The Three Parts of the Old Testament Point To Jesus
The Old Testament was divided into three sections in the Jewish Canon. These were the Law (Torah), the Prophets (Nevi’im), and the Writings (Ketuvim). The first letters of the Hebrew words for Law Prophets and Writings may be seen in the modern name for the Jewish canon – TaNaK. (Because of their importance and size, the Psalms were the first and most important book of the writings, and so sometimes the writings were referred to as the Psalms.)
These three sections are seen in the following quote by Jesus. Even more importantly, note that Jesus claims to be the focus of each part of the Old Testament, and therefore of the Old Testament in its entirety:
He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. 44 He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.” Luke 24:25-27, 44
Below is a brief outline of how each of the sections of the Old Testament look forward to and are fulfilled in Jesus.
- The Law
- The first section of the Old Testament is the Torah, God’s Law of Instruction.
- This section is comprised of Genesis to Deuteronomy.
- This is the foundation on which the Prophets and the Writings build.
- Jesus is the focus and fulfillment of the Law.
- Jesus is the One of Whom the Law spoke.
- Jesus interprets and teaches the Law to God’s people.
- Jesus perfectly fulfills God’s Law in His desires, attitudes, words, and actions.
- The Prophets
- The second section of the Old Testament is the Prophets, including both the former and latter prophets.
- In the Hebrew Scripture, this section is comprised of Joshua, Judges, 1-2 Samuel, 1-2 Kings, Isiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi.
- This includes both books which we think of as being “history” showing how God’s people walked relative to His covenant and Torah, and the prophetic books which show how God sent messengers to properly interpret the Torah and to call God’s people to task for failing to follow the Torah and keep the covenant.
- Jesus is the focus and fulfillment of the prophetic books.
- Jesus is the One of Whom the prophets spoke, and He is the Final True Prophet.
- Jesus initiated the New Covenant which the prophets had foretold, thus culminating all of God’s old covenant promises.
- The Writings
- The final section of the Old Testament is the writings.
- In the Hebrew Scripture, this section is comprised of Psalms, Job, Proverbs, Ruth, Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes, Lamentations, Esther, Daniel, Ezra-Nehemiah, 1-2 Chronicles.
- The main focus of this section is the human experience of loving God, experiencing the difficulties of life, and attempting to apply God’s Torah to life in this fallen world.
- Jesus is the focus and fulfillment of the writings.
- Jesus is the One of Whom the writings spoke.
- Jesus displays the true love of God, the experience of faithfully obeying God in the face of injustice.
- The psalms, the heart of the writings, move from lamentation to praise. Jesus’ life and ministry also move from humiliation and lamentation to exaltation and praise.
Once again, we see that Jesus is the focus of ALL Scripture!
In Christ,
Bret