Paul tells us that the things that were written aforetime were written for our learning (Rom 15.4). This past week in our Gospel Meeting, Randy Blackaby emphasized the value of the Old Testament in several of his lessons. The fact is that we often neglect the Old Testament and do not see the relevance to what God would have us to know in our own time. The fact is that without the Old Testament, the story of Christ would be that, a story.
The Bible is the only book that contains prophetic statements that have been fulfilled. No other ancient religion has the basis that the life of Christ has. No other great spiritual leader in the world has ever been blessed with thousands of years of preparation by a divine being. Not that can be proven anyway. While there are those who do not believe and who continue to try to find ways to discredit the Bible, God's word stands, just as Christ stated that it would. (Matt 5.18). Without the law, and the prophecies concerning Christ there would be no basis to accept anything except that the Bible would be reduced to another good rule book that might have some benefit for earthly living but would be no different than any other "spiritual discipline".
The unique nature of the Bible however tells us that there is more there than what we may think. There is a richness to the Old Testament text that may never be appreciated unless we spend a lot of time within it's pages seeking to understand those things that are there. Perhaps that text seems confusing with the lists and statements of things, sometimes very repetitively, that some may have a tendency to not spend enough time to see what is being stated. We miss the richness of the word of God by not delving into the events that have been recorded. We can find information on how God has dealt with certain problems in the past and this may help us to understand our own motives and ideas in the greater context of the eventual consequences.
Studying that Old Testament gives us a way to view the outcomes of decisions that were made by many individuals and we can learn from them without the benefit of trial and error, or, making the wrong decision and then having to live with it for the rest of our lives. There are hundreds of examples where individuals were faced with certain decisions that had to be made and by choosing the correct path, serving God, they were blessed and preserved.
We may have a tendency to pass off the Old Testament as being an obscure collection of things that have no bearing on our own lives today. The fact is, if we spend enough time with the Bible, particularly the Old Testament, we may be quite surprised to find that there are many similarities to the problems that folks faced during those times. Much more like us than not, only the technology, and the dispensation of God's love for mankind changed.
Careful study of the Old Testament yields significant gains in learning to understand the teachings of the apostles and Christ in the first century. Having this information makes further Bible Study more exciting and profitable to us spiritually and we may even learn to be truly awed by God as we realize what he has done for us.
TLC