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     The first and largest division of the Bible is the Old Testament (Covenant).  Actually the “Old Covenant” does not begin in Genesis (the first book in the OT), but in Exodus (second book).  God made a covenant with a people called Israel (means “Chosen of God”).  They were God’s special people – specially cared for and protected by God.
     Why did God choose Israel above all the other peoples on the earth?  Was Israel particularly good or worthy?  Not at all!  They were elected based upon God’s promise to Abraham to make his descendants into a great nation (Genesis 12:1-3).  God gave the promise 400 years before the Old Covenant was initiated.  The reason for the four centuries wait was that every nation needs a territory, but the land promised to Abraham was occupied by Canaan.  God, in His mercy and justice, does not arbitrarily eject nations from their land, thus Israel did not inherit the land until the Canaanites were so evil that they deserved to lose it – 400 years later (Genesis 15:7, 13-16).
     When Canaan was ripe to be destroyed, Moses led the Israelites out of Egyptian slavery and into the Sinai desert where God offered the Old Covenant to the people (Exodus 19:3-8; 24:3-8).  The covenant consisted of not just the 10 commandments, but about 613 laws governing virtually every aspect of life – worship of God, sanitation, diet, quarantine of disease, sexual relationships, social justice, civil justice, criminal justice and even laws of warfare and treatment of POWs.  Israel’s obedience would be blessed with great national prosperity – successful crops, growing herds and flocks, large families, and victory over their enemies (Deuteronomy 28:1-14).  Conversely Israel’s disobedience would be severely punished – famine, disease, war, removal from the land, slavery and destitution (Deuteronomy 28:15-68).
     Israel agreed to this covenant offered by God about1446 BC but they rarely obeyed it.  About 930 B.C. the nation split into two kingdoms by Solomon’s son and the prime minister.  Both kingdoms strayed into heathen idolatry and eventually became so disobedient to God that they deserved to be removed from the territory.  In 722 BC Assyria removed the Northern Kingdom (Israel) from the land.  Via a series of three assaults between 606 BC and 586 BC, Babylon removed the Southern Kingdom from Judah, their tribal land.  The Northern kingdom never returned to the land.  Interestingly though, Judah lay uninhabited¹ for 70 years, then God allowed the people to leave Babylon to return to Judah (536 BC).  Why would God allow them to return?
     The books of Exodus (ch.20 ff) through Deuteronomy of the Old Testament contain God’s Covenant with Israel, God’s chosen people.  But the Covenant was more about God keeping His promise to Abraham, that one of his descendants would be a blessing to every family on the earth (Genesis 12:1-3).  The apostle Paul identified Jesus of Nazareth as this descendant (Galatians 3:16).  The nation of Israel was formed from Abraham’s descendants to facilitate that promise.  The Old Testament is the history of Israel showing that God was intent on keeping that promise.
     Although Judah deserved to be destroyed, God returned them to their territory in 536 BC to maintain the integrity of the Abrahamic lineage that would culminate in the birth of Jesus.  Further the Old Testament books present over 300 prophecies about Jesus.  Thus we see the primary purpose of the Old Covenant – God’s promise that Abraham’s descendant would be the Savior of the world.  So why is there a New Testament?

     ¹ EGW editor’s note:  In other words, the territory was not recognized or acknowledged by neighboring lands as “Judah” or “Israel” during this time because it was no longer inhabited by the Israelites as a nation.  Its inhabitants were foreign peoples transplanted into the territory by Babylon and some remaining Jews whom Babylon considered too insignificant to remove.  The Babylonian authorities relocated across other countries all other Jews whom they considered to have practical leadership ability, military skills, and any other influential qualities that might possibly be used to rally the Jews together as a people.  The very best and brightest individuals (like Daniel and his friends) they relocated to Babylon for stricter supervision and potential use in the government itself..  This was their time-tested method of dissolving any nation they considered rebellious or troublesome.

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