Old Testament

Shadows and light

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All through Bible school, I heard the term type and shadow in reference to comparing the Old Testament against the New. It’s all type and shadow. After you hear something over and over again, it can either become a great revelation or it can cease to carry meaning altogether. I claim the latter on this particular term. Until today, that is.

I’ve always known that the New Testament is a brighter reflection of the Old Testament. There are many parallels to be found between the two. But it wasn’t until reading Stephen’s last message to the high council that the light finally came on. He is telling the tale of Jewish history. (This is moderately amusing because, who would know Jewish history better than their high council?) Stephen starts with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Israel), and goes on to Moses.

And so God sent back the same man his people had previously rejected.

Acts 7:35a (NLT)

That sounds familiar.

Come to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God’s temple. He was rejected by the people, but he is precious to God who chose him.

1 Peter 2:4 (NLT)

Moses was a man rejected by his own people. Jesus was a man rejected by his own people.

He was the mediator between the people of Israel and the angel who gave him life-giving words on Mount Sinai to pass on to us.

Acts 7:38b (NLT)

Israel needed a mediator between themselves and God so that they could receive the inheritance God promised to them. Hey, I know someone else who needs a mediator to receive an inheritance.

The is why he [Jesus] is the one who mediates the new covenant between God and people, so that all who are invited can receive the eternal inheritance God has promised them.

Hebrews 9:15a (NLT)

Could it be that God had already proven it possible that a man rejected by his own people could still be their saviour? The Jews, knowing the account of Moses, should have been well-prepared to receive Jesus. Yet history repeated itself, the Old Testament becoming a shadow in the light of the New Covenant.

The great difference is this: where Moses was unable to reach the Promised Land, Jesus has already gone ahead of us. Our way is paved and ready to go. We have two choices—we can be like the ten scouts who saw only giants and impossibility or we can be like Caleb and Joshua, ready, willing, able, and full of confidence.

You can live in the shadow of the Old Covenant or bask in the light of the New.

Daily Bible reading: Job 4-6, Acts 7:20-43

Fire insurance

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Have you ever heard a Christian use the term fire insurance? If a churchy person says it, they’re not actually talking about getting a payout after a fire. They’re talking about people who accept salvation just so they don’t have to spend eternity in hell—they’ve said a prayer of salvation and they truly believe in Jesus, that he is the Son of God and that he died to save us all from our own sin, but that’s it. There’s no more to their faith than that. They’ve either made the choice to live that way or no one has taught them any different.

You’ve probably also heard the term discipleship. Discipleship is a more mature Christian leading a newer or less mature Christian in the ways of Christ. People who’ve lived and learned teaching others from the Word of God and from their own experience.

The large number of Christians just carrying fire insurance is largely due to a lack of discipleship. No one has ever taught these new believers that there is more to faith than just a single prayer. There are a great many benefits to a Christian walk and there are even some expectations.

Jesus last words to his disciples were to tell them to go out and make more disciples. We call it The Great Commission (Mark 16:15). This is our duty as Christians whether we’re in vocational ministry or not. We are all called to be disciples and we are all called to make disciples.

We have been given the same authority that Jesus had on earth and the Holy Spirit has been sent to help us along. Since the veil of the temple was torn and God’s Spirit dispersed over the whole earth, we are the new generation of priests.

And you have cause them to become God’s kingdom and his priests. And they will reign on the earth.

Revelation 5:10 (NLT)

But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.

1 Peter 2:9 (NLT)

Back in the day, King Hezekiah was restoring faithfulness to Judah and Jerusalem. He called out to the priests words we can still use as a reminder today:

My dear Levites, do not neglect your duties any longer! The Lord has chosen you to stand in his presence, to minister to him, and to lead the people in worship and make offerings to him.

2 Chronicles 29:11 (NLT)

Sounds a lot like what we’ve been reading in the New Testament, doesn’t it?

Fire insurance is great, but it’s only a very small part of what Christianity is. We’ve been called to so much more. In the Old Testament, the priests reaped the benefits of acting upon their duties. We can do the same. What can be more rewarding than being close to God ourselves and helping others to achieve the same thing?

Let’s not neglect our duties any longer!

Daily Bible reading: 2 Chronicles 29-31, John 18:1-23

Success!

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Growing up in the church, I never ceased to be amazed at the excuses Christians will come up with for their own sin. I’m probably guilty of it myself. You hear things like, “we’re no longer under the law” or “I’m covered by grace”. While those are both true, they are not free passes for us to sin. Many believers are under the impression that, because Jesus came to fulfill the law of Moses, that we have no code to live by.

So then that was Jesus’ ministry for?

We read in the Old Testament of King Hezekiah. Finally, there’s a good one in the bunch.

