Jesus in the Old Testament - Part 1

Sermon 

Jesus in the Old Testament 

I. Part One 

One of my favorite Bible teachers, the late Chuck Missler used to say:  “The new [testament] is in the old concealed; the old [testament] is in the new revealed.”  Attributed to Augustine of Hippo (354-430 A.D.), here is the actual quote from his Anti-Pelagian writings:  Retractions: Book 2 XV Chapter 27:  “This grace hid itself under a veil in the Old Testament, but it has been revealed in the New Testament according to the most perfectly ordered dispensation of the ages, forasmuch as God knew how to dispose all things.”   

He might have been talking about Colossians 1:24-29:  “24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I [ag]do my share on behalf of His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking [ah]in Christ’s afflictions. 25 Of this church I [ai]was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might [aj]fully carry out the preaching of the word of God, 26 that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His [ak]saints, 27 to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man [al]with all wisdom, so that we may present every man [am]complete in Christ. 29 For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His [an]power, which [ao]mightily works within me.

Luke 24:44 – And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.

Luke 18:29-31 – Then he took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished.

Has anyone ever wanted to go back in time and live out one of the stories in the Bible?  

One of the stories in the Bible that I have often wanted to participate in was the seven-mile hike from Jerusalem to Emmaus [or im-MAH-OOS] with the two disciples who got a personal sermon from Jesus about what the old testament said about Himself.  

Luke 24:13-35:  “13 And behold, two of them were going that very day to a village named Emmaus, which was about seven miles from Jerusalem. 14 And they were talking with each other about all these things which had taken place. 15 While they were talking and discussing, Jesus Himself approached and began traveling with them. 16 But their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him. 17 And He said to them, “What are these words that you are exchanging with one another as you are walking?” And they stood still, looking sad. 18 One of them, named Cleopas, answered and said to Him, “Are You the only one visiting Jerusalem and unaware of the things which have happened here in these days?” 19 And He said to them, “What things?” And they said to Him, “The things about Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word in the sight of God and all the people, 20 and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to the sentence of death, and crucified Him. 21 But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, it is the third day since these things happened. 22 But also some women among us amazed us. When they were at the tomb early in the morning, 23 and did not find His body, they came, saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said that He was alive. 24 Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just exactly as the women also had said; but Him they did not see.” 25 And He said to them, “O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?” 27 Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.

28 And they approached the village where they were going, and He acted as though He were going farther.

We’re going to embark on a salvation safari into the Old Testament.  We are not on the African savanna, but we will see some animals along the way.  But mostly what we’re looking for is Jesus’ footprints all through the Old Testament.  

It is easy for Christians to find themselves intimidated by the Old Testament. People may say something like this: “I love the New Testament but the Old Testament is hard to understand.  And hard to pronounce.  All those ‘begats!’  The endless rules and regulations of Leviticus.  The sheer volume of kings who rose and fell.  And the prophets!  Jeremiah’s tirades.  Ezekiel’s wheels within wheels.  Who can possibly understand it all?”

It’s human nature to be wary of the obscure. People cozy up to the Gospels, being somewhat familiar with the stories about Jesus.  They might wade through the history of the early church in the book of Acts with relative ease.  The New Testament letters to the churches are for the most part brief and somehow seem more relevant to present day life. But when it comes to Old Testament Scripture, many believers find it to be daunting in both size and scope. Yet we know that “All scripture,” not just some, “is given by inspiration of God and is profitable.”[for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness” 

2 Tim. 3:16]   

Who wants some reproof?   How about some correction?  

How about some training in righteousness?  

So we’re going to look for Jesus throughout the Old Testament.  And we’re going to find Him there…!!

1. Support for the Safari

Psalm 40:7 (ESV):  “Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come; in the scroll of the book it is written of me” 

Hebrews 10:4-7 (ESV):  “For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.  Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, ‘Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure.  Then I said [that is, Christ said], ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’”  

One thing to note is that types are generally not perfect.  They are like a parable that tells an aspect of the story, but you shouldn’t take them too far.  It’s like the parable from India of the six blind men and the elephant.  

• 1st blind man felt the elephant’s side and concluded that elephants are like walls 

• 2nd blind man felt the elephant’s tusk and concluded that elephants are like spears 

• 3rd blind man felt the elephant’s trunk and concluded that elephants are like snakes 

• 4th blind man felt the elephant’s leg and concluded that elephants are like trees 

• 5th blind man felt the elephant’s ear and concluded that elephants are like fans 

• 6th blind man felt the elephant’s tail and concluded that elephants are like ropes 

The one facet you are looking at is not the whole diamond.  But it’s about all our human minds can comprehend at a time.  So that’s why God provides His story in bite-sized pieces.  

