Tag: Old Testament

  • Snatched from the Fire

    Mercy without excusing sin

    I often hear people say the Old Testament has no value today, and I completely disagree. I was reading in the Minor prophets this morning and hit a verse in Amos where the wording immediately brought to mind some parallel passages.

    I was in Amos, and the Lord is rebuking Israel for their unfaithfulness. He had rescued them from harm and yet they still rebelled.

    “I overthrew some of you, as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were as a brand plucked out of the burning; yet you did not return to me,” declares the Lord. Amos 4:11 ESV

    That reminded me of another verse, one I wrote about recently. Satan is accusing the High Priest before God. The Lord extends compassion and mercy without excusing the sin.

    Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him. The Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, Satan! The Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?” Zechariah 3:1-2

    A burning stick pulled from the fire suggests something (or someone) being pulled from the very precipice of danger. The stick has already begun to burn; it will be unsalvageable shortly.

    That, too, led me to the New Testament book of Jude.

    But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.” These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit. But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life. Be merciful to those who doubt; save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.  Jude 1:17-23 ESV

    The metaphor of the burning branch is clear in the New Testament as it stands, but our understanding is enriched by seeing it through Old Testament eyes, as Jude’s audience would have.

    There is an interesting progression in Jude’s letter.

    Jude 22 — mercy toward those who doubt

    Jude 23a — actively rescue those in greater danger

    Jude 23b — remain morally separated from the contamination itself

    That combination is very much at home in the Old Testament: compassion for the person, intervention to rescue the person, and rejection of the sin/uncleanness.

    Jude’s audience were living in dark times with many mocking and oppressing them, and things were getting worse. Does that sound familiar? Yet they were to be merciful, offer the grace of God and reject sin.

    That’s the way Christians are called to live. It isn’t a New Testament “thing”; it’s been God’s way from the beginning.

    May we find ourselves living and preaching the gospel and snatching others from the very fires of Hell.

    Be blessed

    Kevin

    SUMMARY

    A verse in Amos this morning tied together the rescue images in Amos, Zechariah, and Jude, all showing God’s mercy without excusing sin. Jude’s call to show mercy, rescue the endangered, and still reject sin isn’t new; it’s the same pattern God used long before the New Testament.

    TAKEAWAY

    Amos, Zechariah, and Jude all picture someone already burning, pulled out before the fire consumes them.

    You’re called to follow Jude’s pattern toward others: mercy for those who doubt, active rescue for those in greater danger, and a clear rejection of the sin itself.

    You can trust that pairing mercy with truth isn’t a New Testament invention. It’s how God has dealt with people from the start.

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  • Why the Old Testament Still Matters to Christians Today

    Two Christian friends were debating the value of the Old Testament to Christianity. One was spouting the heresy that the God of the Old Testament was different than the God of the New. Of course we know Scripture explicitly claims that isn’t so. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Hebrews 13:8

    He went on to say there is no need for the Old Testament, since we have grace in the New Testament and are not under the Law. When asked about what Jesus thought of the Old Testament, he stammered and changed the subject.

    Jesus knew the Old Testament perfectly both in wording and spirit. Depending on how you count, He explicitly quoted the Old Testament ~40 times and alluded to it is somewhere between 180-250 times in the gospels alone. 

    Many “new” things Jesus taught are straight out of the Old Testament. In Psalm 105, we read a recap of the Exodus story. Here’s an excerpt:

    Then He brought them out with silver and gold,
    And there was none among His tribes who stumbled.
    Egypt was glad when they went out,
    For the dread of them had fallen upon them.
    He spread a cloud for a covering,
    And fire to give light by night.
    They asked, and He brought quail,
    And He satisfied them with the bread of heaven.
    He opened the rock and water flowed out;
    It ran in the dry places like a river.
    For He remembered His holy word
    With Abraham His servant;
    And He brought His people out with joy,
    His chosen ones with a shout of joy.     Psalm 105:37-40

    Jesus takes His audience back to the Old Testament and shows Himself to be the chosen one, the long awaited Messiah.

    Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, Moses has not given you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” Then they said to Him, “Lord, always give us this bread. Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me will never hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst. John 6:31-34

    I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and also the bread which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh.” John 6:48-51

    Jesus shows from a historical passage that He is the one they have been waiting for. That doesn’t count the estimated 300 places that there is a prophetic mention of His coming.

    Without the Old Testament, we have no idea that there was even a Messiah who would come to rescue us. With it, we would have no basis to evaluate His claims.

    Augustine said, “Novum Testamentum in Vetere latet, Vetus Testamentum in Novo patet.” For most of us who don’t speak Latin, that is “The New is in the Old concealed; the Old is in the New revealed.” Or as it is sometimes translated, “The New Testament lies hidden in the Old, and the Old Testament is unveiled in the New.”

    While certainly there are passages in the Old Testament that don’t apply to us directly, like the ceremonial and dietary laws. There are passages that seem obscure and uninteresting, like the long genealogies. Still, the Old Testament is vital to our understanding of the New and to our understanding of God and our need for Him.

    Praise God we have both.

    Be blessed

    Kevin

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