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If Christians live under the New Covenant, why is more than half of our Bible the Old Testament? Previous posts have established that the Law of Moses served a specific purpose, that God's plan was always moving toward Christ, and that we now live under the New Covenant. So why continue studying Abraham, Moses, David, Israel, the sacrifices, the temple, and the prophets? The answer comes from an important distinction: We are no longer under the Old Covenant, but that doesn't mean the Old Testament no longer has value. The Old Testament is not our covenant, but it remains God's Word written for our learning. Are Christians Picking and Choosing? One common criticism of Christianity goes something like this: "Christians pick and choose which parts of the Bible they want to follow. Leviticus condemns certain behaviors but also contains dietary restrictions. Why follow one and ignore the other?" Similar arguments can be made about Israel's civil laws and penalties. If Christians really believe the Bible, why don't we enforce those laws today? That argument sounds powerful if we treat the Bible as one enormous list of commands addressed equally to every person throughout history. But it isn't. The Law of Moses was a covenant given to Israel. Christians don't disregard Mosaic dietary laws because we've arbitrarily decided we don't like them. We don't ignore Israel's civil laws because we're embarrassed by them. We aren't Israelites living under the Mosaic Covenant. So when reading a biblical command, the question isn't simply, “Is this somewhere in the Bible?” We also need to ask, “Who was this given to, under what covenant, and does the New Testament establish it as God's will for Christians?” That isn't picking and choosing Scripture. It's understanding Scripture. So What Do We Do With the Old Testament? Paul answers that question directly: “For whatever things were written before were written for our learning...” — Romans 15:4 The Old Testament wasn't preserved so Christians could continue living under the Mosaic Covenant. It was preserved because we need what it teaches us. Here are 4 things we learn from the Old Testament. #1 - We Learn Who God Is There's a difference between knowing that someone exists and actually knowing them. The same is true of God. Believing there is a Creator is only the beginning. Scripture reveals what that Creator is actually like, beginning with the first words of the Bible: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” — Genesis 1:1 Even that single verse tells us something about Him. God existed before creation. He possesses the power and intelligence necessary to create. Everything around us ultimately exists because of Him. The rest of the Old Testament gives us thousands of years of interactions between God and humanity. We don't merely read that God is patient—we watch His patience with Israel. We don't merely hear that He is just—we see His response to sin. We see His mercy toward the repentant, His faithfulness to Abraham, His holiness in worship, and His love for His people. If you want to know who God is, watch what He does. #2 - We Learn God's Pattern The covenant may change, but God's character doesn't. The God revealed in the Old Testament is the same God we encounter in the New Testament. Throughout biblical history, we repeatedly see recognizable patterns in how He interacts with humanity. God loves His creation. He expects those who trust Him to obey what He reveals. He teaches humanity about the seriousness of sin and the necessity of sacrifice. And He repeatedly demonstrates His desire to save. God saved Noah from the Flood. He delivered Israel from Egypt and brought them through the Red Sea. He rescued His people from enemies and preserved the faithful through judgment. Those acts of salvation prepare us to understand the ultimate salvation He provides through Christ. God's methods of dealing with people under different covenants may change, but His character does not. #3 - We Learn From Great Faith—and Terrible Failure Hebrews 11 does something fascinating. A New Testament writer teaches Christians about faith primarily by pointing backward to people in the Old Testament. Abel offered. Noah built. Abraham went. Sarah believed. Moses chose. Israel crossed. Rahab acted. Then the writer essentially says there isn't enough time to keep listing examples and mentions Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets. Why teach New Testament Christians using people who lived under previous covenants? Because the specific commands may change, but the nature of faith remains recognizable: Hear God → Trust God → Obey God. But the Old Testament doesn't only give us examples to imitate. It also gives us mistakes to avoid. Paul specifically points Christians toward Israel's failures in 1 Corinthians 10. Their idolatry, immorality, dissatisfaction, testing of God, and complaining became warnings for Christians who came centuries later. That's one of the great values of biblical history. We can learn from thousands of years of other people's faithfulness—and their failures—without having to repeat their mistakes ourselves. #4 - We Learn the “Why” Behind the New Testament Perhaps most importantly, the Old Testament helps us understand why the New Testament means what it means. Hebrews describes the Law as: “...a shadow of the good things to come...” — Hebrews 10:1 A shadow isn't the thing itself, but it tells you something is there. It gives you its shape and helps you recognize what's coming. That's what so much of the Old Testament does for Christ. Why is Jesus called the Lamb of God? Why does His blood matter? Why do we need atonement? Why is Jesus our High Priest? Why was the temple veil being torn significant? Why does Hebrews talk about a Most Holy Place? Why do we even need a covenant? The New Testament answers these questions, but the Old Testament gives us the framework necessary to fully appreciate those answers. We Don't Live Under It, But We Need It Christians don't need to choose between two extremes. We shouldn't place ourselves back under the Law of Moses as though Christ never established a New Covenant. But neither should we treat the Old Testament as an outdated portion of Scripture that has little relevance to Christians. Paul tells us exactly why it remains: It was written for our learning. Through it, we learn who God is. We see the consistency of His character. We encounter extraordinary examples of faith and sobering examples of failure. And perhaps most importantly, we gain the background necessary to understand what Jesus accomplished. We don't live under the Old Testament, but we cannot fully understand the New Testament without it.

