Maybe you’ve been exposed to the kind of teaching from the Old Testament that uses its stories to highlight moral examples. Is that kind of teaching bad? Should we do such a thing? Should it be avoided for the sake of christological interpretation?
Here’s what I mean. If someone teaches about David and Goliath and says, “Be like David,” are they misusing that story? If someone teaches from the book of Daniel and says, “Dare to be a Daniel,” are they misusing that story?
The good impulse among those committed to biblical theology is that the characters of David and Daniel point to Christ. The Lord Jesus is the greater David who defeats his enemies. Blameless Daniel, who is opposed and vindicated, anticipates the Lord Jesus.
A draw toward reading the Old Testament christologically has sometimes been coupled with a resistance toward identifying characters as moral examples for us. The sentiment may sound something like, “The story of David is not about you. It’s about Christ!” Or even, “Don’t moralize the Old Testament stories. Read them in light of the redemptive-historical trajectory!”
Any regular reader of this Biblical Theology newsletter knows that I read the Old Testament christologically. And I do this because I’m trying to read the Old Testament the way the biblical authors do. The New Testament authors teach us, through their interpretive moves, how to see Christ in the Old Testament.
But what if I told you that the New Testament authors also see moral examples for us in the Old Testament? If we’re paying attention to their interpretive moves, we will notice this. Consider some passages.
In 1 Corinthians 10:9–11, Paul says, “We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer. Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come.”
In 1 John 3:12, “We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother.”
After listing a series of Old Testament people who walked by faith, the writer of Hebrews says, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us” (Heb. 11:1).
What I’m trying to show in these few passages is that the New Testament authors identify moral examples in Old Testament characters. Don’t be like the murmuring and stubborn wilderness generation. Don’t be like Cain who hated and murdered Abel. Walk by faith like the great cloud of witnesses who preceded us.
A mere moralization of Old Testament stories is a deficient interpretive method. But as we seek to read the Old Testament as the New Testament authors do, we will see that they not only show how Old Testament stories anticipate Christ, they teach how these Old Testament stories build our faith and direct us in wisdom.
So when we teach the story of David and Goliath, herald the good news that Jesus is the greater David who defeats the armored serpent and crushes his head. And also encourage listeners to trust the Lord like David trusted the Lord. David defied the giant and took courage in the strength of Yahweh. Be like David.
When we teach the story of Daniel in the lions’ den, share boldly how Daniel was sealed in his tomb but was delivered from the lions. The stone was rolled away and he emerged vindicated. Jesus is the true and greater Daniel! And also point to Daniel’s faithfulness in exile, for he pursued the Lord as a young man and into his old age. He refused to compromise in the face of worldly acclaim and gain. Dare to be a Daniel.
Is the Old Testament primarily a collection of moral examples? No. The purpose and shape of the Old Testament is christological. Nevertheless, according to the way the New Testament authors read the Old, the ancient stories contain examples for us to imitate and examples for us to avoid.