There are some who wonder if the Bible, including everything in it, is still relevant today. There are others who prioritize what The Bible tells us to do, differently than when the Bible was first referred to, thereby changing the priorities.
Jesus said the Old Testament, which he came to fulfill, can be summed up in two great commandments, the first being to love God with all your heart, soul and mind, and the second being to love your neighbor as yourself.
Based on what Jesus said concerning the second commandment, if we encounter strangers we should first consider if they make good neighbors, as Jesus defines a neighbor in his Parable of the Good Samaritan. If they then act with hostility and are a threat to our households, we would then defend ourselves with 1 Timothy 5:8 in mind.
But people assert that times have changed, and people change since, say, when the Egyptian Pharaoh welcomed the House of Jacob. So, those people now say that our first priority is not to see if a stranger can be our neighbor, say, but rather it is to first be ready to defend ourselves against said stranger, and to love the stranger as a neighbor if the stranger proves to be a neighbor. So, as a result we wall off everyone, even those who really can be our neighbors.
Some of those people assert that the Egyptian Pharaoh welcomed the House of Jacob because they were small in numbers, so if the Bible tells us to love the sojourner as a neighbor, and that is based on the Pharaoh welcoming the House of Jacob, well, nowadays we have to contend with thousands who want to go to a country to live. On that basis, they assert, nowadays we don’t have to abide by Jesus’ commandment to love our neighbor, which may include strangers inasmuch as his commandment includes loving the stranger, because there are so many of them! Therefore, the second commandment of Jesus is no longer relevant?
Regardless of what the issues are, the words in the Bible are as relevant today as they were when the Bible was first penned. There is no change in its meaning, except perhaps to the extent that some of the meaning may have been lost in translation. Still, the meaning of the Bible is mostly the same today as thousands of years ago, and it is just as relevant.
How do we know this? The Bible tells us so. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.”
What do the Scriptures say? Malachi 3:6 says, “For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.” Well, if God doesn’t change, then surely the words breathed out by Him into the Scriptures do not change either. And is not Malachi one of the prophets that Jesus came to uphold?
And Moses, another prophet that Jesus came to uphold, says in Deuteronomy 7:9, “Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations.” Well, we are still within the timeframe of the generations if you consider a generation to be 20 years, but for the benefit of at least the next thousand generations, I tell you that anyone at a point in time who reads that passage can count one thousand generations from that point in time.
So, for thousands of generations God is around, and since God doesn’t change, the Bible doesn’t change either. It is as relevant today as it was then, regardless of how many people populate the earth now compared to then, regardless of whether we read by a lightbulb now compared to a candle then, regardless of whether we can fly around now compared to just travelling on foot or horseback or camelback or on boats then, and regardless of whether the weapons used are more destructive now compared to then…you get the picture.
Jesus said the Old Testament, which he came to fulfill, can be summed up in two great commandments, the first being to love God with all your heart, soul and mind, and the second being to love your neighbor as yourself.
Based on what Jesus said concerning the second commandment, if we encounter strangers we should first consider if they make good neighbors, as Jesus defines a neighbor in his Parable of the Good Samaritan. If they then act with hostility and are a threat to our households, we would then defend ourselves with 1 Timothy 5:8 in mind.
But people assert that times have changed, and people change since, say, when the Egyptian Pharaoh welcomed the House of Jacob. So, those people now say that our first priority is not to see if a stranger can be our neighbor, say, but rather it is to first be ready to defend ourselves against said stranger, and to love the stranger as a neighbor if the stranger proves to be a neighbor. So, as a result we wall off everyone, even those who really can be our neighbors.
Some of those people assert that the Egyptian Pharaoh welcomed the House of Jacob because they were small in numbers, so if the Bible tells us to love the sojourner as a neighbor, and that is based on the Pharaoh welcoming the House of Jacob, well, nowadays we have to contend with thousands who want to go to a country to live. On that basis, they assert, nowadays we don’t have to abide by Jesus’ commandment to love our neighbor, which may include strangers inasmuch as his commandment includes loving the stranger, because there are so many of them! Therefore, the second commandment of Jesus is no longer relevant?
Regardless of what the issues are, the words in the Bible are as relevant today as they were when the Bible was first penned. There is no change in its meaning, except perhaps to the extent that some of the meaning may have been lost in translation. Still, the meaning of the Bible is mostly the same today as thousands of years ago, and it is just as relevant.
How do we know this? The Bible tells us so. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.”
What do the Scriptures say? Malachi 3:6 says, “For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.” Well, if God doesn’t change, then surely the words breathed out by Him into the Scriptures do not change either. And is not Malachi one of the prophets that Jesus came to uphold?
And Moses, another prophet that Jesus came to uphold, says in Deuteronomy 7:9, “Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations.” Well, we are still within the timeframe of the generations if you consider a generation to be 20 years, but for the benefit of at least the next thousand generations, I tell you that anyone at a point in time who reads that passage can count one thousand generations from that point in time.
So, for thousands of generations God is around, and since God doesn’t change, the Bible doesn’t change either. It is as relevant today as it was then, regardless of how many people populate the earth now compared to then, regardless of whether we read by a lightbulb now compared to a candle then, regardless of whether we can fly around now compared to just travelling on foot or horseback or camelback or on boats then, and regardless of whether the weapons used are more destructive now compared to then…you get the picture.
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