What's Wrong with Ewe: Malachi and Us

I’ve been greatly helped in my study of Malachi by Mark Dever’s book The Message of The Old Testament and The Malachi Commentary in the New American Commentary series, the author of this particular book is E. Ray Clendenen; I was, however, most helped by reading Malachi over and over and over and over.

Malachi is a different book, it is categorized as a minor prophet but it is truly unlike any of the other’s in its category. Malachi is written almost like a dialogue: God asks questions and then the response of Israel is given; God says more stuff then Israel, etcetera. And Malachi is not full of kinda understandable words much like the other minor prophets, but it is clear—with the understanding of the historical context of what’s going on at the time—and it has some historical writing in it as well as prophesy. But let’s first look at the background.

Hundreds of year prior to the proclamation of Malachi the God of the Bible chose Abram out of all the people of the world and blessed him and his offspring, God stating that He would love Abram and his descendant’s. The LORD God did this because He wanted to. The Almighty brought Abram’s descendants out of slavery by astonishing and shocking—sometimes horrifying—acts which could be explained only by God’s intervention: God killed masses at times, brought plagues, changed the very reasoning of some, healed, changed the natural order of how the world goes mostly; why did God do these things? He loved Israel (Abram’s offspring). For very short and infrequent periods of time Israel was thankful and grateful for God’s love…but it was often and blatant that the people of Israel rejected God’s love.

God is no sovereign softie however, He warned Israel and when they continued in their mockery of Him God disciplined Him, the biggest way being that foreign nations literally enslaved and took Israel—and Judah, which for our sake here can be lumped into Israel—out of their native land (Canaan we’ll call it) and into the captors land to live. (God not only warned that the captivity would happen but also, in a comforting way, told them that there would be a certain number of years that they would be enslaved in the foreign land then God would return Israel to Canaan).

So Israel was enslaved for years until, by some cool happenings, some were allowed to go back to Canaan and rebuild Israel’s city walls as well as the Temple God had instructed them to build, which is where all those sacrifices of animals were made to God.

This is the background to Malachi, God, more times than is countable, forgave and loved Israel despite Israel’s rebellion and overall hatred and mockery of God. For literally hundreds of years this has been going on but God was faithful to do what He said He would.

So then, the city of Israel is being rebuilt, the Temple is, for all practical purposes, completed, everything in Israel seems to be going well! More people are returning from exile, the once eerily emptied streets are being filled with children running around, women carrying products to market, men talking of their days’ venture.
But then Malachi comes onto the scene, a no name guy—he actually is never before or after mentioned again. And he starts saying that Israel is, though looking good outwardly, filled with big problems. So lets see what is being addressed.



The beginning of Malachi is laid out with a comparison: Israel vs. Edom, Edom being Esau’s—brother of Jacob, kids of Isaac--descendant. Israel is complaining that Edom’s land and people are being blessed more than they are. If you can get a 3-year-old with a wrinkled, wet face in your mind, use that picture for Israel at this moment. Israel is sincerely saying, ‘God does not love us, if He did we would be like Edom.’ So obviously, in the first couple of lines, we see that this rebellious and not-understanding-God attitude has prevailed through the exile. God, in response to this particular complaint says if Israel would but entrust themselves to God He would bless Israel’s land--because according to chapter 3 verse 11 there was a ‘devourer’ in the land of Israel, which probably was some kind of creature like a locust eating all the food Israel was trying to grow, God said He would stop it though! The Creator not only is willing to bless Israel’s land now but reminds Israel of His might—He can easily make Edom an inhabitable and deplorable place (found in verse 4)—but of His purpose—displaying His glory and goodness beyond the borders of Israel (found in verse 5); the latter God did because I, the writer of this here post, am not a Jew though I do follow God; I am not from the land of Israel near the Mediterranean but am half the world away geographically.

The next issue God takes up is the way Israel’s sacrificial system is going down: the people of Israel were offering blemished or lame lambs for their sacrifice AND the priests were accepting them as good sacrifices. This may seem odd and maybe trivial to us but to God it said a lot. As is outlined in the Old Testament books of Deuteronomy and Leviticus there was a certain type of lamb that was to be offered in worship to God: the first born without blemish. You have to understand that sometimes this was hard to give up! It could be the prime and best of a herd AND it was never known how many other lambs would be born to the herd. However this is what God asked of the people to sacrifice. But, and this was a clear caveat, if the first born had blemishes of any kind, being blind, or lame or not good in anyway that person was to take the second-born, or the next that had no blemish.

