Begin Your Study of the Old Testament
The most important journeys should always be planned before you set out on a long adventure. Chart your course. As you begin your study of Old Testament books in the Bible, there are several truths to take with you.
* NOTE: Be sure to visit our Journey Through Scripture Page. It features overviews, messages, articles, and resources for every book of the Bible.
Listen to this Study:
Genesis 1:1 declares to us that “In the beginning, God.” The Bible is a progressive revelation. We must study it that way. You can begin with the Book of Genesis and walk your way through the Old Testament and into the New Testament. Or you may begin with a section of Scripture and study how it relates to the rest of Scripture. Whatever your approach may be, your foundation must be laid. Your course must be charted. Here are some foundational truths for your journey as you study the Old Testament. (READ: 3 Simple Helps For Bible Study.)
The Importance of the Old Testament
Many people pay great attention to the New Testament and very little to the Old Testament. Years ago, I was witnessing to a student on a university campus. “Do you believe the Word of God?” I asked. His response: “I believe in the Old Testament.” He was a Jew; he did not accept the New Testament. Yet, the sad reality is that many New Testament believers today, in many ways, reject the Old Testament. This is deeply troubling.
Understand that the Old Testament and the New Testament do not compete; they complete. They work together. The Old Testament is like a broad base upon which the New Testament builds. Along your journey as you study the Old Testament, the revelation begins to lead you somewhere – it leads you to the Lord Jesus.
Consider different ways this is revealed:
- When the farmer looks at the Word of God, the Old Testament is the seed form; the New Testament is the fruit.
- When the builder looks at the Word of God, the Old Testament is the foundation; the New Testament is the framework.
- When the scientist looks at the Word of God, the Old Testament is a telescope looking far into the distance at what is yet to come; the New Testament views that same God, the same Christ, through a microscope, where great details are revealed to us.
- When the musician looks at God’s Word, the Old Testament is like the prelude; the New Testament is the finished verse.
- When the artist looks at the Word of God, the Old Testament is a sketch drawing, but the New Testament is the finished masterpiece.
The believer does not just need one or the other – both are essential! The Old Testament serves as a pointer. Where does it point? It points us to One Man. It points us to the Lord Jesus Christ. The Jehovah of the Old Testament is the Jesus of the New Testament. If you want to be a complete Christian, then you must compare Scripture with Scripture. To do this effectively, you must have both the Old Testament and the New Testament.
Why Study the Old Testament?
Here are seven benefits from studying the Old Testament:
- The Old Testament provides a wonderful background for Christ’s ministry and work. If you are interested in the earthly ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ, all of that historical setting is wrapped up in the Old Testament.
- The Old Testament provides a historical setting not only for Christ’s earthly ministry but also for the early Christian church. For example, did you know that the New Testament church used the synagogue model for its meetings? Not from Temple worship but from the synagogue. What was the synagogue for? It was for the teaching of Scripture.
- The Old Testament provides unchanging, eternal principles. One classic example is the Ten Commandments. They are revelations of the holy character and nature of God. Those are principles that are fixed and will not change.
- The Old Testament foretells future events that find their fulfillment in the New Testament. Some of the most faith-increasing studies are the great prophecies of the Old Testament that are fulfilled in the New Testament. (Explore over 50 Old Testament prophecies Jesus fulfilled—read the article and download the free PDF handout HERE.). It will remind you that everything God foretells, he always fulfills.
- The Old Testament provides an amplified commentary of New Testament passages. They connect to one another. For example, the Apostle Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 10 that much of the Old Testament was written for our learning. Scripture says, “Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted” (1 Corinthians 10:6). There are definite lessons from the Old Testament to apply to our New Testament Christianity.
- The Old Testament provides a detailed history of the Nation of Israel. God is not finished with Israel. We ought to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. If you study your Bible, you find God has mighty plans for His Chosen Nation.
