The Old Testament

 

Over half of the Bible is called 'The Old Testament.' But, if we now have a New Testament, how should we treat the Old?

We could say there are two extremes to how we could look at the Old Testament, one is to reject it completely, the other is to treat it as if it is the rule we should live by. However, neither fits with what the New Testament tells us, so we need to find out how we should treat the Old Testament.

Not only is the 'old covenant' section in our Bible in the Old Testament but also much of the Gospels as well. The dividing point between the old and new covenant is the crucifixion. On the cross, Jesus fulfilled the requirements of the old covenant and established the new with His blood.

In the Gospels, we find Jesus addressing issues of the old covenant Law to those still under the Law. We need to have a careful and healthy understanding of it and how we should treat it.

We are told that all scripture is given for us and for our good. So, we shouldn't reject the old covenant. But we are also told we are not under the Law/old covenant. So, we shouldn't think we need to treat it the way Israel was meant to treat it either.

God's Law, given through Moses, contains 613 commands. We all know 'You shall not commit murder' but as well as this were laws such as not eating pork or shellfish; not mixing linen and wool, and not doing any work on Saturdays. Also, to enter into the covenant of God's Law required the men to be circumcised. However, the Law was given specifically to Israel as a covenant agreement between the nation of Israel and God. He would be their God and they would be His people.

Moreover, it was a national covenant. If the whole nation kept the law then they would come under the blessings. If the law was not being kept even by individuals the whole nation came under the curses. As long as the nation held the rule-breaking individuals to account then they would stay within God's blessing.

These blessings and curses were very specific. They were to do with the fruitfulness and peace in the land God had given to them. A list of the blessings and curses for the nation of Israel can be found in Leviticus 26. They include:

Blessings: 

• Productivity and fruitfulness of the land (Lev 26:3-5 & 10)
• Peace in the land from enemies and wild animals (Lev 26:6-8)
• God will keep his covenant promises (Lev 26:9)
• God will dwell with His people (Lev 26:11-13)
  

Curses:

It's important to see that the curses were not just punishments they were also warnings. These warnings increased in severity. They were signs to the people that they had turned from God and from keeping His covenant/Law. (Warning, it is grim reading).

1. Defeated and tormented by enemies: Terror, consumption and fever, their enemies will eat their crops, they will be struck before their enemies. Those who hate them will rule over them, and they will flee when no one pursues them. (Lev 26:16-17)
2. Crop failure: If they continue against God, His punishment will increase sevenfold. He will break the pride of their power; weather and crops will fail. (Lev 26:18-20)
3. No protection against wild animals: If they still walk contrary to God, He will bring seven times more plagues according to their sins. Wild animals will rob them of their children, destroy their livestock, and make them few in number. (Lev 26:21-22)
4. Enemy occupation and starvation: If these things won’t turn them back to God, He will strike them seven times for their sins. They will be gathered together within their cities, and God will send pestilence among them. They will be delivered into the hand of the enemy. There will be a food shortage and they will go hungry. (Lev 26:23-26)
5. Starvation, cannibalism, and exile into slavery: If, in spite of all that has gone before they still won’t listen to God, He will again punish them seven times for their sins. They will be so hungry they will eat their own children. God will destroy the places of idol worship. He will destroy their cities and reject their offerings. The land will be so destroyed even their enemies will be astonished by it. They will be exiled from the land, and the land will be empty. They will become cowards with no fight left in them. They will become slaves in the land of their enemies and die there. (Lev 26:27-39)
   

An example

After Joshua and the Israelites defeated Jerico, they started losing the next battle. Joshua fell on his face and started asking why God had not given them victory. But, he should have known: the answer is in the Law. It was not a case of God abandoning them. They had turned against God and therefore the warning curses had begun. 

'So about three thousand men of the people went up there, and they fled before the men of Ai. The men of Ai struck about thirty-six men of them. They chased them from before the gate even to Shebarim, and struck them at the descent. The hearts of the people melted, and became like water.

Joshua tore his clothes, and fell to the earth on his face before Yahweh’s ark until the evening, he and the elders of Israel; and they put dust on their heads. Joshua said, “Alas, Lord Yahweh, why have you brought this people over the Jordan at all, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to cause us to perish? I wish that we had been content and lived beyond the Jordan! Oh, Lord, what shall I say, after Israel has turned their backs before their enemies? For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it, and will surround us, and cut off our name from the earth. What will you do for your great name?”

