Who Is a Reliable Witness for Truth?

I was recommended a book a couple of years ago in which the author praised his new-found resource that had given him a deeper understanding of the Bible. He went on to talk about his time spent conversing about the Scriptures with some Jewish acquaintances.

Over the past several months I have noticed several biblical resources that approach the Scriptures, even the New Testament, from a Jewish point of view. Does that seem odd, a Jewish perspective on the New Testament?

I do not look down on those with a Jewish background, but I wonder what kind of biblical understanding I should expect from a person who has rejected Jesus as the Christ, and who embraces interpretations of the Old Testament handed down over the centuries.

I am not saying that people of the Jewish faith cannot say truthful things. Yet, Jesus rejected the traditions of the Jewish elders of His day. At the same time, the Jewish leaders of Jesus’ day rejected Him and demanded His death. I don’t think the best teacher for a believer in Christ is someone who rejects Jesus as the Christ.

Quite recently I came across a new Study Bible that boasted an abundance of ‘cultural background’ material. I asked a friend of mine to look it over and give me his opinion. He alerted me to the fact that the primary author of the notes on the Old Testament regarded the Bible as just another collection of ancient literature. The author of the notes believed the message of the Old Testament to be mere metaphor, not composed of genuine historical content. I would not count that scholar to be a reliable teacher.

Yet, does it really matter?

Emphatically, "YES!"
Your source of information has always mattered to God!

Do you know why Jesus rebuked and silenced the demons who openly identified Him as the Holy one of God (Luke 4:34-35)?

Do you know why Paul rebuked the girl with a spirit of divination who identified him and his companions as bond-servants of the Most High God (Acts 16:16-18)?

Those spirits were described as unclean, evil and demonic. They were not considered to be reliable teachers. They may have been able to say something truthful, but would they be reliable witnesses in all things? Were they in pursuit of the will of God?

• Will a believer of the Jewish faith lead you to Jesus Christ?
• Will an expert in ancient literature point you to the resurrected Jesus?
• Will a proclaimed believer who openly rebels against God’s word give you enlightenment regarding God and His word?
• Will a sincerely religious person who denies that Jesus is the Son of God be able to take you into the depths of God?
• Will a non-believer strengthen your faith in God and encourage your heart toward your eternal hope?

Is truth important to you? Do you desire a strong faith and a fulfilled hope (expectation)?

So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.
--Romans 10:17 

Paul wrote of the hidden wisdom of God: 

For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God.
--1 Corinthians 2:10

We don’t need a Jewish perspective or a scholarly point of view. 
We have the Spirit of God.

Mark Stinnett

January 19, 2020