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Poetic Examples Of Safety In The Scriptures

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Psalm 16 is instructive in that it opens with a plea for safety:

Keep me safe, O God,
for in you I take refuge. (v.1)1

This is a general plea for regular safekeeping in the hands of the Lord. As Alexander adds: “The Psalmist calls upon himself to remember his own solemn acknowledgement of Jehovah as the Lord or Supreme God.”2 As such, he is the supreme source of goodness and happiness. Although encased in a Davidic psalm, the psalmist’s plea for God’s safe keeping is a general one. It stands as a remembrance that, in the ultimate sense, only the Lord is the sure and confident hope for safety in all phases of the believer’s life. Thus, in another psalm, David records God’s own words that He is available for the believer’s protection

Because of the oppression of the weak
and the groaning of the needy,
“I will now arise,” says the LORD,
“I will protect them from those who malign them.” (Ps. 12:5)

Therefore, the psalmist’s can confidently proclaim:

O LORD, you will keep us safe
and protect us … forever. (v. 7)

Such can be seen in Asaph’s psalm:

O my people, hear my teaching;
listen to the words of my mouth (Ps. 78:1)

So it was that David could say:

In the day of trouble
He will keep me safe in his dwelling. (Ps. 27:5)

He would later declare:

How great is your goodness
which you have stored up for those who fear you,
which you bestow in the sight of men,
on those who take refuge in you. (Ps. 31:19-21)

Earlier, though he was in the midst of a time of trouble, David could confidently testify:

Many are asking, “Who can show us any good?”
Let the light of your face shine upon us, O LORD.
You have filled my heart with greater joy
than when the grain and new wine abound
I will lie down and sleep in peace
for you alone, O LORD,
make we dwell in safety. (Ps. 4:6-8)

David’s closing remark here can be realized in many of a believer’s experiences, for God is ever with him.3

The figures of safe and safety occur many times in the biblical book of Proverbs. There we even read of such matters as: “Whoever refuses to strike hands in pledge is safe.” (Pr. 11:15) The term “safety” occurs often; for example, that love and faithfulness lead to safety (Pr. 20:28). In Proverbs 28:18, 26 we are reminded that a person’s “walk” (or conduct in life) can give a display of his wisdom or lack thereof:

He whose walk is blameless is kept safe,
but he whose ways are perverse will certainly fall.

…….

He who trusts in himself is a fool,
but who walks in wisdom is kept safe.

In another Proverb readers are reminded of the value of representing the Lord properly, which every believer needs to do:

The name of the LORD is a strong tower;
the righteous run to it and are safe. (Pr. 18:10)

Indeed, basic to the obtaining of true safety is the need to trust solely in the Lord: “Whoever trusts in the LORD is kept safe” (Pr. 29:25), and be saturated in the sound teaching of the Scriptures (cc. Pr. 1:33; 3:23).

What does all of this strive to impress on our mind and manner of life? Simply put, by learning God’s teaching in the Scriptures, “the man whose confidence is Yahweh is guaranteed a sure footing .”4 As the hymn writer declares:

May the mind of Christ, My Savior, Live in me from day to day,
By His love and pow’r controlling, All I do and say.
May the Word of God dwell richly in my heart from hour to hour,
So that all may see I triumph, Only thru’ His pow’r.5


1 All Scripture references are from the NIV.

2 Joseph A. Alexander, Commentary on Psalms, (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1991), 73.

3 See further, Franz Delitzsch’s Biblical Commentary on the Psalms, (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1955), I:118..

4 William McKane, Proverbs, (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1970), 298,

5 K.H. Wilkinson, May the Mind of Christ, My Savior, vv. 1-2̣

Related Topics: Devotionals

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1. Character

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**The audio for this article is in two parts, click here for part 1 and here for part 2.**

 

People generally don’t like being called “Dummies.” And yet how can we explain the overwhelming success of a series of books aimed at dummies? Beginning with the November 1991 publication of DOS for Dummies, the series now has more than 100 million books in print, dealing with everything from exercise and nutrition to managing finances to planning a European vacation.

From the very beginning, the concept was simple but powerful: Relate to the anxiety and frustration that people feel about technology by making fun of it through books that are educational and humorous – books that make difficult material interesting and easy. Throw in a dash of personality and some entertaining cartoons and – presto – you have a …For Dummies book!

The Old Testament book of Proverbs does much the same thing (minus the cartoons). It takes the timeless wisdom of God and makes it easy to understand for regular people with no theological training. You could call the book of Proverbs Wisdom for Dummies.

The Old Testament proverbs were collected and written down to help us make one of the most vital and basic choices in life – the choice between wisdom and folly, walking with God or walking on our own. In the book of Proverbs both wisdom and folly are described as people who walk through the streets of the city and call out to us, hawking their wares and beckoning us to taste a sample (Proverbs 1).

Solomon, who is credited with authoring the book of Proverbs, provides us with an excellent jumping off point for developing the character qualities essential to good leadership:

My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. He holds victory in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones.

Then you will understand what is right and just and fair – every good path. For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you.

Proverbs 2:1-11

Leaders cultivate character by acquiring wisdom and understanding. Of course, those possessions don’t come without a price. They require the kind of dedicated and patient labor exercised in mining for gold and silver. Leaders must diligently “search” for the wisdom that is buried within God’s Word like treasure covered by layers of earth and rock. That means using the right tools and exercising patience and diligence as we spend time immersed within this life-changing book. As Marjorie Thompson writes, “It would be nice if we could simply ‘practice the presence of God’ in all of life, without expending energy on particular exercises. But the capacity to remember and abide in God’s presence comes only through steady training.”1 You cannot pay someone else to develop your character strength any more than you can pay them to develop muscles for you. If you want to grow stronger, you will have to push the weight yourself.

Neither can you expect to have a muscular character overnight. It requires effort and time. Douglas J. Rumford says, “Character is like physical exercise or any form of learning; you cannot ‘cram,’ hoping to do in a day or week what can only be accomplished by months and years of consistent practice.”2 This is why the writer of Proverbs uses words that call his readers to energetic and passionate action.

As we dig, we must ask God to provide us with insight and understanding. Ultimately, only God can open our eyes to see spiritual truth and then enable us to apply that truth to our lives (Ephesians 1:18). As God fills our minds with wisdom, our character will develop so that we’ll possess the ability to consistently make right choices – choices that are just, fair and moral. As Henry Blackaby and Claude King note in their book Experiencing God:

Once you come to believe God, you demonstrate your faith by what you do. Some action is required…. You cannot continue life as usual or stay where you are, and go with God at the same time…. To go from your ways, thoughts, and purposes to God’s will always requires a major adjustment. God may require adjustments in your circumstances, relationships, thinking, commitments, actions, and beliefs. Once you have made the necessary adjustments you can follow God in obedience. Keep in mind – the God who calls you is also the One who will enable you to do His will.3

As we seek to possess God’s wisdom, we’ll be able to move beyond simply expressing the vision and values of a leader. We’ll possess the kind of character from which lofty visions and values flow, the kind of character that isn’t swayed by public opinion or fear but pursues true greatness and knows Who the real audience is. Our character will be truly godly, so that others will delight in following us.

God: He’s Quite a Character!

Think about the people you know and admire. Do you know any wise parents, mothers and fathers who demonstrate sound judgment in how they conduct their lives and raise their children? Do you know any grandparents who know when to cheer and when to rebuke, when to be tender and when to use force? Have you ever had a teacher who knew when to give advice and when to just listen, when to instruct and when to let life’s consequences be the teacher? Now try to put a value on those wise insights. How much are they worth?

We all esteem people who possess wisdom in their inward character. If we admire these quality people, how much more should we value the perfection of the living God from whom all wisdom, patience and discernment is derived?

When Moses asked God to reveal his glory to him, the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence” (Exodus 33:18-19). God had to shield Moses from the fullness of his glory by covering him in the cleft of a rock, and as he passed in front of Moses, God accompanied this awesome display by proclaiming the perfection of his own character:

And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.”

Exodus 34:6-7

When God revealed himself as the compassionate and gracious God who is slow to anger, who abounds in love and faithfulness, who maintains love to thousands and who forgives wickedness, rebellion and sin, he made it clear this his personal character is the absolute standard by which all of these qualities are defined. God is accountable to no one, and there is no higher standard to which he must conform. As the great thinker Anselm said in the 11th century: “God is that than which nothing greater can be conceived.”

Anselm originally made this statement in an attempt to prove God’s existence. But as Michael Witmer points out,

The real legacy of Anselm’s argument is not its attempt to prove God’s existence but rather how it teaches us to speak about God. If God is “that than which nothing greater can be conceived,” then we know there are certain things we must say about him. For starters, we must use only our best words to describe him. God must be righteous, powerful, loving, and kind – all the things that it is better to be than not to be. We may disagree about what items should go in the list…but we all agree that the list must include all the great-making properties we can imagine….

God is qualitatively superior to anything in his creation. There is nothing that compares with the greatest possible being. He is in a class by himself – literally.4

God’s own eternal and uncompromising character is the unchanging standard that gives ultimate meaning to love, graciousness, faithfulness and forbearance. And yet the incredible call of the gospel is that fallen creatures such as we are can now begin to reflect our Father’s character in our own lives. The One who is goodness in his essence, the One who defines virtue by his very being, promises to empower those who will trust him enough to live according to his will.

Character from the Inside Out

People are not impressed by façades or manipulation, but by authenticity and by those who are genuinely other-centered. Character is not a matter of outward technique but of inner reality. God is concerned with what you are really like when no one else is looking. Douglas Rumford, in discussing the sad situation of a Christian leader who lost his ministry due to sexual misconduct, explains that this kind of thing is bound to happen when we allow a “character gap” to develop in our lives. He writes,

The character gap is a weakness that will one day become apparent, when the circumstances or stresses of life converge and reach a breaking point. We may be able to coast for a while, and we may feel quite secure. But raw talent, personality, and fortunate circumstances cannot substitute for the forging of inner holiness, resilience, and the convictions that comprise integrity of character.5

Second Peter 1:5-8 lists the qualities of life and godliness that God wants for each of his children:

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The character qualities listed in these verses are admirable, but they are also overwhelming. We may aspire to these characteristics, but is it really possible for us to attain them? The answer, both from Scripture and from sheer human experience, is a resounding, “No!” In our own strength, this kind of character is not merely difficult to attain; it is impossible to attain.

If it were simply a matter of fitful human effort, the attempt would be futile. So what are we to do? Shall we simply throw up our hands and walk away from the text, claiming that it makes impossible requests? That would be foolish. What we should do is pay attention to the context into which Peter wrote those words.

The sentences just prior (2 Peter 1:3-4) provide the necessary key: In Christ we have been permitted to access God’s divine power and have been granted the incomprehensible privilege of participating “in the divine nature.” There is only one person who is able to live the Christlike life: Jesus Christ himself. You cannot live the life he calls you to without him (John 15:5). Only as you maintain your connection to him can he live this life through you. As Martin Luther said, “It is not imitation which brings about our sonship of God, but our sonship which makes possible imitation.”6 We have not only received a new nature in Christ (Romans 6:6-13), but we are also indwelled by the Holy Spirit, whose power within us makes it possible for us to manifest these qualities of Christlike character.

True spiritual and character transformation takes place from the inside out, not from the outside in. The attributes of faith, goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness and love flow from the life of Christ that has been implanted within us.

Peter: A Case Study in Character

It’s easy to read Peter’s inspirational words and wonder, “Who writes this stuff? Where do people with such ideals and insights come from?” Well, the man who wrote those inspiring words, the man who exhorted us on to such strength of character, didn’t always live up to those same ideals.

The man who called himself “a witness of Christ’s sufferings” (1 Peter 5:1) was not there when Jesus was hanging on the cross; he was hiding in fear. The man who calls us to be “eager to serve” (1 Peter 5:2) remained seated while Jesus washed the disciples’ feet. The man who tells us that we should “be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray” (1 Peter 4:7) fell asleep while Jesus was sweating blood. The man who so boldly tells us to “submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every authority instituted among men” (1 Peter 2:13) lopped Malchus’ ear off in the Garden (John 18:10-11).

None of this is meant to demean Peter. The point here is to give us hope. This man Peter, who was so impulsive and immature, grew into a great leader of the church. The Peter we read about in the four Gospels became the Peter we read about in the book of Acts and the Peter who wrote two epistles. It took time and effort, but God transformed him. And the same Holy Spirit who worked this transformation in Peter’s life is actively at work transforming those of us who have placed our faith in Christ.

