A rainy day in Minnesota? Yes, it's long overdue. It's kinda nice to hear the rain outside. I have pulled myself away from my Facebook games long enough to think about a fascinating scene that's in the Bible. We see Jesus just having been killed on the Cross and the miracle of God after three days raising Him from the dead. He then spends 40 days on Earth. Some of this time was spent with those who were closest to Him while He was alive, His Students / Disciples. And the best description of this time is contained in the Gospel of Luke. Luke describes Jesus teaching His Disciples by going back to the Old Testament Books and showing them that Jesus was written about in these Books.
Here are two references in the Gospel of Luke that shows Jesus did teach His Disciples about what was written as Prophecy by God about the Messiah (or synonymously in the Greek 'Christ') in the Books of the Old Testament. Although Jesus did not spend all His last 40 post-resurrection days with His Disciples, it is clear from Luke Chapter 24 that He did spend a good portion of this time teaching the Twelve. He opened up what those precious Old Testament writings had to say about the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus. But more, as is made clear in the New Testament Book of Hebrews, He also revealed that there were rituals done by the people of Israel that were made fully clear in the life of Jesus Christ. As an example of this, we have the OT sacrifice of animals. This was done by the Jews to show God of their sorrow for having done their sinful actions. (For it is blood that makes atonement for our souls – Leviticus 17:11; and in the New Covenant, Jesus' sacrifice as the Lamb of God, makes atonement for the sins of those who repent. Thus the OT animal sacrifices were a shadow pointing toward God's perfect sacrifice of His Son Jesus the Messiah). Here are two of the verses which describe Jesus teaching His disciples what was said in the Old Testament about Him:
Luke 24:27 - And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he (i.e., Jesus) interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.
Luke 24:44 - Then he said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled."
And so, we see that Jesus taught about Himself using the Old Testament Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms. The wonderful resource of J. H. Smith, the 'New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge' breaks down a number of these verses. And in today's post, I will show what verses in the Law of Moses (the first five Books of the Bible, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus and Deuteronomy) Jesus may have used: Here we go!
in the law.
Ge +*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
Ge 14:18. And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.) [See, Hebrews 7:1-3, below);
Ge +*22:18. and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice." (to Abraham)
Ge +m49:10. The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.
Le 16:2, etc. and the Lord said to Moses, "Tell Aaron your brother not to come at any time into the Holy Place inside the veil, before the mercy seat that is on the ark, so that he may not die. For I will appear in the cloud over the mercy seat.
Nu *21:8, 9. And the Lord said to Moses, "Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live." 9 So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live. See, John 3:14-15)
Nu *35:25. And the congregation shall rescue the manslayer from the hand of the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to his city of refuge to which he had fled, and he shall live in it until the death of the high priest who was anointed with the holy oil.
Dt *18:15-19. "The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me (tom's note, like Moses) from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen— 16 just as you desired of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, 'Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.' 17 And the Lord said to me, 'They are right in what they have spoken. 18
I will raise up for them a prophet like you
from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. 19 And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him. 20 But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.' [See, John 5:46-47, Acts 3:22-24, Acts 7:37]
And here some New Testament which apply the Old Testament verses to Jesus -
Jn *3:14, 15. (And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. Quoting Numbers 21:9)
Jn *5:46, 47 (For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. 47 But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?").
Jn 7:23 [If on the Sabbath a man receives circumcision, so that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because on the Sabbath I made a man's whole body well?].
He 3:5 [Now Moses was faithful in all God's house as a servant, to testify to the things
that were to be spoken later,]
He 7:1-3 (For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, 2 and to him Abraham apportioned a tenth part of everything. He is first, by translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then he is also king of Salem, that is, king of peace. 3 He is without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God he continues a priest forever.);
He 9:8-12 [By this the Holy Spirit indicates that the way into the holy places is not yet opened as long as the first section is still standing 9 (which is symbolic for the present age). According to this arrangement, gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper, 10 but deal only with food and drink and various washings, regulations for the body imposed until the time of reformation. But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) 12
he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.]
He 10:1. For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near.
These are great verses revealing more about God's plan from the beginning – that He knew Israel would rebel against Him, and that He would one day show His love for all of humanity by sending Jesus His Son as a sacrifice for the world's sins. I think the Melchizedek verses (Genesis 14:8 and Hebrews 7:1-3) must have blown the disciples away. Here is this king described in the first book of the Bible, who just shows up to Abraham as a King of the Most High, provides Abraham with bread and wine after his battles, blesses Abraham, then Abraham shows his respect for Melchizedek by tithing a tenth of his spoils of war to him, and then Melchizedek just disappears. No followers, no descendants. Just poof! Gone. But only later after Jesus is gone, do we see how God has tied Jesus with Melchizedek, in the NT Book of Hebrews. And Jesus is described as a Priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek (Psalm 110:4, Hebrews 7:17). But I'm getting ahead of myself. This Post is meant to show some of those wonderful verses in the Law revealing more to us of our Lord and Savior Jesus. If I a m permitted, I will show more of Jesus as described in the Prophets. May God bless you this upcoming week.
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