OLD TESTAMENT THEOLOGY RELEVANCE

 OLD TESTAMENT THEOLOGY RELEVANCE

    In this book, the author provides several important points relating to the values ​​possessed by the Old Testament, among others: First, the Old Testament has a unity with the New Testament that cannot be separated from one another; second, the Old Testament provides the historical as well as theological basis for the New Testament; third, the revelation of God in the Old Testament forms the basis for the revelation of God in the New Testament; fourth, prophecies in the Old Testament were fulfilled in the New Testament; fifth, the Old Testament has as basic truths as the New Testament. It must be realized that studying the Old Testament means studying the past, studying a world that is different from the present context so that it becomes a problem in studying the Old Testament but the Old Testament must be understood and understood well.

 Understanding Old Testament Theology is inseparable from understanding Biblical theology because Old Testament Theology is part of Biblical Theology. Old Testament theology is a type of theology oriented to the Old Testament. Or rather Old Testament Theology is the study and presentation of what God revealed in the Old Testament. The theological task is divided into two, namely descriptive tasks (what God did as reported in the Old Testament and theological tasks (the Old Testament does not only concern the history of Israel, retelling what God did for Israel. The Old Testament is the inspired Bible and has a message that comes from God that applies to all times and places. The focus and goal of a theology is God Himself, because theology is learning about God and learning from God and learning for the glory of God. The fundamental truth in Old Testament theology is the reality of God actively communicating His will in history.

The history of Old Testament Theology is very long and tortuous, it suggests that Old Testament theology must go back to Old Testament Theology itself. The Old Testament was believed and valued in Old Testament times itself as revelation of God and was used by writers in earlier times as a source of theology of the book. There are 6 historical periods in the historical development of Theology: (1) Old and New Testament theology; (2) the early Church century; (3) From the Middle Ages to the Reformation; (4) The period of the Enlightenment; (5) From medieval to dialectical; (6) Biblical Theology Movement. New Testament writers use the Old Testament to show a direct relationship with the Old Testament. The historical development of Old Testament theology is clearly better in the Old Testament, from the Intertestamenn to the New Testament. The revelation of God in the Old Testament itself became the source of theology used by the biblical writers, and the Old Testament in its authority also became the subject of teaching down to the New Testament.

Many methods are used as approaches to constructing Old Testament Theology. Some Old Testament theology defines the task of theology as descriptive, that is, to explain objective and historical theology as laid out in the Bible itself, but partly it is a hermeneutic task to translate biblical ideas into modern situations. It means looking for the meaning of the past for the benefit of the present; thus the theological methodology in Old Testament studies is a means of building a great deal of interest and capacity to explore the riches of neglected Old Testament study. To build an Old Testament Theology: (1) Biblical theology must be understood as a historical-theological discipline, having the task of deciphering what the original meaning of a verse is and what it means for the present; (2) Theology must be built based on an accountable hermeneutic system; (3) let themes, motives and conceptions be shaped by Theology; (4) must build an integrated theology, the theology of the Old Testament which has a relationship with the New Testament.

Old Testament theology has a solid foundation as the construction of theology. Old Testament theology is built on God's revelation and the history of God's revelation; where Allah reveals Himself so that it can be known. God reveals Himself in various periods of time and in various ways through the prophets and the final revelation of God is through His Son the Lord Jesus Christ. Allah revealed himself in the form of a progressive stage, due to human sinfulness and limitations, so that Allah took the initiative to reveal himself to humans in a gradual manner. The revelations of God in the Old Testament can be divided into i two parts, namely: (1) the revelation of God in the pre-Lapsarian period (the period of human innocence); (2) the post-Lapsarian period (perido of human sinfulness). There are several periods of the revelation of God in the Old Testament: (1) The period of the patriarchs, from the Age of Abraham to the birth of Moses, the revelation of God is only to the chosen people; (2) the period of Moses, the revelation of God became evident when liberating the Israelites from the Messiah (3) the period of the Prophets, the mediator for the revelation of God.

The Old Testament has a variety of theological points, both those that are extensive, and theological subjects that have a broad and continuous nature to the New Testament. The Torah law is used to show collections of laws or orders related to ceremonial / religious law, moral law and laws relating to the interests of society. Studying the revelation of God in Old Testament Theology means studying the revelation of God in two major periods. This Torah law has the following attitudes: wide range, the Law covers all aspects of human life, both spiritually and morally; internal in nature, the Torah which consists of various legal regulations and provisions; has absolute power and provisions; has absolute power, the Law reflects God Himself. The covenant that God made with humans is a fact that exists in the Old Testament because the covenant is a manifestation of God's essence and the covenant is also human's response and responsibility to God.

The influence of the Old Testament theology specifically related to the New Testament can be seen from several aspects, namely: (1) the Messianic consciousness of our Lord Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ knows that He Himself is the Messiah who was prophesied, He is the eternal God. (2) The work of the salvation of the Messiah, the image of the work of salvation found in the New Testament is the same as the image previously stated in the Old Testament (cf. Isaiah 53: 5). (3) The influence of Old Testament Theology was found in the apostolic message. One appears in the preaching of the Apostle Paul as written in 1 Thessalonians 1: 9-10; The Old Testament teaches that death is a law of sin (the relationship between God and man). (4) Church teachings, namely statements of faith that come from the Bible and are in accordance with the teachings of the Bible. Old Testament theology shows that the Church in its proclamation and formulation of doctrine has been influenced by the Bible / the person of Jesus Christ which is stated in the creed is a clear picture in the New Testament which is in accordance with the New Testament message.

The relevance of the Bible lies in the person of God who inspired the Bible through His servants in the past. Faith in God and His Word provides a strong foundation for the relevance of the Bible today which lies in the doctrine of God. The Bible describes various images of God in various ways; Allah is Light. The Bible is relevant in today's life, because the Bible that comes from God aims to convey God's purpose for humans in all places, times and situations. God's truth is unchanging and cannot be limited by time and space. What has been stated in the Old Testament is the same truth conveyed to us. The Bible is the written Word of God and the Bible is still speaking today. The Old Testament is also widely quoted in the New Testament and even Jesus also used the Old Testament as the basis for his teaching (Matthew 19: 4-5; Romans 4; Galatians 3:16). The Old Testament is still relevant and will remain relevant because God's Word cannot be limited by anything.

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