Hardship in OT vs hardship in NT

[elizabethlear]

In the OT, hardship for the Israelites seems to be a result of disobedience or not trusting God, and when they are trusting in God and doing things right is when things are going well for them.

But in the NT, it is stated several times that we will go through trials and be persecuted because we are Christians and that we should rejoice in the fact that we are being persecuted because that basically means we are doing something right.

Thoughts on this? Am I misinterpreting things? Is the hardship from the OT different from the trials talked about in the NT? Or is the change in the reason for hardship a result of the New Covenant?

 

[Chris1975]

Nice questions !

This will be an interesting thread.

 

[stonesoffire]

It's hard for me to give an answer for this beyond this scripture..

~Pro 29:2　 As the righteous grow powerful, people rejoice; but when the wicked rule, people groan.　

 

[sevenseas]

well there's the paradoxical question to end all the paradoxical questions and one of the best examples why we cannot run with a verse or a doctrine that emphasizes one thing without weighing in on what appears to be a counter doctrine. this is why we end up with grace/works arguments, law/grace arguments, Calvinism vs Free choice arguments and many more

many people will say the Bible contradicts itself and others will choose what appeals to them and state that is what the Bible says when neither is correct

the long and short of it is that we are never promised the perfect life but we are perfect in Christ

we are never promised perfect physical health but we are promised eternal life

we are never promised wealth but we have all the riches in the world in Christ

we are told that if we follow Christ we may very well suffer hardship as a servant is not above His master, yet we are told that Christ fulfilled all the law in His sacrificial death

we are told to pick up our cross and follow Christ and also told that His yoke is easy and His burden is light

we are told that we might receive nothing in this world but our reward in heaven will be great

seeming paradoxes

obedience requires doing what we know to do that is right and in the Old Testament, the law, comprised of the 10 commandments and at least 613 others if you read through Leviticus, is what was required. break any one of them and a sacrifice was required

there are three kinds of laws in the Bible, moral, civil and ceremonial. all of these laws have been fulfilled in Christ. He was obedient to death.

if assurance of everything going right in our life would be a result of perfect obedience, then surely a Christian could claim that in light of the fact of Jesus fulfilling all that is required in our place?

but as you say, we do not see that. if you read the prophets, you will see they probably suffered more than anyone WHILE they were obeying God

the catalyst or causative force being dealt with is sin. this is a fallen world and the Bible says the devil is the god of this world and apart from the Holy Spirit, is the force people deal with on a daily basis in the choices they make

we choose what we do, how we respond and act, moment by moment and the results of those things are like a chain reaction

I don't think there is a simple answer to your very thoughtful and provoking question

 

[Johnny_B]

In the OT, hardship for the Israelites seems to be a result of disobedience or not trusting God, and when they are trusting in God and doing things right is when things are going well for them.

But in the NT, it is stated several times that we will go through trials and be persecuted because we are Christians and that we should rejoice in the fact that we are being persecuted because that basically means we are doing something right.

Thoughts on this? Am I misinterpreting things? Is the hardship from the OT different from the trials talked about in the NT? Or is the change in the reason for hardship a result of the New Covenant?

In the NT it is called spiritual warfare, when we are obeying the Lord all is well, but if we have a sin in our lives and we are not confessing it. The Lord lets the enemy over take us, as you've mentioned in the OT, the OT is about the NT. Like Genesis 6 the Lord judges sin on the earth as He does in our lives, Noah finds grace in the sight of the Lord and when the judgment comes he is in the ark. The Lord kills all the sin on the earth Noah and his family get out of the ark. Peter tell us that the flood waters correspond to the baptism that now saves us, which is the baptism of the Spirit. Which give us a good conscience towards God, from dead works, by the resurrection of Jesus.

We are sealed by the Spirit, which can be viewed as a type of ark, it takes us throw our life with the Lord dealing with our sins and when we receive our inheritance it's like getting out of the ark, no more sin. So yes many OT stories can be related to our Christian life today.

 

[sevenseas]

In the NT it is called spiritual warfare, when we are obeying the Lord all is well, but if we have a sin in our lives and we are not confessing it. The Lord lets the enemy over take us, as you've mentioned in the OT, the OT is about the NT. Like Genesis 6 the Lord judges sin on the earth as He does in our lives, Noah finds grace in the sight of the Lord and when the judgment comes he is in the ark. The Lord kills all the sin on the earth Noah and his family get out of the ark. Peter tell us that the flood waters correspond to the baptism that now saves us, which is the baptism of the Spirit. Which give us a good conscience towards God, from dead works, by the resurrection of Jesus.

We are sealed by the Spirit, which can be viewed as a type of ark, it takes us throw our life with the Lord dealing with our sins and when we receive our inheritance it's like getting out of the ark, no more sin. So yes many OT stories can be related to our Christian life today.

actually the entire story is spiritual warfare

a little uprising in heaven you might care to remember?

hasn't let up, but God knows the end from the beginning

I wish people would stop chopping the Bible up into sections when all of it is given for our understanding

carry on