About two months ago I was watching the NRB network, channel 378, on Directv. (If you have Directv I recommend you add this channel to your list of favorites.) As I was working in my kitchen I overheard a show and the message delivered was so compelling that I had to sit down and watch. The program title was The Jewish Jesus taught by Messianic Jewish Rabbi Kirt Schneider. The message he brought was so profound I've been telling people about the insights he presented, but I would like to share it with more people so I'm posting it. Sometimes it takes me a while to get a grip on what the Scripture is saying and put my thoughts into words.
The point Rabbi Schneider made on this episode was the need for Christians to view the Bible as a whole book of truth, both the Old and New Testaments are about God and His love for us. Many churches today disregard the Old Testament as "the Law" and since Jesus came to be our sacrifice once for all, we can ignore the teaching there. Jesus didn’t come to start a new religion.
Matthew 5:17
17 Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.
Jesus and Paul saw themselves as proclaiming the completion of Judaism. Many of the churches today have become disconnected from their Jewish roots. The church established by Jesus has been grafted into the olive tree of Israel (Romans 11:17; Ephesians 2:12, 13).
Rabbi Schneider pointed out that the Old and New Covenants connect. When Jesus rose from the grave and appeared to His disciples on the road to Emmaus, they did not recognize Him at first. He then revealed to them who He was, by taking them on a journey through the Hebrew Scriptures.
Luke 24:27
25 He said to them, "How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?" 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.
But the last and best illustration Rabbi Schneider used to bridge the Old and New Testaments was the example of the only time a word is used in three-time succession in the Bible. There is no description of God as "all loving, all loving, all loving" although we know that He is. He is not described as "all knowing, all knowing, all knowing" although we know that He is. There are only two times where we see a description of God in three word succession and it is in the Old AND New Testaments.
The first example is when Isaiah sees the Holy God in Heaven:
Isaiah 6:1-3
1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another:
"Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty;
the whole earth is full of his glory."
The second example is when the apostle John sees the revelation of God, also at His throne in Heaven:
Revelation 4:6-8
6 Also before the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal. In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back. 7 The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle. 8 Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under his wings. Day and night they never stop saying:
"Holy, holy, holy is the LORD God Almighty,
who was, and is, and is to come."
My favorite contemporary Christian musician is Nichole Nordeman. She was at the Women of Faith conference I attended last week. She sang a song from her newest album that puts me on my knees every time I hear it.
Holy by Nichole Nordeman
How many roads did I travel
Before I walked down one that led me to You?
How many dream did unravel
Before I believed in a hope that was true?
How long? How far?
What was meant to fulfill only emptied me still
And all You ever wanted…
Only me on my knees
Singing holy, holy
And somehow
All that matters now is
You are holy, holy
How many deaths did I die
Before I was awakened to new life again?
How many half truths did I bear witness to
‘Til the proof was disproved in the end?
How long? How far?
What was meant to illuminate shadowed me still
And all You ever wanted…
Only me on my knees
Singing holy, holy
And somehow
All that matters now is
You are holy, holy
All I have is gratitude to offer You
It is easy to view the God of the Old Testament as a strict Lawgiver and the God of the New Testament as a God of grace. However, His plan from the beginning of the world was to send the Messiah to save the lost. The entire Bible tells of God's love for us. His reaching, longing desire for us to be with Him. God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. It is not in His nature to change who He is, that would alter His faithfulness. The Holy Bible is His living Word, Jesus Christ. I am constantly amazed at the ability of that Word to have implication to my daily life, from BOTH the Old and New Testaments.
Praise God for His wonderful gift!
John 1:1-2, 10-14
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning.
10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
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4 comments:
Laura,
I see you do your best thinking at 1am also. :)
I loved your post. I don't know that pastor, but I loved what you shared.
Jesus did fulfill the law. I love how the Word says that the law was a tutor to point us to Christ.
This is detailed beautifully in Romans 5, 6 and 7.
I was taught so many false things about the Old Testament growing up, and it's been such a GIFT from God to be learning about it...to be studing it.
Over and over again there are foreshadowings in the Old Testament that are brought to fulfillment through Jesus in the New Testament.
Just tonight, our family went to see "The Nativity" at a special screening, and I don't think I ever realized that Mary and Joseph went to Egypt to escape Herod's command to kill all Jewish male babies under 2.
I guess the reason that this jumped out at me tonight, is that I've been studying and RE-STUDYING the story of Joseph's life ( in the Old Testament ) over the past several months.
It's amazing, because just yesterday, in my study time, God showed me ( almost in NEON ) where Joseph said that he had been sent ahead of his brothers to preserve life. HELLO!
BIG AH-HA moment for me tonight...
Joseph of the Old Testament was sent ahead of his family...his father was Israel...to preserve life. Where was he sent? Yep!
Egypt!
Then, Joseph, Jesus' earthly father, was sent to Egypt...to what? Yep! Preserve LIFE.
Jesus said, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life...no man cometh unto the Father but by Me."
I thought that was such an amazing thing for God to show me tonight.
And, we must remember, that Egypt was a place of bondage for Israel...a place of pain. Yet, even through the pain, God preserved His people.
Isn't that so COOL?!
Amen Laura!
Many, many years ago, someone taught me this little saying and I've always remembered it: "The New is veiled in the Old, and the Old is revealed in the New." Meaning that neither the Old nor the New Testaments are meant to stand on their own, but they are both extricably bound together and cannot be separated. Neither make much sense without the other.
Unfortunately most modern churches focus on the New Testament teachings without any regard for the Old. Baptist's typically focus on Grace and the Gospels. Church of Christ typically focuses on Baptism and the Epistles. One of the things that really sold me on Canyon early on, when we were initially looking for a new church home was that Tom would mix in Old Testament teaching with the New and I really appreciated that more than he will probably ever know.
There is tremendous wisdom and contemporary application to be found in the Old Testament if we would take the time to swim deep in it.
Shawn
Hey Laura - thanks for your great post. Isn't it awesome, the beauty and perfection of God's plan to save an imperfect world? The New Testament takes on an even deeper meaning when read hand-in-hand with the Old Testament (as Ragamuffin said).
That was awesome thnx for sharing...just doing some late night studying (SAT',ect)
I'm glad there are so many people that love Jesus that even on the interent you come across tons of pages-well it was a blessing -
God Bless everyone k?
night! =)
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