Acts 13:13-31

Roots

A lot of christians treat the Bible as if it were two books: the Old Testament and the New Testament. In fact, it is not two books but sixty-six books. In truth it is, and in the mind of God always has been, one book.

Some think that the New Testament is all that counts now. Of course that is their idea, not God’s. Virtually every time the New Testament mentions the scriptures it is talking about the previous 39 books. The things that happened in the New Testament did not just spring from out of nowhere into being. Everything that Christ did and everything that He said was foretold by the Old Testament scriptures.

When Paul stood at Pisidian Antioch to address the people he was not just talking to the Jews. There were also Gentiles present who worshiped God. He went back and began to lay the foundation for his message of the gospel in the Old Testament scriptures. From the choosing of Israel to the time in Egypt to entering the Promised Land to the kings and the line of David; all of this pointed to the coming One. It still does.

I’m not saying that you shouldn’t study the New Testament or that you won’t get anything from the New Testament unless you know the Old Testament. But I am saying that you will get far more from the New Testament if you are familiar with the Old Testament. And I am certainly saying that if you believe the Old Testament no longer is relevant then you are standing in opposition to every New Testament writer.

We like our food microwaved but that isn’t necessarily good for us. If you pick up any book and only read the last third you will have missed a great deal indeed. The Bible is no exception.