Throughout the New Testament, we see that the writers (under
the inspiration of the Holy Spirit-2Timothy 03.16-17) constantly refer back to
the Old Testament, especially when it comes to Jesus the Christ, or as the Jews
call Him, Yeshua HaMashiach.
The word “Scriptures” that is used throughout the New
Testament in the original Greek is G1124. grafh graphe graf-ay’; a
document, i.e. holy Writ, scripture.
On the road to Emmaus, Jesus came upon two travelers who
were distraught over the death of the Messiah in Luke 24.13-35, & Jesus explained
to them that it was written in the Old Testament that the Messiah would come
& suffer (Luke
24.25-27).
In Acts 08.04-39 we read that Philip was
proclaiming the Christ to the people in Samaria, & then the Holy Spirit
enable him to catch up to the Ethiopian eunuch who was in a chariot, reading
from the Book of Isaiah (Isaiah 53.07-08), & Philip preached Jesus to
him, leading the eunuch to a saving knowledge of the Christ.
Notice that Philip preached Jesus to the Ethiopian eunuch
from the book of Isaiah?
We also see Apollos preaching Jesus from the Old Testament
in Acts
18.28.
Paul clearly states that the Gospel is that Christ died for
our sins, was buried & rose on the 3rd Day. Paul says that this
is found in the Old Testament (1Corinthians 15.03-04).
This is of course in direct contradiction to many emergent
leaders like N.T. Wright, who said in a 2003 lecture in Edinburgh, Scotland, saying
that Roman Catholics are our brothers & sisters in Christ…
I am horrified at some of the recent Anglican/Roman
statements, for instance, & on things like the Papacy, purgatory, & the
cult of saints (especially Mary), I am as protestant as the next person, for (I
take it) good Pauline reasons. But justification by faith tells me that if my
Roman neighbour believes that Jesus is Lord & that God raised him from the
dead then he or she is a brother or sister, however much I believe them
muddled, even dangerously so, on other matters.
The only way that N.T. Wright can get to the conclusion that
Roman Catholic’s are our brothers & sisters is by redefining what
justification by faith means.
If you notice, N.T. Wright in the previous mentioned quote
gives us his definition of the Gospel in “…that Jesus is Lord,
& that God raised Him from the dead…”
Again the Gospel is that Christ died for our sins was buried
& rose on the 3rd Day. Paul says that this is found in the Old
Testament (1Corinthians
15.03-04).
We are going to look at some passages in the Old Testament
that clearly give us the Gospel message.
01. The Seed (Genesis 03.15)
Genesis 03.15 “seed” H2233. erz zera‘ zeh'-rah; from H2232;
seed; figuratively, fruit, plant, sowing-time, posterity:-- X carnally, child,
fruitful, seed(-time), sowing-time.
-Part of
speech=masculine noun, also refers to semen.
How can a woman have semen? Now we all learned
many years ago that women have eggs & men have seed.
Notice as well that the text doesn’t say “Your
seed & Adams…”
This foreshadows a miraculous conception!
This is also further stated by the prophet Isaiah, who
prophesied by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit when King Ahaz was in great
danger, for the king of Syria & the king of Israel (the Northern Kingdom)
were united together to come against Jerusalem (Isaiah 07.01-02).
In Isaiah 07.03-09 God sent Isaiah to King Ahaz
to encourage him & let him know that God would not allow the Syria-Israel
alliance to succeed & that Jerusalem will be preserved.
In Isaiah 07.10-13 the confirmation of this was going
to be by a sign that God would give to Ahaz, but Ahaz refused to ask for one.
But God was going to give Ahaz a sign in Isaiah 07.14.
Isaiah 07.14 “virgin”
H5959. hmle ‘almah al-maw’; feminine of 05958; a lass (as veiled or
private):-- damsel, maid, virgin.
H5958. Mle ‘elem eh’-lem; from 05956; properly, something kept out of sight, i.e. a lad:-- young man,
stripling.
H5956. Mle ‘alam aw-lam’; a primitive root; to veil from sight, i.e. conceal (literally or figuratively):-- X
any ways, blind, dissembler, hide (self), secret (thing).
Some people have argued that this word does not mean a
virgin, but just a young woman.
In the Greek Septuagint of Isaiah 07.14, the Greek word used for
virgin is the same one that is used in Matthew 01.23 “virgin” G3933. paryenov parthenos par-then’-os; of unknown origin; a
maiden; by implication, an unmarried daughter:-- virgin.
This Greek word was used by the Greeks for the Parthenon,
the Greek temple to the goddess Athena, which the Greeks characterized as being
a virgin.
The prophet Jeremiah mentions that the Messiah would be born
of a virgin (Jeremiah
31.22).
The Jews have for centuries taught that this passage meant
that the Mashiach would be virgin born…only later have they misapplied this
(& many other verses) to the nation of Israel.
The fact that the Mashiach would be virgin born was a sign
that He was the Son of God (Luke 01.35).
A virgin giving birth is impossible unless it’s Divine!
02. The Provision
(Genesis 22.01-18)
Genesis 22.08 can also be translated as….“God will provide Himself
the lamb…”
Genesis 22.13 tells us that it was “a ram” &
not “the lamb”
that was caught in the thicket & is what Abraham sacrificed.
The true substitution sacrifice was NOT fully completed.
Right before the Hebrews exodus from the land of Egypt, they
partook in the first Passover/Pesach in Exodus 12.01-51.
Exodus 12.01-05 This
lamb was to be chosen on the 10th day of Nisan (March-April), placed
under observation for four days to make certain that it was “unblemished” (Exodus 12.05)
before it was to be slain.
It was on the 10th of Nisan that according to Sir Robert Anderson was the very day that Jesus entered into Jerusalem on what we now
know as Palm Sunday (Matthew 21.04-09; quoting Zechariah 09.09).
Continuing on we see that the lamb for the Passover was to
be keep for four days, then killed at twilight Exodus 12.06-07.
During the four days after Palm Sunday, the Christ was also on
display before Israel. This is the One whom John the Baptist had proclaimed as
the Lamb of God (John 01.29), thus fulfilling the prophecy of Abraham in Genesis 22.08.
On the 14th day of Nisan, “the whole assembly of the congregation of
Israel is to kill it (the Pesach Lamb) at
twilight (between 3p-6p).” (Exodus 12.06)
It was during that precise time period that Jesus died on
the cross (Matthew
27.45-46)!
03. The Death (Isaiah 53.01-12)
Isaiah tells us that the Mashiach was going to come &
die as a sacrificial lamb for our transgressions (Isaiah 53.05).
Isaiah also says that death of the Mashiach will be w/the
wicked men (Mark
15.27), buried in a rich man’s grave (Mark 15.43-46), yet He was
completely innocent (Isaiah 53.07-09).
Peter affirms Isaiah’s prophecy, stating himself that the
Christ came to die for our transgressions in 1Peter 02.21-25 (quoting Isaiah 53.09).
04. The
Resurrection (Psalms 16.08-11)
Peter declared in Acts 02.01-47 on the Day of Pentecost that the
prophesied Mashiach who was Jesus rose from the dead just as David had
prophesied in Psalms
16.08-11 (quoting also 2Samuel 07.11-16).
No comments:
Post a Comment