2. Start the Safari at the beginning 

Let’s start at the very beginning; that’s a very good place to start.  

Genesis 1:1 says “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”  

John 1:1 says that Jesus was right there with God:  “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

We know that the “Word” was Jesus, because of John 1:14:  “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.”  

So Jesus shows up in the very first verse of Genesis.  

Let’s continue by spotting an animal in a garden:  the serpent, Satan, the devil came with a temptation to Eve and then Adam.  They both fell for different reasons, and God quickly intervened and promised a Messiah.  So Jesus shows up in Genesis 3:15:

• Genesis 3:15:

“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

So Jesus is going to crush Satan’s head, while Satan is only going to hit a glancing blow on Jesus’ heel.  

- In chess terms, Satan will put Jesus in check at the cross, but then Jesus will checkmate Satan at the empty tomb.  

- In sports terms, Satan will get into the red zone, but not the endzone.  

- In terms of authority, Satan acts like he is the king of his own kingdom, but then Jesus reminds him that all authority came from God in the first place and He strips Satan of even the small authority that Satan had been given.  [Matthew 25:14-30 – wicked slave = Satan?] 

- In military terms, Satan wins a battle, but loses the war.  

Let’s move two chapters farther on in Genesis – Chapter 5.  

But that’s just a bunch of names, right?  Pastor Brad has mentioned this before in his teaching through the book of Genesis, but I want to walk through it again in case some of you weren’t there for that session, or in case a reminder would be helpful.  

How many of us have slept since Brad went over this??  

It’s a 32-verse chapter with lots of “begats” or “became the father of” and it has lots of strange sounding names.  This chapter serves many purposes, including genealogical integrity of the Messiah (that Luke uses in his genealogy of Jesus), historical accuracy to show how many years it was from the creation of Adam to Jesus, epistemal vulnerability because it describes the events so specifically that it opens itself up to a challenge (but as it turns out, since it’s telling the truth, no can validly challenge it).  But when you turn the prism of this chapter another way, you can see Jesus right in these verses.  

It’s all in the names.  

I don’t know if your theology allows you to write in your Bible.  I am not someone who usually writes in my Bible, but this is one of the exceptions for me.  So if you are not usually someone who does it, take it from me that it’s okay to do.  The truth itself in the pages is the precious treasure, not the paper pages themselves.  So you can write on them.  

There are ten names listed from Adam to Noah.  If you take those names and line them up from start to finish, they sound a little strange in English:  

Adam, Seth, Enosh, Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared, Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, Noah.  

But what do those names mean in Hebrew?  

Adam = Man 

Seth = appointed 

Enosh = mortal 

Kenan = sorrow 

Mahalalel = the blessed God 

Jared = shall come down 

Enoch = teaching 

Methuselah = his death shall bring 

Lamech = despairing 

Noah = rest/hope 

Now if we read those names in English, here is what it says:  Man is appointed mortal sorrow, but the blessed God shall come down teaching that His death shall bring the despairing rest and hope.  

Noah and the ark – Genesis 6-8

The earth had become corrupt.  If we use the genealogies from Genesis 5:  

Adam to Seth – 130 years 

Seth to Enosh – 105 

Enosh to Kenan – 90 

Kenan to Mahalalel – 70 

Mahalalel to Jared – 65 

Jared to Enoch – 162 

Enoch to Methuselah – 65 

Methuselah to Lamech – 187 

Lamech to Noah – 182 

Noah to the flood – 600 

So from Adam to the flood was 1,656 years.  And by then the whole earth was corrupt, except for Noah and his family.  

Genesis 6:5-8:  “5 Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 The Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved [e]in His heart. 7 The Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the [f]sky; for I am sorry that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.”  

Evil was rampant across the world.  The entire civilization was corrupted.  So God chose to intervene and send a global flood to reset the clock and start fresh.  How did He do it?  

With an ark.  That saved each kind of animal and Noah’s family.  And really anyone else who wanted to be saved could have easily fit.  There was lots of empty room in the ark.  

The ark was a type of Christ.  It was the only way for humans to survive the global catastrophe.  If you didn’t have enough faith in God to go into the ark, you would not be saved.  

I Peter 3:20 makes this point that God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being prepared, but no one outside of Noah’s family believed their message so as to go into the ark.  

