ILLUS: (I had 6 plastic see through pitchers on stage… one of which was full of water. Holding up an empty pitcher I said…) Imagine this empty pitcher represents that nation of Israel. (I began to pour water from the full pitcher into the empty one).
God poured out His will and wisdom into them. Israel was responsible for collecting, guarding, and studying this body of literature. But ultimately God did not intend for the books we know of as the Old Testament to remain ONLY in their hands. He planned for the day to come when the books they had so zealously guarded would be poured out into the lives of people from the four corners of the world (I began to pour a portion of the water from “Israel” into the remaining 4 pitchers… carefully leaving a portion still in the “Israel” pitcher).