The Gospels leave the reader with two impressions of Peter. The first is that he was at times a comically impulsive character. Twice he jumped out of perfectly seaworthy boats, fully clothed. He challenged Jesus; he spoke out of turn; at times, he seemed to demonstrate more energy and creativity than was appropriate for the moment. But it is that very energy and creativity that underlie the second impression of Peter.

Peter was the disciples’ unofficial leader. He often served as their spokesperson. He was one of the three disciples in Jesus’ “inner circle.” Certainly after Jesus’ departure, the disciples looked to Peter to give them direction. Luke’s record of the church’s early years (the book of Acts) leaves no doubt about Peter’s leadership.

This seemingly conflicting combination of qualities exists in many young leaders and may be identified by a term such as “high mental energy.” Peter was always thinking, and he always thought with a view toward action. When he heard “question,” he immediately thought “answer.” When he observed “problem,” he thought “solution.” When he encountered “options,” he thought “decision.” But he also demonstrated the unfortunate side of that same characteristic. When he heard “silence,” he thought “talk.” When he encountered “disagreement,” he thought “challenge.” “Error” (or at least Peter’s perception of error) sparked “correction.” But whatever the situation, at the very least he did think, and his thinking inevitably led to action.

In his younger years Peter exercised little constraint, and his answers, solutions, decisions and speech sometimes seemed buffoonish. At times his behavior was perceived as insensitive, unconsidered and immature. But like many great leaders, Peter survived himself. With Jesus’ guidance, Peter’s fertile and active mind matured. Through all of his experiences he developed a more-godly, Christlike character. This maturity led his thinking process into more productive channels. He collected, sorted and connected information. He honed his reasoning skills. Peter became a leader because he was not afraid to make a decision. And his godly character informed the decisions he made.

Anyone serving under a leader who suffers “paralysis by analysis” will appreciate Peter’s quick response time. Anyone working in an organization in which “decision by indecision” is the rule understands why people were drawn to Peter. As we follow Peter’s life through the Gospels and then hear his mature voice resonate throughout his two epistles, we appreciate this optimistic, energetic, highly intelligent man of action and deep character. In fact, the Gospel of Mark, which many believe Peter dictated to Mark, is the Gospel that portrays Jesus as a man of action and urgency. The Greek word translated “immediately” is used 42 times in Mark’s 16 chapters.

When the church was on the move, when both the Roman and Jewish leaders were opposing it, when Christians were being martyred for their faith, someone needed to make quick, Spirit-led decisions. And we can only imagine the kinds of issues that could have splintered this frail organization when the church leaped over its cultural boundaries to include Greek-speaking Jews, then Samaritans, then local Gentiles, then Asians and Greeks and Romans. Because Peter was a leader whose ego could endure the threat of disagreement, challenge or even a bad decision, he was not afraid to act. He was not careless, nor did he deal frivolously with critical matters. His godly character wouldn’t allow that. But he was not afraid to move, and under his leadership the church got things done. Peter was a leader who made decisions that mattered.

Loving Your Way to Good Character

It’s amazing what God can do with a person who wants to grow personally and develop character. The great news is that God wants you to grow as much as you can. He redeemed you for that purpose. To discover the lengths to which God will go to forge steel into our character, let’s walk through the smelting furnace along with Peter.

This man had denied Jesus at a critical time; yet later in his life he suffered beatings, imprisonment and eventually death rather than to deny him again. We all know that such character is not developed in a single event. We know that Jesus’ resurrection had a profound influence on Peter’s character transformation. But the manner in which Jesus helped Peter to recover from the worst failure of his life should afford us great encouragement about asking the same Lord Jesus to help us to develop strength of character as well.

Now Peter was sitting out in the courtyard, and a servant girl came to him. “You also were with Jesus of Galilee,” she said.

But he denied it before them all. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said.

Then he went out to the gateway, where another girl saw him and said to the people there, “This fellow was with Jesus of Nazareth.”

He denied it again, with an oath: “I don’t know the man!”

After a little while, those standing there went up to Peter and said, “Surely you are one of them, for your accent gives you away.”

Then he began to call down curses on himself and he swore to them, “I don’t know the man!”

Immediately a rooster crowed. Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken: “Before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly.

Matthew 26:69-75

To discover just what this event represented to Peter, perhaps we should go back and read a passage from earlier in the same chapter:

Then Jesus told them, “This very night you will all fall away on account of me….

Peter replied, “Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will.”

“I tell you the truth,” Jesus answered, “this very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.”

But Peter declared, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.” And all the other disciples said the same.

Matthew 26:31a, 33-35

At this earlier point, Peter’s strength of character could hardly be questioned. He said he was willing to die with Jesus if he had to. But the Son of God was right. That same night, Peter denied even knowing Jesus.

Following all of these events, Jesus was crucified and buried. Three days later he was raised from the dead and was seen briefly by Peter and the other disciples (John 20). But the first conversation between Jesus and Peter, recorded in John 21, shows how Jesus dealt with Peter’s failure:

When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?”

“Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”

Again Jesus said, “Simon, son of John, do you truly love me?”

He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”

The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.”

John 21:14-17

Notice Peter’s sound theological affirmation in verse 17: “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.” Peter was correct. Jesus wasn’t asking Peter the question because he needed to know that answer but because Peter needed to know that answer. Why was it so important for Peter to come to grips with his own answer to that question? It is important for you as well to determine whether your love for Jesus Christ is strong enough to enable you to develop the character qualities his Word encourages and demands. These are the qualities Peter lists in 2 Peter 1:5-8.

In the first 12 chapters of the book of Acts we see Peter as the prominent leader in the fledgling church. His strength of character and conviction are a source of inspiration, challenge and encouragement to many. Our Lord is still seeking men and women who will answer, “Yes Lord, you know that I love you,” and who will then develop the character qualities needed to be a godly leader.

Such character is forged in the small things of life. The big events of life can be viewed as final examinations which reveal the true nature of our inward selves. It is in the seemingly unimportant decisions that our character is strengthened bit by bit. C. S. Lewis used the image of the “central core” within each of us that is formed and molded by our choices:

People often think of Christian morality as a kind of bargain in which God says, “If you keep a lot of rules I’ll reward you, and if you don’t I’ll do the other thing.” I do not think that is the best way of looking at it. I would much rather say that every time you make a choice you are turning the central part of you, the part of you that chooses, into something a little different from what it was before. And taking your life as a whole, with all your innumerable choices, all your life long you are slowly turning this central thing either into a heavenly creature or a hellish creature: either into a creature that is in harmony with God and with other creatures, and with itself, or else into one that is in a state of war and hatred with God, and with its fellow-creatures, and with itself. To be the one kind of creature is heaven: that is, it is joy and peace and knowledge and power. To be the other means madness, horror, idiocy, rage, impotence, and eternal loneliness. Each of us at each moment is progressing to the one state or the other.7

The choices we make today determine our character. And we’ll take our character with us into eternity. Choose wisely!


1Marjorie J. Thompson, Soul Feast: An Invitation to the Christian Spiritual Life (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 1995), p. 11.

2Douglas J. Rumford, SoulShaping: Taking Care of Your Spiritual Life (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale, 1996), p. 354.

3Henry T. Blackaby and Claude V. King, Experiencing God (Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 1994), pp. 147, 151, 153.

4Michael E. Witmer, Heaven Is a Place on Earth (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2004), p. 40.

5Rumford, Soul Shaping, p. 354.

6Quoted in Gordon S. Wakefield, The Westminster Dictionary of Christian Spirituality (Philadelphia, PA: Westminster Press, 1983), p. 209.

7C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (New York: Macmillan, 1943), pp. 86-87.

 


Related Topics: Leadership

Keeping From Slipping

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After opening his psalm with testimony as to God’s goodness (Ps. 73:1), Asaph tells of his personal problems:

But as for me, my feet had almost slipped,
I had nearly lost my foothold.
For I envied the arrogant
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked (Ps. 73:2,3)1

As Perowne observes, “The Psalmist tells the story of the doubts which had assailed him, the temptation to which he had nearly succumbed.”2  Then after speaking of his personal struggles, he expressed his past lament concerning the lives of the wicked (vv. 4-12) and his own overcoming of his misgivings (vv. 13-22), he expresses his realization of his own misunderstandings of life’s realities (vv. 23-26) and concludes his psalm by testifying as to the key to a better life:

Those who are far from you will perish,
you destroy all who are unfaithful to you.
But as for me, it is good to be near God.
I have made the Sovereign LORD my refuge:
I will tell of all your deeds. (vv.  27-28)

Thus, rather than slipping away from the good life, he came to realize the key to a better life (cf. vv. 2, 28).

So, it is as we also struggle with thoughts of the seeming successes of the wicked, may we follow the psalmist’s conclusion and keep ourselves near to and submissive to the Lord, his standards, and his will.

There is a place of comfort sweet, Near to the heart of God,
A place where we our Savior meet, Near to the heart of God.
O Jesus, blest Redeemer, sent from the heart of God,
Hold us, who wait before Thee, Near to the heart of God.3

Elsewhere the psalmist testifies as to the need for believers to praise the Lord, for even in the midst of struggles, “He has preserved our lives and kept our feet from slipping” (Ps. 66:9; cf. Ps. 94:16-19). 

In Psalm 38 David tells of his personal problems, both in body and mind, as well his spiritual difficulties and problems with his adversaries (vv. 1-14, 18-20).  He says,

I wait for you, O LORD;
You will answer, O LORD my God.
For I said, “Do not let them gloat
Or exalt themselves over me when my foot slips.  (Ps. 38:15-16).

Slipping here has a seemingly double force, both as a source of difficulty and yet of the psalmist’s confidence in God’s support.  So it is that he closes his psalm by pleading with the Lord:

O LORD, do not forsake me;
Be not far from me, O my God.
Come quickly to help me,
O LORD my Savior.  (vv. 21-22)

In an earlier psalm David assures the Lord that,

My steps have held to your paths;
my feet have not slipped. (Ps. 17:5)

Therefore, he can ask the Lord to demonstrate his concern for him and his support in the midst of his difficulties (vv. 6-8).  He closes his psalm by assuring the Lord,

And I – in righteousness I will see your face;
When I awake, I will be satisfied with seeing your likeness.  (v. 15)

One can appreciate David’s point of view by comparing his earlier note of confidence in prayer for the Lord’s support in times of danger (Ps. 35:1-9):

My whole being will exclaim,
Who is like you, O Lord?
You rescue the poor from those too strong for them,
the poor and needy from those who rob them. (v. 10)

Surely the believer should remember that with God’s supervision, they will not be forsaken, “they will be protected forever … they will inherit the land and dwell in it forever” (Ps. 37:28-29). Thus, Perowne can say “The Creator of the Universe, the Keeper of the nation, is also the Keeper of the individual.”4

From a consideration of the above Psalms, believers may be assured that by remaining faithful to the Lord and trusting fully in Him they will have a successful and satisfying life, whatever the circumstances.  May we all learn from David’s experiences the high value of trusting the Lord in all of our experiences!  As the hymn writer declares:

Trusting as the moments fly, Trusting as the days go by;
Trusting Him whate’er be fall, Trusting Jesus, that is all.5


1 All scripture references are from the NIV

2 J. J. Stewart Perowne, The Book of Psalms, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1976), III:7.  Cf. Joseph A. Alexander, Commentary on Psalms, (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1991), 315.

3 Cleland B. McAfee, Near to the Heart of God.

4 Perowne, op. cit., p.373.

5 E. Page, Trusting Jesus.

Related Topics: Devotionals, Faith, Suffering, Trials, Persecution, Temptation

Q. Is “Volunteers” A Good Term For Non-Paid Workers?

I’m uncomfortable with this word because it is not used in the Bible in relation to ministry. What are your thoughts on this?

Answer

Dear *****,

I’m not sure how we would describe the ministry of Paul, based on texts like Acts 18:1-5; 20:33-35; 1 Thessalonians 2:9; and 2 Thessalonians 3:7-10. The fact was that Paul often (perhaps most often) supported himself and others in the church, at some points in time, but then at other times devoted himself fully to ministry when gifts came in which allowed him to do so (Acts 18:5; Philippians 4:14-16).

When we find Paul speaking of the “work of ministry” in Ephesians 4:12 (and other related texts, such as those dealing with church life and spiritual gifts) you don’t see any such distinction made.

I guess I would have to take note of 1 Timothy 5:17-18, where there seems to be a distinction made between those who labor in ministry (part-time?) and those who “work hard” at it.

I would agree with you that any term which is used in a way that appears to regard “volunteers” as second-class workers would be wrong.

Having said this, there does need to be some way of legally distinguishing non-paid workers (volunteers) from salaried workers (staff). My view, based on Ephesians 4, is that “staff” should not be paid to do “the work of ministry” for the church, but rather they are to encourage and support those in the church body to do this ministry.

