All Scripture is Useful For…

Hello again!

This is what God gave me today in His word:

Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer. (Psalms 19:13-14)

I love passages like this, because, even though they’re in the Old Testament, they teach something from the New Testament. For example, in the first verse David is crying out to the Lord, and asking that God would keep him from being dominated by sin. Essentially, David does ask God to keep him from sin, but he specifically asks that God would keep him from being dominated by sin. David knows that he’ll sin, but he’s asking that God would keep sin from dominating his life. This a concept (i.e., that even as Christians we will still sometimes fall to sin, but that God can and will keep it from dominating our lives) that is taught in the New Testament as well… In fact, we can see it in various different passages, for example:

No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. (1 Corinthians 10:13)

Likewise, in the second verse David is asking God to let his words and meditation be acceptable before God. Now, this particular bit is actually teaching more through contrast with the New Testament then through comparison… By that, I mean that in the New Testament we see that, if we are Christians, our words and what we meditate on are (or at least should be… Naturally, as mentioned earlier, we will stumble) acceptable to God.

In conclusion though: We can see New Testament truths and events all throughout the Old Testament… In small things, such as the two bits of teaching that were mentioned, and in big things. The ‘biggest’ thing of all, that we see constantly being foreshadowed all throughout the Old Testament, is the Gospel. We see it foreshadowed  in Abraham, when he is told to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice. We see it foreshadowed also with Joseph, who, to keep the people from starving, was betrayed into the hands of evil men, only to then be exalted to the right hand of Pharaoh… In short, almost every passage in the Old Testament points forward, or elaborates upon, something in the New Testament… The two testaments aren’t meant to be read separately, but rather to explain various things in one Testament or the other.

You are Loved!

Joshua Cleveland

 

The Old Testament: Is it Actually ‘Useful’?

Hello again!

This is what God gave me today in His word:

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:14-17)

All Scripture, Old and New Testaments, are useful in teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness… However, there are some books of the Bible, such as Numbers, Lamentations, and Leviticus, which, when we look at them, don’t appear to be exactly “helpful” in any of these areas. The book of Numbers can seem like nothing more than a bunch of useless numbers and history. The book of Lamentations can appear to be nothing more than a man lamenting. The book of Leviticus can seem like nothing more than rules and regulations which are no longer helpful to us.

They are much more than that though: Numbers is an account of how God sustained His people. Lamentations shows us that, even for a believer in God, things do get tough at times (we have to look at the New Testament in order to see that, even when things get tough, God always either helps us endure or provides a way out). As for Leviticus, while the rules within it are no longer applicable to those who have been saved through the blood of Christ, it can still aid us in showing us exactly what Jesus went through for us on the cross. For example, burnt offerings were consumed completely in fire. Likewise Jesus, the final burn offering, was consumed completely in God’s wrath for us on the cross.

The Old Testament is more than a collection of stories. It can be, when we look at it in light of what Jesus has done for us (i.e., in light of the New Testament), can be an encouraging and helpful aid in our walk with the Lord. We just have to look at Job in order to see that whatever trouble we’re going through now is meant to build us in the Lord. We can look to Noah’s ark, and see that God saves His people through the wood. 1 Kings 19:18 tells us that, even when it seems like no one around us believes in Christ, there are those that do.

In conclusion: The Bible doesn’t lie. When Paul says that all Scriptures are useful for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness, he truly does mean all Scriptures, both from the New and Old Testaments.

You are Loved!

Joshua Cleveland

 

The Prophets

Hello again!

This is what God gave me today in His word:

And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!
(Luke 24:25)

Jesus said these words to two of His disciples while on the road to Emmaus. His disciples, at the moment, still don’t believe that Jesus truly rose from the dead. So, to confirm to them that He had indeed risen, Jesus reminds them of what the prophets have said. Not only that, but read the next couple of verses:

Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. (Luke 24:26-27)

He showed them, in all the books of the Prophets, the things which concerned Himself. Not only that, but He interpreted them in light of how the Christ was to suffer and then enter into glory. In essence, He shared the Gospel from the Old Testament.

The good news that Jesus has died, and risen again for the salvation of all, can be found all throughout the Bible, including the Prophets. And, if the references to the cross are there, then there is no reason that we should not look for them. All Scripture has a purpose, and passages which reference or point us to the cross are no different; they are there for our benefit and encouragement.

You are Loved!

Joshua Cleveland

 

Shadows of the Cross

Hello again!

