Australian College of Ministries

Subject: BCB106 Old Testament Introduction

Lecturer: Randy Edwards

Date of Subject: 28^th Sept - 1^st Oct 1999

Ministry Centre of Subject: Carlingford

Student’s Name: Grant Mitchell

Student’s ID: C9901028

Item Of Work: Bible Study on "Faith" in the Old Testament

Words: 2500

Worth: 40% of subject mark

Date Submitted:

Due Date: Friday 12^th November 1999

Signed:_____________________________ Date:______________

There a few difficulties when it comes to describing faith in the Old Testament (OT). Firstly "the Old Testament does not present its faith in the form of a creed, or a set of theological treatises." [1] There is no definitive sentence or passage in the OT that describes faith. Secondly, the Old Testament as a whole describes the faith of the people of Israel, however "[over time] the religion and culture reflected in the pages of the Old Testament underwent considerable change." [2] It is not only difficult to choose a single passage to describe OT faith, "but the idea of faith develops as God's revelation of grace and truth, on which faith rests, enlarges." [3]

Buttrick lists eight ideas to summarise the OT conception of faith. [4] This essay will focus on three of those ideas:

The meaning of faith must be seen in relation to the covenant. [5] There are parts of Israel's history that best describe the covenant between God and his people: Abraham (Abram), and the Exodus.

In Genesis 12:1-5 God calls Abram and makes a covenant promise with him. Abram responds, and exhibits a faith that is more like a moral response, [6] a reaction to God's promise of blessing and faithfulness. Abram's faith was based on "a God of promise." [7] This was a venture of faith - Abram had not seen the land God had promised, and did not even have a child to guarantee his great nation. God was effectively asking him to respond in faith by renouncing all the other cults of the region. [8]

"Abraham's decision to leave his country and kindred in Haran, undoubtedly his venture of faith, … was prompted by a new religious vision which required a renunciation of the cults of Mesopotamia."

Abram's life is a display of faith even beyond this passage. "[Abraham's] whole life gives evidence of a spirit of trustfulness, of a deep faith." [9] And in fact this passage is another focus of God's faithfulness to the whole world, and hence the type of God these people had faith in: "[the OT books] make sense together because they were all committed to faith in the same God - the God whom they believed has chosen their nation to be a channel of his love to the rest of the world (Gen. 12:1-3)." [10]

The Exodus was an event surrounded by many miraculous signs, e.g. Ten Plagues, crossing of the Red Sea. This display of signs formed a component of OT faith. [11] The fulfillment of these signs "was in the great covenant and law-giving at Sinai." [12] An appropriate place to begin looking at the story of the Exodus is in Exodus 3:1-15, as God first reveals himself to Moses. God speaks, and shows that he is the living one, [13] and that he "is not aloof from the human scene of travail and oppression. He takes part in human affairs to work out his purpose." [14] This living God, this present God, is a part of OT faith.

The Exodus, including the calling of Moses, demonstrates that God "makes himself known by his deeds, which are historical events." [15] The faith of the OT shows that people come "to know God by his action, especially by his action towards men." [16] This is a God to be feared (v6), someone who is difficult to approach. [17] Yet, this is a God who is involved (v7), this is a God who has a personal nature, [18] this is a God that approaches his people. The faith of the OT allows these aspects of God to be used together.

As a result of this calling, and the Exodus, God calls these people into covenant and obedience (Exodus 19 onwards. This is a model for how faith was displayed in the OT: "The entire Old Testament story is given coherence by the knowledge that God had done great things for his people and on that basis he could challenge them to loyalty and obedience." [19]

Faith in the OT is demonstrated in obedience to the Law. "Faithfulness to the law was the increasingly dominant expression of faith." [20]

