Old Testament is Relevant Today!

It is interesting that in this day and time we have most want to throw out some if not all of Bible

Modern perception of the Old Testament among the professing Christian world

Old ~ outdated; for an ancient people

New for us and everyone else;

Two different sets of writings by the same God (who does not change)

Doesn’t make sense

By looking at the New Testament today we will show that the Old Testament is relevant

The difference between the Old Covenant and Old Testament

Caveat
Originally called Old covenant
Not to be confused with the Old Covenant which was done away as we read in Hebrews
Not to be confused with law

Covenant translated from Greek to Latin as testamentum
May have had closer meaning then; OR NOT (tool of Satan)

Nonetheless what we must realize is that there was no New Testament during the NewTestament times nor did they think of the Old Testament in this way
They did not see these scriptures as being old and done away, but just the opposite

This is what they used as a basis to teach, preach and write from:

Old Testament referenced by New Testament

Old Testament quoted nearly 700 -1000 times in New Testament and indirectly the number may be nearly 4100

Lends credence

New Testament 27 books; 21 quote the Old Testament directly; Only the 6 shortest do not, but 4 of the 6 allude to Old Testament figures and scriptures; leaving only Philemon and 2 John

39 books in the Old Testament; 9 are not quoted in the New Testament in the way that the Old Testament is arranged today. Originally, some of the Old Testament books were combined, so in reality only 5 are not quoted in the New Testament.

These 5 books are not the Pentateuch or Torah with all of it’s laws; in fact the Law is quoted at least 245 times and referenced many more. Christ about 60 times. Again this does not include allusions to Old Testament scriptures.

Revelation (which points to the future)

404 verses as many as 635 references to the Old Testament; it alone may be able to account for upwards of 31 books in the Old Testament by itself

How are we then to understand the future without the past?

We are to let the Bible interpret the Bible; it is not to be our own private interpretation and it is to necessary to get a little here and a little bit from there (2 Peter 1:20; Isaiah 28:9-10). This can be seen nowhere better than in Revelation

Therefore the book of Revelation itself tells us where we need to look for answers and greater understanding: the Old Testament

New Testament People taught from the Old Testament

Paul cites the books of the Law somewhere between 70 and 110 times;.
Obviously a proponent of the Old Testament

Paul’s take on the Old Testament

Notice what He says about the Old Testament

2 Timothy 3:14 But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them,
2 Timothy 3:15 and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

Taught from childhood – Old Testament;

Paul knew what he was talking about

Acts 28:23 So when they had appointed him a day, many came to him at his lodging, to whom he explained and solemnly testified of the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus from both the Law of Moses and the Prophets, from morning till evening.

Paul did not tell them that they were done away with but rather he showed how beneficial they were by preaching Christ and the Kingdom of God from the Old Testament; Why would you want to do away books, chapters and verses that teach SALVATION!

2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,
2 Timothy 3:17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Written around mid to late 60’s AD; No New Testament at this time

Peter preached Salvation from the Old Testament

Peter preached a powerful sermon on the Day of Pentecost—the beginning of the New Testament Church—that resulted in the conversion of 3,000 people. Moreover, Peter preached his sermon using only Old Testament Scriptures (Acts 2:14-41).

Acts 2:16 But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
Acts 2:17 ‘AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS IN THE LAST DAYS, SAYS GOD, THAT I WILL POUR OUT OF MY SPIRIT ON ALL FLESH; YOUR SONS AND YOUR DAUGHTERS SHALL PROPHESY, YOUR YOUNG MEN SHALL SEE VISIONS, YOUR OLD MEN SHALL DREAM DREAMS.
Acts 2:18 AND ON MY MENSERVANTS AND ON MY MAIDSERVANTS I WILL POUR OUT MY SPIRIT IN THOSE DAYS; AND THEY SHALL PROPHESY.
Acts 2:19 I WILL SHOW WONDERS IN HEAVEN ABOVE AND SIGNS IN THE EARTH BENEATH: BLOOD AND FIRE AND VAPOR OF SMOKE.
Acts 2:20 THE SUN SHALL BE TURNED INTO DARKNESS, AND THE MOON INTO BLOOD, BEFORE THE COMING OF THE GREAT AND AWESOME DAY OF THE LORD.
Acts 2:21 AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS THAT WHOEVER CALLS ON THE NAME OF THE LORD SHALL BE SAVED.’
Acts 2:22 “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know—
Acts 2:23 Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death;
Acts 2:24 whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it.
Acts 2:25 For David says concerning Him: ‘I FORESAW THE LORD ALWAYS BEFORE MY FACE, FOR HE IS AT MY RIGHT HAND, THAT I MAY NOT BE SHAKEN.
Acts 2:26 THEREFORE MY HEART REJOICED, AND MY TONGUE WAS GLAD; MOREOVER MY FLESH ALSO WILL REST IN HOPE.
Acts 2:27 FOR YOU WILL NOT LEAVE MY SOUL IN HADES, NOR WILL YOU ALLOW YOUR HOLY ONE TO SEE CORRUPTION.
Acts 2:28 YOU HAVE MADE KNOWN TO ME THE WAYS OF LIFE; YOU WILL MAKE ME FULL OF JOY IN YOUR PRESENCE.’

