The Bible never ceases to amaze me as I grow older and continue to delve into it. It seems that the discoveries are never ending. Looking back at how I felt about things in the past, I've come to r...
The Bible never ceases to amaze me as I grow older and continue to delve into it. It seems that the discoveries are never ending. Looking back at how I felt about things in the past, I've come to realize that my study of the scriptures has altered my perception of God's design and His plan throughout history. For example, not that I gave it much thought, but in the back of my mind I, as a young Christian, felt that God's plan had changed over the years. This was kind of how I saw it: First, God created Adam and Eve. Then they goofed up, so God changed His mind about how they should live and kicked them out of Eden. Then as time moved along, mankind got further away from God, so he decided to go back to the drawing board and wipe them off the Earth with the flood. But as mankind spread onto the Earth again they still fell away from God, so He decided to give them a Law to follow. Thus Moses takes the wheel. But this didn't bring them close to God either, instead they get hung up on the politics of the Law and forget God in their hearts. So, as a last resort, God finally sends His son Jesus to replace the Law and cleanse us of our sins. And here we are!
Although I ended up in the right place with Jesus, I now realize that my outlook of history was utterly and entirely wrong. As we study the Bible more and more, and deeper and deeper, we begin to gain a fuller understanding of how God has operated with us as a free willed creation. First things first, God doesn't make mistakes! Eden was not a flawed idea that didn't pan out. It was part of the plan. God didn't try going without a written Law until it failed Him. It was part of the plan. God didn't try using a Law until it was apparent that it wasn't working. It was part of the plan. Everything that has happened throughout the Old Testament was done according to plan, in order to teach the human race about free will, about law, about blood sacrifice, and about redemption. He wanted to teach us His redemptive process, so that we would understand the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and what it meant and so we would learn to love him. The whole Old Testament points to this; sometimes in an obvious manner like prophecy, sometimes in a not so obvious manner like the use of types, models, and metaphors, and sometimes in an obscure manner like underlying messages in the text that simply prove without a doubt that God's fingerprints are all over the Bible. I've heard it said that, "The Old Testament is the New Testament concealed and the New Testament is the Old Testament revealed." This is a good way of putting it. Over the past few years, whenever I study the Old Testament, I've looked for Christ in it and have been amazed at what was there underneath it all. I now believe that everything in the Old Testament has a relevance to Jesus Christ. Sometimes that connection is harder to find than others, but I still think the link is there.
Architects and engineers build models, draw sketches, and layout schematics for their designs. Why? Because it gives others the ability to see the design that has yet to be constructed. God is the greatest architect that has ever existed and He is the most advanced engineer that the world will ever see. If a mechanical engineer tried to describe to you his design for a new type of suspension bridge. Do you think that you would understand without a drawing or a model? Much the same way, we can learn more about God's redemptive plan by studying the models that he has built for us. This study isn't meant to be all inclusive obviously, but let's look at a few models to kind of see how it works.
Obviously we can't do a study on this without talking about Abraham's offering of Isaac in Genesis 22. This is probably one of the most obvious examples of a model for God's plan. In this chapter, we read that God asks an old Abraham to offer his only son Isaac as a sacrifice. So, Abraham complies and carries Isaac to the mount that God instructs him to and is about to plunge the knife when an angel stays his hand. That's it in a nutshell. So Father sacrifices Son. It seems like a good model for God offering His only Son. But the model is much deeper than that. Let's look closer. I'm going to jump around in the chapter to make some points.
- Let's start at verse 2. There's some important information there. "Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest". Remember that John 3:16 tells us that Jesus is God's only son and that in Matthew 17:5, God announces His love for him.
- In verse 9 we read that Abraham places Isaac on the alter, on the wood. Let's not forget that Abraham is old! He is over 100 years old at this point. In fact, scholars estimate that he was more likely around 115 which would make Isaac 15. Isaac knows what sacrifice is all about and in fact had asked his father on the way up the mountain where the sacrificial offering was. When Abraham started to bind him, do you not think that a 15 year old young man could have prevented the 115 year old Abraham from binding him and lifting him up to the top of the alter? I think that Isaac trusted his father and allowed him to do this to him. This would make Isaac a willing participant in the offering. Galatians 1:3-4 tells us that Jesus was a willing sacrifice as well.
- In verse 6, Abraham places the wood for the offering upon Isaac's back. In John 19:17, Jesus was also made to bear the wood that he would die upon.
