The Bible is not just a 3,000-year-old Newspaper.

 The Bible is not just a 3,000-year-old Newspaper.

After my previous Podcast with Tracy McKenize, he has given much food for thought, so I wrote an article this month lining out what will hopefully help us have a more precise and better understanding of the Old Testament and how it relates to us today. The early books were written with us in mind. In this article, I will encourage you to look at the earlier writings as more than a 3,000-year-old newspaper it was also a prophetic covenant that was written for a future people rooted in history. In this article, we will see the author make a distinction between Horeb and this new covenant being made here at Moab; we will see that this covenant is also for a people that are still to come, what this covenant is going give, and for the champion partners how this affects us and our motivation to share about this amazing Messiah.

1.      God makes a distinction between Horeb and this new covenant being made here at Moab

We find Israel is two hundred and seventy-five miles northeast of where God made the previous covenant on Mount Horeb (Sinai). They are now standing in Moab and looking out over the Jordan River they will cross and the land they are getting ready to go in and receive as an inheritance from the Lord. However, the Lord is now getting ready to do something new by entering another covenant with them.

These are the words of the covenant that the Lord commanded Moses to make with the people of Israel in the land of Moab, besides the covenant that he had made with them at Horeb. (Deuteronomy 29:1)

God clarifies in the text that it is a different covenant from the one given at Horeb. This covenant will be where people obey God because they have a circumcised heart.

And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live. (Deuteronomy 30:6)

Israel’s limited obedience at best during certain times shows that all of humanity needs something more than fluctuating and fleeting obedience. Israel needed internal change that would bring about growing external obedience. The letter of the law could never bring about heart change, as is seen in Israel's tendency to return to idols.

But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God. (Romans 2:29)

The gracious work of the Spirit of God brings this change. We can all rejoice in this gift of the Spirit because it was not just limited to the nation of Israel. The Sinai covenant was not going to bring the Spirit of God it was going to be the Moab covenant that would make way for the Spirit. 

2.      For people that are still to come

Not only is it a new covenant, but read who this covenant will include prophetically.

“It is not with you alone that I am making this sworn covenant, but with whoever is standing here with us today before the Lord our God, and with whoever is not here with us today.” (Deuteronomy 29:15)

This covenant is not only for people who were present at Moab but also for those who were not present. This is a picture of what God would do in a future time with the work of His Spirit. More on this in the next point. What a privilege we have that we are not excluded from God’s mercy. God did not have to include us in His plan of distributive grace, but He did. You and I don’t deserve God. Look at who you are. Be honest. I now realize that at forty-six, there is nothing good in me. This is humbling. When humble, there is no room for ego, arrogance, and achievement. Only humble gratitude for what God has allowed us to receive. 

Look around this country and the world. It needs help. People are stumbling after their desires and whims. These are moving them further away from the heart of God. Technology and social media (not saying it is all bad) are so attractive. It is alluring young and old into a confusing abyss of manipulative ideas not grounded on anything but personal preference.       

However, we know that God is drawing for Himself a covenant people because that is what He has revealed to us, and we can rest in His work as if it is already done. Why? Because He is faithful even when we are faithless. The next point will show why we can be confident in what God is doing.  

3.      What this new covenant gives

God, in this new covenant, is going to give His spirit. This spirit is going to do transformative work. Peter testifies to this in the Book of Acts. “And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith.” (Acts 15:8-9)

Them, in the above text, is referring to gentiles. God was going to work in the gentiles, which means: Your wayward children still have hope. All your broken family relationships still have hope. Your marriage still has hope. Our society still has hope. Our world still has hope. The people who have wronged you deeply still have hope. The people that you haGentilesve wronged deeply- you still have hope. The Spirit of God is still at work; no matter how dark it may seem, the Spirit of God is at work granting faith, hope, and love.

However, out of these three, love is the greatest. I did not use the words duty or obligation. No, love, unwavering love. I am not talking about a weak world-defined love. I am talking about a commitment to be the person you need to be in any given situation because God loved you and gave His Spirit to you as a deposit to ensure that His will would be worked out in His time and His way in your life and others around you.

In short, we have His Spirit; therefore, we can love- rightly. This is what makes the Bible so much more than a three-thousand-year-old newspaper. It teaches about God and our greatest need- to truly be loved and to understand how to love others. This is made possible by God’s new covenant and His Spirit. How does this truth and understanding affect our evangelistic mindset and relationships?

4.      How does this affect our relationships and motivate us to share about this amazing Messiah?

Destructive relationship patterns can now change. Bad communication habits can now be done away with, and new ways can be forged with the furnace of God’s spirit. Our motivation now should change from duty to genuinely loving someone with the love of Christ. It will not be perfect, but it will continue to grow and change you and those in your life. This new covenant brought the gift of God’s Spirit, and He is moving in believers' lives and converting lost sinners into passionate Jesus followers. If you are a believer, this is God's work in you.

He will bring people and circumstances into your life to make you what He needs you to be. This is a lifelong process. He does not get tired of conforming you to His image, so don’t get tired of being conformed. There will be seasons of excellent molding and shaping. The most emotionally draining and physically exhausting times are when God does some of His best work in you and everyone around you.  God’s Spirit does not only affect our relationships, but He also transforms our evangelism efforts.

The motivation of our evangelism changes when the Spirit of God is present. It is not a duty but a privilege to go and share the lifesaving hope of Christ with those around us. The spirit of God gives us the desire to want to see others' lives transformed by the power of God that changed us.

The prophetic word given in Deuteronomy was for Israel and future people. We are beneficiaries of the covenant. In this covenant, God is sending the Holy Spirit to transform anyone who humbly submits to the gift of faith in His Son. Paul says it well, “But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” that is, the word of faith that we proclaim” (Romans 10:8). Until next month, go out and share the Gospel because the truth worth sharing is the truth that transforms.