This is what God gave me today in His word:

Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. (Luke 23:32-33)

Jesus’ dying for us at “The Skull,” is the completion of a plethora of shadows. For example, we see one such shadow of the cross when Joshua was commanded to make flint knives and circumcise all the Israelites:

² At that time the Lord said to Joshua, “Make flint knives and circumcise the Israelites again.” ³ So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the Israelites at Gibeath Haaraloth. (Joshua 5:2-3)

⁹ Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.” So the place has been called Gilgal to this day. (Joshua 5:9)

Gilgal, Golgotha, and Calvary, are names for the same place.-It’s worth noting then, that on “Calvary”, God “rolled away all reproach” from His children. We see another such shadow with Abraham, when he was commanded to sacrifice his son, Isaac. You may be familiar with the story, but if you aren’t, this is the gist of it:

After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”² He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” (Genesis 22:1-2)

¹³ And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. ¹⁴ So Abraham called the name of that place,“The Lord will provide”;^[b] as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.” (Genesis 22:13-14)

We aren’t told the exact mountain on which Abraham was commanded to go, however, it was on the same mountain range as Mount. Calvary. Regardless though, it is worth seeing that “the son who was loved” (look at John 3:16 if you want to see the connection between us, and Isaac) was to be killed, but in his place was sacrificed another. That being said, though the ram here is a shadow of Christ, so is Isaac. In earlier verses, we see that Abraham and Isaac’s journey took three days.-The son was under the death sentence for three days. On the third day though, the death sentence was lifted.

We see many such places in the Old Testament; places where something similar to what would happen at the cross was demonstrated. As Paul tells us, all Scripture is useful (2 Timothy 3:16), and certain passages in the Old Testament are “useful” for telling us what exactly happened at the cross.–All our reproach from our old life living in sin (our “reproach of Israel”) has been rolled away. Likewise, we who are loved by the Father (like Isaac) will always be “provided for” on God’s mountain.

You are Loved!

Joshua Cleveland

 

The Sign of Jonah

Hello again!

This is what God gave me today in His word

When the crowds were increasing, he began to say, “This generation is an evil generation. It seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah. For as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. (Luke 11:29-30)

Jesus knew that they wanted Him to perform; to play the part of the magician, a give them some sign from Heaven. Now, correct marketing technique would’ve demanded that Jesus give them a sign. After all, the crowds were starting to increase! This was surely the perfect time to take advantage, show them a miracle, and then make them all disciples… But Jesus is no marketer. Jesus, unlike several pastors of today, doesn’t preach appeasing messages. Rather, He lovingly calls them an evil generation, and tells them that no sign will be given to them, except for “the sign of Jonah.”

So, now not only is He lovingly bemoaning the state of affairs of the crowd around Him, Jesus is now also throwing Jonah in on top of it all. But, what exactly is this “sign of Jonah” that He’s talking about? Well He clarifies somewhat in the next verse, “For as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man be to this generation.” Jonah lay for three days (and three nights) in the belly of a large fish, before being spit out, alive, on shore, where upon He proceeded to preach life to a doomed people.–The sign of Jonah, is that by one man’s “dying”, many more will live. And this is exactly the sign which He later gave, when He was killed so that we may live.

The point is this: Jesus doesn’t market Himself, and neither should we. We should give the Gospel out, not force it out.–Also, Jesus can use everything to further the spread of the Gospel, including the Old Testament (e.g., This case here with Jonah), so we shouldn’t discount something (i.e. The Old Testament) as not being useful, simply because we don’t see its use right away.

You are Loved!

Joshua Cleveland

 

A Misconceived Notion

Hello again!

This is what God gave today in His word:

And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, “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 liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:16-21)

Now, we see Jesus apparently has quite a crowd; after all, this is the person which there is so much controversy over in Jerusalem, people are no doubt interested in what He has to say. And yet, what does He say? Does He give a long and delicate speech on prayer? Does He talk on Repentance? Forgiveness? None of the above. Rather, He simply states that some obscure passage in Isaiah is prophesying about Him. But, why? Why not talk about very important topics, but instead, with no explanation at all, say that some passage in Isaiah refers to Him?

Well, apparently Jesus thought that the crowded would benefit from His telling them that He was fulfilling a prophecy, was what the crowd needed. They had the same problem that several Christians have today: we, and they, tend to look at the Old Testament wrongly. We tend to look at it as lists of rules, and names, and wars, among other things. But it’s really so much more than that.

Jesus was correcting a misconception among all Jews; that we should only look at the Old Testament only in the light of itself, and not as a preparation for the coming of the Messiah.–We tend to have this same problem ourself. We don’t look at the Old Testament through the New Testament, but rather, we tend to see it as an entirely separate part of the Bible from the New Testament, which is a very wrong look at it. We understand, if we look at the Old Testament as it relates to the New Testament, that the sacrifices which the Israelites offered were a foreshadow of Christ, which ceased to have a purpose once Jesus died. We also can see that the ten commandments; forced obedience, were only a foreshadowing of the obedience we should now have to God’s will for our life; an obedience that springs from love, and gratitude for what Jesus has done for us. Likewise we can see many other things, not the least of which are the passage in Isaiah which Jesus referred to, are a foreshadow of things in the New Testament.