He remained faithful to the Lord in everything, and he carefully obeyed all the commands the Lord had given Moses. So the Lord was with him, and Hezekiah was successful in everything he did.

1 Kings 18:6-7a (NLT)

Don’t you think we could learn a thing or two from this guy? We can simply believe in Jesus as our Lord and Saviour and basically use our salvation as a Get Out of Hell Free card so we can continue to live our lives however we want or we, like Hezekiah, can obey the Lord and see success in our lives. Shouldn’t the choice be easy?

Rather than the entire book of the law (which is pretty much impossible to follow to the letter), Jesus centred his entire ministry on two commands:

  1. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.
  2. Love your neighbor as yourself.

Matthew 22:37, 39 (NLT)

Love. That’s it. No more excuses! We don’t have a free pass to do what we want when we want. If we dare to call ourselves by the name of Christ, we should strive every moment of every day to live worthy of the name. Jesus is love. We should be love. I believe that the greatest success we can achieve on this side of heaven is to live as Christ. So I will leave you with the words of the apostle Paul:

For I fully expect and hope that I will never be ashamed, but that I will continue to be bold for Christ, as I have been in the past. And I trust that my life will bring honor to Christ, whether I live or die. For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better. But if I live, I can do more fruitful work for Christ…

Philippians 1:20-22 (NLT)

Daily Bible reading: 2 Kings 18-19, John 6:22-44

Never too far

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Have you ever heard someone tell you that they were too far gone for God to accept them? I’ve heard it more times than I’d like to count. My initial reaction is usually anger. Who told that person that they were beyond grace? Who allowed that person to believe that of himself? How did society come so far as to produce a generation who either doesn’t know God or believes they are out of His reach? Then I remember that this is nothing new.

The Old Testament is one story after another of people finding themselves far from God. They get into trouble—deep trouble—and then suddenly remember that there was once a God who saved them from an even worse situation. In 1 Samuel, we once again, find Israel in one of these situations. The Philistines have been picking on them for quite some time and they’ve lost a significant number of troops in battle. They cannot seem to get ahead of their enemy. Finally, as a last resort, they decided to talk to the prophet. Good ole Sam puts them in their place.

Then Samuel said to all the people of Israel, “If you want to return to the Lord with all your hearts, get rid of your foreign gods and your images of Ashtoreth. Turn your hearts to the Lord and obey him alone; then he will rescue you from the Philistines.”

1 Samuel 7:3 (NLT)

The easy thing to do when you feel as though God has a abandoned you is to blame it on God. After all, you’re practically perfect, aren’t you? What could you have possibly done to pull away from God? No, it was Him who turned His back on you. Israel thought like this for generations, but them Samuel takes a stand and tells them like it is. Get rid of the garbage! You’ve been worshipping idols instead of the God who delivered you over and over again. How can you expect Him to save you when you’ve turned to kneeling before objects you yourself made?

Humility can be a difficult lesson to learn. Obviously even Israel, God’s chosen people, had a hard time figuring it out. But the crazy thing is, every single time they repented, God heard them and responded favourably. Never once did God say, “No, you’re on your own this time, kids.”

You are never, ever too far from God. You will never be beyond His reach. Grace will never be the impossible dream.

And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from his love. Death can’t, and life can’t. The angels can’t, and the demons can’t. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, and even the powers of hell can’t keep God’s love away. Whether we are high above the sky or in the deepest ocean, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:38-39 (NLT)

Daily Bible reading: 1 Samuel 7-9, Luke 13:1-21

Burn it

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Israel is a bit of a broken record. Over and over and over again they turn from God, cry out to God, turn from God, cry out to God. It starts to get a little tiresome as we read through the Old Testament, don’t you think?

For those few obedient people, God gives some interesting instructions. But they aren’t only to test the loyalty and faith of the few. There is purpose behind these requests.

That night the Lord said to Gideon, “Take the second bull from your father’s herd, the one that is seven years old. Pull down your father’s altar to Baal, and cut down the Asherah pole standing beside it. Then build and altar to the Lord your God here on this hilltop sanctuary, laying the stones carefully. Sacrifice the bull as a burnt offering on the altar, using as fuel the wood of the Asherah pole you cut down.”

Judges 6:25-26 (NLT)

God could have just told Gideon to build an altar and sacrifice the bull. Surely that would have been sufficient. But the sacrifice wasn’t the only thing God wanted Gideon to accomplish.

By tearing down the altar to Baal and building one to God, a challenge was issued. In the next few verses, we see the people of the tribe incensed over the fact that their altar had been torn down. They were out for blood until Gideon’s father, Joash told the people to let Baal worry about his own altar. Isn’t the god powerful enough to take care of his own place of worship?

