For
this online lesson you may wish to open another window
in your browser to view the Online Bible from the link
above. A third window may be opened to view the Bible
Dictionary as well. During your lesson you can toggle
between the windows in your browser. Also, you can open
a Word or WordPad/Notepad or other word processing
program and use it to record answers to text questions
or as a place to jot other questions that come into your
mind during the study. Minimize your notes window while
you are viewing pages in your browser and then maximize
it to record more notes. You will see as you study that
God has the marvelous ability to reveal His answers to
us at just the right time and when He does, you may
record this information into your notes.
REVIEW
QUESTIONS:
1.
Why did God give Moses specific instructions about
building the tabernacle? Every part of the tabernacle
was to teach something about the Lord Jesus
Christ.
2.
What was the first article inside the fence that
surrounded the tabernacle? The brazen altar for burning
sacrifices for sins.
3.
Who is our sacrifice for sins? Jesus Christ.
4.
What did the laver or basin of water represent? It
represented God’s Word. Through reading the Bible, we
grow in Christ as we believe and obey God’s Word.
5.
What does the table of shewbread remind us of’? It
reminds us that Jesus Christ is the Bread of Life. He is
the only One who can satisfy our spiritual hunger.
6.
What article inside of the holy place reminds us that
Jesus Christ is the Light of the World? The
seven-branched candlestick.
7.
How does the altar of incense remind us of the Lord
Jesus? The sweet-smelling incense burned on the altar
is like our prayers offered to God in the name of Jesus
Christ. Our prayers are acceptable to God only in
Christ.
8.
What does the curtain in front of the most holy place
remind us of? Just as the curtain hid the glory of
God, so also Jesus’ human body hid the brightness of
the glory of God inside of Him.
9.
Why did God tear in two the curtain in the temple when
Jesus died? God was showing that Jesus had paid the
full price for sins, and that the way to God was now
open through Jesus Christ.
10.
Once a year, the high priest sprinkled the blood of
animals on the mercy seat. But this blood was only a
temporary covering for the sins of the people. How is
the blood of Jesus superior to the blood of animals? The
blood of animals could never pay for sin. Jesus Christ
entered into heaven with His blood, sacrificed for
sinners. God accepted His blood as full payment for all
the sins of everyone who believes in Him.
11.
Why don’t we need a human priest to come to God for
us? Because Jesus Christ, who continually prays for
us, is our great High Priest.
A.
Introduction
God
did many wonderful
things for the Israelites:
-
He delivered them
from slavery in Egypt.
-
He opened the sea
and destroyed Pharaoh’s armies.
-
When the
Israelites needed food, God gave them manna from heaven.
-
When they were
thirsty, He gave them water from the rock.
God
showed them His holiness and judgment at Mt.
Sinai.
-
He descended upon
the mountain with smoke, fire, and earthquakes.
-
He spoke to them
with a loud voice and the sound of trumpets. Yet Israel
still did not believe God and His promises. They
continued to disobey Him, because they did not believe
Him.
B.
Israel refused to trust God to take them into the
promised land—God caused that whole generation to die
in the wilderness.
After
God gave the Israelites His Law at Mt. Sinai, He led
them to the border of Canaan. Canaan was the land He had
promised to them through Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob.
Read
Numbers 13:1-2.
The
twelve men explored the land and brought back their
report. Ten of the twelve spies refused to believe that
God could enable them to take possession of the land.
-
They admitted that
the land was full of good things, just as God had said.
-
But they were
afraid of the giants and the walled cities.
-
They were afraid,
because they refused to believe the promises of God.
Joshua
and Caleb believed God.
They
told the people that they should go and take the land
God had promised them.
But
the people listened to those who gave a bad report.
So
God judged the people for their unbelief.
-
He told them that
all of that unbelieving generation would die in the
wilderness.
-
Only their
children, and Joshua and Caleb, would be allowed to go
into the promised land.
C.
Moses struck the rock twice in anger.
Jesus
suffered once for sins.
Because
of Israel’s unbelief, God led them away from the
promised land, back into the wilderness.
Soon,
the people again complained because there was no water.
Read
Numbers 20:2-3.
What
should the people have done instead of complaining?
-
They should have
trusted the Lord.
-
He had provided
for them before.
The
previous time, God had told Moses to strike the rock.
This
time, God told Moses to do something different.
Read
Numbers 20:7-8.
But
Moses and Aaron were angry.
Read
Numbers 20:9-11.
God
gave the Israelites water.
But
because Moses and Aaron disobeyed God, they were not
allowed to go into the promised land.
-
Cod wanted them to
display His holiness and grace to the people.
-
Instead, they
displayed their own anger.
Moses
struck the rock instead of speaking to it, as God had
commanded him.
