On the Road to Jerusalem: The Power of the Prophets

“He said to him, 'If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.'”—Luke 16:31

The word of God is powerful.  It is “living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart”—Hebrews 4:12.  And while we have both the Old and New Testaments, during the time of Christ, there was only the Old Testament, known to Jews as the Tanakh, which is an acronym for the three traditional subdivisions:  The Torah ("Teaching", also known as the Five Books of Moses), Nevi'im ("Prophets") and Ketuvim ("Writings"), which comes to TNK, but add some vowels to it and it becomes:  TaNaKh. 

The Tanakh, or Old Testament, is no less the word of God than the New Testament.  The Old Testament makes up 77% of God’s word, much of which is revealed or explained in the New Testament.  As Graham Scroggie wrote, “The New is in the Old contained, and the Old is in the New explained."  The Old Testament Law and Prophets pointed to the coming of Christ.  Consider Luke 24, when two of Jesus’ disciples were walking along the road to Emmaus, after His resurrection.  He approaches them and enters into a conversation where He explains how He fulfilled everything written about Him in the Old Testament: “These are My words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled."—Luke 24:44. 

The Old Testament is just as alive as the New, which is why Jesus tells us the story in Luke 16 about the rich man and Lazarus.  The rich man received good things in life, while Lazarus did not.  The rich man was fashionably dressed in the latest and most expensive clothing and feasted sumptuously every day.  But at the gate outside of his house lay a poor man named Lazarus.  Lazarus had a sickness or skin disease that left his body covered in sores, which dogs came and licked. Even though he was starving, he couldn’t even imagine himself eating at the rich man’s table, instead longing for some scraps from it.  Eventually, he died and was carried by angels to Abraham’s side, while the rich man died and went to Hades. “Abraham’s side” is seen as a description for paradise, one side of Sheol, also known as the abode of the dead.  However, there was a chasm that separated Abraham’s side from what the New Testament refers to as Hades.  Both are essentially holding areas, one for saints before Christ’s death and resurrection, and the other for the wicked.  After Christ rose from the dead, Abraham’s bosom was emptied as the saints went to heaven, while those in Hades are awaiting the day when they will be transferred to the Lake of Fire (Revelation 20:11-15). 

While agonizing in Hades, the rich man called out to Abraham, “Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame”—Luke 16:24.  Abraham reminded him of the pleasures he experienced in life, as well as the difficulties Lazarus had experienced.  He goes on to say that even if he wanted to, he couldn’t help him because there was a chasm between the two of them that couldn’t be crossed.  But the rich man wouldn’t be pacified by such an answer and begged that Lazarus be sent back to warn his brothers of this awful place so that they might make the necessary changes in their lives and avoid this place of torment.  Abraham responded, “They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.”  Undaunted, the rich man disagreed, “No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.”  To which Abraham replied, “If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead”—Luke 16:31.

Jesus’ point centered on the power of the written word of God, which is indeed powerful, permanent, and unbreakable.  As Jesus said, “For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished”—Matthew 5:18.  And again, “…it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one dot of the Law to become void”—Luke 16:17. 

Is the word of God central to your life?  Do you realize how powerful and permanent it is?  God has given us His word for our joy—so that we might know how to live in such a manner that He is glorified.  Are we daily spending time learning about who He is, what He has done, and what He desires of us?  To neglect His word is to sabotage joy, but to read it, meditate on it, and apply it to our lives is a joyous pursuit, whereby He is glorified in us.  May we read and apply His word for His glory and our joy.  Amen.