Who is responsible for this particular offense of unacceptable sacrifices being accepted? Both the people of Israel and the priests. The people are responsible because they are the ones saying they will obey, ‘Sure I’ll give the first-born unblemished sacrifice,’ but come sacrifice time they bring in a lousy creature to be offered to God (verse 14). So the people were deceiving one another and God. God calls out their foolishness by saying if they tried to offer such a creature to one of their governor’s the political or geographical leader would not even accept such a pathetic gift, why would the God of the universe (verse 8)?

But a greater responsibility and rebuke was laid on the priests, the leaders of the whole nation. They were the ones who were supposed to be teaching Israel what was good and acceptable but instead they were guiding the people into sin and not correcting Israel but were blessing their sin and saying it was good (chapter 2.9). God lamented in chapter 1 that there was not even ONE priest who cared for God’s honor enough to close the Temple doors so that the very alter of God, where God’s presence was, would remain unpolluted (verse 10). The very ones given the responsibility to teach the nation what was good and who God was were doing the very opposite.

Maybe the intent of Israel was not bad though, you know, you can be sincere in intent but it just is done in a poor way. In our culture today this is huge, ‘Oh but he meant well; God does not care how He is worshipped as long as it is from the heart.’ I can see where we get this, David himself in a Psalm says that God was not concerned with the sacrifices David made, no matter how many they were, God cared for the heart only. But here in Malachi God cared greatly that Israel and the priests sacrificed the way God had clearly instructed. Obviously you can be sincere but wrong about something. Mark Dever says, ‘Sincerity is necessary, but it is not sufficient.’ That is because there is more to the sacrifices. The sacrifices, as we know from the New Testament book of Hebrews, were in no way able to save Israel from their sins--it is an animal for goodness sake!—but it was to point directly to Jesus, the Messiah, the Christ who was to come who was going to be PERFECT and WITHOUT BLEMISH AND DEFECT. If the Christ was imperfect as a sacrifice His atonement, His blood WOULD, indeed, be worthless to all humanity, unable to save anyone from their plight. So you can see why this was a big deal, the unblemished first-born, it was to remind Israel of the coming Messiah and to the nations of the world looking in that God is who He said He was. God says that Israel, in offering lame animals, has despised Him. Those are some strong words. ‘Okay God, aren’t you being a little too picky here? I mean, it is hard sometimes and it is not like Israel was offering nothing.’ These words are the sentiment of chapter 1 verse 13. But God seemed to care a lot about this issue and the consequences were great too: cursed land, the priests lineage would, metaphorically, have poop smudged on their faces (chapter 2 verse 3)—huge insult at the time by the way, especially whenever you speak of future generations.

The next big theme is in chapter 2: infidelity. Verse 14 tells why another reason God seems not to care for the sacrifices of Israel, against what He asked of them Israel is marrying foreign women and divorcing their wives. God says that Israel’s infidelity is an affront to God Himself and it is destructive for the culture and society of Israel. This is interesting since we usually see divorce or unfaithfulness as something between 2 or 3 people, not something having to deal with God and an entire culture of people. Also, there is disdain here IN the divorce; the Israelites were divorcing because they hated the wife of their youth—their Israel woman they married first (16). It is not necessarily the divorce itself—God had some guidelines about when it was acceptable to divorce—but the motive for divorce: someone else was more appealing and ‘the old’ was boring and became someone who was disdained.

Also, Israel was being unfaithful to God. This seems to be all-encompassing because there are so many ways Israel is following other god’s other than YHWH, who is the God of the Bible. But the link with the previous subject is that the way Israel acted socially manifested their worship of God, which, at this time, was poor: divorce was a God issue not just something of preference, at least that is how God sees it here.

