Why Understanding the Old Testament Is so Important

Summary

Grace in Focus Podcast Summary

Episode: Why Understanding the Old Testament Is So Important
Date: June 29, 2026
Host: Bob Wilkin (B)
Guest: David Renfro (C)
Produced by: Grace Evangelical Society

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Episode Overview

This concise episode focuses on the vital importance of understanding the Old Testament for New Testament believers, particularly within the context of Free Grace Theology. Bob Wilkin and guest David Renfro—a seasoned Old Testament specialist—discuss the tendency of many churches to neglect the Old Testament and explain why deep familiarity with its teachings is indispensable for a complete understanding of Christian faith, doctrine, and hope. The conversation draws connections between the testaments, highlights prophetic and wisdom literature, and debunks misconceptions about the nature of God in the Old vs. New Testament.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Neglect of the Old Testament in Modern Churches

• Observation: Many churches, including evangelical ones, rarely teach or preach from the Old Testament.
  • “Even quote, unquote, Bible churches, almost exclusively teach from the New Testament epistles...and they almost never teach from the Old Testament.” (B, 03:56)
• Notable anecdote about a pastor who publicly vowed never to teach from the Old Testament again (03:41).

2. The Interdependence of the Old and New Testaments

• Main Argument: Understanding each testament requires an understanding of the other.
  • “I don't think you can understand the New Testament to its fullest unless you have a very good understanding of the Old.” (C, 05:25)
  • “You really can't understand the Old Testament fully without the New Testament shedding light on it.” (B, 05:41)
• Perspective: The New Testament provides the perspective of Jesus and the apostles on Old Testament teachings (C, 05:50).

3. Why Christians Need the Old Testament

• Prophecy: Old Testament prophetic books (e.g., Daniel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Zechariah) are essential for understanding New Testament prophecy (06:57–07:10).
  • “Without the teaching of the Old Testament, the book of Revelation wouldn't make as much sense and the Olivet discourse wouldn't make as much sense.” (B, 07:09)
  • Specific references to “the day of the Lord,” “the time of Jacob’s trouble,” and “Daniel’s 70 weeks.”
• Wisdom Literature: Books like Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Job inform “wisdom literature” in the New Testament, such as James and the Sermon on the Mount (07:43–08:03).
  • “One of my classmates at seminary wrote his thesis on the Book of James being the wisdom book of the New Testament.” (C, 07:43)
• Creation and Eschatology: Parallels between Creation (Genesis 1–3) and New Creation (Revelation 20–22) (11:07).
• Blessings and Curses: The motif of blessings and curses found throughout both testaments; understanding one helps understand the other (09:25).

4. Misconceptions About the God of the Testaments

• Correction: The commonly held belief that the Old Testament God is wrathful and the New Testament God is loving is incorrect and reflects ignorance of both (09:25).
  • “Those people haven't read either Testament.” (B, 09:53)
  • Examples cited: God's wrath revealed in the NT (Ananias and Sapphira, Acts 5; 1 Corinthians 11:30) and God’s grace and love found throughout the OT.

5. Literary Style, History, and Language

• Discussion of the antiquity of Hebrew in Job and the challenge of translating rare words (08:48).
  • “One of my profs said there's words in the book of Job...they just literally guessed at the meaning because it was only used once.” (C, 08:48)

