The Bible Was Not Written to You

For many people, this statement feels unsettling at first: The Bible was not written to you. Not directly.

That may sound surprising, even controversial. Yet it is one of the most important realities to understand if we hope to read Scripture clearly. For generations, modern readers have approached the Bible as if every sentence, command, warning, and promise were written specifically to them. Devotional culture has often reinforced this assumption, encouraging people to place themselves immediately into the text without first considering its historical and covenantal setting.

But this approach, though common, can easily lead to confusion. When we read ourselves into passages that were originally addressed to someone else, we risk misunderstanding the author’s intent and misapplying the message.

The truth is both simpler and more powerful.

The Bible is not a collection of disconnected sayings written generically to humanity. It is a historical record of God’s dealings with a particular people within specific covenants. Each book of Scripture was written to identifiable audiences who lived in real places, under defined covenant arrangements, during particular moments in history.

When those factors are ignored, the meaning of the text can become distorted. But when we recognize them, the story of Scripture begins to come into focus with remarkable clarity.

The Old Testament: A Covenant with Israel

As most would agree, the Old Testament is not a universal rulebook given to the entire world. Rather, it is the covenant story of one nation: Israel.

Throughout the Old Testament, God is revealed as entering into a covenant relationship with the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This covenant was formally established through Moses at Mount Sinai and became the governing structure of Israel’s national and religious life.

The Law of Moses was not given to humanity as a whole. It was given to a specific people.

The psalmist makes this distinction unmistakably clear:

“He declares His word to Jacob,

His statutes and judgments to Israel.

He has not dealt thus with any nation;

and as for His judgments, they have not known them.”

—Psalm 147:19–20

This passage states plainly that the Law was uniquely given to Israel. Other nations were not placed under this covenant. Rome was not under the Law of Moses. Greece was not under the Law of Moses. The surrounding nations were not required to observe Israel’s covenantal obligations.

Moses himself emphasized this uniqueness when he asked the people:

“For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the LORD our God is whenever we call upon Him? And what great nation is there that has statutes and judgments as righteous as this whole law which I set before you today?”

—Deuteronomy 4:7–8

Israel alone possessed this covenantal arrangement.

Within that covenant existed a complex and highly structured religious system. The temple stood at the center of Israel’s worship. Priests from the tribe of Levi served as mediators within the sacrificial system. Offerings were presented daily. Annual festivals structured the rhythm of the year. Dietary laws governed daily life. The Sabbath shaped the weekly calendar.

These practices were expressions of Israel’s covenant identity.

Yet many modern readers open the Old Testament and instinctively place themselves within that story. When they encounter commandments, they assume those instructions were given directly to them. When they encounter covenant warnings, they interpret them as threats aimed at their own lives.

But when we do this, we are stepping into a covenant that was never made with us.

Understanding this distinction is crucial. Without it, the Old Testament becomes confusing and often contradictory. With it, the narrative begins to make sense.

The Mission of Jesus

When Jesus entered the world, he did so within this existing covenant framework.

Many people assume that Jesus came primarily to begin a new global religion. Yet Jesus himself described his mission in far more specific terms. His ministry was directed first and foremost toward Israel.

In a conversation with a Gentile woman, Jesus stated clearly:

“I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

—Matthew 15:24

Earlier, when sending out the twelve disciples, he gave similar instructions:

“Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

—Matthew 10:5–6

These statements reveal that Jesus’ ministry unfolded within the covenant story of Israel. He came as Israel’s Messiah, addressing a people who were living under the Law of Moses.

His teachings often confronted the religious leadership of the nation. He exposed the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and challenged the traditions that had distorted the spirit of the Law. At the same time, he announced the arrival of the kingdom of God and called Israel to repentance.

Jesus didn’t come to keep the Law system going forever. He came to bring it to completion.

In the Sermon on the Mount, he declared:

“Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”

—Matthew 5:17

Fulfillment was the key. The Law and the prophets had pointed forward to something greater. Their purpose was not to remain forever but to reach completion in the work of Christ.

A Time of Transition

After the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, the early church found itself living in a unique and transitional moment in history.

The cross had accomplished something decisive. Through his death, Christ fulfilled the requirements of the Law and inaugurated the New Covenant. Yet the outward structures of the old covenant world were still standing.

