As you absorb the content, please consider reading my response in sections. There is a trend in the modern Jesus Churches and Evangelical Churches to minimize the OT (Book of the Covenants), and this is proving to lend towards a general malaise (a general discomfort) toward the OT in particular. It also is a precursor toward apostasy (a falling away from the Faith). Please read with attentiveness.
The Young Man’s question to me:
I’m touching base with a question for you. I recently started a study out of my house with a group of men from our church that is mirroring a study the men’s ministry is putting on. During our conversion around John 1, the question below came up as we bounced back and forth from NT to OT (or new covenant and old covenant as you taught me years ago!). The question is below, and I would love to get your insight if you have time to provide an answer. Regardless, I’m thankful for you and all you do to help educate and teach. Have an amazing day!
Here is the question I was asked:
If God sees all of time, is never changing and knows all things then why does the Old Testament God feel so different from the God we see through Jesus in the New Testament? Why don’t instructions of the OT focus as much on love, one’s motivations and the freedom found in faith? Knowing Jesus was needed to bridge the relationship, why wasn’t he sent sooner? Not necessarily for the sake of salvation – as those before Jesus were able to look forward to him – but for the sake of the freedom and grace that Paul talks about? In terms of the first question around why God feels different in the OT vs the NT, my only guess is that the freedom through faith taught by Jesus and his disciples only works in tandem with the influence and presence of the Holy Spirit in one’s life. Ok, that was several questions. I don’t know, it’s all very big and maybe just something to be given to God.
I’m looking forward to hearing what you have to say! Hope all is well.
Hey _____________, here are a few of my thoughts and responses to your questions,
The Immutability of God. (God never changes.)
“For I the LORD do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob are not consumed.” – Malachi 3:6 ESV
This attribute of Yahweh (The self-Existent God, and eternal God who always was, is, and will be) is the foundation by which all my thoughts in this response proceed.
“14 God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” – Exodus 3:14 ESV
Briefly, “I Am” denotes that His character is the same in the past, the present and the future. The Lord Jesus Christ identifies Himself as being the same God (Yahweh “I AM”) in the 7 tremendous “I Am” passages found in the Book of John. John 1:1-3, a most profound passage, identifies the Lord Jesus Christ as the Word, who was the creator along with His Father, (Genesis 1:1-3) where He (Christ) speaks “light” into existence—“God said, “Let there be light.” This most magnificent passage affirms that Yahweh God and Jesus the Christ are one and the same in essence (John 10:30).
Other passages of Scripture confirm that God the Father and Jesus Christ are immutable. Look below.
“Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” – Hebrews 13:8 KJV
“Whatever is good and perfect comes down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.” – James 1:17 NLT
“But You [are] the same, And Your years will have no end.” – Psalm 102:27 NKJV
“So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable (immutability NKJV) character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath,” – Hebrews 6:17 ESV
“The counsel of the LORD stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations.” – Psalm 33:11 ESV
“Also the Glory of Israel will not lie or change His mind; for He is not a man that He should change His mind.” – 1 Samuel 15:29 NASB95
Your question. If God sees all of time, is never changing and knows all things then why does the Old Testament God feel so different from the God we see through Jesus in the New Testament?
Below I will provide 3 responses to this question.
My first response: The events in the Old Testament (Book of the Covenants) were significantly different and were of a longer duration compared to the historical events of the New Testament (The Renewed Covenant). Therefore, how God addresses the variety of events are different depending on each situation.
An illustration here might help.
When a man is at work, does he talk about the same things as when he arrives home and interacts with wife and kids? We perform actions which are different at home compared to work because the situations require it. Do we talk in the same tones? Do we address certain challenges at home that we don’t deal with at work? We are the same people, of course, with the same moral character with the same set of values, but we express them to meet the needs of the circumstances.
Each situation requires a different way to communicate. Each requires different approaches and different content depending on the needs of the situation both at work and at home.
Yahweh God was involved and spoke into the happenings and experiences of His people over 1,000 of years. For the most part the OT (Book of the Covenants) is dealing with the nation of Israel as a whole and therefore God addresses societal events, and laws. We moderns tend to focus on our personal faith and not how that faith influences a society. The Creation, the historical events, the Law, the Prophets, the wisdom literature, the Minor Prophets, and the predictions of the coming of the Messiah were addressed in the OT (Book of the Covenants).
The Person of Christ was not physically in his body creating Adam and Eve and guiding them how to live.
Christ was not instituting laws to govern a nation like Moses did.
Christ was not obtaining land for His people like Joshua did.
Christ was not the captain of an army leading His people into battle.
