Some Christians don’t like going through the Old Testament. Sometimes, they wonder why it’s even worth reading.
I have to admit, this is the longest period of time I’ve spent in the Old Testament for my quiet times.
I believe it’s been about a year and a half that I’ve spent here, and it could be another year and a half before I get to the New Testament. If I’m lucky.
But here, God tells the Israelites to look upon the legacy they inherited from their forefathers, to Abraham and Sarah who started the Israelite nation.
And he says,
Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness and who seek the Lord (Isaiah 51:1)
I don’t believe God is just talking to the Israelites here. He’s talking to all of us who are seeking the Lord. What does he tell us?
Look to the rock from which you were cut and to the quarry from which you were hewn; look to Abraham, your father, and to Sarah, who gave you birth.
When I called him he was but one, and I blessed him and made him many. (1-2)
While Abraham and Sarah were the literal father and mother of the nation of Israel, we have our own spiritual connection to them as Christians.
They were the first to illustrate a life of walking by faith. Of a righteousness that comes by faith.
This is not to say that no one before them ever walked by faith. But when the New Testament talks about those who were made by righteous by their faith, it always starts with Abraham.
Paul wrote of Abraham, quoting the Genesis account,
Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness. (Romans 4:3)
Why do we read the Old Testament? We’re looking at the rock from which we were cut. Where our legacy of the righteousness that come by faith comes from.
Not only that, we see the God they put their trust in and his faithfulness to them.
Isaiah writes of Him, recalling his redemption of Israel from Egpyt,
Was it not you who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep, who made a road in the depths of the sea so that the redeemed might cross over? (10)
He also recalls how God was the one who brought all things into being, saying,
For I am the Lord your God, who churns up the sea so that its waves roar– the Lord Almighty is his name…
I who set the heavens in place, who laid the foundations of the earth, and who say to Zion, ‘You are my people.’ (15-16)
And so as we look back on who God is and this legacy of faith by people such as Abraham and Sarah, God charges us,
Hear me, you who know what is right, you people who have my law in your hearts: Do not fear the reproach of men or be terrified by their insults.
For the moth will eat them up like a garment; the worm will devour them like wool.
But my righteousness will last forever, my salvation through all generations…
I, even I, am he who comforts you.
Who are you that you fear mortal men, the sons of men, who are but grass, that you forget the Lord your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth, that you live in constant terror every day because of the wrath of the oppressor, who is bent on destruction? (Isaiah 51:7-8, 12-13).
If there is anything that can undermine faith, it’s fear. Fear of the future. Fear of others and what they think of us or what they might do to us if we follow God.
But the same God who watched over Abraham, Sarah, and the others who followed in their legacy of faith, watches over us.
The same God who created us and saved us from our sin, is strong enough to deliver us from those who would destroy us, even the Enemy of our souls.
So let us remember the legacy of faith we’ve inherited. Let us remember the God who has given us this legacy. And let us put our trust in Him.
Moment to Moment (Bible blog) 