Before Jesus arrived, the Old Testament was in place, consisting of the Ten Commandments and about 613 laws. These laws taught people how to behave in a way that matched God’s word and nature. However, these laws could not clear people’s consciences. This is why people kept committing the same sins year after year, using animal sacrifices to be forgiven (Jeremiah 9:26, Ezekiel 36:26).
To help the Israelites live in a way that pleased God in the Old Testament, He used judges, prophets, kings, and priests. They helped by quickly delivering God’s messages and prophecies to the people.
The Old Testament is also called the Tanakh in Hebrew, or the Hebrew Bible. It includes:
The Torah: The five books of Moses (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy).
The Nevi’im: The books of the prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel
The Ketuvim: The writings, which include poetry, wisdom, and history (Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Daniel, Ezra-Nehemiah, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Judges, Ruth, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, Esther, Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon).
The scripture says the Old Testament is a preview of what was to come through Christ (Colossians 2:17).