Have you heard the story of Otto Warmbier?
He was an American student who traveled to North Korea in 2016.
Warmbier was visiting North Korea as a tourist and attempted to steal a propaganda poster from his hotel.
While what in Warmbier’s mind was a harmless prank…
Unbeknownst to him, he had violated North Korean law.
What was the result of this ignorance?
He was detained, tried, and sentenced to 15 years of hard labor for “hostile acts against the state.”
Unfortunately, his health broke down during his imprisonment, and he was returned to the United States in a coma in 2017.
Now this isn’t a conversation about the risks of visiting countries with strict laws and authoritarian regimes.
This is a stark reminder of the importance of understanding and respecting the laws and customs of foreign countries when traveling abroad.
Now here’s the thing.
I’d say this principle is even doubly important when it comes to God’s holy laws.
It’s easy to understand the Hebrew Bible (what Gentiles call the “Old” Testament) when you understand Torah principles and can see how they’re fleshed out and brought to life in a variety of situations.
But the problem is that many believers don’t begin studying the Bible from the beginning…
They start their studies from the New Testament.
When you do that you skip over the foundational principles of God’s Word.
This results in ridiculous and misguided conclusions when reading later chapters of the Hebrew Bible AND especially the New Testament.
You become like Otto Warmbier who was ignorant of the basic laws in North Korea…
And was probably very surprised at the extreme consequences he faced.
What did the Messiah say to those who were willfully ignorant of God’s Law?
He said “I never knew you. Get away from me, you workers of lawlessness.”
So moving forward, in the four Kingdom books of 1st and 2nd Samuel and 1st and 2nd Kings…
You’ll encounter many scenes that can ONLY BE UNDERSTOOD IF YOU UNDERSTAND TORAH!
Especially during the era of David…
On top of that, there are several Psalms that David wrote that we can connect directly back to what we’re studying here in 1st Samuel.
There are Psalms expressing praise when David was delivered…
And Psalms expressing panic when he was in danger.
So you’re in for a treat because we’re going to take the time to not only examine some of these Psalms…
But show how they’re connected to earlier scenes in the Bible.
Anyway, the takeaway here is clear.
If you wanna properly understand all of Scripture…
Don’t skip the foundations.
The foundations are the first five books of Moses.
Over and out.
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“Not everyone who says to me,
‘Lord, Lord!’ will enter the
Kingdom of Heaven,
only those who do what my
Father in heaven wants.
On that Day, many will say to me,
‘Lord, Lord! Didn’t we prophesy
in your name?
Didn’t we expel demons
in your name?
Didn’t we perform many
miracles in your name?’
Then I will tell them to their faces,
‘I never knew you!
Get away from me,
you workers of lawlessness!”
-Matthew 7:21-23
P.S. By the way, did you know that Otto Warmbier was Jewish? He went on a Birthright trip in 2014 and was active with his campus Hillel at the University of Virginia. During his visit to Israel, Warmbier was given a Hebrew name and wrote a blog post about his first time visiting the Western Wall in Jerusalem’s Old City. May his soul rest in peace.
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