-
God had already
had Moses strike the rock once.
-
This time, he was
not to strike it.
The
rock was a picture of our Lord Jesus Christ.
-
Jesus was struck
once for all for sinners—so we could receive the water
of life.
-
Never again would
He have to suffer for our sins.
-
Consider:
When
Moses built the tabernacle, he followed God’s exact
instructions. Every piece was an illustration of
Christ.
But
this time, Moses did not follow God’s instructions.
Though it is not stated in the Bible, it would seem
that, by striking the rock a second time, Moses
had spoiled what would have been another clear picture
of our Lord Jesus.
D.
God punished Israel’s sin, but gave the brass serpent
for deliverance.
Jesus
Christ took our punishment—He is our Deliverer.
The
Israelites continued in their unbelief.
Read
Numbers 21:4-6.
God
punished them for their complaining.
But
He also made a way for them to be delivered from the
punishment they deserved for their sin.
Read
Numbers 21:7-9.
Fourteen
hundred years later, Jesus Christ used this incident as
an illustration of Himself.
Nicodemus,
a Jewish leader, came to Jesus at night.
Jesus
told Nicodemus that he would never see God unless
Nicodemus was born again from above.
-
Nicodemus could
not understand what Jesus meant.
-
Jesus referred
back to the serpent on the pole.
-
He wanted
Nicodemus to see that Jesus Himself would die.
-
By His death,
Jesus would bring deliverance from sin and new birth to
those who believe in Him.
Read
John 3:14-16.
Just
as the serpent was lifted up in the wilderness, Jesus
was lifted up on the cross, taking upon Himself the sins
of all mankind.
-
God saved the lives of
all of the Israelites who believed Him and looked to the
serpent on the pole.
-
In the same way,
God gives life to all who believe in Christ.
-
Compare
Satan
used a snake to tempt Adam and Eve, and as a result,
sin entered into the human race.
When
Jesus was nailed to the cross He took all of our sin
on Himself Hanging there, Jesus was punished just as
if He were us, with all of our sins.
God
healed all of the Israelites who looked to the serpent
on the pole. They did not die from the snakebites.
We
have not looked to a serpent on a pole, but by faith,
we have looked to the Lord Jesus, who took
responsibility for our sins and hung on the cross to
take our punishment. Therefore, we, too, have been
healed. We have been delivered forever from the
punishment which we deserved for our sins.
E.
God brought Israel into the promised (and offered
them deliverance, but Israel continued to rebel.
God
allowed the Israelites to wander for forty years in the
wilderness.
-
What happened to
those who didn’t believe God’s promise to bring them
into the land?
-
They died in the
wilderness, just as God had said.
After
the death of Moses, God put Joshua in charge of the
Israelites.
Read
Joshua 1:1-2.
Joshua
led the people into Canaan, the promised land.
The
Canaanites were very wicked, and God ordered the
Israelites to destroy them.
Read
Joshua 11:23.
The
Israelites settled in the land.
Eventually,
Joshua died, and all of the leaders who had seen God’s
great deliverance also died.
Then
the Israelites turned away from God.
They
began to worship and serve the false gods of their
Canaanite neighbors. They worshiped gods of wood and
stone instead of worshiping the true and living
God.
Read
Judges 2:7-15.
Because
of this, the Lord allowed the surrounding nations to
conquer the Israelites.
The
Israelites were not able to deliver themselves from
their enemies.
But
whenever they repented, the Lord would deliver them. God
would choose a leader for the Israelites—someone from
among them who still believed and obeyed Him.
Read
Judges 2:16.
-
These men and women,
called judges, could not deliver Israel by their own
strength.
-
God the Holy
Spirit came upon them and gave them God’s wisdom and
strength to deliver the people.
Read
Judges 2:17-19.
Over
and over, this cycle was repeated: disobedience,
repentance, and deliverance—then the Israelites would
again fall into disobedience. Still God was faithful to
them.
-
Though He punished
their sins
-
He still promised
to send a Deliverer through the line of Israel.
F.
The Israelites rejected God as their King; God gave them
earthly kings.
The
Israelites were not satisfied to have God as their King.
They
wanted to have a man as their king, like the nations
around them had.
So
they came to Samuel, the last and the greatest of
Israel’s judges.
They
asked Samuel to give them a king.
Read
1 Samuel 8:6-7.
God
appointed Saul to be Israel’s first king.
When
Saul was anointed king by Samuel, the Holy Spirit came
upon Saul to enable him to rule over Israel.
Read
1 Samuel 10:6.
Saul,
however, rebelled against God’s commands, so God took
away his position as king.
Read
1 Samuel 13:13-14.
God
appointed David to be king.
David
was different from Saul.
-
David believed and
obeyed God.