Acts 2:29 “Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.
Acts 2:30 Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne,
Acts 2:31 he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption.
Acts 2:32 This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses.
Acts 2:33 Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear.
Acts 2:34 “For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself: ‘THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD, “SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND,
Acts 2:35 TILL I MAKE YOUR ENEMIES YOUR FOOTSTOOL.” ‘
Acts 2:36 “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”
Acts 2:37 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?”
Acts 2:38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Acts 2:39 For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”
Acts 2:40 And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.”
Acts 2:41 Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.

Jesus Christ preached from Old Testament

Do we have any greater authority on Earth? Is there anything else that needs to be said?

How did He view the Old Testament?

Jesus Christ relied on the Old Testament for His very existence and the fight of His life

Luke 4:3 And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”
Luke 4:4 But Jesus answered him, saying, “It is written, ‘MAN SHALL NOT LIVE BY BREAD ALONE, BUT BY EVERY WORD OF GOD.’ ”

Deuteronomy 8:3 So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD.

Luke 4:5 Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.
Luke 4:6 And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.
Luke 4:7 Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.”
Luke 4:8 And Jesus answered and said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND HIM ONLY YOU SHALL SERVE.’ ”

Deuteronomy 10:20 You shall fear the LORD your God; you shall serve Him, and to Him you shall hold fast, and take oaths in His name.

Luke 4:9 Then he brought Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here.
Luke 4:10 For it is written: ‘HE SHALL GIVE HIS ANGELS CHARGE OVER YOU, TO KEEP YOU,’
Luke 4:11 and, ‘IN THEIR HANDS THEY SHALL BEAR YOU UP, LEST YOU DASH YOUR FOOT AGAINST A STONE.’ ”
Luke 4:12 And Jesus answered and said to him, “It has been said, ‘YOU SHALL NOT TEMPT THE LORD YOUR GOD.’ ”

Deuteronomy 6:16 “You shall not tempt the LORD your God as you tempted Him in Massah.

Luke 4:13 Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.
Luke 4:14 Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region.

Satan recognized the authority of the Old Testament; he did not say that is old and fading away and won’t be relevant any more. No he moved on to other temptations and then finally just moved on.

Jesus Began His Ministry with Old Testament

This is at the very beginning of His ministry

Luke 4:15 And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.
Luke 4:16 So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read.
Luke 4:17 And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written:
Luke 4:18 “THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE HAS ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR; HE HAS SENT ME TO HEAL THE BROKENHEARTED, TO PROCLAIM LIBERTY TO THE CAPTIVES AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET AT LIBERTY THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED;
Luke 4:19 TO PROCLAIM THE ACCEPTABLE YEAR OF THE LORD.”
Luke 4:20 Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him.
Luke 4:21 And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

Sermon on the Mount

Matthew 5:17 “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.

Destroy but to destroy? Doesn’t make sense.

Make more full and more binding by the spirit and intent of the law; don’t kill / don’t hate (still can’t kill; that’s done away with by the fact you can’t hate now)

Matthew 5:18 For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.

Matthew 5:19 Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 5:20 For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.

Psalms 119:172 My tongue shall speak of Your word, For all Your commandments are righteousness.

Proof that Christ was the true Messiah

We would not be able to prove Jesus was who He said He was without using the Old Testament and the only sign that He gave that He was the Messiah came from the New Testament

Matthew 12:38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.”
Matthew 12:39 But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.
Matthew 12:40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Jesus Christ after His Resurrection

If there was ever a time to let everyone know that the Old Testament was now obsolete, it was after His death and resurrection.

On the road to Emmaus He had the opportunity to say that everything had been done away with and I give you new and exciting and different scriptures but note what He says:

Luke 24:25 Then He said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!
Luke 24:26 Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?”
Luke 24:27 And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.

He gave the Old Testament validity.

Luke 24:44 Then He said to them, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.
Luke 24:45 And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.

These are the Scriptures! These are also the one ones that He previously spoke of in chapter 4 that we are to live by every word of God.

This is the way that Christ viewed all the scriptures

Word of God

Matthew 15:1 Then the scribes and Pharisees who were from Jerusalem came to Jesus, saying,
Matthew 15:2 “Why do Your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.”
Matthew 15:3 He answered and said to them, “Why do you also transgress the commandment of God [not Moses] because of your tradition?
Matthew 15:4 For God commanded, saying, ‘HONOR YOUR FATHER AND YOUR MOTHER’; and, ‘HE WHO CURSES FATHER OR MOTHER, LET HIM BE PUT TO DEATH.’
Matthew 15:5 But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, “Whatever profit you might have received from me is a gift to God
Matthew 15:6 then he need not honor his father or mother.’ Thus you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition.

It is the Word of God and both the New Testament and Old Testament are to be the foundation for us, for the church

Part of the Church’s Foundation

Ephesians 2:20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone,

Conclusion

In this cursory examination of the scriptures it is evident that the New Testament, along with all its writers and specifically the most prominent speakers, with Christ being the Chief among them, ALL taught that the Old Testament was never annulled or abolished — it’s authentic and valid and inspired for us today.