Articles
THE IMPORTANCE OF STUDYING THE OLD TESTAMENT
"THE IMPORTANCE OF STUDYING THE OLD TESTAMENT"
(E. A. Elam [1855-1929])
Some say they regret when the lessons are in the Old Testament. This is a serious mistake. The writer indulges the hope that having studied the lessons of these notes, all will realize with him that it is a great mistake not to study the Old Testament.
The following reasons for studying the Old Testament are briefly given:
1. God would not have preserved it and so connected it with the New Testament if He had not intended for us to study it now. He exhorts us to study it. (See II Pet. 3:1-2)
2. The sacred writings which Timothy knew from childhood were the Old Testament Scriptures, which make wise unto salvation, in that they lead to faith in Jesus of Nazareth as the Christ of God. (II Tim. 3:15-17).
3. Paul and Apollos reasoned from the Old Testament Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ. (See Acts 17:1-3, 18:27-28) These Scriptures testify of Jesus (Jn. 5:39-46).
4. We cannot understand various references in the New Testament to passages, principles, and facts of the Old Testament without studying the Old Testament.
5. Occasionally, some will say that they have no time to study the Old Testament; if so, they have no time to obey God. Some others say they cannot become interested in it. That is because they are not interested in the works of God, His dealings with the nations of the earth; the history of His people; His purposes, promises, and prophecies concerning the redemption of the race; and His evidences that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ; and it is because they do not read it enough to understand its characters and history.
6. The Bible is a unit, or one historic whole. Genesis opens with the beginning of the creation of all things and states the cause of all that follows; while Revelation gives the conclusion of the grand and glorious consummation of all.
7. One cannot understand the New Testament without the Old Testament. The best way and the best time to study the Old Testament are other considerations, but it must be studied.
To become interested in its study, one should read it regularly and sufficiently to become familiar with its places, characters, histories, facts, and purposes. Consult the maps; learn what prophets, kings, and other prominent persons were contemporary; read both the Old Testament and the New Testament consecutively, reading some in each every day; when reading the New Testament, look up all the references made to the Old Testament, for in this way the study of the Old Testament will soon become both interesting and profitable.
Above all, as David says, one should lay up the word of God in one's heart, that one may not sin against Him (Ps. 119:11); and, as Paul exhorts: Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly (Col. 3:16).
(Elam's Notes, 1926, Vol. 5, p. 196)
