Hope from Old Words

I am a firm believer in the old saw that “Circumstances change but people don’t.” Human beings have the propensity to make the same mistakes they’ve always made. Thankfully, we also tend to repeat the good and kind acts of our collective past. This set of obvious truths resonates with Paul’s statement in Romans 15:4: “For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures, might have hope.”This passage is fascinating because of what it reveals. First there is a profound respect here for the written word. Given that the author of these words was the apostle Paul, a Jewish convert to Christianity and that the Old Testament is frequently quoted in the New, the writings or scriptures here are indeed those that we call the Old Testament. This contention is bolstered by the fact that he had just quoted Psalm 69:9 in Romans 15:3.

Second, we note that from that specific use of an Old Testament passage he drew a general rule. That rule is that there is a purpose associated with these scriptures: they are to be learned.

Third, there is a result, and a good one, that comes from learning these scriptures. The Old Testament writings, through the modalities of patience and comfort, provide hope. With this in mind, consider a familiar verse from Jeremiah (6:16 NKJV).

Thus says the Lord:

Stand in the ways and see,

And ask for the old paths,

Where the good way is,

And walk in it;

Then you will find rest for your souls.

But they said,

“We will not walk in it.”

Bible students know that Jeremiah was trying his dead-level best to get God’s people to straighten up and fly right. On one hand, these folks had the law, but they did not follow it. They also had good prophets, but they did not heed them. On the other hand, they had false prophets whom they did follow and they enjoyed material circumstances that they allowed to corrupt them. The result of all of this was Babylonian captivity for the stiff-necked people of Judah.

Now, according to our understanding of Romans 15:4, Paul has said that learning things like this will give us hope. A question may arise as to how this is done? What about the account of the unfaithfulness of Judah and their ultimate captivity results in hope for us today?

Moses Lard (in his book on Romans) said that the characteristics of patience and comfort come from the scriptures themselves. Think about it like this: when we read about Jeremiah, a man who maintained great faith in the face of terrible opposition, and who endured with patience those trials, we are encouraged to greater spiritual patience ourselves. He had some very tough days and he grew tired of all his troubles, but he still kept faith. The comfort spoken of comes from knowing that in the final analysis, God’s way is always right. This was borne out in the work of Jeremiah. It will always be so. And this absolute consistency is the thing that gives us hope.

Life is tricky business. Things do not always go the way we want them to go. People get sick, loved ones die and that too soon. Sometimes the money doesn’t work out like we planned for it to do. People we love may well disappoint us. But the scriptures teach us the everlasting and absolute truth that if we will look for, find, and walk in God’s good old paths, we will have rest for our souls. That is our hope. And that hope comes from learning the truth of God’s Word.

Bill Irby