Read the book of Hebrews. It’s like the Cliff’s Notes to the Old Testament, meant to show the Jews how Jesus fits into Old Testament prophesy.
Wow, makes me want to buy his book!
He’s right in that you cannot truly understand the NT without a good familiarity and understanding of the OT. And vice-versa.
Looks like an interesting read, but I’ll wait till it comes out in paperback.
The Suffering and Glory of the Servant
ISAIAH 52 NIV
13
See, my servant will act wisely[b];
he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted.
14
Just as there were many who were appalled at him[c]—
his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any human being
and his form marred beyond human likeness—
15
so he will sprinkle many nations,[d]
and kings will shut their mouths because of him.
For what they were not told, they will see,
and what they have not heard, they will understand.
Isaiah 53New International Version (NIV)
53 Who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
2
He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
3
He was despised and rejected by mankind,
a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces
he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.
4
Surely he took up our pain
and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
stricken by him, and afflicted.
5
But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
6
We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
7
He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
8
By oppression[a] and judgment he was taken away.
Yet who of his generation protested?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
for the transgression of my people he was punished.[b]
9
He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
nor was any deceit in his mouth.
10
Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
and though the Lord makes[c] his life an offering for sin,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.
11
After he has suffered,
he will see the light of life[d] and be satisfied[e];
by his knowledge[f] my righteous servant will justify many,
and he will bear their iniquities.
12
Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,[g]
and he will divide the spoils with the strong,[h]
because he poured out his life unto death,
and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors.
A key truth to understanding the OT that many have not known - good to see this come out. The whole Bible is about “Jesus Christ and Him crucified...” from beginning to end.
And yes, obedience (to light received) is also key to receiving more light. If we are not faithful to what God has shown us, He generally will not give us more understanding.
BUT, I believe more important than both of these is this: to understand scripture, we need the Holy Spirit to open the eyes of our heart. Eph. 1:15 - 17. The Bible is a spirtual book and cannot be understood with the human brain alone. The human mind cannot understand it. I Corin. 2:14-16.
We must approach scripture with great humility, asking the Holy Spirit to open our eyes to the spiritual truth hidden within. History is full of men (and women) who have tried to explain/understand scripture on their own - and proven it is impossible.
Each time we open the Bible, we should ask the Holy Spirit to open the eyes of our heart to see what is hidden.
If we do, we will find the depths of truth - all about Jesus Christ - are unfathomable - and even a lifetime of study cannot begin to tap the height, depth, breadth and width of an understanding of Who Jesus Christ is and who God is.
It will take all of eternity for that.
Great article. The Old Testament had so much to do with me finding the Lord too. This is one book I want to read.
The case had made is a good example of why Christianity is true. Islam and all the others fall far short.
An amazing way to study the Word.
Paul, in the Book of Romans 11 verse 7 says Christians are grafted into the Jewish line.
The Church at Pentecost was not First Baptist Church of Jerusalem it was the First Messianic Jewish Synagogue of Jerusalem.
As the Greeks and pagans began to join the church moved further and further away from the Jewish roots and the Old Testament.
I for one, am glad David Limbaugh took this task on. I hope the book is as good as his brother hyped it yesterday on his show.
I am a retired protestant Pastor. The wife an I fellowship with a Messianic Synagogue because the Rabbi is an excellent Bible teacher and he does what Limbaugh does in this book . He starts with the Torah, moves to the B’rit Chadasha ( New Covenant-what we call the New Testament) to show that Yeshua ( Jesus) is Messiach ( Messiah) We are perfectly at home with this congregation which has worship music in both Hebrew and English and they are perfectly accepting the fact that we are grafted into the Jewish tradition. The Holy Spirit is moving upon the Church I hope the church catches fire!
Freegards
LEX
Luk 24:25 Then Jesus said to them, “You foolish people! You find it so hard to believe all that the prophets wrote in the Scriptures.
Luk 24:26 Wasn’t it clearly predicted that the Messiah would have to suffer all these things before entering His glory?”
Luk 24:27 Then Jesus took them through the writings of Moses and all the prophets, explaining from all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.
bmp
My belief is that God exists beyond the realm of time. That He cannot change because time is something He controls, not the other way around. Once you understand that, you realize that God exists and that He sees the entire span of history as a timeline where He interjects himself as He chooses.
It is cautionary, though, to apply everything Old Testament to the Christian today because, in Christ, we are under a New Testament of salvation through faith rather than one of laws. We have freedom that the OT Hebrews did not have. Were that not true, the early Christian church would have led converts to exercise the same disciplines as the Old Testament Hebrews.
We have a freedom In Christ and with the aid of the Holy Spirit that was not available to the OT Hebrews.
I agree that the entire Bible points to Jesus but it would be wrong to apply Mosaic law to today's Christians.
