Is the Old Testament Worth Reading?
The word "old" in our culture rarely evokes a positive reaction, unless of course by old you mean "vintage". In that case, slap a big price tag on it. Typically, people see old as being inferior, and in some cases, this is true. If a car is old, it usually requires significant maintenance and cost while not being very valuable. When I heard the words "Old Testament" and "New Testament" as a kid, I always saw it as a comparison of value. In my mind, there was no denying that the New Testament was better. It had Jesus, tons of miracles, and a story of apocalypse that makes Michael Bay wish he had enough flair to pull it off (I say that because of his over-the-top style, not because he actually wants to do a film on the book of Revelation).
What Makes the Old Testament Worth Reading?
If I may, let me take a look at the Old Testament in a different light: Food. Now that I have gotten to read through the Old Testament several times, I see it like a slow cooked meal that took hundreds of years to make. God, as the master chef, added every ingredient and flavor at just the right time to make the most incredible feast of wisdom, warnings, joy, sorrow, expectation and promise. He then let it all stew until the time was perfect. This truth is expressed beautifully in Hebrews 11 about how our faith merges with the faith from so many people in the Old Testament:
Not one of these people, even though their lives of faith were exemplary, got their hands on what was promised. God had a better plan for us: that their faith and our faith would come together to make one completed whole, their lives of faith not complete apart from ours. (Hebrews 11:39-40)
The people in the Old Testament who had their faith planted in God looked ahead to the culmination of events that would lead to the coming of Christ. They saw the shadow of Jesus and were blessed because of it. As Michael Horton put it, "Once we truly grasp the message of the 'New Testament', it is impossible to read the 'Old Testament' again without seeing Christ on every page, in every story, foreshadowed or anticipated in every event and narrative."
I believe that when we read the Old Testament, we are nourished in ways that the New Testament wasn't designed to. After all, they are two different meals, each with a distinct purpose. If you're not already doing so, plan some time to read through the Old Testament. You can do this either by picking a book to read or by doing a year-long Bible reading plan that will take you through the whole Bible. If you seek earnestly, you will find many profound and helpful insights.