- Most of all, the Old Testament reveals to us the character of the God that we serve. If you want to know the God of the Bible, that God is revealed from the very first words of Genesis 1. That means we need all of Scripture!
The Emmaus Road and the Old Testament
Luke 24 describes the risen Christ walking along the road to Emmaus. You remember the story: two of His disciples, who didn’t recognize Him, were terribly disappointed that their Master had been crucified. They were sorrowful that He was gone. The Lord Jesus came near to them and began discussing with them why they were so sad and all of that. The Bible says in Luke 24:27, “and beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.”
What is Moses? It refers to the first five books of the Old Testament. What are the prophets? That is the rest of your Old Testament. In other words, from the Old Testament, Christ was expounding unto them in all the Scriptures, “the things concerning himself?”
You see, in reality, it is all about knowing the Lord Jesus Christ. As we journey through the Old Testament, we are looking for God. We are looking for what God has to say to us, His revelation of Himself, and His revelation of what He desires for our lives.
The Divisions of the Old Testament
The Old Testament is divided up into three large sections:
17 Books of History
Five Books of Law (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy). This section is often referred to as the Pentateuch or the Books of Moses.
Twelve Historical Books. Nine of them are pre-exile (Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, and 2 Chronicles), and three of them are post-exile (Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther). But historical books begin our Old Testament. Could I remind you that history is one thing? History is HIS story. It is the story of God at work among his people.
5 Books of Poetry.
The five Poetic Books are books of experience and devotion – they are the books of Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon. They are amazing books. I believe they are strategically located in the heart of the Old Testament because they deal with the heart issues of man.
17 Books of Prophecy.
- Five books are known as the “Major Prophets” (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, and Daniel),
- Twelve books are known as “Minor Prophets” (Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi).
They are not major or minor because of importance. They are major and minor simply in size. The minor prophets have a major message for all of us. All the books of the Old Testament have a word from God for us. We need all the Scriptures.
Recently, I was on an airplane, seated next to a man. I was talking to him about the Lord, and we were discussing the Scriptures. I asked him if he read the Bible. He said that he did not really. Then he said to me, “But I do know the first words.” I said, “Really? What are the first words?” He replied, “In the beginning.” I said, “That is very good, you do. Do you know the last words?” He looked at me a little puzzled and said, “No, I have never read the last words.”
I challenged him to go home and read Revelation 22. It is interesting to come to the end of Scripture and see “Surely I come quickly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.” This passage brings you to the culmination; it brings you to the great climax. It brings you to Christ. My point is this, Genesis and Revelation are like bookends. We do not need one part of it; we need the whole library.
As you study the Old Testament along your journey through the 66 books of the Bible, may God help you meet Jesus along the way.
RELATED RESOURCE: 55 Prophecies Jesus Fulfilled
RELATED BIBLE STUDY PAGE: Journey through Scripture
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Currently writing a book on Proverbs. After reading the recent post on Why read the OT I thought I would share this.
PROLEGOMENA
The River Beneath the River
“In the mouth of the foolish is a rod of pride: but the lips of the wise shall preserve them.”
— Proverbs 14:3
For many years I read the Bible as though it were a library of separate books. I admired its stories, treasured its doctrines, and believed every word to be inspired, yet I often approached each portion as though it existed within its own world: Genesis as beginnings, the Psalms as worship, Proverbs as practical living, the Prophets as Israel, the Gospels as Christ, and Revelation as the future.
I did not deny that the Scriptures were one.
I simply did not yet see them as one.
Then, in the patient mercy of God, something changed.
He did not give me a new Bible. He gave me new eyes.
The neat compartments I had carefully arranged began to collapse beneath the weight of Scripture itself. The walls separating history from prophecy, wisdom from redemption, Israel from Messiah, and beginning from end slowly gave way to something far more beautiful.
I began to see one unfolding story, one divine Author, one living river flowing from Genesis to Revelation—and standing at the center of that river was Jesus Christ.
