversee as altars of sacrifice are constructed as a central piece of the tabernacle.

So, this section begins to shift us from the first part of Exodus to the latter part of Exodus, as the Lord moves from rescue of his people to formation of his people around the covenant of the law. This is actually a helpful reminder about the nature of the entire Old Testament, which is that ALL of the Old Testament is actually a forward-looking document. It does not complete itself. It is partial, incomplete, looking toward the promise of a greater covenant, one which only comes with the coming of Messiah, Jesus Christ, God in the flesh. As Jesus himself says in Matthew 5:17, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” Or as we see him explain to two of his followers on the road to Emmaus after his resurrection, where “beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself” (Luke 24:27).

When we read the Old Testament, whether its stories or its poetry or its prophecy, we need to always read it through the lens of the person and work of Christ. It does not stand alone; rather, it points us forward to a greater covenant, a permanent covenant grounded in the permanence of Christ’s finished work of death and resurrection on our behalf.