The Wrong Attitude Concerning the OT

We like Josh McDowell’s books Evidence that Demands a Verdict and More Evidence that Demands a Verdict so recently we picked up a different book written by him and his son to see what they have to say on Intolerance.

In that book, The Beauty of Intolerance, we found a few statements that caused us to pause and really think about what they were saying. These statements gave an indication of how not only the McDowells but other people view the Old Testament.

Here are the statements that bother us and they will be quoted all together then addressed in the same fashion. Taken from pg.209:

#1. As much as we may want to understand how a scriptural truth applies to our own lives, we must remember that the Bible was not written directly to us who live in Western Civilization in the twenty-first century

#2. The Old Testament was written to the nation of Israel.

#3. The authors of scripture wrote to a specific audience, yet the truths of those writings  is nonetheless for the entire world

The dangers of this attitude are quite clear. One of those dangers is that it allows people to pick and choose what verses they will obey or disobey. This attitude is one of the main reasons why modern believers are making mistakes in science, archaeology, theology and even in their daily lives.

They are erroneous positions to take as those attitudes allow modern believers to dismiss certain biblical events and relegate them to an idea that God is immoral.

The first statement is wrong as the Bible was written directly to the people of Western Society as well as every nation in the world both modern and ancient.

God’s word is for everyone not just one group of people. If it weren’t then God would not have a holy foundation to judge people for their sins. There would be no rules for the world to follow or repent to if the words of God were strictly for one ancient society.

Then the first statement grants permission to people to use interpretation over the truth. Everyone is free to say what they think a bible verse or passage means and live as they please ignoring the message God has sent everyone.

That first statement also means that John 3:16 was not written for the people of the Western world and the word ‘whomsoever’ doe snot apply to anyone outside  of the Hebrews.

The second statement is also wrong in that it tells us that people would be able to dismiss creation and adopt secular theories like evolution without qualms because in the McDowell’s view Genesis 1 & 2 was not written for everyone.

Creation was written for everyone to know where they came from and not a secret message to the Hebrews. The modern world could also be free to dismiss the lessons of Noah’s Flood, Sodom and Gomorrah as those are examples of judgment meant for only the ancient Hebrew people alone.

The lesson of Isaiah where God said woe to those who take evil over good are lost and it would be okay for people to bring LGBTQ and other sinners into the church without their repenting of their sins.

The logic in that statement opens up other verses to being ignored and lets the church be perverted by allowing women pastors and other practices banned by God to exist.

Statement #3 is trying to have it both ways. God’s word was meant for one group but they apply to everyone. No God’s word was written for everyone and applies to everyone. How else would the unbeliever know if he was doing wrong if the words of God only applied to one small group of people?

Also, the words ‘the authors of scripture…’ place the writing of the Bible in the hands of humans exposing the book to charges that it is just another human attempt to control and oppress other humans.

There was only 1 author of the Bible, God, and his word applies to everyone as well as being written for everyone. Then if one does a study of the New Testament you will find many instructions and commands of Jesus and his disciples were taken directly from the Old Testament.

The first example- Mt. 22:37 And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ (NASB)

Can be found in Deut. 6:5- You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. AND the first three commandments recorded by Moses–

You shall have no other gods ^[b]before Me.

⁴ “You shall not make for yourself ^[c]an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. ⁵ You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, ⁶ but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

⁷ “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not ^[d]leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.

The second example- Matthew 22:39 which says: ³⁹ The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ⁴⁰ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”

That second example can be found in the last few commandments Moses recorded:

¹² “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the Lord your God gives you.

¹³ “You shall not murder.

¹⁴ “You shall not commit adultery.

¹⁵ “You shall not steal.

¹⁶ “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

¹⁷ “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

You cannot love your neighbor if you violate those commandments. There are more examples of the New Testament being found in the Old. That should tell you that the Old Testament was written for everyone not just the ancient Hebrews.

We have preached frequently from the Old Testament because there are so many truths written for the modern age in its words. One good example comes from 3 of the gospels- Matthew 22:16, Mark 12:14 and Luke 20:21 which says {and we will only quote one passage- Matthew}:

And they *sent their disciples to Him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that You are truthful and teach the way of God in truth, and defer to no one; for You are not partial to any.

This shows us that Jesus did not violate the Old Testament or thought that it applied only to a small group of people. Deut. 6 says:

Now this is the commandment, the statutes and the judgments which the Lord your God has commanded me to teach you, that you might do them in the land where you are going over to possess it, ² so that you and your son and your grandson might fear the Lord your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged.

Jesus taught everyone the ways of God and at the end of the Gospels he gives the charge to spread the message to the whole world making disciples of them all. The Old Testament is for everyone not just the ancient Hebrews.

