Nothing but what was Written!

Nothing but what was written!

By Richard P. Joseph

Acts 26:22 Therefore, having obtained help from God, to this day I stand, witnessing both to small and great, saying no other things than those which the prophets and Moses said would come—

The Apostle Paul was beaten, stoned and jailed multiple times and then finally executed for simply quoting the Mosaic law and the Jewish prophets.  He plainly admitted that he was not preaching some new doctrine; only the fulfillment of what all Israel was hoping for.  Sort of like us today in America when we quote the constitution, we get persecuted by the communist Democrats.  But back to Paul.  The unbelieving Jews were in a constant state of hope but when that hope finally arrived, they could not bear it.  This would be like a football team that practiced everyday, sweating it out and pushing their bodies to the limit but when game day arrived they locked themselves in the locker room and refused to take the field choosing rather to keep going back to the practice field in a perpetual rehearsal of game day but never participating in the game itself.

But my real point here is that the entire ministry of Jesus is found in the Old Testament.

I used to enjoy listening to David Curtis from Berean Bible Church before he started teaching nonsense and heresy about the flat earth, and he explains this very well in all of his teachings.  He pushes hard for people to understand the Old (or rather first) Testament in order to better understand the New (or second) Testament.  Nothing could be truer.  Summing up what Curtis explains; New Christians,who are very excited to begin studying the bible, start reading, usually, the New Testament first.  In all of their enthusiasm and in the lack of a real mentor, they begin interpreting the scripture as if it were a newspaper that was written yesterday and arrived on their doorstep this morning.  This causes tragic hermeneutic errors.  It is up to us to mentor them such that they understand that the New Testament is only the fulfillment of the Old Testament.  It is not something new or a stand alone “religion”.  It has its beginnings at the creation of the world and before. 

Christianity is not a man made religion like Islam or Hinduism that just appeared when some smooth talking guru or some warlord came about.  The real biblical story is a real history of God and man and the earth.  It is not something new or man made.  It is a real story that began before the earth was formed.  So in other words, to understand the bible, one must understand the history of our planet.  We don’t just make some philosophy up and create a religion out of it, we really only need to tell the “old old story” of Jesus and his glory.  So, if you are new to the faith or if you have been around for a while, please understand this; you must have a basic understanding of the Old Testament in order to decipher the New Testament.  You can not just pick up an ancient document and decode it without having the combination.  That combination is spelled out in the Old Testament.  The Old Testament, which was written in the ancient Hebrew language and dialect has its very own unique idioms that all of the New Testament writers used.  Once you become familiar with the customs of the ancient Hebrews, the New Testament will open up for you in ways that you have never known before.  Add to that a grasp of the historical setting and now your eyes will be opened to a story that you never imagined and were never taught.  So, stick with me and read my articles with patients until you begin to catch the point I am making.  I am hoping to add some historical perspectives as we go.  I will also post from time to time some of the material that I used to guide me in this endeavor.  You should seriously consider purchasing them.  Your faith is personal and has nothing to do with a religion.  Your faith defines you and is the very breath that you take.  You live and die in it.  It has nothing to do with Sunday, it involves every day.  Jesus is the bread that you eat and you drink his blood spiritually.  It has nothing to do with rituals or holidays, it has only to do with your soul and your life.  It is the very substance that defines you.