The miraculous saving of three Israelites from the furnace in Daniel 3:13-30 captures many expressions of this trust in God through obedience, and is "a familiar story on the theme of faithfulness to Yahweh." [21] These men had learnt that faith in God meant an exclusive demand (v18). [22] God rewards their faithfulness with a miracle, a sign. [23] These men had put their trust in the Law because they had learnt that "the Deuteronomic preacher's proposition [is] that faithfulness in relationship to Jahweh consists in the acknowledgement and keeping of the commandments (De. 6:25, 24:13)." [24] The manner of their everyday lives mattered; their faith was expressed in worshipping their God through their everyday behaviour, and not just in ritual actions at a shrine. [25] They had faith in a God who was able to deliver his faithful ones (v17). [26]

"The religion of Israel was a corporate rather than an individual experience… the Psalms are a unique expressions of Israel's faith." [27]

The people of the OT had a "tendency towards collective thinking." [28] This is especially true of the Psalms, songs used in the community worship. "According to Israel's faith, Yahweh is present… when the congregation worships together." [29] This expression finds focus in Psalm 22. This is no doctrine of God's existence, but an important expression of faith in "the presence of God." [30] These people lived by an "'existence in faith' [which] was a response to God's being with and going with his people." [31]

"From the very first, Israel was a covenant community whose primary bond of unity was the worship of Yahweh." [32] This means the Psalter lies at the very heart of the Old Testament.

1. "Abram's faith is also in operation prior to his commitment to be Yahweh's servant." [33]
2. v2: "The great name will be a gift, not an achievement." [34]
3. vv2-3: The promises of God have a future-focus which "emphasizes the bare faith that was required: Abram must exchange the known for the unknown (Heb. 11:8)…" [35]
4. v4: This is of prime focus and character for the life of Abraham: "God's call to Abraham is accepted and embraced. Abraham went! He believed the promise. He obeyed. He asked no questions. Believing the promise without any visible evidence is what is meant by faith." [36]
5. "The speech of God to this barren family, then, is a call to abandonment, renunciation, and relinquishment." The same call is echoed in Jesus' words (Mark 8:35). [37]
6. "It is clear that Abram is represented to the reader as a paragon of faith and obedience." [38]

1. v3: "The true revelation, however, was not the burning thorn bush, but God's word that came to Moses there." [39]
2. "God normally works through the willing obedience of His servants, accomplishing His will." [40]
3. v12: "The future for the community of faith is not an unknown leap into the dark because the Coming One accompanies the faithful toward that end." [41]
4. v12: "It will be the success of Moses' mission that will show beyond contradiction that God was indeed with him and had sent him. Such signs always follow faith. Meanwhile Moses must go forward in faith: this is typical of the whole biblical approach to signs. The great covenant and law-giving at Sinai was thus the fulfillment of this sign (Ex. 19 onwards)." [42]
5. vv14-15: "YHWH meant to the Jews… what the name Jesus has come to mean to Christians, a 'shorthand' for all God's dealings of grace." [43]
6. "…this passage… seeks to evoke a response of obedience within God's plan. The story of Exodus 3 is characteristic of the biblical approach in joining the act of God's self-disclosure with the call of commitment from its recipient." [44]
7. "Both testaments are forced to speak of God in terms of his activity… It is not an unknown God who encounters Moses, but the covenant God who has long since spoken to the Patriarchs." [45]

1. v17: "… the three have no doubt that he can and will rescue them." [46]
2. v17: "there is no questioning of God's power or will separate from the questioning of his existence. If his existence is accepted, it is the existence of one who can and will rescue." [47]
3. vv17-18: "… they are prepared to stake their lives on the One whom they serve." [48]
4. "If the faithful Jew is to demonstrate his loyalty to the one true God he must be prepared to see it through step by step with ever increasing risk to his own life." [49]
5. "God's history thus focuses on those who hold faithful to him regardless of how things turn out." [50]
6. "Neither here nor anywhere else in the Hebrew Scripture is there an underwritten guarantee that every faithful Jew will be delivered from the consequences of his or her devotion of God should circumstances produce a threat to that person's life." [51]

1. Psalms are a "communal act of worship." [52]
2. vv1-2: "It is not a lapse of faith, nor a broken relationship, but a cry of disorientation as God's familiar, protective presence is withdrawn." [53]
3. vv4-5, 20: "God's righteousness (or deliverance…) [is] revealed in the action He has taken." [54]
4. v19: This "implies that God is his only hope." [55]
5. v24: "the nearness of God was not only a spiritual experience but also manifested itself in actual help to the needy." [56]
6. "In the case of the Psalmist, to trust means to believe that Yahweh does not change and that his promises are reliable." [57]

What is faith? What does it look like in your life? Is it something you merely believe, or is it something that makes you act in certain ways?