Christ was not a literal king or prophet ruling on earth like David, Jeremiah, or Daniel over the ancient Jews. By the way, He will be some day and his words to rule the world will be a part of His vocabulary. I think that you and I will be shocked to hear some of His strong words. See Revelation 1:16, 6:2, and 19:11 for examples.
Like I have said over the years, Jesus Christ is the main thing, but He is not the only thing.
My second response: selective reading and compartmental thinking
It is so interesting to me how selective we modern Christians have become in focusing on certain perceptions of the OT– being warlike, restrictive, legalistic, un-loving, and punitive while dismissing descriptions of God’s love, kindness, compassion, and tender mercies in the Book of the Covenants, OT. Depending on the translation, there are over 361 times in the OT that the word “love” is found not counting words, like mercy, kindness, compassions, forgiveness, or grace. Despite the widespread opinion that “grace” is strictly a NT (Renewed Covenant) concept, there are at least 68 occurrences of “grace” and 98 of “graciously” in the OT. The related concept of “lovingkindness” or “mercy’ (same Hebrew word) occurs over 200 times,
When one feels like the God of the OT is different from the God of the NT, it is usually due to a cursory reading of the OT or simply listening to pastors who do not teach the whole counsel of God, (Acts 20:27). Essentially, this neglect exists in many evangelical and Jesus Churches where they think of the OT as “something strange, or alien” as Hosea 8:12 says.
“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.” – Hosea 4:6 ESV
“Were I to write for him my laws by the ten thousand, they would be regarded as a strange thing.” – Hosea 8:12 ESV
Generally, if a person goes to a Calvary Chapel Church, they do not consider the OT (Book of the Covenants) a strange or alien thing, because they hear the Word of God including the Book of the Covenants (BC) consistently. Additionally, they are taught verse by verse through the whole Bible from Genesis through Revelation. These churches also approach, interpret, and instruct from the Scriptures from a literal, historical, and grammatical perspective. Many Jesus Churches stem from reformed theology and drift towards an allegorical approach of interpretation. To me this is a crucial mistake as we see the drift of teachers like Andy Stanley who either disregards or minimizes the Book of the Covenants (BC). I believe this erosion is now sprouting the seeds of Apostacy (the falling away, 2 Thessalonians 2:3) of many modern churches and Christianity as a whole. As Christians, we tend to read from the Bible what we want to hear. But going through all the Scriptures we must address the things that are perhaps a little uncomfortable. At the present time such subjects are war, transgenderism, and wokeness to name only a few.
My third response: the lack of understanding of what it means to Love God or the Love of God.
When we obey His commands, we are demonstrating “love for God.”
“2 We know we love God’s children if we love God and obey his commandments. 3 Loving God means keeping his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome.” – 1 John 5:2-3 NLT
God’s love for us rightfully focuses on His steadfast sacrificial devotion to us. This type of sacrificial love promotes security and trust, knowing that He is our refuge and protector.
Marvel with me at God’s powerful words of love below!
“27 The eternal God is your refuge, and his everlasting arms are under you. He drives out the enemy before you; he cries out, ‘Destroy them!’ 28 So Israel will live in safety, prosperous Jacob in security, in a land of grain and new wine, while the heavens drop down dew. 29 How blessed you are, O Israel! Who else is like you, a people saved by the LORD? He is your protecting shield and your triumphant sword! Your enemies will cringe before you, and you will stomp on their backs!” – Deuteronomy 33:27-29 NLT
Your question: Why doesn’t the instructions of the OT focus as much on love, one’s motivations and the freedom found faith?
Actually, in the OT (Book of the Covenants), the “heart” is the seat of our motivations, intentions, and emotions and there are hundreds of references to man’s inward motivation of the heart.
“Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; 13 and rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster.” – Joel 2:12-13 ESV
“7 My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast! I will sing and make melody!” – Psalm 57:7 ESV
“8 Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us. Selah” – Psalm 62:8 ESV
Tremendous freedom was present for God’s covenant people when they walked by faith and obedience to God. This is true for us as well because we are the freest and experience freedom the most when we walk in the light (1 John 1:7), and when we live as Christ’s bond servants.
“16 For you are free, yet you are God’s slaves, (indentured servants) so don’t use your freedom as an excuse to do evil.” – 1 Peter 2:16 NLT
Let’s see, there are 23,145 verses in the (Book of the Covenants) OT, and 7,957 verses in the Renewed Covenant (NT). Since the BC focuses on a myriad of subjects, why would anyone expect to give so much attention to love when there are 100’s of years spanning the OT and the focus is Yahweh God dealing and directing His people to prepare them for the coming Messiah who is Jesus Christ.
