The joy of background knowledge

The opening line of Hebrews is really dramatic, at least in the ESV it is: Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days, He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed the heir of all things, through whom also He created the world.

Wow! Beats George Lucas' opening line, "Long ago and in a galaxy far, far away..." or something like that. At least to my mind.

The thing is, I find that opening line all the more powerful knowing what the writer referred to as "spoke to our fathers by the prophets". I do not claim to have any expertise in Biblical Old Testament prophecy. The farthest thing from the truth. I have, perhaps, a slight acquaintance with it. But because of this acquaintance, hundreds of years of history weighs upon that statement for me. God spoke to His people by thousands of prophets, some of whose words we have passed on to us today. And they all say something close to the same thing: follow God. He's going to fulfill His promises, just which ones do you want fulfilled?

In Bible college I had an Old Testament (OT) professor that really opened up the OT for me. (Shout out to Mr. [Dr.] Holmes!!) His big thesis is that all of the OT hangs upon the blessings and cursings of Deuteronomy 28 & 29. (Yes, Dr. Holmes, at least one of your students was definitely listening). And I totally agree: in that passage God promises that if Israel obeys, they will be blessed. If Israel doesn't, they will experience intense hardship until they come back. And you see, for the rest of Israel's history, it's pretty much the case. Judges: they obey, things go well; they don't obey, things go badly. The OT prophets all have the same message: repent, obey God, and escape the coming wrath. You don't do it, you can expect it.

Then skip four hundred years to Christ. Some of the OT prophets also pointed towards a Messiah. This Messiah shows up as Christ and He fulfills the Law and Prophets. (Ah, the Law and Prophets). And this is where Hebrews comes in: the writer of Hebrews is trying to show that Christ is not only the fulfillment of the prophets but the supreme and superior revelation from God. Cool stuff. And that one little statement means so much more to me, being aware (if not having a deep understanding) of what he [the author] meant when he said, "in many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son." It's so cool. Really, all of Hebrews is cool, and it is all the cooler if you understand its background in the Old Testament.

Again, I'm absolutely no expert on the Old Testament, whatever anyone else says. But even a slight familiarity with it really does inform my understanding of the New Testament. The two don't cancel each other out. Rather they are partners, revealing God's plan. Cool.