Blessings,

Bob Deffinbaugh

Related Topics: Issues in Church Leadership/Ministry

4. Dependence on God

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**The audio for this article is in two parts. Part 1 can be listened to above, and Part 2 can be listened to here at this link.

In C.S. Lewis’ Prince Caspian, a child named Lucy encounters Aslan, the Christ-figure of the Narnia stories, after not seeing him for a long while. “Aslan, you’re bigger,” she says.

“That is because you’re older, little one,” answered he.

“Not because you are?”

“I am not. But every year you grow, you will find me bigger.”1

The more mature in the faith we are, the bigger God will be for us. As our vision of God becomes clearer and we understand his enormity, we learn to rest in him. We grow in our ability to depend completely on him and know that with a God as competent as the God we find in the pages of Scripture, the universe in which we find ourselves is truly a safe place for us.

At least, this is as it ought to be. Reality, for far too many of us, is quite the opposite. In spite of this large and competent God who cares for us and promises to never abandon us, we often find ourselves beset by worry, anxiety and fear. It is only the most mature leader who understands that as we come to rely on God, we find rest in this world.

Worry-free Living

All people who lead others or carry organizational responsibility find more than enough reasons to worry – deadlines, financial pressures, market instability and other pressures (you fill in your own blanks here) make stomachs churn and account for many a sleepless night. But Jesus cautions us against worrying about anything – even the food we eat or the clothes we wear:

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Matthew 6:25-34

In this passage, Jesus gives his disciples (and us) six reasons for trusting in God rather than worrying.

First, the same God who gives us the greater gift of life will certainly supply the lesser gifts of food and clothing. In typical Jewish fashion, Jesus reasons from the greater to the lesser: If God has given us life, won’t he be faithful to give us the things that will sustain that life and make it rich and rewarding? If God can be trusted to take care of big things, can we also trust him with the small details? The answer is: of course. God never begins something he does not plan to see through to completion.

Second, the God who cares for birds will care for his people. After all, humans are of much greater value than any bird. “Look at the birds” implies “Look and Learn.” We can learn much from these flighty little fellows. They are industrious yet carefree. Without the benefit of barns they manage to find food each day. That is God’s provision for them. For us, God’s provision is greater. We have been given the ability to manipulate our environment. To grow crops, raise animals and preserve food. Not only are we more capable than the birds to provide food for ourselves, but we are also more valuable in God’s eyes (Matt. 10:29-31). How much less, then, we should worry.

Third, worry expends energy pointlessly – it doesn’t change the reality of the situation a single bit. Worry is kind of like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do, but doesn’t get you anywhere.

Fourth, worry ignores God’s demonstrated faithfulness in our lives. The same God who so wonderfully clothes the flowers of the field is responsible to care for them. Every blossoming flower is a reminder of God’s faithfulness to us. A field of wild flowers sprinkled across a bed of fresh spring grass is a remarkable sight indeed. These little beauties do not labor or spin (probably a reference to both men’s and women’s work respectively). But even Solomon’s wardrobe paled in comparison. If God is so generous with something as transitory as kindling for the fire, what do you suppose he will do for us? No wonder Jesus rebukes us, “O, you of little faith,” when a mere glance out our bedroom window should teach us the futility of worry. As R.H. Mounce has said, “Worry is practical atheism and an affront to God.”2

Fifth, we are God’s children. God will never treat us as orphans who need to fend for themselves. Failure to grasp this will lead inevitably to worry and failure in our moral lives. In fact, it is not an overstatement to say that the most important thing about us is what comes to mind when we think of God, as A.W. Tozer clarifies:

That our idea of God correspond as nearly as possible to the true being of God is of immense importance to us. Compared with our actual thoughts about Him, our [doctrinal] statements are of little consequence. Our real idea of God may lie buried under the rubbish of conventional religious notions and may require an intelligent and vigorous search before it is finally unearthed and exposed for what it is. Only after an ordeal of painful self-probing are we likely to discover what we actually believe about God. A right conception of God is basic not only to systematic theology but to practical Christian living as well. It is to worship what the foundation is to the temple; where it is inadequate or out of plumb the whole structure must sooner or later collapse. I believe there is scarcely an error in doctrine or a failure in applying Christian ethics that cannot be traced finally to imperfect and ignoble thoughts about God.3

If we view God as a cosmic killjoy, we will likely be plagued with guilt and shame over every sinful thought or angry moment. If God is seen as some kind of doting grandfather who turns a blind eye at our shortcomings, we will be likely to excuse our wrong actions. If we think God is looking for a good bargain, we will expect him to come through for us when we have done something good for him. Our quality of life will always rise and fall on our view of God and our expectations of him. Once we come to know God as the faithful Father he is, worry simply does not make sense.

Sixth, when we worry about tomorrow we miss out on today. Jesus recognizes that our days will be filled with trouble. We simply cannot afford the luxury of worrying, casting our eyes on future affliction. Each day will demand our best attention. Any problem we face can be handled, with God’s help, one day at a time.

As leaders who want to reach our generation for Christ, we need to lead in a way that allows others to see our faith in God. One way we can do that is by depending on God in the face of our daily pressures. The next time you’re under pressure, pray for the grace you need to depend on God, who is perfectly and eternally worthy of your trust. Remember that those you lead will see how you respond to such pressures and will follow your actions.

Those who have not placed their faith in God often live only for the moment. Their peace of mind or anxiety is tied to their circumstances. But those whose faith is secure in the One who is secure are able to live above the worries of this world. As Dallas Willard points out:

People who are ignorant of God…live to eat and drink and dress. “For such things the ‘gentiles’ seek” – and their lives are filled with corresponding anxiety and anger and depression about how they will look and how they will fare.

By contrast, those who understand Jesus and his Father know that provision has been made for them. Their confidence has been confirmed by their experience. Though they work, they do not worry about things “on earth.” Instead, they are always “seeking first the kingdom.” That is, they “place top priority on identifying and involving themselves in what God is doing and in the kind of rightness…he has. All else needed is provided” (6:33). They soon enough have a track record to prove it.4

This is not to say that believers in Christ will be exempt from the usual troubles of this world. Worry-free does not mean trouble-free. Sometimes it may be our faith which actually brings on troubles as we navigate our way through a world that insists on flying upside-down. Still, in spite of our circumstances, those who depend on God will find out for themselves the truth the psalmist discovered long ago: “A righteous man may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all” (Psalm 34:19).

Seeing Old Faithful

We live in a time when all forms of external authority are being challenged in favor of subjective, inner authority. The quest for autonomy rather than accountability has become rampant. Yet the Scriptures tell us that an autonomous mindset is a mark of foolishness, since it ignores our fundamental need for dependence on God.

Jeremiah struggled with occupational hazards faced by many effective leaders. Because he knew that Israel’s behavior was destructive, he needed to function as a constant agent for change. He preached and counseled and urged his followers to turn from sin and to practice righteousness.

As he prodded, Jeremiah lived with opposition and persecution, and one wonders whether Jeremiah ever asked himself the question that confronts many leaders today: “Since change arouses opposition, why not back off and let things remain as they are?” That wouldn’t have been a good option for Jeremiah. It rarely is for a leader, because change is intrinsic to the nature of leadership. And that led to the second hazard: Since the changes were essential to Israel’s survival, he was compelled to live with the hard knocks he was taking as the agent for change.

No one has ever found a way to improve anything without changing it in some way. Our second dilemma could be phrased: “Since change arouses personal opposition, I have to steel myself against the way people feel about me. But I can’t stop caring about what they think or feel. If I do, some of those I am supposed to lead might become my ‘enemies.’” The second leadership hazard, then, is that the leader may become so hardened to opposition that he or she no longer hears or cares about the personal concerns behind it. The resentment of opposition can turn followers into opponents.

Jeremiah knew that what he was doing was right and necessary, and he continued pushing for change even though he took a beating for it. He was attacked by kings, priests, false prophets and, most painfully, his friends (Jeremiah 20:10) and family (12:6). How does a leader survive such hardships and still maintain his integrity? That leader must come to depend on God above anything else. That leader must, like Jeremiah, remember:

Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.

Lamentations 3:22-26

The horror of the complete destruction of Jerusalem at the hands of the Babylonians was still vivid in Jeremiah’s mind when he wrote a series of five lamentations. Nevertheless, these verses, placed as they are in the middle of this short book, are words of hope and not of despair. They remind us that our only real hope is in the character and promises of God.

The Lord’s lovingkindness, great compassion and complete faithfulness make him the supremely worthy object of personal reliance. He is always good to those who seek him and who put their hope in him. Everything God asks us to do is for our ultimate good, and everything he tells us to avoid is harmful to us, even when we may think otherwise.

The problem may be that God’s faithfulness is too faithful. Philip Yancey writes:

I remember my first visit to Old Faithful in Yellowstone National park. Rings of Japanese and German tourists surrounded the geyser, their video cameras trained like weapons on the famous hole in the ground. A large digital clock stood beside the spot, predicting twenty-four minutes before the eruption.

My wife and I passed the countdown in the dining room of Old Faithful Inn overlooking the geyser. When the digital clock reached one minute, we, along with every other diner, left our seats and rushed to the windows to see the big, wet event.

I noticed immediately, as if on signal, a crew of busboys and waiters descended on the tables to refill water glasses and clear away dirty dishes. When the geyser went off, we tourists oohed and aahed and clicked our cameras; a few spontaneously applauded. But, glancing back over my shoulder, I saw that not a single waiter or busboy – not even those who had finished their chores – looked out the huge windows. Old Faithful, grown entirely too familiar, had lost its power to impress them.5

It seems faithfulness often goes unappreciated – especially the faithfulness of God. His presence is so regular, so commonplace, that we tend to overlook the very quality that separates him from all other gods. In fact, one of the few things God cannot do is be unfaithful (he also cannot remember our sins once they’ve been cleansed!).

Still, we are often tempted to complain that “my way is hidden from the Lord; my cause is disregarded by my God” (Isaiah 40:27); but doing so means judging according to appearances and not according to reality. There are only two possible perceptions of God’s character and our circumstances; each of us will choose one when we encounter trouble. We will either view God’s character in light of our circumstances, or our circumstances in light of God’s character. If we choose the former, we will tend to look away from God and look to ourselves. Instead of leaning on the Rock, we will lean on a broken reed (2 Kings 18:21; Isaiah 36:6).

Everyone Lives by Faith

Faith is a universal experience – everyone, including the atheist, lives by faith. The issue is not whether we will trust in a belief system or trust in people or things, but whether we are placing our trust in that which is reliable or untrustworthy. Faith is only as good as the object in which it is placed. The prophet Jeremiah provides us with a look at two conflicting sources of personal dependence:

This is what the Lord says:

“Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the Lord. He will be like a bush in the wastelands; he will not see prosperity when it comes. He will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives.

“But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”

Jeremiah 17:5-8

Jeremiah draws a sharp contrast between those who depend on human strength and those who depend on the living God. He makes it clear that we cannot look to both as our supreme basis of trust; we will either put our hope in the promises and power of people, or we will look beyond human capability to the person and promises of God. When we make people the basis of our confidence we experience rejection and disappointment again and again. But when God becomes the ultimate source of our confidence, we are never let down.

Willy Loman is the central character in Arthur Miller’s brilliant and moving play Death of a Salesman. Willy Loman personifies failure and broken dreams as he spends his life chasing the ever-illusive dream of being an irresistibly successful salesman. He lives in denial, tossed back and forth between the notion that tomorrow will bring great success and the heart-wrenching desperation of feeling utterly worthless. He continually tortures himself with the belief that if he just tries harder, believes in himself more, persists long enough, he will find success. His biggest mistake is the belief that success will fulfill his deepest longings.

If only Willy Loman could have found the courage to face the pain of failure and his emptiness, perhaps he might have realized that he was pursuing the wrong dream. In the end, he commits suicide. His son, Biff, comes to see the truth his dad could not face:

There were a lot of nice days. When he’d come home from a trip; or on Sundays, making the stoop; finishing the cellar; putting on the new porch…. You know something, Charley, there’s more of him in that front stoop than in all the sales he ever made…. He had the wrong dreams. All, all wrong…. He never knew who he was.6

Habakkuk learned that “the righteous will live by his faith” (Habakkuk 2:4), and he was not talking about faith in men. “Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe” (Proverbs 29:25). Those who put more confidence in themselves or in other people than in God will find bitterness and disappointment in the end. They may appear to prosper for a season, but the journey will not get them to their desired goals. But those who transfer their trust from themselves or the promises of others to the Lord will discover that their lives are deeply rooted in well-watered soil. The Lord declares that “Those who honor me I will honor, but those who despise me will be disdained” (1 Samuel 2:30).