The temple still operated in Jerusalem. Priests continued offering sacrifices. Many Jewish believers continued navigating their identity within a system that had defined their nation for centuries.

This tension explains why so much of the New Testament addresses questions related to the Law.

The apostle Paul repeatedly confronted attempts to reimpose elements of the Mosaic covenant upon believers. Circumcision became a central controversy. Certain teachers insisted that Gentile converts must adopt the practices of the Law in order to belong to God’s people.

Paul strongly opposed this idea.

Writing to the Galatians, he warned:

“If you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all.”

—Galatians 5:2

His concern was not about a physical ritual. It was about the deeper issue of returning to a covenant system that had already reached its fulfillment.

In Romans he emphasized the new reality that believers now lived in:

“For sin shall not have dominion over you, because you are not under law but under grace.”

—Romans 6:14

The apostles were guiding communities through the closing chapter of one covenant age and the emergence of another.

The Disappearance of the Old Covenant

One of the most revealing statements about this transition appears in the book of Hebrews.

The author writes:

“In speaking of a new covenant, He has made the first obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.”

—Hebrews 8:13

Notice the language carefully. The old covenant had been rendered obsolete through the work of Christ, yet the writer speaks of it as something that was “ready to vanish away.”

This indicates that the process was still unfolding at the time the letter was written.

The temple still stood in Jerusalem, functioning as the visible center of the old covenant system. As long as that structure remained, the symbolic world of the Mosaic covenant continued to exist.

Yet Jesus had already predicted that the temple would not remain standing.

Addressing the religious leaders of his day, he warned:

“Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.”

—Matthew 23:36

Later he repeated the same time frame:

“This generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.”

—Matthew 24:34

Within forty years, those words came to pass.

In AD 70, Roman armies surrounded Jerusalem and ultimately destroyed the city and the temple. The sanctuary that had stood for centuries was burned to the ground, not one stone left upon another. The sacrificial system ceased. The priesthood lost its functioning center.

With the destruction of the temple, the covenant world that had defined Israel’s religious life came to an end.

The Old Covenant age had reached its conclusion.

The Consequences of Misreading the Bible

When readers fail to recognize this covenantal context, significant confusion arises.

Warnings directed toward Israel within their covenant relationship are often interpreted as universal threats aimed at modern believers. Prophecies describing the end of that covenant age are sometimes transformed into predictions about the end of the physical world. Instructions connected to the Mosaic Law are applied to people who were never placed under that Law in the first place.

These misunderstandings can produce fear-based interpretations of Scripture and theological systems that struggle to reconcile passages that were never meant to be combined.

But when we restore the historical and covenantal setting of the biblical writings, many of these tensions disappear.

Learning to Read the Bible in Context

A clearer approach to Scripture begins with asking the right questions.

Before asking what a passage means for us personally, we must first ask:

Who was this written to?

What covenant were they living under?

What historical situation was being addressed?

When we read the Bible within its original context, the narrative of Scripture unfolds with remarkable coherence. We begin to see that the Bible tells the story of God bringing the covenant of the Law to its fulfillment and revealing a new reality through Christ. In other words, the Old Testament was to a people under an Old Covenant law and the New Testament Is a collection of letters that was addressing that old Covenant system. 

Understanding this does not diminish the value of Scripture. On the contrary, it allows us to appreciate its message more deeply.

The Bible was written for our understanding, but it was not written directly to us. It was written to a covenant people living under the Law and later to those who were witnessing the transition into the New Covenant reality.

When we stop forcing ourselves into Israel’s covenant story and instead allow the text to speak within its historical framework, we begin to see more clearly what God has accomplished.

And in that clarity, the story of Scripture finally begins to make sense.

But Isn’t All Scripture for Us?

At this point, an important question often arises. Some readers may be wondering whether this perspective diminishes the value of Scripture for believers today. After all, the apostle Paul wrote that:

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.”

—2 Timothy 3:16

This verse is frequently quoted as evidence that every passage of Scripture applies directly to modern readers. But notice carefully what Paul actually says.

He does not say that all Scripture was written to us. He says that Scripture is useful.

There is an important difference.

A letter written to someone else can still contain wisdom and insight for those who read it later. We may learn from the experiences, warnings, and instructions recorded in the text. Yet recognizing its value does not mean we should ignore the original audience.

In fact, understanding the audience makes the message clearer, not weaker.