God said to Joshua, “Get up! Why have you fallen on your face like that? Israel has sinned. Yes, they have even transgressed my covenant which I commanded them. Yes, they have even taken some of the devoted things, and have also stolen, and also deceived. They have even put it among their own stuff.' Joshua 7:4-11

Notice how God responds. Looking back at the first of the curses, it says they will be struck before their enemies. God is effectively saying, 'Look, Joshua, it should be obvious to you!'

Notice also that it says, 'they' have sinned. It turned out that one man had taken something God had specifically told them not to take. This is how the warning worked. When the nation is under the curse, it means someone is going against God. That may seem harsh, but every person had accepted the terms of the covenant. The solution was to find the person who was breaking God's covenant.

We have not signed this covenant

There are people today who like to try and say that these curses are on us today. People will always do this. But this covenant was made specifically with Israel. A covenant is a legal agreement between two people/s. Every Israelite had agreed to the covenant. How can a righteous God judge a country today by the rules of His covenant with Israel when the people have not agreed to the terms of the covenant? That would not be righteous. No, if you want to see how God is judging our sin today, look at the cross. Jesus died for our sin, he took the punishment and judgement that was due to us. There will be a judgement to come for those who reject Jesus, but that is not now. 

'Now is the day of God's favour. Now is the day of salvation.' 2 Cor 6:2b

Bad things happen today partly as a natural consequence of living in a fallen world as well as mistreating and abusing things. But also, Jesus said that the enemy comes to kill, steal and destroy whereas He has come to give us a fullness of life.

We should look for direct cause and effect. For example, if I play with fire and my fingers get burned, that is a natural consequence. It is a direct cause and effect. 

If we look for things that are not directly linked and call them spiritual curses then that is superstition. Like breaking a mirror and expecting seven years of bad luck. It's easy to see bad things happening, we live in a fallen world and bad things happen all the time. As well as that human beings have an amazing ability to see connections between things, most of which aren't actually there! Here are some daft things we say without realising:

• Bad things come in threes (How long before the next three start? Surely bad things just come)
• Everything happens for a reason!
• People get what's coming to them.
• Kharma.
  

Seeing connections between things is how we solve everyday problems. It's how we have developed technology, medicine and things like that. Like any great skill and ability we have, it can be used positively or negatively. For good or for bad. Think about the people who were accused of witchcraft because people saw connections that weren't there and came to strange conclusions.

How do we know right from wrong without the Law?

So, if we are not under God's Law, that still leaves us with the question - how do we know it's wrong to commit murder if we remove the law?! The answer is simple - do you need a law to tell you murder is wrong? Surely you know that already! As well as this, God says He will write His laws on our hearts. His new covenant laws are simple, believe in Jesus and love one another as He has loved us. And murdering people isn't generally seen as loving!

'This is His commandment, that we should believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, even as He commanded.' 1 John 3:23

The new is different to the old

The new commandment is the other way around:

• The old covenant was - keep my commands (613 laws) in order to be blessed. 
• The new covenant is - keep my commands (believe in Jesus and love as He has loved you) because you have been blessed.
  

Under the law, we would have to do all that the law requires in order to love according to God's 613 point checklist. Under grace, we love because we are loved and the way we are loved. Aren't you glad you are under grace, not law?!

It is not pick n mix

In case you think the new is simply added to the old, or maybe we pick and choose from the old and add it to the new, we are told the old is obsolete:

'By calling this covenant “new,” God has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear.' Heb 8:13

The fact that the 'old' is still here, doesn't stop it from being obsolete and outdated.

The way we know God's desire is not from the Law, it is from renewing our minds: 

'Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service. Don’t be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what is the good, well-pleasing, and perfect will of God.' Rom 12:1-2

Actually, Romans 12:1 begins 'Therefore.' To understand the 'Therefore' we need to understand what has gone before in the previous eleven chapters. To sum that up Paul has spent the first eleven chapters spelling out that we are under grace, not law! If we will renew our thinking away from the world's way of thinking that everything is solved by laws, rules and regulations and onto God's grace, then we will know what God's will is. This takes a self-sacrifice of rejecting our natural inclination, firstly to cling to rules and secondly to go with what everyone else is doing!

How do I stop sinning without the Law?

The next issue might be: how do we stop sinning if we don't have a checklist? Question: How are you doing with a checklist? Is the checklist stopping you from sinning? 

'The Law came in so that the transgression would increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more,' Rom 5:20 

'But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of coveting.' Rom 7:8a

The Bible tells us that the Law actually causes sin to increase. When we sit with our checklist and walk around saying, 'I mustn't do that.' We become sin focused. It's like the saying, 'Don't think about pink elephants!' Until you hear it you weren't thinking about pink elephants. Nothing was further from your mind. OK, so we sin regardless of whether we read it in the Law. But the point is, the Law cannot stop you from sinning. 

