Brian Onstead

Anyone who has a Bible, or who has ever opened one, knows that the Bible has an Old Testament and a New Testament. The Old Testament is a collection of God’s special revelation to man written through men from about 1500 BC to 400 BC. The New Testament is also a collection of God’s special revelation to man through appointed men that come to us after Christ’s life, death and resurrection, and was written in a much shorter time span (40 AD to 95 AD). It is part of the same divine book from the same divine author, namely, God. 

Now, we may understand more readily the relevance of the New Testament. It tells us about Jesus and how he lived a perfect life of righteousness and died a penalty-bearing death in the place of sinners so that all who simply trust in him may be fully forgiven and go to heaven for free. It also instructs Christians how they are to live in following Jesus. But what about the Old Testament? We may see the relevance of the Psalms that express some of the deep pain and sorrow that we go through. We may like the cool stories such as David defeating Goliath. But what about, say, the Book of Leviticus with all the lengthy and detailed instructions for offering up animal sacrifices, how the priests are to dress and perform their duties and clean and unclean animals? What about the Book of Joshua where Israel comes into the land of Canaan to defeat its people and inherit the land? And isn’t there a prophet named Obadiah?

Well, what if I told you that the Old Testament is about the same thing that the New Testament is about — that it is about Jesus. But you don’t have to take my word for it. Jesus himself said this! Luke’s Gospel reports that after Jesus’ resurrection, he was walking on a road to a town called Emmaus with a couple of his disciples. On that road trip he said to them that the entire Old Testament is about his sufferings and subsequent glories. He then goes on to explain from Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms (this would be the entire Old Testament) the things concerning himself. I would have loved to have been there and heard Jesus’ perfect explanation of himself from the Old Testament Scriptures. But while we do not have Jesus’ explanation to those two disciples, we do have the whole Bible that paints enough of a picture for us to see Jesus in it. It is kind of like some of those spotted pictures that at first look like nothing, but when you stare at it long enough suddenly the picture emerges to your eyes. This is the way it is with the Old Testament. All the sacrifices without blemish point to Jesus who offered up himself as the sacrifice to atone for sin. The priests point to Jesus as the one who would offer up the sacrifice to God on our behalf. Moses points to Jesus as the prophet who is to come, the one who leads God’s people out of their old life of slavery in a kingdom of darkness, and the mediator who intercedes for the people so that God’s wrath is averted. The serpents lifted up on a pole point to Jesus as the one who was lifted up to die as a curse in order to save all who look to him from the sting of the serpent, who is the devil. Joshua (whose name means Jesus) points to Jesus bringing us to inherit a better country, that is, a heavenly one. David defeating Goliath points to Jesus in that Jesus, the greater king, defeated our greatest enemy (the devil and death) by defeating it in his weakness, so that we, who are God’s spiritual army, would be freed to go out and do spiritual battle against forces of darkness. There is so much more that can be said, but space fails me to say more. May you see Jesus more clearly in the entire Bible, including the Old Testament! 

(Brian Onstead is the pastor at Trinity Bible Church in Powell.)