Pete and Repeat were in a boat together. Pete fell out. Who was left??…. (Repeat)… Pete and Repeat were in a ….. History repeats itself. This is a relatively well-known fact, and the irony is that many issues can be resolved by simply looking back, yet humanity keeps repeating them. This can be seen even in Scripture. We see patterns of people and generations coming close to God, then falling away, sometimes within just a generation or even less. When looking at the old covenant and then at the new covenant today, it seems like just a repeat. Not exactly the same, but close enough to see the pattern.
When God established the old covenant, He communicated directly with various people and provided a way to communicate with Him on a global or national scale. The Mosaic law was how He established that, and for quite a few years, God was the leader of Israel. Through several humble people that no one expected, He guided them in protection and justice. But soon, the nation of Israel wanted a physical king to rule. (1 Samuel 8:7~20) Even so, God was still with them, although, as we see, most kings were evil in God’s sight. Some kings were good, but overall, that was not God’s plan. He lost what He set out to do: a relationship with Man. He still kept His promises, though.
After the Second Temple, something else happened. Instead of restoring the relationship, the people started separating into sects. For the hundreds of years of silence between the Old and New Testaments, God again became distant, and instead of trying to build a relationship, the people turned to legalism, converting the Mosaic Law into a religion. From the time the Mosaic law was written to the time of the Second Temple was about 1,000 years, long enough for the original text, even though it was preserved, to be difficult to fully interpret due to changes and the complexity of the Hebrew language and culture. Because it was never meant to be a legalistic document, several sects emerged to explain and interpret it. There were Scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees—the religious leaders who held different viewpoints on how the Torah should be interpreted—and they all had their justification for being correct. All the while, God kept a remnant of those who genuinely wanted to know Him.
The intentions of the original religious leaders may have been good, but it ended up being a lot of legalism, far from what God desired. Then came Jesus, and He upset the apple cart. Jesus came to reestablish what God wanted all along: a relationship. Jesus rejected the “modern” religious leaders; they literally had nothing to do with the Mosaic law, and none of those sects were established or even mentioned. He kept away from them (well, sort of; He did engage those who were genuinely wanting to learn, like Nicodemus, John 3) and focused on those who wanted a relationship, not those who just wanted to be the ones deciding what is right or wrong. They misinterpreted what the Torah said and thought God was going to raise a physical King to deliver them, not one to reestablish the relationship.
Then it happened, and God established the New Covenant. He again had a genuine relationship, even better than before. It was exciting: God was again the leader, and people again wanted to know Him, and He directed them. Even though the world was falling apart, God was close to those He called. (Romans 8:30). Then, 300 years later, one man decided that there would be more Christians if you got away from the relationship part and made Christianity more like a pagan religion. Thus was born the Roman Catholic. That dominated for years, and all the while God kept calling and bringing those He called to Himself through relationship. Still, tradition and legalism tainted the original Scripture, and as language evolved and translations were needed, the message became clouded.
Then again, ordinary people began to question the Roman Catholic Church. Sects began to emerge, but we call them denominations. Religious leaders began to appear, but we called them priests, theologians, pastors, and even fathers. Just like Scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees, none of those titles has any mention in Scripture. Jesus never established a leadership hierarchy because there was never supposed to be one (Mathew 20:20~28). Jesus never established a building or temple because our hearts are the temple (1 Corinthians 3:16) . Again, history has repeated itself. God still has His remnant of people who are His — those around us who have a close relationship with Christ — but you will not hear about them. You can’t make money, control, and exploit people if you help them gain a real relationship with Christ. Those who have a genuine relationship with Christ love like Christ does. (John 13:35) and have a relationship with Christ instead of just following a “religious” leader.
We have now gone full circle again. Just as the religious leaders in Christ’s day didn’t see Him for who He is, our spiritual leaders are looking at the wrong things. Two thousand years seems to be the cycle, give or take a few. Whatever happens next will most likely not be what we are being told; instead, as on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13~35), after it all happens, we will get to see what we missed in Scripture. That really does not matter, though. We are called to be the light (Matthew 5:14) and to have a relationship with Christ; that is what matters.
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