Despite the hundreds of mentions, love is not the most mentioned word in the Bible in English, Hebrew, or Greek.
The most common words in the Bible other than conjunctions, or articles are:
Lord-7,000 times
God- approximately 4,300 times
Man-2,700 times
Israel-2,700 times
People-2,200 times
Love does not make the top 100 most used words in the Bible, along with other important concepts from the Bible like Heaven, sin, peace, and Christ. God, the Lord of everything, and His relationship with mankind, beginning with the nation of Israel, are the focus of the entire Bible.
Love is one of the driving ideas in the Bible, reflected in its prominent use but the other subjects are more important.
We have been so indoctrinated in evangelical circles with love, grace, and forgiveness that we are unable to see, let alone address, the broader cultural challenges. If evangelical churches would focus on the whole Bible, we would not be so myopic and we would be equipped to address cultural issues as well as our personal walk with Christ.
It is vital that much of the OT (Book of the Covenants) was written to bring success to a nation. We have so emphasized our private faith attempting to view the Word of God as primarily for our individual walk with Christ. I want to be careful with the next statement, but it can border on “narcissism” (excessive interest in oneself) under the guise of Christianity.
To be honest, I am rather surprised when people say the OT does not teach a God of love. There is much to say about this but for many evangelicals love means “indiscriminate acceptance of people unconditionally.” According to the whole Bible, love is sacrificial giving according to the moral absolutes rooted in righteous behavior by obeying the instructions in both the OT and NT. If we are honest with ourselves and our relationships even under grace no one lives unconditionally with others. Even in the strongest, godly marriages, couples live with many, many, heathy conditions that produce a marriage that honors the Lord Jesus Christ
• Christ is speaking, 15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. … 21 Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” – John 14:15, 21 ESV
• “…you are my friends If you do what I command,” – John 15:14
• “…if you obey my commands you will remain in my love…” – John 15:10
• “9 Understand, therefore, that the LORD your God is indeed God. He is the faithful God who keeps his covenant for a thousand generations and lavishes his unfailing love on those who love him and obey his commands.” – Deuteronomy 7:9 NLT
• “Love your neighbor as yourself”- Leviticus 19:18 which is found in the fabulous 19th chapter of Leviticus of all places where a variety of laws are listed.
• 5 “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. 6 “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart.” – Deuteronomy 6:5-6 NKJV
• 12 “And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, 13 and to keep the commandments and statutes of the LORD, which I am commanding you today for your good?” – Deuteronomy 10:12-13 ESV
• I counted 33 times in the Psalms the Psalmist repeats the phrase, “His love endures forever.”
• One of the most powerful redemptive love words in the Book of the Covenants, (OT), is the Hebrew word “Hesed.” It is translated in the following manner depending on the context, as Mercy 149 times, Loving- Kindness 30 times, Kindness 40 times, and Goodness 12 times to name only a few.
40 ‘And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from doing them good; but I will put My fear in their hearts so that they will not depart from Me.” – Jeremiah 32:40 NKJV Oh my… how wonderfully staggering is His love for us by instigating His covenant with us. This is not indiscriminate or unconditional love. This is righteous love!
“22 Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.” – Lamentations 3:22 NIV
A contributing misunderstanding is the difference between a Testament and Covenant
Two Ancient Realities of a Covenant
Many of us confuse covenant and testament. In ancient Hebrew society (the context in which the Bible was written), those two words never meant the same thing.
In a Greek legal document, a testament defined the lawful rights of all those to whom it applied. By contrast, a covenant defined an ongoing relationship, a pledge with no appointed end, unless otherwise specified. Rather than being a legal document, a covenant is a commitment to develop a certain kind of continuing relationship. By its very existence it implies a dynamic interaction between partners, and a continual growing organic process.
B’rit Hadashah in Hebrew means New Covenant (renewed covenant is more accurate). The root meaning is “to renew” as in a “cycle of restoration,” (the new moon) or “to return to a pervious state” as when you “polish a sword.” (Look to Alfred Edersheim, Sketches in Jewish Social Life, page 263).
Therefore, a more accurate title of “New Covenant” where it is found in Scripture should read “Renewed Covenant,” or “Renewed Relationship” not the “New Covenant” as the original Hebrew in Jeremiah 31:31-34 is commonly mistranslated. The mistranslation came from Hellenistic scholars who placed their Greek paradigm on much of the text of Scripture. This is why it is crucial to also interpret the text by using the Hebrew Scriptures also.
