Tag: old testament

Six Reasons You Can Trust the Bible

On By Jarrett Ray FletcherIn Defending the Faith, Imago Dei Class4 Comments

This week we are considering the question of whether or not we can trust the Bible. What makes it unique, setting it apart from other religious books? How can we be sure that what we have is what was originally written? And how can we know that it is actually from God?

A quick reminder: we are not looking for absolute certainty. We are looking for confidence. Can we have confidence that God has spoken to us in the sixty six books of the Bible? Here are six reasons that I believe we can.

1. The Unity of Scripture

The Bible was written over 1,500 years by over forty authors in three languages on three different continents, yet it tells one cohesive story about God and man. All of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation centers upon the Son, the Seed, the Servant, who will save his people from their sins and reconcile them to God. His victory is promised in the first book of the Bibe and is realized in the final book of the Bible. How amazing is it that all of the biblical authors, in different languages, in different centuries, write in such unity with each other?

2. The Explanatory Power of Scripture

This unifying story is an apologetic in and of itself. It answers all the biggest questions of life: How did we get here? Why are we here? Why is the world the way that it is? Why is there suffering, pain, and death? What hope is there for us? What should we live for? What comes after this life?

The Bible possesses the greatest explanatory power for all of the major questions of life. It explains who created us, how sin entered the world, why we experience pain and suffering, and how God, in his mercy and love, has purposed to save us in His Son and redeem us from all the effects of sin. It explains to us who God is- the One in whom we live and move and have our being. It gives explanation to life in a way that nothing else can.

3. Fulfilled Prophecy

At many points in this unfolding story, God speaks through prophets who specifically predict future events. Some of them are so accurate in their predictions that liberal scholars claim that the books must have been written after the events predicted (the book of Daniel, for example). A couple of these prophecies include Judah & Israel’s exile and captivity, Isaiah’s prediction of Cyrus leading the Jews home, and Jesus prophesying the destruction of the temple within a generation in Matthew 24.

However, the most impressive prophecies are those that are made about the Messiah that were fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth. Conservatively, Jesus fulfilled over 300 prophecies from the Old Testament. Some of these include specific prophecies such as his birth in Bethlehem or his family fleeing to Egypt, but also include typological prophecies such as Abraham sacrificing his only son, Isaac. God tells Abraham to spare his son, of course, but the story points to God the Father sacrificing his Son, Jesus.

4. Historical Reliability

The first three reasons are impressive, but not if the story and prophecies have been edited and re-written over the centuries to make the Bible appear more impressive than it is. Can we be confident that what we have in our modern Bibles is what was actually written thousands of years ago? Yes we can.

We have greater historical evidence for the Bible than any other work of antiquity. In seminary, I focused on the work of textual criticism. I was able to compare several different manuscripts (copies) of the New Testament and evaluate their similarities and try to make sense of their differences. Get this: we have well over 5,000 copies of the Greek New Testament, and some of those copies go all the way back to within 30-50 years of the originals. And these copies agree 93-95% of the time!

There are, of course, minor differences between the copies. They were all handwritten copies, so we should expect differences to appear. We call those differences variants. But the vast majority of the text of the New Testament has been miraculously preserved through centuries of copying. When we put the copies side by side, the original (what we call the autograph) emerges, and we can be confident that we have what was originally written.

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Kids & Kingdom – Children in the Covenant: The Heart of God’s Promises

On By Jarrett Ray FletcherIn Imago Dei Class, Kids & Kingdom2 Comments

In my previous post, we observed the sin and brokenness that entered the world when Adam and Eve sinned against God by eating from the forbidden tree. However, we also noted that God continued working after the Fall in and through dysfunctional families to accomplish his purposes. In this chapter we will look at how God continued working through those families.

After the events of Genesis 3, God still intended to fill the earth with image bearers who reflected his glory and enjoyed relating to him. That is why he gave the command to be fruitful and multiple again after the Fall. And God would fulfill this plan, even in a world broken by sin, by making promises that would be fulfilled through the gift of children; promises that he would keep from generation to generation until the ultimate gift of his Son.

These promises are the bedrock of the Bible. Without them, there’s no redemptive storyline, no Savior, no salvation. But with them, the glory and perfection of Eden that was lost can be found again. God’s original purpose for mankind can be restored. A new heaven and a new earth can be inaugurated. Thank God for these promises! Let’s look at each of them in turn.

God’s Promise to Crush Satan (Genesis 3:15)

God’s first promise is embedded in the same infamous chapter in which sin enters the world. When God confronts Adam and Eve, he pronounces a curse upon the serpent for deceiving them, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel” (Gen 3:15). Here we see a battle that will take place throughout the rest of the Bible: the offspring of the serpent vs. the offspring of the woman. This does not mean that the offspring of the woman will always be righteous, however, but that from generation to generation, God will have a people, and those people will have to continually wage spiritual warfare against the serpent and his minions.

