As Christians, we come to Jesus because we fall in love with his character, compassion, and salvation. Therefore, Jesus’ words from the Bible draw us, and the encouraging, challenging letters from the apostles highlight Christ’s supremacy and what it means to live for him. The New Testament writers continue to affirm Jesus as the culmination and center of God’s redemptive plan. 

The Old Testament proves more difficult to enjoy. When we attempt to read through the Bible, many give up around Leviticus and Numbers with detailed Jewish law from another culture and genealogies of unfamiliar and funny names. In addition, the prophets make God seem angry and wrathful, different in some ways from the self-sacrificial love of Jesus, at least on the surface. As a result, some Christians focus on reading the New Testament. At the extreme, I’ve even heard people tell me we shouldn’t read the Old Testament since we’re no longer under the Old Covenant. 

Yet Jesus and the writers of the New Testament continually quoted from the Old Testament, even to discuss the New Covenant. Since they were in the middle of writing it, the New Testament didn’t exist yet, so they referred to God’s word in the Old Testament. Jesus and the apostles obviously valued the spiritual authority of these books. So should we. 

Here are seven reasons why Christians should read the Old Testament.

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