Dear friends in Christ,
Every heart that seeks to know God must, at some point, open the ancient pages of the Old Testament. For in those sacred writings, we encounter not merely a record of history or law, but the living memory of a God who speaks, promises, and redeems. The Old Testament is not an old story; it is the beginning of the eternal story—the unfolding of divine love that reaches its fullness in Jesus Christ.
It is here that we learn the language of faith: promise and fulfillment, sin and mercy, exile and return, covenant and grace. These ancient words breathe with the presence of the same God who still calls us today: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt” (Exodus 20:2). To read the Old Testament, therefore, is to stand before the mystery of God’s faithfulness—to see the light of Christ dawning long before Bethlehem.
Let us walk together through these sacred books, and rediscover the beating heart of salvation history—where everything begins, and where every soul finds its first longing for redemption.
📖 God’s Revelation in History
From the very first verse—“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1)—the Old Testament announces that all things have meaning because they come from God. The story of creation is not simply about origins; it is about order, beauty, and relationship. Creation is the stage upon which divine love is made visible.
God the Creator and Sustainer
In Genesis, we find a universe ordered by divine wisdom. Humanity is made “in the image and likeness of God” (Genesis 1:27)—a truth that gives infinite dignity to every human being. Yet this same story immediately turns toward tragedy: the Fall. In Adam and Eve, we see our own hearts—made for communion, yet easily deceived by pride.
Still, even in that moment of rebellion, God’s mercy shines. He promises a Redeemer: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed” (Genesis 3:15). From that moment on, all of Scripture becomes a journey toward that promise—a journey that will find its fulfillment in Christ, the new Adam, and Mary, the new Eve.
🌿 The Covenant: God’s Unbreakable Promise
If the Old Testament is a story, its central theme is covenant. A covenant is not a contract; it is a sacred bond of love, sealed by oath. It is God’s way of saying, “I am yours, and you are mine.”
The Covenant with Noah
After the flood, when humanity had fallen into corruption, God renews creation through Noah. The rainbow becomes the sign of His mercy—a reminder that judgment will never have the final word. This covenant teaches us that God’s justice is always embraced by compassion.
The Covenant with Abraham
Then comes Abraham, the father of faith. Through him, God promises blessing for all nations: “In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:3). Abraham’s journey from Ur to the Promised Land mirrors the journey of every believer—from comfort into trust, from self-sufficiency into surrender.
When Abraham binds Isaac upon the altar, faith reaches its peak. It is not cruelty that God demands, but the willingness to trust even when understanding fails. That moment points forward to Calvary, where the Father will not spare His own Son, but offer Him for our salvation.
The Covenant with Moses
At Sinai, God reveals Himself not only as Creator but as Lawgiver and Deliverer. The Exodus story—Israel freed from Egypt—is the great symbol of salvation. “I will be your God, and you shall be my people” (Leviticus 26:12). The Ten Commandments are not chains, but the language of love—showing how redeemed people are called to live in freedom and holiness.
Yet Israel’s heart falters, as ours often does. The wilderness becomes both testing and grace. There, God feeds His people with manna—a foretaste of the Eucharist—and leads them by a pillar of cloud and fire. His presence never departs.
The Covenant with David
In David, the shepherd-king, the covenant finds royal form. God promises that David’s throne will endure forever (2 Samuel 7:16). This promise is fulfilled not in Solomon’s temple, but in Jesus Christ—the Son of David—whose kingdom is not of this world but eternal. The Psalms, many of which come from David’s heart, remain the Church’s own prayerbook: cries of lament, hymns of praise, and songs of trust.
🔥 The Prophets: Voices of God’s Heart
The prophets of Israel were not fortune-tellers; they were truth-tellers—men and women seized by the Spirit, who spoke God’s word into their generation. Their message burns with both warning and hope.
The Call to Repentance
Prophets like Amos and Hosea confronted a nation grown rich but faithless. They cried out for justice and mercy, for fidelity to the covenant. Hosea’s own marriage to an unfaithful wife became a living parable of God’s wounded love: “How can I give you up, O Ephraim? My heart recoils within me” (Hosea 11:8).
The Promise of Restoration
Isaiah’s voice rises like a dawn over exile: “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God” (Isaiah 40:1). In him, the promise of a Messiah becomes clear—“a child is born to us… and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God” (Isaiah 9:6). Every Advent, the Church still listens to Isaiah’s song, waiting for the same light.
