See Jesus Genesis 3:13-15
I have a habit of saying that in the Old Testament God shows us his plan for us and for the world’s sins. So this morning, I want to explore this so you’ll know why I say it.
As you read the Old Testament, you’ll see it’s full of prophesies about Jesus. Micah 5 tells where he will be born; “But you, Bethlehem…out of you will come one who will be ruler…” 2 Samuel tells how Jesus will come from King David’s line; 2 Sammuel 7:12, “When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you…and I will establish his kingdom.” Isaiah 40, verse 3 tells how John will prepare the way for Jesus, “A voice of one calling in the wilderness prepares the way for the Lord; makes straight in the desert a highway for our God.” We’re even told how Jesus would be rejected by Israel; Psalm 69, verse 8, “I am a foreigner to my own family; a stranger to my own mother’s children…”
There are many, many more prophesies about Jesus in the Old Testament. Paul Humber who holds a Master of Divinity wrote, “Many people have the idea that the Old Testament was written BC, before Christ. It was indeed written before Christ’s incarnation – but not before Christ. There are at least 117 prophesies, appearances, or foreshadowing’s of Christ in the Law, at least 144 in the writings, and at least 153 in the Prophets. A minimum total for the entire Old Testament, therefore, is 414.”
But these prophesies are not what I want to examine. I want to look at some of the events and descriptions in Old Testament scripture that points us to Jesus and to God’s plan for sin. Genesis 3 is one of these, and it’s the first reference to Jesus and God’s plan in the Bible.
In Genesis 3 we have our first act of disobedience against God and the fall of mankind. And right from the moment of our fall, God shows us he has a plan. He tells all mankind right from the start that there will be one coming who will be born of a woman. And this is the one who will conquer evil, and crush Satan.
Genesis then quickly moves on to the story of Noah. How the world is so corrupt, God wants to destroy it. But out of his love, God saves those who are still righteous. God has Noah build an Ark to ride out the devastating flood about to be sent.
The Ark of Noah, a representation of Jesus. Noah and the others rode out the storms in the Ark, and then walked out into a new world. Those who accept and trust God will be safe in the salvation of the Ark of God, the true Ark, Jesus. And they will ultimately walk out into a new heaven and earth. Isaiah 65:17, “Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth.”
So here, right after man’s fall, God tells us that he will send one born of a woman to conquer Satan, and we will be safe in him from the evil loosed on the world, and we will enter a new existence through him.
Moving ahead in Genesis we come to the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, two cities so evil God is going to destroy them. When God tells Abraham his plan, Abraham pleads, “will you spare the place if there are fifty righteous people?” But then Abraham goes on to ask, what if forty-five, forty, thirty, twenty, ten.
Here in Genesis God tells us one is coming; we will be safe in him from Satan. And now God tells us that even if the righteous are few, he will not abandon us. All of this is great. It’s uplifting and heartwarming. But how is this going to work exactly? For this we move into Exodus. Exodus 21, verses 5 & 6, “But if a servant declares, ‘I love my master and do not want to go free, then his master must take him before the judges. He shall then take him to the door or doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl. Then he will be a servant for life.’”
Let’s remember what Jesus says to us in Mark 10:45 “…The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve…” Jesus came as a servant. A servant of God, doing God’s work among sinners; A servant of man, intervening on our behalf before God.
The verse in Exodus tells us a lot about Jesus. He loves both God and man so much that he allowed himself to be led before the judges, the Pharisees and Pilate. And then he let them lead him to wooden cross to be pierced and nailed to it. Thousands of years before Jesus, God uses the example of a servant at a doorpost being pierced to tell us the specifics of his plan for us.
Now is this piercing salvation meant for everyone? Let’s look to the Book of Numbers. Numbers chapter 21, verse 6, “Then the Lord sent venomous snakes among them, they bit the people, and many died.”
This is a representation of God punishing sinners, but our hope comes in verse 8, “The Lord said to Moses, ‘Make a bronze snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.’”
Here again is Jesus. Jesus who was sinless, became sin and was lifted up on the cross. Anyone who sins can look to Jesus and have salvation. We must remember that only the Israelites who looked to the bronze snake lived. Likewise, only those who look to and accept Christ will be given salvation.
Here in the first five books of the Bible God tells mankind he has a plan for our fall. One born of a woman to crush Satan. We will be safe in this one who is sent. Through him we will walk into a new heaven and a new earth. How through trial and blood Jesus will accomplish God’s plan. And he warns mankind that we must look to and accept Jesus at the cross to be gifted salvation.
And finally, in these Old Testament verses we have one of the most beautiful descriptions of our Lord.
Exodus 24, verses 10& 11, “Have them make an ark of acacia wood…overlay it with pure gold…” In this ark, God has man put the stone tablets of the Ten Commandments, Aaron’s staff, and a jar of Manna. The lid of the ark is called the mercy seat, this is where the sacrificial blood was sprinkled.
The stone tablets represent man’s rejection of God’s law. Aaron’s staff represent man’s rejection of God’s leadership. The manna represents man’s complaining even in the midst of God’s mercy. And the wood of the ark represents man while the gold represents God.
Put together this is a beautiful picture of Christ. Man and God as one, taking us within himself while knowing all our sins. And the mercy seat; when we are in Christ, God’s mercy is always above our sins. The sacrificial blood of Christ is always covering our sins.
These are just a few examples taken from the first few books of the Old Testament,
There are many, many more examples of Jesus and God’s plan throughout the Old Testament. Never let anyone tell you, you don’t need to look at the Old Testament. The entirety of the Bible is about Jesus.
May God bless you always,
Amen.