So, the question comes, do we believe as the Jew’s did; that the Old Testament is merely there for the sake of historical record, and to, on occasion, prophecy of Jesus? Or do we believe that the Bible is unified, with no flaws nor separations in it?

You are Loved!

Joshua Cleveland

 

It’s Only History

Hello again!

This is what God gave me today in His word:

At that hour Jesus said to the crowds, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs to capture me? Day after day I sat in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me. But all this has taken place that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples left him and fled. (Matthew 26:55-56)

“But all this has taken place that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.” What an interesting, and clearly wrong, statement that Jesus makes here. After all, everyone knows that all Prophets spoke only to those in their own time period, and only spoke about those in their own time period, and the only value to us which they hold, is in Historical reference.

Except, according to Jesus, not to mention Paul, that isn’t true. The prophets prophesied of Jesus’ betrayal [Psalm 41:9], and of His death and Resurrection [Psalm 22], and everything that they said is still useful for us today [2 Timothy 3:16]. We can just as much from the Old Testament as we can from the new, though the New Testament sometimes states things somewhat more clearly.

The  entire Bible; God’s word, was written for a purpose, and that purpose is never simply to give us some historical facts.–All Scripture is meant to build us, and grow us up to be more like Christ. In the verses quoted above, we see Jesus telling us that through His betrayal, prophecies were fulfilled about Him. But, we aren’t to simply look at Jesus’ betrayal as the only area in which we see Jesus in the Old Testament. A perfect example of this, is Psalm 22, specifically verses fourteen through fifteen:

¹⁴ I am poured out like water,
    and all my bones are out of joint. 
My heart has turned to wax; 
    it has melted within me.
¹⁵ My mouth^[d] is dried up like a potsherd, 
    and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; 
    you lay me in the dust of death. (Psalm 22:14-15)

We can see numerous comparisons between these verses (which, by the way, were never actually true of David–These things never happened to him). e.g. A cross puts all your bones out of their joint, which is one of the things which David talks about here.

The point being this: all Scripture is useful, so let’s treat it that way, rather than discarding it on the basis that (in the Old Testament), “It’s only history.” Or that (in the New Testament), “Jesus was only speaking to these particular people, and not to us.”

You are Loved!

Joshua Cleveland

 

Interpretations and Applications

Hello again!

This is what God gave me today in His word:

And leaving Nazareth he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.” (Matthew 4:13-16)

Jesus is fulfilling yet another prophecy, not exactly anything new. Except, this particular prophecy is quite vague. All it says is that the land of Zebulun and Naphtali would see a great light. Couldn’t that easily mean something as different as those areas would merely experience a very sunny day? Who is Matthew (aside from a Holy Spirit inspired author of the Bible) to say that this prophecy was of Christ?

Well, a pretty obvious reason for Matthew’s saying that the prophecy refers to Christ, is that he’s Holy Spirit inspired, and so has that authority. Another possible answer would be to draw the line backwards: i.e. to see that Christ went to those areas, and so the verse must refer to Him. A third possibility is to simply look at Isiah’s Character, and draw the conclusion that this man doesn’t make casual prophecies about the weather, and so the verse must have some sort of further meaning. Which, in this case, would be that it was referring to Christ. So, is it one of the three? All three? Something else entirely?

The New, explains the Old. Matthew knew that Jesus is the light which illuminates hearts and minds, and chases away the darkness. Matthew also knew that Jesus was physically passing through Zebulun and Naphtali, so he made the reasonable connection. Which is why we can come to the conclusion that the New Testament, explains the Old Testament. Take this example:

⁷ But to each one of us^(A) grace^(B) has been  given^(C) as Christ apportioned it. ⁸ This is why it^[a] says:

“When he ascended on high,
    he took many captives^(D)
    and gave gifts to his people.”^[b](E) (Ephesians 4:7-8)

(The actual verse, Psalm 68:18, says that God received gifts from men). Paul tells us that grace has been given to us, and then misquotes a verse to confirm what he said. The doctrine he was trying to teach, allowed him to find a verse, and explain it according to how it applies to us. Back then, in the Old Testament, God received gifts from men. He received their sacrifices, and led those captive to the law. But now, He gives gifts of grace to all who ask, and leads captives of grace. As was said, the New explains the Old.

Now, trying to do what Paul and Matthew did can be dangerous, because we have to be sure that we’re interpreting a verse correctly. Otherwise we could see a random verse, and decide that it means something completely wrong. The base rule though, is that the interpretation must actually make sense, and go from applying to the people in the Old Testament, to applying to us.

