Introduction to the Old Testament

Why This Matters

Many of us know pieces of the Old Testament.

We know about Adam and Eve in the garden. We know about Noah and the flood. We know about Abraham, Moses, David, Daniel, Jonah, and maybe a handful of prophets. We know Psalm 23. We know the Ten Commandments. We know the story of creation, the exodus, the giant named Goliath, the fiery furnace, and the lion’s den.

But sometimes we know the pieces better than we know the story.

In the first installment of this series, we stepped back and asked what kind of book we are holding when we open the Bible. We saw that Scripture is not just a book we quote when we need encouragement. It is the unfolding story of God, His creation, His promises, His people, His redemption, and His reign through King Jesus.

Now we are stepping into the first major movement of that story.

The Old Testament can feel large, ancient, complicated, and hard to follow. Some parts inspire us. Some parts confuse us. Some parts feel close to everyday life, while others feel distant from our world.

But the Old Testament is not a random collection of ancient religious writings. It teaches us who God is, who we are, what sin broke, why man cannot save himself, and why the world needed the promised Savior.

It begins with paradise lost through Adam.

It moves toward paradise found through Jesus.

And between those two realities, we watch the Sovereign Creator patiently, faithfully, and lovingly carry forward His plan to redeem mankind back to Himself.

What We Are Reading

The Old Testament contains thirty-nine books in the Protestant arrangement of the Bible. These books were written across many centuries, mostly in Hebrew, with some portions in Aramaic. They include law, history, poetry, wisdom, prophecy, genealogy, covenant instruction, worship songs, laments, visions, promises, warnings, and stories of deeply flawed people through whom God kept working.

If we are going to read the Old Testament well, we need to understand both its message and its makeup.

The genres matter because each section teaches the story of faith in a different way.

The Law, also called the Torah, includes Genesis through Deuteronomy. These books give us the foundation: creation, image-bearing, sin, promise, covenant, sacrifice, deliverance, holiness, priesthood, and the presence of God among His people.

The historical books, Joshua through Esther, show covenant life in the real world. We see Israel enter the land, struggle under the judges, rise under kings, divide into two kingdoms, fall into exile, and return by God’s mercy.

The poetry and wisdom books, Job through Song of Songs, bring the story into the human heart. They teach us how to suffer, pray, worship, repent, trust, grieve, rejoice, love, and wrestle with life under God.

The Major Prophets, Isaiah through Daniel, confront sin, announce judgment, and enlarge the hope of redemption.

The Minor Prophets, Hosea through Malachi, are not minor because they are unimportant. They are shorter writings, but they carry a powerful message of warning, mercy, justice, restoration, and hope.

These sections are not merely literary categories. They are different ways God teaches the same story of faith: what was lost through sin, what man cannot repair, what God promised to restore, and why Jesus is the fulfillment toward whom the whole story moves.

Where It Fits in the Story of Faith

The Old Testament begins with God.

Before Abraham, before Israel, before Moses, before David, before the temple, before the prophets, and before the nation, there is the Sovereign Creator.

God speaks, and creation comes into being. The world does not belong to man first. It belongs to God. Everything that exists depends on Him.

And within that good creation, God makes man in His image.

That means man is not merely another creature. Man is created to live in fellowship with God and to represent His rule within creation. God made the world, filled it with life, and gave man a place of responsibility within it. Man was called to help rule God’s world under God’s authority, reflecting His character, wisdom, goodness, and care.

Eden shows us the relationship God desired.

God and man in fellowship.

Creation ordered under God’s good rule.

Work without curse.

Life without death.

Communion without shame.

But sin broke what God made good. Through Adam, paradise was lost. Sin separated man from God and from the goodness that comes from living in His presence. Death entered. Shame entered. Blame entered. Pain, toil, violence, corruption, and exile followed.

Man was lost.

And the Old Testament teaches us again and again that we cannot find our way back to God by ourselves.

But God did not walk away.

That is the mercy running through the whole Old Testament. God did not abandon His creation. He did not leave man in exile without hope. Because of His great love, He began revealing His redemptive plan.

He called Abraham out of an idolatrous world. He made promises to him. He formed a people through him. He gave them law, covenant, sacrifice, priests, kings, prophets, warnings, discipline, mercy, and hope.

And He did not do this because He loved only one nation.