The final major concern that is pointed out is that Israel sees injustice going on in the world and concludes that God, unlike what He said, is not just and cares not for executing and bringing about justice (2.17). Beginning in chapter 3 an interesting thing is done, God helps Israel see that many times the justice that will be brought about is the ULTIMATE or ETERNAL justice. We too can look at the world around us today and see clearly that there are acts of injustice going on everyday in every area of life in every country in the whole world. But in verse 4 and 5 God points out that for those who have followed and entrusted themselves to His love in the Final Judgment of all the inhabitants that have ever been found on the face of the Earth, God’s followers will be refined and made pure but those who have not will be destroyed finally and eternally. God’s justice is ultimate and will not ultimately suffer injustice. This means that one who lives a life doing injustice may die and the world living during that individual’s lifetime will never see justice happen to that person. But there will be a time in the future when that person will be given life for a short time only to recount what he did in life and then rightly sentenced to eternal justice; so justice, when all is said and done, will be rightly served to all. This is not only astounding but astonishing and is meant to help Israel see that God IS in control and that He IS a God of justice, Israel—and we—at times, might have to wait a while to see it.

THIS IS EXACTLY WHY GOD KEEPS CRYING OUT TO ISRAEL, God speaks to Israel because they do not know they are rebelling; He lets them see their rebellion but says, I know your sin but turn to me and I will bless you (3.7). This should shock us! For hundreds of years Israel has in compliance or ignorance turned its back on God YET HE CONTINUES TO LOVE THEM AND PROSPER THEM. The Apostle Paul in the New Testament says that love is patient and has forbearance, well do we see God displaying and being love in that exact way here.

In chapter 3 verse 16 we see a few in Israel who respond to God and God takes note. Chapter 4 goes on to speak of future things which, thankfully, we can see fulfilled directly in the New Testament Gospels, though some of which we will not see until that Final Judgment.

Israel, like me, in retaliation to God’s love, whined and sinned instead of loving God. But God’s relentless love will win, it has in me and can in you too.

To close, Malachi is not about following a bunch of rules to the ‘T,’ but it is about true worship of God. The worship of God is not about what goes on inside the church building walls but everything it is, as Dever points out was true in John the Baptist and others, ‘living as if we believe [God], by running with joyous abandon toward him, and by trusting that he will love us as his own through Christ Jesus.’


Please note that this is in no way exhaustive. I’ve purposely left out some big stuff but, in ignorance, left out more stuff. I hope you will, if anything else, be intrigued enough to read Malachi on your own. If you have questions, concerns, qualms or caveats please let me know, I’d enjoy a dialogue.

What the Bible Says About Women Fighting on the Military Front Lines

The roaring initial question the title of this post provokes should be ‘why does it matter at all?’ A Christian is one who desires to honor God in all aspects of life, a Christian wants to be able to say, ‘I do this or that because I see that God, through the Bible, instructs us to do it that way.’ A Christian cannot limit Christianity to only certain parts or aspects of life because all of life is spiritual and a sort of litmus of who that person follows or gives credence to. The Apostle Paul states that a Christian can honor God even in the way a Christian eats and drinks—these are the most mundane day-to-day activities yet we can do them in a way that worships the God who created all things!

It is also a good habit to see what the culture says in light of what the Bible says. The question of whether women should be fighting militarily on the front lines, purposely placing themselves—and being ordered to be placed there--is a question that should not be influenced by culture, rights, or ability. A Christian cannot be coaxed by the prevalent or dominating thought or philosophy of the day if that movement is contrary to what the God of the universe deems right. The all-inclusive approved-thought culture we live in errs greatly in the assumption that each thought is of equal value and authority. That being said, trying to understand where the ideas culture presents and are conceived is helpful for sure but not the topic of this post.

But what DOES the Bible say about this issue? There are some examples of women on the battlefield:
In Judges a woman named Deborah, who was a prophetess, led a group of men into battle and won. Looking at the whole story, however, reveals that there was supposed to be a man leading the charge, Barak, but he lacked courage and wanted Deborah, almost like a good luck charm, to go with him. So she did and he was not given the honor of victory in the battle. So the most glaring instance of a woman on the front-line battlefield is nullified because the prophesy was for Barak, the man, to lead but he failed to do so.

In this same chapter of Judges we see a woman fighting. Jael was a woman who received the King, Sisera, into her home; Sisera was fleeing a battle and he came to Jael in hopes of hiding from his pursuers. She, seemingly at his service, brought him something to drink, at his request, and hid him in a carpet; when he fell asleep rolled up in the carpet she hammered in a tent peg into his skull. (What a woman!) In this instance I think we can conclude that Jael was not intentionally on the front lines but the front lines came to her. This is unavoidable at times and also proves one of my points that yes, woman are very capable—some more than most men—of performing well on the battlefield. The ability can be there but what of God’s DESIGN.