How Things Really Get Done

Zerubbabel must have felt overwhelmed. His task was so huge he needed a prophet of God to give him perspective. The Babylonians had destroyed Jerusalem and its temple 70 years before, and now Zerubbabel was in charge of the group that had come back to rebuild it. When Solomon first built the temple, he had the optimal situation – nearly unlimited resources and a motivated workforce. Zerubbabel now faced strong opposition, a demoralized workforce and limited resources.

God’s word to him in Zechariah 4 is everlastingly and universally true: Work hard and smart. But if God doesn’t look favorably on your work, it will result in nothing significant. The text reads: “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty” (v. 6).

Zerubbabel had to make tough decisions, wrestle with personnel problems, sit in long meetings, listen to grievances – everything other leaders do. But the prophet Zechariah’s message to him was that the job ultimately depended on God’s Spirit, not on his or anyone else’s might or power. The wonderful truth of this is that all of our activities are now infused with meaning as we work in the power supplied by God’s Spirit. We can now join in the prayer of Blaise Pascal: “Lord, help me to do great things as though they were little, since I do them with your power; and little things as though they were great, since I do them in your name.”7

Leaders are responsible to manage their resources well and to lead their people effectively. But prayer to God and dependence on him for the outcome is the wise leader’s constant strategy for success.

An Everlasting Guarantee

Every leader will discover that there are times when it’s hard to trust in God. In an effort to help us do that R.C. Sproul reminds us of the absolute dependence of God as demonstrated in his promise to Abraham:

So the Lord said to [Abram], “Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.”

Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half. Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away….

When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendents I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates….

Genesis 15:9-11, 17-18

Legal counselors are some of the highest paid executives in business because they protect us from each other. We find it so hard to depend on anyone’s word that we have to close all the loopholes in any transaction. In business, doing so is more than smart – it’s essential.

But Sproul reminds his reader that there is One on whom we can always depend. Commenting on this passage, he wrote:

The meaning of the drama is clear: As God passed between the pieces His message was, “Abraham, if I fail to keep my promise to you, may I be cut asunder just as those animals have been torn apart.” God put His eternal being on the line. It was as if He were saying, “May My immutable deity suffer mutation if I break My promise. May My infinite character become finite, My immortal essence suffer mortality. May the impossible become possible if I lie.”

The author of Hebrews reflected on this event when he wrote, “Since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself” (Hebrews 6:13).

The surety of God’s promise is God Himself. All that He is stands behind His promise. It would not do for God to swear by the temple or by His mother’s grave. He has no mother. The temple is not sacred enough to confirm the oath of God. He must swear by His own integrity, using His divine nature as an everlasting guarantee.8

In spite of the great and wonderful promises, in spite of the centuries of proven faithfulness, in spite of mounting evidence, empirical and anecdotal, demonstrating the folly of trusting in ourselves, people still reject the faithfulness of God. Perhaps because of their status, leaders are more acutely prone to lean on their own understanding. But God calls each of us – especially those of us in positions of leadership – to lean on him.

Such trust is difficult. It requires humility. It requires commitment. It will demand a constant vigilance. We will need to regularly review and renew our commitment, but if we train ourselves to trust in the only One who is worthy of our dependence, we may find, as Lucy in Narnia found, that our God is bigger than we ever imagined.


1 C.S. Lewis, Prince Caspian, The Chronicles of Narnia (New York: Collier/Macmillan, 1985), p. 136.

2 R.H. Mounce, Matthew (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1991), p. 80.

3 A.W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy (New York: Harper & Row, 1961), p. 8

4 Dallas Willard, The Divine Conspiracy (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1998), p. 212.

5 Philip Yancey, “What Surprised Jesus,” Christianity Today, 12 September 1994, p. 88.

6 Arthur Miller, Death of a Salesman (New York: Penguin Books, 1949), pp. 110-11.

7 Quoted in Bill and Kathy Peel, Discover Your Destiny (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 1996), p. 215.

8 R.C. Sproul, One Holy Passion (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1987), pp. 154-157.

 


Related Topics: Leadership

12. Values

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**The audio for this article is in two parts, click here (or above) for part 1 and here for part 2.**

Values are essential to effective leadership. They are the uncompromisable, undebatable truths that drive and direct behavior. They are motivational, giving us the reason why we do things; and they are restrictive, placing boundaries around behavior. Values are those things that we deem important and that provide direction and guidance in spite of our emotions.

Authors writing on the subject of leadership are paying increased attention to the importance of consistent values to a leader’s effectiveness over the long haul.1 Businesses, organizations, families and individuals all benefit from knowing and living by their core values. In business, core values are “the organization’s essential and enduring tenets – a small set of general guiding principles; not to be confused with specific cultural or operating practices; not to be compromised for financial gain or short-term expediency.”2 Jim Collins observes that all enduring visionary companies have a set of core values that determine the behavior of the group.3

King David demonstrated value-driven behavior in Psalm 15:

Lord, who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may live on your holy hill? He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from his heart and has no slander on his tongue, who does his neighbor no wrong and casts no slur on his fellowman, who despises a vile man but honors those who fear the Lord, who keeps his oath even when it hurts, who lends his money without usury and does not accept a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things will never be shaken.

Notice that he said the person who enjoys the presence of God and lives a blameless life is the one who “speaks the truth from his heart” (vv. 1-2). Because this person values truth in his heart, his words express truth. Because he values kindness, he “does his neighbor no wrong” (v. 3). Because he values honesty, he “keeps his oath even when it hurts” (v. 4). Because he values justice, he “does not accept a bribe against the innocent” (v. 5).

Leaders who are driven by values reap a great benefit from the Lord. David said they “will never be shaken.” Regardless of what may happen around them, they can live with full confidence that the right principles have shaped their values and have guided their decisions. That confidence will give them emotional and spiritual stability. It will enable them to be leaders whom God can use for his glory.

Consider what values drove the psalmist’s behavior. As you examine your own life, what values do you see as driving your behavior? Many of us hold certain values, but our actions are not governed by the things we say we hold dear. Perhaps we should start by asking ourselves what values we want to have driving our behavior. Unless we become intentional about this, we will be shaped by the values of others. We cannot have a set of values for the office, another set for the home and a completely different set for church activities. Our goal should be to completely integrate godly values into all spheres of life.

God: The Source of All Values

God is accountable to no one, and there is no higher principle to which he must conform. He himself is the absolute of truth, beauty, goodness, love and justice. His perfect character is the essence of what the Bible calls “righteousness.” In a universe without God, what we call “good” would have no ultimate referent.

Habakkuk was a righteous prophet in the Old Testament. He struggled, as we all do from time to time, with the goodness of God in light of the fact that wicked people often prosper. Unlike many of us, however, Habakkuk was wise enough to know that when you have a question or a problem with God, the best thing to do is to go to God directly. So, he cried out, “Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrong. Why then do you tolerate the treacherous? Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves?” (Habakkuk 1:13).

Habakkuk’s first complaint to God questioned why the Lord was allowing the people of Judah to continue in their wickedness and injustice. When the Lord answered that he was preparing the Babylonians as his weapon of judgment on Judah’s unrighteousness (vv. 5-6), Habakkuk made a more strenuous objection. The Babylonians were even more wicked than the people of Judah; how could God allow such a people to judge his people? God’s response overcame the prophet’s objections, but notice that Habakkuk was confused by an apparent incompatibility between God’s character and God’s actions.

As we look at the progressive revelation of the person of God from Genesis to Revelation, we discover him to be the immutable foundation upon which moral concepts such as goodness, love and justice are based. As did Habakkuk, Abraham struggled briefly with God, saying, “Far be it from you to do such a thing – to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (Genesis 18:25). Paul added, “Let God be true, and every man a liar. As it is written: ‘So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge’” (Romans 3:4; compare Psalm 51:4).

Habakkuk learned that God’s plan for the purification of his people went far beyond what he could understand. Although God’s actions seemed unjust and out of line with eternal values, this prophet realized that God’s actions were a small part of his larger, and perfectly sovereign, plan. In the end, Habakkuk says,

Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.

Habakkuk 3:17-18

Essentially, the prophet is saying that even though he doesn’t understand, he trusts that God’s goodness is unchanging. Habakkuk trusts God, even when things don’t seem to make sense. Habakkuk wanted to understand the way things are; he ended up learning about the way God is.

We may never find a satisfactory answer to the problem of evil and suffering in our world. But when we have a fuller revelation of God, those questions seem to fade away. What we see is such a tiny piece of the puzzle. God is the only one who sees the whole picture.

We should be careful not to judge that which we don’t understand. Otherwise we’ll end up like the couple in the story about Rembrandt. It seems there was a special exhibition of the Dutch Master’s paintings, and a couple was speaking very critically of his work. Upon their leaving, a guard nearby whispered, “Here it is not the artist but the viewers who are being judged.” In other words, our failure to grasp God’s plan reveals more about us than it does about God’s plan. It is not the plan that is inferior; it is us.

God’s moral structures and values are built into the created order. The Bible affirms that even those who have not been exposed to God’s law have a conscience – a moral law – within them (Romans 2:14-16). God is not only revealed in nature, but also in the human heart. Our hearts and consciences reveal the fingerprints of a moral God. C.S. Lewis used the idea of an omnipresent, self-evident law as the starting point for his classic, Mere Christianity, what he calls the Law of Nature or the Moral Law. A few years later, in The Abolition of Man, he simply calls it the Tao that is in all cultures and societies. There is a surprisingly uniform moral absolute in most cultures – Babylonian, Egyptian, Persian, Chinese. None of these, for example, honor treachery or selfishness, cowardice or deceit. These standards are there because God has placed his natural law, his moral law in our hearts. Try as we might, we simply cannot deny it.

Lewis also said, “Unless we allow ultimate reality to be moral, we cannot morally condemn it.”4 By that, he means that unless there is some agreed upon standard for the true, the beautiful and the good, there can be no absolute standard by which we can condemn “evil” behavior. In other words, people who use the presence of evil and suffering to denounce God are really appealing to God to condemn God. In fact, when people talk about evil in this world they imply the existence of the God of the Bible, because if there is no God, then the idea of evil is arbitrary. One man’s meat is another man’s poison, so to speak. Even our notions of good and evil come to us because we bear the image of the one who initially determined the categories.

If our world continues to denounce the idea of moral absolutes, it cannot also continue to denounce the misappropriation of power and the misconduct of rich and powerful people. In a world that fails to acknowledge God as the final absolute, self-serving pragmatism will rule. The fact that people are seduced by power and wealth should not be surprising; what should surprise us is that it’s not more widespread than it already is. Christian counselor Larry Hall says:

As long as our morality continues to be based in our humanistic pride, moral consistency will elude us. We will go on being bundles of self-contradiction, wildly judging each other while vehemently demanding that no one judge us. We can forget about arriving at a consensus ethic. There is virtually no consensus in a society as pluralistic as ours. About the most we can hope for is some sense of political correctness, and who in their right mind would hope for that? Even if true consensus were possible, history has proven repeatedly that such a consensus can be very immoral. When ethics are based on self and pride, all objectivity is lost. Things are no longer right or wrong. Instead, they are feasible or impractical, desirable or unappealing, agreeable or nonnegotiable…. Indeed, the very concepts of virtue and vice become meaningless.5

Godly Values for Godly People

As human beings, the crown of God’s creation, God has “set eternity in the hearts of [people]” (Ecclesiastes 3:11). As such, godly leaders seek to live by God’s eternal values of truth, beauty, goodness, love and justice, set forth in the biblical record. If we look to the world for our moral values, we will be confused by self-interest, social conditioning and situational ethics. The values of our culture are shallow and subjective, but the moral standards of Scripture reflect God’s absolute and unchanging character. Exodus 20:1-17 shows us the clearest summary of God’s values for his people:

And God spoke all these words:

“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

“You shall have no other gods before me.

“You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

“You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.

“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

“Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.

“You shall not murder.

“You shall not commit adultery.

“You shall not steal.

“You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

God’s moral law for his people is an expression of his own changeless perfection. In the Ten Commandments, God is actually calling his covenant people to be like him. “I am the Lord who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy” (Leviticus 11:45).

The Ten Commandments begin with our demonstrated relationship with God and end with our relationships with others. In Scripture, righteousness is always realized within the context of relationships; it consistently relates to loving behavior toward God and others. “Love does no harm to its neighbor” (Romans 13:10). “The entire law is summed up in a single command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’” (Galatians 5:4).

