A wave of excitement swept over Ama as she flipped the pages of her Bible. After studying the life of Abraham, she made up her mind to read Psalms for a change.
“Where is Psalms by the way?”, she muttered, As a new convert finding the books of the Bible has been a challenge.
She could not help but spot the blank space between the last page of Malachi and the book of Matthew. The words, “THE NEW TESTAMENT” were written boldly on another blank page. Staring in confusion at the blank pages and the strange phrase, Ama gave up her futile search and resorted to checking the table of content for where Psalms was hiding.
Flipping back to the “table of content” page, she spotted the word, “THE OLD TESTAMENT” on another blank page.
“What’s all this testament thing I keep seeing up and down? What does it mean?”, she exclaimed.
“Let me ask google”, she said reaching for her phone.
TESTAMENT means Covenant or will. Covenant is an agreement or pact made between people or groups. A will or testament is a legal document that expresses a person's (testator) wishes as to how their property (estate) is to be distributed after their death and as to which person (executor) is to manage the property until its final distribution.
The word Bible is derived from the Greek biblia which means book. The Bible consists of 66 books. These books are further divided into two broad sections; the old testament (39 books) and the new testament (27 books).
The old testament refers to the covenant God had with the people of Israel on Mount Sinai prior to the coming of Jesus. God established a covenant with the nation of Israel. He gave them a couple of laws on what to do and not do. A tabernacle was built, priests were ordained and they were obliged to perform animal sacrifices periodically on behalf of the people to cover their sins.
The books in the old testament start with the creation story, continues with the story of the patriarchs, slavery in and deliverance from Egypt, the formation of the nation of Israel and end with her exile into Babylon.
“The days are coming” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by hand and led them out of Egypt because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord. -Jer. 31:31-32
This was a prophecy the Prophet Jeremiah made about the new covenant God was yet to institute.
For 400 hundred years, there was silence. Yes, that is the number of years between the last prophet of the old testament-Malachi- and the birth of Jesus.
New Testament refers to the new covenant God has with man based on the sacrificial work of Jesus on the cross. It is the fulfilment of prophecies in the old testament (Jer. 1:31). Here, our bodies are the temples(tabernacles), Jesus is our High priest and there is no need for animal sacrifices because Christ has offered himself as a lamb to die for us once and for all.
The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says:“This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.”Then he adds: “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.”
And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary.- Romans 10:15-19.
The prophecy by Jeremiah is fulfilled here.
The books of the new testament tell us about the life of Christ, his death and resurrection which is the main concept. the history of the early Christians and their walk with the Holy Spirit who is our helper and advocate in this covenant. Finally, it ends with prophecies about how God is going to reward the righteous and punish the wicked.
The names of these two divisions are based on the relationship God had with man, therefore any book records one type of relationship falls into that category.
The new testament is veiled in the old and the old unveiled in the new. – Saint Augustine
The old is a shadow of the things in the new testament. What do I mean by this?
The old system under the law of Moses was only a shadow, a dim preview of the good things to come, not the good things themselves. The sacrifices under that system were repeated again and again, year after year, but they were never able to provide the perfect cleansing for those who came to worship.- Hebrews 10:I (NLT).
The purpose of the old covenant is to point us to Christ who is revealed in the new testament. The sacrifices made with animal blood was pointing to the ultimate sacrifice of Christ in the new testament.
Old testament | New testament |
A relationship between God and Israel. | A relationship between God and the church |
Animal sacrifices made repeatedly to temporarily forgive sin | Christ sacrificed himself once and for all to forever forgive sin |
A person was selected as the High Priest | Jesus is our High Priest |
The law is emphasized | Grace is emphasized. |
God made other covenants with different people at different times (Abraham, David, Noah) but those were individual covenants. The two covenants discussed in this post are the ones directly connected to God's redemption plan for mankind after we sinned in the garden.
“Oh this an eye-opener”, Ama exclaimed. “I am living in the dispensation of the new covenant. Something the men of old foretold through the old covenant. Such a great time to be alive!”, she added.
Us: Indeed Ama. Indeed!
Hey scholars, I hope this piece of information has helped you to better understand the concepts of the old and new testaments. Study your Bibles with this new understanding and I know you will enjoy it better. The next time you are told to open to any book in the old or new testament, flash a big smile and open it with confidence.
Share this post with your siblings by clicking on the three dots at the top of the page and clicking on the share button to copy the link. You have no idea who you would be helping.
Until next time, happy studying!
Thanks for this piece and God richly bless you.