-
David agreed with
God that he was a sinner
-
He brought the
blood sacrifices which God required.
-
God accepted David
because David trusted in Him.
When
Samuel anointed David as king, the Holy Spirit came upon
David to enable him to rule.
Read
1 Samuel 16:13,14.
-
Consider:
In
Old Testament times, God the Holy Spirit enabled
people to do the work of God. Some of the things the
Spirit enabled men to do were to speak and write
God’s Words, to lead and judge the Israelites, and
to fight and overcome the Israelites’ enemies.
God
promised to David that one of his descendants would be
the Deliverer.
Read
2 Samuel 7:12-13.
Alter
David died, his son Solomon became king of Israel.
Solomon built the temple in Jerusalem.
Read
2 Chronicles 2:1;
5:1.
-
The inner part of
the temple was like the tabernacle.
-
The first room,
the holy place, had the lampstand, the table of
shewbread, and the altar of incense.
-
The second room,
the most holy place, was separated by a thick curtain.
-
God dwelled inside
the most holy place.
Once
a year the high priest brought a blood sacrifice into
the most holy place and sprinkled the blood on the mercy
seat.
-
This was the only
time that anyone could come into the inner room.
-
Had anyone else
come at any time, God would have killed that person
immediately.
G.
After Solomon’s death, the kingdom of Israel split in
two.
The
northern kingdom, “Israel,” chose their own king
instead of Solomon’s son.
The
southern kingdom, “Judah,” continued to follow the
kings who descended from the line of David and Solomon.
None
of the kings of Israel followed the Lord.
Only
a few of the kings of Judah obeyed the Lord.
For
the most part, the people of both kingdoms worshiped
idols and followed the wicked ways of the surrounding
nations.
H.
God sent prophets to warn Israel, Judah, and the
surrounding nations.
Beginning
in the times of Genesis, God chose prophets to warn
people of their sin and to tell them God’s messages.
God
the Holy Spirit came to these men and enabled them to
hear, understand, and speak God’s words.
God
sent His prophets to Israel and Judah.
Several
books of the Bible bear the names of these prophets,
such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel.
These
men, and many other prophets, told the Jews to repent,
to destroy their idols, and to trust only in the Lord.
-
The Lord warned
the Israelites that if they did not repent, He would
allow the Assyrians to capture them.
-
And He warned
Judith that if they did not repent, He would allow the
Babylonians to destroy Jerusalem and take the people
captive.
God
also sent prophets to some of the surrounding nations,
warning them of His coming judgment on their sin.
I.
Through His prophets, God also gave messages about the
coming Deliverer.
In
the Garden of Eden, God made His first promise regarding
the coming Deliverer.
Over
the years, through His prophets, God continued to reveal
more details about the Savior.
Though
many hundreds of years had passed, God had not forgotten
even one of His promises.
PROPHECY
CHART:
WHAT
GOD SAID WOULD HAPPEN TO THE DELIVERER:
Old
Testament
Prophecy Fulfilled
Prophecy
in New Testament
| Isaiah
9:7 |
David's
descendant |
Matthew
1:1 |
| Isaiah
7:14 |
Born
of a virgin |
Matthew
1:18-25 |
| Micah
5:2 |
Born
in Bethlehem |
Matthew
2:1 |
| Hosea
11:1 |
Flee
into Egypt |
Matthew
2:14 |
| Isaiah
11:2 |
Some
of His characteristics |
Luke
2:52 |
| Isaiah
53:4,5 |
Suffer
for others |
John
10:11 |
| Psalm
41:9 |
Betrayed
by a friend |
Mark
14:10-11 |
| Zec.
11:12,13 |
Sold
for 30 pieces of silver |
Matthew
26:14-15 |
| Psalm
27:12 |
Accused
by false witnesses |
Mark
15:56-57 |
| Isaiah
50:6 |
Smitten
and spat upon |
Mark
14:65 |
| Isaiah
53:7 |
Silent
when accused |
Mark
15:3-5 |
| Isaiah
53:3 |
Rejected
by Jews |
Mark
15:9-14 |
| Psalm
69:4 |
Hated
without a cause |
Mark
15:10 |
| Psalm
34:20; Zec 12:10 |
Not
one bone broken; look on Him whom they pierce |
John
19:34-37 |
| Psalm
22:18 |
His
clothing gambled for |
Mark
15:24 |
| Isaiah
53:12 |
Die
with the wicked |
Mark
15:27 |
| Psalm
22:6-8 |
Mocked
and insulted |
Mark
15:29-32 |
| Isaiah
53:9 |
Buried
with the rich |
Mark
15:43-46 |
| Psalm
16:10 |
Rise
again |
Luke
24:6 |
| Psalm
68:18 |
Go
back to Heaven |
Acts
1:9 |
Every
one of these promises was made hundreds of years before
Jesus came to earth.