It is one thing to know the right things to do and another to consistently do them. Jesus called us to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect (Matthew 5:48), but this is unattainable apart from the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Larry Hall asserts, “Indeed, achieving transcendent virtue while denying transcendence is as absurdly impossible as grabbing my own collar and lifting myself off the ground.”6 Only as we live by the Spirit are we empowered to “put skin on” biblical values and make them real in our own lives.

Moving From Theory to Practice

Values are interesting to discuss in the abstract, but sometimes “values” get in the way of valuable decisions. Maintaining one’s values can cost a leader dearly. So how do we decide what matters most when we’re weighing the bottom-line costs against our bottom-line convictions?

The first step in effective leadership is defining core values. Until that is done, the ship the leader is trying to steer has no rudder. Vision, mission, strategy and outcomes are difficult – if not impossible – to define until values are clear. Jesus knew that. Early in the process of developing his team of disciples, he forced them to confront this foundational issue.

Matthew records Jesus’ primer on values in Matthew 6:1-34. Jesus focused his lesson in verses 19-21:

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Jesus urged his disciples to focus their values on things that would bear an eternal return. But how, while making a living on earth, while responsibly leading an enterprise on earth, while providing jobs, product, service and profit on earth, do we build treasure in heaven? This passage presents the crux of the value question. Jesus begins this portion of the Sermon on the Mount by saying, “Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven” (6:1). That’s the idea: Who do you work for? Whose nod of approval matters most? Who defines what really matters?

Jesus told his disciples that the core value, the driving value, the eternal value is this: “Does what I am doing please God?” Every other value is second to that one. When that value is in place, all other values line up. Matthew 6 is among the most definitive chapters in the Bible for shaping a leader’s philosophy of life and leadership. Spending time meditating on Jesus’ words here will have inestimable value.

Case Study: The Apostle Paul

The temptation often is to rationalize our lives in such a way that no matter what we do, we tell ourselves it’s okay. It’s like the story about the FBI being called into a small town to investigate the work of what appeared to be a sharpshooter. They were amazed to find bull’s-eyes drawn all over town, with bullets that had penetrated the exact center of the targets. When they finally found the man who had been doing the shooting, they asked him how he had been able to shoot with such accuracy. His answer was simple: First he shot the bullet, then he drew the bull’s-eye around where it had hit.7 God is not honored by such a haphazard approach to living. He has called us to live our lives with precision and clarity of focus.

The Apostle Paul wrestled with two desires. When he traced these desires back to their core values, he found a resolution:

For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know. I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body.

Philippians 1:21-24

Interestingly, Paul had a proper philosophy of death, and this gave rise to his proper philosophy of life. He, like Jesus, knew where he was going (cf. John 13:1). Once he knew his ultimate destination, he was free to understand who and what he was living for. Our lives are only valuable in light of eternity. These brief and ephemeral years can be leveraged into eternity. So, Paul, writing from prison, understands that he can’t really lose in this situation. Whether he is executed or acquitted, he wins.

It is with this frame of mind that he writes, “Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, so that through my being with you again your joy in Christ Jesus will overflow on account of me” (Philippians 1:25-26). Once he was able to link his desires with his values, he possessed tremendous resolve.

Most leaders today also face the tension between competing value systems and structures. In the face of difficult daily decisions, sorting out primary from secondary values can be frustrating. Hackman and Johnson, in their book Leadership, give us some further definition that may help in this dilemma.

First they discuss what values are:

Values are at the core of individual, group or organizational identity. Values are relatively enduring conceptions or judgments about what we consider to be important. [Substantial research suggests] that a number of positive effects result from agreement between personal values and the values most prized in the organization at which we work. Agreement between personal and organizational values result in increased personal identification with the organization, higher levels of job satisfaction, greater team effectiveness and lower turnover rates.8

Then these two authors go on to identify two types of values: “terminal values” – those that deal with lifelong goals; and “instrumental values” – those that govern behaviors that achieve terminal values. Among their list of 18 terminal values are freedom, self-respect, mature love, family security, true friendship, wisdom, equality and salvation. Some of the 18 instrumental values they outline are being loving, independent, capable, broad-minded, honest, responsible, ambitious, forgiving, self-controlled and courageous.

Paul begins the passage above with a short vision statement: “For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” We could all do with writing a short vision statement for our own lives. This can be accomplished fairly easily. Simply add your personal values to both of the lists above, then rank-order the values. The authors then suggest that you “carefully examine the list of your top-rated terminal and instrumental values. Look for similarities, patterns, and themes.” Finally, forge a short vision statement from what you find by clarifying your values in this manner.

Paul wrestled with his desires until he clarified what he valued. Hackman and Johnson support Paul’s decision-making process by telling us that people work better with clearly understood values. Leaders who want to be effective will find that clarifying and communicating values is an essential task. Rank-ordering your terminal and instrumental values and forming a short vision statement will help you avoid taking a scattershot approach to living.

Living in the Land of Our Sojourn

We are all mortal. None of us knows how many days we have on this earth. In fact, this is one of the most common themes in Scripture – that of the pilgrim, the stranger, the sojourner. The late singer-songwriter Rich Mullins understood this imagery. His lyrics frequently made mention of a “longing for home” that sometimes caused him to weep. In the song “Land of My Sojourn,” he writes:

    Nobody tells you when you get born here

    How much you’ll come to love it

    And how you’ll never belong here.

    So I call you my country,

    And I’ll be lonely for my home.

    I wish that I could take you there with me.9

We do not belong here on earth. This is merely a land to travel through on our way to our final destination. Our citizenship is in heaven. Thus our ultimate aspirations must transcend anything this world can provide. There are pleasant moments, to be sure, but there are also painful moments. We must change our thinking so that we can affirm, with the Apostle Paul, that neither our temporary pleasures nor our present sufferings are “worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18). These things are merely preparing us for what is to come.

As we grow and mature in the things of God, we can come to the place where our longing for our true home governs the way we live here in our temporary home. It is possible to endure great hardships and trials when you know that they are only temporary and are leading you to something far greater. Also, it is in this way that we come to see how precious our time here is, and how foolish it is to waste our time here with our noses to the grindstone or endlessly channel-surfing! How terrible to come to the end of life and realize that we were too busy or preoccupied to actually live. While we are here we have opportunities to cultivate relationships and catalogue experiences and share the gospel and serve people in need. Our boredom surely reveals more about us than about the God who places so many wonderful opportunities in our paths.

The central issue of values is summed up in what Jesus called the first and greatest commandment: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37). That is the value to value. That is the prism through which all other values must shine, the filter through which all of life’s choices are made and solutions are drawn. Until we love God properly, the rest of what we’ve learned about values will remain an academic exercise.


1 For example, the following books have been released or are scheduled for release in the year 2003: Executive Values: A Christian Approach to Organizational Leadership by Kurt Senske (Augsburg Fortress Publishers); Transformational Leadership: Value Based Management for Indian Organizations by Shivganesh Bhargave (Sage Publications); And Dignity for All: Unlocking Greatness with Values-Based Leadership by James E. Despain, et al. (Financial Times Prentice Hall); Living Headship: Voices, Values and Vision by Helen M. Gunter, et al. (Paul Chapman Publications).

2 James C. Collins and Jerry I. Porras, Built to Last (New York: Harper Business, 1997), p. 73.

3 Ibid., p. 94.

4 C.S. Lewis, “De Futilitate,” in Christian Reflections (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1967), p. 69.

5 Larry E. Hall, No Longer I (Abilene, TX: ACU Press, 1998), p. 126.

6 Hall, No Longer I, p. 127.

7 Adapted from James Emery White, Rethinking the Church (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1997), 33.

8 Michael Hackman and Craig Johnson, Leadership: A communication Perspective, Second Edition (Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press, 1996), p. 89.

9 “Land of My Sojourn” by Rich Mullins, Kid Brothers of St. Frank Publishing, 1993.


Related Topics: Leadership

No More Excuses: Read Your Old Testament!

Quite frankly, the excuses I have heard for why Christians don’t read or study the Old Testament are laughable. My goal is to persuade you to read, study, and even teach the Old Testament, but in order to accomplish this goal I must first deal with some of the most common excuses that are offered for ignoring this part of the Bible. So in this lesson (which is part 1), let me address some reasons people offer for setting the Old Testament aside. Later, we will discuss why we should read our Old Testament (part 2), and finally (part 3) how we should read the Old Testament.

Related Topics: Bible Study Methods, Bibliology (The Written Word), Christian Life, Hermeneutics, Old Testament, Spiritual Life

1. Bad Reasons Not to Read the Old Testament

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On a particular Sunday I was preaching a sermon that desperately needed a good example of a pathetic excuse. I had not come up with such an illustration before I stood to preach, so I took a chance and asked the audience, “What is the weakest, most pathetic, excuse you have ever heard?” One father (and a good friend) stood up and shared this story:

“My son was on a restricted diet, so he was forbidden to open the refrigerator in his own. Late one night I could see a dim light coming from the kitchen, and when I investigated, what I feared was happening. My son was standing there with the refrigerator door open, and his hand was reaching inside. ‘Son,’ I said, ‘What are you doing?’ Without hesitation he responded, ‘I was cooling my hand.’”

Quite frankly, the excuses I have heard for why Christians don’t read or study the Old Testament are almost as laughable. My goal is to persuade you to read, study, and even teach the Old Testament, but in order to accomplish this goal I must first deal with some of the most common excuses that are offered for ignoring this part of the Bible. So in this lesson (which is part 1), let me address some reasons people offer for setting the Old Testament aside. Later, we will discuss why we should read our Old Testament (part 2), and finally (part 3) how we should read the Old Testament.

1. The Old Testament Is Out Of Date And Obsolete Because We Are Now Under The New Covenant

Some wrongly conclude that because Jesus instituted the New Covenant by His death, burial, and resurrection,1 the Old Testament is irrelevant to New Testament Christians. Paul is saying something quite different from this when he writes,

14 For sin will have no mastery over you, because you are not under law but under grace. 15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Absolutely not! (Romans 6:14-15, NET,2 emphasis mine)

But just because we are not “under law” we not excused from reading and learning from the Old Testament Law (indeed, the whole Old Testament). If this were the case, Paul would not have spoken so favorably about the Law:

What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Absolutely not! Certainly, I would not have known sin except through the law. For indeed I would not have known what it means to desire something belonging to someone else if the law had not said, “Do not covet” (Romans 7:7, emphasis mine).

So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous, and good (Romans 7:12, emphasis mine).

For everything that was written in former times was written for our instruction, so that through endurance and through encouragement of the scriptures we may have hope (Romans 15:4, emphasis mine).

This should indicate that in order to understand the Bible we must understand the difference between the Law and legalism. Legalism is a system of rules and rule-keeping to earn salvation. Legalism seeks to provide a specific instruction for every circumstance we encounter in life. Where it does not find one in the Law of Moses, it creates one and then attaches this “tradition” to the Law of Moses. Indeed, Jesus accused His Jewish adversaries of giving their traditions a higher place than the Law, so that in keeping their traditions one might actually be encouraged to break God’s commandments.3

Legalism abuses the Law of Moses by seeking to make it the means by which men can be saved (Acts 15:1), rather than the means by which God shows men to be sinners, in need of the salvation He graciously provides by faith in Jesus Christ.4

We should not be surprised when Paul has some very strong words to say against legalism:

I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are following a different gospel– 7 not that there really is another gospel, but there are some who are disturbing you and wanting to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we (or an angel from heaven) should preach a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be condemned to hell! 9 As we have said before, and now I say again, if any one is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, let him be condemned to hell! (Galatians 1:6-9)

Paul emphatically declares that the Old Testament saints were not saved by law-keeping, but by faith, just as New Testament Christians are saved:

What then shall we say that Abraham, our ancestor according to the flesh, has discovered regarding this matter? 2 For if Abraham was declared righteous by the works of the law, he has something to boast about– but not before God. 3 For what does the scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” 4 Now to the one who works, his pay is not credited due to grace but due to obligation. 5 But to the one who does not work, but believes in the one who declares the ungodly righteous, his faith is credited as righteousness. 6 So even David himself speaks regarding the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: 7 “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; 8 blessed is the one against whom the Lord will never count sin” (Romans 4:1-8).

