Basic #3 The Old Testament isn't relevant to us anymore.

How to build a deck, no need to read the instructions!

Wow, it's hard to believe July is almost over and school is starting in just a few days.  Where has the summer gone?  Teachers are quickly preparing their classrooms and writing lesson plans eagerly awaiting that first day.  Some await with anticipation and others possibly with a slight fear of the unknown, but one thing is for sure, all teachers will hope they can prepare their students for the next level in life.  Elementary teachers prepare their students for middle school.  Middle school teachers prepare their students for high school.  High school teachers prepare their students for life and / or college.  Each teacher builds on the teachings of the previous teachers.  If one teacher does not do his or her job, well we have a problem or if the student doesn't or isn't able to learn during a particular year then a step is left out of the process and this missing step can wreak havoc for the rest of their life.

There is always a process to everything in life.  A process in growth from conception to adulthood:  leave out a step and a human being (or animal for that matter) is either born with a birth defect or has a shortened life span due to an abnormal growth pattern.  The manufacturing process of a vehicle: leave out a step and either parts don't fit together correctly or as we have seen with vehicles in the news, lawsuits occur due to deaths or injuries.  There is a process to building a building and yes, even a process to our legal system.  Everything has a process that must be followed.

6 + 2 (5 - 9 x 8r + 4z) - 1 = y  try working that equation without following the proper order and I guarantee you will not get the correct results!  Now, could you even begin to work that equation if you had never learned to add, subtract, multiply and divide?  You see, even in mathematics there is a certain order in which we do things.  How many of you remember High School Chemistry class? If you do not follow the correct order.....BAD MISTAKE!    Were there any of you who weren't paying attention when the teacher told you what order to added the chemicals in the test tube?  Come on now...fess up!  Some recipes are also like that, girls you know what I'm talking about!

The point to all of this rambling is to drill home a VERY important point.  So many Christians do not want to hear anything about the Old Testament.  I have heard numerous times, "I don't care anything about all that stuff.  Those stories are for the kids, it has nothing to do with today's times.  I only want to hear what's relevant for me today."  I'll even have to admit that I kinda thought the same thing myself earlier in life.  I only wanted to hear sermons and lessons from the Gospels and the New Testament, but friends nothing could be further from the truth!

Just as everything in our lives has a process, so does the very Word of God, Himself!  Is the Old Testament difficult to understand at times, YES, but not impossible to understand.  I want to give you a new perspective for a moment.  Think about the time during which Jesus lived.  (Okay here's one of those WWJD moments....)  What would he have read? (insert Jeapordy music) The only things He had to read......The Old Testament, better known today as The Tenach (The Law, The Prophets and The Writings).  He would have also had the Oral Traditions better known as The Oral Torah (which would not be in written form, but only passed down orally) and The Targums - which are much like our Open Bible today, a paraphrase of the Tanach in written form.

So when Jesus was quoting scripture, what was He quoting from?  Well, Paul of course, NOT!  Let me clue you in on a little secret.  Every single word that is attributed to Jesus in each of the Gospels and in Revelation is a quote from one of the three citations I listed above.  I would bet you, like me, thought that most everything Jesus said was original to Him, didn't you?  Well, I guess in a way it was since He was the Word made flesh it all came from Him to begin with, so we are trivializing here, but Jesus was quoting The Old Testament or a paraphrase of it or a commentary on it with each word He spoke.  Now can you see why the Pharisees were amazed at His knowledge of the scriptures knowing that He was not one of them?  They knew He had not been accepted by a Rabbi as an understudy, so who was this man?  They were perplexed by Him, but also intimidated for sure.

I want to give you an example of what I am talking about in reference to Jesus words being either a direct quote or a commentary on the Tanach, Oral Torah or Targums of His day.  The following link is to an online Bible with many translations and paraphrases.  The one I have linked to is the Orthodox Jewish Bible.  I know it is very hard to read due to it's use of Hebrew wording and I am not asking you to understand what you are reading.  It is the scripture reference for John 8.  I am asking that you look at all the cross-referencing to the Old Testament in parenthesis.  I think you will find it very interesting!  (Just for reference: Bereshis-Genesis, Tehillim-Psalms, Vayikra-Leviticus, Shemot-Exodus, Yeshayah-Isaiah, Mishle-Proverbs, Devarim-Deuteronomy.  You will even see a reference to a Targum thrown in there and something else special....a reference to something to come....Hisgalus following verse 52 is referring to Revelation 21:8.)

 http://biblehub.com/ojb/john/8.htm


The Old Testament is SOOOOO relevant to us.  Without it we would really be totally lost.  If we never learn our alphabet, how will we learn to read?  If we never learn how to hold a pen, how will we learn to write?  If we never learn our numbers, how will we learn to add and subtract?  If we do not know what God said in the beginning, how will we know what He says in the end?  To quote a very famous passage of scripture which in itself quotes scripture, Romans 10:14-15:

"But how can they call on someone if they haven't trusted in Him?  And how can they trust in someone if they haven't heard about Him?  And how can they hear about someone if no one is proclaiming Him? And how can people proclaim Him unless God sends them? - as the Tanach puts it, 
'How beautiful are the feet of those announcing good news about good things!'" (Isaiah 52:7) JNT

Do you see how this passage reverses the order showing that there is a process to even proclaiming God's Word and the Good News!  God sends people, those people proclaim to others, the hearers trust and call on God!

I know this post cannot fully explain that fact so I will be expounding on that in the future.  This post is one of the foundation blocks.  Many of you have told me that for you my posts were like trying to put on a roof when there were no walls, frustrating and confusing, so I have backed up and started over in order to lay a very firm foundation.  It really appears there haven't been very many foundations laid in the Church unfortunately, and I am afraid that fact is why we aren't retaining our young people when they reach adulthood.  Without a firm foundation, a house cannot stand when even a small storm comes along.  Gee, where have I heard that story before?



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