Exodus 12:11 (KJV)
And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the LORD'S passover.
I’m thinking about the matter of perspective and how much it influences our views and understanding. My wife and I are currently on a trip through much of the state of Washington. We had heard about a fire near Yakima at an area called the training center. It’s a piece of ground the military uses for training exercises. As we approached Yakima, we were still many miles from the city, but we could see the smoke rising in the distance directly to the left of our vehicle. I commented that it was either not as close to Yakima as we expected or else the road wound to the north, and maybe even a bit to the east, a lot more than we thought. By the time we got to Yakima, it seemed like the fire was far to the east of the city. We thought we must be miles farther away from it than we had initially feared. But as we began to climb the pass between Selah and Ellensburg, we found ourselves driving within sight of the blazing Horse Heaven Hills. Perspective.
As students of the Bible, we often draw parallels between the Jewish circumcision[1] and the Jewish Passover.[2] I think the connections are valid and even profitable. However, whether those comparisons are beneficial depends on our approach—our perspective. The New Testament teaches us that all that is recorded in the Old Testament is for our learning and example. The key principle is this: we find our doctrines in the New Testament, and we find illustrations of those doctrines applied in the Old Testament. We do not filter the New Testament through the lens of the Old but vice versa.
For instance, while the Jews were told to eat the Passover in haste, we observe the Lord's Supper more solemnly. We linger. We remember in the Lord's Supper our Saviour’s passion. The only one who may have observed that night in haste was Judas Iscariot, who quickly left to betray Jesus.
So, there are parallels and comparisons, but they must be observed from the perspective of the New Testament, or else we might draw incorrect conclusions. When studying the Old Testament, look for examples. See how the unchanging God worked among the people of that age but interpret it in light of what God reveals about Himself in the New Testament.
#BiblicalPerspective #ChristianLiving #FaithAndDoctrine #OldAndNewTestament #SpiritualLessons
Seeing God’s Word with Fresh Eyes: How to Connect Old and New Teachings
[1] Likening it to Christian baptism.
[2] Likening it to the Christian Lord's Supper.
What parallels between the Old and New Testaments have stood out to you in your studies?
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