Jeremiah weeps for the sin of his people, yet he also proclaims the coming of a new covenant: “I will write my law upon their hearts” (Jeremiah 31:33). This is the covenant that will be sealed in Christ’s blood, where law becomes love and obedience becomes joy.
Ezekiel sees dry bones coming to life again, a vision of resurrection and renewal. Through him, God promises: “I will give you a new heart, and put a new spirit within you” (Ezekiel 36:26).
📜 Wisdom and Worship
Between the stories and prophecies of the Old Testament lies another treasure—the Wisdom literature. These books (Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Wisdom, and Sirach) reveal how faith enters the rhythm of daily life.
Job and the Mystery of Suffering
Job stands as the friend of all who suffer in silence. His cry, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him” (Job 13:15), reveals the purest form of faith—one that clings to God even when all else is taken away.
Proverbs and the Art of Living
Proverbs teaches that holiness is woven into ordinary choices: honesty, humility, patience, generosity. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 9:10)—not terror, but reverent love that orders life toward the good.
Ecclesiastes and the Vanity of the World
The Teacher of Ecclesiastes reminds us that without God, even the greatest human achievements are “vanity and chasing after wind.” Yet his melancholy wisdom leads to the truth that “God has set eternity in the human heart” (Ecclesiastes 3:11).
The Song of Songs: Love as Divine Mystery
Perhaps the most surprising book in all of Scripture, the Song of Songs celebrates love in all its passion and tenderness. The Church has always read it as an image of the love between God and His people, between Christ and His Bride. It reminds us that divine love is not cold doctrine, but burning desire—the very heartbeat of heaven.
🕎 Israel’s Journey and Our Own
The Old Testament does not belong to the past. It is a mirror in which we see our own spiritual journey. Like Israel, we too are called, tested, and forgiven. We too walk through deserts of doubt and encounter God in unexpected places.
The Law still teaches us how to live. The Prophets still challenge us to repent. The Psalms still give us words when our hearts are too tired to speak. Every story—from Abraham to Esther, from Moses to Malachi—whispers of the One who is to come.
As St. Augustine wrote, “The New Testament lies hidden in the Old, and the Old is unveiled in the New.” The two are not rivals but lovers—two halves of one revelation, one divine Word who is Jesus Christ.
✝️ The Old Testament Fulfilled in Christ
When Jesus walked with the disciples on the road to Emmaus, “beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself” (Luke 24:27). Every page of the Old Testament points to Him: the true Lamb, the new Adam, the eternal King, the Wisdom of God made flesh.
The sacrifices of the temple foreshadow His Cross. The manna prefigures the Eucharist. The covenant sealed in blood becomes the New Covenant in His Blood, poured out “for many for the forgiveness of sins” (Matthew 26:28).
To love the Old Testament, then, is to love the preparation for Christ’s coming—to see how patiently God has worked through history, through fragile hearts and broken promises, to bring us home.
🌾 Living the Old Testament Today
For the modern Christian, the Old Testament can seem distant—its genealogies, rituals, and wars foreign to our age. Yet when read with the heart of faith, these same pages speak powerfully to us.
They teach us that God is faithful when we are not. That sin has consequences, but mercy always triumphs. That holiness is not an escape from history, but the transformation of it.
To pray with the Old Testament is to enter the same story of love and covenant that we live in Christ. Each time we read it—whether we are pondering Genesis or the Psalms—we are not looking backward, but stepping deeper into the eternal Word that still speaks.
🙏 Reflect and Pray
Beloved in Christ, the Old Testament is not merely “old.” It is ever new, because it reveals the God who never changes—the God who keeps His promises, who walks with His people, who speaks through fire and whisper alike.
When you open its pages, do not rush. Read slowly. Let the Spirit show you the Christ who hides within every story and every promise. Let the Psalms teach you to pray. Let the Prophets teach you to hope. Let the Law teach you to love.
And as you do, may the covenant once written on tablets of stone be written anew upon your heart.
May the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob bless you with faith that never fails, and may His Word be the lamp that guides your path to eternal life.
May the peace of Christ dwell richly in your heart, and may His Word make your soul a living temple of His love.
— Fr. John Matthew, for Christian Way
