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A new covenant
In the Old Testament, God already says that one day a new covenant will come.
Someday God will give people a new opportunity to live the way He meant from the beginning. No longer will He give them laws and rules that they must adhere to.
These laws could not save people from sin because people are unable to follow them completely. And so the law serves to show us that we are sinful people who need redemption.
He also will no longer live with people in a tent or temple. No, He will come and live IN the people. In this way they will finally be able to live as He intended.
But that only becomes clear in the New Testament.
The Old Testament
The Old Testament contains Bible books that deal with God’s dealings with people until about 400 years before the birth of Jesus. It is mainly about his dealings with his people Israel.
The Old Testament begins with the origin of the earth and the first people.
Then it tells about the creation of a large family from Abraham, until finally there is a whole people.
We read how that people get into slavery and how God sets it free from it.
He gives them their own country and laws and rules of life. He wants them to adhere to those laws out of love for Him, because then it will go good with them.
But somehow people always prefer to serve other gods. This wandering away from God makes them to do terrible things.
Over and over again God punishes His people to get them back on the right path: they are attacked by enemies, experienced famine etc..
In their need, the Israelites beg God for help, and God helps them again.
Throughout the entire Old Testament you can see how God saves them time and again.
He saves them because He loves them and because of His covenant with Abraham and with David.
That covenant is the common thread that runs throughout the Old Testament.
God is always faithful to His covenant, even though people are not faithful to Him.
The entire history from Abraham to the birth of Jesus takes some 2000 years.
To be continued
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