A lot of the Old Testament is tough to read. It does have great, inspiring characters, stories and truths, but much of it seems irrelevant to us. But with a little context and understanding it can be quite reveling and extremely encouraging. An Old Testament Overview.

• God creates the world and us, makes us stewards of the earth spiritually and physically. He intends for us to dwell with Him in Paradise for all eternity.
• We listen to evil (Satan) & rebel against God, disobey Him for our own desires.
• God separates us from Him directly to protect us from His Holiness. A blessing & a tragedy.
• We are sent out of Paradise
• God implements a plan of recovery, redemption and restoration through a chosen people of Abraham, Israel. The covenant to deliver all the world is given in Genesis 12.
• The Law (Torah) is given to show how far we are from being the holy creation God intended us to be & how well we would need to preform to regain our lives in paradise.
• Israel fails because they are broken and go into exile.
• Israel hopes for the deliverance promised by the covenant and reaffirmed by the judges, kings and prophets of Israel.
• The promise of deliverance of all mankind, including Israel, by God is fulfilled through Jesus’ life, death and Resurrection. The Covenant is fulfilled.
• All mankind can now have the promise of future restored Paradise with God, without evil and suffering forever. We can give up our self pursuits of small paradises and hopes of living holy enough. We can accept His love and grace and live by His word and not the smallness of ourselves.

The Old Testament gives us many examples of what happens when we choose God’s ways and what happens when we don’t. It can be a promise and a warning that gives us practical direction and wisdom for today. It leads up to, and explains the Gospel of Jesus.