Driver Lifestyles

Where the Bible Meets the Road, vol. 2

The Old Testament is not a Discarded First Draft

Wow!      I was a bit taken back by the many kind comments and words of encouragement in response to my first article. I was not sure how well trucking articles from a Christian perspective would be received. It is my desire to provide thought-provoking articles from a distinctly Christian and Biblical perspective. Therefore, I want to follow-up on the initial article “Where the Bible Meets the Road”, with further comments from the book of Genesis. I also hope to respond directly to your posts in the future, and again, I thank you for your kind comments.

By way of reminder, the initial article argued that the Bible indeed has much to say about OTR activity and those who have chosen trucking as a profession. As a means of accomplishing the “dominion mandate” given to Adam, and his posterity, in Genesis 1:26-28, trucking is an essential part of “subduing the earth” and taking “dominion over it.” Without the trucking industry in all its aspects, the efficient movement of food, goods of various sorts and raw materials would grind to a halt. Commerce as we know it would cease to exist. Consequently, all of society owes a huge debt of gratitude to those who have chosen the transportation industry as their profession.

With these thoughts in mind, I want to return to the book of Genesis and see how Adam dealt with his first command from God and how Adam’s actions affect us today.

However, before I continue that study, you might have noticed a presupposition in my writing already. That presupposition is that the Bible is trustworthy, both in its teachings and its history. Not only do I presuppose that it is trustworthy, I presuppose that the Bible contains the very words of God. One might ask why I hold the Bible in such high esteem. The answer is that the Bible is God’s revelation of Himself and how He has created all things. It is a self-authenticating document.  One evidence of this is found in II Timothy 3:16-17 wherein we read:

16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

At least two thoughts from this passage are most instructive for our study in Genesis. First, the notion that “ all scripture ” is profitable cannot be overemphasized. Far too often in our time the Old Testament portion of the Bible is treated as God’s “discarded first draft”. As if God did not know what He was doing in the Old Testament and would later get it right in the New Testament. Nothing could be further from the truth. Not only did God get it right in the Old Testament, without the Old Testament, the New Testament would not make any sense and thus would not be “ profitable ” for “correction and instruction in righteousness”, as the passage asserts.

In other words, without the background of the Old Testament and the revelation God gives mankind therein, we would not be able to rightly understand what God wants of His creation, particularly the highest of His creation, man.

When the Old Testament is ignored, belittled and disdained, we suffer as men. God gave us this rich history of countless men and women who God made promises to (covenants) which He kept. Those promises (covenants) affect us even today. We rarely notice them. And yet, without those promises and God’s faithfulness to keep them, we would be in great peril.

Let me give you an example. Why do the seasons exist? Why isn’t there just summer, or just spring? Could you imagine a perpetual winter? The reason they come and go with regularity, the reason they are predictable and orderly is not because of evolution. The reason they are regular and predictable is because God promised Noah, following the Great Flood, to keep them regular and predictable.

Genesis 8:20-22 reads:

20 Then Noah built an altar to the LORD, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 21 And the LORD smelled a soothing aroma. Then the LORD said in His heart, “I will never again curse the ground for man’s sake, although the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done. 22 “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, and day and night shall not cease.”

Now there were other provisions in this covenant with Noah that I’ll not elaborate on here, but in Genesis chapter nine, God confirms His covenant with a sign and seal. We read in Genesis 9:12-17:

12 And God said: “ This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: 13 I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. 14 It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud; 15 and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16 The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” 17 And God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth.” [ Emphasis added.]

Remember the account of the Great Flood. God flooded the entire earth with water and saved only Noah and his family. When the rains finally stopped and the waters receded, Noah and his family exited the Ark and God made this covenant with Noah. Never again would he judge the earth with a global flood and His promise was assured with the rainbow in the sky. When the rain clouds come, and the rainbow is seen, we are promised that God will never again bring a global flood. The promise is for “ perpetual generations ” and is established between God and “ all flesh that is on the earth ”.

Now let me ask a few questions? Are you part of the “perpetual generations” of “all flesh that is on the earth”? The answer is a resounding “YES”. Did God then make a promise (a covenant) with you? Again the answer is “YES”? Did God give you a sign and seal of that covenant? Again the answer is “YES”.

Now for the $64,000 question? When was the last time you looked at a rainbow in the sky and thought, “God, you have given me a sign and seal of your covenant never to judge the world again with a global flood and I am looking at that sign and seal right now.”

If the Old Testament is worthless and irrelevant, then why does God continue to give us a sign and seal of an Old Testament covenant for perpetual generations?

The answer is that the Old Testament is not irrelevant and worthless. On the contrary it is profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction and instruction in righteousness that the man of God might thoroughly equipped unto every good work.

So what does this all have to do with Expediting? Here is the answer. In the Old Testament we find the commandment, “Thou shall not steal” (Exodus 20:15, Deuteronomy 5:19). This command is perpetual for all men in all ages. Does this commandment have anything to do with Expediting? Certainly. Just as the commandments not to “bear false witness against your neighbor” (prohibition against lying), or “Thou shall not covet”.

You see, the whole Bible is God’s blueprint for living. It affects every area of life; how I ought to treat myself, my spouse, my employer, my customers, my suppliers, my government, etc. Nothing is left out. Yet, we are so very slow to look for the answers where they can be found – the Bible. I will do my best to help you find those answers.

If you like these articles and want specific answer from the Bible write to me in the comments section and I will gladly answer those questions as I am able.

The “Friar”