Why Read The Old Testament?

Today, we heard the word of the Lord through our reading of Jeremiah. If you are not familiar with the scripture, the background is this:

Jeremiah was the ultimate survivor. He was the pastor kid of a pastor kid. He was a prophet at 18. He was biblical theologian long before the world knew what that was. He focused his teachings on the Pentateuch (the first five books of the bible) and Hosea and the Psalms. He lived in a very rough time for people in general but even tougher for those in Judah. The year was around 645 b.c. and the world was in a flux with the balance of power in the world shifting from the Assyrians and the Egyptians to the Babylonians. The former Judah king was a follower of our God and he tried to use his power to clean up the false theology that was evident everywhere. However, he passed away fighting for what He believed that God wanted for the nation of Judah. After his death, the country quickly fell apart. The country fell into the hands of the Babylonians who placed their own king in charge and promptly took the material riches and smartest folks back to the Babylon. The people left behind were obviously devastated. They had survived but who was in charge, how would they eat and what are the rules for life?

There is a popular TV show called “Survivor.” It’s been on TV now for over 20 seasons. It’s syndicated all over the world and it has made these questions a cornerstone of the program. The show thrives on showing how group dynamics and societal rules change as people endure tough conditions in the hope of receiving the big prize at the end. In the case of Survivor, it’s a million bucks!

Throughout the destruction of Judah, Jeremiah’s role in God’s plan was to be the voice calling to the nation, and its people, to come back to the faith. For Jeremiah, this was the big prize and he is sure he knows how the game should be played. The book of Jeremiah has over 100 references to repentance but the people wouldn’t listen. They didn’t want him in their temples. They did not like his ministry to them and even his hometown plotted against him. He was a prophet in all senses of the word but no one was listening. Actually, two people did: Baruch, his scribe, and Ebedimeltech, a servant to the king. However, the rest of the population was not impressed. They found it almost unfathomable to think that the scriptures they were taught as children contained the answer of how to solve their problems as adults, not to mention as a nation.

I have often wondered what would happen if a contestant on Survivor ever just showed up and lived a life of faith, repentance and love on the show. I’m pretty sure if I took a poll that many wouldn’t believe the contestant would make it past the first week. But did you ever ask yourself why we believe that? Is life any tougher or more real on a TV show than real life? Is it life harder today than back in the days before Jesus? I don’t think so. The world might even have been a tougher place back then.

SO the big question is: “Why don’t we (all of humanity) read the book of a dead prophet or better yet, all of the Old Testament and give it real authority in our lives?”

I think the answer lies in our ignorance and arrogance.

Every day, we are participating in the game of life where our choice of alliances and actions come into contact with both society’s rules and our Lord’s commands. However, some of the players aren’t fully aware of the deceit and sneakiness of the opposition. The evil one is a subtle foe. If you are uniformed or hope that showing up on Sunday morning is going to insure you survive the game of life. You may be disappointed. There are many ways the devil uses all kinds of mainstream sources to pull us away from the real truth of this world and into sin. He will even use popular Christian preachers to do his bidding.

For example, I was hanging out over at the coffee shop again this week, when Thom began to tell about a moment he had flipping through the channels of his TV. He stopped on this preacher telling him all he needed to do to get what he wanted in life was to claim the name of Jesus Christ in his life, ask for what he wanted and then he would receive it. Thom said he really liked that kind of message. It made sense that God would want to give him what he wants in his life. After all, Jesus loves him right? Our other buddy Jim just started laughing and asked, “Where was that in the bible?” Thom quoted a scripture or two he had jotted down from the TV preacher. After we looked them up, we found out they weren’t completely in context. Thom then asked, “Well, don’t all preachers get the same teachers training manual? I think it was John who said it best to Thom, you need to be careful what you hear from anybody because sometimes the message can sound good but it’s not really God’s word. It’s goes back to that old saying, if it sounds to good to be true then it probably is. John went on to say you have to be careful because your future’s at stake. If you believe what is not really God’s word, then by default you rejecting what really is.