Introduction:
A. The preacher to the Presidents, Billy Graham, now 93 years old, has come out with some surprising statements in the past few months. Recently, Mr. Graham quotes his late wife Ruth as saying, “If God doesn’t punish America, He’ll have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah.” Mr. Graham goes on and says that since she made that remark millions of babies have been aborted and our nations seems largely unconcerned. “Self centered indulgence, pride and a lack of shame over sin are now emblems of the American lifestyle.” Over the years Mr. Graham has stayed away from statements like this. Why such strong statements today? Mr. Graham gives his answer. “Because of the terrible downward spiral of our nation’s moral standards and the idolatry of worshipping false gods such as technology and sex.”
All of this talk about sin, repentance and judgment reminds me of the OT prophets.
Starting a series this fall on OT prophets. Mainly focusing on 2 prophets from OT. Tonight
Why study the OT? We are NT Christians and we don’t need the OT. Is that right?
We need to understand that the Bible is laid out in progressive revelation. In math we don’t start out by doing calculus. We start by learning our numbers and then addition, subtraction and from there we learn more. Everything builds on something we learned before.
If we start with the NT we are trying to do calculus without learning the basics. Not possible
Probably the best way to understand the relationship between the Old and New testaments is that the OT prepares a firm foundation for the NT, with concepts like sacrifice, circumcision, Passover, and the law, which take on further significance in the NT.
For example, an important concept in the Bible is covenant. Jeremiah 31:31-34 is often referred to in the NT. This passage states 3 new outcomes for the New Covenant:
Vs. 33- “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts”- is fulfilled in Acts 2 when God sends the HS to live in believers’ hearts.
Vs. 34- “No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest”- is talking about difference between the OT and NT. Under Jewish Old Covenant, one was born a Jew, circumcized on the 8th day, took part in the rituals with their parents and then later began to learn about the Lord. Under New Covenant, a person is not born a Christian. A person reaches the age of accountability and then is obedient to the gospel commands, and then on knows something about the Lord from their hearts.
Vs. 34- “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more”- is fulfilled in Christ’s work on the cross- in the OT sins were covered or rolled forward by the blood of animals sacrifices, but in the NT our sins are washed away by the shed blood of Christ.
Another example is communion. Without some knowledge of Passover from the OT, we are left out as to the symbolic importance of Christ being our Passover Lamb.
Another example is baptism. Without some knowledge of the ministry of Elijah and Elisha and 2 Kings 5 where Naaman the Syrian is told to go dip in the Jordan River 7 times to be healed of his leprosy, we are left out of the symbolism of when John the Baptist does the same
Thesis: Why study and preach from the OT prophets?
For instances:
1. They are wild but effective communicators
The prophets had to get attention. They could not be normal or dull. Never know what to expect. They loved the shock factor and the bizarre. Here are some examples:
Isaiah preached stripped (naked?, at least in loincloth) and barefoot for 3 years- Isaiah 20
Jeremiah wore a yoke. One of the false prophets got tired of it and broke it- Jeremiah 27-28
Ezekiel laid on his left side for 390 days and then laid on his right side for 40 days. Imagine the sores on that side of his body. He had rationed food while he lay on his side and while on his side he had to bake bread using cow manure as fuel- Ezekiel 4
Jonah was inside a fish’s belly for 3 days. Imagine the smell while preaching to Nineveh.
This being said we might get the wrong impression. Might think that they are wackos. Some have portrayed the prophets as men who often went into frenzied trances and babbled uncontrollably until the Spirit of God left them. No, they had sound minds
The prophets were not fortune tellers. The prophets did not indulge in sorcery or divination. As God revealed his future plans to them, they revealed them to the people to motivate them to holiness and godliness. No interest in making a profit by predicting the future
The prophets were not religious fanatics. When I say that I mean that they were not cantakerous individuals who were always looking for the opportunity to have a spiritual argument with someone. No, the prophets were servants of God who saw God’s will for his people and grieved deeply that his people fell so far short of it.
The prophets had a message directly from Lord to deliver. One common word for prophet in Hebrew language literally meant “to call.” This term might refer to a “called one”, someone whom God had especially called to bring his message to his people. The prophets possessed a strong sense of calling. God had personally chosen them to proclaim his message.
2. They are filled with fire
We don’t have to go far in the prophets to get a sense of how God was feeling about things. In the prophets we will get struck on the nose and on the toes within a few verses.
Jeremiah 20:9- If I say, “I will not mention him or speak any more in his name,” his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot.
Where did this fire come from? It came from God yes, but we find that all the prophets:
Possessed hearts devoted to God. They placed their commitment to him above all else, even when doing so brought trouble and persecution.
were messengers for God. The expression “This is what the Lord says” or “Thus says the Lord” occurs over 350 times in the prophetic books. They were delivering God’s messages.
3. They are relevant for today
Men still tend to trust in material and neglect spiritual. Jeremiah 17:5- Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose hearts turns away from Lord.
There is nothing new about lying, stealing, murder or adultery. Jeremiah 7:9-10- Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury..., and then come and stand before me in this house, which bears my Name, and say, “We are safe”- safe to do all these detestable things?
Men still prefer to hear a speaker who says what they want to hear. Micah 2:11- If a liar and deceiver comes and says, “I will prophesy for you plenty of wine and beer,” he would be just the prophet for this people!
Men still go through the motions of religion without experiencing real conversion. Isaiah 1:11- 17- The multitude of your sacrifices- what are they to me? says the Lord. Stop bringing meaningless offerings! I cannot bear your evil assemblies. Your appointed feasts my soul hates. They have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood; wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong, learn to do right!
4. They are concerned about their nation
This is why I am preaching from these Scriptures over the next several months. We need to be concerned and in prayer over our nation. Political ads a plenty until November 6, election
Through all of this we might get the idea that if we just had a godly President and godly leaders then all of this mess would be taken care of. Not so! Not saying godly leadership isn’t important, but really the government is just a reflection of the people, especially so here
Jeremiah 15:1- Then the Lord said to me: “Even if Moses and Samuel were to stand before me, my heart would not go out to this people. Send them away from my presence!
The prophets rebuked sin in high places as well as low places. They warned the nation. The pleaded with a proud people to humble themselves and return to God.
Now they were mainly concerned with the chosen people. US is not the chosen people in OT sense. However there is real sense in which our nation has slipped from where we once were. People are taking God for granted or treating him as irrelevant; people are living to please themselves; people are pursing dishonest gain, plotting and scheming... times of prophets
Always there was hope that the people would turn back to God and disaster would be averted. Jeremiah 26:3- Perhaps they will listen and each will turn from his evil way. Then I will relent and not bring on them the disaster I was planning because of the evil they had done.
5. They are filled with prophecies about the coming Messiah
Must understand that the prophets were mainly forthtellers, telling forth God’s truth to their own generation. However, from time to time God would enable them to be foretellers and sometimes in these prophecies they would talk about the Messiah, Jesus Christ.
Just 4 predictions:
1. Messiah must be born of the seed of David- Isaiah 11:10; Jeremiah 23:5; 33:15
2. Bethlehem to be the place of Messiah’s birth- Micah 5:2
3. The messiah will enter Jerusalem on a donkey- Zechariah 9:9
4. Messiah will be pierced- Zechariah 12:10
Odds of these 4 predictions coming true in the life of one individual is 1 in 10 to 18th power.
Really there are over 300 predictions of the first coming of the Messiah in the OT, many contained in the prophets. Why so many? The coming of the Lord Jesus Christ to earth was an important event. God did not want His children to miss Him. God marked Him out so clearly that Israel had no excuse for not recognizing Him when He was here on earth.
