How Do I Enjoy the Old Testament? | A Conversation with Jonny Gibson

Devotional

Day 1: Treasure Trove of Riches Unlocked by Rereading

The Bible’s depths cannot be exhausted because it reveals the eternal Son of God. Like a mine yielding new gems with each dig, Scripture rewards those who return to it with fresh eyes. The Psalms mirror every human emotion while pointing to divine faithfulness. Prophecies and parables layer meaning across centuries. This is no ordinary book—it’s a living word where Christ’s shadow falls on every page. [00:10]

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” (Psalm 119:105, ESV)

Reflection: When has revisiting a familiar Bible passage surprised you with new insight? How does the endless depth of Scripture deepen your awe of Christ?

Day 2: Majestic Leisureliness in God’s Movement

God’s patience unfolds across centuries like a slow, deliberate symphony. He tolerated Israel’s rebellion for generations before exile, giving endless chances to repent. His “steadfast love endures forever” pulses through Psalms and prophets. This isn’t reluctance but purposeful pacing—He works through kings and carpenters, plagues and prayers, to prepare the world for Christ. [07:26]

“The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, ‘The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.’” (Exodus 34:6, ESV)

Reflection: Where do you resent God’s “slow” timing? How might His patient work in Scripture reframe your view of His work in your life?

Day 3: Shadows That Whisper of a Coming King

The tabernacle’s curtains, Isaac’s near-sacrifice, and David’s throne all trace the outline of a greater reality. Like blurred silhouettes before dawn, these Old Testament types gain clarity only in Christ’s light. The serpent-crusher of Genesis 3 walks Galilee’s roads. The temple where God dwells becomes flesh. Every shadow leans forward, aching for substance. [23:55]

“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of uprightness.” (Psalm 45:6, ESV)

Reflection: Which Old Testament story or symbol most stirs your wonder at Christ’s fulfillment? How does seeing Him as the “true and better” reshape your worship?

Day 4: Repetition as God’s Megaphone

“His steadfast love endures forever” echoes 26 times in Psalm 136. Laws about gleaning and Jubilee drumbeat God’s care for the poor. Prophets rehearse exile warnings like a broken record. Repetition isn’t filler—it’s a divine spotlight on what our forgetful hearts ignore. Each refrain trains us to spot patterns: mercy outweighs judgment, promise outlasts failure. [09:06]

“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” (Genesis 3:15, ESV)

Reflection: What repeated theme in Scripture have you recently noticed? How might God be using repetition to reshape your priorities?

Day 5: The Old Testament as Our Inheritance

Paul insists Exodus’ manna and Moses’ rock were “written for our instruction.” Abraham’s faith, Ruth’s loyalty, and Daniel’s courage aren’t ancient relics—they’re family history. The God who called Israel from Egypt calls us from darkness. Their story is our story, their promises our hope, their Messiah our Savior. [50:13]

“For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” (Romans 15:4, ESV)

Reflection: How does reading the Old Testament as your story change your connection to its people? What “family trait” of faith do you want to inherit from them?

Sermon Summary

The Old Testament stands as a treasure trove of riches, a bottomless pit of revelation because it is about the eternal Son of God. Its thirty-nine books form one organic body of revelation, given across centuries to prepare the world to receive its Savior in the fullness of time. Christ fills its pages, not merely in a handful of direct predictions, but in shadows, types, offices, sacrifices, promises, and appearances that prepare the categories for his coming.

The common contrast between a wrathful Old Testament God and a loving New Testament God falls apart when the Scriptures are actually read. God reveals holiness and judgment, yet he also repeatedly declares his steadfast love, faithfulness, tenderness, and patience. Exodus 34 becomes a beautiful broken record throughout the Psalms and the whole Old Testament. God moves with “majestic leisureliness through history,” patiently calling sinful people back before bringing judgment.

The Old Testament can feel hardgoing because its laws, sacrifices, poetry, proverbs, prophecies, and ancient world are foreign to modern readers. Christ also appears in shadow form, present but not always obvious. The shadow is real, but it is blurry until the New Testament lifts the veil. The difficulty should not produce a quick, thin rush to Jesus, as though the Old Testament text itself were only an obstacle to get past.

The Old Testament calls for patient reading in its historical, literary, and original context. Its details matter because God is in the details. Slow attention produces a richer Christ at the end, while a rushed move to Christ produces an anemic Christ. Psalm 45, Genesis 22, Leviticus, and the tabernacle all gain their full force when readers first sit in the text long enough to feel its weight and build its categories.

Typology helps readers see that Christ, the real deal, casts his shadow back across the Old Testament. The garden, tabernacle, temple, and ark reveal God dwelling with his people until the Word becomes flesh and tabernacles among them. The sacrifices move from Eden and Moriah to Golgotha. Adam, Israel, David, prophets, priests, and kings all prepare the way for the final Son, the true Israel, the last Adam, and the greater King.

