His Story is About the Saviour
The Old Testament is a Christ-centered book. Even though the Old Testament was written before Christ was born in Bethlehem, it has much to say about the Saviour.
Christ can be found in every book in the Old Testament. One writer has put it this way:
- In Genesis He is the Seed of the woman (3:15).
- In Exodus He is the Lamb of God for sinners slain (see chapter 12).
- In Leviticus He is our High Priest (the whole book).
- In Numbers He is the Star out of Jacob (24:17).
- In Deuteronomy He is the Prophet like unto Moses (18:15).
- In Joshua He is the Captain of the Lord’s armies (5:13-15).
- In Judges He is the Angel of the LORD or the messenger of Jehovah (chapter 13).
- In Ruth He is our Kinsman-Redeemer (Chapter 3).
- In Samuel, Kings and Chronicles He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords (1 Samuel 8:1-9).
- In Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther He is the sovereign Lord over all the kingdoms of the earth (entire books).
- In Job He is our risen and returning Redeemer (Job 19:25).
- In Psalms He is the Blessed Man (Psalm 1), the Son of Man (Psalm 2), the Crucified One (Psalm 22), the Coming One (Psalm 24), the Reigning One (Psalm 72).
- In Proverbs He is our Wisdom (chapter 14).
- In Ecclesiastes He is the forgotten Wise Man (9:14-15).
- In Song of Solomon He is my Beloved (2:16).
- In Isaiah He is our suffering Substitute (chapter 53).
- In Jeremiah He is the LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS (23:6).
- In Lamentations He is the Man of sorrows who weeps for His people (l:12-18).
- In Ezekiel He is the glory of God (1:28).
- In Daniel He is the Smiting Stone (2:34) and the Companion in the furnace of fire and the den of lions (3:24-25; 6:22).
- In Hosea He is David’s Greater King (3:5).
- In Joel He is the Hope of His people (3:16).
- In Amos He is the Rescuer of Israel (3:12).
- In Obadiah He is the Deliverer upon Mount Zion (verse 17).
- In Jonah He is the buried and risen Saviour (compare Matthew 12:40).
- In Micah He is the Everlasting God born in Bethlehem (5:2).
- In Nahum He is our Stronghold in the day of wrath (1:7).
- In Habakkuk He is the Anchor of our faith (2:4).
- In Zephaniah He is in the midst for judgment and cleansing (3:5,15).
- In Haggai He is Lord of presence and power (1:13).
- In Zechariah He is the smitten Shepherd (13:7).
- In Malachi He is the Sun of Righteousness (4:2).
Seeing (C-ing) Bible History (Old Testament)
It might help us to remember some of the important events in Old Testament history by remembering these words which all begin with the letter “C”:
| CREATION | Genesis |
| God created the universe and placed man on planet earth but man disobeyed His Creator and fell into sin.
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| CAPTAIN NOAH | Genesis |
| God judged sinful men by sending a worldwide flood. Only Noah and his family were spared in this terrible judgment.
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| CONFUSION | Genesis |
| God scattered sinful men at the tower of Babel by confusing them with different languages. As the people scattered and spread out on the earth they formed the different nations.
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| CALL OF ABRAHAM | Genesis |
| God called Abraham to leave his family and his country, and to come to the promised land. Abraham was the father of the Jewish nation Israel.
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| CARRYING BURDENS | Exodus |
| In the days of Joseph the children of Israel went down into Egypt. Later they became slaves in this country for about 400 years. But finally God delivered them and brought them out of Egypt through the Red Sea.
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| CAMP | Exodus through Deuteronomy |
| For forty years the children of Israel wandered and camped in the desert wilderness. It was during this time that the Ten Commandments were given and the tabernacle was built.
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| CONQUEST | Joshua |
| Under Joshua’s leadership the children of Israel entered the promised land, conquered it and settled in it.
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| CORRUPTION | Judges |
| Once they were settled in the promised land the children of Israel began to turn their hearts away from the Lord. They “did what was right in their own eyes.” This was the period of the judges.
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| CROWN | Samuel, Kings, Chronicles |
| After the period of the judges came the period of the kings. Saul, David and Solomon were the first kings of Israel. After Solomon the kingdom was divided into two parts: 1) the northern kingdom of Israel with its capital in Samaria; 2) the southern kingdom of Judah with its capital in Jerusalem. The northern kingdom and the southern kingdom each had their own king.
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| CAPTIVITY | 2 Kings, 2 Chronicles |
| God judged the northern kingdom of Israel first by sending the Assyrians. The Assyrians conquered the kingdom of Israel and carried the people away as captives. Later God judged the southern kingdom of Judah by sending the Babylonians under King Nebuchadnezzar. The kingdom of Judah was conquered and the people were led away to Babylon as captives.
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| CONSTRUCTION | Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther |
| Seventy years after the Babylonian captivity, God was gracious to the nation of Israel and He allowed a small group of Jews (about 50,000) to return to the land. At this time they constructed or built the temple of God which the Babylonians had destroyed (see Ezra). Later they built the walls of the city of Jerusalem (see Nehemiah). Soon after these events, Old Testament history came to an end. In approximately 400 years Christ would be born in the city of Bethlehe | |