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Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• On the Inseparability of the Testaments:
  • “I don't think you can understand the New Testament to its fullest unless you have a very good understanding of the Old.” (C, 05:25)
  • “You really can't understand the Old Testament fully without the New Testament shedding light on it.” (B, 05:41)
• On Preaching the Whole Bible:
  • “Lots of churches…almost never teach from the Old Testament.” (B, 03:56)
  • “If I'd have had the authority, I would have said, hey, Ben, come here, you and I got to talk.” (C, 03:49)
• On Characterizing God:
  • “Those people haven't read either Testament.” (B, 09:53)
  • “God's love and grace is revealed all through the Old Testament.” (B, 10:05)
• On New Creation:
  • “He's not going to remodel the current universe. It's a tear down and rebuild.” (C, 11:17)
  • “We're going to get new planets, new stars, we're going to get a new sun, a new moon, a new earth. And this is going to be a universe in which righteousness dwells.” (B, 11:28)
• On Biblical Language:
  • “One of my profs said there’s words in the book of Job...they just literally guessed at the meaning because it was only used once in the whole Old Testament.” (C, 08:48)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [01:20–02:49] – Introduction to David Renfro’s Old Testament background and current ministry.
• [03:23–04:48] – Discussion on why the Old Testament is neglected and the impact of avoiding prophecy.
• [05:25–05:57] – The necessity of understanding both Testaments to grasp their full meaning.
• [06:57–07:43] – The Old Testament as a foundation for prophecy and eschatology in the New Testament.
• [07:43–08:48] – Wisdom literature’s connection between testaments; nuances in translating Old Testament Hebrew.
• [09:25–10:05] – Refuting the “angry OT God/loving NT God” myth; examples of wrath and grace in both.
• [11:07–12:39] – Parallels between Genesis and Revelation; the concept of New Creation in biblical theology.

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Looking Ahead

The episode concludes with a preview: next time, Bob and David will share and discuss their five favorite Old Testament books. Listeners are encouraged to jot down their own favorites and reflect on the role of grace in their understanding.

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Summary Tone

The conversation is friendly, knowledgeable, and passionate about biblical literacy, with moments of humor and camaraderie. The tone emphasizes clarity, accessibility, and the encouragement for believers to engage deeply with the whole of Scripture for a richer, more accurate Christian faith.

Transcript

[A]

The following is a listener supported ministry from the Grace Evangelical Society. Why do some teachers not teach or preach from the Old Testament? What would it be like to have only the New Testament and not the Old Testament? Why is it so important to understand the Old Testament? Stay tuned. We'll talk about it today here on Grace in Focus. In fact, all this week on Grace in Focus talking about the Old Testament and we are glad to have you with us, friend. This is a ministry of the Grace Evangelical Society. Our website is faithalone.org and a couple of things of high interest there right now. The regional conference July 19th through 23rd in Kamia, Idaho. Check that out. Get [e-mail] events and our online seminary, Grace Evangelical Theological Seminary. We are in an open window here for applications and registration. Get ready to study with us in the fall. You can earn an M. Div. Degree and full scholarships are available because of our generous donors. We thank them for that. Get information you [e-mail] seminary and now with the introduction to this week's series about the Old Testament, here's Bob Wilken along with David Renfro.

[B]

David majored in Old Testament at Dallas Seminary and Grand situated almost 50 years ago.

[C]

Oh, thanks for sharing that.

[B]

Didn't you get your Master of theology in 78?

[C]

78.

[B]

That was the year I started Whippersnapper.

[C]

You respect your elders, young man.

[B]

So that's 48 years ago.

[C]

That's amazing.

[B]

That is amazing.

[C]

It doesn't feel that long since I went to the. I went to my 40th reunion. It doesn't feel like it was that long ago. And now look, I know, right?

[B]

And now I keep track of age by 25 year increments. So I'm two and then soon I'll turn three, right?

[C]

Well, being a computer nerd, it sounds a lot better if you use the base 16 thing that computers use. I love it because it sounds so much younger.

[B]

You're not even five yet. David loves the Old Testament. He considers himself an Old Testament specialist. Although you do preach in the New Testament. In fact, you're currently at Victor Street. Preaching through what? First John.

[C]

I'm in first John.

[B]

And you just finished what? First and second Peter. Right.

[C]

The elders wanted me to go through the general epistles, which means I finished first and second Peter in one John and finish the other two letters of John and then go to what I consider holy ground, the Book of Hebrews.

[B]

There you go.