If God had already given His people a covenant, why did they need another one? Normally, when we replace something, it's because the old one is broken or defective. So was something wrong with the Old Covenant? Did God give Israel a flawed covenant and later have to fix it? No. The Old Covenant accomplished exactly what God intended it to accomplish. It wasn't God's failed first attempt. It was part of a larger plan that was always moving toward Jesus Christ. The Old Covenant Was Part of the Blueprint Think about building a house. The foundation isn't defective because you eventually build walls on top of it, and the walls aren't defective because you eventually cover them with drywall. Each stage serves its purpose while preparing for what comes next. The Old Covenant worked the same way. It had a specific purpose within God's plan, but it was never intended to be the final stage. The Old Covenant wasn't God's mistake. It was part of God's blueprint. Paul explains one of its purposes in Galatians 3:24: “Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ...” For generations, God's people were being taught concepts they would eventually need to understand Jesus: sin, holiness, obedience, sacrifice, blood, atonement, priesthood, worship, and forgiveness. The Law was creating a framework through which the cross could eventually be understood. Why Didn't Jesus Just Come Immediately? Imagine Jesus dying immediately after the events of Genesis 3. Why would His death mean anything? Why does blood matter? Why does someone need to die because of sin? Why would Jesus be called a Lamb? Why do we need a priest or mediator? What is atonement? Now imagine growing up under the Mosaic system. You've watched animals sacrificed. You've seen blood. You've watched priests make offerings for sin. You've learned that sacrifices must meet God's requirements and that atonement comes at a cost. Then John points to Jesus and says: “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” — John 1:29 Suddenly, centuries of teaching come together. The Old Testament doesn't compete with Jesus. It teaches us why we need Him. The New Covenant Was Always Coming The New Covenant wasn't something God invented after the Old Covenant went wrong. Hundreds of years before Jesus, God had already promised: “Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant...” — Jeremiah 31:31 The plan reaches even further back. Immediately after sin entered the world, Genesis 3:15 pointed forward to One who would ultimately defeat the serpent. Israel certainly broke its covenant with God—Jeremiah 31:32 explicitly says so—but their failure wasn't the reason God suddenly needed a new plan. Even if Israel had perfectly kept the Law, God's plan was still moving toward Christ. The New Covenant wasn't Plan B. Christ was the plan all along. The Shadow and the Substance Hebrews 10:1 describes the Law as “a shadow of the good things to come.” Colossians 2:17 similarly calls these things “a shadow of things to come” and says the substance belongs to Christ. Think about a shadow. It tells you someone is coming. It gives you their shape and helps you recognize them. But when the actual person arrives, you don't embrace their shadow. You embrace the person. The Old Covenant worked in much the same way. Leviticus taught that “it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul” (Leviticus 17:11). But animal blood was pointing toward something greater. The sacrifices, priesthood, blood, and atonement were preparing God's people for Christ. The Old Covenant contained the shadow. Christ is the substance. So Why Do We Need a New Testament? The answer is simple: Because we need Jesus. The Old Covenant accomplished the purpose God gave it. It established His covenant with Israel, taught His people about sin and holiness, demonstrated the necessity of sacrifice and atonement, and prepared the world to understand what Christ would accomplish. There was nothing wrong with God's plan in the Old Covenant. The New Covenant was necessary because the story wasn't finished yet. Jesus wasn't God's correction to the plan. He was the fulfillment of it.

