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Study guide · The Bible & Interpretation

How Do You Preach the Old Testament in Light of Christ?

Reviewed by Jude 3 Project·2 min read

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A standalone study on reading the genres rightly and seeing the whole story point to Jesus.

The big question

The Old Testament is most of the Bible, and many of us only know how to preach a handful of its hero stories by analogy. New Testament scholar Esau McCaulley offers a fuller way: read it as one narrative, honor each genre, and trace how it all completes in Christ. This study is for anyone who wants to read and teach the Old Testament without twisting it.

Key takeaways

  • Read the Old Testament as one story, and know where in the story you are standing.
  • Distinguish the covenants. Israel’s blessings and curses are not a law you can claim today.
  • Narrative is usually descriptive, not normative. It shows the outworking of sin.
  • Proverbs are wisdom, not guarantees. Stop promising what Scripture does not.
  • It all completes in Christ, the good King, our wisdom, the one who ended the curse.

Scripture to sit with

Luke 24:27. Jesus opens all the Scriptures concerning himself. The whole Old Testament was pointing his way.

Genesis 12:3. The promise to Abraham to bless all nations, fulfilled through Christ.

Deuteronomy 27-30. The blessings and curses that frame Israel’s whole story.

Galatians 3:13-14. Christ became a curse for us, so the blessing would reach the nations.

Quotes worth discussing

McCaulley says, “All of Christian theology… is making sense of Jesus in light of the Old Testament.”

On the genres, McCaulley says, “Narrative… is often descriptive more than normative.”

On the new covenant, McCaulley says, “In the new covenant, you get Jesus. There’s no if-then promises.”

Discussion questions

  • Do you tend to preach or read the Old Testament only by analogy? What would going deeper look like?
  • Where have you claimed an Old Testament promise that belonged to Israel’s covenant?
  • Read a familiar Old Testament story. Is it telling you to copy it, or showing you something?
  • How does seeing the failed kings as pointing to the good King change your reading?
  • What does it mean for you that Christ became a curse so there is no curse left to fear?

Go deeper

This study comes from the Jude 3 Project’s Preaching in the Culture conference with Esau McCaulley. For a related Jude 3 piece, see the work on Deuteronomy 28 and the claim that it refers to American slavery.

A closing reflection

This week, take one Old Testament passage you find hard, a law, a strange story, a harsh psalm, and ask McCaulley’s questions: what genre is this, where am I in the story, and how does it point to Christ? You may find the part of the Bible you avoided becomes the part that shows you Jesus most clearly.

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