You are Loved!

Joshua Cleveland

 

Seeing Christ in the Old Testament

Hello again!

This is what God gave me today in His word:

For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?” (John 5:46-47)

Wait, Moses wrote about Jesus? But Moses wrote from Genesis all the way to Joshua. Not only that, but Jesus hadn’t even been born yet, how could Moses have known about Him, much less written five books of the Bible about Him? No, surely Jesus must have meant to say that Moses got really close to writing about Him. But surely it can’t be that a decent sized part of the Old Testament was actually written about Jesus.

In all likely hood, you’ve heard the story of the garden of Eden. Now, there are a couple of popular points to this story: the fruit being eaten, Adam and Eve being cast out of the garden, the angel with the flaming sword, etc.. However, something the majority of people seem to forget, is this bit:

And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them. (Genesis 3:21)

So, it could be said that events happened something like this: Adam and Eve sinned. When they sinned, they realized that they were naked, and attempted to clothe themselves, by their own effort. Yet, because of the sin they committed, they received the curse that comes with sin: death. Yet, then God comes and clothes them with a sacrifice (It’s true, there’s no record of a sacrifice. But when we see God clothing them with “skins”, we can safely assume an animal had to die.), and by that, their own works were done away with, and God no longer saw them, but the sacrifice. Even here, in the garden of Eden, we see Christ.

Again, when we look at Adam and Eve’s descendants, we can see Christ:

In the course of time Cain brought to the LORD an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. (Genesis 4:3-5)

God had no regard for Cain’s offering: an offering of fruit; an offering of his own works. Yet Abel’s offering He accepted, because it was a blood sacrifice. He didn’t want works, He (God) wanted, to put as simply as possible, blood. God may not be a cruel God, but He is just: a life for a life. He doesn’t want works in exchange for a life, especially, especially when He’s already provided the other life; His own son.

Moses wrote of Jesus, and before we can truly benefit from God’s word, we have to first see His son.

You are Loved!

Joshua Cleveland

 

Bridging the Gap

Hello again!

This is what God gave me today in His word:

Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” (John 1:49-51)

And indeed, Nathaniel did see that; if Jesus says you’ll see something, you will see it. Yet, when? When did he see angels ascending and descending on “the son of man” (i.e. Jesus)? Well, before we talk about that, let’s look at what it is Jesus is referring to in the Old Testament, when he talks about Heaven being opened, and angels ascending and descending on Himself.

¹⁰ Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Harran. ¹¹ When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. ¹² He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. ¹³ There above it^[c] stood the LORD, and he said: “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. (Genesis 28:10-13a)

God was standing on top of the ladder, and man was on the bottom of it. Between the two was a gap, a gap that no human could hope to ever get past. Yet, then came a “ladder”, called, “the son of man”. Jesus is telling Nathaniel here that He will become the ladder in Jacob’s dream. So then, with that understanding, we ask again, when did this happen? It happened with the ladder, bridging the gap between Heaven and Earth, was created: at the cross, when Jesus died. (And yes, Nathaniel was witness to Jesus’ death).

I wonder, what other passages refer to Jesus? Does Moses, when he stretched out his hands, and the water parted for the Israelites; there-by saving them from their foe? Is it pointing forward to Jesus, when in the beginning, God brought the World up from deep water, and made it flourish with life, through the “word”? Everywhere we see Jesus pointed forward to, in the Old Testament! Merely look at Jonah, who was tossed over a ship in order to save the sailors on-board. Or look at Joseph, who was sold into slavery, “for the salvation of many lives.”

Jesus, in calling Himself the Jacob’s ladder, has, in essence, given us the power to see Him in every passage we come across in the Old Testament! If you don’t believe me, simply look at Paul, and how he does this very thing:

But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. This is why it says: “When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men.” (Ephesians 4:7-8)

Note where Paul quotes the Old Testament here. The passage he’s changing, while quoting, is Psalm 68:18. This is what that passage actually says:

When you ascended on high, you led captives in your train; you received gifts from men, even from the rebellious–that you, O LORD God, might dwell there. (Psalm 68:18)

Paul changes the verse in order for it to picture Christ. Now, this doesn’t mean we should go and proceed to Spiritualize away every single passage in the Old Testament. Every passage in the Old Testament does indeed point forward to Christ (my family and I are finding this out, as we’re going through the entire Old Testament together in a Bible study), but that doesn’t mean that’s the Old Testament’s only purpose. It also provides real, historical facts about what happened. However, in those facts, we can see God’s hints towards the Gospel.

You are Loved!

Joshua Cleveland

P.S. If you want to read more about this concept, read this post too: http://goldenbible.wordpress.com/2011/11/18/transquotation/