Old Testament
Should it be used? There are some who claim that the God of the Old Testament is not the same as the God of the New Testament. Discuss wether the Old Testament should be used or not. Do consider that the New Testament does make references to Prophets and stories located in the Old Testament. Also from the Old Testament we gain a lot of insight into how God moves / acts.
From my own opinion, I personally believe that it is the same God in the Old Testament as it is in the New Testament.
Therefore, I personally don't see how you can ignore one part of the Bible, I would agree, that the two are different in the fact that were written at such differing times, that they show differing lifestyles/times of the people mentioned within the books.
A lot of people, I feel, think that the New Testament replaces the Old Testament, which in my opinion, should go hand in hand with each other.
A lot of details are 'updated' in the New Testament, as in, some of the prophecies from the Old testament have now been fulfilled in the New Testament.
Therefore, both the Old and New Testaments are still vital for todays living.
*in my humble opinion*
I don't believe it should be used. It is too fallible.
I have come to believe there were two Gods in the Old Testament. The first God loved his people. He walked with them in the garden in the cool of the evening. Moses was his best friend. He told the Jews I will come to other prophets in their dreams, but with Moses I speak face to face. He is a friend in my house.
Then suddenly Moses is begging to see Gods face so he could know him. The new God told him he could only see his back. The first God had promised to lead Israel to Chanaan. The new God tells Moses He isn't going to the promised land. He will send an angel to guide them. He orders genocide. He wasn't into healing. His answer to sickness is to get out of camp until the priest says you're well. He is hungry for gold and silver.
Then one day Jesus appears on earth healing humans with his bare hands and teaching love beyond human comprehension. I believe he learned these skills from his father and I don't believe his father was the second God.
Edited: mousetrails on 7th Apr, 2006 - 6:45am
I believe there is ONE God and one God only. There are the different faces of that God, also known as the Trinity, but it is the same God. Moustrails, God would not allow Moses to see His face because as a fallible human, Moses would not have been able to deal with it. Seeing the face of God is no small deal. It would be like looking into the sun while standing five feet from it, as an analogy. As for not allowing certain people to not enter into the Promised land, one has to look at the occurences around that. God delivered them time and time again, and yet their faith was still weak enough to doubt him constantly. No matter how much he provided for him, they always went against him and tried to do things their own way. If you told a child that if they clean up their room and keep it clean for a month, you'd by them a video game, and you promised it, and they did not hold u their end, then you probably would not go and buy the video game. I know that's a strange analogy and on a different level, but the concept is generally the same. Yeah, reading it, I felt bad for Moses because it seemed that after everything he had done, he made one big mistake of not trusting God, and God would not allow him in. My heart went out to him, but God has reasons beyond our own knowledge. We cannot, as humans, possibly understand all his motivations for doing the things He does. I am not trying to knock your beliefs, but I think you are taking some things out of context.
As for the Old Testament, I think it is incredibly important. While there are some things that do not necessarily apply to our current lives, it is still important for us to recognize the history. For instance, they used to have to sacrifice in order to have their sins forgiven. The New Testament has a change of events to where we no longer have to do that. So why do we need to know why people used to have to sacrifice lambs for forgiveness? Because it teaches us what must be done for a sin to be forgiven. A sinless, perfect being must shed blood. I think it also teaches us to be grateful that we do not have to go to such lengths, and it helps us to appreciate the events of Jesus and His sacrifice even greater.
Not everything in the Old Testament is obselete. There are still many lessons of faith and morals we can learn from the Old Testament. Where are the Ten Commandements at? In the Old Testament. Not to mention, the Old Testament has all the covenants God made with man that are not necessarily listed in the New Testament. There are also prophecy's in the Old Testament of events that occur in the New Testament, and it is a show of God's truthfulness of what was to come. Both are incredibly important, and I think that churches today often overlook the Old Testament in their teachings.
I grew up in the Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) church, and their teachings are almost solely from the Old Testament. They believe Saturday is the Sabbath, because of the creation story. They believe certain animals cannot be consumed based on stories from Genesis and Exodus. They don't celebrate Easter and Good Friday which are New Testament teachings. About the only New Testament book they dive deep into is Revelations.
In my opinion, the God from the Old Testament is the same as the one in the New. He grew tired of man constantly betraying him and turning their backs on him, only to return when times were hard. That is why he had to send his Son to the world, to save them. The Old Testament shows us what life was like when God visited men and talked with them. I think there is merit in reading and understanding the Old Testament, but I don't believe in religions that think man should adhere to the rules that were set forth in the Old Testament.
Malexander said:
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but I don't believe in religions that think man should adhere to the rules that were set forth in the Old Testament. |
Sorry, I guess I should have said ALL the rules in the Old Testament, like the ones I quoted. Of course the Ten Commandments are there for all of us as Christians to live by, and there are other teachings that still apply today.
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God would not allow Moses to see His face because as a fallible human, Moses would not have been able to deal with it. |
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Moses then went up with Aaron, Nadab, and the seventy elders of Israel, 10. and they beheld the God of Israel. Under his feet there appeared to be sapphire tilework, as clear as the sky itself. 11 Yet he did not smite these chosen Israelites. After gazing on God they could still eat and drink. Exodus 24:10 |
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Should there be a prophet among you, in visions I will reveal myself to him, in dreams I will speak to him; 7. not so with my servant Moses! Throughout my house he bears my trust: 8. face to face I speak to him, plainly and not in riddles. The presence of the Lord he beholds. Why then, did you not fear to speak against my servant Moses? Numbers 12:6-8 |
Message Edited! Persephone: Take the time to learn how to use the quote tags. |