I like intelligence, so what about a spying, being an agent in enemy territory. Someone said as long as there has been war there has been spies. Rehab, a prostitute in the genealogy of Jesus, was herself a spy. Many women during America’s civil war were very good spies. Spy work can often be done and needed because of the absence of men who are off on the front lines.

God knows all this, for He created both man and woman. This issue is not about, not a matter of the song ‘anything you can do I can do better.’ There is something more than that. God created the male to lead, to protect and provide. King David had a famous group of people around him who were the Navy SEALs of the day, they were all men. When Abraham’s relative, Lot, was captured, he and some of his male servants went out to battle the enemy and free Lot. Moses was the one who fought off the men at the well who were pestering the women who were trying to water their livestock. All of the other battles in the Old Testament were fought with the men doing their duty as protectors of their family and land.

You may say, ‘but this was just because of the cultural norms of the day.’ This is a great question and is the reason for my opening statements. The Bible presents a framework for genders and their general roles in society and for our present culture they seem vile and unsavory: ‘wives, submit to your husbands.’ Does this mean women are for mommying and cooking, varying only when the authoritarian husband demands her to do another task at his whim? Absolutely not. It does mean that the man will—presently does—bear the brunt of responsibility before God and society for himself and his family. When speaking of qualifications for the leadership of elder in the church Paul cites that an elder’s children must be obedient and his wife a respected individual: if the man’s home is in shambles how can he be trusted to lead others? Also, there is a woman painted in the book of Proverbs; this woman is strong, she does not get swindled when buying property, she feeds her children and she, in a very real way, makes her husband look good as he trusts her with much. The bible prizes woman: in Ephesians a man is to love his wife as Christ loves His church, laying his very life down for her. Let me say that again, the husband is to give up himself, his very life, FOR HIS WIFE!! The Bible says the man should adorn his wife with his affection and life-vigor because she is worthy of it. He goes on the front line out of love.

A friend was shocked when I said women should not be on the frontlines of battle. ‘They can fight too,’ was the reply. I said, ‘They should not have to.’ In our American humanistic culture we devalue and diminish and curtail the beauty in the gender specific distinctions and qualities. Women are not too fragile or incompetent or too weak to be on the front lines. And a woman should not somehow feel cheated because the right is not hers.

As far as cultural thought goes, sometimes we see no immediate problems when we do something contrary to what God places forward for us to do; sometimes we NEVER see any negative result, but the absence of fireballs from the sky or immediate death by a transgressor does not notarize ones actions to be okay and good. Often the Christian is called to do things that are different than the rest of society, but obedience to God is their main goal—as God has clearly demonstrated by His words in the Bible—not necessarily what makes the most sense at the present time.

This post by no means comprehensive nor exhaustive so I welcome all disputation and comments as always, so long as they are logical and have some kind of point.



******The newest installment of How to Study the Old Testament is upcoming, we will be looking at the minor prophet Malachi; is sincerity in worship all that God wants? How responsible are leaders for a nations spiritual health? And God, once more, has astounding forbearance towards those whom he greatly loves.*****

Prostitutes, Gangs, and Investing: Wisdom: some have it and some do not

For further inquiries ask me or be helped by the commentary on Proverbs by Duane A Garrett in the commentary series The New American Commentary. My words are an over-view of how to look at and study the book of Proverbs

‘The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge’ goes the proverb in the beginning of the book by the same name. Seems simple enough. Then why are most other verses in this book quip sayings or caveats about day-to-day living? Exactly.

What does it mean to ‘fear the LORD’? Should we cower in a corner as God emulates a drunken Father who walks about not knowing if He may or may not beat us to death? Is it that kind of crippling, disabling fear that is spoken of here? Should we be constantly looking over our shoulder wondering when the Almighty Creator of all things will, on a lark, decide to come down and be mean? Fortunately this does NOT entail what it means to ‘fear the LORD.’