These all died in faith without receiving the things promised, but they saw them in the distance and welcomed them and acknowledged that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth. 14 For those who speak in such a way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15 In fact, if they had been thinking of the land that they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But as it is, they aspire to a better land, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. 17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac. He had received the promises, yet he was ready to offer up his only son. 18 God had told him, “Through Isaac descendants will carry on your name,” 19 and he reasoned that God could even raise him from the dead, and in a sense he received him back from there. 20 By faith also Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning the future. 21 By faith Jacob, as he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph and worshiped as he leaned on his staff. 22 By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, mentioned the exodus of the sons of Israel and gave instructions about his burial. 23 By faith, when Moses was born, his parents hid him for three months, because they saw the child was beautiful and they were not afraid of the king’s edict. 24 By faith, when he grew up, Moses refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, 25 choosing rather to be ill-treated with the people of God than to enjoy sin’s fleeting pleasure. 26 He regarded abuse suffered for Christ to be greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for his eyes were fixed on the reward. 27 By faith he left Egypt without fearing the king’s anger, for he persevered as though he could see the one who is invisible. 28 By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood, so that the one who destroyed the firstborn would not touch them. 29 By faith they crossed the Red Sea as if on dry ground, but when the Egyptians tried it, they were swallowed up. 30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell after the people marched around them for seven days. 31 By faith Rahab the prostitute escaped the destruction of the disobedient, because she welcomed the spies in peace (Hebrews 11:13-31, emphasis mine).

There are not two ways of salvation in the Bible: salvation by law-keeping in the Old Testament, and salvation by faith in the New Testament. In the Bible, from beginning to end, salvation in the Bible is by faith.

2. The Old Testament Is Too Bloody And Violent

Let’s be honest, the Old Testament is bloody. It depicts a great deal of violence and blood shedding. All of this, we must recognize, is the result of sin. It started with Cain shedding the blood of his brother Abel.5 God took the shedding of animal blood seriously, and the shedding of human blood (murder) even more seriously.6

God required the shedding of blood as a sacrifice for sin.

“. . . without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Hebrews 9:22).

The magnitude of the blood shedding that we find in the Old Testament serves to indicate the magnitude of man’s sin, and of its consequences, as well as its cure. But do not suppose that while the Old Testament is bloody, the New Testament is not. The death of our Lord Jesus was, of necessity, bloody.

While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after giving thanks he broke it, gave it to his disciples, and said, “Take, eat, this is my body.” 27 And after taking the cup and giving thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you, 28 for this is my blood, the blood of the covenant, that is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” (Matthew 26:26-28).

And if you address as Father the one who impartially judges according to each one’s work, live out the time of your temporary residence here in reverence. 18 You know that from your empty way of life inherited from your ancestors you were ransomed– not by perishable things like silver or gold, 19 but by precious blood like that of an unblemished and spotless lamb, namely Christ (1 Peter 1:17-19).

They were singing a new song: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals because you were killed, and at the cost of your own blood you have purchased for God persons from every tribe, language, people, and nation (Revelation 5:9).

So, too, the final conflict and the defeat of Satan and his intervention in the affairs of this world will also be bloody.7

3. The Old Testament Should Be Set Aside Because It Appears To Tolerate Things Which Our Culture Finds Unacceptable.

Let’s start out by agreeing with those who find offensive attitudes and actions in the Old Testament. Some Christians seek to handle these by putting on rose colored glasses, with lenses that gloss over the ugliness of the sin that is disclosed. Over the years I have referred to this as the “pious bias,” the desire and the effort to make things (and people) look better than they are – pious even. We look for excuses for Jonah’s desire to see his enemies (even their children and cattle) burned up at the hand of God. Esther is portrayed as a heroine,8 and Naomi is somehow not seen as the bitter old woman she is. Lot’s actions in offering his daughters to the wicked men of Sodom are glossed over by some as quickly as possible, as is Abram’s efforts to save himself by passing his wife off as his sister. The truth is, the Old Testament saints were not as saintly as we would like to think.9 Just look at some of those listed in Hebrews chapter 11, in the hall of faith.10 Some of the folks listed there I would never have expected to see in heaven.

But why didn’t God condemn these Old Testament evils, and rid the world of them? Why did He seemingly look the other way? I believe that there are several answers to this question. The first is that the Old Testament’s honest portrayal of man’s flaws and the fact that “things are not as they should be” is yet another way in which the Law set a standard that men could not meet, thus showing his need of salvation some other way than by law-keeping. In Romans 3:9-26 and 9:30-33 Paul clearly states that no one can be saved by doing good works (including keeping the Law), but only by faith in the Lord Jesus, who died for their sins and rose from the dead. The way to make the world right again would not be fulfilled in the Old Testament, but only with the coming of Christ, His sacrificial death and resurrection, and His subsequent (and still future) return to earth All of these matters are dealt with in much greater detail in the New Testament.

              I am reminded of what we read in the Gospel of Mark, chapter 1:

So he healed many who were sick with various diseases and drove out many demons. But he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him. 35 Then Jesus got up early in the morning when it was still very dark, departed, and went out to a deserted place, and there he spent time in prayer. 36 Simon and his companions searched for him. 37 When they found him, they said, “Everyone is looking for you.” 38 He replied, “Let us go elsewhere, into the surrounding villages, so that I can preach there too. For that is what I came out here to do” (Mark 1:34-38).

After Jesus healed Peter’s mother-in-law, crowds of sick people (and other onlookers) began to gather in the hope of a healing, or at least for seeing a healing take place. Many had been healed the previous evening. But when morning came, Jesus was gone, and his disciples went to find Him. A crowd was gathered, waiting for more healings. Was this not an opportune time to launch His ministry by granting such healing? But Jesus made it clear that healing the sick (as good as that was) was not His primary mission. Rather He came to proclaim the gospel as His priority. This is why He moved on, without going back to heal the crowds who were expectantly waiting for Him.

So, too, God’s primary purpose in the Old Testament was not to correct every evil, but to reveal man’s sin and inability to earn salvation by good works, and to prepare the way for Jesus and the Gospel. The unjust and inappropriate things we find in the Old Testament underscore man’s sin and the need for God’s grace. Beyond this, we need to be careful what we ask for when it comes to God dealing with sin. We could be asking for God to come in judgment on the sinful world we live in, as Jonah sought it for Nineveh. God’s not dealing with man’s sin as we think He should, was really God’s grace:

But by the same word the present heavens and earth have been reserved for fire, by being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. 8 Now, dear friends, do not let this one thing escape your notice, that a single day is like a thousand years with the Lord and a thousand years are like a single day. 9 The Lord is not slow concerning his promise, as some regard slowness, but is being patient toward you, because he does not wish for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief; when it comes, the heavens will disappear with a horrific noise, and the celestial bodies will melt away in a blaze, and the earth and every deed done on it will be laid bare (2 Peter 3:7-10).

With these things in mind, let us move on to consider several specific evils which God might appear to be ignoring:

There are things we read in the Old Testament that should rightly trouble Christians. Why does God permit men to have multiple wives, and even concubines?11 How can we justify Abram’s foreign policy of having Sarah pass herself off as his sister,12 thereby appearing to make herself available for a foreigner to marry? How could Lot offer his virgin daughters to the wicked men of Sodom?13 How can we possibly justify a Levite thrusting his concubine outside, to be abused by wicked men, and then cutting her body into twelve pieces and sending these throughout Israel?14

As to the issue of multiple wives I would say this. Polygamy was not strictly forbidden in the Old Testament, in the way we see it in the New (1 Timothy 3:2, 12; 5:9; Titus 1:6). What we do see (and should learn) from the Old Testament examples of multiple wives is that it didn’t work well. But of all the problems God set out to deal with, monogamous marriage was not at the top of His list. It is not until the coming of Christ and the birth of the church that we are given the model for marriage in Christ and His bride, the church.15

There Are A Number Of Things Found In The Old Testament Which Our Culture Finds Totally Unacceptable, So Much So That They Reject The Old Testament Altogether.

Let’s consider three such unacceptable (politically incorrect) matters.

The Old Testament’s Definition Of Male And Female Gender Distinctions And The Prohibition Of Certain Kinds Of Sexual Behavior.16

The Bible declares that God created all mankind as either male or female, and it is as such that they are created in His image.17 He distinguishes male and female roles, and defines appropriate relationships. He distinguishes between Adam and Eve’s responsibility in the fall of mankind in the garden of Eden, and also in the consequences which fall upon all men and women because of their sin.18

God declares acts of homosexuality and bestiality to be not only sinful, but contrary to nature. Granted, our government has now ruled such behavior to be legal, and many wish it to be considered normal, but the Bible declares it to be both unnatural and sinful. It also declares it to be a manifestation of divine judgment.19 Before long, Christians may have to pay a high price for calling such behavior sin (along with many other sins, like pride and greed).20 My friend, Fred Smith, used to say this:

“You need to distinguish between sin and crime.
There are some sins that are not crimes.
And there are some crimes that are not sins.”

The truth of that statement is becoming more and more clear in our country and beyond.

Slavery Is Viewed As An “Unpardonable Sin” In Our Society, And Because It Is Seemingly Accepted In The Old Testament Some Dismiss The Entire Old Testament As Morally Deficient And Offensive.

Let’s think about this for just a second. It is true that God permitted the Israelites to have slaves. It is also true that having slaves was almost universally accepted throughout Old Testament times (and even today, in some parts of the world). It is also true that the Old Testament assumes that slavery (and many good things, such as marriage) could and would be abused, even badly abused. In such cases, we see yet another manifestation of the fallenness (sinfulness) of mankind.

But God is not entirely permissive or passive in the face of such evils. Consider what God does say in the Old Testament about slavery:

When a foreigner resides with you in your land, you must not oppress him. 34 The foreigner who resides with you must be to you like a native citizen among you; so you must love him as yourself, because you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God (Leviticus 19:33-34).

Aliens (foreigners, immigrants) are relatively powerless and vulnerable, and thus they may suffer abuse, even slavery. God required the Israelites to deal kindly with such folks, reminding them that they had once experienced the injustices and cruelty of an oppressive nation (Egypt).

You must not return an escaped slave to his master when he has run away to you. 16 Indeed, he may live among you in any place he chooses, in whichever of your villages he prefers; you must not oppress him (Deuteronomy 23:15-16, emphasis mine).

Here is an interesting command. It would seem that this instruction applies to those who were slaves in some other country, and have fled to Israel as a sanctuary. This certainly implies that runaway slaves knew that slaves fared far better in Israel than elsewhere. Runaway slaves were to be embraced by Israelites, allowed to settle where they wished, and were to be treated kindly. They were not to be given back to their (oppressive) masters.

But if the servant should declare, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,’ 6 then his master must bring him to the judges, and he will bring him to the door or the doorposts, and his master will pierce his ear with an awl, and he shall serve him forever (Exodus 21:5-6).

Consider this: during their great time of famine, the Egyptians willingly offered to become slaves to Pharaoh (and, secondarily, to Joseph), and were grateful for being allowed to do so.21 Exodus 21:5-6 took into account the fact that some slaves, for love of family, and even their master, would choose a lifetime of slavery over freedom. All I can say is that whatever slavery might have been in other places (and that could have been desperately evil), slavery in Israel was intended to be a vastly better thing, so that some would voluntarily choose to remain slaves, while slaves from other countries could flee to Israel to gain freedom.

In The Old Testament God Commands The Annihilation Of Certain Condemned Peoples, And Our Culture Views This As An “Unpardonable Sin.”

When the LORD your God brings you to the land that you are going to occupy and forces out many nations before you– Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, seven nations more numerous and powerful than you– 2 and he delivers them over to you and you attack them, you must utterly annihilate them. Make no treaty with them and show them no mercy! 3 You must not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, 4 for they will turn your sons away from me to worship other gods. Then the anger of the LORD will erupt against you and he will quickly destroy you. 5 Instead, this is what you must do to them: You must tear down their altars, shatter their sacred pillars, cut down their sacred Asherah poles, and burn up their idols. 6 For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. He has chosen you to be his people, prized above all others on the face of the earth (Deuteronomy 7:1-6, emphasis mine).

We must take such texts as these within the broader context of Old and New Testament revelation, and thus we must consider these additional factors:

First of all, God’s covenant with Abraham included, and indeed facilitated, His purpose of blessing Gentiles (non-Jews):

Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father’s house, To the land which I will show you; 2 And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; 3 And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed” (Genesis 12:1-3, NAU; emphasis mine).

While some Jews, like Jonah,22 and like the people of Jesus’ home town of Nazareth,23 wanted nothing to do with the salvation of Gentiles,24 this was God’s intention from the beginning. The annihilation which God ordered was that of a highly corrupt people (the Canaanites), whose presence contaminated the land, and threatened the Jews near them. Annihilation was to take place when Canaanite culture became a cancer on society, and thus posed a great danger for Israelites.

Second, God’s essential desire and predisposition is to graciously forgive sinners, rather than to destroy them:

6 The LORD passed by before him and proclaimed: “The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, and abounding in loyal love and faithfulness, 7 keeping loyal love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin. But he by no means leaves the guilty unpunished, responding to the transgression of fathers by dealing with children and children’s children, to the third and fourth generation” (Exodus 34:6-7).