These are some of the questions that come to mind when we think "what is faith in the Old Testament?" One of the struggles in finding answers is that there is no definitive sentence or passage in the OT that describes faith. We need to take a look at a few passages a build a bigger picture.

This study will look at four such passages: the calling of Abram by God, the calling of Moses by God, the three Israelites in the fiery furnace, and the worship of a Psalm. Though any of these passages won't be looked at in any great detail, hopefully pieces of the puzzle will fit together as faith in the Old Testament is investigated.

1. What are the things that God does in this passage?
2. What are the three things that God calls Abram to leave?
3. How does Abram respond?

God calls Abram and makes a covenant promise with him. Abram responds with a venture of faith - Abram had not seen the land God had promised, and did not even have a child to guarantee his great nation. Abram's faith is shown through accepting and embracing God's call. Abraham went! He believed the promise. He obeyed. He asked no questions. Abram shows that believing the promise without any visible evidence is what is meant by faith.

4. What are God's promises to you today?
5. What are you being called to leave behind in response to God's promises?

1. How is God identified (vv5-6)? How does God respond to his people (vv7-10)?
2. How does Moses feel (v6)? How does Moses respond to God's words (v11)?
3. How does God respond to Moses (vv12-15)?

God had decided to act. He was not distant from the scene of human oppression. He takes part in human affairs to work out his purpose. The faith of the OT shows that people come to know God by his action, especially by his action towards men. God also promises to be with Moses. The future for the community of faith is not an unknown leap into the dark because the Coming One accompanies the faithful toward that end.

4. How evident is it that God cares about humanity today? Cares about you today?
5. How willing are you to respond to God in worship and obedience?
6. What do you need to change to see God as awesome / fearful, and worthy to be worshipped?

1. What are Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego stubborn about (v14)?
2. How do they describe God (vv17-18)?
3. What happens to them (v25)?
4. How does Nebuchadnezzar respond (vv28-29)?

The miraculous saving of three Israelites from the furnace captures many expressions of this trust in God through obedience, and is a familiar story on the theme of faithfulness to God. The manner of their everyday lives mattered; their faith was expressed in worshipping their God through their everyday behaviour, and not just in ritual actions at a shrine. They resisted the easier path of disobedience, and remained faithful to God by worshipping only him. This obedience was central to OT faith.

5. What do people often put their trust in other than God?
6. How willing are you to lose your life for the sake of your beliefs?
7. Will God always reward faith in such miraculous ways?

1. How does the writer feel at the start of the Psalm (vv1-2)?
2. How does the writer then describe God (vv3-5)?
3. What other words could be used to describe God and the confidence the writer has in him (vv 11, 19, 22, 23)?
4. How will the rest of the earth respond to God (vv27-30)?

Along with others, this was a Psalm that was used in corporate worship. According to Israel's faith, the Lord is present when the congregation worships together. These people lived by an existence in faith which was a response to God's being with and going with his people. Their faith was in a God who was with them. This corporate experience and collective thinking was an expression of OT faith.

5. How honest are you willing to be with God about your feelings?
6. In what ways has God proved himself trustworthy, despite the circumstances?

Faith in the Old Testament is not a simple idea. It is actually quite different to the way many people use the word "faith" in our society. Faith in the Old Testament is shown at many times through the three ideas:

1. In the Covenant between God and his people;
2. In the keeping of the Law;
3. In the corporate experience of the people of God.

In the current church these are not foreign concepts: God has a new covenant with the disciples of Jesus, we are called to a life of obedience in response, and we grow and share in the corporate experience of the local church. Faith in the Old Testament is not as distant from our understanding or our world as we think.