The Old Testament is focused on Israel, but it is not limited to Israel. It is the story of the Creator of all mankind working through one people to bring salvation to all peoples.

God told Abraham:

"I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." (Genesis 12:3 ESV).

That promise matters.

Israel was chosen for the sake of the nations. Through Israel, God would reveal Himself, teach justice and mercy, preserve the promise, and bring the Savior for all peoples, nations, and languages.

How the Old Testament Story Moves

The Old Testament begins in paradise and ends in waiting.

In Genesis, God creates a good world, makes man in His image, and places him in a garden. But man rebels, sin enters the world, and paradise is lost. Still, even in judgment, God speaks hope. The seed of the woman will bruise the serpent’s head.

Then the story follows the spread of sin. Cain kills Abel. Violence fills the earth. The flood comes. Nations rise. Babel shows mankind reaching upward in pride. The world is broken, and man cannot heal it.

Then God calls Abram.

Abram is not introduced as a polished hero. He comes from an idolatrous world, and his own story includes failure, fear, and compromise. But God works through flawed people because redemption rests on God’s faithfulness, not human perfection.

Through Abraham’s family, God begins forming a people. Through Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph, the promise continues. Through Moses, God rescues Israel from slavery in Egypt. The exodus becomes one of the great redemption pictures in Scripture: God hears, God remembers, God acts, and God delivers.

At Sinai, God gives Israel the law. The law teaches them how to live as His covenant people. It teaches holiness, justice, mercy, worship, sacrifice, and life before a holy God. It also teaches them, and us, that law can reveal sin, but it cannot cure the human heart.

Paul later says:

"So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith." (Galatians 3:24 ESV).

The law was never meant to be the final Savior. It was a guardian. It trained. It exposed. It pointed forward.

As the story continues, Israel enters the land, but the people struggle to trust God. Judges rise and fall. The people want rescue but often resist God’s rule. Kings come, and some lead faithfully, but many lead the people deeper into sin. David becomes the great king, and God promises that his throne will matter far beyond his own lifetime. Yet even David, the man after God’s own heart, reminds us that the best human king is still not enough.

The temple is built, and God’s presence among His people becomes central. But the temple also reminds us of the distance sin creates. Sacrifice must be offered. Priests must mediate. Blood must be shed. Sin cannot simply be ignored.

Again and again, sacrifice teaches us that sin brings death and that forgiveness requires God’s provision. But the sacrifices had to be offered continually because man continually sinned. They pointed beyond themselves toward a better sacrifice still to come.

Israel and Judah eventually show what happens when people stop seeking God. Idolatry grows. Injustice spreads. Worship becomes hollow. The prophets warn them, plead with them, call them back, and announce judgment.

Then exile comes.

The land is lost. The temple is destroyed. The people are carried away. It is a national disaster, but it is also a spiritual picture. Sin separates. Rebellion brings death. Life away from God leads to captivity.

But even in exile, God remembers.

He preserves a remnant. He brings His people back. He keeps the promise alive. Yet the return from exile is not the full restoration. The people come back to the land, but the deeper need remains.

They still need a better King.

They still need a true Mediator.

They still need a final sacrifice.

They still need cleansed hearts.

They still need paradise restored.

And so the Old Testament ends with waiting.

Major Themes to Watch

One of the major themes of the Old Testament is God’s sovereignty. He is not one tribal god among many. He is the Creator of heaven and earth. He rules over creation, nations, kings, empires, exile, return, and history itself.

Another major theme is man as God’s image bearer. Even after sin, human life remains sacred because man was made in the image of God. But the image is now carried in a broken world, by broken people who need redemption.

Covenant is another major thread. God relates to man through promise and commitment. He makes promises to Abraham. He forms Israel through covenant. He teaches His people what faithfulness looks like. And when they are unfaithful, His own faithfulness keeps the story from ending.

Sacrifice is everywhere. From the covering of shame in Eden, to the Passover lamb, to the tabernacle, to the temple, the Old Testament teaches that sin is costly. Innocent blood stands in the place of the guilty. Yet the repeated sacrifices also teach us that something greater is needed.

Priesthood and mediation are also central. Sinful man cannot casually walk into the presence of a holy God. Someone must stand between. Someone must represent the people before God and represent God’s instruction to the people.

