Many Christians are not quite sure what to do with the Old Testament. Common mistakes in reading it include fanciful allegory, unattached moralism, and allegorical moralism (combining the other two!). Yet the Old Testament is not just a collection of inspiring stories about people who triumphed, above all it is a message about Jesus Christ, especially his sufferings and the glories that would followthat is, the gospel. The shape of the Old Testament shows us its incompleteness and points us to Christ either directly or through some of its major figures: Jesus is the new Adam, the new Israel, and the new David.

Iain M. Duguid (PhD, University of Cambridge) is professor of Old Testament at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. He has written numerous works of biblical exposition, including Esther & Ruth in the Reformed Expository Commentary series, Ezekiel in the NIV Application Commentary series, and Numbers in the Preaching the Word series.