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REVIEW
QUESTIONS:
1.
Why did God accept Abraham as if he were righteous? God
accepted Abraham because Abraham believed God’s
promises concerning the coming Deliverer.
2.
Why does God accept us as righteous people, even though
we are sinners? He accepts us because we, like
Abraham, have trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ as our
Savior.
3.
God made both spiritual and earthly promises to Abraham.
Which of those promises relate to us? The spiritual
promises concerning the Deliverer, Jesus Christ.
4.
Because God’s promise that Abraham and Sarah would
have a son did not immediately come true, what did Sarah
do? She gave Hagar, her servant, to Abraham, so he
could have a child through Hagar.
5.
God made an earthly promise to Abraham regarding the
land of Israel. Do we as believers in Christ have a part
in this agreement? No
6.
What was the physical sign of God’s covenant with
Abraham and all of his earthly descendants? Circumcision.
7.
Whose son did God say would be the fulfillment of His
promises regarding the Deliverer? The son of Abraham
and Sarah.
8.
How does Abraham’s offering of Isaac to God remind us
of our salvation through Jesus Christ? We were
condemned to die because of our sins. We had no way of
escape, but God provided the Lord Jesus as a perfect
substitute for us.
9.
Who can take part in the spiritual promises offered
through the Deliverer, Jesus Christ? Anyone, anywhere
who puts his faith in Jesus Christ.
A.
Introduction
Many
Old Testament stories remind us of the life of Jesus
Christ. In this lesson we are going to look at some of
those true stories, which are, indeed, pictures of the
Deliverer whom God was going to send.
God
is sovereign.
-
And in His great wisdom, He brought these events to
pass.
-
These are not coincidental circumstances.
They
are part of God's unfolding revelation of His plan of
salvation, which culminated in His sending Jesus Christ
to die for our sins. Jesus Himself referred to some of
these very passages as He told people about His purpose
and ministry.
How
amazing these true stories are!
The
first story we are going to consider takes place in the
life of Abraham's grandson, Jacob.
B.
Jacob saw a ladder reaching to heaven.
Jesus
Christ is the way to heaven, the only mediator between
God and man.
Isaac
was Abraham' son, given in fulfillment of God's promise.
Isaac had twin sons, Jacob and Esau.
Esau
did not value God's promises, Jacob did.
Troubles
came between the two brothers, and Jacob had to flee.
Jacob stopped along the way to rest for the night, and
he had a dream.
Read
Genesis 28:10-13.
Angels
were walking up and down the ladder, which extended from
earth to heaven.
What
was the meaning of the dream?
-
God gave the dream to show that He was going to send the
Deliverer, who would be a descendant of Jacob.
-
This Deliverer would be like the ladder, connecting
earth to heaven.
-
Through the Deliverer, those who believed would be
brought back into oneness with God.
Sin
separates man from God.
-
It is like a great gulf between all people and God.
-
By dying for sin, the Lord Jesus bridged the great gulf
between us and God.
In
the early days of Jesus’ ministry on earth, He spoke
about this ladder, and said that it represented His own
life.
Read
John 1:51.
-
Jesus is the mediator, the bridge, the ladder between
sinful man and God.
-
Through Jesus’ blood and death, our sin has been
removed from us.
-
We are no longer separated from God.
God
repeated to Jacob the promises He had given Jacob’s
grandfather, Abraham.
Read
Genesis 28:13-15.
And
in time, God allowed Jacob to come back to the land of
Canaan.
God
blessed him with twelve sons.
From
Jacob’s sons came the great nation of Israel
-
Israel was the new name that God gave to Jacob.
-
God was fulfilling His promises:
To
send a Deliverer through Abraham’s line
And
to give earthly blessings to his descendants.
C.
The life of Joseph had many similarities to the life of
Jesus Christ.
1.
Joseph was loved by his father.
Genesis
37:3 tells us that Jacob loved Joseph more than all of
his other children, because Joseph was the son of his
old age.
The
Lord Jesus was loved by His Father.
When
Jesus was baptized, God spoke from heaven.
Read
Matthew 3:17.
God
the Father loved God the Son even before He came into
this world to be our Savior.
-
Consider:
We
have become God’s own children. How much does He
love us? Just as much as He loves His Son, Jesus
Christ. And He proved that to us by sending His Son
to die in our place.
Read
John 3:16.
2.
Joseph was rejected by his brothers.
Read
Genesis 37:4-5.
