Why Many are Rejecting the Old Testament...

Chapter Seventy-seven:

 There has been a shift in the last number of years in those who no longer believe that the Old Testament is relevant for today. They see the New Testament as being the only part of the Bible that is necessary for Christians to understand.  There has been an ever-increasing distrust in believing that the Bible, from the Book of Genesis to the Book of Revelation, is to be taken quite literally, that it is the inerrant word of God, written by men, under the unction of the Holy Spirit. The 2025 Lifeway Research study found that now only 49% of those calling themselves Christians believe the Bible is 100% inspired by the Holy Spirit and in using it as guidance for living their lives. 

I believe one of the main difficulties many have with accepting the relevancy and importance of the Old Testament can often be traced to those in the pulpit.  Many pastors, especially over the last number of years, have publicly declared that they will not teach the Old Testament, or say that it’s not relevant enough anymore to be taught. The God of the Old Testament is usually regarded by them as being one that is cruel and vengeful, not the loving God that they prefer to believe in.  It's easier for them to ignore the Old Testament than take the time to study it to see how it’s a crucial part of not only understanding the overall nature of God, but also His revealing Himself to humanity. You cannot divorce the Old Testament from the rest of Scripture as it not only records the numerous prophecies pointing to God becoming man, in the form of our Savior and Messiah, Jesus Christ, but it also unveils His plan to redeem mankind from its slavery to sin, once and for all.

And if a person wants to study and understand the Book of Revelation, the Book of Daniel, in particular, which is in the  Old Testament, is necessary reading as it ties into what happens in the Book of Revelation. However, the Book of Revelation is also a book (this book is in the New Testament) that some pastors/teachers, even entire denominations, avoid. The reasons range from it being only allegorical, to its being too symbolic, thus too difficult to understand. However if you take the time to read the Book of Revelation, it actually states that whoever reads it will receive a blessing. This blessing is not material, nor something you can puts your hands on, it's more of a spiritual blessing from God as He wishes all His children to have a proper understanding of how the end times will play out so that we are prepared and ready to be His ambassadors, so that we occupy until He comes (Luke 19:13). The Book of Revelation not only has the warning letters to the seven churches, but is also Christ revealing Himself, bringing the evil powers of the Antichrist and the Beast to final justice at the end of the tribulation, setting up His millennial kingdom and then eventually God rebuilds everything giving His children a new heaven and new earth.   So this is another incidence of where knowing the Old Testament is paramount to understanding parts of the New Testament.

 In addition, the Old Testament reveals why Israel is still so important, from God’s perspective, to how the end times will play out. At the time of this writing, the unfortunate rise of antisemitism has increased within the Christian Church, and some are loudly calling for the unlinking of the Church to the nation State of Israel.  While this chapter isn’t going to focus on the ongoing important role of Israel throughout history, and beyond, we will look at how to reconcile the seemingly cruel God of the Old Testament with the more loving God that is revealed, through Jesus Christ, in the New Testament. 

 

After the account of the creation of the world and mankind, the Old Testament is not only the recorded period of time of God beginning to reveal Himself to man, but also a time when god/idol worship played a vast role in every society.  There were many gods that were worshipped, many deities had temples built for them, and sadly most of the gods had very inhumane rules/rituals that were demanded of by the people.  From the temples of Baal and Molech, where people were led to believe human sacrifices were necessary, especially during times of famine, drought or war, there was ongoing temple prostitution (male and female), and the priests would participate in frenzied self-mutilation rituals, believing it was required of them to appease their malevolent gods.

 There were also Asherah poles, dedicated to the god they believed was the fertility deity.  It was a focal point for pagan rituals and sacrifices, and was typically located in a high place or location.  It had ritualistic prostitution and orgies, and also required human sacrifices, often the firstborn male.  Chemosh was also a well-known god that demanded bloody, oftentimes, human sacrifices.  It was with these many cultures of pagan worship/sacrifice that the Israelites had to contend.  And, sadly, at times, the Israelites themselves devolved into similar practices, from their building of the golden calves while Moses was up on the mountain with God, to eventually their own kings bringing these “gods” into the Temple of God. Man’s inhumanity to man, and their feverish adoration and worship of these demonic entities was an obvious and all too real threat to God keeping His covenant nation, Israel, safe and getting/keeping them in the promised land.  Thus the accounts we read in the Old Testament of God telling the Israelites to kill everything they came across, even the livestock, while appearing cruel and vengeful on the surface, was His way of protecting His children from being tainted by the absolute demonic depravity of the nations around them. 

We read of God’s firm instructions to the people of Israel in Deuteronomy 16: 21-22 “You shall not plant any tree as an Asherah beside the altar of the Lord your God that you make”.  In Judges 6:25 the Lord commanded Gideon to “cut down the Asherah pole that is beside it”.  In Leviticus 18:21, 20:2-5 God is firmly instructing the Israelites to never follow any of those evil practices, and that there would be a severe penalty for practicing them. Sadly, the Israelites often succumbed to following them.

It is usually the accounts of the killing of these various groups of people that are given as examples of God’s cruelty and seemingly wavering intent towards man.  What is overlooked is the diabolical nature of those people who followed after malevolent gods/deities (demons), and how the worship of these entities kept creeping back into the lives of the people of Israel, in order to defile them and cause a barrier between them and God. 

 Another part of the Old Testament that is often read as revealing God as being harsh and cruel is the account of the great flood, during the time of Noah.  Again, this was a time of great rebellion towards God, with society worshiping multiple gods/deities, which included practices of child sacrifice, temple prostitution, and other things that were abominable in the eyes of God.  God, through Noah, actively warned Noah’s generation of their need to repent and walk with Him, but instead they mocked Noah and as a result, only the survivors in the Ark lived in order to repopulate the earth.

 The story of Noah is just one account of the mercy and love of God that can be seen in the Old Testament.   The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah is yet another time where God’s mercy can be seen.  These cities were among some of the most sinful, and yet Abraham was able to plead for mercy “if only 10 righteous people could be found”.  What many don’t understand is that God will not, and cannot, tolerate idolatrous worship, human sacrifices and any other demonic activity that damages His creation. 

 If you find yourself in a church that won’t teach from the Old Testament, you may need to find another church as it's not teaching the full counsel of God, so you're only getting part of God's message to His children. Look for a church that says they teach the entire Bible! If that isn't feasible for you, then it's incumbent upon you to take the time to study it for yourself. There are plenty of inductive Bible classes, online, if you have access to the internet, but make sure you pray about being taught by that teacher as we know there are wolves among the sheep.  You can always count on the Holy Spirit being your teacher, as he is not only our counselor but also our teacher.  If possible, purchase a Strongs Concordance, which looks at both the Old and New Testament, word for word, and gives you a much clearer understanding of what a particular Scripture verse means. 

As you can see, the Old Testament is irreplaceable in that it not only points out sinful humanity’s need for a Savior, but throughout its books, it points the way, by way of different prophecies, of the coming Savior, Jesus Christ. It foretells not only his birth, but also his crucifixion and his resurrection.  All these are key components of Christianity, and to divorce the Old Testament from the study of Scripture is to remove all lack of context for understanding the New Testament, but most importantly it distorts the character of our loving Father God.