Why read the Old Testament?

Many people look at the Old Testament as just a long lost of do's and don'ts. God telling the Israelites to do (or not do) something, and them not listening, then he punishes them. This happens over and over again.

What did Jesus get from reading these scriptures? Did he view them as just a list of rules?

Jesus looked at the scriptures as not just a list of rules. He looked at the lives of the people in the scriptures to better understand the attributes of God. Example of this is Matthew 12. Jesus gives two examples from the scriptures to help explain the intentions of God in regards to the sabbath. He also uses one part of the scriptures to help explain another. Example is when he quotes, I desire mercy, not sacrifice. Jesus also used the scriptures to show how they pointed to himself.

So I say we should read the Old Testament with a look at how the way people lived helps explains the attributes of God. Also we should read the Old Testament with an eye towards how it points to Jesus. We should learn from the Old Testament in similar ways to how Jesus did.