Why Study The Old Testament?

As I wrote on Thursday, we are no longer bound by the types and shadows of the Old Testament. But this leads to the error in some folks minds that we don't need that part of the Bible anymore. Nothing could be further from the truth.

The Old Testament has much to teach us. Referring to strengthening weak believers, Paul wrote this explanation in Romans 15:4 (BBE). "Now those things which were put down in writing before our time were for our learning, so that through quiet waiting and through the comfort of the holy Writings we might have hope."

We also need to study The Old Testament for wisdom. Proverbs 9:9 (BBE) explains why. "Give teaching to a wise man, and he will become wiser; give training to an upright man, and his learning will be increased."

Certainly Jesus valued the scriptures and quoted them often. After his resurrection, he appeared to two disheartened disciples. Feigning ignorance, he asked them why they were so downcast. Luke 24:25-27 (BBE) tells how Christ showed why he had to die from prophesies in the Old Testament scriptures. "And he said, 'O foolish men! how slow you are to give belief to what the prophets have said. Was it not necessary for the Christ to go through these things, and to come into his glory?' And he made clear to them all the things in the Writings, from Moses and from all the prophets, which had to do with himself."

We also read where Luke commended those folks who studied the scriptures, what we call The Old Testament, and called them more noble. Acts 17:10 and 11 recall, "And the brothers straight away sent Paul and Silas away by night to Beroea: and they, when they came there, went to the Synagogue of the Jews. Now these were more noble than the Jews of Thessalonica, for they gave serious attention to the word, searching in the holy Writings every day, to see if these things were so."

I could point out many more verses which show the importance of the holy scriptures. It's one reason which wise believers resist cunningly-devised fables and lies from Satan while others become snared.

In the event that Christ doesn't return by Thursday, I hope to post about spiritual maturity.

How Trials Help Us Help Others

This truth might surprise some believers but trials actually help us help others. How so? By us having experiencing the testing of our faith, we can counsel others.

The Apostle Paul summed this up perfectly in 2 Corinthians 1:3 and 4 (BBE) when he wrote, "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort; Who gives us comfort in all our troubles, so that we may be able to give comfort to others who are in trouble, through the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God."

Likewise, the experiences and writings of the Old Testament saints are helpful to encourage one another. Romans 15:4 (BBE) reminds us, "Now those things which were put down in writing before our time were for our learning, so that through quiet waiting and through the comfort of the holy Writings we might have hope."

And in times of peace, we are also comforted. We read in Acts 9:31 (BBE) what happened after Saul became Paul. "And so the church through all Judaea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was made strong; and, living in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, was increased greatly."

But as we read in 1 John 3:23 (BBE), we are commanded to care for one another by our Heavenly Father. "And this is his law, that we have faith in the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love for one another, even as he said to us."

Another aspect of comforting one another is admonishing against unfaithfulness. Hebrews 3:12 and 13 BBE) reminds us, "My brothers, take care that there is not by chance in any one of you an evil heart without belief, turning away from the living God: But give comfort to one another every day as long as it is still Today; so that no one among you may be made hard by the deceit of sin:"

Finally, Paul explains in 2 Corinthians 7:1 (BBE) why it's so important that we keep each other encouraged and faithful. "Because God, then, will give us such rewards, dear brothers, let us make ourselves clean from all evil of flesh and spirit, and become completely holy in the fear of God."

Because we love God and each other, we naturally wish to help one another. I'll point this unfeigned love out in my next book, You Think You're Going to Heaven? People must understand this truth or their deeds will be phony.

On Saturday, I'll feature a song about the futility of fighting the police.

The Danger of Claiming Scriptures

Can we really claim scriptures for ourselves, especially those which promise wealth and health? Many charismatics believe they can. But they don't realize that they're practicing witchcraft.

How is this so? Magic is the human attempt to control the supernatural.  We see this in Exodus 7:9-12 (BBE) when the Egyptian magicians tried to imitate God's miracle. "'If Pharaoh says to you, Let me see a wonder: then say to Aaron, Take your rod and put it down on the earth before Pharaoh so that it may become a snake.' Then Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh and they did as the Lord had said: and Aaron put his rod down on the earth before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a snake. Then Pharaoh sent for the wise men and the wonder-workers, and they, the wonder-workers of Egypt, did the same with their secret arts. For every one of them put down his rod on the earth, and they became snakes: but Aaron's rod made a meal of their rods."

But we read in Exodus 8:16-18 (BBE) that the magicians couldn't reproduce the signs God showed after a time. "And the Lord said to Moses, 'Say to Aaron, Let your rod be stretched out over the dust of the earth so that it may become insects through all the land of Egypt.' And they did so; and Aaron, stretching out the rod in his hand, gave a touch to the dust of the earth, and insects came on man and on beast; all the dust of the earth was changed into insects through all the land of Egypt. And the wonder-workers with their secret arts, attempting to make insects, were unable to do so: and there were insects on man and on beast."

