Isaiah 30:24 The oxen likewise and the young asses that ear the ground shall eat clean provender, which hath been winnowed with the shovel and with the fan.
Provender is a mixed grain. It is not wholly of one type or another. The winnowing and fan serve two purposes, to mix evenly and to remove anything that is not meant to be eaten. Say what you will about the animals but they are service animals. Are we not servants of the Lord?
I see two very distinct lessons in this verse. One is a diet that contains both the Old Testament and the New Testament. Is your diet thoroughly mixed or are you fond of only eating from the New Testament because you like the taste better? If I only ate of the New Testament, how would I have known of the lesson contained here in Isaiah 30:24?
Yes we follow Jesus. Yes the structure of the church in found in the writings of Paul. Yes there is a more clear understanding of scriptures that are quoted from the Old Testament. But….
John 1:1,14 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
Since He was the Word even before the world began, He is found in all of the Word and not just parts of the Word. To know Him and to know His will and to know His ways, we cannot ignore the mixing of the Old and New.
The second issue I see here is the mixing of teaching and personal study. Any teacher with any salt of their own will encourage you to perform personal bible study. That does not mean picking up a book written by a renown bible author, preacher or doctor of divinity. It means allowing the scriptures to speak to you personally, directly through the power of the Holy Spirit. This is how we come to know the will of God.
What does your provender look like?
Excellent in every way! Kind and good exhortation.
The fact that the Old Testament was quoted or referred to scores of times in th New shows the value and need of the Old.
You asked the question “what does your provender look like”? So, here is mine.
There are 1189 chapters in the precious Word of God. It has 2 parts…the Old and New Testaments. The Old Testament contains the New, and the New Testament explains the Old.
If you read 1 chapter in the Old in the morning, and 1 chapter in the New in the evening until you get completely through the Old Testament, you will have read the New Testament through 3 1/2 times.
The book of Isaiah is a mini Bible. The 1st 39 chapters relate to the Old Testament, and the last 27 relate to the New.
The middle of the Bible is Psalms 118: verse 8…”It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man.”
John 3:16 is the Gospel in a nutshell. It contains 25 words, of which the middle word is “SON”..showing to me that the most important message that God has for us is the gift of His precious Son. My desire runs parallel to yours, that every reader will come to love Jesus…God’s Son. Thank you dear brother for your great post and your encouragement for dialogue. God bless you richly.
Good Ron, your being well versed indicates a good diet. We are not yet done with this series. Just a few more.
I’m thankful that more is coming. PTL.