There’s no legitimate way to use the phrase “new covenant” to imply that you are somehow trodding out a new one to replace an old one (as you might send in a backup to replace a quarterback with a torn ACL.) You can adapt an existing covenant by adding additional conditions, but you can’t terminate it (i.e., declare it null and void) and replace it with a different (or “new”) one.
Each renewed covenant includes something that came before. God’s promises are eternal. So, a new or renewed covenant (e.g., the so -called New “Testament”) does not invalidate those that preceded it (e.g., the so-called “Old Testament’) it simply includes and expands on them. When a covenant is renewed it may even contain additional and/or expanded provisions, but they are folded into the existing covenant, which, of course, still remains in force.
My inquisitive friend’s comment was this: In terms of the first question around why God feels different in the OT vs the NT, my only guess is that the freedom through faith taught by Jesus and his disciples only works in tandem with the influence and presence of the Holy Spirit in one’s life. This is correct! I will expand below.
“But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the LORD, “I will put My law within them and on their heart, I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” – Jeremiah 31:33 NASB95
First: this verse is specifically for the Jews, “I will make with the house of Israel after those days.” whom at the end of the Tribulation in the midst of their fiery refinement, the elect remnant of Israel will see Jesus Christ, their Messiah and call on Him as their Savior and LORD. Israel will thus be saved and restored to covenant relationship with the LORD. (Zechariah 13:9)
“And I will put this third (the remnant of Israel) into the fire, and refine them as one refines silver, and test them as gold is tested. They will call upon my name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘They are my people’; and they will say, ‘The LORD is my God.’” – Zechariah 13:9 ESV
Second: The covenant in Jeremiah 31 is partially fulfilled in the Church Era as we now live in a new dispensation (new time) in which the Holy Spirit has been poured out on all who respond in submissive faith and follow Christ (Acts 2 ff). We have the benefit of being grafted into the promises of God (Romans 11:17). Today the Holy Spirit has been released in us as He said “… I will put My law within them and on their heart;” Vs. 33. Jeremiah 31 will have its ultimate fulfillment in at the end of the Tribulation for the remnant of the Jews will believe in Christ.
This is one reason why God’s commandments are “not burdensome,” (1 John 5:2-5), because we have the Holy Spirit in us. Now let’s act like they are not a burden and respond in obedience to His leadership (Galatians 5:25 NIV)☺!
Arbitrary Attempts to Organize Scripture
The original Hebrew and Greek texts did not organize Scripture into two halves, like assigning verses and chapters in our English translations. God did not originate these divisions. From His perspective there is no such thing as what we call the Old Testament and the New Testament. He wrote, “Scripture” to define His all-inclusive, all-encompassing plan of redemption as an ongoing covenant between Himself and us. (2 Timothy 3:16). Perhaps this is why Christ could speak with such insight and clarity to the disciples on the road to Emmaus from the Holy Scriptures about Himself. (See 24:13ff).
For additional insights about the Hebraic foundation to our faith, please purchase and read, Lost in Translation, by Rabbi Spears.
Considering the Cross and the era in which we now live, the covenants can and should be experienced in a fuller capacity as we now have an internal awareness of God’s truth contained in us by the Holy Spirit. The Old Testament saints could not internally be empowered by the Holy Spirit as He only came upon prophets, priests, and kings for their specific functions. As Christ followers, however, we have the Holy Spirit and, therefore, His power within us (Acts 1:8). This renewed relationship infuses us with an invigorated motivation to know Him as our Lord and obey Him as we are now are called friends of Yahweh God (John 15:15; Colossians 1:24-29).
Your Question: Knowing Jesus was needed to bridge the relationship, why wasn’t he sent sooner, not necessarily for the sake of salvation – as those before Jesus were able to look forward to him, but for the sake of the freedom and grace that Paul talks about.
Well, God’s ways are not man’s ways, so we don’t know why Yahweh did not send His Son sooner.
“9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” – Isaiah 55:9 ESV
God carried out His perfect timetable, when the exact religious, cultural, and political conditions demanded by His perfect plan were in place. Then Jesus Christ came.
“But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law.” – Galatians 4:4 ESV
There are simply some questions that we don’t know the answer to.
“The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.” – Deuteronomy 29:29 ESV
As Christians, we sometimes think it is all about God doing His will in our way, so that we receive the maximum benefit. Actually, God the Father has other important purposes other than us experiencing His grace and freedom. He intends to destroy the powers and kingdoms of men and establish His Righteous Kingdom.
“Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power.” – 1 Corinthians 15:24 ESV
So I conclude my lengthily response 😉
I welcome any comments!
In Christ,
Dale