When we know who a passage was originally addressing, we are able to see more accurately what problem the author was confronting and what truth he was revealing. Only then can we responsibly consider what principles might inform our own lives today.

Rather than reducing the authority of Scripture, recognizing its covenantal context actually protects it from being misunderstood.

Why This Matters

Understanding the audience and covenant setting of the Bible is not merely an academic exercise. It has profound implications for how people interpret Scripture and understand their relationship with God.

When the covenant context is ignored, several common misunderstandings begin to appear.

Warnings that were originally directed toward Israel within their covenant relationship are often read as threats aimed at modern believers. Passages that described the end of the Old Covenant age are transformed into predictions about the destruction of the physical world. Instructions connected to the Mosaic Law are sometimes treated as ongoing obligations for people who were never placed under that covenant.

The result is often a theology shaped more by fear than by clarity.

People begin to believe they are living under the same covenant warnings that were spoken to Israel thousands of years ago. They may feel as though their relationship with God depends upon maintaining standards that belonged to an entirely different covenant structure.

Yet the New Testament consistently emphasizes that something new has taken place through Christ.

Paul writes:

“Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.”

—Romans 10:4

And again:

“You are not under law but under grace.”

—Romans 6:14

These statements only make sense when we understand that the covenant world governed by the Law of Moses had a defined purpose and a defined conclusion.

When readers recognize that transition, many passages that once seemed confusing begin to fall into place. The warnings, the debates about circumcision, the tension surrounding temple worship; all of these discussions belong to a particular historical moment as the early church moved from one covenant age into another.

Seeing this does not weaken the message of Scripture. It reveals its coherence.

A Different Way of Reading the Bible

For many readers, the shift required is surprisingly simple.

Instead of immediately asking, What does this passage mean for me?, we begin by asking a different question:

Who was this written to?

From there we can ask:

What covenant were they living under?

What historical situation was unfolding?

What problem was the author addressing?

Once those questions are answered, the meaning of the passage becomes far clearer.

The Bible then emerges as a unified story rather than a collection of disconnected commands, warnings and side narratives. We begin to see that Scripture traces the movement of history from the covenant established through Moses to its fulfillment in Christ.

The Law served a purpose within God’s redemptive plan. As Paul explains:

“The law was our guardian until Christ came, that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.”

—Galatians 3:24–25

The story moves forward, not backward.

Someone Else’s Covenant Story

When the Bible is read within its proper context, something remarkable happens. The pieces begin to fit together.

The Old Testament reveals the covenant world of Israel under the Law. The Gospels record the ministry of Jesus as he fulfills that covenant and announces the arrival of God’s kingdom. The New Testament letters address communities living through the final transition from the old covenant system into the reality of the new.

Seen this way, Scripture tells a coherent and unfolding story.

But when we remove that context and assume every passage was written directly to us, the narrative becomes distorted. Warnings meant for Israel are applied universally. Prophecies about the end of a covenant age are mistaken for predictions about the end of the universe. Instructions tied to the Law are imposed on people who were never under it.

The result is confusion.

The Bible was written for our understanding, but it was not written directly to us. It was written to a covenant people living within the story of Israel and later to those who were witnessing the completion of that covenant age and transitioning out of it. 

Recognizing this does not distance us from the message of Scripture. Instead, it allows us to appreciate more deeply what God has accomplished through Christ.

And perhaps most importantly, it reminds us that when we read the Bible without recognizing its audience, we may unknowingly be reading someone else’s covenant mail and assuming it was addressed to us.

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Get The Book: "The New Creation"

By Serge Da Rosa

https://www.urbanedencmty.com/books

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About the Author

Serge Da Rosa is co-founder of Urban Eden Community, a ministry dedicated to helping people discover their God-given identity and walk in the freedom of the new creation. Alongside his wife, Kristy, Serge facilitates weekly gatherings in Tulsa, Oklahoma that center around authentic connection, growth, and kingdom expression outside the walls of traditional religious systems.

Serge’s passion is to see people awakened to their union with God. Through weekly community gatherings, work in addiction recovery, community events, writing, teaching, and the Kings And Priests Podcast, he speaks into themes of identity, grace, purpose, kingdom and governance with clarity, depth, and hope.

Whether through a conversation, a gathering, or a written word, Serge’s message remains the same: You are in perfect union with God, empowered with God's Kingdom.