Moses and the ark – Exodus 2 

Yes, you heard that right.  Moses and the ark.  Literary analogy can be seen from shared words and thematic parallels in different texts. An example of this kind of analogy is the ark in which both Noah and Moses are saved from destructive waters. The word used in Exodus 2 for the floating item Moses was put into tay-BAH—basket is not really a good translation.  A better translation is “ark”.  And interestingly, the only times that tay-BAH are used in the Old Testament is to describe Noah’s ark and Moses’ ark.  

Literal Word – app on your phone can show this quickly and easily.

This strongly suggests that there is a connection between the two accounts, as does the description of God’s rescue of Noah and his deliverance of Israel through Moses at the exodus. Just as God remembered Noah (Genesis 8:1) and sent a wind to blow over the earth so that all those in the ark could come out on dry ground (Genesis 8:13–14), so God also “remembered his covenant” he made with the patriarchs (Exodus 2:24) and sent “a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land...” (Exodus 14:21) so that “the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground...” (Exodus 14:22). These parallels are not a coincidence put together by multiple authors (documentary hypothesis) but are the work of a single author, Moses (Exodus 17:14, 34:27; cf. Mark 12:26). 

As noted by Simon Turpin from Answers in Genesis:  

In Matthew’s Gospel there is a clear parallel between the Pharaoh’s effort to slaughter the Hebrew boys (Exodus 1:22) and King Herod’s effort to kill all the male children in Bethlehem who were two years old or under (Matthew 2:16). Pharaoh and Herod both killed the baby boys, but God divinely protected both Moses and Jesus, and just as the Hebrew midwives rebelled against Pharaoh (Exodus 1:17), so the magi rebelled against Herod’s order to tell him where the promised King was to be born (Matthew 2:7–12). Both Moses and Jesus fled to foreign lands to escape, and both waited in exile until God spoke to them to return to their lands (Exodus 2:15, 4:19; Matthew 2:13–15, 19–21). Moses and Jesus were both born at times of great peril to God’s people, but God used them to become deliverers of his people. But there is an important difference. Moses was a human child whom God used to rescue the nation of Israel from slavery (Exodus 13:3); whereas Jesus, the Prophet like Moses (Deuteronomy 18:1811), is the eternal Son of God (Galatians 4:4), who came from heaven to earth to rescue people from every tribe, language, people, and nation from their slavery to sin (Revelation 5:9). 

Back to Noah’s ark for some more

I am indebted to Dr. Adrian Rogers and others for some of these next observations:   

The ark had at least five features that parallel Jesus’ sacrifice:   

• Security – God told Noah to cover the ark inside and out with pitch (kopher).  Gen. 6:14 

o But that’s the same root word used for the idea of atonement throughout the rest of the Old Testament.  E.g. Lev. 17:11 “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement [kapher, from the word kipper].”   

o The normal word for asphalt is chemar.  That’s not the word used here.  

o Either way, it means “to cover”.  That’s what Jesus does.  He covers you from God’s judgment so none of it can get to you.  

o Also, the word used to instruct Noah to “go into” the Ark can just as easily be translated “come into”, like the ESV rendering of Gen. 6:18:  “But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you, yours sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you.”  God was already there and He beckons us to come to Him.  Isn’t that what Jesus does?  He does not force anyone into his salvation.  He beckons us.  He invites us.  

• Sufficiency – Noah’s ark was big enough for everyone to come into.  There is room at the cross for all:  John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life 

• Shape – the Genesis record does not tell us that the ark had a prow or a stern.  The dimensions are more like a giant coffin.  When Noah went into the ark, it pictured a time when we would be buried with Christ through baptism into new life with Him.  

o Noah made a door, but he couldn’t open it or close it.  Only God could do that.  God kept the door of the ark open as long as possible until the judgment fell, but no one except Noah and his family and the animals came in.  

o Noah built a window, so he look up.  Isn’t that what our life in Christ should be like?  Carrying our cross daily, living in the realization that we are dead to sin, and looking up to God for our every breath?  

o 

• Sustenance – Noah took plenty of food along on the ark.  In a similar way, our life in Christ sustains us with everything we need for life and godliness.  Jesus not only saves, he satisfies.  

• Schedule – the ark rested on the mountains of Ararat in the seventh month.  In the Jewish calendar, that’s April, the future month of Passover.  Isn’t it interesting that this parallel of Jesus in the Old Testament would culminate in a safe landing on a fresh new world at the same time of year as Passover?  

In Christ, you are as safe as you can possibly be. About those who believe in Christ, the Bible says, “you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise” (Ephesians 1:13b). Not only did God shut the water out; God shut Noah in. Could Noah have lost his salvation? God shut the door! Noah may have fallen down inside that ark, but he couldn’t fall out of it.

