You Have Heard What The Ancients Were Told

“Again, you have heard that the ancients were told, ‘YOU SHALL NOT MAKE FALSE VOWS, BUT SHALL FULFILL YOUR VOWS TO THE LORD.’ ” Matthew 5:33 (NAS)

In the fifth chapter of the gospel of Matthew, the Spirit moves the apostle to note the six times Jesus uses the phrase  “you have heard that the ancients were told”, or “you have heard that it was said” as He delivered the sermon on the mount. The topics involved were murder, adultery, divorce, vows, retaliation, and love of not only your neighbor, but your enemies.

Know What This Means

“But if you had known what this means, ‘I DESIRE COMPASSION, AND NOT A SACRIFICE,’ you would not have condemned the innocent.” Matthew 12:7 (NAS)

Superficial service to God in outward formalism seeking to justify oneself, and conversely, seek to judge another, has been the bane of man since   the earliest of times. It’s been around and it will continue to be around. It was no different in Jesus’ day. The record of a righteous, just God includes the demonstrated attribute of a compassionate and merciful God. This is part of what Jesus’ “coming in the world” (in the flesh) was designed to illustrate and illumine in all men.

For Thy Sake

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, ‘For Thy sake we are being put to death all day long; We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.’ ” Rom. 8:35-36

The apostle Paul is moved to quote the psalmist while iterating to the church the great confidence those in Christ carry in the face of  tribulation and persecution. The passage Paul references is found in Psalm 44: 22. Here we offer some of the preceding as well as the verse Paul quoted. “If we had forgotten the name of our God, or extended our hands to a strange god; would not God find this out? For He knows the secrets of the heart. But for Thy sake we are killed all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” (Ps. 44:20-22 NAS)

Stumbling Into Hell

“And if your eye causes you to stumble, cast it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes, to be cast into hell, where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched. “

Mark 9:50

The Lord Jesus Christ, in a discourse concerning service, sanctification and things that cause His disciples to stumble, quotes from the prophet Isaiah. The original inspired utterance is found in Isaiah 66:24. “Then they shall go forth and look on the corpses of the men who have transgressed against Me. For their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be quenched; and they shall be an abhorrence to all mankind.”

Out of Egypt

And he arose and took the Child and His mother by night, and departed for Egypt; and was there until the death of Herod, that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled, saying, “Out of Egypt did I call My Son.”  Matt. 2:14-15 (NAS)

Matthew, through the Holy Spirit, quotes the prophet Hosea and in the process clarifies for us God’s intended purpose in giving Hosea utterance-for our understanding and our benefit in relation to Jesus Christ. The original inspired statement is found in Hosea 11:1, “When Israel was a youth I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son.”

Let him who means to love life and see good days…..

“For, ‘Let him who means to love life and see good days refrain his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking guile. And let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and His ears attend to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.’  1 Peter 3:10-12

The first epistle of Peter is often referred to as the letter to the submissive, suffering servants in the cause of Christ.

Redeemed from the Curse

The inspired apostle Paul, as he was working on justification of the Gentiles by faith in Christ Jesus and not the works of the law,  quotes several Old Testament passages between verses ten and thirteen of Galatian chapter three. In verse thirteen, our text for today, he quotes part of Deuteronomy 21:23. Here is the context from which Paul quoted:

“And if a man has committed a sin worthy of death, and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his corpse shall not hang all night on the tree, but you shall surely bury him on the same day (for he who is hanged is accursed of God), so that you do not defile your land which the LORD your God gives you as an inheritance.” (Deut 21:22-23)

And Yet Do Not Sin

The apostle Paul here in verse twenty-six of Ephesians chapter four, partially quotes  Psalm 4:4, as it is translated in the  Septuagint. The NAS translation of the Hebrew in Psalm 4:4 reads, “Tremble, and do not sin; meditate in your heart upon your bed, and be still.” Though the Septuagint and Hebrew differ in translation, this does not necessarily mean there is a disparity in conveying the meaning between the two translations. As always, context surrounding a verse helps us to see the intended meaning. Both translations, when viewed in concert with the surrounding context, communicate a consistent  message that the Holy Spirit inspired both David and the apostle Paul to record.

And again he says, “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people.” And again, “Praise the Lord all you Gentiles, And let all the peoples praise Him.” Rom. 15:10-11 (NAS)

Well, we return to our study of Old Testament quotes found in the New Testament.

“And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, ‘Though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, it is the remnant that will be saved’” Romans 9:27

In this week’s offering, we’ll head back to the book of Romans for another look at an Old Testament quote cited by the apostle Paul. We’ll consider what many call “remnant theology” as recorded through the prophet Isaiah.