12. When reading the Bible, I must take into consideration what God is doing at that point in His relationship with His people.

(Before looking at the questions below, take a few minutes to think about this statement. Invite Jesus to speak to you about what He would like you to notice.) 

Is your image of the God of the Old Testament different from that of the God of the New Testament?

How does the idea that God may have “changed the rules” since mankind was first created seem to you?

If it is true, how might this be a good thing?

Since creation, God has been working to build relationships with humanity. Immediately after Adam and Eve sinned, God compensated with a plan to maintain the relationship. Later, God guided Abraham into a place and situation in which God could create a unique kingdom, a model for how mankind could live in harmony with each other and with God. With the birth of Jesus, God began a new plan for how He would connect with humanity. 

Though God has not changed, the way that God connects with us has changed and the nature of the space in which we live and connect with God has changed. Scripture provides us with a record of this changing landscape in God’s relation to humanity. When we read the Bible, it can be helpful to be aware of the way in which God was connecting at that time. For example, today no one would think of making animal sacrifices as repentance for their sins, even though it was commanded and appropriate in the Old Testament. 

There are many other shifts that have taken place from the Old to the New Testament in God’s plan for His people. During the time that God was working with the nation of Israel in the Old Testament, His blessings were typically experienced in material ways. This was logical for God had called and created a people and a way of life that was intended to provide a physical reality of life with others and life with God. 

The guidelines and blessings in this plan often included physical blessings. Israel’s enemies were confronted in a material manner by God’s punishment on anyone who opposed His kingdom and His people. The Psalms often speak to this understanding as we see in Psalm 112:  Praise the Lord. Blessed are those who fear the Lord, who find great delight in his commands. Their children will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed Wealth and riches are in their houses, and their righteousness endures forever (1-3, NIV). 

Today we live under a different plan that God has created for us and our blessings are not necessarily material. Jesus began His teaching by saying that even the poor and the persecuted could be blessed. Jesus presents a new plan, one that is more about spiritual or internal blessings. It is not based on human organizations and kingdoms but on a spiritual kingdom in which we can walk with God and experience the abundance He desires for us and at the same time, live in a material world. 

In this new plan, the enemies are not the same as before and how we treat them is different. Psalm 68:21-23 reads, Surely God will crush the heads of his enemies, the hairy crowns of those who go on in their sins. The Lord says, “I will bring them from Bashan; I will bring them from the depths of the sea, that your feet may wade in the blood of your foes, while the tongues of your dogs have their share. (NIV) 

This is quite a contrast to the words of Jesus that invite us to love our enemies and to do good to those who persecute us. It is important to know in this example that there are two different Kingdoms, or arrangements that God is working with. This is just one example that illustrates that when we read Scripture, it will be helpful to know what God’s plan and His ways were at that time.