Category: Thoughts

The Old Testament and the New Covenant   Part 12

“Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether or not they will walk in My instruction’ “ (Exodus 16:4)

“Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died.  This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die.  I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever” (John 6:49-51).

In John chapter 6, Jesus makes a direct comparison between the manna in the wilderness and Himself as the bread of life.  And the contrast between the two is the difference between life and death.

The manna in the wilderness had no life-giving power.  It was only for daily sustenance.  The Jews ate the manna, but eventually they died.  The manna was a lifeless foreshadowing of a different kind of bread.

Christ, on the other hand, calls Himself “The Bread of Life” several times in John chapter 6.  Jesus’ connection with life forever not only contrasts to the manna in the wilderness, but also identified Jesus as born of God, “come down from heaven.”

“Therefore the Jews were grumbling about Him, because He said, ‘I am the bread that came down out of heaven.’  They were saying, ‘Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does He now say, ‘I have come down out of heaven’?’ “ (John 6:41-42).

But Jesus answered them, “This is the bread which came down out of heaven; not as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live forever” (John 6:58).  The sustenance that comes from the “Bread of Life” is life everlasting.  Jesus is our Bread of Life!

Jesus is the manna and so much more, because Jesus was there from the beginning!

The Old Testament and the New Covenant   Part 11

“Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, ‘On the tenth of this month they are each one to take a lamb for themselves, according to their fathers’ households, a lamb for each household’ “ … “The blood on the doorposts shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live; and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt“ (Exodus 12:3,13).

“The next day John saw Jesus coming to him and said, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!’ “ (John 1:29).

The death of the Egyptian firstborn was the last of ten plagues God used to deliver His people from bondage in Egypt.  God instructed the Israelites to sacrifice a lamb and spread its blood on their doorposts.  When the Lord visited the land at midnight, He “passed over” the homes with the blood applied.  The Egyptians without the blood in place suffered the death of their firstborn.

In the sight of God, the only difference between the sons of Egypt and the sons of Israel on that night was the blood of the lamb.  Jesus is our Passover Lamb.  In God’s eyes at the final judgment, the only difference between the children of God and the lost will be the applied blood of the lamb, Jesus Christ.

If you have believed the gospel message of Jesus Christ that His blood was spilled for you and was the sufficient sacrifice for your sins, you are set free from the penalty of your sin and the judgment of God will “pass over” you.  Jesus is our Passover Lamb!

Jesus was present as the Passover Lamb, because Jesus was there from the beginning!

The Old Testament and the New Covenant   Part 10

“Jacob came to a certain place and spent the night there, because the sun had set; and he took one of the stones of the place and put it under his head, and lay down in that place.  He had a dream, and behold, a ladder was set on the earth with its top reaching to heaven; and behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.  And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, ‘I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie, I will give it to you and to your descendants’ “ (Genesis 28:11-13).

“Jesus said to Nathanael, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man’ “ (John 1:51).

In Genesis chapter 28, we find Jacob on the run.  After cheating his brother, Esau, out of their father’s blessing, Jacob fled to the safety of his uncle, Laban.  One night along the way, Jacob has a dream.  He saw a ladder between heaven and earth with angels ascending and descending upon it.  The ladder was a portal to heaven.  Jacob called the place Bethel (house of God), the place where he heard God’s voice.

Fast forward to John chapter 1.  Jesus’ new recruit, Nathanael, was more than likely familiar with the story of Jacob’s ladder.  Nathanael recognized Jesus as the Son of God, the King of Israel (John 1:49).  Jesus replied to Nathanael, “You were impressed that I saw you under the fig tree from far away, but you are about to see even greater miracles” (John 1:50).

One of these greater miracles?  “You will see the Son of Man as the ladder of Jacob with angels ascending and descending” (John 1:51).  Jesus is foreshadowed in Jacob’s ladder.  Jesus will become the portal between earth and heaven, between God and man.  Jesus is the portal, the mediator, the way.

“For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all” (I Timothy 2:5-6).

“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me’ “ (John 14:6).

Jesus was present in Jacob’s dream, because Jesus was there from the beginning!

The Old Testament and the New Covenant   Part 9

“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?’  Abraham said, ‘God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.’  So the two of them walked on together” (Genesis 22:7-8).

“Knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ” (I Peter 1:18-19).

Abraham climbed Mount Moriah by faith.  As he and Isaac climbed together, Abraham believed that God would provide the sacrifice.  And God did!

“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” (Genesis 22:13).

Jesus was the ram caught in the thicket, a crown of thorns as it were upon His head.  The ram, the burnt offering for Abraham, is a preview of the Christ who became a sin offering for us.  “But Jesus, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God” (Hebrews 10:12).

On the third day of their journey (Genesis 22:4), God provided a sacrifice for Abraham; the ram in the thicket.  Jesus, raised on the third day, is the sacrifice for us.  Jesus is the lamb who was slain.

Jesus was present on the mountain with Abraham and Isaac, because Jesus was there from the beginning!

The Old Testament and the New Covenant   Part 8

“Now the Lord appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre, while he was sitting at the tent door in the heat of the day.  When he lifted up his eyes and looked, behold, three men were standing opposite him; and when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the earth, and said, ‘My Lord, if now I have found favor in Your sight, please do not pass Your servant by’ “ (Genesis 18:1-3).

” ‘Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.’  So the Jews said to Him, ‘You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?’  Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am’ “ (John 8:56-58).

Who were these three strangers who appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre in Genesis chapter 18?  The passage starts with, “the Lord appeared”, suggesting God is in this group.  Could one of these men be God, the pre-incarnate Jesus?

Throughout Genesis chapter 18, the man doing the talking is referred to by phrases such as “The Lord said to Abraham” (vs 13), “And the Lord said” (vs 17), “And the Lord said” (vs 20), and “So the Lord said” (vs 26).  Additionally, when two of the men left to go down to Sodom, Abraham was “still standing before the Lord” (vs 22).  And finally, the two men who left to go down to Sodom are called “angels” in the opening verse of chapter 19.

So it seems to me that the three strangers were most likely Jesus and two angels.  And what was Jesus’ message to Abraham?

“The Lord said, ‘I will surely return to you at this time next year; and behold, Sarah your wife will have a son.’  And Sarah was listening at the tent door, which was behind him.  Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; Sarah was past childbearing.  Sarah laughed to herself, saying, ‘After I have become old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?’  And the Lord said to Abraham, ‘Why did Sarah laugh, saying, “Shall I indeed bear a child, when I am so old?”  Is anything too difficult for the Lord?  At the appointed time I will return to you, at this time next year, and Sarah will have a son’ “ (Genesis 18:10-14).

Jesus visited Abraham and Sarah to announce the coming of the child of promise.  This child would be the seed through which the earlier promise of Genesis chapter 15 would come to pass.  “And He took Abram outside and said, ‘Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.’  And He said to him, ‘So shall your descendants be’ “ (Genesis 15:5).

Not only would the child of promise launch a skyful of descendants, but he would also be the child through whom the Messiah would come.  Jesus announced to Abraham and Sarah the birth of a child whose descendant would be Jesus Himself.

Jesus was present at the oaks of Mamre, because Jesus was there from the beginning!