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THE NEW BIRTH IN THE OLD TESTAMENTWhen Jesus spoke to Nicodemus regarding the new birth, there was no New Testament scripture available, only Old Testament, and Nicodemus was clueless about the subject. So he asked, "How can these things be?" (John 3:9) Jesus then implied that Nicodemus SHOULD know about the new birth, since he was a "master of Israel": "Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?" (John 3:10)While the new birth was not possible before Calvary, it is actually mentioned long before Calvary, and Jesus was rendering somewhat of a rebuke to Nicodemus for not knowing this.So, what scripture should Nicodemus have known? What Old Testament scripture speaks of a new birth? A few places come to mind . . .First, Isaiah 66:8-9 is pretty plain about the matter: "Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be BORN at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children. Shall I bring to the BIRTH, and not cause to bring forth? saith the LORD: shall I cause to bring forth, and shut the womb? saith thy God." In fact, the lead-in question, "Who hath heard such a THING?" is even a bit reminiscent of Nicodemus' "How can these THINGS be?" The passage speaks of a future BIRTH for the nation of Israel, yet this "ruler of the Jews" was ignorant of it. He could have at least asked, "Does this have something to do with Isaiah's prophecy?" but, like many religious authorities today, he was completely ignorant.He could have also brought up Ezekiel 37. That's where God speaks of giving new life to Israel and putting His SPIRIT into His people: "And shall put MY SPIRIT IN YOU, and ye shall LIVE, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD." (Ezk. 37:14) This too never entered the mind of Nicodemus as Jesus spoke with him regarding the new birth and being born "of the SPIRIT," nor did a couple other Ezekiel scriptures that speak of God putting His Spirit into His people (Ezk. 36:27; 11:19). Since it was the breath of God that produced the first human life (Gen. 2:7), these words should have echoed in the mind of Nicodemus when Jesus began speaking of a new birth. Yet, just like the rest of his Pharisee brethren, the man was blind as a bat. He was a blind LEADER.But I've saved the best for last. Nicodemus should have known the Psalms, and especially the MESSIANIC Psalms. When Jesus began talking about the new birth, Nicodemus SHOULD have said, "You know, now that you mentioned it, I have often wondered about a strange passage back in Psalms 22, the one that says,A SEED shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a GENERATION. They shall come, and shall declare HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS unto a people that shall be BORN, that he hath done this."That's Psalms 22:30-31, the end of a Psalm that begins with, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" (vs. 1) Maybe Nick should have asked about that too. Yet, his mind never left the physical realm as he stood there pondering the divine words of Jesus (though he did later become a believer).I fear that we MISS far more than we ever learn when reading God's word, especially when we read only for the purpose of validating our traditions. If God's word is to be our meditation all the day (Psa. 119:97), then there must be a great deal there that God wants us "chewing" on and learning, most of which is completely overlooked by religious big shots who think they deserve a following. No, GOD'S WORD deserves a following, and we should avoid anyone who doesn't help us to follow it.