- Let's look at the place where Abraham was to take Isaac for the sacrifice. Back to verse 2, "... get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of". First let's note that Abraham is no stranger to sacrifices. He no doubt, had an alter close by his dwelling. But God specifically sends him to this place. This should send up a signal flare that the place is important. The place is called here, Moriah. This name is not mentioned much in scripture, but it is in I Chronicles 3:1 to describe the place where Solomon was to build the temple. We know this place. We call it Jerusalem. At the time of Abraham, it was called Salem. Notice also in verse 4, that Abraham saw the place afar off, perhaps at a summit of the mount. Geographically, the highest point in the Jerusalem area is at 777 meters above sea level and today it is called Calvary or Golgatha. It is feasible to assume that God was directing Abraham to the very place where one day, His own son, Jesus would lay down his life (John 19:17).
- Also, verse 4 tells us that it was on the third day when they reached their destination. This means that Abraham had to endure three days of loss. When God gave Abraham the command, Abraham did not argue. Instead he lost his son that day. But on the third day, when the sacrifice was stopped, Abraham had his son again. You might say that in Abraham's mind, Isaac was resurrected on the third day. Jesus Christ was in the literal grave for three days as well.
- The list goes on, but before we leave this model, look at verse 8 closely at Abraham's response to Isaac, "God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering". There is a double meaning to this statement. God did provide a sacrifice that day, but years later he indeed provided "himself" as a sacrifice. Then Abraham goes on even further in verse 14 when he name the place, "In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen." In other words, God will one day sacrifice His son here.
This is a perfect example of how God directed the lives of people to create a pattern that is thoroughly repeated throughout the Old Testament. I thought upon first study that the model described above ended with chapter 22. But as I was studying Genesis again years later found out that it doesn't stop there. The pattern continues in chapter 24 when Isaac marries Rebekah. Study this story close and notice how Isaac gets his bride. It is a direct comparison to how Jesus gets his bride (the church). A nameless servant (the holy ghost) travels to a distant land to find his master a bride. She is chosen because she is benevolent to the stranger (as we the church should be). She forsakes all that she knows to follow after a husband that has never met (as we have to forsake our carnality to follow Christ). Isaac rushes to greet her when he sees them coming (as Christ will come to get his own). Then he takes her to the marriage tent (as Christ will take us to that home prepared for us).
And this pattern of salvation began even in the garden of Eden. When the first sin was committed, Adam and Eve attempted to cover themselves with leaves, but God had to make them coverings from animal skins. Thus blood sacrifice was required to cover their sins.
Here are some more examples in a nutshell:
- Cain and Abel: Abel's sacrifice was accepted because of this pattern of blood sacrifice.
- Some of these types are mentioned specifically as signs by Christ himself. For example, in Matthew 12:39-41 Jesus says that Jonah was a sign of his death, resurrection and preaching. And John 3:14-15 use the brazen serpent as an example of Christ's crucifixion.
- The story of Ruth uses the levirate marriage to show how she was redeemed by her marriage to Boaz, the kinsman redeemer. Ruth and Naomi were outcasts in a Jewish society because they were Moabites and widowed. Therefore, they could not own lands. But the marriage bond saved them. We likewise are redeemed in our marriage to Christ.
- Moses was asked to strike a rock to save the parched Israelites and he did just as Christ was struck upon the cross to bring us salvation. But when Christ comes again, he will not be struck. He will be a victor. But he states that not even he nor the angels know of the time of his coming. Thus God will have to speak the word to him to send him to save us into heaven. Likewise, the second time the Israelites needed saving, God told Moses to speak to the rock, yet he disobeyed and struck the rock again. Moses broke the model that God was building! No wonder his anger was so kindled against Moses.
- What about the tabernacle? It is absolutely full of Christ! The seven branched candlestick = Christ the light (John 1:4-5). The shewbread = the broken body of Christ. The lavers = the cleansing power of Christ. The alter = the sacrifice of Christ. The ark of the covenant = the new covenant of Christ. The mercy seat = The throne of Christ. The foundation of silver (Hebrew symbol of blood) = Our foundation is the blood of Christ. And we could go on and on.
- Even in the time of the judges, these models/types continue. Read Judges 11 about Jephthah who made a covenant with God to sacrifice the first thing that greeted him from his home if God assisted him in battle. God did, thus saving Israel. But the price was dear to Jephthah as his only daughter greeted him when he returned home. But his daughter accepted the price willingly (like Christ). She then goes into the mountains with friends to mourn (like Christ in the garden of Gethsemane). After her sacrifice she is remembered regularly by custom (as is Christ in the Lord's Supper).
- The camping orientation of the Israelites, as God commanded them in Numbers 2, when mapped out based on the ratio of people camped on each side of the tabernacle, forms a huge cross on the ground with the Holy of Holies right there in the very center.
The list can go on and on. Take this on as a challenge when you study the Old Testament. Look for Christ in the stories and commandments of God. I think that it will be a surprising revelation. Have you ever read something in there and wondered, why would God have them do that? Try seeing if God was somehow creating yet another type of Christ in what he was commanding. These messages in the text encourage me to study and helps build my faith. For mankind could not have devised such a complex infrastructure that the Bible contains.
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