The Chicken or the Egg?
We’ve all heard this light-hearted philosophical question, right? No one ever decides on a correct answer, although we could certainly speculate. My guess is that God created chickens, and then they laid eggs and made more chickens. Evolution says we don’t even need chickens or eggs. We just need primordial soup, and it will get struck by lightning and turn into chickens. I don’t put much stock in that idea…
There is a much more important question to answer, I believe. Which came first, The New Testament or the Old Testament? That’s an easy question to answer. The very names tell us which is correct, so we don’t have to put much effort or thought into this riddle.
But, do we believe it? Let that sink in for a second. Give it a bit of thought.
When we are in school, do we start with Algebra 2, or do we begin with Algebra 1? When we are toddlers and we are taught to count to ten, where do we start? Five? Seven? No, we start at One. We start at the beginning. Do we teach young children to read Shakespeare right off the bat, or do we start with learning the alphabet?
Pretty much everything in life starts at a beginning, and then moves on to the middle, and then we finish up with the end. Why are new Christians typically told to begin reading the bible in Matthew/Mark/Luke/John? Does that even make sense? No, but that is where most of us start, right?
Just to ‘test’ this idea, I am going to Google “where to start reading the bible.’ I will click on the first link shown and copy whatever advice is given:
Where to Start
Since the Old Testament foreshadows Jesus Christ and the New Testament is sharply focused on Jesus Christ, it makes good sense for a new Christian or a non-believer to start reading the Bible with any of the four gospels. My personal preference is the Gospel of John.
I set myself up for failure there, but the Mainstream Message didn’t let me down… I had a feeling that would be the case.
I have a new idea to consider. What do you think of this?
I’d like to tear out the pages of my bible that say Old Testament and New Testament. What if we just read The Testament? I propose that scripture has one whole truth, and this truth is the same from start to finish.
1. In the Torah (first five books of the bible), God gave us the history of creation and His instructions on how to live (referred to by most as ‘the law’), and tells us His instructions are forever, for all generations, a perpetual covenant.
2. We have many historical books that chronicle what happens to Israel when they follow and when they don’t follow God’s instructions.
3. The writings of the prophets document God’s spoken words through the prophets to warn and steer Israel back to following His instructions.
4. We have a group of poetic writings that tell us the goodness of His instructions, and how to follow them.
5. Once Jesus Messiah arrived, we have writings that document His ministry and teachings, all of which reiterate Torah instruction, and He lived as an example of how to follow the instructions.
6. The Apostles wrote many letters that continued to advise and correct people about how to follow Torah instruction.
7. Revelation, as well as other prophetic writings sprinkled throughout the bible speak of how Torah instruction will be fully implemented upon Jesus’ return.
Let’s review. God gave His instructions, we see Israel following and not following the instructions, the prophets warn us to follow the instructions, the poets tell us how to follow the instructions, Jesus teaches us to follow the instructions, the Apostles teach what Jesus taught, and prophecy says we’ll all follow the instructions in the end.
If that is the case, how is it possible that the mainstream message is to NOT follow God’s instructions? We are taught that Jesus fulfilled the instructions and that is why we don’t have to follow them anymore.
We get this concept from the various writings of Paul the Apostle. My first question is this: How did Paul obtain the authority to change what God said was forever?
Wow, that is a really good question.
If you study ALL of Paul’s writings, you will find that he promoted following Torah instructions. Paul observed the Sabbath (as did Jesus); he celebrated God’s feast days, and he kept the commandments.
Paul was accused multiple times of teaching against Torah instructions, and he defended himself against those accusations, even travelling to Jerusalem to do so.
Many of Paul’s writings seem to say to not follow the law, but his other writings say to follow the law. Was he schizophrenic? No, he was just simply misunderstood.
How do I know this? Because we are warned of this very thing by Peter:
2Peter 3:14-18
Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; 15 and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation—as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, 16 as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures. 17 You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; 18 but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.
Did you catch that in verse 16?
Untaught and unstable.
He is referring to people who do not have a solid understanding of scripture at the time, which means the Torah and Tanakh (Old Testament).
His and the other apostles’ letters were just letters at that point in time. When the apostles refer to scripture, they are traditionally speaking of the Torah scroll and the other writings of the Tanakh (Old Testament). The New Testament did not exist yet, except in the form of various letters that had not yet been compiled.
Peter says that people who do not understand Torah will misunderstand Paul’s writings.
Is this a light-hearted warning, or is it serious?
Verse 16 says it will result in their destruction.
Every man must choose for himself what he will believe. But God has lead me to an understanding that the whole bible is comprised of one whole truth. Start to finish. Never changing. Forever. Amen.
Please pray about this idea. Don’t take my word for it. Let God show you the way. When you pray, do so like James tells us:
James 1:5-8
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.