Jesus
came to His own Jewish people, but they rejected Him.
The
Jewish leaders were jealous of Jesus and sought to
kill Him.
3.
Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery in Egypt.
Joseph’s
brothers were so jealous of him that they considered
killing him, but instead, they sold him as a
slave.
Read
Genesis 37:27-28
Joseph
was taken to Egypt.
There,
the wife of Joseph’s master lied about him, and
Joseph was put into prison.
-
But God did not forget him.
-
God had a plan for Joseph’s life.
Jesus
was sold by one of His disciples.
Judas
Iscariot sold Jesus to His enemies for thirty pieces
of silver, the price of a slave.
4.
God raised Joseph to a place of glory and authority.
God
enabled Joseph to interpret the dreams of Pharaoh,
Egypt’s king.
Therefore,
Pharaoh put Joseph in command over all of Egypt.
Read
Genesis 41:38-43.
God
gave Joseph, an Israelite, great wisdom to rule in the
foreign, ungodly land of Egypt.
God
raised the Lord Jesus to a place of great glory and
authority.
Jesus’
suffering was even greater than Joseph’s.
Our
Lord was nailed to a cross, the most cruel form of
execution ever devised.
His
enemies thought He was finished, but, instead, He was
suffering there to complete the great work of our
salvation.
Jesus
died unjustly for our sins; the righteous died for the
unrighteous.
God
raised Him from the dead, and gave Him all authority
in heaven and earth!
Read
Matthew 28:16.
5.
Joseph was rejected by his own people, but was
accepted by the Egyptians.
Although
Joseph’s own brothers hated him and rejected him,
the Egyptians accepted him as their ruler and savior
from the drought.
Jesus
was rejected by Israel, but has been received by the
Gentiles.
Like
Joseph, Jesus was rejected by His own people.
Yet
Jesus became the Savior for people all over the
world.
Read
John 10:14-16.
The
people of Israel were the flock of God, His chosen
people.
-
But Jesus came not just for them, but also for the
whole world.
-
We, too, have become part of His people—people who
have put their faith in Him.
-
Many Jewish people, too, have put their faith in their
Messiah, Jesus Christ.
6.
God enabled Joseph to supply the people with
grain.
Read
Genesis 41:55-57.
Through
Joseph, God sustained the people during seven years of
famine.
God
gave us eternal life through Jesus Christ.
Jesus
helps us not only with the needs of this life, but has
supplied us with everything we need for all
eternity.
Read
John 6:27-29,33-35.
D.
After Joseph and his generation died, a new Egyptian
ruler oppressed the Israelites.
All
of Jacob’s Sons eventually moved down to Egypt to
escape the famine.
But
after about 400 years and many changes in the rulership
in Egypt, a very evil pharaoh came into power and
oppressed the Israelites.
Read
Exodus 1:6-14.
This
pharaoh enslaved the Israelites.
And
he tried to destroy all the male children of Israel.
But again, God
raised up a deliverer for His people.
E.
Moses’ life had many similarities to the life of Jesus
Christ.
1.
God protected the baby Moses.
God
saw the terrible condition of the Israelites.
He
remembered His promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
God
chose Moses to deliver the Israelites.
Read
Exodus 2:1-10.
God
protected the baby Jesus.
Satan
guided King Herod to try to kill the baby Jesus. But
God intervened.
Read
Matthew 2:13-14.
God
is Almighty; He is greater than Satan and any of
Satan’s schemes.
2.
Moses was rejected by his own people.
Even
though Moses was chosen by God to be the deliverer of
Israel, the Israelites rejected Moses’ first efforts
to help them.
Read
Exodus 2:11-15.
Indeed,
this was Moses’ attempt to help the people, but it
failed because it was not done in God’s way nor in
His time.
Jesus
was also rejected by His own people.
Jesus
Christ came in God’s way and in God’s time and did
many kinds of miracles among the people.
-
But the Jewish leaders still rejected Him.
-
They refused to believe that He was the Deliverer,
sent by God. Jesus brought Lazarus back to life,
calling him out of his grave after Lazarus had been
dead for four days.
Even
after this great miracle, the Jewish leaders still
refused to believe!
Read
John 11:47-48,53.
Though
Jesus had clearly shown that He was God, the leaders
plotted to kill him.
3.
Moses was sent by God to lead Israel out of slavery.
Moses
spent 40 years as a shepherd in the desert of Midian.