Most of us learn the Bible one story at a time. Noah built an ark. Abraham was promised a son. Moses led Israel out of Egypt. David defeated Goliath. Daniel survived the lions' den. Jesus died on the cross. Peter preached on Pentecost. Paul traveled throughout the Roman world preaching the gospel. We know the stories. But knowing the stories isn't necessarily the same thing as understanding the Story. Sometimes we learn these events individually without ever building the bridge between them. Why did God choose Abraham? Why did Israel need a law? Why were animals sacrificed? Why were priests necessary? Why did God establish a tabernacle and later a temple? And what does any of that have to do with Jesus dying on a cross? The Bible has two testaments and can be understood through three major periods of biblical history, but from beginning to end it tells one unified story of God preparing humanity for salvation through Jesus Christ. Three Major Periods of Biblical History It can be helpful to organize the biblical story into three major periods: The Patriarchal Age — Creation through the giving of the Law at Mount Sinai. The Mosaic Age — The giving of the Law through the death of Jesus. The Christian Age — The death of Christ through today. These periods don't perfectly correspond to the physical division between the Old and New Testaments in our Bibles. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are located in the New Testament, but most of the events they record occurred while the Law of Moses was still in effect. Jesus was born and lived under that covenant. The transition to the New Covenant occurs through His death. Understanding these periods helps us answer a critical question whenever we read Scripture: Who was God speaking to, and under what covenant were they living? The Patriarchal Age: God Speaks to the Fathers The Patriarchal Age stretches from creation to the giving of the Law at Mount Sinai. The word patriarch refers to the head or chief of a family. During this period, God dealt directly with individuals and family heads rather than giving mankind a written covenant like the Law He would later give Israel. Hebrews begins: “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets...” — Hebrews 1:1 God communicated His expectations to people such as Adam, Cain, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, and eventually Moses. They didn't possess the Law of Moses, but that doesn't mean they didn't have law. Adam and Eve were given commands. Cain was warned about sin. Noah received detailed instructions for building the ark. Abraham was commanded to leave his homeland and later to offer Isaac. The absence of the Mosaic Law did not mean the absence of law, sin, or moral responsibility. Sacrifice Before Moses Something else appears remarkably early in the biblical story: sacrifice. Cain and Abel brought offerings to God. Noah built an altar and offered burnt offerings after leaving the ark. Abraham prepared to sacrifice Isaac. Isaac and Jacob built altars to God. Long before Leviticus established an elaborate sacrificial system for Israel, sacrifice was already present. For people whose wealth and livelihood were often measured in livestock, offering an animal wasn't an empty ritual. It cost something. These early sacrifices begin introducing concepts that become increasingly important as God's plan unfolds: sin has consequences, approaching God requires reverence, and obedience costs something. A Promise Begins to Take Shape Almost immediately after sin enters the world, God begins pointing toward its eventual defeat. Genesis 3:15 contains the first promise that the offspring of woman would ultimately defeat the serpent. Jesus doesn't simply appear unexpectedly thousands of years later in Bethlehem. The story has been moving toward Him since Genesis. Then God calls Abraham and makes three tremendous promises to him: Land — His descendants would receive Canaan. Nation — His family would become a great nation. Seed — Through his offspring, all the families of the earth would be blessed. Those promises become a roadmap for much of the rest of Scripture. The land promise points toward Canaan. The nation promise points toward Israel. And the seed promise ultimately points toward Jesus Christ. The Mosaic Age: A Covenant With a Nation After delivering Abraham's descendants from slavery in Egypt, God brings Israel to Mount Sinai and establishes a covenant with the nation through Moses. The Law of Moses was much more extensive than the Ten Commandments. It governed Israel's morality, worship, civil life, diet, priesthood, sacrifices, and relationship with God. For centuries, Israel's judges, kings, priests, and prophets all lived within this covenant. God called Israel to love Him, walk in His ways, and obey His commandments. Obedience wasn't simply about following arbitrary rules. It was the appropriate response of a people living in covenant with God. The Sacrificial System Under the Law of Moses, sacrifice became much more detailed. Leviticus describes burnt offerings, grain