Gal 3:24

"Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith" Gal 3:24

A lot of people don't like the Old Testament. I can understand that. In many cases it is filled with difficult names. It supports the death penalty. Animals suffer as they are sacrificed to cover the sins of man. Prophets speak in mysterious phrases. Many of the pages are covered with blood and guts stories. It's easy to want to ignore those 39 books of the Bible.

But they are there for a reason - and that reason is to lead us all to Jesus. Think about it. In the first pages we learn of the God of creation - the God who was lonely and wanted a man with whom to fellowship. We learn that He created man in His own image. Man looks like God. Shortly thereafter, we find that man sins (he had but one law, don't eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil). He is driven out of the Garden of Eden. With this knowledge, we know why we are sinners. We received a predisposition to sin from our ancestral parents.

From that point on, God is working to bring man back into a loving relationship with Himself. God chooses a family to work with - Abraham. From Abraham he builds a nation which will be the vehicle He will use to bring a world Savior. He dictates the Law to this people so that they will know beyond a doubt when they have sinned. If there is no law, there can be no knowledge of sin! The law is the line in the sand which we cannot cross without disobeying God.

Once sin is established, man becomes aware of his true nature. Man tries many ways to overcome that nature, but fails in every effort. God, through His prophets, tells man that a Messiah, a Redeemer, is on His way. Finally, God is silent. For four hundred years God does not speak to His people other than through His written Word. There are no prophets. There are no visions. Even dreams cease to have any significant spiritual meaning.

All of this leads us to John the Baptist - the voice crying in the wilderness "prepare the way for your Messiah!" See the importance of the Old Book? It is our instructor. It is our teacher. We can learn a lot from those dull, bloody, confusing, mysterious pages. We can learn who Jesus is, why He came, and what we need to do about Him.

As a new month is coming within a couple of days time, take a look at the Old Testament. Let God teach you about Jesus through it! Hallelujah, Amen and Amen.