Tag Archives: Old Testament

4 Quarantine Lessons from Judah

1 and 2 Kings, Daily living, Encouragement, Old Testament, ,

Judah spent 70 years in enforced confinement. You are spending weeks in quarantine, which is like enforced confinement. It’s not as bad but still restrictive. Ancient Judah has four lessons for you.

Things Don’t Always Go Your Way

Judah, and Israel before them, thought the future was bountiful. They lived in relative peace and went about their daily tasks in a comfortable routine (Amos 6:1). Suddenly, their expectations and hopes crumbled. Their hopes for a quiet life changed drastically.

Today, things are not going the way you expected, either. Three months ago, we were thinking about spring break, the end of the school year, graduations, and summer vacations. Major surgery only requires 6 to 8 weeks of recovery, but this is still dragging on.

Trouble Comes When You Don’t Expect It

Judah should have seen trouble coming; they missed it. Their northern cousins went into captivity over a hundred years earlier. Enemies attacked, but God always prevented their capture. Not this time. Their faithlessness was overwhelming. Babylon rolled into Judah and began resettling the people.

We should have seen this pandemic coming. Experts have warned of such an event for generations. The world has suffered through many devasting, illnesses including the Spanish Flu of 1918 and the Black Death (Bubonic Plague) of the 14th century. Smallpox killed half a billion of us before we conquered it in 1977. We were surprised, even though we shouldn’t have been.

Don’t Take the Presence of the Lord for Granted.

Babylon took Judah into captivity; separating them from the Temple. Since the Temple’s construction by Solomon in about 1000 BC, the people had enjoyed a strong visual reminder of the presence of God. It was the place of God’s high and holy name (2 Chronicles 6:18). Moses had commanded three visits to the Temple annually (Deuteronomy 16:16). They would be reminded of the Lord’s presence each time.

It is different for Christians. Our bodies are the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19). Christ lives in us (John 17:23; Galatians 2:20). We don’t have a Temple. The church building is just that, a building that meets the needs of the Christians. It is neither holy nor divine.

Still, the assembly together of saints is a vital part of our lives. We see the Lord living in the lives of one another in a way that is impossible with the disassembled assembly. Weekly worship assemblies become common. We may have been guilty of taking them for granted. I hope we will never do that again.

Reunion Will Be Sweet

Judah eventually left their restricted domicile. They returned to Jerusalem, rebuilt the destroyed Temple, and worshipped God according to his plan (Ezra 6:13–18). The Bible says they celebrated with “great Joy” (vs. 16).

When we assemble together physically, and we will, it will be a time of great joy and happiness. A day doesn’t pass that someone doesn’t mention how they miss the assembly of the church. Jesus wants his people to be together. In Acts 2, they were together and “from house to house.” That day is coming again.

We must remember these lessons and teach them to our children.

The Gospel of the Old Testament

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{This article is in association with a sermon series on the Gospel of Luke}

We usually think of the gospel as the first four books of the New Testament, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Actually, the gospel throughout the Bible, including the Old Testament. Remember, “gospel,” simply means good news. The good news of a coming Savior was promised from the very beginning of time. Within moments of man’s first sin, God promised a Redeemer. That was surely good news.

Consider these gospel verses from the Old Testament:

Genesis 3:15 – it may have been a very cloudy prophecy, but God promised to send one who would destroy the evil one. The offspring of woman, that is, Christ, would inflict a deadly wound upon Satan. That wound, thousands of years in the future, would destroy Satan’s power over mankind.

Genesis 12:1-7 – here, the Lord makes his promise even more specific. He tells Abram that in him “all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” From our perspective, many centuries later, we know that this was a promise of the coming Messiah. The promise also specifies that the Messiah would come through the offspring of Abraham.

Exodus 3:8 – in this passage, God is promising to deliver the Hebrews from Egyptian slavery. Specifically, he will take them to a “land flowing with milk and honey.” Moses, the deliverer and the immediate recipient of this promise, will be like Jesus. He will bring the people out with God’s divine power. Moses, delivering them from physical oppression while Jesus delivers from the oppression of sin.

Psalm 16:8-11 – the psalmist speaks of the coming Christ. While the Christ is not named we know he speaks of him because Peter, at Pentecost, tells us so (Acts 2:25-28). The eternal God will not be buried but will live forever. We serve a risen King who has overcome death!

Isaiah 53 – this is the great gospel chapter of the prophet Isaiah. It was the chapter the Ethiopian was reading as he traveled from Jerusalem. This chapter was the starting place for Philip’s teaching that led to the man’s conversion. In it, Jesus is described as the suffering savior. It was good news that one would bear our sorrows and that healing would come from his wounds.

