We should read the Old Testament because "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work" (2 Timothy 3:16–17). The Old Testament is just as important as the New Testament for understanding who God is, who we are, how we can have relationship with God, and how we are to live. God reveals His nature and His purpose through His Word, and that includes the Old Testament. The Bible is the story of God's interaction with the world—and the Old Testament records the beginning of that story.
We must, of course, understand all of the Bible—Old and New Testaments—in proper context. Some might claim that believers today only need the New Testament because we are under the new covenant. But to understand the new covenant, we must know what came before. The New Testament often quotes and refers back to the Old Testament (i.e., Matthew 22:34–40; Acts 7; 13; 1 Corinthians 10:1–12; 1 Peter 2:4–12). The New Testament book of Hebrews explains at length how the Old Testament sacrificial system is fulfilled in Jesus Christ. One must read the Old Testament to understand the significance. Hebrews 11 mentions various Old Testament figures who serve as witnesses to the faithfulness of God. Again, knowing who these figures are and God's interaction with them is helpful. First Corinthians 10:11 refers to certain Old Testament events saying, "Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come." Cleary the Old Testament is of much worth for believers today.
Here, it might be helpful to give a brief overview of the Old Testament. The Old Testament begins with God's creation of the universe, and more specifically His work as it directly relates to humanity. First, He made our habitat (Genesis 1:1–25), then He made us (Genesis 1:26–27). Humans are the only creature made in God's image. He gave humanity dominion over the earth and the charge to be fruitful and multiply (Genesis 1:28). God created people who would reflect Him in the world and join in His work. This account explains what we are—creatures beholden to our Creator, made in His image, and designed for a relationship with Him.
Next comes the fall of humanity. Adam and Eve—the first humans from whom the rest of humanity is descended—disobeyed God, thus breaking the relationship with Him, with one another, and with the rest of creation (Genesis 3). This explains the current state of our world (Romans 5:12; 8:19–25). We also see shadows of hope in God's promise of a coming Savior (Genesis 3:15) and His covering the nakedness of Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:21). We see God's mercy in preventing the couple from eating of the tree of life so they would not live forever in a fallen state.
We also see the rapid decline of humanity and the incredible damage sinful humanity can inflict on itself. Adam and Eve's eldest son murdered his brother (Genesis 4). As the years progressed, the negative effects of sin escalated so much so that, "The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually" (Genesis 6:5). God sent a flood to destroy all the inhabitants of the earth. But in His mercy and grace, He saved one man, Noah, and his family, from whom God repopulated the earth (Genesis 6—9). He gave this family a similar blessing to the one He gave Adam and Eve, telling them to "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth" (Genesis 9:1). God's plan for humanity did not change.
Again, we see the reality of human sinfulness in Noah's family and in his descendants. Humans joined together to "build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth" (Genesis 11:4). God confused their languages and dispersed them across the earth (Genesis 10—11).
The Bible then focuses in on God setting aside a specific family from whom the Savior of the world would be born. This people would also demonstrate God and His holiness to the world. God called a man named Abram (later Abraham), "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed" (Genesis 12:1–3). From Abraham came Isaac, who had a son named Jacob, who had twelve sons that became the twelve tribes of Israel. The Old Testament then mostly focuses on God's interactions with Israel.
Jacob's family found refuge in Egypt during a famine (Genesis 37—50). They then spent four hundred years in Egypt, becoming enslaved in progressively harsher ways (Exodus 1—2). But God rescued the people of Israel out of Egypt using a man named Moses (Exodus 3—18). God made the people into a nation, giving them laws to direct their worship of Him and their relationships with one another (Exodus; Leviticus; Deuteronomy). He made a covenant with them to be their God and have them as His people. If they would obey His ways, they would be blessed. If they disobeyed, they would be cursed (Deuteronomy 28).
The people failed in many ways, but they did conquer most of the land God promised to them (Joshua). They then went through various periods of following God and rejecting Him. They would cry out for rescue when they were overcome by their enemies and God would send a leader (called a Judge) who would rescue them (Judges). Eventually, the people asked for a king so as to be like all the surrounding nations (1 Samuel 8). God gave them Saul. But Saul did not follow God, so He removed the kingdom from Saul (1 Samuel 15). David became king and ruled over all twelve tribes. God made a covenant with David regarding his kingdom, which points to the coming Savior God promised (2 Samuel 7). David sinned in serious ways, but he always returned to God. Acts 13:22 speaks of God testifying, "I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will." David's son, Solomon, became king and ruled well. But his heart was turned from the Lord by his many wives and their pagan gods (1 Kings 11). Solomon's son acted foolishly and the kingdom split. Ten tribes were ruled by an unrelated line of kings while two tribes were ruled by a continuing line of Solomon's descendants. Eventually both kingdoms were overtaken by foreign nations.
Even then, God remained faithful. The Old Testament book of Daniel occurs during what is known as the Babylonian exile. The Old Testament books of Ezra and Nehemiah talk about the Jews being allowed to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple under the rule of Persian King Cyrus. But the people did not regain self-rule. About four hundred years lapsed between the end of the Old Testament and the start of the New Testament. It was the Romans who were ruling during the time of the New Testament.
While the Israelite kings ruled, the prophets warned them about their idolatry and predicted God's coming judgment. The prophets also predicted the culmination of God's work in history. First, the coming of the Messiah (the Anointed One, who is the Savior of the world) (Isaiah 7:14, 9:6; Isaiah 53:3–7; Micah 5:2; Zechariah 9:9; Psalm 22:16–18), then the end times (Daniel 7—12).
The Old Testament gives us understanding of who God is, His plans for creation, and the way He is working redemption and restoration. It gives us the context for Jesus' birth, ministry, crucifixion, and resurrection. It is the Old Testament that demonstrates God's holiness, humanity's inability to be in right relationship with God apart from His work, and thus humanity's desperate need for a Savior. The Old Testament shows us God's longsuffering and builds up hope and anticipation for God taking on human flesh, entering His creation, and providing redemption and restoration. The Old Testament shows the character of God interacting with His people over millennia. He is giving, jealous, forgiving, loving, and holy. The Old Testament shows His patience, His plan, and His personality. It presents a stunning, four-thousand-year-long illustration of the unfaithfulness of man and thus lays the context for the astounding reality of Jesus Christ.
The God of the Old Testament is the same as the God of the New Testament. He is holy and loving, and He has provided a way for humanity to be restored to Himself (John 3:16–18, 36; Acts 4:12; Ephesians 1:3–14; 2:1–10; 2 Peter 3:9). He is present in the Old Testament as much as He is the New Testament, and thus the Old Testament remains of crucial importance for His followers.
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