I Have Never Heard That Preached....episode 6: What Happens to our Reading of the OT if we Believe Jesus?
Are there contradictions in the Bible or are we reading it incorrectly?
Hey Fellow Faith Travellers,
I hear it’s been pretty darn cold in parts of the US and Europe. Sorry about that. We have just enjoyed (well not all the time) a heat wave here in New Zealand of temperatures of over 30 degrees C with overnight temperatures of 23 degrees C - that is muggy, humid and very difficult to sleep in.
I have been enjoying our summer with walks in the bush and trying to keep out of the sun.
Boy, I LOVE waterfalls!
Let’s jump into another episode of “I Have Never Heard That Preached”. If you would like to read the previous episodes - click here.
How I read the Bible, especially the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament), has gone through a reformation over the past couple of years.
My church tradition taught that the God gave the writers the words to write, like a direct download from heaven. Which infers that every word written came directly from God and is 100% true for all time. It also means that the words are not influenced by the writer’s bias, culture, or experiences.
Is that true?
Theologians call what my church tradition ascribed to as the “Inerrancy of Scripture” - that the Bible is without error or fault in all its teaching.
I have come to the conclusion that the Bible is NOT Inerrant.
Yes the Bible is inspired by God but that doesn’t mean that every word is true or a representation of God.
The writers of the Bible spanned centuries, lived in different times and places, faced different circumstances (personal and political), and responded to those circumstances from the point of view of their settings in life. A book that brings all of this under one cover is, of course, going to exhibit a lot of diversity.
Pete Enns1
Here is my bottom line now - Jesus is the Word of God not the Bible. Jesus is the exact representation of God.
When we look at Jesus we see what the Father is like. With this as our basis of interpreting Scripture I can’t believe that parts of the Hebrew Scriptures are true in their representation of who God is and what He is like.
Jesus tells us in John 10:10 that it is the thief that steals, kills and destroys but he comes to bring life. Jesus also tells us in John 5:19 that he can do nothing by himself and that he does only what he sees the Father doing. So what Jesus does and says is what the Father is like.
Jesus is not the thief that steals, kills and destroys. So God does not steal, kill or destroy.
Jesus comes to bring Life. So God brings life.
This is the way to read and interpret all Scripture - using The Word of God, who is a person, Jesus Christ.
I wasn’t taught that in church!
The reason that Jesus was sent as a human to earth was to show us who God is and what he is really like so that we can all enjoy a relationship with Him. That is the end game: relationship with the human creatures he has made and restoration of all creation.
We see Jesus regularly teaching - “you have heard it said….but I now say…” So Jesus himself is pointing out that the Hebrew Scriptures were saying things about God that were not true.
Here’s an example:
In John 6:6 and John 1:18 Jesus tells us that no one has seen the Father except for the son. Okay, but what about what Moses wrote down in Genesis 18 where Abraham had a conversation with the Lord (face to face) about saving righteous people from destruction in Sodom? or what about the face to face discussion that Moses says he had with God in the tent in Exodus 33? So either Jesus is lying or Moses didn’t receive direct words from God to write down and instead he was inspired to write down his own thoughts and impressions about events and who God is to him.
There are a bunch of violent events in the Hebrew Bible which are blamed on God - the Flood that killed millions of people, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, the killing of first borns in Egypt and many killings of the complaining Israelites wandering through the wilderness by plagues, fire and serpents. All ascribed to an angry God who needed to avenge his justice and holiness and judge the people by killing them. Is this true?
Not according The Word of God, Jesus - he told us that him (and God) only bring life and they don’t steal, kill or destroy. I am choosing to believe Jesus.
Here’s another example - according to Moses, God told him to tell the people to molest young girls that they had caught in battle. A portion of them was to be given to the priests! Don’t believe me? You can look it up for yourself - Deuteronomy 21: 10-14 and Numbers 31:15 onwards. Moses got that wrong - God would never require or agree to the molestation of young girls. That is stealing and destroying at its core.
God is Love.
Everything about God, from his justice to his righteousness to his holiness is all about his love.
He lovingly seeks justice which is shown as restorative.
He lovingly seeks holiness which is everyone loving each other! 2 His holiness is not about keeping a bunch of purity rules perfectly.
There is no way that a loving, just, righteous and holy God would tell his creation to kill and destroy each other.
Some helpful articles/podcasts on this topic:
Reading from the End with Children - an article by Brad Jersak
A More Christlike Word: Reading Scripture The Emmaus Way - book by Brad Jersak
Reimagining the God of the Bible with William Paul Young - a podcast on The Bible for Normal People
It is quite a bit to take in isn’t it? Especially if you were like me and were taught the inerrancy of Scripture from a baby for decades.
God is so much better than we were taught! The gospel is way better than I was taught.
He is so good.
He IS love.
His very nature, essence and everything about him is love.
He is a Father of all creation. He is relational with everything he made.
If we expect an earthly father to want their sons and daughters to live and thrive not be stolen, raped and killed then how much more would our perfect loving heavenly father do the same to all the human he created?
Okay, time to go.
Love to hear your thoughts. Click comment and let’s continue the discussion.
Check out Pete Enns article here - https://thebiblefornormalpeople.com/there-are-no-contradictions-in-the-bible/
1 Thes. 3:12-13:
“And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and all [men] . . . so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.”
Jesus came and defeated the enemy and changed the rules. We also have to remember that the OT is history and in cultural context more than likely allegorical storytelling who believed the earth is flat. 🤷🏻♀️ We can certainly adapt and apply lessons to our lives from these stories ... but Jesus is the Word of God and Holy Spirit is the breath of God. We can read Scripture but it is the Holy Spirit the breathes lives into it for our own lives if we pay attention! I love this topic - look forward to reading more!
I think you are too fixated on Jesus' love and are ignoring the rest of the bible. God is also a God of judgement and you seem to reject anything that doesn't show love. This is very dangerous, and there is a warning in scripture about altering it in any way from that written, and teaching others to do the same. "It would be better if a millstone were put around their neck and that they were drowned in the deepest ocean" is the passage, but I can't remember the book or verse. Be careful not to alter scripture to agree with your own personal ideas or view of God. Just accept the text!