This month we are thinking about the value of the Old Testament for us as disciples of Jesus.
Often, we think of the Bible as a two-part book with the emphasis very much on the second part for us, because Jesus has come into the world, died on the cross for our sins and risen again in power and majesty. Why do we still need the 39 books of the Old Testament today?
The answer becomes clearer when we stop thinking about two testaments and concentrate on one Bible. Because there is only one living God, whose nature is unchanging and whose purposes are being fulfilled throughout human history, there is a fundamental unity which binds the whole of the Scriptures together, as one over-arching story. What God promised in the Old Testament we see wonderfully fulfilled in the New. But we need the former Scriptures to teach us so many truths, which then act as keys to a proper understanding of what came later.
It is the Old Testament that tells us of God’s good creation, culminating in human beings made in God’s image, to love, serve and worship him. So we know where we have come from and why we are here. It is the Old Testament that reveals our sinful rebellion against our creator, seeking to make ourselves our own ‘gods’. The dislocation between God and mankind, and between human beings and the created order, is exposed as the result of sin. From the very start of the story however, we see God’s love in action, planning the way by which sinful people might come to know forgiveness and experience a restored relationship with him. Think of the promises about the serpent-crusher (Genesis 3.15), the provision of the ark (Genesis 6-7) and the rescue through the Passover lamb (Exodus 12). Or think of the institution of the sacrificial system (Leviticus) by which repentant, believing Israelites could know that their ‘guilt was taken away and their sins atoned for’ (Isaiah 6.7).
God’s book about God
We need the Old Testament because, first and foremost, it is God’s book about God, teaching us his attributes and character, his holiness and his grace. In it we see God at work in scores of stories revealing his involvement with his created beings, in time and space, in history. Most of those narratives inspired and selected by the Holy Spirit, illustrate an aspect of God’s character on which the whole action turns. His grace makes Noah a righteous man (Genesis 6); his holiness condemns Achan (Judges 7); his faithfulness preserves Hezekiah (Isaiah 37). It’s all about God!
Edging forward
But all the time the plan is edging forward, towards the arrival of the Messiah, the perfect prophet, priest and king. His life and sacrificial death will atone for the sins of the world and his resurrection will bring in the everlasting kingdom of peace and righteousness. The more we learn from the Old Testament, the more wonderful God’s salvation plan becomes to us and the more we come to appreciate and love the Lord Jesus for all that he has accomplished in our rescue.
It is as rescued sinners that we can relate to God and begin to learn how to live our lives in his world in ways which are pleasing to him. And the Old Testament is full of help in these areas too. Think of the wisdom instruction in Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, or the way in which the Psalms teach us how to speak with God, through their prayers and songs of praise. Not only do they speak to us, as part of God’s inspired Word, but they also speak for us, as they provide us with models and examples of how to respond to God in all the changing scenes of life; in joy and sorrow, success and failure, health and sickness. The Old Testament provides an inexhaustible treasury of revelation about God’s heart and purposes, and, if we read it primarily as his testimony about himself, we shall find ourselves coming to know him better and love him more.
David Jackman,
the past President of the Proclamation Trust
