Gospel Reset in the Old Testament

Acts 17 is not the first place that the “gospel to the Greeks” was used in the history of the Bible. There are several places in the Old Testament where the Israelites had adopted a pagan culture, and God had to call them out of that culture through prophets and godly kings. In some cases, the situation was so dire that God had to remind the Israelites who he was—the Creator of heaven and earth.

While the gospel is an unchanging and everlasting message, our methodologies must adapt to different cultures so that we can lay the groundwork for the necessity of the gospel before we discuss the glories of the gospel. That’s the main difference between the preaching of Peter in Jerusalem, recorded in Acts 2, and the preaching of Paul in Athens, recorded in Acts 17. The Jews in Acts 2 did not need the foundational doctrines of creation, the fall, sin, and atonement explained to them. But to the Greeks, these were all foreign concepts.

In his book Gospel Reset, Ken Ham explains that our society is now more like a pagan “Greek” culture than a “Jewish” culture, which has a biblical foundation. This situation mandates a change in the delivery of the gospel message. In fact, it is possible to see a glimmer of this kind of Acts 17 gospel message all the way back in Deuteronomy before the Israelites had ever even entered the Promised Land.

Moses Foresees and Forewarns a Future “Acts 17” Generation

Moses then warns of the dangers of apostasy and, in this section, prophetically looks forward to a time when Israel will serve idols and thus anger the Lord.

In Deuteronomy 4, Moses knows his life is coming to an end. Since he is forbidden to cross the Jordan River into the Promised Land, Moses gives the people of Israel his final instructions, encouragements, and warnings. He admonishes the people not to forget the Lord and to obey his commandments. Moses then warns of the dangers of apostasy and, in this section, prophetically looks forward to a time when Israel will serve idols and thus anger the Lord. Although this is a prophetic passage and Moses is addressing both the present and a future generation to come, twice Moses reminds them to remember that God is the Creator of man, earth, and heaven. And even though several passages appeal to things that the present generation had seen the Lord perform, Moses foresees that a future pagan generation will need to know that there is only one God, that he is their Creator, and that they owe him their allegiance.

For ask now of the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and ask from one end of heaven to the other, whether such a great thing as this has ever happened or was ever heard of. (Deuteronomy 4:32)

Know therefore today, and lay it to your heart, that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other. Therefore you shall keep his statutes and his commandments, which I command you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land that the LORD your God is giving you for all time." (Deuteronomy 4:39–40).

David Writes a Psalm Promoting an Acts 17 Evangelism

Most likely, this psalm was written by David toward the end of his reign, meaning that the Acts 17 “Gospel to the Greeks” methodology was taught over 1,000 years before Paul delivered it at Mars Hill.

Likewise, the psalmist David reminds the people of Israel in Psalm 96 that the gods of the surrounding nations are nothing, but the Lord is the God of creation. In context, this section is exhorting the people of Israel to declare God’s glory to the surrounding pagan nations and inviting those people to come worship the Lord with offerings and praise. And the message might be the first Acts 17 kind of “Gospel to the Greek” message proclaimed.1 Most likely, this psalm was written by David toward the end of his reign, meaning that the Acts 17 “Gospel to the Greeks” methodology was taught over 1,000 years before Paul delivered it at Mars Hill.

Sing to the Lord, bless his name;
tell of his salvation from day to day.
Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvelous works among all the peoples!
For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;
he is to be feared above all gods.
For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols,
but the Lord made the heavens.
Splendor and majesty are before him;
strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.

Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples,
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength!
Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
bring an offering, and come into his courts!
Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness
tremble before him, all the earth!

Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns!
Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved;
he will judge the peoples with equity.” (Psalm 96:2–10)2

When you compare this portion of Psalm 96 to Acts 17:24–30, you will notice several striking parallels:

• Declaring the glory of God to the polytheistic and pagan nations
• Praising and reverencing this unknown God who created the heavens, not a worthless idol fashioned by men’s hands
• Revealing the good news of his salvation
• Acknowledging that the nations and families of peoples were ordered by him
• Encouraging people to repent (using here the Hebrew concept of bringing a trespass offering)
• Worshipping the Lord in truth

Is this not basically the same message which Paul preached at Athens?3

Isaiah Preaches to Jews Who Have Become “Greekized”

But by far the most prominent number and depth of passages relating to an Acts 17 kind of gospel message occur in the book of Isaiah. Isaiah prophesied during the reigns of four kings of Judah: Uzziah (Azariah), Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. Then traditionally he is believed to have been martyred by Hezekiah’s son, King Manasseh, in 698 BC. During his lifetime, Isaiah served under three godly kings (Uzziah,4 Jotham, and Hezekiah), but the majority of the people of Judah were idolatrous (2 Chronicles 27:2). Isaiah also prophesied during the reign of one of the most wicked kings of Judah—Ahaz, who was so engrossed in idol worship that he even sacrificed some of his children to foreign gods (2 Kings 16:3; 2 Chronicles 28:3). He built sacred groves and altars for idol worship throughout Judah and even defaced and closed the Temple (2 Chronicles 28:24).

Time and time again Isaiah reminded the people that the gods they served were worthless idols and that they should return to the one true God—their Creator and the one who made the heavens and the earth.

