Far too many people have the attitude that asks, “How can a book more than 1,900 years old have any relevance in my life?” It is true that parts of the Bible are more than 3,000 years old, but it is equally true that the nature of man has not changed. Our God is eternal, and the truth that His holiness is the standard for our holiness is found in both the Old and New Testaments (Lev. 11:44: 1 Pet. 1:16).
Jesus certainly did not see the message of the Old Testament as having nothing to do with the people of the first century. They could so easily have asked, “How could words spoken to men who lived 1,500 years ago have anything to do with our lives?” In Matthew chapter twenty-two, Jesus talked about the events at the burning bush. Read His words carefully. “Have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?’”
Jesus looked at these words spoken at the burning bush and said that people who lived 1,500 years later and read these words would hear God speaking to them! It is foolish to think that because the words of the Bible are thousands of years old, they have nothing to do with us. The truth is that when we read these words spoken 3,500 years ago, God is still speaking to us!
This same truth is seen in Paul’s sermon at Antioch. Paul described how the Jews had heard Jesus speak to them, but they “did not know Him.” He then added, “…nor the voices of the prophets which are read every Sabbath” (Acts 13:27). When they read the ancient words of those prophets in the synagogues, they were reading words just as relevant as the words they actually heard when Jesus spoke them. All those things written have relevance today (Rom. 15:4; 1 Cor. 10:11).
The writer of Hebrews shows this same truth and affirms this in an amazing way. He quotes the words of Jeremiah about the new covenant God was planning to make with the Jews. It was not to be the same ten commandment covenant He made with the Jews when they departed from Egypt (Deut. 4:13; Jer. 31:31-34). Those words from Jeremiah had been written at least 600 years prior to the writing of Hebrews. Look carefully at how God speaks of the relevancy of ancient words. “The Holy Spirit witnesses to us” (Heb. 10:15). One might think that reading Jeremiah was to hear what an ancient prophet spoke to others. Such could not be further from truth. To read the words of Jeremiah was to listen to the Holy Spirit of God speaking to us! They were written to the Jews, but they speak to us!
So, when you read the Bible, remember that God designed the book so that it speaks to all men—it speaks to us! Read it; listen to it; obey it! Eternity demands we do this.