Let’s start by trying to grasp some of the big picture realities about our world….
Universe: It’s approximated that 117 billion people have existed on our planet. Scientists state that there are two trillion galaxies in the “observable” universe. That would give each person who has lived 18 galaxies to explore on their own.
Galaxy: Our galaxy, the Milky Way, is 100,000 light years in diameter. So if we traveled at the speed of light [186,000 miles per second] for a year, we might get 5.8 trillion miles closer to the other side of the galaxy (that’s 5,800,000,000,000). We’d still have 99,000 more light years to travel before getting to the other end of the Milky Way.
Planet: Our wonderful, life-sustaining planet (the only one like it), is tucked away in the Orion Arm of the Milky Way (the suburbs). What’s more, our SUN is ONE of at least 400 BILLION stars in our galaxy alone. And God calls them each by name!
Humanity: The same God, who created all of that, wants to communicate with you!
He has done that in various ways; the most specific way has been through His Word. Let’s move past the miracle of our world to the miracle of His Word. The truth of the Bible we have access to today was written over a span of 1600 years, by over 40 authors using three different languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek), across three continents (Africa, Asia, Europe), was completed about 2,026 years ago – before mechanical printing or digital storage, and its content can still be compared to original documents.
In His Word, God’s primary theme has consistently been
to communicate the glory of God with everyone who believes in Jesus Christ.
“All the days ordained for me were written in your book, before one of them came to be.” (Psalm 139:16) The Bible presents the definition, the dignity, and the destiny of every human. The way to access this reality is through faith in Christ and an active obedience to His Word. It is through this that the person you were meant to be begins to emerge, and we discover our God-given purpose (Ephesians 2:10).
If all this is true, where do we find the audacity to display the insensitivity and passivity toward God that shows Him we do not need His Word… even the Old Testament, which contains the most ignored parts. How can we resist exploring every part of it… every jot or tittle of it…. (Matthew 5:18)
In the previous post, we saw the vital importance that Jesus placed on the Old Testament. Now let’s consider what the New Testament writers said about it.
We would expect the gospel writers to use direct quotes from the Old Testament: Matthew has 50-55; Mark has 15-20; Luke 20-28; and John has 15-20. There are many additional references where they alluded to the Old Testament instead of quoting it. Acts has 30-40 direct quotations in speeches made by Peter, Stephen, and Paul. Check out the direct quotes from Joel in Acts 2 or Stephen’s sermon in Acts 7. The epistles contain 250 direct quotations and over 1000 allusions to the Old Testament. Hebrews alone has 85-100 direct quotes. How can we really understand these N.T. passages, if we don’t go back to the O.T. to understand the context?
Let’s conclude with four representative – yet infinitely powerful passages – from the New Testament that speak volumes about the Old Testament: Romans 15:4-6; Hebrews 1:1-3; I Peter 1:10-13; and II Peter 1:19-21.
We are told in Romans 15:4-6 that the things written before [Old Testament] are for our instruction, that through the encouragement and endurance found in those writings, we might have hope. Further, God takes this consolation and patience and infuses it into believers, producing a Spirit-ignited unity in them in order to glorify God.
In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, speaking to us presently through His Son: heir of all things, creator of the universe, and the radiance of God’s glory, sustaining all things by His powerful Word (Hebrews 1:1-3).
Now look at what I Peter 1:10-13 has to say! This is incredible! “Concerning this salvation [this whole plan of redemption and restoration] the prophets (O.T.) who spoke of the grace that was to come, searched diligently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the timing and the circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ within them was pointing, when He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glory that would follow.” They were exploring with great intensity what God was giving them to write. He answered them with the following: “It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but us, when they spoke of the things that have now been told to us by those who have preached the gospel to us by the Holy Spirit.” If these Old Testament prophets did this for our greater understanding, shouldn’t we desire to know more about what they’ve written?! Read this: “Even the angels long to look into these things!”
II Peter 1:19-21 further clarifies the magnitude of the privilege and responsibility we have as believers in this age to give our complete attention to what has come before us. “And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place… above all, you must understand that no prophecy of the Scripture came about by the prophets’ own interpretation. For their writing never had its own origin in the will of man, but they spoke from God, as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”
In our next post we will look into some considerations and concepts concerning how to read and study the “pesky” Old Testament.