THE NEW TESTAMENT IS THE PATTERN In Genesis 6, God instructed Noah regarding the building of the ark.  The “wickedness of man was great in the earth” and God determined to destroy man and beast and creeping thing, and fowls of the air. The Scriptures further state, “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.”  In view of the coming flood, God appeared unto Noah and placed upon him the obligation to build the ark.  The ark was to be the means of preservation of the righteous.   God specified the material out of which the ark was to be made, and outlined in detail the dimensions of it.  God thus gave Noah a definite pattern for building.  In Genesis 6:22, the Divine record says, “Thus did Noah according to all that God commanded him, so did he.” In Exodus 25, God instructed Moses with reference to building the tabernacle.  Multitudinous details and specifications were given—a definite pattern was given.  Moses was warned, “And look that thou make them after their pattern, which was showed thee in the mount, Exodus 25:40.  In Hebrews 8:5, the writer refers to God’s warning to Moses, when he is about to make the tabernacle:  “for see, said he, that thou make all things according to the pattern that was showed thee in the mount.”  In Exodus 4:16, we read, “Thus did Moses according to all that the Lord commanded him, so did he.” Just as God gave Noah the pattern for building the ark, and Moses the pattern for building the tabernacle, just so God has given mankind the pattern for building his life.  God has given the pattern for Christian character (attitudes and conduct) and the pattern for the church (organization, name, doctrine, worship, plan of salvation, mission).   And, just as Noah was obligated to build according to the pattern as well as Moses, so we are obligated (and privileged) to build according to the pattern. God, who made man and who best knows man, has always retained to Himself the right to govern man. And, the Divine Rule-Book by which he seeks to govern man now is the New Testament of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.   The New Testament is the pattern. A pattern is something which is worthy of imitation and which is intended to be imitated.  It is a design, a guide, a model.  When God gave Noah the pattern for the ark he was not making suggestions or recommendations.  Moses understood clearly that when God gave the pattern for the tabernacle that God was not making suggestions or recommendations, but this WAS the pattern he was to follow. The “pattern” nature of the New Testament is inherent in the very fact that it is the Lord’s New Testament.  In Matt. 26:28, the Lord said, “For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.”  In Heb. 9:15, we read “And for this cause he is the mediator of a new testament…”  Paul declares, “Brethren, I speak after the manner of men:  Though it be but a man’s covenant, yet when it hath been confirmed, no one maketh it void, or addeth thereto.” (Gal. 3:15)  A teatament is something which is to be taken seriously.  It is not to be changed.  It is not to be disregarded , its conditions must be met.  The Lord’s testament (or will) related to marvelous blessings and benefits which are granted to certain ones when they obey His will and live faithfully for Him. Further, the fact that the New Testament is designed to be our pattern is declared in numerous passages.   “Whosoever goeth onward and abideth not in the teaching of Christ, hath not God:  he that abideth in the teaching, the same hath both the Father and the Son”(2 John 9).  “Now to these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and Apolus for your sakes, that in us ye might learn not to go beyond the things which are written…” (1 Cor, 4:6).  Other passages such as Gal 1:6-8 and Rev. 22:18,19 warn us about preaching another gospel and adding and taking away for the given Word. God expects us to walk according to and to live in harmony with the divine pattern.  The Lord said, “…teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you…” (Matt. 18:20).  Paul says in Romans 16:17-18, “Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them that are causing divisions and occasions of stumbling, contrary to the doctrine which ye learned, and turn away from them.  For they that are such serve not our Lord Christ but their own belly:  and by their smooth and fair speech they beguile the hearts of the innocent.”   In three great speeches which constitute the great book of Deuteronomy, Moses emphasized to Old Testament Israel that it was because God loved them that he had given them His law—not because He had hated them; and that their love for God would cause them to be obedient to that law.  Likewise, it is because of God’s love for us that He has given the New Testament, and our love for Him will cause us to be obedient to that Testament.  May God help us to recognize as we ought, and appreciate as we ought, the fact that the New Testament is the pattern, and may God help us to walk according to that pattern. Bill Young