Understanding Scripture
When I first became a believer, the Old Testament was hard for me to understand. And I can even admit to this day, almost a decade after I have placed my faith in Jesus Christ, the Old Testament is still often confusing, at first I struggled with understanding why I needed to study it. After all we are no longer under the old covenant restrictions so why should we still be studying something that at first glance, no longer is applicable? The answer to this question is quite simple. We are no longer bound to the 10 Commandments and the sacrificial law that is prevalent in the Old Testament, however the Old Testament points to Jesus Christ and laid out the situations that the Messiah would accomplish. I once had it described to me this way, “The Old Testament points to Jesus Christ, while the New Testament shows how Jesus Christ completed the prophecies in the Old Testament.”
The entirety of the Bible shows how God has been in control of the world, its actions, the rise and fall of nations, and ultimately the plan for salvation from the very beginning. There is nothing that has taken place that has surprised God because He is in control of it all. It is for this reason that we must not only study the New Testament, but the Bible in its entirety. In his book, Experiencing the Cross, Henry Blackaby describes our Biblical knowledge this way, “His Word is not simply principles or concept to increase your head knowledge, but a vehicle for your relationship with the living God, a personal encounter that anchors His truth in the center of your being, equipping and encouraging you to live it from your heart.” To have a better understanding of God, then we must know His Word; to know His Word, we must study it.
That is my goal for today, I want to point out some of the Old Testament scriptures that have been completed in the New Testament. We simply don’t have the time to thoroughly discuss each and every one, after all there are 109 separate and distinct prophecies in the Old Testament regarding the first coming of the Messiah. Maybe you have seen these verses and the responses found in the New Testament. This list should hopefully allow you to view the Old Testament in a new way and hopefully you find yourself encouraged to read through the Old Testament again and see it in a new light.
The first set of scripture that I want to discuss is one that regards the Messiah’s place of birth. In the Old Testament, the description of the Messiah’s birth can be found in Micah 5:2, “But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Too little to be among the clans of Judah, From you One will come forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His times of coming forth are from long ago, From the days of eternity.” Here we see that God is stating that from Bethlehem will come from God a ruler who was there from long ago and will rule for eternity. We see in Matthew 2:1 that this is where Jesus Christ was indeed born, “Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem,”
The entirety of Isaiah 53 is a chapter that is devoted to discussing the Messiah and what He would go through on earth. I encourage you to read this chapter and then go through the gospels and see how Jesus Christ has fulfilled it. One example is Isaiah 53:4-6, “Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. 6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” In this passage we see that God will bring about one who will be a sin bearer for the rest of the world. This was answered in 1 Peter 2:24, “24 and He Himself brought our sins in His body up on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live for righteousness; by His wounds you were healed.”
The Old Testament even describes the exaltation at the right hand of God that Jesus Christ has accomplished. “The Lord says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.”” Psalm 110:1. Mark talks about Jesus sitting at the right hand of God in Mark 16:19, “19 After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God.” Mark 16:19.
As I have already mentioned, there are 109 separate prophecies regarding the first coming of Jesus Christ. However, the Old Testament does not only describe events that the Messiah would need to accomplish. In the pages of the Old Testament are also descriptions of historical events that have happened recently. God through the Old Testament even reveals how Israel would come back in a single day to be recognized by the international community at large.
“Before she was in labor, she delivered; Before her pain came, she gave birth to a boy. 8 Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Can a land be born in one day? Can a nation be given birth all at once? As soon as Zion was in labor, she also delivered her sons.” Isaiah 66:7-8.
May 14th 1948, the world came to a screeching stop when the little nation of Israel was born. After almost 2,000 years, the Jewish people were once again in their homeland under their own flag. In a single day a nation was born. The neighboring nations immediately invaded, their desire was clear: to kill the peaceful Jews. However, God granted an Israeli victory.
Even recently I have started a study on the minor prophets and have seen how the Old Testament points to the New Testament. Hosea chapter 2 describes how the Jewish nation will chase after anything but God, “Upon her children also I will have no mercy, because they are children of whoredom. 5 For their mother has played the whore; she who conceived them has acted shamefully. For she said, ‘I will go after my lovers, who give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink.’ 6 Therefore I will hedge up her way with thorns, and I will build a wall against her, so that she cannot find her paths. 7 She shall pursue her lovers but not overtake them, and she shall seek them but shall not find them. Then she shall say, ‘I will go and return to my first husband, for it was better for me then than now.’ 8 And she did not know that it was I who gave her the grain, the wine, and the oil, and who lavished on her silver and gold, which they used for Baal” Hosea 2:4-8 we see this taking place now as many Jews deny that Jesus is the Messiah. However, as we see in the end of the passage, there will come a day when they will return to God.
I hope these verses have given you a chance to see how the Old Testament is still as prevalent today and why it needs to be studied along with the New Testament. If we wish to know God more fully, we need to understand all of His Word, we cannot be focusing on the New Testament and ignore the Old Testament. The Bible in its entirety shows us how God is in control even now.
See the truth and encourage one another,
Alex