The Old Testament was written and compiled over the span of some 2000 years. Most of it was transmitted from person to person in the form of stories told within the family and within the synagogue. The books of the Old Testament were written down by scribes and Rabbis and were preserved through centuries and ages because they told the story of God’s love and care for the people of Israel as they went from being a newly created people to being the mature people who were given the mission of revealing the creator and Master of everything to the people of the world. The Old Testament was completed and God seemed to be silent for around 400 years before the coming of His Christ.
The Coming of Jesus was the greatest and final speech of God to the world. That’s why Jesus is called the Word. He is the perfect Revelation of God. He fulfilled the entire mission of the Jews. His story is that of the New Testament. A testament written in love and blood by his disciples over the course of roughly 100 years.
In between the two Testaments, in the midst of much turmoil and trouble in the Holy Land various pagan peoples conquered the Holy land and made a serious effort to destroy the Jewish people. They nearly succeeded. I mentioned before that God seemed to be silent during this time, but that doesn’t mean that people stopped writing. They wrote various works intended to tell a holy story. The Apocrypha is the story of a people, alone in the world, under assault by heathen enemies, who tried to live out what they believed though they were afraid that they had earned God’s wrath. Their world was hostile and frightening and dangerous. And God was silent. There were no prophets in this era.
Just like every other man in this world. I sometimes get in trouble with my wife. Sometimes it is because I am stupid. Sometimes it is because I am rebellious. Sometimes it is because I am stubborn. But whatever the cause, What I really notice is when my beloved wife is silent. You know that silence. All of you know that silence. Whether you are the one being silent, or you are the one enduring it. What if God is silent? The Apocrypha is a series of books written over about 400 years that tells the story of a people who are in trouble and afraid. A people who are trying to be faithful to a relationship that they are afraid that they have completely messed up.
In short, to answer the question, yes, the Apocrypha should be read, and within its context it should be believed. Bear in mind that we do not consider it scripture per se. But it is the record of a people living in a very dark time. Just remember, at the end of the apocrypha comes the loving and giving and full and complete Revelation of the God who so loves the world that He gave his only begotten son.