Day 1 - 40 Days in the Old Testament

Dr Jim Brown's TruNorth Devotional
40 Days in the Old Testament
Day  1 | AN INTRODUCTION
AN INTRODUCTION

2 Timothy 3:16-17
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
(NIV)

Welcome to 40 days in the Old Testament.

Our society has a problem.  Too many think anything OLD is of little or no value. Thus, the “Old Testament” seems irrelevant and unimportant to many (even some Christians).  I would quickly disagree.

Old can also mean vintage, dependable, proven, tried, and trustworthy. And you’re wise enough to know that NEW does NOT always mean “improved” – contrary to what advertisers would have us believe!

The Bible is a fantastic book. Forty authors wrote sixty-six books over 1500 years, and most of them never met. Yet, cohesiveness and oneness in the story of God and His people permeate the Bible.

And how did that happen? Because EACH human author was guided by God the Holy Spirit.
The Apostle Peter said:  “For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as the Holy Spirit carried them along." (2 Peter 1:21)

If you’re not yet convinced about the value of reading the Old Testament, consider this: the Old Testament was ALL that Jesus and his Jewish followers had. There was NO New Testament when Jesus walked the earth. When Jesus went to the temple, the TANAK – the Torah, the Nevi’im, and the Ketuvim – (aka our Old Testament) was what He had.
 
In 2 Timothy 3:16-17, we learn that ALL Scripture – Old and New Testaments – are God-breathed.  (Some translations say “inspired.”) Ponder that. God breathed out His wording upon the Bible authors through His Holy Spirit so that WE would have a reliable and trustworthy Word from our God that is infallible (without error).  And HE did this so that we could know about God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and how to have an eternal relationship with Him through His Son, Jesus Christ.

I am looking forward to the next 39 days as we look at each of the 39 OT books through a KEY verse from each. Open up, and let the LORD teach and lead you closer to HIM through our time together.

Prayer: LORD, help me to learn more from You! Amen.