Why is it important to study the Old Testament in the Bible?

Answer 1

It can be for theological, cultural, and spiritual reasons. It would be of primary importance to practicing Jews or Christians.

it is for your better understanding of the Old Testament, to read the New Testament first.

Answer 2

It is way before and the bases for the New testament!

answ2. It is primarily a record of the early history of the Jewish peoples.

It also contains some creation myths, ideally suited to a pre-literate peoples.

Answer 3

Well the Old testament is about 75% of The Bible. The New Testament authors and Jesus all studied the Old Testament (only Scripture codified at that time) and would rebuke people who hadn't. The Old testament gives you the creation of man, the law of God, great wisdom writings (Psalms- Song of Solomon), prophecies of the coming Messiah and end-time prophecy still relevant today. Also the New Testament tells us not to be ignorant of these things and that they are our examples:

1 Corinthians 10King James Version (KJV)

10 Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea;

2 And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea;

3 And did all eat the same spiritual meat;

4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.

5 But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness.

6 Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.

Answer 4

A:

Christians believe the Bible, which consists of the Old Testament and the New Testament to represent the word of God. They believe that worship of God requires knowledge of what the Bible says.

Answer 5

The Old Testament is the testimony of who God is, it is the record of revelation of God to His covenant people Israel. The Old Testament contains numerous teachings on God's character that are not repeated in the New Testament and it contains a tremendous amount of prediction and confirmation of the work of Jesus in the New testament. If we only had the New Testament we would know everything we need to know in order to find salvation from sin and relationship to God through faith, however our faith and our relationship with God is much richer & more satisfying because of the witness of the Old Testament.

Answer 6

The O.T. (Hebrew Bible) is important because it tells the history of the ancient Israelites, as well as giving the teachings of such prophets as Moses, Isaiah and Jeremiah, the stories of kings like David and Saul, and the ethics and beliefs of the Israelite religion.Tradition states that the Hebrew Bible is from God (Exodus 24:12), given to provide knowledge, guidance, inspiration, awe and reverence, advice, law, comfort, history and more. It crystallized, strengthened and codified the Israelite beliefs, and provided powerful impetus to be ethical.

Many of the Western laws, traditions, culture and values are directly attributable to Judaism. Here are a few examples:
1) The monotheistic religious tradition (Deuteronomy 6:4) shaped the Western beliefs about God.
2) The 7-day week (Exodus ch.20), including a day of rest for everyone. This weekly rest was a concept unique to the Israelites.

3) The concept of morality (Leviticus ch.18-19) was also the work of the Hebrews, including the dignity (Genesis 5:1) and value of a person (whereas idolatry had tended to go hand in hand with cruel, licentious and excessive behavior, since the caprices which were narrated concerning the idols were adopted as an excuse to imitate those types of behavior).

4) Women's rights. Israelite women could own property, could initiate court cases, could have their own servants, and could own fields and businesses; and the Torah specifies marital rights for women (Exodus 21:10).

5) Under Israelite law, everyone had recourse to the courts. A child, widow, wife, poor person, etc., could initiate legal action against any citizen to redress perpetrated harm. Compare this to those societies in which only mature, land-owning males had any legal status.

6) The Western diet is a reflection of much of the Judaic dietary law. With the exception of the pig, Western society does not eat species not contained in kosher law (Deuteronomy ch.14). Owls, mice, insects, rats, snakes, cats and dogs are not eaten by most Westerners and it is a direct result of Jewish culture.

7) Parents are responsible for teaching children (Deuteronomy ch.11). Illiteracy among Israelites, in every generation, was rare. Universal education in the Western world is taken for granted today, yet this is a recent development. In Judaism, however, it goes back for more than 3300 years. Judaism has always maintained that education is the highest goal of man in his pursuit of godliness. This tradition has now been passed on to Western culture.

8) Infants are to be cherished, protected and cared for, whether or not they turned out to be the gender you were hoping for. Compare this to societies in which unhealthy babies, or females, were killed.

9) Cruelty to animals is not acceptable.

10) Government is accountable to a higher authority. In other ancient societies, the monarch was all-powerful. Among the Israelites, however, the king was under the constant scrutiny of the Divinely-informed prophets, who didn't hesitate to castigate him publicly for any misstep in the sight of God. And, other than for the crime of rebellion, the king couldn't punish any citizen by his own decision. He was obligated by the Torah-procedures like everyone else (Talmud, Sanhedrin 19a).

11) A robber repays double to his victim (Exodus 22:3), or works it off. Cutting off the hands of a robber is a punishable crime. Debtors are not imprisoned or harmed. They are made to sell property and/or work to repay what they owe. Compare this to the Roman practice by which anyone could accuse a man of owing them money and the debtor could be killed (Roman "Twelve Tables of Law" code, 3:10).

12) Western jurisprudence in general is based in part upon Judaic Torah-observance. A quick look at the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20) and the laws that follow (Exodus ch.21-23) gives a summary of most modern law.

13) It is the responsibility of the community to support the poor (Deuteronomy ch.15), the widow, the orphan, and the stranger passing through (Exodus 22:20-21).

It is important to note that all of the above were instituted among the Hebrews (a.k.a. the Israelites) thousands of years earlier than in other nations. Here's one example: Infanticide was practiced among classical European nations until it was stopped by the influence of Judaism and its daughter-religions. Professor and former President of the American Historical Association, William L. Langer (in The History of Childhood): "Children, being physically unable to resist aggression, were the victims of forces over which they had no control, and they were abused in almost unimaginable ways."

See also:

More about Judaism's impact

What is the history of the Hebrew Bible?

Answer 7

It is important to read God's word wherever it is found. So, yes, it is important to read the New Testament, the Old Testament, and anything else that God reveals.