Jesus said, “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand” (John 10:28). If you are saved by works, you will have to be kept by works. But we are saved by grace, and kept by grace.

The first time, God destroyed the world by water. The second time, it will be by fire.

Now here is the question: “Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat” (2 Peter 3:11-12)?

Judgment is coming. You had better be in the ark of safety, whose name is the Lord Jesus Christ, and know the grace of Almighty God.

Abraham and Isaac on Mount Moriah – Genesis 22

Quick preview:  

• Both Jesus and Isaac were their Fathers’ only Sons. (Heb. 11:17; Jn. 3:16). 

• Both Jesus and Isaac were sacrificed on the same mountain:  Moriah. (Gen. 22:2, 14; II Chron. 3:1 (“Then Solomon began to build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to his father David, at the place that David had prepared on the threshing floor of [a]Ornan the Jebusite.”); and all four gospel accounts tell us that Jesus was crucified at Jerusalem) 

• Both Jesus and Isaac carried wood for their sacrifice. (Gen. 22:6; Jn. 19:17-18) 

• Both Jesus and Isaac were obedient to their Fathers to the point of death.  Gen. 22:6-9; Phil. 2:5-8; Heb. 5:7-8 

• It took Abraham three days to travel to Moriah, and during that time he considered his son to be dead already, and on the third day, Isaac was restored to Abraham.  Jesus died and was in the grave for three days, and on the third day, He rose again.  

• Both Jesus and Isaac were raised up by the power of God.  Heb. 11:19 (“He considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead, from which he also received him back as a type”) and Rom. 6:4 (“Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.”)  

22 Now it came about after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 2 He said, “Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.” [REMINDS OF MATT. 3:17:  “And a voice from heaven said, This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased!”]  

3 So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him and Isaac his son; and he split wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. 4 On the third day Abraham raised his eyes and saw the place from a distance. 5 Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go over there; and we will worship and return to you.” [REMINDS OF HEB. 11:17-19:  “17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten son; 18 it was he to whom it was said, “In Isaac your [n]descendants shall be called.” 19 [o]He considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead, from which he also received him back [p]as a type.”]  

6 Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son, and he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together. 7 Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” And he said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” 8 Abraham said, “God will [a]provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” So the two of them walked on together.

Isaac and Abraham walked on together.  They were united in purpose.  Jesus and His Father were the same way.  There was no rebellion on Isaac’s part.  There was no fretting.  There was no complaining.  

9 Then they came to the place of which God had told him; and Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood, and bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 

Back in verse 1, we are told that God was going to tell Abraham which mountain to offer his son on.  Here, it says that Abraham knew which one it was.  Apparently, he was communing with God along the way.  Even though he had to be devastated, he was still walking in faith.  

We see here that Isaac was obedient.  He let his father bind him and put him on the altar.  There is a strong likelihood that Isaac himself climbed on the altar before letting Abraham bind him to it.  There is no way that Isaac ended up on that altar against his will.  He had to be willing to lay there.  

10 Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 11 But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 12 He said, “Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you [b]fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.” 13 Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the place of his son. 14 Abraham called the name of that place [Jehovah Jireh] [c]The Lord Will Provide, as it is said to this day, “In the mount of the Lord it will [d]be provided.”

Who is it talking about here?  Jesus again.  In the mount of the Lord, Jesus—the sacrifice for sin for everyone for all time—will be provided on this same mountain 

Back in verse 7, Isaac asked where the lamb was.  In verse 8, Abraham said that God would provide the lamb for the burnt offering.  But then God provided a ram, instead of a lamb.  So the type is not perfect.  But there’s an interesting possibility here.  Abraham may have seen the fulfillment of this prophecy because of a cryptic thing that Jesus says in the book of John.  

Remember John chapter 8?  It starts out with the showdown between Jesus and the pharisees over the adulterous woman.  All of her accusers left once they realized that Jesus had them cornered.  

Then Jesus starts talking about being the light of the world and how God is His Father.  The Jews didn’t like it, and challenged Him on it.  They insult Him at one point by referencing His birth and saying in John 8:41 “We were not born of fornication [porneia], we have one Father:  God.”  

Jesus ignores their insult and went on to say [John 8:56] “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.”  

From this it appears that when Abraham was prophesying that God would provide a lamb, and then he called Mount Moriah the name of Jehovah Jireh – the Lord will provide, it appears that God had somehow pulled back the curtain of time and let Abraham see Jesus’ day and when Abraham saw the day that the Lord provided salvation for mankind, Abraham rejoiced to see it.