When the Scriptures became one,
the Scriptures opened.
THE RIVER BENEATH EVERY PAGE
A river possesses a current. It may widen or narrow. It may rush through mountains or slow across quiet plains. At times it disappears beneath the earth, only to emerge again farther downstream. Yet throughout every bend, every hidden place, and every changing landscape, it remains the same river.
So it is with Holy Scripture.
The covenants change.
Kings rise and fall.
Prophets thunder.
Priests minister.
Wisdom instructs.
The apostles proclaim.
The visions of Revelation bring history to its appointed end.
Yet beneath every page runs the same eternal current—the purpose of God to glorify His Son and redeem a people for His name.
Every book enters that river.
Every promise flows within it.
Every symbol draws its meaning from it.
Every path ultimately leads to Christ.
PROVERBS WITHIN THE STORY
It was only after I began seeing this river that the book of Proverbs became an entirely different book to me.
It was no longer merely a collection of practical sayings or moral instruction.
It became a carefully placed chamber within the great house of redemption.
Positioned after the cries of the Psalms and before the warnings of the Prophets, Proverbs stands as the Father’s gracious appeal before judgment falls. It is the quiet voice that pleads before the prophet must thunder. It is wisdom reaching for the heart before rebellion hardens into ruin.
Within its pages the whole story of Scripture quietly echoes.
Its roots stretch backward to Eden.
The two paths placed before the young son are the very paths first set before Adam beneath the trees of the Garden. The promise of the tree of life has not disappeared. It still stands within Proverbs, inviting those who fear the LORD to walk in the way of life rather than the way of death.
Its branches stretch forward as well.
The faithful woman who lifts her voice in the streets anticipates the Bride who will one day descend adorned for her Husband.
The strange woman who whispers in darkness foreshadows Babylon, the great harlot whose seductive promises end in destruction.
The choice confronting the son in Proverbs is ultimately the choice confronting every generation:
Will we receive the voice of Wisdom?
Or will we follow the voice that has echoed since Eden?
The setting changes.
The voices remain.
WISDOM IS A PERSON
This realization transformed my understanding of wisdom itself.
Wisdom is not merely information.
It is not intelligence.
It is not experience.
It is not a collection of successful principles.
Wisdom is first and finally found in a Person.
Before creation spoke its first word, the eternal Son was with the Father.
Through Him all things were made.
In Him all things hold together.
He is the wisdom of God revealed in flesh.
When Solomon speaks of wisdom calling in the streets, we hear more than ancient poetry. We hear an echo that reaches its fullness in Christ, who stood among men calling sinners to Himself.
When Proverbs describes the righteous path, it points beyond every imperfect disciple to the One who walked that path perfectly.
When Proverbs promises life, it prepares us for Him who declared,
“I am the way, the truth, and the life.”
To study Proverbs apart from Christ is to admire the architecture while never entering the house.
He is not merely the greatest example of wisdom.
He is Wisdom incarnate.
READING THE HOUSE OF WISDOM
This conviction shapes every page that follows.
We will not read Proverbs as isolated sayings detached from the rest of Scripture.
Neither will we force Christ into places where He is absent.
Instead, we will allow the entire canon to illuminate the wisdom God has already woven into these inspired words.
We will listen first to Solomon.
We will hear the Father’s appeals.
We will walk the ancient paths.
We will observe the consequences of wisdom and folly.
And all the while we will remember that every faithful father, every righteous path, every warning against folly, every invitation to life, and every glimpse of true wisdom ultimately finds its fulfillment in Jesus Christ.
For He is not only the destination of the river.
He is its source.
Its current.
Its life.
So let us enter this House of Wisdom together. Walk slowly. Listen carefully. Leave behind the hurried pace of the world. Allow the Father to speak. The wisdom found here is older than the mountains, deeper than the seas, more enduring than the kingdoms of men, and still calling today. May we have ears to hear.
Rodney Stewart
Andthentherewassilence.net