Lesson 4 | Vocab
The Bible of the Early Church
When the apostles talked about “Scripture” (Acts 1:16), and when an author like Luke referred to “the Scriptures” (Acts 17:11), to what were they referring?
They were talking about our Old Testament. Yes, we can apply their statements to the New Testament as well, since it is clear that both testaments are given by inspiration and equally the Word of God (1 Tim 5:18; 2 Pet 3:16). But outside books like the Psalms and Proverbs, much of the Old Testament can sometimes seem more foreign than the New, more out-of-date than the New, less applicable to our lives than the New.
Although we’re not under the Mosaic Law as God’s old covenant people were, the Old Testament is still the Word of God, and it is for us who live under the new covenant as well!
Let’s adjust Paul’s words to Timothy to make that clear:
But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the [Old Testament], which [is] able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. [The Old Testament] is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. —2 Timothy 3:14-17
Paul also told the Roman church,
For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the [Old Testament] we might have hope. —Romans 15:4
So as you learn the language of the Old Testament and begin to understand its syntax and learn your first vocabulary words, remember what it is you are studying: God’s perfect Word that is able to make you wise for salvation, which is profitable to make you mature and useful to your Savior, and which can fill you with hope through its encouraging words. Learning Hebrew will give you greater precision and accuracy in understanding this perfect book, written for you.