By burning the Asherah pole (Asherah was thought to be and was worshipped as the Canaanite creator-god, El’s, wife or consort), Gideon ensured that, once delivered from the Midianites, his people would not easily be able to return to their pagan worship.

Turning from sin wasn’t good enough. We know that after reading so many accounts of Israel’s inability to remain faithful to the one God who had delivered them from slavery. The same principle applies to us. Turning from sin often isn’t enough. After all, it was tempting enough in the first place to draw us in. By simply turning away from it, how can we be sure that we won’t be tempted by it again in the future?

The best thing we can do is take a page out of Gideon’s book. Don’t just turn from sin, tear it down. Burn it. Do whatever we have to in order to rid ourselves not only of the sin, but the temptation to return to it.

Daily Bible reading: Judges 6-7, Luke 8:1-21

Be Excellent to Each Other

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Do you remember what it was like to be trapped in sin? If you were raised in the church, perhaps not. But in some way or another, we were all slaves to sin. We were all bound. We all needed (or possibly still need) salvation.

Now imagine you’re the one in need. You can’t escape from the never ending cycle of fear and faithlessness. Nothing you do seems to make a difference and you are without hope. How would you respond if someone who’d found their salvation looked down on you as though you were scum? Maybe it did happen and, in spite of that person’s opinion of you, you were able to find what you were looking for.

God spends a lot of time in the Old Testament law reminding Israel that they were once slaves. They were once held against their will.

Remember that you were slaves in the land of Egypt. That is why I am giving you this command.

Deuteronomy 24:18 (NLT)

What command did God give? He talked about not going back to glean again once you’ve harvested—leave what’s left for the foreigners, orphans, and widows. Don’t take a man’s cloak as security and keep it overnight lest he be cold in the night. Always use honest scales in trade.

You were once in a similar position of bondage and someone looked upon you, not with disgust, but with grace and mercy. It is our mandate, as the Church to continue that tradition.

Basically, in the words of Bill S. Preston, Esq., be excellent to each other.

Daily Bible reading: Deuteronomy 23-25, Mark 14:51-72

Consequences

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We all have to live with consequences—both good and bad. To every action there is a reaction. Current culture would have us believe that we need only endure the good consequences. The bad ones, well, there’s always a way out.

What would happen if we changed our view of “bad” consequences? What if, rather than avoiding them or pretending they don’t exist, we learned from them?

All through Numbers (and most of the Old Testament), Israel suffered the consequences of their disobedience. Some would say that God was rather harsh with them. Remember that, because of Moses’ pleading, God was not as harsh as He would have been otherwise. Over and over again, Israel, despite being a living, breathing miracle, rebelled against God.

A group of leaders tried to usurp Moses as leader. The earth swallowed them and their families. The rest of that group burned to a crisp. Ten of the twelve men sent to scout the land returned with the (incorrectly assumed) news that they could not take the Promised Land. As a result, they wouldn’t live to see Israel inhabit the land. A man gathered fire wood on the Sabbath. He was taken outside the camp to be stoned to death.

What did all of these things have in common? They all went against what God had already commanded. God wasn’t being a bully, He was simply living by His word. One would think that, after a punishment or two, that Israel would have taken the hint and repented of their evil ways. Unfortunately, we still haven’t learned our lesson. We refuse to look at the consequences of our actions as our own doing.

Society as a whole has adopted the mentality of victims, much like Israel did as they wandered the wilderness. Rather than accept their fault in the matter and work to avoid similar situations in the future, they wandered aimlessly complaining about their hard life. The reality was that they could have obtained the Promised Land in a matter of months after fleeing Egypt. Their disobedience kept them from the promise.

Take a look at the “bad” things in your life. Are they things that have been done to you or are they a result of your own action (or inaction)? Try to avoid getting defensive right away. Really look at yourself. Now, how much can you change by simply adjusting your attitude and correcting your course?

The “bad” things can often serve as good reminders that we’ve veered off course and need a correction.

Daily Bible reading: Numbers 16-17, Mark 6:33-56

The Law of Love

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Do you ever read through the Old Testament and wonder at all the laws, rules, and regulations? Those people had a lot to live up to. And then we think, man, am I glad we don’t have to live like that. But do you every wonder why the Israelites had to live up to such high standards?

Let’s take out all the sacrifices—we know that Jesus came and was the sacrifice to end all sacrifices. What about everything else? Why did God give so many instructions on how to live life?

You’ll note that much of it was practical—don’t do your business among the tents, go away from everyone, dig a hole, and bury it. Makes sense. This kept disease from spreading. The same goes for people with skin rashes and mildew in homes. They were quarantined until considered clean and then there was a process for reintroduction back into society.