J.
Israel rejected God’s prophets.
The
majority of the Israelites refused to listen to God’s
messages.
-
They refused to
heed God’s warnings.
-
They persecuted
and killed His prophets.
-
They continued to
worship idols.
-
They followed the
ways of the wicked nations that surrounded them.
Yet
the Israelites continued to go to the temple.
They
offered sacrifices and outwardly appeared to worship
God,
But
in their hearts they did not trust Him nor love Him.
-
Therefore, God
would not accept their worship.
There
were, however, always a few of the Jews who believed
God.
-
They agreed with
Him that they were sinners.
-
They were trusting
in Him for His mercy and forgiveness.
-
They were trusting
Him to send the promised Deliverer.
K.
God judged Israel and Judah.
Because
Israel refused to believe and repent, God allowed their
enemies to conquer them.
-
The Assyrians
conquered the northern ten tribes.
-
They took them
away as captives.
The
people of Judah and Jerusalem also refused to repent, so
God allowed the Babylonians to conquer them.
-
The Babylonians
smashed down the stone walls of Jerusalem.
-
They destroyed the
temple which Solomon had built.
-
And they took most
of the people into captivity in Babylon.
L.
God brought some of the exiles back from Babylon.
After
seventy years, the Lord allowed many of the Israelites
to return to Jerusalem.
-
The people rebuilt
the city and its protective stone wall.
-
And they rebuilt
the temple of the Lord.
At
this time the Israelites began to be called
“Jews.”
M.
The Greeks and Romans conquered and oppressed the Jews.
Though
some of the Jews were back in Jerusalem, their troubles
were not over.
-
First the Greeks
conquered them. [Greece flourished around 400 B.C.
Palestine (Israel) cam under the rule of Alexander the
Great in about 330 B.C.]
-
Then the Romans
conquered the Greeks and ruled over the Jews. [In 63
B.C. Palestine (Israel) became subject to Roman
rulership. Rome continued to rule Palestine until Rome
fell in 476 A.D.]
Many
of the Jewish people were cruelly punished.
-
Some died by the
sword.
-
Others were
crucified.
-
The people were
also heavily taxed.
This
was a time of great sadness for the Jewish people.
-
Many of them were
scattered to distant nations.
-
Historians call
this time the “Diaspora,” or dispersion of the Jews.
But
the time was fast approaching when all human history
would change. God was ready to send the
Deliverer—Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.
N.
Conclusion
God’s
people had been unfaithful.
But
God is always faithful.
-
The Deliverer was
about to come—not as a king, but as a baby.
-
Almighty Cod was
coming down from heaven to be a man and live among men.
The
very prophets who foretold Jesus’ birth had been
tortured and killed.
But
God still kept His promise.
Jesus
was coming—precisely at God’s appointed time.
What
a faithful, gracious God we have!
Let’s
thank Him that we have heard the message of Jesus’
coming—and His message of salvation.
REVIEW
QUESTIONS:
1.
God caused water to flow from a rock in the wilderness.
Who is our “Rock” and source of Living Water?
2,
How does the brass serpent on the pole remind us of
Jesus Christ?
3.
After Joshua died, God chose people called judges to
lead the Israelites. Who enabled the judges to deliver
Israel from their enemies?
4.
Who came to Saul, the first king of Israel, to enable
him to lead the people?
5.
What did God the Holy Spirit do when David was made king
in place of Saul?
6.
God’s prophets warned Israel and Judah to repent, and
also told them of the coming Deliverer. How did God’s
people receive the prophets and their messages?
Notes for
Disciples:
1)
The Old Testament points forward to the coming of Jesus
Christ. These historical accounts, beautiful poems, and
words of wisdom reveal the nature and character of God,
as well as man’s need for a Savior.
As
a believer in Christ, you will find much benefit in
reading the Old Testament, as well as the New. Both the
Old and New Testaments are God-breathed. God’s nature
and character have not changed. Neither has
man’s—apart from the new birth in Jesus Christ!
The
Psalms are a great source of encouragement. You may want
to read a Psalm each day, in addition to your New
Testament reading.
Remember
the context of what you are reading. The Psalms were
written before the coming of Christ, The Israelites were
still under the Law. Most of the Psalms were written by
people who were suffering. King David wrote many of the
Psalms when he was being hunted down by jealous King
Saul. (Because of Saul’s rebellion, God had chosen
David to replace Saul as king.)
Many
of the Psalms reveal God’s character. You may want to
make some notes as you read.
2)
Continue to list your prayer requests and answers to
prayer. Remember that the time while you are waiting for
an answer is the time when you can exercise faith!