Kingship matters too. God’s people need righteous rule. They need a king who will lead them in justice, mercy, truth, and faithfulness. But Israel’s kings often fail, and even the best kings leave us longing for a better Son of David.

The prophets keep calling the people back to God. They confront idolatry, injustice, empty worship, and hardened hearts. But they also announce hope: a new covenant, a new heart, a restored people, a coming King, a suffering servant, an outpouring of the Spirit, and a kingdom that will not be destroyed.

And running beneath all of this is the theme of redemption.

God keeps moving toward man, even when man keeps moving away from God.

How It Points to King Jesus

The Old Testament points to Jesus, but not by turning every detail into a hidden code.

It points to Him through promise, pattern, longing, failure, sacrifice, priesthood, kingship, covenant, prophecy, exile, return, and hope.

Adam shows us paradise lost. Jesus brings paradise found.

Abraham receives the promise that all families of the earth will be blessed.

Moses speaks of a prophet to come.

The sacrifices prepare us to understand the Lamb of God.

The priesthood prepares us to understand mediation.

David’s throne prepares us to understand the promised King.

The prophets prepare us to understand judgment, mercy, the suffering servant, the new covenant, the new heart, and the kingdom of God.

Daniel gives one of the clearest pictures of the coming reign of the Messiah:

"I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him." (Daniel 7:13 ESV).

Then Daniel says:

"And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed." (Daniel 7:14 ESV).

That vision is bigger than Israel alone.

The promised One receives a kingdom for all peoples, nations, and languages. This is the Creator’s heart for mankind. God was not content to save one small nation while the rest of the world remained outside His mercy. He chose one nation through whom He would bless all nations.

Jesus is the promised Savior.

He is the true Son of David.

He is the better Mediator.

He is the final sacrifice.

He is the Son of Man who reigns.

He is the One through whom paradise lost becomes paradise found.

How to Read the Old Testament Well

We should read the Old Testament patiently.

If we rush through it only looking for quick moral lessons, we will miss its depth. If we read David only as a hero to imitate, we may miss how badly Israel needed a better King. If we read the sacrifices only as ancient rituals, we may miss how they teach us the cost of sin and the mercy of propitiation, the truth that God Himself provides a way for guilt to be dealt with and fellowship to be restored. If we read the prophets only as predictors of future events, we may miss their urgent call to repentance, justice, faithfulness, and hope.

We should read the Law as covenant formation.

We should read the historical books as covenant life in the real world.

We should read poetry and wisdom as the inner life of faith.

We should read the prophets as covenant warnings and hope-filled promises.

We should read the whole Old Testament as Scripture that teaches us the story of faith.

It shows us who God is.

It shows us who we are.

It shows us what sin does.

It shows us why man cannot save himself.

It shows us that God remembers.

It shows us that God pursues.

It shows us that God provides.

And it trains our eyes to recognize Jesus when He comes.

What We Carry With Us

The Old Testament teaches us that we were made for more than survival. We were made for God.

We were made to live in His presence, reflect His character, and represent His rule within His creation. But sin separated us from Him, and separation from God means separation from life, goodness, peace, and the communion we were created to enjoy.

The Old Testament does not flatter us. It tells the truth about us.

We cannot build our way back to Eden.

We cannot legislate our way back to God.

We cannot crown enough kings, offer enough sacrifices, win enough battles, or gather enough wisdom to restore what sin destroyed.

Salvation must come from God.

And that is why the Old Testament is such good news. It does not merely show us the problem. It shows us the God who refused to abandon man to the problem. He promised. He called. He rescued. He taught. He warned. He disciplined. He forgave. He preserved. He remembered. He prepared.

The Old Testament begins with paradise lost through Adam, but it keeps moving toward paradise found through Jesus.

I’ve also created a companion video for this installment, where we walk through the Old Testament more conversationally and trace how its law, history, poetry, wisdom, and prophecy all fit into the larger story of faith.

Click this YouTube link to watch the YouTube video: https://youtu.be/YGjzDVb968w

As we sit with this today, maybe the Old Testament invites us to slow down before we rush ahead. It asks us to watch God work across centuries. It asks us to see His patience with flawed people, His grief over sin, His faithfulness to promise, and His love for all nations.

And maybe it asks us to remember that the story of faith has never been about man finding his own way back to God.

It has always been about the God who came looking for us.

If you’re willing, share your reflections or questions in the comments so we can learn and walk this journey together.