Five Reasons to Study the Old Testamentby Lisa Kennedy | More from this Blogger 09 Jan 2007 01:59 PM Generally, if someone believes in God they will read and study the New Testament. Yet for some reason many people who believe in God do not have the same desire to study the Old Testament. Sadly, I have often heard people say it is not important to study the Old Testament. Even worse, I have heard people say that the Old Testament is just filled with legends and the stories simply are not true. I have even heard of people who believe in God make those types of remarks about the Old Testament. It IS important to study the Old Testament! Below I have listed five reasons (in no particular order) to study the Old Testament.
All Scripture reference is taken from the English Standard Version (ESV). Relevantchristian tags User Comments  Julie Gentry (5915) 09 Jan 2007 01:08 PMVery good reminder, Lisa! I & II Kings are GREAT ones to study with your boys, if you have them. It's full of deceit, treachery, battles, kindgoms and all that other "boy stuff" ;-).  Lisa Kennedy (4068) 09 Jan 2007 01:11 PMYeah . . . the Old Testament really is filled with tons of exciting stories for kids from Joseph, the youngest brother sold into slavery who eventually became high up in Pharaoh's command, to the slaying of a giant by the boy David, to the walls of Jericho falling down! Nola Redd (7081) 09 Jan 2007 05:02 PMFive great points on studying the Old Testament. When I was a kid, I read and reread Genesis (I could never get past Exodus or Deuteronomy), and I really treasure the stories and lessons found in those early books. I'm working to become more knowledgable about the rest of them, but they help me understand a lot more about the Savior.  mama2riley (24481) 09 Jan 2007 05:28 PMI took an OT survey class in college for my Bible minor and it was one of my all time favorite classes in my 4 yrs of college! The OT is filled with so many important lessons and teaches us so much about God's character and His promises. I know I wouldn't have the same understanding of spiritual things if I hadn't spent time reading and studying it. Thanks for the reminder! meejo (25) 18 Jan 2007 02:35 PMI was not raised religeously. If anything, I was culturally Jewish with just enough Semitic DNA to skip school during Passover and Rosh Hashana. I married a Korean girl and had two children. I wanted to raise them in the environment of faith that I did not have as a child and since the church is the hub of the Korean community, I was baptised into the faith and became active in the church. As a Bible "newbie" though, I had to raise an eyebrow after reading many of the Old Testamant verses. My question is, with so much sex in Genesis, is it something young children should be allowed to read? I was reading Samuel and found it impossible to explain to my little boy why David was ordered to cut off the ends of 100 Philistine penises! (I am writing a story in his website www.benandesther.com about my feeble attempts at plausible explanantion). Any thoughts? Thanks Meejo mama2riley (24481) 18 Jan 2007 03:13 PMGood point meejo...there are definitely parts of the OT that are not for the G-rated crowd that's for sure! I think that as children there are lessons that can defintely be drawn from the OT books, but parents and teachers need to be wise in how that material is presented to children. As a child I remember learning the "stories" and things about God and His people, but never was taught the "gory" details. I don't ever remember my parents reading to me the book of Judges or Sng of Solomon, but I do remember Noah's Ark and Adam and Eve and Jonah as well as the lessons that a child can learn from those parts of the OT. It wasn't until I was older and studying the Bible on my own that I encountered certain books in the OT and was mature enough to understand and learn from them. There are children's versions out there that might be a better option for story time than the actual Scripture at least for the younger ages. Lisa Kennedy (4068) 21 Jan 2007 09:14 PMVery well put mama2riley! I certainly agree that there are parts of the Bible (Old Testament and New Testament - do you want to explain what a Eunuch is to your child?) that are not appropriate for children. Parents and Bible class teachers (and anyone else for that matter) must be careful to present things which are appropriate. As children grow and mature they can continue to learn more about the Bible - including those things which were not appropriate for them at a young age. I think it would be sad to completely ignore the Old Testament just because there are things which are inappropriate for children to read about - there are tons of good stories and lessons which children can (and should) read, even when they are very young. Community Tags bible, christian, New Testament, Old Testament, study Discuss this article
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