For I take no delight in the death of anyone, declares the sovereign LORD. Repent and live! (Ezekiel 18:32).

“Say to them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but prefer that the wicked change his behavior and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil deeds! Why should you die, O house of Israel?’” (Ezekiel 33:11)

The Lord is not slow concerning his promise [of judgment], as some regard slowness, but is being patient toward you, because he does not wish for any to perish but for all to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9).

Jonah’s attempted escape (from God, and from his divinely appointed mission) was due to the prophet’s assurance that God was gracious, and that He would forgive these Gentile sinners (who were worthy of judgment):

This displeased Jonah terribly and he became very angry. 2 He prayed to the LORD and said, “Oh, LORD, this is just what I thought would happen when I was in my own country. This is what I tried to prevent by attempting to escape to Tarshish!– because I knew that you are gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in mercy, and one who relents concerning threatened judgment. 3 So now, LORD, kill me instead, because I would rather die than live!” (Jonah 4:1-3, emphasis mine).

Third, we should note that God was not quick to bring judgment on the Canaanites, nor did He do so without any warning:

12 When the sun went down, Abram fell sound asleep, and great terror overwhelmed him. 13 Then the LORD said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a foreign country. They will be enslaved and oppressed for four hundred years. 14 But I will execute judgment on the nation that they will serve. Afterward they will come out with many possessions. 15 But as for you, you will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age. 16 In the fourth generation your descendants will return here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its limit” (Genesis 15:12-16, emphasis mine).

“Go immediately to Nineveh, that large capital city, and announce judgment against its people because their wickedness has come to my attention” (Jonah 1:2).

Fourth, let us never forget that Jesus Christ bore the eternal punishment for man’s sin.

The judgment which came upon the Canaanites (and other wretched peoples) is nothing compared to the judgement our Lord bore in order to deliver sinners from the condemnation the deserve. The cross of Christ is the remedy for sin, and the only means by which God delivers sinners from eternal punishment:

For this is the way God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world should be saved through him (John 3:16-17).

Fifth, Christians are commanded to take the good news of the saving work of Jesus (the Gospel) to the unsaved, so that they can be delivered from God’s wrath:

8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we preach), 9 because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and thus has righteousness and with the mouth one confesses and thus has salvation. 11 For the scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between the Jew and the Greek, for the same Lord is Lord of all, who richly blesses all who call on him. 13 For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. 14 How are they to call on one they have not believed in? And how are they to believe in one they have not heard of? And how are they to hear without someone preaching to them? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How timely is the arrival of those who proclaim the good news” (Romans 10:8-15).

19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20).

4. The Real Reason Why So Many Christians Neglect And Avoid The Old Testament: “The Old Testament Is Boring.”

First, this can’t be true because the Old Testament has some of the most exciting stories in the Bible, in fact, in all of literature.

Who can honestly say that these stories are boring:

  • The fall of man (Genesis 3)
  • The flood (Genesis 3-6)
  • The patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph (Genesis 12-50)
  • The exodus of Israel from Egypt, and the crossing of the Red Sea (Exodus 1-15)
  • The military victories of Joshua
  • The bizarre characters and actions depicted in the Book of Judges
  • The story of Ruth, Naomi, and Boaz
  • The intrigue of the Book of Esther
  • Stories of Samuel, David (and Goliath), Jonathan, and Solomon
  • Jonah and the great fish

Our kids grew up hearing us read these and many other stories of the Bible, most of which came from the Old Testament. Besides this, our grandchildren and the children of our friends still use our Mrs. G Bible stories.25 Our grandchildren still ask us to play these stories when they go to bed at our house.

Second, the most important reading we do is not likely to be exciting and entertaining.

Someone may enjoy a comic book, or a suspenseful novel, but these are seldom life-changing activities. Supreme Court Justices might not read the Constitution for entertainment at bedtime, but they would be quick to tell you how important it is to understand the Constitution. The same is true for the Declaration of Independence. If a wealthy relative of yours was to die, and you knew you were mentioned in the will, I believe you would give careful attention to its reading, and would give little thought to its entertainment value.

Third, our culture (and our flesh) has predisposed us to want instant gratification, even in our Bible reading.

As I have recently been reading through the Gospel of John, I have been impressed with how many times we are told that the disciples did not understand what Jesus was saying at the time. Jesus repeatedly told His disciples that they would not understand His words at the moment, but that they would understand them later on.26 Why is it we think that we must have instant understanding and immediate application for our Bible reading? It may well be that we are storing up vital truth, the meaning and application of which may very well become evident later.

Fourth, if we conclude that something is boring it may tell us something about ourselves that is not flattering.

I want to be careful not to be judgmental here, but I am reminded of how the Book of Proverbs looks on what gives us pleasure. What we find pleasurable will tell us much about who we are.

Carrying out a wicked scheme is enjoyable to a fool,
and so is wisdom for the one who has discernment (Proverbs 10:23).

Folly is a joy to one who lacks sense,
but one who has understanding follows an upright course (Proverbs 15:21).

A fool takes no pleasure in understanding
but only in disclosing what is on his mind (Proverbs 18:2).

She obtains wool and flax,
and she is pleased to work with her hands (Proverbs 31:13).

In a moment we will talk about why the Old Testament should give us pleasure, but it seems to me that some who are bored with the Old Testament are unwilling to do the work which is required to discern wisdom:

3 Indeed, if you call out for discernment–
raise your voice for understanding–
4 if you seek it like silver,
and search for it like hidden treasure,
5 then you will understand how to fear the LORD,
and you will discover knowledge about God (Proverbs 2:3-5).

We are inclined to pursue instant gratification, even when it comes to reading and studying the Bible. We are preoccupied with discovering “what’s in it for me.” All too many “Bible studies” are guided by the question, “What does this text mean to you?” I believe that we should begin, rather, with the question, “What did this text mean to the ones to whom it was first written?”
We need to read Old Testament texts from the recipient’s point of view, and only later seek to apply it to our own lives.

Some Old Testament saints actually had oxen (or sheep, or goats), and so they understood these texts differently than you or I (city folks) would:

You must not muzzle your ox when it is treading grain (Deuteronomy 25:4).

Where there are no oxen, the feeding trough is clean,
but an abundant harvest is produced by strong oxen (Proverbs 14:4).

“The first of the firstfruits of your soil you must bring to the house of the LORD your God. You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk” (Exodus 34:26).

The principles behind these words apply to us, but we should first consider how these words applied to the Old Testament farmers who first received them.

Conclusion

All of this is to say that we really do not have good reason to ignore (or reject) the Old Testament Scriptures. We might do well to read and meditate upon Psalm 119, to remind ourselves of how godly Old Testament saints looked upon the Law. We might do well to consider how Jesus and the New Testament saints looked at the Old Testament. This we will seek to do in the next lesson.


1 Luke 22:20.

2 Unless otherwise indicated, all Bible citations are the from NET Bible.

3 Mark 7:1-13.

4 Romans 3:19-26.

5 Genesis 4:3-15.

6 Genesis 9:3-7.

7 See Revelation 8:7-8; 11:6; 14:20; 16:3-6.

8 Worse yet, Mordecai is portrayed as a hero.

9 I was pleased to see that J. I. Packer agrees on this point. He writes this about Abraham: “Plainly, then, Abraham was not by nature a man of strong principle, and his sense of responsibility was somewhat deficient. But God in wisdom dealt with this easygoing, unheroic figure to such good effect that not merely did he faithfully fulfill his appointed role on the stage of church history, . . . he also became a new man.” J. I. Packer, Knowing God, p. 93.

10 See especially Hebrews 11:31-32.

11 See 2 Samuel 12:7-8.

12 See Genesis 20, especially verses 11-13.

13 See Genesis 19:1-8.

14 See Judges 19:22-30. When I was preaching this passage, I had to ask three men to read this Scripture before one would agree to do it. And this one man said something like this when he stood up to read the passage: “I know that we normally read the passage and then pray, but today I would like to pray first, before I read the passage.”

15 See Ephesians 5:22ff.

16 The mere use of the word “perversion” (found in Leviticus 18:23) is regarded as inappropriate and unacceptable.

17 See Genesis 1:26-27; Leviticus 18:23; Romans 1:26-27.

18 Genesis 3.

19 See Romans 1:24-27.

20 See Romans 1:22-32.

21 See Genesis 47:19-25.

22 See Jonah chapters 1-4.

23 See Luke 4:16-30, especially verses 24-29.

24 See also Acts 10-11, 15:1ff.; 22:21-22.

25 https://www.biblestoriesalive.org/

26 This is especially true in John 13-16. See 13:7; 15:29; 16:4, 16-33.

Related Topics: Bible Study Methods, Bibliology (The Written Word), Christian Life, Old Testament, Spiritual Life

2. Good Reasons For Reading The Old Testament

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Introduction

I confess, I’ve used this illustration before, but it is good enough to use again. My friend Chuck had just finished his medical training to be a doctor, but needed to fulfill his obligation to the United States Armed Forces. This took Chuck and his family to the Mojave Desert in California. When he had some free time, he rode his motorcycle into the desert. Unfortunately, he had a mishap. He broke one leg (the one that would have operated the brakes), and the handbrake lever broke off as well. He was able to get back on the bike and ride it, but now without any brakes.

All went well until Chuck reached the main gate of the base, where an officer was on duty to check the identification of anyone entering the base. Stopping for that officer was not really possible, so Chuck rolled past him, with the officer strongly protesting. Chuck finally came to a stop, and the officer commenced to give him a lecture, to which my friend responded (in a deep Southern accent), “Now hold on there sawgint, before you get all worked up, I think there are three things you ought to know. Number one, I’m a majah. Number two, I’m a doctah. Number three, I’ve got a broken leg.” To this the sergeant quickly responded, “Yes Sir, Major! Let me help you get to the hospital.”

If we are wise, we respond promptly and enthusiastically to do those things for which there are compelling reasons. Reading the Old Testament is one of those things for which we have many good reasons to do. In this message, I’d like to focus on a few of these reasons.

More Than 70% Of Our Bible Is Old Testament.

The Bible which I currently hold in my hands contains 1334 pages from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21. The New Testament consists of a mere 29% of this Bible, leaving over 70% of it to the Old Testament. Did God give us our Bibles so that we could virtually disregard 70% of it? I think not! (The Apostle Paul would have said, “God forbid!”) Surely these proportions should give us pause for thought if we have considered the Old Testament to be of little value to us.

The Bible (Old Testament And New) Speaks Of The Wonder, Beauty, And Greatness Of The Law.

“See, I have taught you statutes and judgments just as the LORD my God commanded me, that you should do thus in the land where you are entering to possess it. 6 “So keep and do them, for that is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. 7 For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as is the LORD our God whenever we call on Him? 8 Or what great nation is there that has statutes and judgments as righteous as this whole law which I am setting before you today? (Deuteronomy 4:5-8, NAU; emphasis mine).

Open my eyes so I can truly see the marvelous things in your law! (Psalm 119:18)

O how I love your law!

All day long I meditate on it (Psalm 119:97).

So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous, and good (Romans 7:12).

Jesus And The New Testament Writers Frequently Referred To The Old Testament As Authoritative And Applicable To Their Own Time.

Jesus and the New Testament writers quote and rely on the revelation of the Old Testament with the assumption that it applies to New Testament saints. For example, note these texts:

For everything that was written in former times was written for our instruction, so that through endurance and through encouragement of the scriptures we may have hope (Romans 15:4).

All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16, NAU).

8 Am I saying these things only on the basis of common sense, or does the law not say this as well? 9 For it is written in the law of Moses, “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.” God is not concerned here about oxen, is he? 10 Or is he not surely speaking for our benefit? It was written for us, because the one plowing and threshing ought to work in hope of enjoying the harvest. 11 If we sowed spiritual blessings among you, is it too much to reap material things from you? 12 If others receive this right from you, are we not more deserving? But we have not made use of this right. Instead we endure everything so that we may not be a hindrance to the gospel of Christ. 13 Don’t you know that those who serve in the temple eat food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar receive a part of the offerings? 14 In the same way the Lord commanded those who proclaim the gospel to receive their living by the gospel (1 Corinthians 9:8-14).