The Law is like a mirror. We look into it and it shows the sin in ourlives but cannot actually do anything about our sin. I can look into a mirror to see whether I have a black smudge on my face, but I can't clean it off with the mirror. I need soap and water. In the same way, we need something to wash away our sin, the Law cannot do this. Only Jesus' death can do this.

‘But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.’ 1 Cor 6:11b

The Law can only condemn, it can only point out our sin and accuse us:

'For what the law couldn’t do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God did, sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh; that the ordinance of the Law would be fulfilled in us,' Rom 8:3-4a

We are under grace not Law; so, if we want to stop sinning, we need to look to grace not Law. 

'For sin will not have dominion over you. For you are not under Law, but under grace.' Rom 6:14 

The language used is of ownership. Who's your boss? Is it Law, are you obeying the law? No, it's grace. We do what grace says. Grace teaches us to say no to sin:

'For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all, teaching us to say 'No' to ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present age; looking for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that he would redeem us from all iniquity, and purify for Himself a people for his own possession, zealous for good works.' Titus 2:11-14

So, what happens if we try to serve two masters? What happens if we try to mix Law and grace?:

'You are alienated from Christ, you who desire to be justified by the Law. You have fallen away from grace.' Gal 5:4

You can't have both!

Isn't 'Not under law' going to be read as 'Lawlessness?'

The next problem comes with being concerned about how other people will understand being freed from God's Law. That's not really our concern; that's between them and God. If someone wants to read, 'freed from the Law' as 'lawlessness' kidding ourselves we live by God's Law isn't going to change them!

There are a lot of questions people ask that begin, 'I'm not worried for me, I'm worried for other people!' Each of us will give an account for ourselves. Jesus is the shepherd. Let Him care for His sheep. And if you are sure in yourself that you are OK but everyone else isn't, that's something you need to seek God about. The answer isn't that you put them under bondage of the Law.

Who is keeping the Law?

We say that Jesus is the only person to have ever kept God's Law. Since that is true then no one else has ever managed to keep God's Law. So, who can teach that we should/must keep God's Law? There is no one qualified to teach that.

'You therefore who teach another, don’t you teach yourself? You who preach that a person shouldn’t steal, do you steal? You who say a person shouldn’t commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who glory in the Law, do you dishonor God by disobeying the Law?' Rom 2:21-23

The issue here is not whether we teach a high standard. The issue is why we teach it. As I have hopefully shown, God's Law is firstly a complete package deal of 613 commands. It was given to Israel. It was fulfilled at the cross.

The issue is that God's Law means - do right in order to be blessed and punishment if you do wrong. Grace means do right because you have been blessed.

'Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,' Eph 1:3

So, we are not trying to earn God's favour by what we do. We already have God's favour. This is the bit we need to really consider and grasp:

One, since we have God's favour as a free gift then how can we teach people they need to do things to get it? Doesn't the church generally teach that grace means the unearned/unmerited/undeserved favour/blessing of God?

Two, since we have God's favour, then we should let that sink in and rejoice. A constant theme of the New Testament is rejoice and be thankful. It is not rejoice and be thankful or else God will beat you and throw you into a pit. It is rejoice and be thankful because when you fully accept what God has done for you - you will burst if you don't.

Reading the New Testament

The New Testament speaks very strongly on our freedom from God's Law. Paul, Peter, James and John were all very well aware of what living under God's strict Law meant. If we think we even come close to it today we are kidding ourselves.

The earliest letters in the New Testament addressed a few false teachings that had crept into the churches. The later letters addressed even more. Most of these 'heresies' were rules that people were bringing in. Many were rules that people carried over from the Law.

The beauty of the Old Testament helps us to understand the New. If we love God, then we get to see how God loved Israel and kept His promises with them. Much of what is written in the New Testament, comes from an understanding of the Old.

The New Testament did not wipe the slate clean and start again. The Old Testament is quoted around 850 times throughout the New Testament. But neither did it pick and choose bit's from the Old and mash them together with the New. As the Bible tells us, it is called New for a reason!

I have been trying very hard to think of a simple analogy that shows the relationship between the Old and the New as well as the separation. The 'why' we can and should still appreciate the Old without it being what we live by.

The best analogy is almost offensive to us, and that is exactly the problem people had with the new covenant in the New Testament itself. So, that would kind of tell us we are on the right path. But it is also an analogy that Jesus used.

In the Old Testament, people had to work hard to gather the ingredients to make their own bread. They mixed it and baked it themselves. That bread would soon go off if it wasn't eaten. Also, they would soon get hungry again and need more bread. However, Jesus said he is the bread of life. He is all the ingredients gathered, mixed and baked. It is all done for us. He doesn't go off, and we will not get hungry again and need more bread.

