Why I Think You'll love the Old Testament
5/22/2024
Written by: Christina Gregory
It seems to me that this is an unpopular opinion, but I love the Old Testament and it’s my mission to help others love it too! My heart breaks a little each time someone tells a new believer to just start in the New Testament. Definitely read the New Testament too, but don’t miss what God has for us in the Old!
Maybe it’s because I can’t relate to how it feels to come face to face with our Savior. To witness miracles at His fingertips. I can’t imagine the persecution His earliest followers faced or the holes left in their hearts when He ascended back to heaven. But the scandals of the Old Testament are better than the Facebook drama from my hometown! Maybe it was my summer breaks spent watching Days of Our Lives with my mom that helps me relate.
My soap opera-like imagination isn’t all in vain though. It has changed the way I read the Word and challenges the way I pass through short, lesser known stories in the Bible. After I read an entry, I will spend some time reading through commentaries on apps like the Blue Letter Bible and Enduring Word which expand on cultural norms and reference other relevant scriptures. And then I just let myself daydream and put the story in my own tone, and then I reflect on two questions:
Why did God think we needed this scripture?
Where is Jesus in this scripture?
Here are 2 stories from the Old Testament stories I want to encourage you to read that rival any daytime drama!
Abigail
In 1 Samuel 25 we meet a lesser known heroine, Abigail. She is the wife of a rich, horrible man who offends the wrong king-to-be, David. Abigail's discernment, humility and boldness saves her entire household when she intercepts David’s mission to seek retaliation on her husband. Enough bread, meat and wine to feed his entire army, plus a sincere, flattering apology is all it takes for Abigail to diffuse this situation. This story has a twist at the ending that you’ll have to read for yourself!
Why did God think we needed this scripture?
This story creates controversy because it seemingly contradicts submission. But I think true submission means dying to self and Abigail did just that when she approached 400 angry men and shouldered her husband's error. Submission isn’t about biting your tongue. Sometimes it’s saying “Here’s a bunch of food. I’m sorry my husband was a fool.”
Where is Jesus in this scripture?
David’s destiny as king does not grant him immunity from his decisions. And ultimately every decision David made moved us either closer to or further away from our coming Savior, as Jesus came from the line of David. David acting on his anger towards a stingy drunk would have implications affecting generations upon generations to come. Some believe Luke 12:13-21, a parable from Jesus, is about Nabal, Abigail's husband. Verse 15 says: “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”
Esther
Most people know of Esther since she gets an entire book in the Bible, but I think it’s under utilized! Esther becomes queen after King Ahasuerus gets grumpy one drunken night and has his wife killed. The King’s right hand man, Haman, is on a power trip after his recent promotion and suggests that they kill all of the Jews all because a man named Mordecia won’t bow to him. Plot twist - Mordecia is Esther’s uncle! That’s right, the queen is also a Jew! Esther goes before the King, the same man who had his last wife killed, in a brave attempt to persuade him to spare her people! And thanks to the King having a bad night of sleep, Haman’s evil was discovered and he was hung in the same gallows he had built for the Jewish genocide.
Why did God think we needed this scripture?
This is another controversial story because God is not mentioned in the book of Esther at all. But He’s there. And I truly think that is a lesson in itself. God works in the lives of people who don’t even know Him for the good of His Kingdom.
Where is Jesus in this scripture?
In the same way Esther petitioned for the King to spare her people, I imagine Jesus petitioning for us, His people, to God the Father. Jesus’s sacrifice opened the door for us to be able to approach God ourselves. Hebrews 4:16 says: “Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”
I hope these short recaps give you an appetite to explore what God has preserved, ordained and orchestrated for us in the Old Testament. These stories are just as much about securing our salvation as those found in the New Testament. Jesus was present and active in every story from Genesis 1:1 through Revelations 22:21.