To fear God is to take into account all that He is and is capable of and what He wills and with all that in mind soberly live in a way that honors Him. Fear can be healthy and good. When you are swimming in the ocean it is good to fear the power of the waves and the depths and darkness of its area, and even sometimes the creatures that live inside it; but you are still enjoying the swim. You have knowledge of the ocean, you know there are creatures that can eat you, you know there can be undertows that drag you out to places where you’d rather not be but you still swim in it. You still can enjoy it; you fear it but you respect it and are wise when you enter it. This is all that fearing God is; it is not living on eggshells but it is living with a knowledge of God and His good boundaries which He has given to us.

Then why are there so many sayings? You’ll notice in proverbs that many times there seems to be confusing as well as contradicting words: ‘answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes’ in Proverbs 26 immediately follows the verse that says, ‘answer NOT a fool according to his folly, lest you be like him yourself.’ Soooooo, what to do: verse 4 or 5? You decide! That’s right; walking according to the fear of the Lord means having discernment and wisdom--of people, the situation, the words spoken, etc.. God gives people the freedom and responsibility to use their brains to decide what is best in any particular instance.

If you just jump to all the ‘practical’ sayings in proverbs as many businessmen have done over the centuries without taking into account the first seven verses of the book you miss entirely the benefit and point of the book. Proverbs is not about having the best portfolio at the end of your life nor is it about having a Fu-Manchu, being bald, wearing a robe, and spouting off one-liners as you sit on a mat with your legs crossed; Proverbs is about God and about living a life that honors him, EVEN in the seemingly insignificant day-to-day decisions and parts of life. It offers wisdom on how to quell a hot-tempered person; how to think for the future; what it means to carry a good name; how to honor the poor; how to act in a king’s presence; how a king or ruler should act; how to look for a spouse; how to raise children; the responsibility of families to educate their children—not the State; it gives us active wisdom.

Proverbs are wise even in their makeup as they are short and fairly easy to remember—this being so you WILL remember and follow them. Some give advice; some make us reflect; some are more intense than others and some are specific and others grander. The Proverbs seem all muddled together, but this is how life is—different things come up at random times. A thousand things can be coming at once but a Proverbs-trained mind will be ready for such life-chaos. Unlike other parts of Scripture many of the sayings can be taken out if its context, because there rarely is context. When studying, though, you will notice some proverbs are intentionally grouped together so be mindful and be smart.

As a rule Proverbs are wise generalizations. There are exceptions to everything but on the whole, Proverbs says, this is how life goes. Proverbs are not ambiguous like other passages in the Bible often are—this is why they are attractive to many; instead, these are straight-forward easily applicable words. Don’t think, yea I get it that I should not be one to take bribes but what does it REALLY mean; it REALLY means what it actually says, so take the wisdom as it plainly is; the Bible is not a huge puzzle: God putting you through a strainer for no reason.

As far as authors go, for our purposes it does not really matter. Some are entitled in the Proverbs themselves. They are collected and compiled works. Many other cultured had similar saying—for example the Egyptians—so the style is not unique.

When studying Proverbs it is helpful to know some of the intended sections of the book:
Chapter 1 verse 8 – 9.18 is targeted mainly to young men. You see in the beginning, ‘Listen, my son . . . ‘ and the father goes on listing out things and teaching for the next few chapters. It is interesting to note the things that are talked about. Essentially the young man is taught to steer clear of gangs—companions who are out for self-fish gain, quick to shed blood and violence, those who are always devising evil; and also to stay away from women who lack moral integrity—prostitutes, sluts, and adulterous women. For a young man learning what it means to be a wise, godly man these issues hit the heart. As I have been able to work with some kids I know these tendencies, especially in the urban setting, are real and the instruction Proverbs yields is incredibly insightful. Also in this section the father figure tells how both wisdom and folly are present if sought; both are calling out from the street corners saying and promising the very same things. So WISDOM is needed to discern that right way.

After 9.18 Proverbs goes to what we are most familiar with as little sections providing wisdom in seemingly every area of life. The exception to note is a grouping from 22.17 – 24.22 and this section is simply called The Thirty Sayings and that is exactly what it is.

Perhaps the most famous section is the Sayings of Lemuel (31.1 – 31.31). The first of its two sections tells how a king should rule and what he should be doing. The second section (10 – 31) is the picture of the mid-aged exceptional wife: one that all women should aspire and men should imitate.

