Is using examples from the Old Testament wrong in preaching, in forming beliefs, or using in ministry? There are two schools of hermeneutics on this subject. I have copied from another one of my blog posts (with my permission) to contrast these two views.
Redemptive-historical hermeneutic
The advocates of the Redemptive-historical hermeneutic accuse followers of the Historic/grammatical hermeneutic of moralizing the Bible. Those who hold to the Historic/grammatical hermeneutic are sometimes accused of “exemplary preaching,”[9] moralistic preaching, or anthropological preaching. Edmund Clowney stated that the moralistic view of, for example, preaching on David and Goliath is as if one preached “on Jack the Giant Killer.”[10] Gredianus refers to moralistic preaching as contemporary, popular biographical preaching that “tends to look for attitudes and actions of biblical characters which the hearers should either imitate or avoid”[11] Goldsworthy condemns such a sermon as “at worst demonic in its Christ-denying legalism.”[12] Tim Keller also argues against moralistic preaching in his book on preaching.[13]
Historical-grammatical hermeneutic
Abraham Kuruvilla, Senior Research Professor of Preaching and Pastoral Ministries at Dallas Theological Seminary, refutes this argument against exemplary preaching by arguing that “all biblical genres in the OT engage in moral and ethical instruction; they do not serve exclusively as adumbrations of the Messiah, and neither do they solely establish salvific truths.”[14] The classic verse on inspiration, teaches us that “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for” what? “All Scripture is God-breathed and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” In other words, “all Scripture” which certainly includes the Old Testament in 2 Timothy 3:16 is spiritually beneficial morally and ethically “that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works (2 Timothy 3:17).
Other New Testament passages show Paul uses Old Testament characters as examples to be followed or not to be followed. Paul in 1 Corinthians 10:6 writes of Old Testament examples not to be followed: “Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.” Paul referred to Old Testament narratives in Exodus 17, Numbers 14, 21, and 25. Then Paul states again that these are examples “happened unto them for examples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages are come” (10:11). Paul in Romans 15:4 states that “whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scripture might have hope.” In Hebrews 11, the author provides a list of Old Testament examples of faith:
The writer encouraged his readers in chapter 11 by reminding them of the faithful perseverance of selected Old Testament believers. The only other historical characters besides Jesus that the writer mentioned so far were Abraham, Melchizedek, Moses, Aaron, and Joshua. Of these, the only one mentioned in connection with faith was Abraham (6:13-15). The section is expository in form but parenetic in function, inviting the readers to emulate the example of the heroes listed.[15]
[9] Sidney Greidaus. Sola Scriptura: Problems and Principles in Preaching Historical Texts (Toronto: Wedge, 1970), 8.
[10] Edmund P. Clowney, Preaching and Biblical Theology (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1961) 82.
[11] Sidney Greidaus. Preaching Christ from the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company,1999) 293.
[12] Graeme Goldsworthy, Preaching the Whole Bible as Christian Scripture: The Application of Biblical Theology to Expository Preaching (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2000) 124.
[13] What if you are preaching a text on Joseph resisting the temptation of Potiphar’s wife, or of Josiah reading the forgotten law of God to the assembled nation, or of David bravely facing Goliath, and you distill the lesson for life— such as fleeing temptation, loving the Scripture, and trusting God in danger— but you end the sermon there? Then you are only reinforcing the self-salvation default mode of the human heart. Your sermon will be heard as encouraging the listeners to procure God’s blessing through right living. If you don’t every time emphatically and clearly fit that text into Christ’s salvation and show how he saved us through resisting temptation, fulfilling the law perfectly, and taking on the ultimate giants of sin and death— all for us, as our substitute— then you are only confirming moralists in their moralism (Keller, Timothy. Preaching: Communicating Faith in an Age of Skepticism (p. 61). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition).
[14] The same situation pertains to other genres of the OT, as well. For instance, while not denying the employment of the psalms for messianic purposes, they are often applied to believers: Ps 2, for instance, is applied both to Christ and to Christians (Acts 4: 25– 27; 13: 33; Heb 1: 5; 5: 5; Rev 2: 26, 27; 12: 5; 19: 15); also see Ps 44: 22 (Rom 8: 36); Ps 95: 7– 11 (Heb 3: 7– 11, 15; 4: 3, 5, 7); etc. Prophecy, too, is applied to the believer: Gen 3: 15 (Rom 16: 20); both Jesus and believers are called “light of the world” (Matt 5: 14 and John 8: 12; 9: 5; from Isa 49: 6; 60: 3); and Isa 45: 23 is used both of Jesus’ ultimate victory (Phil 2: 10) as well as to motivate believers to remember the final accounting and, therefore, to treat one another decently (Rom 14: 11). Wisdom literature is also employed in the NT for instruction in godly living— the book of Prov, for instance: Prov 3: 7 (2 Cor 8: 12); Prov 3: 11– 12 (Heb 12: 5– 6); Prov 3: 34 (Jas 4: 5; 1 Pet 5: 5); Prov 11: 31 (1 Pet 4: 18); Prov 25: 21– 22 (Rom 12: 20); etc. In other words, Scripture is more than just a witness to the fulfillment of messianic promises; there are ethical demands therein as well that must be brought to bear upon the lives of God’s people. Christocentric preaching tends to undermine the ethical emphasis of individual texts (Abraham Kuruvilla. Privilege the Text!: A Theological Hermeneutic for Preaching (p. 243). Moody Publishers. Kindle Edition).
[15] Thomas Constable. https://netbible.org/bible/Hebrews+11.