The Old and New Testaments combined form a continuous revelation of God’s purpose for mankind. The story begins with creation, continues with the fall of man into sin, the promise and fulfillment of redemption and the marriage of the bride of Christ at the end of the age.
Church father Augustine (354 AD – 430 AD) is reported to have said: “The New Testament is in the Old Testament contained the Old Testament is in the New Testament explained. The New Testament is in the Old Testament concealed; the Old Testament is in the New Testament revealed.” Or it could be likened to a book with pictures. The Old Testament is the pictures, the New Testament is the words underneath the pictures explaining them.
The entire Bible is at least 25% prophetic. There are over 300 prophecies in the Old Testament pertaining to Christ that were fulfilled in His first coming. Fulfilled prophecy gives us the assurance that the Bible is given to us from God who is outside the limitations of time and space; He is eternal. Fulfilled prophecy gives us confidence that He will also be faithful regarding prophecies pertaining to the end times.
Jesus and the Apostles frequently quoted from the Old Testament which also gives us assurance that it is indeed God’s Word. It is the intention of this lesson to give you a working understanding of the Old Testament. We will go book by book with an overview and summary of key points. Some books may be combined according to content. The first five books of the Old Testament (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy) are called the Pentateuch, meaning “five books” and are attributed to Moses under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.