It should be no surprise then that Isaiah prophesied to a pagan—or, at best, pagan-influenced—culture. Time and time again Isaiah reminded the people that the gods they served were worthless idols and that they should return to the one true God—their Creator and the one who made the heavens and the earth. Isaiah used the Acts 17 approach over and over because the people he was preaching to had no (or almost no) foundational concept of the one true God. Like the pagan Greeks of Acts 17, they needed to be told about the “unknown God.”

To whom then will you liken God,
or what likeness compare with him?
An idol! A craftsman casts it,
and a goldsmith overlays it with gold
and casts for it silver chains.
He who is too impoverished for an offering
chooses wood that will not rot;
he seeks out a skillful craftsman
to set up an idol that will not move.

Do you not know? Do you not hear?
Has it not been told you from the beginning?
Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?
It is he who sits above the circle of the earth,
and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers;
who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,
and spreads them like a tent to dwell in. (Isaiah 40:18–22)

Thus says God, the Lord,
who created the heavens and stretched them out,
who spread out the earth and what comes from it,
who gives breath to the people on it
and spirit to those who walk in it. (Isaiah 42:5)

I made the earth and created man on it;
it was my hands that stretched out the heavens,
and I commanded all their host. (Isaiah 45:12)

Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth!
For I am God, and there is no other. (Isaiah 45:22)

To whom will you liken me and make me equal,
and compare me, that we may be alike?
Those who lavish gold from the purse,
and weigh out silver in the scales,
hire a goldsmith, and he makes it into a god;
then they fall down and worship!
They lift it to their shoulders, they carry it,
they set it in its place, and it stands there;
it cannot move from its place.
If one cries to it, it does not answer
or save him from his trouble.

Remember this and stand firm,
recall it to mind, you transgressors,
remember the former things of old;
for I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like me. (Isaiah 46:5–9)

Examples of Both Acts 2 and Acts 17 Evangelism Throughout the Old Testament

As Ken Ham has pointed out numerous times, the gospel begins in Genesis. Mankind was created perfect, fell in Adam, willfully sins against God continually, and is in desperate need of a savior. The seed of a woman, Christ Jesus, was promised all the way back in Genesis 3:15. Jesus himself stated that the entire Old Testament testified of him (Luke 24:44–47), so we should not be surprised to see the gospel presented even before the advent of our Savior. And just like in the book of Acts, the prophets (or priests, kings, and even governors) at times preached a message of repentance to those with hearts foundationally prepared for the message as in Acts 2 (e.g., 2 Chronicles 34; Nehemiah 8), but at other times the prophets were speaking to people who had no knowledge of God (Jeremiah 4:22; Hosea 4:6), were completely pagan in their thinking (Jeremiah 44:7–10), and were even hostile to the prophetic words of God (e.g., 1 Kings 19:1–2; Jeremiah 36:21–28, 44:15–17).

Our culture has been transformed into a “Greek” one by polytheism, which says that there are many paths to heaven, or by relative morality, which claims that man decides truth.

Just as the people of Israel sometimes needed a reminder to show them that their thinking needed to be “de-paganized,” so also do our present generations. Our culture has been transformed into a “Greek” one by polytheism, which says that there are many paths to heaven, or by relative morality, which claims that man decides truth. But just as insidiously, the culture has been transformed by an evolutionary dehumanization of man and a strictly enforced naturalism that denies the very power of God. We definitely need a gospel reset in this present age. We are no longer in an Acts 2 culture but an Acts 17 culture. We are no longer speaking with people who have a foundational knowledge of the true and living God, but with people who are engrossed in idolatry, either the god of self or a god of their own making. As God told the people of Israel through the prophet Jeremiah,

For my people have committed two evils:
they have forsaken me,
the fountain of living waters,
and hewed out cisterns for themselves,
broken cisterns that can hold no water (Jeremiah 2:13).

The Gospel Reset Objective: Turning a “Greek” Culture into a “Jewish” Culture

We’ll use the Jeremiah 2:13 passage cited above as a practical example. When we witness to people of this present-day Greek culture, before we tell them of Christ the Giver of Living Water (John 4:10, 7:38–39), we must tell them that their cistern is broken and that it must be repaired—and that the only one who can heal them is their Creator (Psalm 41:4; Isaiah 61:1; Luke 4:18; John 1:1–3).

Once the Acts 17 gospel message is proclaimed and the “Greeks” have a biblical foundation laid for them (in essence, becoming more like the Jews in Acts 2), we can proclaim the glorious gospel of Christ and hope for a work of the Holy Spirit, who can repair those broken cisterns and create wells of salvation. Then they (and we also) can rejoice as Isaiah did:

With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. And you will say in that day:

Give thanks to the Lord,
call upon his name,
make known his deeds among the peoples,
proclaim that his name is exalted.

Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously; let this be made known in all the earth. (Isaiah 12:3–5)

Ken Ham addresses the issues of reaching a pagan and evolutionized culture in his book Gospel Reset.

It is not too difficult to see a parallel between the idolatrous cultures of Israel and Judah in the OT, the hedonistic and moral relativistic philosophical culture of Athens in the NT, and our society today. Ken Ham addresses the issues of reaching a pagan and evolutionized culture in his book Gospel Reset. If we are to preach the gospel to people who have no biblical foundation, we must change our methodology. Ken’s book not only addresses the problem but also offers the biblical solution and practical tips to help you where the rubber meets the road. I urge you to pick up a copy for yourself and perhaps some for your church library (and orders of 6 or more books receive an additionally discounted price).