And even more specifically, the Torah, or first five books of the bible. Genesis…and Exodus and Numbers and especially Deuteronomy.
Oh, and just for the record…if you think I’m trying to make a case here that we are supposed to be back living under OT rules and regulations and ordinances and rituals, including animal sacrifices and dietary restrictions, that is not the case at all. And you might ask the Holy Spirit to keep those pesky voices that whisper such things in to your thoughts at bay for a bit while we share here this morning. Remember, you do have an enemy whose main job is to keep you away from the light of God’s word, even going in to ‘snatch it from your heart’ to attempt it having any effect on you …like believing it and being ‘saved’. (Luke 8:12)
You do realize that the early church did not have a ‘New Testament’ complete with ‘red letters’ to study, as we do today, yes? Guess what they mainly studied, along with the various letters that eventually began to circulation amongst them? They had… the ‘law’ and the prophets.
Take a quick look at 2 Peter. 3:1-2 and make a note as to which words we should be mindful of reading and/or studying? Sounds like he is echoing what he pointed out on the days after Pentecost in Acts 3:24-26. And one more before we get started here in Luke 24. First it was with those two disciples on the road to Emmaus and then directly afterwards where Jesus met with some other followers and we read where He ‘opened the scriptures to them’ as well as he ‘opened their understanding to the scriptures’. (32,45). What ‘scriptures’ do you think He was ‘opening their understanding’ to?
This is also not about placing precedence over the NT writings either. It ALL fits together perfectly…when the Holy Spirit is doing the teaching. Guess what? We need not be afraid of God’s word. It is ALL good. If we could ever get past this notion that we have it all figured out because of what we have been taught by men, we might actually learn some new insights from the one who authored this incredible collection of writings. What did John say about not even ‘needing men to teach us’ because of the anointing He gives us? Oh, in order for that to happen though, you have to ‘abide’ in Him. (1 John 2:26-27 1 John 16:13, Matt. 13:11).
I often cite examples there in John 5:39-40 and 8:42-47 where Jesus flat out told the religious leaders of that day that even though they searched the scriptures looking for life, they were unable to find or experience it because they would not ‘come to Him’ that they might have life. He also told them that they were not even able to hear or receive God’s word because they were not of God, but rather ‘children of the devil’. And these were men trained in the writings of the Law Jesus said this to. This is what happens when we allow the teachings of men to capture our hearts…we end up dismissing the word of God as Jesus explained in Mark 7:6-23.
So going back and looking at the ‘blueprints’ to gain more insight as to what God’s desire to do not only with us, but IN us, is always a good idea. Whether you have a recipe for some family favorite cake or you are building your dream home, nobody just reads the directions over one time and then goes out and puts it all together. (Ok…so you memorized your mother’s cake recipe. You know what I’m talking about here.)
Paul told us there in 1 Cor. 10 that all those things that happened to the Israelites in the wilderness leading up to them entering the promised land were written down for OUR admonition and as examples and warnings. This…is why there is so much to glean from studying this account.
I think most church members today have heard that the story of Moses leading God’s people out from under the heavy hand of bondage and slavery to Pharaoh there in Egypt was a foreshadowing or ‘type’ of what Jesus was going to do with us. As in, lead us out from the power of sin and darkness that Satan has us all bound by. I mean, we are told in 1 John 5:19 that the ‘whole world is under the sway or influence of the wicked one.’ And Paul recounts what Jesus told him there in Acts 26:18 that the light of the gospel would enable us to have our ‘eyes opened that we might turn from the power of Satan to the power of God’.
So after the incredible display of God’s power in leading them through the Red Sea and into the wilderness for a time of refining and testing, it turned out that the people’s hearts quickly turned away from their devotion to God. It’s not like we don’t see that happen regularly when we, or ‘others’ get a prayer answered or out of some desperate fix by God’s grace and then they settle back in to their old ways. We’ve all done it at one time or another. I mean, God delivered them…led them out, miraculously provided food and water in a hostile environment and still, the people found reason to grumble and doubt and even went as far as to create some golden image of a ‘beast’ there in Exodus wanting to worship ‘it’ and call it the ‘god who saved them’. You think we might do that with men’s doctrines where we take a few scriptures out of the bible and say ‘do this and this and this’ and you are ‘saved’?
Needless to say, things did not turn out for the majority of those folks. That first generation of folks died out in the wilderness and never made it in to the land of peace and rest because of their lack of faith and disobedience. (Heb. 3-4). A wilderness, I might add, that Moses would later explain to the second generation of folks was a place that God had not intended to leave them…just a place where He might ‘test them to see if they would obey Him and keep His commandments.’ (Deut. 8:2)
Oh, remember my statement from yesterday about how Jesus knew how to ‘cull a crowd’? Yeah…you might see how this is sort of a ‘practice’ with God. Whether you agree with the practice or not is a moot point. We just see it over and over in the scriptures, both OT and NT. Out of that first group who came out of Egypt, only 2, as in T-W-0 men, Joshua and Caleb got to cross in to the new land where God was going to bless them. That, was quite the culling.
And I have no idea how many people were on the earth leading up the great flood we read about in Genesis 6-7, a flood, I might add that God brought because of men’s hearts being continuously bent on evil (Gen 6:5-8), but guess how many were ‘saved’ in the ark? Eight folks, including Noah. I know…sounds pretty drastic. Then, using such a dramatic and horrific scene of destruction and so ‘few being saved’, Jesus points back to this example saying that prior to His return at the end of the ages, things would be quite similar as it ‘was in the days of Noah’. (Matt. 24:38). So when you read and study out things Jesus taught and how there were be ‘few who find this narrow path and gate that leads to life’ (Matt. 7:18), you begin to get the idea that God is not about quantity or numbers, but He is looking for hearts that are ‘perfect towards Him’. (2 Chron. 16:9)
Which again, I point to the fact that the majority of us have been ‘asleep’ like those virgins were in Matt. 25. And the ‘bridegroom’ is trying to awaken us that we might be made ‘ready’. “Auto-Pilot” won’t take you where you think or have been told you were going.
This notion of building up church attendance by telling people how wonderful God things they are and how much He loves them and has a wonderful plan for their life and wants to use all their talents and skills and even their money to help Him build this kingdom…might just be components of those ‘other gospels’ that Paul warned us about.
Jesus came preaching that men ‘repent’ and turn and follow Him. And as I made the case for yesterday, one would be silly to not sit down and consider the cost of what this whole ‘Christian walk of faith and salvation’ involves. I encouraged you yesterday to begin reading through Deut. 4-11 and making note of things that stood out to you. Seems like Moses spent a good bit of time going over and over and over and over…repeated points as to what this ‘going in to possess the land’ was all about. He was trying to spare them the fallout of what their fathers had suffered.
The truths we might glean from all this are sobering in light of how we ‘prepare’ people today to ‘join a church’. Instructing someone to ‘repeat a prayer and sign a card and you are saved’ is a far cry from what we see laid out for us in both OT and NT writings. And no, this is not about trying to ‘earn’ or ‘work’ our way into heaven. It’s all about abiding in Him…following Him…obeying Him as HE leads us to overcome by His grace. For all those who were taught that it's just a matter of ‘sitting in the stands and applauding Jesus for what He did on the cross’ is all that is asked of you…are in for a rude awakening if they don’t allow the Holy Spirit to open their eyes.
Please come back tomorrow.
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