"Then said He unto them, Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old" (Matthew 13:52).

In New Testament times, the scribe was responsible for the careful recopying of the Holy Scriptures. He was recognized as an expert interpreter of Scripture and was also called a lawyer, in the sense that he applied the "laws of Moses" to the lives of the people. Unfortunately, most of the scribes in Jesus' day had become proud and self-righteous, claiming for their own, interpretations and traditions on a status equal to that of the Scriptures themselves, and the Lord frequently had to rebuke them (e.g., Matthew 15:1-3; 23:1-28).

Nevertheless, they were students of Scripture, and at least some of them loved and used God's Word reverently and accurately. It was these scribes whom the Lord commended in Matthew 13:3-50, comparing them to the head of a great house, with treasures in the house, who could bring them out from time to time for the instruction and delight of all.

"Things new and old!" In the treasury of God's Word, one who is "instructed" in the old truths can always find new truths in its inexhaustible stores. "Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law," cried the psalmist. Yet he also acknowledged: "For ever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven" (Psalm 119:18,89). No exciting "new" truth in Scripture is ever really new, for it was there all along, even before the world began. Nor can a new truth ever contradict an old truth, for "I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right" (Psalm 119:128). Both the old, well-known and loved doctrines of Scripture, and stirring new insights which further illuminate and apply them are there waiting in the Word. If we love the Lord, we will love His Word and find endless delight in its study. HMM