[C]

But it'll be fun to do that. It is a break from the Old Testament. But I love the Old Testament.

[B]

Well, and the book of Hebrews has so many quotes from the Old Testament. It's almost like being in the Old

[C]

Testament, I'll probably feel really at home.

[B]

Yeah. So I've got. Over the years, David, I have been asked so many questions about the Old Testament. I mean, lots and lots of questions over the years. And since I knew you were going to be here today, I have taken some of the very best questions I've been asked, and I want to just throw them at you and see what you have to say.

[C]

See if I can catch.

[B]

Yeah, see if you can catch. And I think you will enjoy this. And I think y' all listening will enjoy this as well. Because the Old Testament, as you know, David, like the Gospels, is much ignored in most churches today. Right.

[C]

I forgot what pastor said this, but it was very public and he said that I will never teach from the Old Testament ever again.

[B]

Right.

[C]

And I just wanted to. If I'd have had the authority, I would have said, hey, Ben, come here, you and I got to talk.

[B]

Yeah, exactly. The thing is, lots of churches, even quote, unquote, Bible churches, almost exclusively teach from the New Testament epistles. They rarely teach from the Gospels, they rarely teach from the Book of Revelation, and they almost never teach from the Old Testament.

[C]

I've even heard of churches, and I'm talking Bible churches that will not allow Sunday school teachers to teach Bible prophecy.

[B]

Wow.

[C]

And I'm going, what planet are they from? You know, I mean, that's so important to even us as Bible believing Christians here and now. That's a whole hope of the literature of hope.

[B]

Right.

[C]

You know, and it just bothers me what's going on in some churches.

[B]

All right, so here's my first question. This is one I've heard a lot. Why is it important to understand the Old Testament? Why is it important for New Testament believers who don't live under the law of Moses, who don't live during the time of the patriarchs, who live under the teachings of Christ and the apostles and the New Testament? Why don't we just ignore the Old Testament and teach the books that are written for us instead of books that were written for somebody else?

[C]

What I do is I summarize my thing in saying this. I don't think you can understand the New Testament to its fullest unless you have a very good understanding of the Old.

[B]

Amen. Absolutely. And don't you think that works both ways?

[C]

Yes.

[B]

You really can't understand the Old Old Testament fully without the New Testament. Shedding light on it.

[C]

One of the words that's coming through to me a lot when I'm speaking and all that stuff is the word perspective.

[B]

Yes.

[C]

What the New Testament does is it gives us a perspective on what the Old Testament teaches from Jesus standpoint, when he was teaching and now Paul and the other New Testament writers. But there's a lot of stuff in the New Testament that we would just be clueless about if we didn't have Old Testament references for that.

[A]

We will return to our program content shortly, but we're taking this break to let you know that Grace and Focus is shortly going to be transitioning to digital delivery only. We've appreciated this fine radio station, and being part of its lineup has been a privilege indeed. But we're going to say goodbye to this time slot and make room for another ministry. You can continue to listen to Grace in Focus. Just pick the time of day anytime, 24 7, and find us on Spotify, Apple, and many other podcast outlets.

[B]

We need the Old Testament books on prophecy. I'm thinking especially of Daniel, which is important, but Isaiah and Jeremiah and Ezekiel and all of the minor books.

[C]

Don't forget Zechariah.

[B]

Zechariah, all of these prophets. They tell us about the day of the Lord. They tell us about the time of Jacob's trouble, the tribulation period. Daniel tells us about his 70 weeks. Right. You've got all this. And without the teaching of the Old Testament, the book of Revelation wouldn't make as much sense and the Olivet discourse wouldn't make as much sense. We get lots of insights into the New Testament from understanding the Old Testament. And it's not just prophecy. Wisdom literature, too. Right.

[C]

One of my classmates at seminary wrote his thesis on the Book of James being the wisdom book of the New Testament.

[B]

And that's really true.

