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By: Pastor Schlicht

The Old Testament’s influence throughout American history can be traced back to our country’s beginning. The foundational language and symbolic imagery of our nation was built upon the 1611 translation of the Bible, the King James Version, and particularly the Old Testament. The Pilgrims and their descendants for many generations were Old Testament-steeped and Old Testament-quoting people who saw themselves as the New Israel and the bountiful New World as the Promised Land. The American landscape was dotted with towns bearing the names of ancient Israelite places—Salem, Bethel, Bethlehem, Shiloh—as though the New World were a reincarnation of ancient Canaan. Early university studies also show evidence of the Old Testament’s sway. When Harvard College was founded in 1636, Hebrew, the language of the Old Testament, was a required language for all first year students. (Greek, the language of the New Testament was not.) This identification with biblical Israel meant that it was the Old Testament far more than the New Testament that was the Biblical text of reference. Another striking example of this was noted after George Washington’s death. Only 7 out of 120 Bible verses cited in published eulogies were from the New Testament, and four of those seven referred to Old Testament people. 

The stress of Old Testament history on God’s promises, family, country, land, and morality spoke to the early settlers in a way that the New Testament could not easily do. The text is filled with a sense of destiny deeply engaged in history and looking to the future, something compellingly relevant to the early-American situation. Could it be so again? I’m not implying that we should pine for some supposed “golden age” of faith or that we should return to the King James translation. What I’m referring to is the anchor of Old Testament history in our present-crazed, history-illiterate culture.

Studies in several countries show there is growing ignorance among people on even basic historical facts. Americans of all ages fail to answer simple questions like “Who won the Civil War” and “What country did we gain independence from?” A few years ago a study in Germany showed that only 33% of the people questioned knew who built the Berlin wall. Many weren’t aware that the Nazi regime was a dictatorship. In some ways it is understandable that our collective memories fade with time. There is no one around anymore who fought in the First World War and soon the people who experienced the Blitz, the concentration camps, Stalin’s gulags or the Soviet tanks in Prague will be gone as well. But as the Spanish philosopher George Santayana famously said: “Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” This is just one of the many reasons why knowing history is so important. 

They say historical illiteracy tends either to go to the extreme of seeing the past with rose-tinted glasses or of thinking in an entirely linear way, naively believing that now is the best and most mature time for humanity. A historical perspective allows us to see the truth is not found in the extremes. Reading history allows us to see patterns, to reflect on the critical points in the past, to understand the cyclical nature of phenomena and the causes of events. 

In the same way, the Old Testament allows us to trace the generational impact of sin and faithfulness, reminding us of the consequences and blessings of remaining true to God or forsaking his ways. In each account, from Adam and Eve onward, the narratives of the Old Testament remind me that with every decision generations will reap what I sow. Even more so, reading the Old Testament reminds me that God has been faithful through it all and he will be again. It reminds me that God is in control even when people doubt him. It reminds me that I am part of his larger plan and purpose, more glorious than I can imagine.

Why should you read the Old Testament? Because it gives you what is needed today: a historical perspective. Tracking the promises of God and the truth of his Word over thousands of years of tumultuous human history is a vital antidote for latest-scoop-saturated, anxious believers. It is a map and a compass with which we know where we are, where we’ve come from, and where we are headed as God’s people. 

(This article is Part 2 of 3. Part 1 focused on the need to read the Old Testament in 2022. Part 3 will contain advice on how to read the Old Testament fruitfully.)