If we want to know just how much Jesus has done for us, then the Old shows us what people had to do for themselves. We can know it is still done, but not by us, it is complete in Jesus.

The New Testament is telling us just how much of the Old is done/complete/finished/fulfilled in Him. How would we know what is done/complete/finished/fulfilled without the Old?

In Short, the Old Testament outlined the task God's redeemer had to undertake. The New Testament shows how He accomplished it, fully.

Did God Change?

There are people who say things like, 'God was full of wrath in the Old Testament and changed to be a loving God in the New.'

If we take the time to look, God is just as loving in the Old as in the New. One of God's divine qualities is that he doesn't change

'God is not a man, that He should lie,
    nor a son of man, that He should repent.
Has He said, and He won’t do it?
    Or has He spoken, and He won’t make it good?' Num 23:19

 'For I, Yahweh, do not change; therefore you, sons of Jacob, are not consumed.' Mal 3:6

'Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation, nor turning shadow.' James 1:17

It wasn't that God changed. God promised a redeemer and provided a redeemer. Access to God has always been by faith. No one was ever saved because of the Law, only ever by faith in God. What has changed is that God removed the barrier between us through his promised redeemer, Jesus.

The Veil was torn from top to bottom

There is something very significant to notice, and that is in regard to people coming close to God. In the Old Testament, if someone were to come close to the presence of God, they would die. Not because God is vengeful, but because the person is unclean because of their sin.

In the Old Testament God made His dwelling among the people in the most holy place in the Temple. (Sometimes called the holy of holies.) Even if the high priest were to enter the most holy place when it wasn't the appointed time he would die. However, in the New Testament, we are told  that we are now the Temple of God. That is not figuratively speaking only about the Church. That is saying that the Holy Spirit dwells in each one of us. We are individually and collectively the Temple of God.

We so often overlook this simple point and take it for granted. It isn't that God has changed, it is that God removed the barrier at the appointed time. Jesus' death meant that there was no longer a separation between us and God. The book of Hebrews tells us to 'draw near with boldness.' Even on the appointed day, the high priest would draw near with trembling for fear the offering would be rejected.

This one truth should blow our minds. It should cause in us such outbursts of thanksgiving and praise. It should make us realise just what a great work Jesus has done for us. This is why the term, 'The Good News' was used.

It is not Good News as in "it's not raining!" When two areas were at war, runners would come back with reports on how well the battle was going. The phrase 'the Good News' or 'The Gospel' comes from a term used to say the battle is over, we have the victory. If they had lost the battle they most likely would have been made the slaves of those who defeated them, at best.

We can hear that in The Gospel - the battle is over, victory has been won, we will not be slaves and will not be destroyed.

How should we treat the Old Testament?

Without the Old Testament, we would be clueless about just what Jesus has done for us.

There is so much more in the Old Testament as well, for example, there are lots of descriptive passages about God's character. There are lots of prophecies, some of which are yet to be fulfilled. There is a lot of poetry and wisdom.

We do not reject the Old Testament, neither do we use it as our rule for life as Israel was meant to. As far as the Law is concerned, we use it to see what we have been set free from and what work Jesus has done for us. As far as everything else is concerned it is there for our benefit. In many ways, if we have the right attitude to the Old Testament it will lead us to worship God through thanksgiving and praise.

When I say we have been set free from the Law, we need to realise that, firstly, there are a lot more commandments than murder, theft, lying and adultery. Like not eating pork or shellfish. Am I saying murder is OK? Of course not. We are under a national law that says murder is wrong and we are under a law that says we are to love one another as Jesus has loved us. The last time I checked, murder wasn't considered very loving, and Jesus didn't murder anyone. The aspects of the Law we need to realise we have been set free from are the punishments and curse. What is a law that doesn't come with punishment? Jesus took our punishment. So the Law is a guard dog without teeth for us. Therefore, we can keep the law in terms of not murdering without being 'under the Law.'

The Law is a reflection of God's character. We could think of it in the same way we might think of a tree. When we look at Jesus in the New Testament it is like looking at a tree. Many people are content with just admiring the beauty of the tree and enjoying its shade. However, if you were to study trees and you didn't include the roots, you are only getting half the story.

Psalm 19:7-8 encourages us to make the most of the Old Testament:

'7 The LORD’s law is perfect, restoring the soul,
The LORD’s covenant is sure, making wise the simple.
8 The LORD’s precepts are right, rejoicing the heart.
The LORD’s commandment is pure, enlightening the eyes.'
Psalm 19:7-8