I decided to look back at my readings and study of the Old Testament, and to just think to myself, how has this helped me in MY Christian life? Has this impacted me as much as the New Testament did? I got an answer. Yes.
Some of the best books of the Old Testament are the book of Job and the book of Exodus. There are reasons for these choices. For the book of Job, it is because it shows how a man had everything that anyone would ever want, and when he lost it all, he was patient with God's choices, and received even a loss this great with thanks. He was so patient and his perseverance was so great, that he got triple of what he had before. That is faith for you, in fact, I would say in it's purest form.
The book of Exodus is really good because it shows an account of how the Hebrews left Egypt, how God was with them always, but whenever anything went slightly harder then before, they cursed at Moses and his brother. They always looked back, at Egypt, and they where so impatient that after Moses did not come down from God's mountain, they built themselves a golden calf as an idol. The worshiped it, and said "you took us out of Egypt" and such. I can really imagine how mad Moses was when he came down the mountain at last, and saw that.
The best ways to read the Old Testament is too read it alone, in a quiet place, and to pay close attention to what God says there in his people. I find that this is the best way to read the Bible because you sort-of get filled with the Holy Spirit.
Some of the dangers that exist in viewing God's word(the Bible, of course) as either the Old Testament or the New Testament, is that to understand that in order to fully understand the Bible, you must read and reread it cover to cover, that means the New Testament, and the Old Testament too. Because the Old Testament, to us modern Christians, can act as a key to the New Testament, in the manner of, understanding it. To fully understand the New Testament, you must read the Old Testament, because it is packed with clues and History. Likewise, to fully understand the Old Testament, you must have read the Nw Testament.
The Old Testament is packed with visions and prophecy, some of which deal with the coming Messiah, some deal with coming wars, huge conquering, and so on. This proved valid and true over time, and so the Old Testament can be viewed as proof that God is as real as your head.
Likewise, the New Testament can be viewed as proof of God's reality, because it has around six books that deal with the life of Jesus, the death of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, the teachings of Jesus, and the resurrection of Jesus. So, it too proves the reality of God.
Some of the advantages that we find in understanding the Old Testament is that we find the numerous historical accounts, which are for the better part, significant to us. But, the more important writing to us is the prophecy and visions. If we interpret Daniel's visions, we see the coming of Alexander the great. And we see the fall of the Roman empire in Daniel's interpretation of the King's dream, and also a glimpse into the dark ages.
Some of the most important key facts about the Old Testament to remember that it is God's word, all of it. So, we Christians must read it that way. We must always remember, while reading it, that God used those various authors to tell the whole world about himself. The Old Testament, like the New Testament, tells us about God's being, God's creation, God's work, and God's love toward us. That is why, it is important for modern Christians to read it fully.
