Religion What is the Old Testament about?

Stargazer

Well-known member
Spinning off from this thread:

If you track back two posts you’ll see.

I really don't. Jesus never even addressed the Jewish religious leaders when talking to the centurion in the excerpt you quoted. He certainly doesn't make some point about the religious leaders being wrong in saying the Tanakh is about the people of Israel, or them by extension.

two examples would be Adam and Eve showing the break down and role of men and women, and being too lenient on evil creating a world of evil men via Cain and Abel leading to Noah and his family being the last good people on earth. But to be honest this is more fitting conversation for a specifically biblical discussion which would be way more enjoyable than this.
Sure, those are valid examples. They're also the very first part of the first book of the OT. Can you tell me how the rest of the OT, the vast majority of it, reveals the nature of humanity?
 

Val the Moofia Boss

Well-known member
What is the Old Testament about?

Broadly speaking: It traces the history and lineage of God's chosen people, the Israelites, from the beginning of the world to Israel's origins as Abraham's family, to the formation of Israel, to its rise as the people were faithful to the Lord, and its fall as the people turned away from him, and what happened to the Israelites under various different occupations.

Can you tell me how the rest of the OT, the vast majority of it, reveals the nature of humanity?

There are no heroes, no saints. Only sinners. People are capable of righteousness and sin. Moses was God's prophet, and yet he also screwed up and sinned, which led to punishment. Saul, David, and Solomon also tried to be righteous, but they also gave in to temptation.

You also have God allowing seemingly bad things to happen to further his purposes, like Joseph being sold into slavery by his brothers to Egypt... but then rising through the ranks of Egypt and becoming a wise leader who saved Egypt from famine. Or Israelites being taken captive by raiding parties and invasions... but then leading their occupiers to God, like Naaman.
 

Bear Ribs

Well-known member
Broadly speaking I think the Old Testament is ultimately about Jesus. Yes, I know that's a bit of a hot take.

Immediately after original sin, God made the first prophecy about the messianic seed who was going to fix this screwup and give Satan a whupping. Some time after the promise was narrowed down to a descendant of Abraham, along with other nations. It's narrowed again, to the line of Judah A few generations later, God established the nation of Israel and included numerous rules including a system that maniacally tracked birthrights that allowed Jesus exact lineage to be established, so that two of the Gospels were able to trace his Pedigree all the way back to Adam. Later the seed was narrowed once more, to a descendant of David and his son Solomon. There's over 300 various prophecies made to identify the seed scattered throughout the old testament, some of which were apparently highly contradictory (The Seed would come from Bethlehem, Galilee, and Egypt? How? Well it turns out....) that all got fulfilled in the end.

Along the way there's numerous object lessons and things to learn about God's own personality, how he deals with things, what he wants and what he values. God establishes a religion quite unlike anything else on earth, a Monotheistic system where He makes it clear there's no other gods and no comparison with Himself, and He's in no mood to share His worship with a plank of wood that has a face cut in it. The law covenant is an amazingly efficient and elegant system that includes laws for things like sanitation, quarantine for diseases, and crop rotation/lying fallow that the rest of the world would not catch up with for thousands of years, showing God's wisdom. The book of Hosea is pretty much God explaining that NTR is a trash fetish, and that's how he feels every time somebody who's supposed to be His worshipper turns around and bows down to Ba'al.

But ultimately, it was all about the Seed and how to properly identify him when he showed up.
 
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Buba

A total creep
The Old Testament is a fairy-tale version (nothing unusual, most polities have such) of the history of the Judeans. The original Israelis, the Samaritans, have their own variant of the text.
The Old Testament includes a ret-conned account of the history of their religion, trying to make it monotheistic since Day One.
 

DocSolarisReich

Esoteric Spaceman
Broadly speaking I think the Old Testament is ultimately about Jesus.

Correct. Not only does the Septuagint give us the genealogy and prophecies by which we can identify the Christ when he comes, it shows us the Christ acting in history. Jesus is the visible Icon of the unknown Father, beyond all ages. Everywhere someone interacts with, talks to, or sees God in the Septuagint, this is Jesus acting in History, in Chronos.

What did Our Lord say to the Jews who rejected him?

48The Jews therefore answered, and said to him: Do not we say well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil? 49Jesus answered: I have not a devil: but I honour my Father, and you have dishonoured me. 50But I seek not my own glory: there is one that seeketh and judgeth. 51Amen, amen I say to you: If any man keep my word, he shall not see death for ever. 52The Jews therefore said: Now we know that thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and thou sayest: If any man keep my word, he shall not taste death for ever. 53Art thou greater than our father Abraham, who is dead? and the prophets are dead. Whom dost thou make thyself? 54Jesus answered: If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father that glorifieth me, of whom you say that he is your God. 55And you have not known him, but I know him. And if I shall say that I know him not, I shall be like to you, a liar. But I do know him, and do keep his word. 56Abraham your father rejoiced that he might see my day: he saw it, and was glad. 57The Jews therefore said to him: Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham? 58Jesus said to them: Amen, amen I say to you, before Abraham was made, I am. 59They took up stones therefore to cast at him. But Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple.
 

ATP

Well-known member
I think,that it is like airfield builded long so plane with Jesus could land.Becouse sending HIM to average pagans would meant,that they certainly would be unable to undarstandt what he try to say.
Even most of jews was unable to do so.All they see was man who failed to led them against Rome and gave them secular power.
 

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