The Old Testament Thread that Points to Jesus
With this lesson we are going to be pointing out the thread
that runs through the OT that points to Jesus. What were the people looking for
in the coming Savior and how did Jesus fit the description?
I want you to add to the beginning Luke 24:25-27 discussing
how Jesus walked through the Scriptures starting with Moses (first five books)
and the prophets
First Promise of
Redemption: Genesis 3.15
The account of salvation begins in the Garden of Eden. In
spite of their perfect surroundings, Adam and Eve disobeyed God and plunged all
of creation into sin. Immediately, God took the initiative to remedy the
situation. In Gen. 3.15 God gave us the first promise of redemption and the
first gospel proclamation.
Someone was coming who would conquer the evil one and
restore to humanity what was forfeited when humans disobeyed God in the Garden.
An Everlasting
Covenant: Genesis 12.1-3
From sinful humanity God called a man and formed a nation
through whom He would bless the earth and send His deliverer. Read Gen. 12.1-3.
Abram would give birth to a nation. By this and through his
descendants God would bless “all peoples on earth.” Abram would be the means by
which God would bless the whole world. (See also Gen. 17.7)
A Chosen Family: Gen.
49.9-10
God begins to narrow the specific line by which God would
bless the whole world. Verse 10 points to the coming of a Deliverer, the
Messiah.
The ‘scepter’ was the symbol of kingdoms – it would be
Judah’s. God had created humankind to ‘rule and have dominion’ over the earth
as his vice regent (see Gen. 1.26-30). And now, as the plan to restore that
blessed estate and purpose for his creation developed, God selected one family
with a view to the restoration of rulership.
A Prophet like Moses:
Deuteronomy 18.15
We are searching for an individual and the picture the OT
paint of Him, step by step. He will be born of a woman, an offspring of Abraham
and the fulfillment f an everlasting covenant, and he will be a King, a
Messiah-King from the tribe of Judah (this is from Genesis). Another key figure
from the OT is Moses. Moses led the Hebrews out of Egypt; parted the Red Sea;
worked miracles; brought the Ten Commandments down from the mountain; and
produced the Torah, the first five books of the OT.
Read Deut. 18.15.
God’s Deliverer would be someone who would speak for God in
an authoritative manner, similar to the way Moses had.
An Eternal Dynasty: 2
Samuel 7.9-16
The chapter record’s the Lord’s great promise to David (the
descendant of Judah). Other than Moses, no one in the OT is held in higher
esteem than this king of Israel.
Elements of the Covenant with David from 2 Sam. 7.9-16:
- I will
make your name great…
- I will
establish a house (royal dynasty) for you
- I will
raise up your offspring…and I will establish his kingdom, and the throne
of his kingdom will be forever.
- I will
be his father and he will be my son
- My
love will never be taken away from him
- Your
house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be
established forever.
God promised to establish an eternal Davidic dynasty. The
covenant that the Lord established with the house of David became the nucleus
around which the messages of hope proclaimed by Hebrew prophets of later
generations were built.
Messianic Promises:
Psalm 2
This royal psalm, perhaps composed for the coronation of a
king from the line of David, calls the king the Lord’s “Anointed One” (that is,
messiah/Christ) in verse 2. Verse 7 calls the king, “God’s son.” The king is a
son who will rule not just Israel but also the nations (see verses 8-9). This
psalm had a forward look to God’s end time King, his Anointed One who will rule
over David’s house forever. It is one of the most quoted Psalms in the NT. The
early church applied the second psalm to the Messiah as an explanation of the
crucifixion of Christ by the rulers (see Acts 4.25-28). Paul applied it to
Jesus’ ministry: his sonship, resurrection, and ascension to glory, which
confirmed God’s promises in Jesus as the Messiah (Acts 13.22-33). This psalm
held hope for a greater day and a greater King all the nations would recognize.
The Suffering
Servant: Isaiah 52.13-53.12
Isaiah 53 is directly cited no fewer than 7 times in the NT
and is alluded to more than 40 times. There is no specific reference that the
Messiah would die for the sins of the people, but we have to take seriously the
role of the Suffering Servant in Isaiah 52.13-53.12. In this passage we see that the “Servant” of
God was “pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities”
(53.5); “the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (53.6); “the Lord
makes his life an offering for sin” (53.10); “my righteous servant will justify
many, and he will bear their iniquities” (53.11); and “he bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors” (53.12).
We have seen that he was “crushed for our iniquities…cut off
from the land of the living…assigned a grave with the wicked and with the rich
in his death...” Yet, “he will see his offspring and prolong his days…after he
has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied…”
The Son of Man:
Daniel 7.13-14
The “Son of Man” was Jesus favorite designation of himself.
The language of these verses recalls Gen. 1.28; 2 Sam 7.12-16; Psalm 2; 8; and
Isaiah 9.7. The one described as “like a son of man” has the appearance of a
man, but he is much more than a mere mortal. He comes with the clouds, a
signature of deity in the ancient world. He is given the rule over all things,
coroneted by the Ancient of Days (God himself). He is to be worshiped, and his
kingdom is everlasting. This final eschatological (end times) ruler is not just
a man. He is the “heavenly Sovereign incarnate.” For a clearer picture of how
this relates to Jesus, note the similarity between this passage and Matthew
26.63-64. (It is actually a combination of Ps. 110.1 and this passage).
From Days of
Eternity: Micah 5.2
A promised deliverer was to appear from the tiny,
insignificant town of Bethlehem. (Its significance was that it was David’s
hometown). He “will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from old, from
ancient times.” There seems to be a sense that the ruler to come (after
Jerusalem’s judgment) that was in some sense preexistent. This verse is
appealed to in the NT as justification as to why Jesus was to be born in
Bethlehem (see Matt. 2.4-6).
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