Out of curiosity I did an internet search with this question: “How many times did Jesus quote from the Old Testament?” Here is part of what I found:

“5. THE TESTIMONY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT TO THE INSPIRATION OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. Jesus has been proven to be not only a credible witness, but a messenger from God. In all His teachings He referred to the divine authority of the Old Testament (Mt. 5:17-18; 8:17; 12:40-42; Lk. 4:18-21; 10:25-28; 15:29-31; 17:32; 24:25-45; Jn. 5:39-47). He quoted the Old Testament 78 times, the Pentateuch alone 26 times. He quoted from Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, [Numbers 21:4-9 in John 3:14-15]1 Deuteronomy, Psalms, Proverbs, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Amos, Jonah, Micah, and Malachi. He referred to the Old Testament as “The Scriptures,” “the word of God,” and “the wisdom of God.” The apostles quoted 209 times from the Old Testament and considered it the oracles of God.” The Old Testament in hundreds of places predicted the events of the New Testament; and as the New Testament is the fulfillment of, and testifies to the genuineness and authenticity of the Old Testament, both Testaments must be considered together as the Word of God.” 2

This particular article referenced a chart of Old Testament quotations in the New Testament, by Jesus and others.3 When I consulted it, I found this to be a surprisingly extensive list (several pages long). This is a very instructive and useful reference.

Over The Centuries, Christians Have Consistently Turned To The Pages Of The Old Testament For Comfort, For Instruction, And For Words Which Even More Precisely Than Our Own Express The Thoughts Of Their Hearts.4

Many people have a regular routine of reading through the book of Proverbs – some once a month, a chapter each day. There is a great deal of practical wisdom contained in Proverbs. My wife, Jeannette, and I have personally experienced the wisdom contained in the Old Testament Book of Proverbs. We had just finished seminary are were ministering in Dallas, Texas. We were wondering if it was time to buy a home. My father gave me very sound advice, which went something like this:

“I think you should wait until your ministry is clearly evident, then buy a house that corresponds to your ministry.”

My dad’s advice sounded very much like this proverb, which I discovered as I was reading through the Bible:

Establish your work outside and get your fields ready;
afterward build your house (Proverbs 24:27).

How often Christians return to the Book of Psalms for comfort, encouragement, and for fuel for worship. The Psalms also contain a great deal of doctrine. Here we can learn much about the character of God, and of His ways. The psalmists say it so much better, so much more precisely, than we can, and so we spend a great deal of time in the Book of Psalms. Rightly so.

The Scriptures Assert The Inspiration, Authority, And Relevance Of The Old Testament For Both Old And New Testament Saints:

5 Every word of God is purified;
he is like a shield for those who take refuge in him.
6 Do not add to his words,
lest he reprove you, and prove you to be a liar (Proverbs 30:5-6).

The sum of Your word is truth,
And every one of Your righteous ordinances is everlasting. Shin (Psalm 119:160, NAU).

Your word is a lamp to walk by,
and a light to illumine my path (Psalm 119:105).

Every scripture is inspired by God and useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the person dedicated to God may be capable and equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

The Old Testament Defines Key Terms, Concepts, And Activities That Will Be Addressed In The New.

I have heard statements like this from highly respected scholars: “The prophecy which we see today is not the prophecy of the Old Testament, or even of the New. It is prophecy that is on the analogy of what we find in the Bible.” Evangelicals are telling us this, but in so doing they are re-defining key terms and concepts that the Bible has defined differently. One claiming to be a prophet in the Old Testament was tested by two things in Deuteronomy 13 and 18: (1) what they prophesied must come to pass,5 and (2) their ministry must lead men to worship the God of Israel alone, and not some other god or gods.6 If a so-called prophet failed either of these tests they were to be stoned. The “new” definition of prophecy actually inclines us to expect some “prophecies” to fail. As for me, I’ll stick with the old (biblical) definition.

Key theological concepts like sin, judgment, atonement, reconciliation, propitiation, and redemption are defined in the Old Testament so we will recognize their ultimate disclosure in the New. We cannot really read and understand the New Testament apart from a working knowledge of the Old.

The Old Testament Points Us Toward Jesus, And Is Foundational And Preparatory To The Gospel.

Jesus referred to the Old Testament as bearing witness to His identity as Israel’s Messiah:

16 Now Jesus came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, 18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and the regaining of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” 20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to tell them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled even as you heard it being read” (Luke 4:16-21).

You study the scriptures thoroughly because you think in them you possess eternal life, and it is these same scriptures that testify about me (John 5:39).

25 So he said to them, “You foolish people– how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Wasn’t it necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and enter into his glory?” 27 Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things written about himself in all the [Old Testament] scriptures (Luke 24:25-27; see 24:44-45).7

I am reminded of the account of the conversion of the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8:26-39. The eunuch was perplexed by the words of Isaiah 53, which pointed to Jesus as the Messiah. It was this text which opened the door for Philip to explain the gospel and lead this Ethiopian official to Christ.

The Apostle Paul based his evangelistic ministry to the Jews on the Old Testament prophecies pertaining to Israel’s Messiah, showing that Jesus fulfilled those prophecies:

1 After they traveled through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. 2 Paul went to the Jews in the synagogue, as he customarily did, and on three Sabbath days he addressed them from the scriptures, 3 explaining and demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and to rise from the dead, saying, “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ” (Acts 17:1-3). 8

What is significant for us to note is that when Paul preached the gospel to Gentiles, he based his message on the fact that the God whom He proclaimed was the God who created the world:

For as I went around and observed closely your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: ‘To an unknown god.’ Therefore what you worship without knowing it, this I proclaim to you. 24 The God who made the world and everything in it, who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by human hands. . . (Acts 17:23-24).

I believe that New Tribes Mission, along with many others (now) have come to realize that one cannot preach the gospel, beginning with the New Testament. They must preach the gospel from the beginning, starting with the fact that God is the Creator of the universe.9

Finally, while one must deal carefully with Old Testament prototypes of New Testament fulfillments, there are clearly persons (like Joseph) who in a unique way prefigure and thus anticipate Christ. Some of these prototypes would not be evident unless the Scriptures made this clear (see, for example, Matthew 2:15 and Hosea 11:1). But in this way the Old Testament prepares the reader for the coming of Christ.

The Old Testament Sets Forth Things As They Were At The Beginning, And Thus Informs Us How Things, Like Marriage, Were Meant To Be, Or Will Someday Be Again.

In other words, the Old Testament presents us with the ideal, for which we should strive. The adversaries of Jesus were more interested in the exceptions, which they believed justified divorce, but Jesus focused on than the ideal, as revealed in Genesis:

4 He answered, “Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator made them male and female, 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and will be united with his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? 6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” 7 They said to him, “Why then did Moses command us to give a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her?” 8 Jesus said to them, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because of your hard hearts, but from the beginning it was not this way. 9 Now I say to you that whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another commits adultery” (Matthew 19:4-9).

Thus, the way in which God first created Adam and Eve is viewed as a pattern for husband/wife relationships.10

The God Of The Old Testament Is The God Of The New, And God Does Not Change.

This is a point that is very powerfully set forth by J. I. Packer, in his excellent book, Knowing God.11 Whatever differences there may be between Old Testament times, New Testament times, and today, God never changes.

“For I, the LORD, do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed” (Malachi 3:6, NAU).

All generous giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or the slightest hint of change (James 1:17).

The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, share the same attributes, and thus our Lord is absolutely right when He likens the Father and the Son:

20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him everything he does, and will show him greater deeds than these, so that you will be amazed. 21 For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whomever he wishes (John 5:20-21; see also 5:36).

37 If I do not perform the deeds of my Father, do not believe me. 38 But if I do them, even if you do not believe me, believe the deeds, so that you may come to know and understand that I am in the Father and the Father is in me” (John 10:37-38).

8 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be content.” 9 Jesus replied, “Have I been with you for so long, and you have not known me, Philip? The person who has seen me has seen the Father! How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you, I do not speak on my own initiative, but the Father residing in me performs his miraculous deeds. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me, but if you do not believe me, believe because of the miraculous deeds themselves’” (John 14:8-11).

Jesus enables us to “see” the Father, whose likeness is revealed in Him.

Man Has Not Changed In His Essential Nature.

In terms of their nature, Old Testament saints are no different than New Testament saints.

Elijah was a human being like us, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain and there was no rain on the land for three years and six months! (James 5:17)

29 “Woe to you, experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. 30 And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have participated with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31 By saying this you testify against yourselves that you are descendants of those who murdered the prophets (Matthew 23:29-31).

“You stubborn people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are always resisting the Holy Spirit, like your ancestors did! (Acts 7:51).

When we observe weakness or a lack of faith in the Old Testament men and women of faith, we can readily see ourselves in them. Thus, when the Old Testament reveals their sins, it reveals ours as well. And when it shows us how God graciously endures their weaknesses,12 we are assured that He does the same with us.

The Temptations We Face As Humans Today Are Really The Same As Those Faced By Old Testament Saints:

9 What exists now is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; there is nothing truly new on earth. 10 Is there anything about which someone can say, “Look at this! It is new!”? It was already done long ago, before our time (Ecclesiastes 1:9-10).

6 These things happened as examples for us, so that we will not crave evil things as they did. 7 So do not be idolaters, as some of them were. As it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.” 8 And let us not be immoral, as some of them were, and twenty-three thousand died in a single day. 9 And let us not put Christ to the test, as some of them did, and were destroyed by snakes. 10 And do not complain, as some of them did, and were killed by the destroying angel. 11 These things happened to them as examples and were written for our instruction, on whom the ends of the ages have come (1 Corinthians 10:6-11).

No trial has overtaken you that is not faced by others. And God is faithful: He will not let you be tried beyond what you are able to bear, but with the trial will also provide a way out so that you may be able to endure it (1 Corinthians 10:13).

The Old Testament Sets Forth Examples, From Which We Can And Should Learn Today.

5 But God was not pleased with most of them, for they were cut down in the wilderness. 6 These things happened as examples for us, so that we will not crave evil things as they did. 7 So do not be idolaters, as some of them were. As it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.” 8 And let us not be immoral, as some of them were, and twenty-three thousand died in a single day. 9 And let us not put Christ to the test, as some of them did, and were destroyed by snakes. 10 And do not complain, as some of them did, and were killed by the destroying angel. 11 These things happened to them as examples and were written for our instruction, on whom the ends of the ages have come (1 Corinthians 10:5-11, emphasis mine).

12 But these men, like irrational animals– creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed– do not understand whom they are insulting, and consequently in their destruction they will be destroyed, 13 suffering harm as the wages for their harmful ways. By considering it a pleasure to carouse in broad daylight, they are stains and blemishes, indulging in their deceitful pleasures when they feast together with you. 14 Their eyes, full of adultery, never stop sinning; they entice unstable people. They have trained their hearts for greed, these cursed children! 15 By forsaking the right path they have gone astray, because they followed the way of Balaam son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness, 16 yet was rebuked for his own transgression (a dumb donkey, speaking with a human voice, restrained the prophet’s madness). (2 Pet. 2:12-16, emphasis mine)

17 Elijah was a human being like us, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain and there was no rain on the land for three years and six months! 18 Then he prayed again, and the sky gave rain and the land sprouted with a harvest (James 5:17-18; see also 1 Corinthians 10:1-13; Hebrews 4:11; 11:13-16; 2 Peter 2:6; Jude 1:7).

With all these things in mind, we have to acknowledge the importance of the Old Testament to the New Testament believer. This is not a portion of the Bible that God intended for us to ignore. And thus, in the next message I will suggest some of the ways that we should read and apply Old Testament texts and truths.


1 My addition. I don’t know why our Lord’s reference to Moses and the brazen serpent (Numbers 21:5-9) in John 3:14-15 would be omitted, so I included it.

2 https://www.puritanboard.com/threads/random-question-how-many-times-did-jesus-quote-the-ot-in-the-gospels.57448/

3 This chart is found in the ESV Study Bible.

4 I must confess that I have never before noted the possible relationship between this observation and the words of Romans 8:26-27, but I believe the Old Testament, especially the Book of Psalms, may put into beautifully powerful words what we are feeling in our hearts, especially in difficult and trying times.

5 Deuteronomy 18:22.

6 Deuteronomy 13:1-5; 18:20.

7 See also Genesis 3:15; 12:1-3; Isaiah 7:14; 9:6; 52:13—53:12; Micah 5:2.

8 See an extended example of Paul’s evangelism, based upon the Old Testament Scriptures in Acts 13:13-49.

9 https://www.amazon.com/Stranger-Road-Emmaus-What-Message/dp/1927429943/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=With+Jesus+on+the+road+to+Emmaus&qid=1580748458&s=books&sr=1-2

10 See Genesis 2 and 3 as referred to in 1 Corinthians 11:8-10. See also Ephesians 5:31.

11 J. I. Packer, Knowing God (20TH-Anniversary Edition), InterVarsity Press. Chapter 7: “God Unchanging.”

12 See Psalm 103.

Related Topics: Basics for Christians, Bible Study Methods, Bibliology (The Written Word), Christian Education, Christian Life, Old Testament, Spiritual Life

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