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August 25 - October 29, 2020
he was victorious because God fought for Israel.
However, the Bible uses the biographies to teach us how to believe and act.
“Old Testament examples are New Testament instructions.”13
we can use these spiritual biographies in a more Christcentered way.
keep God, not man, in the foreground.
distinguish Christian morality from mere moralism
avoid introspective subjectivism
relate every story to the overarching plan of redemption.
look for Jesus
find the original purpose for the original audience.
include the corporate and eternal perspective
Thus, even though every text does not name or refer to Jesus, He is implied in every text since the events and people of every text are part of His plan of redemption.
In a similar sense, preachers cannot properly explain a seed (or portion) of biblical revelation, even if they say many true things about it, unless they relate it to the redeeming work of God that all Scripture ultimately purposes to disclose.
The faith of Abraham and the patience of Job point to the Jesus who arranged their personal providences and circumstances by His almighty sovereignty, as well as to the Jesus who worked faith and patience in their souls.15
Joseph’s forgiveness and acceptance of the brothers who had sinned against him reflect the spirit of Jesus who was in him.
The Old Testament was originally written for “the church in the wilderness.”
The Old Testament was not primarily a history of Israel but a revelation of God—it revealed Him to Israel through their history.
The first question the Israelites asked when they read the Old Testament was, what is God like?
what is the coming Savior like?
The Old Testament was built upon a promise: a promise of a suffering and saving Messiah—
Remember Peter taught us that although we understand more clearly than they did, the Old Testament prophets accurately predicted the saving sufferings of Jesus and the glory that would follow.
what is God like?
what will the Messiah be like?
what will the Messiah be like?
These then are not primarily the books of Moses but more accurately the books of the Messiah.23
When we turn to the book of Ruth and ask this fundamental question—what is the coming Savior like?—our focus shi...
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relation and redemption.
Oh, yes, that little book about Boaz has lots about redemption. Let’s read there and find out about what kind of Redeemer God is and what kind of Redeemer the Messiah will be.”
the Messiah is like Boaz.
When David committed adultery and murder, he confessed, “Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight.”27 His crimes were all the harder for him to bear because he committed them against his Savior, the Son of God, the coming Messiah whom he loved and trusted.
The repeated failures of the Israelites to overcome temptation in the wilderness may be contrasted with Jesus’ emphatic victory over temptation in the same wilderness.28
The last book to be written in the Old Testament was not Malachi but Nehemiah.
Although the Ezra-Nehemiah period began with high hopes, it ended with spiritual failure.
Although the sacrifices did not cleanse or pacify the conscience, they did purify the flesh;33 they gave a ceremonial “forgiveness” that allowed physical proximity between the offerer and God’s presence in the tabernacle and temple.
No spiritually minded Israelite ever imagined that an animal sacrifice could form the basis of his salvation.
Because Israel’s sacrifices had to be offered via a priest, they reminded the people of their need for a mediator to go between them and God.
David confessed that sacrifices alone were not enough but had to be brought with a humble spirit.
Jesus’ mercy and compassion are not limited to the New Testament. Just as we see Him saving the unworthy in the New Testament, we see Him doing the same in the Old Testament.
Unless we understand that sinners in the Old and New Testaments were only saved by grace through faith in the Messiah, we will view the old covenant believers as moralists, ritualists, and legalists; sermons about them will also be moralistic, ritualistic, and legalistic.
Old Testament faith was Christ-centered faith.
Of course, Old Testament faith was shadow faith, but shadow implies at least some light.
shadow versions of them.
There were three main emphases to their faith: the Messiah will be a man, the Messiah will suffer, and the Messiah will conquer.
But however imbalanced their faith may have become at times, Old Testament believers had conscious faith in the coming Christ.
But their limited knowledge did not keep them from looking to the same Savior in whom we trust.
Abel, Enoch, Noah, Sarah, Joseph, Rahab, Gideon, and so many more all looked to Jesus Christ, for they “all died in faith,” looking to the promises of God, the promises whose final “yes” is in Jesus Christ.46
While we want to connect each Old Testament biography with the grand narrative of redemption, we must also preserve the moral application for the individual, for the church, and for society, all within a gospel framework.
“Their faithfulness anticipates the perfect faithfulness of the great Savior, who is their (and our)
substitute, not only in his death, but also in the way that he lived.”
When Abraham offered up Isaac believing that God was able to raise him from the dead, he was mirroring, though imperfectly, the great confidence of Jesus when offering up His life.48
