Pictures of Christ in the Old Testament

Vol. 67, No. 4, Fall Quarter, 2021. Writer: Richard MerrittEditor in Chief: Kyle W. Elkins, kyle.elkins@bogardstore.orgBusiness Manager: Dean Grigsby, dean.grigsby@bogardstore.org© 2021, Bogard Press, 4605 N. State Line Ave., Texarkana, TX 75503-2928bogardpress.org; 1-800-264-2482

Sponsor’s GuideBaptist Training Course

QUARTERLY AIMBy the conclusion of this quarter, the students may learn more about the Savior by studying the ways Christ is pictured in the Old Testa-ment.

Lesson 1, September 5, 2021 The Passover Lamb. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Lesson 2, September 12, 2021 The Water-Producing Rock. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Lesson 3, September 19, 2021 The Brazen Serpent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Lesson 4, September 26, 2021 The Seed of the Woman. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Lesson 5, October 3, 2021 The Sun of Righteousness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17Lesson 6, October 10, 2021 The Ram in the Thicket. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20Lesson 7, October 17, 2021 The Prophet To Come . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24Lesson 8, October 24, 2021 The Angel of His Presence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28Lesson 9, October 31, 2021 The King of Glory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32Lesson 10, November 7, 2021 The Kinsman-Redeemer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35Lesson 11, November 14, 2021 The Branch of the Lord. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39Lesson 12, November 21, 2021 The Servant of the Lord . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42Lesson 13, November 28, 2021 The Refiner’s Fire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

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DEVOTIONAL THOUGHTS

The Bloody Price of Our Redemp-tion, 1 Peter 1:18, 19.

Redemption means “deliverance by payment of a price” (Nelson, Thomas, Nelson’s Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1986). Redemption was a common practice in the Old Testament. The people of Israel had the opportunity to redeem various items by an agreed upon price. They were able to purchase slaves by paying the price. Redemption was only possible when the right cost was met. To us, redemption refers to the sacrifice Jesus made to pay the cost of salvation. Jesus paid the cost of our redemption. Romans 3:24, 25 states, “Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God.” Peter also wrote

emphasizing the great cost of redemp-tion. Although redemption is free to all who receive it, it cost Jesus all of His “precious blood.” Precious means “of great price, of great value, costly or expensive” (International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Biblesoft, Elec-tronic Database Copyright, 1996). The modern expression is to bleed out. When the Roman soldier pierced Jesus’ side to certify He was dead, there came out “blood and water” (John 19:34). Jesus gave it all, paid it all and offers His redemption to all. Although song writers refer to “just one drop of blood,” all Jesus’ blood was shed to pay the price of redemption for one and for all. No one is saved by one drop of blood. John honored Jesus for paying the great price of our redemption when he wrote that Jesus “loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood” (Revelation 1:5). When sinners approach the holy and righteous God, the privilege is purchased by the precious blood of Christ. Because

APPLICATION

A spiritual Passover is provided by Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ is our Passover Lamb. He makes reconcilia-tion to God for believers in Christ. He is the only sacrifice and atonement that cleanses from sin. When His blood is applied, the judgment of God passes over the believing sinner.

The Passover LambLESSON 1 · September 5, 2021

SCRIPTURES TO READ

TEXTExodus 12:3-13

RELATED SCRIPTUREGenesis 4:4Exodus 13:8-16Isaiah 53:1-12John 19:14Acts 8:32-351 Corinthians 15:3, 4 Hebrews 10:10-18Revelation 5:5-12

SPONSOR’S GUIDE 3Jesus paid the price, “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:13). There can be no greater price than what He paid for redemption.

EXAMINING THE TEXT

Exodus 12:3-13. The Passover Lamb represented Christ. In the Old Testament, the types and shadows of Jesus Christ pictured truths about the Lord that the New Testament revealed. First Corin-thians 5:7 states, “For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us.” The Bible declares the Passover is a type of Jesus. As our Passover, Jesus is illustrated in one of the many beautiful ways found in the Old Testament. There is much to learn through the study of the Old Testament pictures of Jesus. Luke 24:27 states, “And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.” One cannot understand Christ as God intended without a careful study of what God has revealed about Him in the Old Testament. The lamb substitute pictured Jesus on Calvary. God’s plan has always been to substitute a righteous sacri-fice for the sinner. He revealed it in the Garden when Adam and Eve sinned. God provided a substitute. God showed Abraham a greater revelation of Jesus when He provided a ram in Isaac’s place on the altar. Because of sin, every person deserved to die. God’s plan formed before the foundation of the world provided for Jesus to be the sinner’s substitute. John the Baptist identified God’s Son as every sinner’s substitute lamb. John 1:29 states, “The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” The truth was so important to John that he restated it to his disciples. John 1:35, 36 states, “Again the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples; and looking upon Jesus as he walked, he

saith, Behold the Lamb of God!” The Bible clearly identifies Jesus as the Lamb God chose to be the sinner’s substitute. The qualifications of the lamb pointed to Jesus Christ. The Passover lamb was to be “without blemish” (Exodus 12:5). Only Jesus could fulfill the picture of the unblemished lamb. As far as they could determine, the lamb sacrificed had to be a perfect specimen. If there was any imperfection in it, it was disqualified as an acceptable sacrifice. Hebrews 7:26, 27 states, “For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people’s: for this he did once, when he offered up himself.” The lamb had to be the firstborn. Luke 2:23 states, (“As it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord.”) Jesus is referred to as the firstbegotten Son of God ( Hebrews 1:6). Jesus fulfilled the necessary qualifi-cations to be the Lamb of God. The sacrifice of the lamb required its death and the shedding of its blood. They were to “kill it” and to “take of the blood” (Exodus 12:6, 7). Jesus’ death on Calvary as the sinless, holy Lamb of God enabled Him to give all His blood for the sin debt of all mankind. Hebrews 9:22 states, “And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shed-ding of blood is no remission.” Jesus the Lamb shed His blood to make a way for sinners to be accepted by God. The atonement of the shed blood of the lamb provided a payment for sins. First Peter 1:18, 19 states, “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.” Jesus’ precious blood was a far greater

4 SPONSOR’S GUIDE price than the sum of the world’s greatest treasures. The effectiveness of the lamb’s sacri-fice involved a promised deliverance from God’s judgment on sinners. For the benefits of the sacrifice to be effective, it had to be personally received. Sinners receive the benefits of Jesus’ substitu-tionary death by repentance, faith and asking for salvation in response to God’s conviction. Jesus’ once for all sacrifice as the Lamb of God is the only way of salvation.