Genesis 3:15 particularly holds the mother promise of the Old Testament. Its promised Son comes as a representative, obedient, warrior, suffering, triumphant, and divine Son who crushes the serpent even as he bears the serpent’s wound. The whole Old Testament functions as a long footnote to that promise. Its riches grow sweeter through rereading, meditation, and lingering, like a boiled sweet turned over and over until all its goodness is tasted.

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Key Takeaways

1. Read slowly, not thinly. The Old Testament resists the habits of scrolling, swiping, and demanding an immediate spiritual buzz. Its world opens through rereading, meditation, and careful attention to details that may initially feel strange or difficult. The text rewards readers who linger long enough for its patterns, promises, and glory to become clear. [31:06]
2. God’s steadfast love fills the Old Testament. The contrast between Old Testament wrath and New Testament love is a caricature produced by selective reading. God’s holiness does not cancel his patience, tenderness, mercy, or covenant faithfulness. Exodus 34 and the Psalms repeatedly train forgetful hearts to remember that his steadfast love endures forever. [05:46]
3. Christ casts shadows across Scripture. The garden, tabernacle, temple, sacrifices, and offices of prophet, priest, and king all prepare readers to know Christ more fully. Typology does not flatten the Old Testament into easy answers; it lets its own God-given images build categories for the incarnate Son. Christ becomes more glorious when those shadows are patiently traced to their fulfillment. [23:40]
4. Genesis 3:15 anchors the whole story. The promised offspring of the woman is the Son who seeks out the serpent, suffers in victory, and crushes his head. This promise contains the seed of the virgin birth, representative obedience, atoning suffering, final triumph, and the God-man. The whole Old Testament keeps unfolding what this mother promise first announces. [37:17]
5. The Scriptures reward lifelong rereading. The Bible remains a treasure trove because finite minds never reach the bottom of its revelation of the eternal Son. Its rewards deepen in year twenty, year thirty, and year forty-five because later reading brings fresh light to earlier texts. The proper response to difficulty is not abandonment but renewed reading, helpful guidance, and deeper conditioning in the world of Scripture.

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Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[00:33] - Why the Old Testament Matters
[03:18] - Christ and the Psalms
[05:25] - The Same God of Wrath and Love
[10:46] - Why God Repeats Himself
[11:37] - The Old Testament Prepares for Christ
[14:15] - Why the Old Testament Feels Difficult
[18:24] - Do Not Rush to Jesus
[21:43] - Simple Strategies for Reading
[23:40] - Types and Shadows of Christ
[28:39] - Appearances of the Son
[31:06] - Rereading and Meditation
[34:55] - Pillar Texts in the Storyline
[37:17] - Genesis 3:15 and the Promised Son
[45:55] - The Bottomless Riches of Scripture
[49:30] - The Old Testament Is Our Book
[51:02] - Favorite Books and Final Encouragement

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

Genesis 3:15
“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” [23:23]

Exodus 34:6-7
“The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, 'The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation.” [05:46]

Psalm 136:1
“Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.” [06:01]

Observation questions

In Exodus 34:6–7, what qualities of God are named together, and how do both mercy and justice appear in the passage? [08:33]
What repeated truth about God’s character is highlighted in Psalm 136:1, and why might Scripture repeat this truth so often? [08:59]
In Genesis 3:15, who are the main parties in conflict, and what happens to the serpent and to the woman’s offspring?
What Old Testament patterns were identified as preparing readers for Christ—especially God dwelling with his people, sacrifice, and the offices of prophet, priest, and king? [24:00]

Interpretation questions

How do Exodus 34:6–7 and Psalm 136:1 challenge the common idea that the Old Testament mainly reveals a wrathful God while the New Testament reveals a loving God? [07:21]
Genesis 3:15 promises victory over the serpent, yet the promised offspring is also wounded. How does this pattern help explain why Christ’s suffering is not a failure but part of his victory? [39:33]
Why is it important to understand an Old Testament passage in its own historical and literary setting before tracing its connection to Christ? What can be lost when readers move too quickly to a conclusion? [19:05]
How do the garden, tabernacle, and temple build a fuller understanding of what it means that God came to dwell with his people in Christ? [24:00]

