I. The Old Testament Writings Video

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II. The Old Testament Writings Transcript

If we are going to Explore Christianity Online together, the first thing we need to talk about is the significance of what is commonly called the Old Testament. The Old Testament is a collection of 39 books that were written before Jesus Christ was born. These 39 books contain historically accurate eye witness testimony about God’s involvement in the first 4,000 years of human history.

In the book of Psalms, chapter 19 verses 7 through 11, a man named David explains his thoughts and feelings about the parts of the Old Testament that were available to the public in his lifetime. This is what he says:

“The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul, the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple, the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart, the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes…more to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold, sweeter than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.

Moreover, by them is your servant warned, in keeping them there is a great reward.”

Discussion Questions:

#1. Do you think of the Old Testament writings the same way David did? (Why or why not?)

The Main Old Testament Lessons

There are two main lessons for the Church and the modern world in the Old Testament writings that I want to share with you right now. These two main lessons answer the question of what human nature is like.

The first lesson is that we were made in the image of God. We believe this because in Genesis chapter 1 verses 26 and 27, the English Standard Version of the Bible says this:

“Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them.”

The second lesson is that human nature has been corrupted by what God considers to be evil. This corruption has compromised our ability to be good to each other, and while some people living in this world are more corrupt than others, all of us are affected by it.

The reason we believe this is because in Psalm chapter 53 verses 2 and 3, the English Standard Version of the Bible says this:

“God looks down from heaven on the children of men to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They have all fallen away, together they have become corrupt, there is none who does good, not even one.”

Discussion Questions:

#1. Have you ever read the New Testament with these two lessons from the Old Testament in mind? (Why or why not?)

#2. Would your understanding of the New Testament change as a result of keeping these two Old Testament lessons in mind? (Why or why not?)

Ignoring the Old Testament

Before moving on to the New Testament, we need to talk briefly about what happened when God’s people stopped listening to the Old Testament. In Leviticus chapter 26 God explained the consequences for ignoring the Old Testament writings and at several different points in the 4,000 year history we can see the people and the political figures of their time (the Kings) struggling with the consequences.

In Leviticus chapter 26 verse 14, the English Standard Version of the Bible tells us that God said “but if you will not listen to me and will not do all these commandments, but break my covenant, then I will do all of this to you…” and then God begins explaining a long list of consequences.

Now here is a question for you to think about. In verse 22 from 1 Kings chapter 22 there was a moment when God wanted to remove a human king from power. In order to have that king removed, God allowed an evil spirit to “be a lying spirit in the mouth” of all his counselors.

Have you ever considered the possibility that there is a lying spirit in the mouth of your spiritual counselors? My reason for asking this question is because the problems people were having in the Old Testament era we are still having today and a lying spirit in the mouth of your spiritual counselors will tell you not to learn from the Old Testament writings.

Conclusion

In conclusion I want to say that the world has not changed much. The problems people had in the Old Testament era are not any different than the problems we are still having in our lives now. God’s solution to this problem has not changed either. This can be seen in two Old Testament Bible passages I want to share with you.

The first passage is Psalm chapter 32 verses 1 and 2, which says this in the English Standard Version of the Bible: “Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.”

The second passage is Isaiah chapter 55 verses 6 and 7, which says this in the English Standard Version of the Bible: “Seek the LORD while he may be found, call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.”

The way to obtain this kind of acceptance from God mentioned in these two Old Testament passages we will look at next time when we introduce the Gospel of Jesus Christ.