Why All True Born Again Christians Should Want to Read The Old Testament

The Old Testament of the Holy Bible contains 746 pages of historical evidence of the Lord God working on the behalf of those people who love and trust in him. It teaches us of the everlasting promise to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob concerning the Promised Land, which is known as Israel. It teaches us prophecy that is actually promises that God has fore-filled and will keep in the future, especially in the “Last Days”.

The Old Testament teachings point to the New Testament fulfillment in the Lord Jesus Christ and the New Testament teachings teach the followers of Jesus Christ; known as Christian to start preparing for life in the Kingdom of God.

 The New Testament can best be understood only when combined with the teachings of the Old Testament. The Old Testament teachings are foundational to understand the true nature of the Lord God Jesus Christ.

God doesn’t change over time. Both the teachings of the Old Testament and the New Testament teach this absolute factual nature of God Almighty. Remember, who is speaking when reading and studying the Word of God. It is God himself and it is God’s Word that speaks and changes the heart of man. Man cannot ever change even one of the words that God himself has spoken, but man can choose for himself or herself whether to believe in the Word of God or to reject the Word of God.

The Old Testament is an extremely important part of the Word of God, so to understand how God works in his children’s lives; then and now. It is important to remember that the true children of God are those people who have believed and accepted the Son of God Jesus Christ (God who came in the flesh) as their Lord God and Saviour. The Word of God teaches this and much, much more.

The majority of the prophecy is located in the Old Testament, while there is still plenty of prophecy also located in the New Testament, too. The only way to fully understand prophecy teaching; the student of the bible must study both the Old Testament prophecies and the New Testament prophecies, so to see and understand the whole of the prophecy.

The Lord God Jesus Christ demonstrated himself to us that the Old Testament is a valid and important part of his Word, when he read from the Book of Esaias (Isaiah) as taught in Luke 4:18-19

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised; To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.” Then Jesus stopped reading and closed the book and sat down.

This teaching in the Book of Luke demonstrates the importance that Jesus Christ himself gave to the teachings of the Old Testament; for He “READ” the prophecy that He came to fore-fill as first taught in the Old Testament Book of Isaiah 61: 1-2

“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord;”

The second portion of Isaiah 61:2 declares the vengeance of God, however the Lord Jesus Christ was not come to deliver the vengeance of God’s wrath upon a world of unrepentant sinners: He was come as a gift of Salvation to all who will believe upon Him. This is the reason that the Lord Jesus stopped when and where He did in Isaiah 61:2.

The bottom line regarding the Old Testament is this; The Lord God Jesus Christ himself read from the Old Testament scriptures in order to teach a lesson concerning New Testament events. All born-again Christians are in fact followers of Jesus Christ; and as followers we learn our direction from our leader, our king and our God – Jesus Christ.

Since our Lord God read from the Old Testament, then it is thereby important for us to also read and study the Old Testament along with the New Testament. Both the Old and the New Testament is the Word of God and here is just one more teaching from the Word of God as found in the Book of Revelation when considering the importance of prophecy and God’s Word:

Revelation 19:10 “And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”

The importance of this scripture is this; it further goes to prove the credibility that the Old Testament is as much the Word of God; as the New Testament is the Word of God. Revelation 19:10 “Jesus is the spirit of prophecy” and the Old Testament is the Book of the Prophets as the majority of God’s Prophets answered their God given calling during Old Testament times and the prophecies that God called them to deliver are recorded in the books of the Old Testament.

The prophets were specially anointed people whom were chosen by God Almighty; to deliver His prophecy to the people in those times as well as in our times. The prophecy is from God, because only God knows the future with 100 percent accuracy: 100 percent of the time; and without any error. The people were only the instruments that God had chosen to use; to carryout His prophetic plan. What an honor it is to be an instrument in the hand of God Almighty – Jesus Christ!

If you have never read the Old Testament before, then there is no time better than now to start.  The New Testament will come to life like never before; when you have obtained and retained every word of God.

Just remember what our Lord Jesus Christ taught us in Luke 4:4 “It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God”.

And, always remember that the Holy Bible: Both the Old Testament and the New Testament is God’s communication tool, much like a cell phone – only this cell phone originates from Heaven and communicates directly with your heart.

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All lesson plans (including this lesson plan) uses the King James Version Bible to purpose the study of the Holy Scriptures. The Strong’s Concordance and the Little Book of Where to Find It in the Bible A to Z Resource is also being used to prepare the lesson plans.

If students of the Holy Scriptures are using any other Bible Translations, then the scriptures will differ according to the translation type of Holy Bible that the student is using. For the purpose of this and other studies and lesson that are being published by Nelson Doyle; it is suggested that students use the same type of Bible Translation (The King James Version) to prevent any unnecessary confusion in differing translation types.

To my brothers and sisters in our Lord Jesus Christ;

Peace and Love and Grace; be with you all. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ: Amen.

Other Articles by Nelson Doyle:

Old Testament Reveals (Part 1): From Noah’s Ark to God’s Ark From Wrath

The Names of God by George W. Knight: A Book Review

The Importance of the Ten Commandments in Modern Times

The Holy Bible Does Not Support Gay Marriages

The Greatest Book Ever Written