And though the magicians of Egypt tried, they couldn't interpret Pharaoh's two dreams. Only Joseph could do so because of God. Genesis 41:15 and 16 (BBE) says, "And Pharaoh said to Joseph, 'I have had a dream, and no one is able to give me the sense of it; now it has come to my ears that you are able to give the sense of a dream when it is put before you.' Then Joseph said, 'Without God there will be no answer of peace for Pharaoh.'"

Claiming scripture passages in order to make God do something is blasphemy because it robs him of his glory. As Deuteronomy 32:39 (BBE) points out, "See now, I myself am he; there is no other god but me: giver of death and life, wounding and making well: and no one has power to make you free from my hand."

We also read in 1 Corinthians 10:6 (BBE) that the holy scriptures were written to warn us away from sin, not to give us what we want. "Now these things were for an example to us, so that our hearts might not go after evil things, as they did."

Paul said the same thing in Romans 15:4 (BBE). "Now those things which were put down in writing before our time were for our learning, so that through quiet waiting and through the comfort of the holy Writings we might have hope."

Using scriptures to claim supposed promises is what Satan tried when he tempted Jesus. He told him to jump off the temple and quoted scripture. Luke 4:12 (BBE) reads, "And Jesus made answer and said to him, 'It is said in the Writings, You may not put the Lord your God to the test.'"

This wickedness is one sin I'll discuss in my next book called You Think You're Going to Heaven? Even I was led astray with that magical thinking while attending a cultic house church. I know better now and I accept God's sovereignty over my life.

On Saturday, I'll post about why it isn't a sin to feel chronically depressed.

The Allegory Error

Another mistake liberal  scholars make is o allegorize stories in the Bible. These folks regard biblical accounts as not being literal historical events but stories which make a moral point. For example, some scholars believe that Genesis chapter three is an allegory of how humanity lost its innocence as time went by.

Treating historical accounts as mere allegory is wrong. For many decades, liberal scholars believed the destruction of Jericho by the Israelites was a mere legend. Around a hundred years ago, archeologists found Jericho just as it had been described in the scriptures.

Just recently, the pool of Bethesda was uncovered by archeologists, proving the account in John 5:2 (KJV) correct. "Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches."

Additionally, many Sunday school teachers incorrectly use historical accounts as moral lessons to their students. For example, the fight between David and Goliath is often told to teach children that we can tackle the "goliaths" in our lives.

Likewise, Daniel and his three companions are used as examples of how we must resist temptation to go along with the crowd. While those examples do show these traits, they are actual historical events rather than mere moral lessons.


Even the stories of Christ's miracles are trivialized through the allegorizing of them. But these are real events which happened to real people in real time, as we can read in Luke 1:2 (KJV). "Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word;"

Additionally, 2 Peter 1:16 (KJV) affirms the factual nature of Christ's ministry. "For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty."

John 12:16 (KJV) also points out the historicity of Scripture. "These things understood not his disciples at the first: but when Jesus was glorified, then remembered they that these things were written of him, and that they had done these things unto him."

Furthermore, Romans 15:4 (KJV) shows that the Old Testament was no mere collection of Jewish tales. "For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope."

And since these people were bearing witness of what happened, rather than glorifying themselves, we know the writings are true. As Jesus explained in John 7:18 (KJV), "He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him."

Because we can believe the accuracy of the Bible, we can place full confidence in what it says. That's why I'm writing my book called You Think You're Going to Heaven? Far too many readers treat Holy Scriptures like a buffet where they can pick and choose what they like out of it. This is most certainly not correct.

In my next post, I'll be writing about the error of spiritualizing the scriptures. Watch this space.

What Does the Bible Mean By "Last Days?"

Many of the folks I wrote about in my previous posts assume that the Bible's mention of "last days" means our epoch. Thanks to a man named John Nelson Darby, they assume that The Revelation of John the Divine was written for modern people and not to the seven churches in Asia as plainly stated in chapter one.

But what does "last days" or similar phrases mean?  Revelation 1:1 (KJV) gives this answer. "The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to show unto his servants things which must SHORTLY come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:" Some folks believe that "shortly" means two thousand years after. How can that be so when the letter was written TO those seven churches?

And how could those people living back then know who the beast John wrote about would be if he is yet to come? Revelation 13:18 (KJV) states, "Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six." The Jews and Greeks had a system of corresponding letters and numbers. Emperor Nero's name fit both systems perfectly. Nobody could have guessed the name of a twenty-first century beast but they certainly knew of Nero.

I could cite many other proofs of this being a book for first-century Christians in what is now Turkey but I won't this time. Remember that the various books of the Bible were written to the people to whom they were delivered, not us. Paul wrote that the scriptures were written FOR our learning (Romans 15:4 KJV). Furthermore, the same applies to all twenty-seven New Testament books.

Thanks to humble Bible scholars, I know how to read the Word of God. I wrote about this in a book called How I Was Razed. Read more about this wondrous testimony of God's providence at Amazon.