Why should we study the
Old Testament?
The Old Testament is a picture of what life was like before
Jesus died. It chronicles a line of men and women, just like us,
who did extraordinary things. They had fears. They messed up and
yet they still did remarkable works for God while being bound to
the law. How much more should we be able to do for God under
grace?
The Old Testament builds a foundation from which we can see
the complete picture. We learn that God is faithful even when we
are unfaithful to Him.
The children of Israel had been slaves in Egypt for 400
years, doing back-breaking work for Pharaoh. God delivered them
through the hand of Moses. In the wilderness, they complained
about food, water, their enemies and everything else. When they
became fed up with God not doing things their way, they served
graven images.
Each time they disobeyed, God delivered them. This went on
for generations. God used Samson and Gideon to deliver them as
well. Like us, they were unfaithful.
This gives us a complete picture of the Father, who became
frustrated with the disobedience of those He created. The Old
and New Testaments show us what God, who is love, did to ease
the weight off of His creations.
He sent His only Begotten Son, Jesus, to Earth to take the
price for our sins. He fulfilled the law because He was without
sin. He fulfilled it so we wouldn't have to. He knew it is
impossible for us to do so.
It is a beautiful love story about how God loved us so much
that He forgave our sins once and for all through the blood
Jesus shed on the Cross.
When we accept what Jesus did for us, God adopts us into His
family. We become His children. Every right that God gave
Abraham and his descendants are now ours through the shed blood
of Jesus.
That's how much God loves us.
In Deuteronomy 28, we discover what would have happened to us
in those days if we didn't obey the law. Now that the law has
been fulfilled by Jesus, we are redeemed from all those curses.
In the Old Testament, we read of all the offerings the people
had to present every time they sinned. This shows us how much
Jesus did on the cross for us. He became all those offerings for
us. He became sin for us so that we could be in right-standing
with God.
We see God at work in the lives of His people. He saved the
children of Israel during a famine by allowing a young dreamer
to be sold into slavery.
He delivered Daniel from the lions, the three Hebrew children
from the furnace, Jonah from the great fish.
He saved the children of Israel once again by causing a king
to favor Esther.
He took a woman like Ruth, a Gentile, and put her at the
right place at the right time to meet her kinsman redeemer,
which put her in the lineage of our Saviour, Jesus Christ.
God used ordinary people to orchestrate the coming of our
Lord, Jesus Christ, who saved us from the curse of the law.
Why should we study the Old Testament? We must study the
Bible as a whole, as a part of the same story. The Old Testament
is the problem. The New Testament is the solution.
How do we study the Old Testament? We study it as we would
study any other part of the Bible.
We buy a translation that we understand.
Then we ask the Holy Spirit to teach us. He is an excellent
Teacher. If we ask Him to lead us into all truth regarding the
Scriptures, He will show us fresh revelation concerning it.
We need to look up things that we don't understand in the
original Hebrew, which we can do online. It will give us a
better understanding of what God is saying.
To understand how marvellous a gift God gave us in the New
Testament, we must study the Old Testament.
While we were yet sinners, Christ died for our sins. Now
through Jesus' shed blood, we are in right-standing with God, if
we accept Jesus.
We no longer have to earn our salvation. All we have to do is
accept Christ. That's the grace of God in action.
Annagail Lynes is a writer of devotionals, ebooks and articles. Her articles and devotionals have appeared in publications online and offline around the world. You can order her books at http://www.annagaillynes.net
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