Then God spoke to him from a burning bush and told him
to return to Egypt.
Read
Exodus 3:9-10.
Jesus
Christ was appointed by God to deliver mankind from
slavery to sin and Satan.
The
nation of Israel rejected the Lord Jesus.
But
God appointed Him to be the only Savior of the whole
world.
We
ourselves have accepted the Lord Jesus as the only
Savior. Even though He was rejected by His own people,
He is precious to us.
F.
The “I AM” of the Old Testament is the “I AM” of
the New Testament.
When
God spoke to Moses from the burning bush, Moses asked
God a question.
Read
Exodus 3:13.
Look
at God’s reply!
Read
Exodus 3:14.
Only
God has this name, for it means that He is the
self-existent one, with no beginning and no
end—dependent upon no one.
When
the Lord Jesus was on this earth, look at what He said
about Himself:
Read
John 8:58.
This
brought a strong, negative reaction from the leaders,
for they did not recognize Him as God.
But
we who believe can say:
-
“Yes, Lord, You are the great I AM, for You are
God!”
-
“You are all that I need.”
God
the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are the
great, eternal I AM.
G.
God made a way of escape for Israel.
He
has also made a way of escape for believers in Jesus
Christ.
When
Pharaoh refused to let the Israelites go free, God sent
terrible plagues upon the Egyptian people.
-
The Egyptians were worshiping Pharaoh and other false
gods.
-
Even though they saw the great things God did, they
refused to put their trust in their Creator.
But
none of these plagues touched the Israelites, because
God protected them.
God
was showing Egypt and Israel and the whole world that He
is sovereign and delivers those who put their trust in
Him.
God
was against the Egyptians and punished them for their
unbelief and rebellion.
Just
as He was against the Egyptians, so, also, He is against
the unbelieving world.
God
will punish all unbelievers.
But
those of us who have put our trust in Jesus Christ are
kept safe from God’s wrath, just as the Israelites
were kept safe.
-
Consider:
Does
God keep us safe from His wrath because we are better
than others or because we go to church or do good
deeds?
No.
He delivers us because of His grace, given us through
Jesus Christ and His death for us on the cross. We are
now God’s children, and He has made a distinction
between us who believe and those who refuse to believe
in Him.
We
who have put our trust in Jesus Christ may experience
much suffering in this world. But we will never have
to experience God’s wrath against unbelievers.
J.
Conclusion
The
Bible is God’s message to us—rich in pictures of the
Lord Jesus Christ.
What
an encouragement to read all of its treasures!
God
wants us to know Him, and He wants us to tell others
about Him.
He
has supplied us with a wealth of truth—
-
To believe,
-
To depend on,
-
And to share with others.
Let’s
thank Him for His Word and for His great faithfulness in
fulfilling every promise in Jesus Christ.
REVIEW
QUESTIONS:
1.
How was Jacob’s dream an illustration of Jesus
Christ?
2.
The life of Joseph had many parallels to the life of
Jesus. Joseph was greatly loved by his father. How does
this remind us of Jesus?
3.
Joseph’s brothers sold him as a slave. How does this
remind us of the life of Jesus?
4.
Joseph was rejected by his own people, but accepted by
the Egyptians. How is this like the Lord Jesus?
5.
God raised Joseph to a place of honor and authority in
Egypt. How is this like the Lord Jesus?
6.
The life of Moses also has many parallels to the life of
Jesus. As a baby, Moses was protected from death. How is
this like the Lord Jesus?
7.
Moses was appointed by God to be the deliverer of his
people. How is this like the Lord Jesus?
8.
Who is the “I AM,” the self-existent One?
9.
God protected Israel from the terrible plagues that He
brought upon the Egyptians. How does this remind us of
what He has done for us in Christ?
Notes for
Disciples:
1)
“I AM” is one of the names of God. Have you noticed
some of His other names as you have been reading in
John? (An example is “The Bread of Life.”) These
names tell us something about the character and actions
of God. He is so great and wonderful that one name
cannot begin to describe Him.
These
names of God are throughout the Bible, in both the Old
and New Testament. Make note of God’s names as you
read. Meditate on their meaning. This is one of the ways
that you can learn more about God and get to know Him
better.
2)
Continue to make notes as you read. Review your notes
frequently and see what the Lord is teaching you. This
is your personal time with God. He Himself is teaching
you through His Holy Spirit and His Word. Imagine! The
God who created the universe desires these times alone
with you, and He desires to faithfully teach you.