RELATED SCRIPTURE

Genesis 4:4. Abel understood God’s plan for a substitute lamb. He satisfied the demand for a sacrifice that involved the shedding of blood. God approved Abel’s worship because it pointed to Jesus Christ. He took the first and the best and gave it to God. Abel’s lamb pictured Jesus the perfect Lamb of God.

Exodus 13:8-16. God explained His plan to the people of Israel through Moses’ instructions. All firstborn males were God’s. They were reminded of the Passover when the people of Israel left Egypt. God’s redemption was on the basis of the shed blood of the lamb. By the blood of Jesus the spotless Lamb, sinners are brought out of condemnation and placed within the protection of the strong hand of the Lord.

Isaiah 53:1-12. In His earthly life, Jesus grew up as a tender lamb. He was appointed for the altar as an acceptable sacrifice. As the Lamb of God, Jesus was “smitten of God, and afflicted” (verse 4). Isaiah 53:5 states, “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.” Our sins were placed on Him. God accepted His sacrifice and shed blood as payment in full for the sin debt of the world.

John 19:14. Jesus died on Calvary at the time of the Passover. God identified Him with the Passover lamb by deter-mining the time of His sacrifice to coin-cide with the ritual slaying of the inno-cent lamb.

Acts 8:32-35. Philip explained Isaiah 53 to the Ethiopian as a prophecy of Jesus Christ. Jesus was “led as a sheep to the slaughter.” Jesus was “like a lamb.” Philip presented Christ the Savior to the Ethiopian. The eunuch understood that Jesus was his substitute and received Him by faith.

1 Corinthians 15:3, 4. According to the Scriptures, Christ died as the sinner’s substitute lamb. Paul wrote, “Christ died for our sins.” The gospel of Jesus Christ is the good news that redemption is avail-able for every sinner through the death and shed blood of Jesus. The gospel of Jesus is still the “power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth” (Romans 1:16).

Hebrews 10:10-18. The writer points out the inability of the death and shedding of blood of sacrificial lambs to provide redemption. What the lambs were unable to do, Jesus the Lamb of God did. Jesus’ sacrifice was “once for all” (verse 10). Jesus “offered one sacrifice for sins for ever” (verse 12). By His one offering, Jesus has “perfected for ever them that are sanctified” (verse 14). Jesus offers eternal security and forgiveness of sins so complete that God promised, “And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more” (verse 17).

Revelation 5:5-12. Jesus, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, served as the Lamb slain. God’s plan of redemption included Jesus’ death and the shedding of His blood. His sacrifice was not in vain. Some from every “kindred, and tongue,

SPONSOR’S GUIDE 5and people, and nation” will be saved by repentance and faith in Jesus.

RELEVANCE OF THE TEXT

The explanation of the Passover lamb reveals the way God deals with sinners. From the earliest times, God demanded a blood sacrifice. Genesis 3:21 states, “Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them.” God killed some innocent animals and shed their blood in order to provide a covering for Adam and Eve’s sinfulness. True worship throughout the Old Testament involved a blood sacrifice. (See Genesis 4:4.) Any form of worship and any plan of salvation that is bloodless is not true worship. True worship empha-sizes the sinfulness of man, the righ-teousness of God and the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus the Lamb of God for every sinner. Isaiah prophesied of Jesus’ death as a sacrificial lamb hundreds of years before Jesus’ earthly life and ministry. (See Isaiah 53.) The details Isaiah included in his prophecy conclusively identified Jesus as the Lamb of God who would bear the sins of the world. Isaiah explained Jesus’ death in terms of a sacrificial lamb. The interpretation of the Bible picture of the Passover and the Passover lamb must be considered in light of what it meant to them. The Israelites’ Passover experience was understood as deliver-ance by the blood. (See Exodus 12:3-28; 13:8-16.) God instructed them to keep a memorial of the Passover so that they would not forget His righteous prin-ciple of deliverance by the blood. They were delivered from Egyptian bondage.

Sinners are delivered from the bondage of sin. Romans 6:11, 12 states, “Like-wise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.” Sin no longer has the power to dominate any believer’s life unless he yields to sin. Those who are saved are delivered from spiritual death by faith in the blood of the Lamb. CONTEMPORARY APPLICATION

God provided a spiritual Passover for every sinner. Jesus Christ is our Passover Lamb. Through repentance and faith in Jesus, sinners will be saved, pardoned of their sinful condition and accepted by God on the basis of the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Through the shed blood of Christ, sins are forgiven, covered, hidden, cast away and forgotten by God. God is willing to make a covenant with any sinner who will receive Christ as his personal Savior. Hebrews 10:16, 17 states, “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.” Jesus our Passover Lamb provides the only God-approved atonement for sin. When the Passover lamb’s blood was applied, God promised to pass over them. When the sinner receives the blood of Jesus as God’s cleansing for his sinful condition, the judgment of God upon sin passes over him. Christ our Passover is the channel of God’s mercy that is avail-able to all people.