Application questions

When the Old Testament feels confusing, repetitive, or difficult, what is a typical response—skipping it, rushing through it, or slowing down? What might help cultivate a more patient approach? [47:00]
Where might someone be tempted to believe the false contrast between God’s holiness and God’s love? How do God’s patience, steadfast love, and justice bring comfort as well as a call to repentance? [07:47]
What is one Old Testament book, chapter, or psalm that could be read slowly and consecutively in the coming weeks? What would a realistic rhythm of reading and rereading look like? [22:36]
What distractions most encourage shallow, hurried reading—screens, busyness, the desire for an immediate spiritual feeling, or something else? What simple change could create space to linger over Scripture? [33:06]
Genesis 3:15 points to a Savior who confronts the serpent, suffers, and triumphs for his people. In what present struggle does the group need to remember that Christ’s victory is real, even when the battle still feels painful? [40:35]
How could reading the Old Testament with other believers help someone notice God’s character and Christ’s glory more clearly? Is there a specific person or setting in which that shared reading could happen? [33:55]

Sermon Clips

He's there all over the pages of the Old Testament. Not just in specific prediction fulfillment texts. There's only about 40 of those actually in the Old Testament, but uh he's there over all the pages of scripture, but in shadow form. And you know what your own shadow looks like? It's it is a it is a um an outline of your body, of yourself. And yet it's fuzzy. It's blurry. And so that's what you're dealing with in the Old Testament. Christ is there, but he's it's a bit blurred. It's it's hard to see until the New Testament where the veil is lifted off. [00:15:31]

whole of scripture is inspired by God, every word without error, it's infallible, but every word is inspired and God is in the details. Then what we want to do is study the Old Testament in its original context, in its historical context, in its literary context and get as much out of that text that we're in in the Old Testament as possible. And if you're more patient, more slow to study it, you will end up with a richer view of Christ at the end because you haven't rushed to get to him. [00:19:05]

God is a God who loves to come and dwell with his people in the same kind of homes that they live in. The Israelites are in a tent. He comes to live in a tent. Wow. Israelites are in physical buildings in the promised land. He comes into the temple in a physical building. God likes to come and dwell with his people in the same homes they live in. [00:24:22]

And by the end, it will be like obvious who it's about. And yet by doing that you sort of build the suspense and the drama and you you you create the rich categories in which then to introduce Christ. So that would be my one thing. Don't don't rush to get to Jesus. Deal with the text in its original context and then you will see a better Christ. [00:20:12]

the whole of the Bible is about him and he was referring to the Old Testament. And so I love studying the Old Testament to see Christ in that um as we need to get away from this idea that it's this different part of the Bible and we just need to wait to get to Jesus in the New Testament. Jesus is all over the pages of the Old Testament. [00:03:33]

Well, I think when people have that view, they're reading the Old Testament selectively because God is a God of wrath and judgment in the Old Testament, a God of holiness. He doesn't tolerate sin, but in numerous places, he's also the God of love, steadfast love. His mercies renew every morning. His faithfulness never ends. [00:05:46]

Uh I would say it's the first part of the Bible. You got two parts, Old Testament, New Testament. I would say it's the preface, the introduction to the main story. Um those are some sort of very simple ways but theologically I would say what it is it is a body of revelation in history that is preparing the world to receive its savior. [00:11:49]

Go deeper. You You're going to find Jesus as you sit in it. As you go deeper in it, uh rather than just coming across the surface and with a quick nervousness, oh, I got to find out how this is about Jesus. Uh making the the move too quick. Uh but to trust him, trust his patience, and have the kind of divine leisureliness that would help you find the truth. [00:20:46]

Well, the original is Jesus. He's the real deal. And he stands in the Old Testament and casts his shadow. Sorry, he stands in the New Testament and casts his shadow back over the Old Testament. So, his shadow is all over the Old Testament. That's what we mean by typology. [00:23:40]

His words are inspired through his prophets and by his spirit. They're good words. These are delightful words. They're part of satisfying our soul. And I something I come come away with over and over again from all of scripture, but maybe in particular the Old Testament is the greatness of God. Uh the expanding of my small categories for what God can do, what his power is, how he steers history. [00:04:52]

Alec Matir um used to say that if the Old Testament is boring you, God's trying to tell you something. And also if God keeps repeating himself, he's trying to tell you something. And I think that's what he's telling us in the Old Testament. He he is the God of steadfast love. [00:09:06]

to overcome that false dichotomy between the God of wrath, the God of love, read your Old Testament and actually see these attributes of God of of love and patience and faithfulness. They're they're all over the Old Testament. [00:08:18]

Listen up. And the human heart kind of gets bored with repetition. But the scriptures are are written in such a way that that the repetition teaches us that, you know, I don't know about you, brothers, I need to hear it over and over and over and over again. [00:10:38]

And then what do we see in the New Testament? We see Jesus dying on a mountain on Mount Golgtha making a sacrifice. And so you can now see that all of those things in the Old Testament are types, shadows, pointers uh to Christ. [00:26:09]

patient, more slow to study it, you will end up with a richer view of Christ at the end because you haven't rushed to get to him. There's more to see than we ourselves and our finite minds have seen. [00:00:40]

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