I have to admit, I’m not a huge fan of the Old Testament. No slight to God here. I guess you could say I get through the Old so I can get to the New. I would think any Christian would be more excited about the New Testament. It’s pretty cool if you ask me.
But here’s something that people don’t always get: the New Testament makes a lot more sense if you’ve put in the time on the Old. I mean, question number one (“why Jesus?”) gets its answer if you follow the Old Testament’s line. This is why I always enjoyed reading the Bible chronologically. You can really pick up on the patterns and overall story when you do it that way.
But for the first time in quite a few read-throughs, I’m just doing a straight shot, cover-to-cover, start-to-finish reading. And here’s why I’m enjoying this time through the Old Testament right now: The Bible isn’t naturally chronological. Early on you get the history books, while after Psalms and Proverbs you get the prophets. Thing is, the prophets come along at various times in the chronology of Israel’s history. So chronologically you’ll be reading through one of the history books when all of a sudden they’ll mention Isaiah and – bang! You’re skipping over to read some of Isaiah. Then back. Then maybe a Psalm or two. Then back to Isaiah again, etc. Moving around so much can sometimes break your flow. On the other hand, I sat down the other day and read most of Second Samuel and First Kings in a sitting. Chronologically I might have ended up all over the place and it would have taken me much longer, and I’m sure I would have lost my focus in some spots.
So I’m enjoying it a bit more this time. I’m noticing different things. While reading chronologically gave me a greater sense of the story, reading books straight through gives me a better sense of the history those books were recording.
I’m in second Kings right now, and while I’d seen it before, it becomes really apparent when you’re moving right through the book and you can see how the succession of kings was going down in Israel and Judah at time. You see more of the overlaps. You see “this guy did evil in the eyes of the Lord” a lot and you get a sense of the seemingly utter hopelessness of the situation. You find yourself thinking, “Can’t some guy get in there that might do something right for once?” But then, every so often, it seems you get a reminder that God has a promise that he’s going to keep, and even when things look pretty bleak, he’ll bring that out and show mercy.
So yeah, the Old Testament can be a slog for some people. But if you start figuring out what to look for, you’ll get something out of it. Before I started reading through (chronologically) last April, I’d resolved to skim large sections of the Old Testament. I figured I’d read it enough that I could get by doing that. But now I’m of the mind to pay more attention. And I should know better. I’m sure I’ve read the Bible through at least 20 times (actually, plenty more). I’ve taught large portions of it to others. But I swear, every single time I read it, I find something cool and interesting.
And of course, I’d love you to give it a try. But let me warn you: results may vary. Christians believe that you can’t truly understand the Bible without the guidance of the Holy Spirit. I have a story that illustrates this:
I’d been dabbling in spirituality in my younger days, trying to understand…trying maybe to recapture the times when I was growing up and felt something of some kind of god. I bought a Bible – an NIV gift edition with a cheap cardboard cover (I still have it) – and I gave it a shot. I distinctly remember trying to read it and being taken aback by some of the things that Jesus was actually saying. I thought, “this is kind of silly.” And of course, for those of you familiar with the book, you might get it – the Bible itself had me pegged in 1 Corinthians 1:18: “For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” I didn’t get it. I tried, but ended up uninterested.
It wasn’t until some years later that I experienced a moment in my life when I did get it – when what God was doing in my life suddenly made sense to me. I mean suddenly. I was driving down the road one moment and the very next I understood that something was not right – that God was real and meaningful and that I had been wasting my life. I got home shortly after and pulled a Bible (a gift my parents had given me on my 18th birthday – I still have that one too) from its shelf and opened it up. My eyes fell immediately on Proverbs 16:25 – “Before every man there lies a wide and pleasant road he thinks is right, but it ends in death.” I would have read that before and not given it a thought. But now I knew. I knew that I’d spent my life completely off track. It brought to mind the time some years before when I’d confidently told my friend Denny that I was a Christian. Denny, whose wife really was a Christian, knew better. “Bob,” he said with a bit of a wry smile, “you’re not a Christian.” That was it. Here was a guy who didn’t know Christ himself, but he knew enough to know I didn’t either.
And after reading that passage out of Proverbs, I got it. Denny was right. There I was, on a path that I though was wide and pleasant and leading to all kinds of good stuff, when in fact I was on a road to death. I wept.
I went on to read that cheap Bible through a couple of times. And then I bought a good one and kept it up – reading through it at least once a year since. And like I said, I get something out of it every single time. I also know that it’s the Holy Spirit helping me to understand pieces as they come along – teaching me gently the lessons I need to know at just the time I need to know them. And sometimes it’s overwhelming, and I’m glad he didn’t shove it all in at once. It’s something I know my human mind couldn’t handle.
But that means reading it. More than anything else. Again and again. More than any of the commentaries and explanations and sermons you can hear on it (although those are all very valuable, and this is why it’s important to be in a local church that preaches and teaches God’s word faithfully). Just read it. All of it. Even the Old Testament. It’s a story that needs to be told in its entirety if you want to understand the whole plan of God from beginning to end.
And I pray that in the reading, the Holy Spirit do his thing with you too. Maybe suddenly, maybe not. But more than anything, that you get it. That’s what I pray for.
And if you need any help, let me know.