The grace of the Old Testament, and the condemnation of the New

Yes, it's been another long while, but I actually have been keeping up with my daily Bible reading from the MacArthur Daily Bible! Today's readings included some of my favorite passages from the Old and New Testaments, and the selection from Galatians really caught my attention.

So, the readings for today are Isaiah 34 and 44, Psalm 110, Proverbs 25:5-9, and Galatians 4.

Let's take a look at the selection from Isaiah first.

One of the things that bugs me about some wanna-be theologians is that they don't know the Bible at all. They claim that the God of the Old Testament is different from the God of the New, that He is wrathful and shows no love and mercy. Well, that's just poppycock!

 Isaiah speaks - as do all of the prophets - of Israel's unfaithfulness to God, and the punishments He sends as a result. God's wrath and His hatred of their apostasy is quite apparent, and yet so is His love and mercy. Let's take a bridging section between chapters 43 and 44 and look at it:

But you have not called upon Me, O Jacob;
      And you have been weary of Me, O Israel.
You have not brought Me the sheep for your burnt offerings,
      Nor have you honored Me with your sacrifices.
      I have not caused you to serve with grain offerings,
      Nor wearied you with incense.
You have bought Me no sweet cane with money,
      Nor have you satisfied Me with the fat of your sacrifices;
      But you have burdened Me with your sins,
      You have wearied Me with your iniquities.

Do you see what God is saying here? He is outlining in brief some of the sins Israel has committed against Him. He does NOT make light of them; they are very serious violations of the Covenant they swore to live by.

And yet, after this sharp indictment (which is also quite mild compared to many other things God says about Israel's stubbornness), look at what God says:

I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake;
      And I will not remember your sins.
Put Me in remembrance;
      Let us contend together;
      State your case, that you may be acquitted.

"Look," God says. "Come back to Me! Return to your first love, and I will take away your sins! I love you, and I do not want to have to continue punishing you like this!"

Your first father sinned,
      And your mediators have transgressed against Me.
Therefore I will profane the princes of the sanctuary;
      I will give Jacob to the curse,
      And Israel to reproaches.

"These are the consequences, O My people! I set both blessings and cursings before you when were in Sinai: blessings if you kept My covenant, and cursings if you refused to obey. For all your sins, there must be a payment. But...!"

Yet hear me now, O Jacob My servant,
      And Israel whom I have chosen.
Thus says the LORD who made you
      And formed you from the womb, who will help you: 
      "Fear not, O Jacob My servant;
      And you, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.
For I will pour water on him who is thirsty,
      And floods on the dry ground;
      I will pour My Spirit on your descendants,
      And My blessing on your offspring;
They will spring up among the grass
      Like willows by the watercourses."
One will say, "I am the LORD’s";
      Another will call himself by the name of Jacob;
      Another will write with his hand, "The LORD’s," 
      And name himself by the name of Israel.

God has made preparations to restore His people Israel to Himself. God has promised His people that He will bring them out of the valley of sin and pour out such blessings upon them that they cannot imagine! God has never taken His eye off of Israel, although He has disciplined them. He has not - and will never! - cast them aside in favor of another.

It is true that they are not center-stage in His plan of redemption at the moment, but God has made eternal promises to His people, and God never breaks His promises!

So, although this is just a quick example, I want you to realize that the fingerprints of grace and mercy are all over the Old Testament. God has not performed some sort of Mr. Hyde/Dr. Jekyll transformation; He is the same today as He was when He created, and as He will be in eternity.

Now, going back to the verses which caught my eye in Galatians, these will also fit in a bit with the mistaken impression that the God of the New Testament is all love and mercy, with no judgement. Actually, before I even get to it, I'll simply make the statement that the most incredible display of God's wrath and holiness and judgement is the Cross... Leave a comment if you want me to continue with that

All right, the verses I'd like to focus on in Galatians 4 are vv. 21-31. Let's go over the background, first.  Paul had written to the Galatians in surprise and dismay that they were sliding back into their legalistic ways. When Paul had preached them the Gospel, he made it plain that their works could not save them - only full trust in what Christ had done in His life and on the Cross could suffice to usher them into Heaven.

To point up the vast difference between the Covenant of the Law and the Covenant of Grace, Paul goes all the way back to Abraham, the father of the Jews, and points out several pertinent facts. First of all, he notes, Abraham was "counted righteous" through his belief in and trust of God. And secondly, Paul reminds the Galatians that this righteousness was given to him before God instituted the practice of circumcision. Abraham had no works to claim as a ticket into heaven.

In this passage, Paul looks at Abraham's two wives, Sarah and Hagar. Actually, I only ever remember Hagar being called a bondwoman, so I'm not sure if Abraham actually married her or not... Anyway, let's take a look at the comparison Paul draws between the two women:

Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law? For it is written that Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman [Hagar, whose son was Ishmael], the other by a freewoman [Sarah, whose son was Isaac]. But he who was of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and he of the freewoman through promise, which things are symbolic. For these are the two covenants: the one from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar— for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children— but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all. For it is written:

“ Rejoice, O barren,
You who do not bear!
Break forth and shout,
You who are not in labor!
For the desolate has many more children
Than she who has a husband.”

Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise. But, as he who was born according to the flesh then persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, even so it is now. Nevertheless what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.” So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman but of the free.

The covenant of the Law, given from Sinai, is symbolized by Hagar and her son, Ishmael. It gave birth to bondage, because no one can keep all the points of the law perfectly and all the days of their life. If you try, you will either become rigid and convinced of your own perfection, or you will shatter yourself on that standard of perfection.

Now, remember: every point of the Law, should you choose to live under it, must be followed! Back in chapter 3 of Galatians, Paul quotes Deuteronomy 27:26, which says: "Cursed is the one who does not confirm all the words of this law by observing them. [emph. mine]" God demands that we live the perfect life before Him - no one is entitled to even one mistake!

"Impossible!" you cry... "I cannot possibly be perfect every minute of every day. And what can I do about all those times that I've already broken the law? I can never go back and re-do them correctly!"

Exactly. And this is where the second covenant, represented by Sarah and Isaac, comes in. This is the Covenant of Grace, upheld by the promises of God.

Waaaaay back when, when Abraham was counted righteous by God, God reiterated the promise He has given to Abraham: Sarah would bear a son. Abraham had to do nothing to fulfil this promise (well, except the obvious, LOL): it was all God's work. Through Abraham, and through the son God promised him, God swore by His own Self that all the nations would be blessed. God promised that He would perform this, and His promise was fulfilled in Abraham's ultimate Seed: Jesus the Christ, Son of the Living God, Very God of Very God, King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Through belief in God's Promised Son, we are freed from the bondage of the Law and become, not slaves, but friends of God! However, if we insist that we can do it ourselves, if we stubbornly think that "being a good person" is enough, we remain under the curse of the Law. If we insist on refusing the offer of grace, God will let us die under the Law and spend eternity in the ultimate slavery of Hell.

I find it fascinating that, from what I understand of Islamic theology, muslims (well, Arabic muslims, anyway) claim descent from Abraham through Ishmael, the son of the bondwoman, the servant, the slave. "Islam" means "submission" - submission to rules governing every minute aspect of your life, with no leeway. "Allah," the false god, shows no holy grace and mercy, but only a capricious focus on favorites. No muslim can be confident and secure in "Allah's" welcome into Paradise - unless, of course, he dies killing "Allah's" enemies.

I feel sorry for the average muslim, enslaved to such a satanic bondage. They're never good enough, they never know the love of a true Father, they never see the hand of Christ extended in mercy and grace. They are like people who walk through life with their heads beaten down into the dust, so that they can never stand upright and rejoice in all the beauty and magnificence the Living God has provided for our enjoyment, and as proof of who He is.

But for the child of God, reborn into the eternal family of Christ through faith in His sacrifice and trust in His promises, there is wonder and joy and love and forgiveness and freedom! The law is no longer a slavemaster, but more like  a picket fence, protecting your children from wandering into the traffic on the street. We respect that fence and its boundary, we are thankful for the protection it offers - but is no longer a hammer waiting to batter us into submission.

I have no more words left to describe the awe and gratitude I feel for the God who loved me so much that He did this for me! I would pray that you know and love Him, too, so that we may sing praises with Paul:

Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!

“ For who has known the mind of the LORD?
Or who has become His counselor?”

Or who has first given to Him
And it shall be repaid to him?”

For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen.

Technorati Tags: Abraham, Isaac, Ishmael, Islam, slavery, freedom, grace, Old Testament, New Testament

Comments

[James Atticus Bowden]

1.

Well done. The first time I read the Bible through I saw a lot of contradictions. Each succeeding reading smoothed those wrinkles.

One distinction between the OT and NT face of God is that the OT is revelation through prophets while the NT is the complete revelation through God on earth, God in man - seeing the full face of God in Jesus.

Consider why God would hate the worship of Baal, Asheroth, Chemoseth and Moloch. That is a fierceness born from a lovingkindness of an all loving God. All loving fathers discipline their children.

[Anonymous Is A Woman]

2.

Good analysis Kat. Just for the record, Abraham was not married to Hagar. Hagar was a concubine, picked by Sarah specifically to bear a child because Sarah was supposedly barren. She was originally Sarah's bondswoman. And a bondswoman was a servant or slave.

During that time, the child of a concubine could be counted as an heir, and it was very important to the ancient Hebrews to have an heir.

Also, thank you for dispelling the mistaken idea that the God of the Old Testament is different from the God of the New Testament.

I always heard that the Old Testament God was wrathful and without mercy or love too. Then, when I read the Prophets, I saw a God that abounded in love, longing to take Israel back into an intimate relationship. Israel was compared to God's bride, daughter, and child throughout the Old Testament. And God's wrath was that of a rejected father or spouse, wanting nothing more than his faithful child or partner back. It was the wrath of the brokenhearted not of the vindicative.

Again, great call!