The ultimate offspring promised in Genesis 3:15 is Jesus. He is the perfect righteous one, the seed of the woman who stands at enmity with the serpent himself. The verse contains two interesting lines that describe their enmity. The serpent will “bruise the heel” of the woman’s offspring, but he will “bruise your head.” Some sort of battle will occur where the serpent inflicts a minor injury on the Eve’s offspring (i.e. his heel), but where he bruises (or crushes- NIV) the serpent’s head. In other words, the serpent will strike and injure the promised offspring, but the injured offspring will deal the death blow to the serpent.

This verse is fulfilled in Jesus’ death and resurrection. Though Satan “bruised his heel” through the religious leaders and Romans that crucified Jesus, Jesus crushed the head of Satan, dealing the victorious blow to mankind’s foe. When speaking of Jesus’ work on the cross, Paul writes, “He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him” (Col 2:15).

When speaking of rulers and authorities, Paul includes both the earthly rulers and authorities but also the spiritual ones behind them. And who are the spiritual authorities that Jesus puts to open shame and triumphs over, if not the serpent and his offspring? Indeed, he leads his people “in triumphal procession” over them, because he has rescued us from the their kingdom of the darkness and brought us into his kingdom of light (2 Cor 2:14; Col 1:13). He has crushed the head of the serpent and the heads of his offspring, and will continue to rescue his people from Satan’s rule until the day when final victory comes (Rev 12:7-12).

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Is Trusting Jesus Enough for Salvation? (Colossians 2:16-23)

On By Jarrett Ray FletcherIn Colossians, Imago Dei ClassLeave a comment

Is trusting Jesus enough for salvation? Can it really be that simple? Or is there a deeper, hidden meaning within Christianity? Are there religious practices for the spiritually elite that make us more acceptable to God and draw us closer to him? These are some of the questions the Colossians wrestled with. Fortunately for them (and us), Paul addresses in our text this week, Colossians 2:16-23. The passage reads,

“16 Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. 17 These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. 18 Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, 19 and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.

20 If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— 21 “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” 22 (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? 23 These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.”

There are two commands in this passage. The first, to not let anyone pass judgment on your faith. Second, to not let anyone disqualify you. Let’s consider each of these in turn.

1. Let no one pass judgment on you (2:16-17)

    The believers at Colossae were being judged by those who thought they needed to add another element to their faith. Followers of Jesus were being told by people of Jewish background that they also needed to practice Sabbath, keep Jewish festival days, and observe dietary laws. In other words, their faith in Christ was not enough, unless the Jewish traditions were observed in addition to it.

    Paul tells the Colossians, “don’t let these people judge you.” We can’t keep people from judging us. But we can shrug off their judgments. This is what Paul is telling the Colossians to do- they are to pay no attention to those who judge them in this regard. Why? Because all of these things are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.

    Take the Sabbath, for example. The Sabbath was a day of rest from work to enjoy God and his blessings. The Sabbath was a shadow that pointed to the future substance, who is Christ. He has provided ultimate, eternal rest for God’s people. There’s no working for our salvation, but rather resting in what Christ has done for us. He beckons those who are weary and heavy laden to come to him and find rest (Matt 11:28).

    So it is with all of the Jewish traditions. They were shadows that pointed to Christ! He is the true temple, the true Passover lamb, the true sacrifice, the true prophet, the true priest, the true king! There is no going back to these shadows, the substance has come!

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    Old Testament Wisdom for New Testament Believers (Proverbs 4:23-27)

    On By Jarrett Ray FletcherIn Miscellaneous1 Comment

    “The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom ” (Proverbs 4:7a). If you want to be wise, get wisdom. Pretty simple, isn’t it? The entire book of Proverbs is filled with wisdom. So get the book, there you go- wisdom! But if you’ve ever read the book of Proverbs, you know it doesn’t come that easily.

    Proverbs is a part of the rich wisdom literature of the Old Testament. Such literature is not conducive to interpreting at face value and immediately applying it to our lives. We have to slow down and understand the individual proverbs in their original context. We have to read them through the lens of biblical theology, and then apply them to the current context of our lives as New Testament believers.

    In this message I want to help us “get wisdom” by studying a passage of Proverbs in the ways I just mentioned. Our text will be Proverbs 4:20-27,

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    Jethro, Moses, and Old Testament Disciple-Making

    On By Jarrett Ray FletcherIn MiscellaneousLeave a comment

    Today I finished preparation for a panel discussion on disciple-making in the local church. I define disciple-making as the process of helping people follow Jesus through the context of relationships. The first section of the discussion includes setting the biblical foundation for making disciples. As I usually do when discussing discipleship, I planned to share the Great Commission from Matthew 28:18-20, highlight Jesus’ relationship with His own disciples, and point to Paul and Timothy as examples of Christian discipleship. It’s a pretty typical presentation of disciple-making, but I realized that I was missing a major component: the Old Testament.

