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The Purpose of the Old Testament

The Old and New Testaments serve different purposes. The Old Testament is about God's chosen people, the Israelites, and how God deals with them and the pagan nations around them. He gives them laws to follow, famously the Ten Commandments, plus many others, to keep them in the right relationship with him and others. But, because all humans sin, and sin separates us from a holy God (Isaiah 59:2), there had to be atonement for their sins. God commanded animal sacrifices because blood was necessary to atone for sin (Hebrews 9:22). However, God tells us, “It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sin.” Their sins were never fully atoned for, just “carried forward” year after year (Hebrews 10:1-4). The only blood that can fully forgive our sins is the blood of God's only Son, Jesus Christ. He is our perfect “lamb sacrifice” because only he lived a sinless life (Hebrews 4:15); therefore, only he could pay the price for our sins (Romans 6:23).

God's relationship with the Israelites in the Old Testament shows us how seriously he takes sin. Some people say the Old Testament God was more vengeful than the loving and forgiving God of the New Testament. God's tolerance of sin has not softened (Matthew 18:8-9). What has changed is how we are forgiven — only by the blood of Jesus through repentance and baptism (Romans 6:2-8), and how we are punished. The Israelites sometimes saw immediate punishment from God (Exodus 32:19-28, 34, 35; Numbers 21:4-9). God even used pagan nations to punish them. However, in this Christian era of the “New Covenant,” the punishment for our sins (if we are not forgiven by the blood of Jesus), comes when our bodies die, and our eternal soul is judged and punished. However, that does not mean we do not suffer consequences in this life for our bad decisions and behavior. God gives us free will to make choices that have consequences in this life and eternally.

God tells us that “… everything that was written in the past was written to teach us” (Romans 15:4). After Jesus' resurrection, in Luke 24:25-27, he rebuked his disciples for being “slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken. And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he explained to them all that the scriptures said concerning himself.” The Old Testament is full of prophecies that are fulfilled in the New Testament, especially about Jesus. One of the most famous Old Testament passages about Jesus is Isaiah 53, depicting his crucifixion. The Old Testament is necessary for us to understand why only Jesus can save us from our sins.

— Cynthia Clayton

Picture credit:
photo: Julie Marcussen

Scripture links/references are from BibleGateway.com. Unhighlighted scriptures can be looked up at their website.