God not only set Israel apart to be holy, but He called them apart to be clean—in the literal sense. Canaan, after all, was a land filled with people who had defiled themselves in all manner of ways. Not only were they dirty, they were diseased.

God even gave instructions regarding the crops—Israel wouldn’t be allowed to eat the fruit of the trees they planted until the fifth year. There are several reasons for this, the first being that a new tree will not produce good fruit in its first years. If it is cut back and pruned early on, it will be more productive later. Second, God was deserving of the first fruits—the reason why the fruit of the fourth year belonged to Him. By year five, if the Israelites had followed God’s commands, the fruit would be plentiful and sweet.

God doesn’t give us rules to watch us squirm under the weight of them. He gave the law out of love. All the instructions He gave to Israel were for their own good. For their health. For their prosperity. For their pleasure.

We can have more freedom and be more fruitful within the boundaries God has given to us than we can outside of His love.

Daily Bible reading: Leviticus 18-19, Matthew 27:32-66

Defeated

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One of my favourite Old Testament stories growing up was that of Elijah and the prophets of Baal. Truth be told, it’s still one of my favourites.

If you’re not familiar with it, here’s a little back story: Israel has had a long line of kings each one more evil than the last. The prophets of the Lord have gone into hiding and Elijah was nowhere to be found. The king of the day, Ahab, had married an evil woman, Jezebel, and built her temples and altars for her pagan gods. Israel had turned completely from God.

At the word of God, Elijah makes his return to the king and seeks audience with him. The land has been taken by severe drought and the prophets of Baal have had no success in bringing the much-needed rain. Elijah requests that the pagan prophets be gathered for a contest of sorts.

Once everyone has gathered on Mount Carmel, Elijah lays the ground rules. The prophets of Baal will build an altar and slaughter a bull.Without setting fire to the altar, they will pray that their god consume the offering. Elijah is to do the same.

The prophets of Baal get to work. They shout and call out to their god and cut themselves until the ground around the altar is muddy with blood. At this point, Elijah is obviously amused. He calls out to them and suggests that their god may be on vacation or perhaps taking his time on the toilet. The prophets of Baal pray harder with no result.

Elijah’s turn. He rebuilds the altar to God with twelve stones – one for each tribe of Israel. He sets wood and the slaughtered bull on it. Then he digs a trench. Then he drenches the whole thing with water. Three times. The sacrifice is thoroughly soaked.

Elijah offers a simple prayer:

O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word. Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that you O Lord, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back.

1 Kings 18:36b-37 (ESV)

Fire came down and not only consumed the wood and the bull, but the entire altar and all the water that had been poured on it.

I love that God came in an all-consuming fire. He proved himself to Israel yet again just like He had been doing for centuries.

I sometimes find myself wishing that God would show himself like that again. And then I wonder what the response would be. I doubt it would be met with an entire nation turning to Him. People would be sceptical and assume it to be some sort of trick or hoax.

How then, does God show himself in our generation? What do we have that Israel did not? We have the Holy Spirit living in us. That very same power that brought fire down from Heaven is available to us all the time. Yet we often choose to ignore it and continue to pray for fire much like the prophets of Baal.

If we changed our prayer from the constant pleading for signs and just asked God to show himself real to us in a single moment, how many more people would turn to Him? If we simply obeyed the Word of God and allowed Him to work through us as Elijah did, I imagine we’d me more effective in our own lives and in drawing others to God.

Daily Bible reading: 1 Kings 16-18, John 1:29-51

When your words come true

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Do you believe God’s Word? I mean really believe God’s word? When you pray, do you hope for an answer or do you know the answer is coming? When you read of all God has promised you, do you say, “I’ll just wait and see.” or do you go about your life as though you know you have what He said you have?

In the days of Israel’s constant rebellion, an angel of the Lord appeared to the wife of a man named Manoah. The woman was barren and had no children. The angel came and promised her a son. When the woman told her husband of what had happened, he asked God for confirmation. God sent the angel again.

When the angel told Manoah of the coming child, his response was not of the we’ll-wait-and-see-what-happens variety. His response was:

“Now, when your words come true…”

Judges 13:12 (ESV)

It amazes me, reading through the Old Testament, how many people simply believed God. And this was coming from a nation who constantly turned away from Him! They didn’t have Bibles on their bookshelves. They hadn’t yet received the power of the Holy Spirit. They had intermittent times where judges would rule them, but when those judges died, they went back to their pagan ways.

“When your words come true” should be the close to our believing prayers. When we pray according to God’s Word, there should be no ifs involved, but when.

Daily Bible reading: Judges 12-14; Luke 9:37-62