Loving the Old Testament

By Chelsy Massa

You know what the best kind of joke is? 

An inside joke. When you tell the story to someone outside, the jokes seem weird and not funny at all, but they have you and your friend on the floor with sore ribs and tear-filled eyes. 

You know what the best kind of joke is? 

An inside joke.

I have two friends: Mandy, one of my closest friends since the 8th grade, and Kayla, my friend since I was born (we’re cousins). We have so many inside jokes and references that it can be awkward just to be around us. You can ask my husband, who I often have to provide context for jokes, stories, or even a simple phrase. When Konnor gets it, he can laugh with understanding. 

Now, this is only barely adjacent to the relationship between the Old and New Testaments. We can read the New Testament and gain a profound understanding of God. 

However, we can get an even richer understanding when we read and love the Old Testament just as much. All of the New Testament writers were Jewish, except for Luke, who wrote the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts. This is an important detail, for when they write, they do so with the Old Testament in mind. Even Jesus, when we quote scripture, quotes from the Old Testament. Paul himself was a Pharisee, meaning he had memorized the first five books of the Old Testament, known as the Pentateuch. 

It’s not enough to just read the footnotes of the Old Testament. It is essential for us to study the Old Testament…

The Old Testament serves as the foundation for the New Testament. The disciples' hope in receiving the Messiah is a generational promise they have been waiting for to be fulfilled for centuries. A promise that is written all over the Old Testament. It’s not enough to just read the footnotes of the Old Testament. It is essential for us to study the Old Testament, so when we read references like: 

“But as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, 'You shall be holy, for I am holy.” (1 Peter 1:15-16) We can understand that Peter is referring to the Levitical law, which is the holy code given to a set-apart people delivered and chosen by God through many covenants we read in the Pentateuch. The Pentateuch is the scriptures that center on the covenant. 

Or like Romans 10 where Pauls says, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” (Romans 10:17) and then goes on to reference three different Old Testament books, one from Psalm 19:4, Deuteronomy 32:21 and Isaiah 65:1. All three show prophetic messages to Israel reminding them to obey God’s word. The role of the Prophets is to give instruction, warnings, and reminders of Israel’s responsibility to their covenant with God. Paul takes these words and reminds both Jewish believers and Gentile believers of God’s word, which was and still is timeless. 

“Paul takes these words and reminds both Jewish believers and Gentile believers of God’s word, which was and still is timeless.”

Or for our last example, when Peter quotes David in Acts 2 saying, “The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool” (Acts 2:34b-35), recognizing the Messianic proclamation here in Psalm 110:1. 

When we read these parts of the Old Testament in their original contexts, we get a better understanding of the context most of the NT writers are coming from. Not only do we get a much deeper, richer, and more intimate knowledge of God Himself. We also understand God, who inspired Moses to write Deuteronomy, and who, in turn, inspired Paul to quote it in Romans. We know David’s story in 1 & 2 Samuel, and then again in Psalm 110, and how it was God’s heart that David was after. David’s story and lineage are essential to the history of Israel and the lineage of Christ. We understand that God’s inspiration in Leviticus and the call to be holy was always intended to be fulfilled by the Helper dwelling within us. 

The Old Testament is hard to read, and it feels foreign to us. It's because it is foreign to us. We do not live in the ancient world, nor do most of us hold a Jewish background. Yet, I promise it is worth seeing God in the Old Testament that we may read the New Testament with greater affection for our God. Remember the bible is about God, how God has, is, and will move in the history of His chosen people. We are not the hero of the story, but the minor character who gets saved by Him. Let both the Old and New Testaments move us to see the story of the faithful God who always keeps His covenant. Let’s make reading the bible holistically create a deeper worship in us. 

“Yet, I promise it is worth seeing God in the Old Testament that we may read the New Testament with greater affection for our God.”