The Old Testament tells everyone the truth and their history. W.F. Abright wrote in one of his books that the ancient civilizations had no idea where they came from. Only the ancient Hebrews had a clear knowledge of their origin and he was right.

What the Old Testament tells everyone is that their origin is found in God not scientific theories. The Old Testament and the New were written directly to everyone and its message is for everyone. If they weren’t the Christian could not be the light unto the dark world.

This is one reason why the church does not make a better impact for God, it has the wrong attitude and perspective about the Bible. It is God’s message to all of his creation and as Matthew 11:15 says– he who has hears let him hear.

But that is not the only place those words are placed as the Book of Revelation in the chapters of the letters to the churches those words are repeated- “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’ (verses 6, 13 & 22 of chapter 3).

Jeremiah 6:10 says- “To whom shall I speak and give warning That they may hear?” Notice that none of those verses have exclusionary terms blocking all people from hearing the message of God.

The whole Bible is for everyone, not just a few, in all centuries and all societies.

Something to Think About

This video makes some interesting points about white people in China. But one thing we wanted to point out is that archaeologists use the wrong markers to construct their theories.

Late in the video the narrator says that because the funeral rites and practices changed in one area, the one society who originally practiced must have expanded into the territory of those who didn’t.

While that remains a possibility, it is also possible that the people of the latter society may have had a change of mind, created a fad, or just thought the former society’s practices were just better than theirs.

Changes in funeral practices and other parts of society do not necessarily mean mass migration whereby the migrants conquered those who lived in the land. Here is the video:

When celebrities are sadly mistaken

Here is a prime example of a celebrity who failed biology and opting for lies and misinformation just to appease a minority

https://us.yahoo.com/entertainment/daniel-radcliffe-responds-j-k-020101785.html

Radcliffe responded with a statement on the Trevor Project web site, which included the following:

Transgender women are women. Any statement to the contrary erases the identity and dignity of transgender people and goes against all advice given by professional health care associations who have far more expertise on this subject matter than either Jo or I

He is also mistaken as all health care professionals do not agree with that statement and transgender people have no dignity. They just embarrass themselves on a daily basis by trying to think they are something they can never be.

 

Some Recent Discoveries

The first two links take you to archaeological discoveries. Then the third takes you to another evolutionary one that is more of a lie than anything else. Evolutionists create all these fake species without factoring in normal daily life. their conclusions are off because they look at their discoveries with a predetermined conclusion and not true objectivity.

Also, one bone a dinosaur does not make. With science blind to the past, the evolutionist can make anything up that they want people to hear. There is no ancient verification for any of the evolutionary discoveries and that enables the evolutionist to have even more freedom when talking about these and other bone fragments they uncover

https://www.yahoo.com/news/researchers-ancient-rooms-under-jerusalems-western-wall-171010448.html

Israeli researchers on Tuesday unveiled mysterious underground rooms with an unknown function, carved out of the bedrock near where the Second Jewish Temple is believed to have stood two millennia ago.

The discovery was made when Israeli students from a pre-military college were excavating a large, lavish Byzantine-era structure from some 1,400 years ago, below the Western Wall plaza in Jerusalem’s Old City.

Like other sites inhabited for millenia, parts of Jerusalem contain deep layers of archaeology, the result of societies building on top of earlier structures rather that expending resources to clear ruins.

https://www.foxnews.com/science/dead-sea-scrolls-discovery-fragments-thought-to-be-blank-reveal-text

Four Dead Sea Scroll fragments long thought to be blank have revealed their text.

The fragments, which are housed at the University of Manchester in the U.K., shed more light on the famous scrolls. Some 51 fragments were imaged front and back, with six identified for further investigation. Of these, four were found to have readable Hebrew/Aramaic text written in carbon-based ink.

“The most substantial fragment has the remains of four lines of text with 15-16 letters, most of which are only partially preserved, but the word Shabbat (Sabbath) can be clearly read,” explained the University of Manchester

https://www.foxnews.com/science/unusual-toothless-dinosaur-discovered-in-australia

A bone from the dinosaur was discovered by volunteer Jessica Parker during a dig in Victoria in early 2015. Initially thought to be from a pterosaur, the neck bone was studied by experts at Swinburne University who realized that it was from a theropod or meat-eating dinosaur. “The only catch – this ‘meat-eating dinosaur’ probably didn’t eat meat!” said Swinburne paleontologist Dr. Stephen Poropat, in the statement.

A post at our sister site

We will be providing different content there than what you have found here. The first new article at that site is the first Book Review. More will come in the ensuing weeks.

Read the review at this link https://theoarch.wordpress.com/2020/05/19/book-review-1/