When people say they don't understand Daniel or Revelation, the Bible is self explanatory, you just have to read ALL of it. You have to understand a "woman" is a church, or religion, Bread, meat, milk, and honey, is the Word of God, Birds, wild beasts, serpents, are all demons. Branches are people, the root or vine is Jesus, a horn is a king, stars are angels, and on and on. All symbols are explained somewhere in the Bible. In Mark 8:22-25, Jesus healed a blind man, but when he first touched him, the man said he saw "men, like trees, walking. Jesus had healed his Spiritual sight first. Then healed his worldly sight. It was more important for him to see things Spiritually than have worldly sight. Men walking like trees is all through the Scripture. Olive trees are Spirit filled men.
Jesus spoke in parables and explained them to His disciples. He did Not explain everything to everyone. I had it explained to me this way,...Jesus wants true believers, believers with the Holy Spirit burning inside them, to hunt for the answers. It's like a child on an Easter Egg hunt. Some eggs are right out in plain view, but others are hidden behind, underneath, and even inside other objects, depending on how bad you want the answer. People tend to stop looking when they are satisfied they know it all, or at least enough, or maybe when it takes a little work.
Much of it is in plain sight, yet we miss it. If we look at Noah and the Flood as a type for Judgement Day, it shows that Noah was warned of the impending destruction and followed through with preparation. But what many miss is Noah was told 7 days before the rain started to get into the Ark.(Gen 7:4) If getting into the Ark is comparable to the Rapture, we will know when it is coming, which many say you CAN'T know. If you know the Feast of Trumpets and know that it has a "last Trump" and you see all through Scripture hints of trumpets blowing before that day, then you find out that the Jews will tell you "the day no one knows" is Rosh Hashanah, just as we know "Turkey day" is Thanksgiving, They know "Trumpets" is 2 days, or One long day, according to them. What else do we know about Noah's Food? We know a Covenant was made to Noah to never flood the world again and gave us the Rainbow. Satan is a counterfeiter and a liar. Look at Luke 17:26-36. Could the projection of the rainbow on the White House be a sign of coming judgement? Why was Lot used in verse 28? Satan has repurposed God's sign to mankind for his purpose. Leviticus 18:22 tells us God will judge the country that accepts sodomy. Do we not know the time of the season?
The OT is not another book, but another covenant. The NT takes off directly on the promises of the OT. The OT prophesies the coming Messiah, and the NT shows the prophesies can be trusted to happen just as described and even more noteworthy, on exactly the same days predicted. As Jesus gave up His Spirit on the cross, the Lamb was having his throat cut in the Temple, even down to the minute. All is to show the Bible as trustworthy, yet we treat it as a book of fables and moral stories. Just look at the level of knowledge a young person has today about Spiritual things. Even adults spout off the wall theories with no scripture or misused scripture to back their theory. Pride has taken over the church thinking they know enough, or can't be known, or don't need to know. It is pride that tells us we can't be taught anymore. Scripture tell us we are destroyed for lack of knowledge. There are people that will be left behind thinking they know enough, but will face the Antichrist and the choice to die for Christ, or chose hell. If we read the letters to the churches in Revelation, we find The church at Philadelphia is promised to be kept from the hour of trial coming to test the whole earth. (Rev 3:10) Probably most of the church will be left behind because they fit one of the other 6 churches spoken about.
When Jesus was asked the most important commandment, He replied to love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your brother as yourself. All the other "stuff" is nice to know, but not required for a Philadelphia heart. The term "thief in the night" speaks of Christians that aren't watching, aren't found "so doing" When the Thief comes. If you knew when he was coming, you would have watched. Virgins are not lost people, but some Christians can be foolish virgins. Servants do what they are told, but lack the love Jesus is looking for in His bride. We should examine ourselves and see if we have died to the world completely and only live in Christ. The left behind church is spoken of in Rev 4:5, crying out from under the altar. Notice robes were given to them then, but others had their garments when they came. Read Matt 22:1-13.
We do what we do because of love. Either we love Christ, or we love the world. We cannot have 2 masters. Just as Noah and Lot were rescued, He will rescue His bride before destroying the earth. Is earth your home or Heaven? Don't be an "earth dweller". ( look for that phrase and pay attention when you find it)
Those with ears to hear, let them hear.
Dispensationalism, a low view of God's holiness, an image of a weak and pleading Jesus begging sinners to "make a decision" for him juxtaposed against God the consuming fire Who gives and keeps covenants and of Christ as triumphant King has had untold impact in the unravelling of Western civilization these past 50 years.
This view - the relevance of the OT - is the type of thinking on which America and all that is good about it was founded, and is what Adams meant by a "moral and religious people".
This is a timely release by Limbaugh and I look forward to reading it.