7 Reasons the Old Testament is Still Relevant Today We cannot do without the beginning of God’s Word. By Diane M. Hoffmann, B.th., M.Th., Ph.D./Th.

 

7 Reasons the Old Testament is Still Relevant Today

We cannot do without the beginning of God’s Word.

By Diane M. Hoffmann, B.th., M.Th., Ph.D./Th.

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Unbeknown to many, in the Bible, there is no cut-off between the Old Testament and the New. When Jesus came to this earth, there was only the Old Testament from which Jesus read, studied, and then taught, preached and healed throughout the land of Israel.

Some say that the Old Testament was done away when the New Testament came in. Others say that some portions of it became irrelevant. Many believe that we no longer need to read the thirty-nine books of the ancient scriptures which make up almost two-thirds of the Word of God.

But how can anyone do away with history or any part of God’s Word in history? How can we understand the other third of any book without the first major portion? And how can we omit the references of Jesus to the Old Testament? Following are seven good reasons why the Old Testament is still relevant today.

The Bible is One Unified Book

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The Word of God is more than just any book. It is deep, much deeper than the oceans that were created by God, underneath which are joined together the continents of the old and the new lands. History cannot be separated. The Word of God is the history of His Creation from Genesis to Revelation.

It is clear from the words of Jesus (who is God in the flesh), that He “did not come to destroy the law but to fulfill it” (Matthew 5:17.) He declared that right at the beginning of His ministry. To emphasize this even more, He then said that not one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled (v.18).

(Bible quotations are from the King James Version).

The Old Testament is Our Schoolmaster

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Corroborating with the words of Jesus, Paul says: “Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.” (Romans 3:31). When we read these words – and the words of the many other writers in the Bible, we want to go back to the old law and read more of the background history. The New Testament is the explanation of the Old.

How could we understand the new covenant that God instituted with His people the Jews in Jeremiah 31:31, if we didn’t have the records of the prophets who wrote about it? How could we understand that the law was our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ so that we might be justified by faith (Galatians 3:24.)

The New Testament is Connected to the Old

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Not only do the words of Jesus connect the Old Testament and the New, but He Himself is the connection between the two covenants. The book of Hebrews is all about Christ and His connection to the Old Testament. The first and second verses of the book written around 64 A.D. establish that right away: “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets” (Old Testament) “hath in these last days” (New Testament), “spoken unto us by his Son…”

We cannot understand these things without the relevancy and truths of the Old Testament. There is a relationship between the two testaments in that the Old Testament is fulfilled by the New Testament through a permanent history.

There is a Continuous Thread of Redemption

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Redemption announced in the old writings is realized in the new. The promises need to be read in the Old Testament in order to be understood in the New. Paul preached the gospel from the existing Bible of his time, i.e.: the Old Testament.

The thread of redemption runs through every book of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. It is the history of a people chosen to carry that redemptive grace to the right moment in time. It is the history of a people keeping the hidden truth within the patterns of the feasts and ceremonies.

Both Testaments are Perfectly Comparable

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The story of redemption that begins in the first book of the Old Testament is completed in the last book of the New Testament. For instance, in Genesis Satan makes his entrance, communion with God is broken, paradise is lost, the curse begins, the first tears are seen, the first conflicts are experienced, heaven and earth become old.

But in Revelation Satan meets his doom, fellowship with God is re-established, paradise is regained, the curse is broken, tears are no more, final victory is achieved, heaven and earth are renewed.

Walking Through the Old Testament 

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Throughout the Old Testament we see that God made all things work together in spite of the failure of His people. We see how the stage for the necessity for redemption was created. We see how the plan of God was accomplished through one individual, then a family, then a nation.

Each book of the Old Testament shows the development of God’s plan of redemption through the Ages right up to the time of the final redemption accomplished on the Cross. Take away the Old Testament and we cannot maintain a true understanding of the prophesied Saviour.

Seeing the Relevancy of the Books

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Each book has the story of God’s work in and upon mankind, with its accounts of the relentless results of sin as it also applies to us today. From the law (the Torah), to the historical books of Joshua, the Judges and the Kings, to the prophets and the poetry books, every volume shows the proof that man cannot live righteously before a righteous and holy God.

Only because of the heart of God and His redemptive plan did history take the turn it did at the end of what we now know as the Old Testament. Man’s experience then did what conviction for sin does for man today: it causes all to feel the need for deliverance and to call on the name of the Saviour, who is returning to earth soon to establish His Kingdom on earth.

The Relevancy of the Old Testament

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When God came to earth in human form, time merely continued from B.C. into A.D. In the Jewish calendar we are now in the year 5777. At God’s perfect timing The Saviour (Messiah) came to fulfill the plan of redemption and bring the new dispensation of grace, by which man was forgiven of sin through faith and belief in Christ’ death on the Cross. Through His blood we now can live righteously before the Holy God.

“All Scripture is the Word of God and is given by inspiration of God, being profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works” (2 Timothy 3:16-17.)

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Diane M. Hoffmann, author of “24 Hot Potatoes in the Church Today,” has been in the Christian ministry since 1981. In addition to books, Diane has written booklets, e-books, tracts and articles on Christian literature and theology, and also books and articles about business, communication and health.