Cherishing The Old

How much do you know about the Old Testament?

Sometimes, as a Christian, it feels as though I pay an awful lot of attention to the New Testament, but quite a bit less to what came before. There are obvious reasons for this, of course: the Old Testament is, well, hard. It takes some doing to fully understand its passages, to grasp the laws passed down from God to the children of Israel.

So we listen to the stories of the Old Testament -- maybe even read them -- but then just sort of skim over the rest. But how much of the message of the New Testament are we missing, when we fail to provide ourselves the context of the Old?

Today is "Cherish An Antique" Day. I'm something of a technofile, and a lover of antiques as well. For me, antiques aren't merely pretty pieces of furniture or collectors' items -- but a look at History. Through exploring and understanding the technology of the past, for example, we gain a greater understanding -- and appreciation -- of what we have today.

In the same way, the Old Testament is the first part of the Gospel story. Reading only the New Testament is like watching a sequel without ever having seen Part 1: we can get a basic idea of what's going on -- but to get a full picture, we really need to pop in that first DVD and see what happened before.

We call Jesus our Messiah, but do we really understand the implications? We would if we studied the Old Testament. For example, the prophecies concerning the Messiah -- the authority by which Jesus claimed to be who He was -- are to be found there.

Just as importantly, the laws of the Living God are to be found in the Old Testament. As Paul reminds us in Romans 3:20, "through the Law (that is, the Jewish Scripture -- the Old Testament) we become conscious of our sin."

And it is in understanding that we find appreciation. By knowing we're in danger, we can seek and hold onto the Hand that rescues us.

And more still, we love the Old Testament because it, too, is the very Word of God. David gives praise to God for His Word in Psalm 119:

Oh, how I love your law!
    I meditate on it all day long. 
Your commands are always with me
    and make me wiser than my enemies. 
I have more insight than all my teachers,
    for I meditate on your statutes. 
I have more understanding than the elders,
    for I obey your precepts. 
I have kept my feet from every evil path
    so that I might obey your word. 
I have not departed from your laws,
    for you yourself have taught me. 
 How sweet are your words to my taste,
    sweeter than honey to my mouth! 
 I gain understanding from your precepts;
    therefore I hate every wrong path. (vs. 97-104)

Shouldn't we, who claim to love our God, do likewise?

By the way, if you'd like to get into the Old Testament with greater depth, my friend and coworker Duane Matz has a series of devotionals, looking closely at the Old Testament, verse by verse.

  

Thy Deep and Dreamless Sleep

My children and I have started reading the Bible together before they go to bed. Because of the season, we decided to start in the book of Matthew. Yesterday was the first part of Matthew 2. I was struck, as we read, by how much the Chief Priests and Teachers of the Law really knew about their coming Messiah. After the wise men from the East visited Herod, the king called all these teachers together and asked from where this Messiah was to come.

⁵ “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written: ⁶ “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
    are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
    who will shepherd my people Israel.’

Given the wholeheartedness with which these same priests and teachers later rejected that same Messiah, I often forget they, too, had read the prophecies. In fact, these men were extremely well-versed. They knew the prophecies of the Messiah backwards and forwards. They knew them so well that, when Herod asked a specific question about them, these men were prepared with a specific answer. 

And yet, in spite of this -- in spite of the man Jesus humbly meeting every requirement set forth in these prophecies -- these great teachers of the Law didn't recognize Him. You see, there was prophecy, and then there was expectation. The nation of Israel expected -- and indeed still expects -- an earthly King, to pull them away from their troubles, to make them great among all nations.

And He will. But first, He came to bridge the gap between man and God. He came, as Isaiah said, to bear our iniquity, and be wounded and killed as a sacrifice. He will come as a King, but came first as a man of sorrow. 

It seems to me these teachers and priests were perfectly willing to allow their Messiah to be that man of sorrow, so long as he wore the Crown of Israel. But what God says He will do, He will do, our own preferences aside.

The Messiah did indeed come to Bethlehem, a ruler and Shepherd, not only for Israel, but for, as Paul reminds us in Romans 3, "all who believe." 

The promised Messiah came out of that little town of Bethlehem, in the land of Judah. The question is, will you recognize Him?