It has become more common-place to stop using certain words from the Bible in sermons bc they are considered out-dated and, therefore, no longer able to be understood by the culture of today. So throw it out! the argument goes.
Well, I beg to differ.
Way over simplifying things (I will admit), it seems to me that there are 2 different views on the subject of Biblical relevancy. There is one group who says the Bible is no longer culturally relevant. Therefore, the Bible must be changed to fit the times! We must make the Bible fit our culture!
The second group acknowledges that the Bible can be difficult to understand and can seem old and out-dated. But, the problem isn’t with the Word of God the problem is with us! With our culture.
The western (American) culture is extremely different than the Biblical one and it can make the world of the Bible seem irrelevant and confusing, even harsh and boring. But this is the very Word of God and if something must be changed it is not Scripture it is us!
If there is a passage of Scripture that doesn’t make sense, then dig! Look in to the culture, the geography, the history. Don’t change what the Bible says bc it doesn’t make sense to you at the moment. Ask the ultimate Author of Scripture to guide you in your search and seek out what it means. We live in a culture today that is flooded with more information on the life and times of Jesus and the world of the Bible than ever before.
Ask. Search. Dig. The reward will be more than worth it I promise you!!
May we take the words of Jesus to heart “I tell you the truth until heaven and earth disappear not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen will be any means disappear from the Torah until everything is accomplished.” (Matt 5)
If Jesus declared the Word of God eternal then what right do we have to call it irrelevant and changeable?
(as for the pics they were taken inside a Synagogue in Israel. The first is a Torah scroll being unrolled and the second is of the place where they keep the scroll)