[C]

And it's really true. How would you know that if you didn't know the Book of Proverbs and the other books of wisdom in the Old Testament?

[B]

Yeah. And people say that the Sermon on the Mount is wisdom literature, too.

[C]

It is.

[B]

Matthew 5, 6, 7 is wisdom literature. And all of the Book of James wisdom literature. Well, if you haven't studied Psalms and Proverbs and Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon, well, then don't forget Job. And Job, you're right, because he says, I know my redeemer lives, and I will stand with him in my flesh on the earth. That's one of the key verses. It shows that. What is that? Job 1925, something like that. Yeah, yeah. And it shows that Old Testament believers did know about the fact that there was going to be bodily resurrection, there was going to be a kingdom they would living with Messiah and Job may have been. Do you think it was the first Old Testament book? I mean, it could have been around the time of Abraham, around 2000 BC.

[C]

One thing I did learn is that the style of Hebrew in Job is very ancient. It's more ancient than a lot of the other even old books, you know, the books of Moses, you know, around 1440 B.C. yeah. And this is even older, so we don't know. But the style of Hebrew, the words used. One of my profs said there's words in the book of Job that the old King James translators, they just literally guessed at the meaning because it was only used once in the whole Old Testament. It was in that verse in Job. And so all I could do is guess.

[B]

The Old Testament sheds light on wisdom and literature. It sheds light on prophecy. It sheds light on creation. It also sheds light on the whole blessing and cursing motif which is found all through the Old Testament. It's found in the New Testament too. But a lot of people say, well, the God of the Old Testament was this God of wrath, but the God of the New Testament is the God of love. Those people haven't read either Testament.

[C]

That's where I would come in and do my very eloquent thank you for

[B]

playing with a nice parting game.

[C]

That's right.

[B]

That's good.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Because wrath is revealed in the New Testament as well. And God's love and grace is revealed all through the Old Testament.

[C]

And also when is God's wrath expressed? When the people are in gross disobedience to his law.

[B]

And that was true in the Old Testament. But it's also true, for example, in 1 Corinthians 11:30, because of this, some of you are sick and some sleep, or you've got Ananias and Sapphira in Acts chapter five and they drop dead.

[C]

Right.

[B]

And of course, Romans talks about the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and all who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. And you know, the book of Revelation tells us about seven years of tribulation, which is going to be the pouring out of God's wrath. And so the Old Testament, it seems to me, opens the door to the New Testament. For example, Genesis 1, 2 and 3, I think, are parallel in some ways to Revelation 20, 21 and 22.

[C]

Well, you have the creation in Genesis, the new creation in Revelation Yeah, I

[B]

saw a new heaven and new earth. First heaven and first earth pass away.

[C]

Like I like to say about that, what the Lord's not going to do. This is not a. He's not going to remodel the current universe. It's a tear down and rebuild.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And by the.

[C]

And that's what it is.

[B]

Yes. Some people say that when 2 Peter 3 talks about this great fiery burning or Jesus said heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away, they say what that means. It's kind of a renewal, but not a total destruction. I agree with you. I think it's going to be a cataclysmic elimination of what we have. So every stain of sin is gone and we're going to get new planets, new stars, we're going to get a new sun, a new moon, a new earth. And this is going to be a universe in which righteousness dwells.

[C]

Well, even in Genesis 1 when it says in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, that's a merism, meaning using opposites to indicate totality.

[B]

Like he created everything.

[C]

He created everything. And so what do you think when Revelation says and he created a new heavens and a new earth, he created new everything. So to me the style and I think it's valid to put that in revelation. I think it's clear in the Old Testament, but it needs to be applied in Revelation the same way.

[B]

Very good. Alright. Well David, next time I want you to think about this. We're going to talk about your favorite five Old Testament books and my favorite five Old Testament books. I want you to jot down your favorite five Old Testament books and see if you sync up with David and me. And in the meantime, what are we going to do?

[C]

Keep grace in focus.

[A]

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