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    Ten Reasons to Read God’s Word Regularly

    On By Jarrett Ray FletcherIn MiscellaneousLeave a comment

    Every follower of Jesus should cultivate the habit of regular Bible reading. Here are ten reasons why.

    1. God’s Word leads us to salvation.

    In 2 Timothy 3:15-17, Paul tells Timothy to continue in the “sacred writings” that He has known from birth. Paul is referring to the Scriptures, which he describes as being “able to give wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” The Scriptures lead us to Christ, in whom is our salvation. But the Scriptures also continually point us to Christ throughout our lives and remind us of the gospel. We need to be reminded of what God has done for us in Christ on a regular basis. That’s why Paul encourages Timothy to continue reading them- and why we should to!

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    Why Manna? God’s Grace Displayed in Our Grumbling

    On By Jarrett Ray FletcherIn MiscellaneousLeave a comment

    In Exodus 16, the word “grumbling” is used eight times to describe Israel’s response to their hunger. It is easy to accuse them of lacking gratitude and faith, but I am afraid I would’ve been among their number. They watched God rescue them from slavery in Egypt with signs and wonders, yet they find themselves in the wilderness without food.

    What was their response? They grumbled. They complained. They reminisced on how good the food was in their Egyptian slavery. They questioned all that God had done for them and wondered whether it was Him who did it after all. They blamed Moses, “you have brought us out into the wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger” (Ex 16:3).

    Israel’s grumbling is not the response we expect when we read the story, especially right after God’s miraculous provision of water. But perhaps we should expect it. If we are honest, we probably would have grumbled too. But that’s good news. Because God’s responds in grace and provides for their needs.

    In v. 4-8, God promised to send meat (quail) in the evening followed by bread in the morning. This bread was called “manna.” When Moses reveals this promise to the people, He begins by telling them that God “has heard your grumbling.” God responds to the people’s need without them asking. There isn’t a prayer uttered in this chapter. Just grumbling. Complaining. Blaming others. Yet God knew what His people needed. And He gave it to them. They were undeserving, yet He gave it to them. Why? Because He loves them. That’s grace!

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    Matthew 5:1 & Jesus as the Greater Moses

    On By Jarrett Ray FletcherIn MiscellaneousLeave a comment

    As we begin considering the content of the Sermon on the Mount, we’ll quickly notice that every verse is packed with meaning, including the very first one. Matthew 5:1 reads, “Seeing the crowds, he [Jesus]went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.” In this verse, Matthew begins to reveal Jesus as the greater Moses. How? By the little phrase, “he went up on the mountain.”[1]

    In Exodus 19:3, Moses “went up on the mountain” to receive God’s law and deliver it to the people of Israel. In the Greek Old Testament (The Septuagint), which Matthew was undoubtedly familiar with, the phrase describing Moses’ ascent reads, “ἀνέβη εἰς τὸ ὄρος.” Even if you can’t read Greek, you can see the identical nature of Matthew 5:1, which reads, “ἀνέβη εἰς τὸ ὄρος.” This phrase is used only three times in the Septuagint, each referring to Moses’ ascent to Sinai (Ex 19:3, 24:18, 34:4). This limited use makes the argument for Matthew’s intentional quotation compelling. He clearly wants his readers to note the connection and realize that Jesus was ascending the mountain to teach God’s people just like Moses did.

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    Confidence in the Text

    On By Jarrett Ray FletcherIn MiscellaneousLeave a comment

    We have been working through the book of Jonah in my Hebrew class, and this week we discussed several nuances in Hebrew that are tough to see in our English translations. The question was asked, “how do we show these differences when we teach or preach?” Our professor gave a response that caused me to reflect on one of the greatest privileges of seminary: gaining confidence in the text of the Bible.

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    “From the Study to the Pulpit,” A Review of Allan Moseley’s 8-Step Method to Preaching and Teaching the Old Testament

    On By Jarrett Ray FletcherIn Book ReviewsLeave a comment

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    Introduction and Purpose

    Allan Moseley’s From the Study to the Pulpit seeks to provide a comprehensive methodology for preaching and teaching the Old Testament. In the opening pages of his book, Moseley quotes Haddon Robinson on the need for such a method, “Clear, relevant biblical exposition does not take place Sunday by Sunday by either intuition or accident. Good expositors have methods for their study” (14). Moseley successfully provides anyone teaching the Old Testament with a such a method. This method aims to challenge readers to grow in exegetical proficiency while also providing a simple, usable process that they can use right away. The author succeeds in this task, blessing the reader with trustworthy manual backed by decades of teaching and preaching the Old Testament. If followed, Moseley’s method is sure to facilitate clear, relevant, and biblical teaching that pleases God and faithfully represents His Word.

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