There is so much good from this book of sayings that it can easily be disregarded as ‘not the gospel’ and ‘not spiritual enough.’ But those who would ignore the book of Proverbs ignore the blessings of the Lord and know not what it means to be in awe and reverence. We cannot ignore that life is full of complexities and baffling situations. The lazy and ignorant and foolish will have a price to pay if wisdom is not sought. God is graciously helping us be who He designed us to be. He speaks to us, telling us how we can best honor Him even in the smallest of life’s places. He loves His children and THAT is why He teaches us.

‘Where is Jesus?’ some might ask. I would answer that he is coming—some books to the right—but here we are to be guided by the Word of God—which Jesus is—and by guided by Gods great gift to His followers, the Holy Spirit.

Proverbs 19.2: ‘Desire without knowledge is not good, and whoever makes haste with his feet misses his way.’ Don’t be found lacking. God says in the book of James if anyone lacks wisdom let him ask God for it. Be the wise son or daughter and listen to the instruction of Proverbs.

I leave you with a quote from the afore mentioned commentator: ‘Wisdom is not some hidden treasure that has to be dug from the depths of the earth . . . wisdom is not abstract, secular, or academic but personal and theological. To reject wisdom is to reject God. The wise are at ease because they have genuine security; the foolish are at ease out of carelessness.’

Why I Love The Bible's Old Testament

Do you ever contemplate why the Old Testament exists? Do you find it not only boring at times, but also confusing? Where is the resolve; is what these people do right or wrong, are they models to follow or to steer clear of? Why are all the numbers rounded, can’t they count? Is this God the same one that seems so patient and kind in the New Testament? Do contradictions mean the Old Testament is not trust-worthy? Why is called so many different names? Can’t we just skip to Jesus and the Apostles? Is Ezekiel or Song of Solomon saying what I think it might be? Does God really call the murderer and adulterer and bad-parent and guy who ended is life as a cold, weak man one after His own heart?

I hope to start a small series of blogs on how to study and look at the Old Testament and hopefully it addresses the why as well. But here I want to give a few sweeping, general, and broad reasons why I love and am thankful for the Old Testament.

It is different. The Old Testament is crazy. The Old Testament is wonderful. The Old Testament is exciting. The Old Testament is not the scientific-based Western thought. The Old Testament (OT) is a gathering of books like no other. It’s aim and way of getting at its target is like no other book. It has reasons for all it does but does not always disclose them (‘the secret things belong to the LORD’ and ‘wisdom conceals knowledge’).

It’s genres. There is history: of the Earth’s formation, destruction, and renewal. Of man, his purpose, failures and struggles. Of nations—Israel, Egypt, Persia, Assyria, Babylonia, and a lot of smaller Canaanite peoples. It can look at the life of one man or one nation. It is introspective and, at times, painfully ambiguous. There is poetry: The first being in Genesis from Adam’s lips, to the entire love-struck book of Song of Solomon, to the singing in the Psalms of people being murdered and lands being destroyed, and in myriads of other places. Much of what is written is done in the form of story, oral tradition written down. There are legal documents: of how to treat one another, how to tend flocks, take care of the land, how to treat outsiders, how to perform justice, how to clean, how to celebrate, how to worship, etc.

The way the OT is written is a way of theology—this word simply means the study of God, who, what, how He is. If it is kept in mind that the entire reason the book was written is to inform us about God, and to know God and to discover the human and his nature, then we can understand the Bible as a whole much better.

It’s way of making us think. There are ambiguities, there are unresolved matters, there are deep insights all to make us ponder God and ponder how the world works.

It’s breadth and depth. There are prophesies and prostitutes. There is Ruth the Moabite and Ruben the son of Israel. There are grotesque acts of rape, genocide, envy, pride, and injustice. There are spectacular manifestations of the power of sin and God.

It’s ability to create in us a substantial longing for a good ruler and a right world. In reading the OT we are to grow in our desire for something better, Someone better. We see hope that is often frail and then quickly broken only to be built back and crushed again. The OT is meant to bring us to the point almost of despair crying, ‘who will make things genuinely right?!’

It’s way of displaying God’s desire to have us love Him—He gave us language and His revelation. God decided to speak to us, the creatures who He knew would desert Him, forget Him, try to bring shame and dishonor on Him, continually disobey and rebel against Him. He knew all this yet He still decided to speak graciously to us.

These are only tips of the iceberg of why I love and am thankful for the OT but I hope it serves as a perking of your curiosity to join me in looking at some ways of how to rightly study the OT.