offerings, peace offerings, sin offerings, and guilt offerings. Each served particular purposes within Israel's relationship with God. God even specified what could be offered. Animals were expected to meet His requirements and be without defect. Sacrifice was teaching Israel something: Sin is serious. Atonement is necessary. And God deserves our best. But those sacrifices were also preparing Israel to understand something much greater. Priests, the Tabernacle, and God's Presence God established the tabernacle as a special place where He would dwell among His people. Inside were the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place, separated by a veil. Ordinary Israelites couldn't simply enter God's presence. Priests served as mediators and performed the service God prescribed. Eventually, the tabernacle was replaced by Solomon's temple, but the lessons remained: Holiness. Separation. Sacrifice. Mediation. Atonement. God's desire to dwell among His people. By the time Jesus arrives, God has spent centuries giving humanity the vocabulary necessary to understand what He's about to do. Why Did All of This Have to Come Before Jesus? Imagine opening the Bible for the first time and beginning with the crucifixion. A man named Jesus is nailed to a cross. Why should that mean anything to you? Why does someone have to die because you've sinned? Why does blood matter? Why would you need someone to stand between you and God? What is atonement? Why is Jesus called a Lamb? Why does Hebrews describe Him as a High Priest? Without the Old Testament, much of the language surrounding the cross would have little meaning. The Mosaic Age supplied the imagery: Sacrifice. Lamb. Blood. Priest. Temple. Atonement. Covenant. Holiness. Redemption. God had been teaching these concepts for centuries so that when Christ came, humanity could understand what His death meant. Jesus wasn't a sudden change in God's plan. He was the centerpiece toward which the entire plan had been moving. The Christian Age: The Picture Becomes Clear Jesus was born under the Law of Moses. He was circumcised, His family observed the purification requirements of the Law, and they traveled to Jerusalem for Passover. That's why Jesus sometimes instructed people to do things Christians aren't commanded to do today. Most of His earthly ministry occurred while the Mosaic covenant was still in effect. But Jeremiah had prophesied that something new was coming: “Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant...” — Jeremiah 31:31 That New Covenant came through Christ. When Jesus died, the veil in the temple was torn from top to bottom. The old priestly and sacrificial system had reached its fulfillment because Jesus had accomplished what those sacrifices had been pointing toward all along. The Sacrifice Everything Was Pointing Toward Peter describes Jesus as: “a lamb without blemish and without spot.” — 1 Peter 1:19 That description means far more after understanding what came before it. Jesus is the spotless sacrifice. His blood provides redemption. He is our mediator. He accomplishes what the animal sacrifices could never fully accomplish. The sacrifices of the Old Testament weren't meaningless rituals that Christians eventually outgrew. They were teaching. They were preparing. They were pointing forward. Christ is the fulfillment of the picture God had been developing throughout the biblical story. Abraham's Promises Come Full Circle Now return to Abraham. God promised him land, a nation, and a seed. During the Patriarchal Age, those promises were given. During the Mosaic Age, Abraham's descendants became the nation of Israel and received the land of Canaan. Through that nation, God preserved the line through which the promised seed would eventually come. Then, in the Christian Age, the greatest part of the promise becomes clear. The Seed is Jesus Christ. What began with one man and one family ultimately extends God's blessing to people of every nation. Abraham isn't an isolated Bible character whose story we learn in Genesis. His story is part of the road to Jesus. Why Understanding the Timeline Matters This isn't just interesting Bible trivia. Understanding where we are in the biblical story changes how we read Scripture. God commanded Noah to build an ark. God commanded Israel to offer animal sacrifices. God commanded priests to serve in the tabernacle. God commands Christians to follow Christ under the New Covenant. Every one of those commands is part of inspired Scripture. But that doesn't mean every command was given to every person in every age. So when we encounter a command in the Bible, it's not enough to ask: “Is this in the Bible?” We also need to ask: When was it given? To whom was it given? Under which covenant? What purpose did it serve? How does it connect to Christ and the New Covenant? Those questions help transform a collection of familiar Bible stories into something much greater. One story. One plan. One Savior. Two testaments. Three major periods. One message: God was preparing humanity for salvation through Jesus Christ.