Joel 2 – is another prophecy used by Peter at Pentecost. Here, Joel declares that the Lord would reclaim his people and would pour out his own spirit upon them. This is exactly what happened at Pentecost! Even today, far removed from the days of miraculous gifts, we enjoy the many benefits of the Spirit of God. This promise was one of many that sustained the Israelites during dark times.

These are only a very brief sampling of the gospel in the Old Testament. The Law of Moses was filled with expectation of ultimate deliverance in the future. God’s plan from the beginning was to bring Jesus, in the form of man, to deliver men from sins (Ephesians 1:4; Hebrews 4:3; 1 Peter 1:20).

Is it not a wonderful thought that our God has been planning for us from all antiquity! Our salvation was not a hurried response to man’s sin but a carefully crafted plan to bring us to glory. Praise God for his love!

The Teacher

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The Gospels present the life of Jesus. Acts gives us a history of the earliest church. The letters offer us insight into the early church problems and challenges. Revelation gives hope for the future. But what about the Old Testament? If you look carefully at the pages of your favorite Bible you may find the pages of the New Testament worn, ragged and filled with notes. But the pages of the Old Testament are almost pristine from lack of use. Few would argue that we need to improve our knowledge of the Old Testament.

The writings of the Old Testament bring us from Creation to within about 400 years of the birth of Christ. And then, it stops. In fact, it ends with a depressing rebuke from God when the people are told  their sacrifices have been rejected (Malachi 1:10). Yet the prophet still holds out hope and points to the coming redeemer (Malachi 3:1-5).

Four centuries later the prophetic voice would resume from a strange man who wore rough clothing and ate locusts for his meals. John the Baptist would speak the Lord’s words (Matthew 3:1-6).

The Old Testament consists primarily, but certainly not exclusively, of the Mosaic Law given at Sinai. The Law was given through Moses. The prophets tried to call the people back to that Law. But that covenant was brought to an end by Jesus (2 Corinthians 3:10-11; Galatians 3:21-29; Colossians 2:13-14; Hebrews 8:13; Hebrews 12:25-29). So if it was “nailed to the cross” how should we view it? Is there any value in t he Old Testament today? Continue reading The Teacher →

What About the Old Testament?

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Bible students usually spend much time in the New Testament. Such is reasonable as most students seek mosesto know Jesus Christ. Since most of what we know about Jesus is in the New Testament that is where we spend most of our time. For some, the Old Testament is almost a lost or forgotten tome from an archaic time. Although we grew up on stories of Adam and Eve, Noah and the Ark, Samson and David, we have since moved on to newer material. I think ignoring the Old Testament, whether through casual neglect or deliberate avoidance is a mistake. A working knowledge of the Old Testament helps bring the New to life. I am absolutely convinced that we cannot fully appreciate the sacrificial death of Jesus apart from an understanding of the Old Testament and the Laws of Moses.

Putting the Old Testament in Perspective

Once we begin to study the books of Genesis through Malachi we are confronted with an important question: How should I apply the Old Testament today? For example, Leviticus is full of detailed instructions about animal sacrifices (Leviticus 1-4). Should I practice animal sacrifices today? Why or why not? Long hair was often a sign of special consecration to God through the Nazrite vow (Numbers 6:5; Judges 13:5; Judges 16:17; 1 Samuel 1:11). Should I let my hair grow? What about disobedient children (Deuteronomy 21:18-21)? Am I supposed to stone my teenager when he disobeys? Even the casual reader will note that there seems to be a big difference between the Old and the New Testaments. How do I understand that differences.

Paul speaks of the need to “rightly divide” Scripture (2 Timothy 2:15) so we may conclude that there are differences to be understood. The greatest difference seems to be between the “perfect law of liberty” (James 1:25) given by Christ and the “law of Moses” (Joshua 8:31-32; 1 Corinthians 9:9). Let me state my conclusion first and then offer scriptural support.

I conclude that the law of Moses was given to a specific people (Jews) for a specific time (until Christ) for a specific purpose (to prepare and enlighten men for the Christian era).

It was God Almighty who freed the Israelites from slavery in Egypt (Exodus 12:33-41; Exodus 19:4). He brought them to Mt. Sinai where he gave them their laws. God called Moses and his brother Aaron to the mountain where he began by giving them what we call today the 10 Commandments (Exodus 19:24).

Notice carefully how God begins this period of lawgiving. He says in Exodus 20:1,2:

Then God spoke all these words saying, I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other Gods before me…

This verse is important because we see that God is speaking specifically to the children of Israel and to no one else. Although other nations were in existence and even though their obedience to God was expected, they were never expected to follow the law of Moses for it was not given to them. All of the promises, dating back some 500 years, were directed to the offspring of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. (c.f. Genesis 12:1-3; Genesis 26:2-5;  Genesis 28:10-18). The covenant was between God and the people of Israel only.

The covenant between God and the Israelites would not last forever.  Continue reading What About the Old Testament? →