Africa Study Bible Sampler - Flipbook - Page 50
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Marriage. God instituted marriage as a permanent union between a man and a woman
(Genesis 2:23). Since the Fall, marriage has been
violated by practices such as adultery, polygamy,
divorce, and homosexuality.
Polygamy was not God’s plan for humanity.
The fact that God made concessions to the polygamous practices of Abraham, Jacob, and David
does not mean that he approved their sexual
choices. Abraham and Jacob were still influenced
by their cultures as they were learning God’s
principles for family. David used polygamy to
form alliances. Unfortunately, some Christians in
Africa have used the example of Abraham to
justify polygamy. God honoured Abraham’s faith;
he nowhere condoned Abraham’s polygamy.
The New Testament confirms God’s plan for
marriage between one man and one woman
(Mark 10:5-10). The similarities between polygamy in Old Testament cultures and in African
societies should not be interpreted as divine approval. Certain laws and customs were allowed in
the colonial days of Africa that were rejected after
independence. The fact that they were allowed
or encouraged by “democratic” governments in
that era does not mean that they are good in our
modern African democracies.
Law and Grace. The children of Israel in the Old
Testament atoned for their sins by offering sacrifices to God. For instance, if a person was called
to testify and refused to do it, when he became
aware of his guilt, he would confess his sin and
then offer a sacrifice (Leviticus 5:1-6). In the Old
Testament, the restoration of our relationship to
God after we sinned came from a sacrifice. The
Old Testament says that going through the act of
a sacrifice without obeying God is not pleasing to
him (1 Samuel 15:22), but the Israelites’ responsibility was still to do what the law told them to do.
Over the years, Jewish religious leaders wrote
many detailed laws to explain how to obey the Old
Testament laws. They had started to do this by the
time of Jesus and continue on through today. For
instance, Exodus 20:8 says on the Sabbath “no one
in your household may do any work.” Some sects
of Jews today decided “work” includes pushing
elevator buttons. And so today in Jerusalem, elevators are programmed to stop automatically at
every floor on the Sabbath so that a Jew can go
up an elevator without working on the Sabbath.
In this way, the Jews guard the original law of the
Pentateuch from being broken.
The New Testament, however, teaches that we
become righteous by grace through faith—not
by following the laws of the Old Testament. Not
pushing an elevator button on the Sabbath does
not make a person holy. Instead, “we are made
right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ”
(Romans 3:21-25).
Outward expressions of faithfulness to God
such as circumcision, observing the Sabbath, and
offering sacrifices changed in the New Testament.
Similarly, new worship forms influenced by our
cultural practices may be developed and practised in Africa. But these practices must reflect the
unchanging principles of God’s Word. The Bible
has not changed. “All Scripture [including the Old
Testament] is inspired by God and is useful to
teach us what is true and to make us realise what
is wrong in our lives” (2 Timothy 3:16).
Points to Remember
• The Old and New Testaments form one story of God revealing himself, step by step. The God
of both Testaments is the same.
• The Old Testament shows many principles both in its history and teaching that equip us to be
effective Christians. The writers of the New Testament saw it as holy Scripture and quoted it often.
• Not all the laws of the Old Testament have direct application to us today. We must carefully discern
what eternal laws to follow and what laws can give us wisdom but do not need to be practised.
• God wants believers to have a pure heart and live in a way that identifies us as belonging to a
pure and holy God.