As you may know already, the Old and the New Testaments are what make up the Holy Bible. Most individuals have a substantial misunderstanding about how these two important books could be part of the same religion.
The origin of the Old and New Testament
Keep in mind that the Old Testament is widely known as the Bible’s first half. That fragment is also utilized by the Jewish belief in the Tanakh. Did you know it took at least 1,070 years for the Old Testament to be created? The book covers the world’s history with a focus on the people of Hebrew.
On the other hand, the New Testament is the second half of the Bible. It was created by eyewitnesses to Christ’s life who wrote about the proceedings that took place that were seen by other witnesses. Writing the New Testament took at least fifty years to be written. How amazing is that?
The authors and books in the Old and New Testament
Both Christians and Jews see the Old Testament as the inspired, inerrant Word of God. These are a total of 39 books included in the Old Testament written mainly in Hebrew, even though some of the books do have some Aramaic. Further, there are at least twenty-seven individual authors, which make up the Old Testament.
Meanwhile, the New Testament is composed of twenty-seven books. There were approximately nine authors of the New Testament. The books of the New Testament are God-breathed, divinely inspired, as well as inerrant. There’s no contradiction between the New and Old Testaments.
The person of Christ shown in the Old and New Testament
Christ is perceived in the Old Testament in glimpses, referred to as Theophany. He’s also mentioned in Genesis 16:7 as the Angel of t4he Lord. Eventually, it’s the Word of the Lord in Genesis 18:1 and Genesis 22:8 that showed that prophesy to Abraham. Jesus is called the Word in John 1:1.
We notice different prophecies about Christ distributed throughout the Old Testament, as well, particularly in the book of Isaiah. Jesus is perceived in each Old Testament book. He’s the lam without blemish mentioned in Exodus, the perfect king in Chronicles 2, the kinsman-redeemer saw in Ruth, the high priest stated in Leviticus, the one who was crucified but not left in death as stated in Psalms, among many others.
In the New Testament, the person of Christ is perceived as He came covered in the flesh to be perceived by man. Christ is the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies and sacrifices.
Worship and prayer
Prayer could be performed by anyone at any given time in the Old Testament. However, special prayers were appealed at religious events and ceremonies. On top of that, worship could be performed at any time before by anyone, but there were special types of worship at particular times throughout religious ceremonies. These included sacrifices and music.
On the other hand, we notice congregational prayer and worship and individual as well in the New Testament. God wants people to worship Him with their entire being, with every breath you take, and in every action you make. Your entire purpose is to worship God.
The biblical prophecies realized by Jesus
In Genesis, the Messiah would be born of a woman. That was accomplished in Matthew. In Micah, you see that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem and that prophecy was realized in Matthew. The Messiah would be born of a virgin, according to the book of Isaiah. You can see in Luke and Matthew that it was realized as well.
In 2 Samuel, Numbers, Isaiah, and Genesis, you learn that the Messiah would come from the line of Abraham, and a descendant of Jacob and Isaac, from the Judah Tribe and an heir to the throne of David. You see all those prophecies realized in Romans, Hebrews, Luke, and Matthew.
In Jeremiah, there would be a massacre of kids at the Messiah’s birthplace. That was realized in Matthew Chapter 2. In Isaiah and Psalms, the Old Testament mentions that the Messiah would be excluded by His people, and in John, it came true.
In Zechariah, the price money for the Messiah would be utilized by a Potter’s field. That was realized in Matthew chapter 2. He would also be falsely accused in Psalms, and that He would be silent before His accusers, spat upon, and hit in Isaiah. In Psalms, you see that He was to be hated without any cause. All of those were realized in Matthew, Mark, and John.
In Isaiah, Exodus, Zechariah, and Psalms, you see that the Messiah would be crucified along with criminals, that He’d be given vinegar to drink, and that His side, feet, and hands would be pierced, and that He would be ridiculed, mocked. Further, he would be buried with the rich, rise from the dead, go to heaven, and that He would be forsaken by God. All of that was realized in John, Luke, Romans, and Mathew.
To conclude, we praise God for His progressive revelation and continuity to us through the Old Testament and His revealing to us in the New Testament.
