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1. INTRODUCTION
a. Review
b. Does this series have any practical worth?
c. There is no way that the whole OT can be properly summed up in one sermon. I am going to try to give you a broad picture of the OT. You may find yourself wondering, after it is done, why I didn’t mention this event or that symbol … .
i. No mention today of the Books of poetry – Job – Song of Solomon
(1) Job. 19:25 – (ESV)- For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth.
(2) Proverbs – Wisdom the personification of Christ
(3) Psalms – the worship and prophecy of Christ
(4) Ecclesiastes – Life outside of Christ is ultimately meaningless
(5) SOS – The loving bridegroom
2. After showing the immense damage caused by the fall we get into the beginning of the plan for the Serpent Crusher to come into the world and do His work. God has promised to crush the work of Satan begun at the fall. Let us see how He will do that.
a. The Serpent Crusher’s People – The call of Abraham – God will make for Himself a people through whom this serpent crusher will come.
i. The plan to send the child into the world to crush the serpent begins by getting a people through whom the child will be born. We have already seen a hint of it in the chapters leading up to Genesis 12.
ii. Genesis 12 :1-3, 7
iii. Genesis 15:1-6
iv. These promises to Abraham are far, far more than promises about an ethnic people living in a piece of geography in the Middle East.
(1) This is what Paul tells us in Galatians 3:16 (ESV) Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ. This is a direct quote from Genesis 12:7 Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. When God said Genesis 12:7 to Abraham He was referring first of all to Christ the One to come into the world to crush the head of the serpent.
(2) Also, we are told in Galatians 3:8 that the original call of Abraham was a preaching of the Gospel of faith in Christ through faith in Jesus Christ – Galatians 3:7-9 (ESV)- Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. [8] And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” [9] So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.
(3) But we are still not done – Paul tells us in Romans 4:1-3 (ESV) What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? [2] For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. [3] For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” This is a direct quote from Genesis 15:6 (ESV) And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness. This call to Abraham is about Christ and the Gospel of salvation by grace through faith.
v. Genesis 17:6 – The promise of a Kingdom
b. The Serpent Crusher’s Law – Sinai
i. The whole law and all its requirements – impossible to keep them all!! So reduce it to the Decalogue – same thing! Galatians 3:22–26; Romans 8:3
ii. In the Law, provision is made for the forgiveness of sin.
(1) A powerful statement about God. The law tells us of God’s incredible standards for anyone who will stand in His presence. The whole sacrificial system tells us that He is willing to go to great lengths to enable that to happen. This is an act of mercy. People do not deserve a means of forgiveness.
(2) Sacrifice is to be made by priests – See the qualifications of priests in Lev. 21:7-9, 11, 17-23. How does all that relate to the ability to offer sacrifice for the people? a) Only absolute purity can stand before God, b) These qualifications are a picture of Christ. See Hebrews
(3) The animals to be sacrificed – spotless, male – the inference could not be more clear – this is a picture of Christ – John 1:29 (See Isaiah 53:7 [Acts 8:32]) and Revelation 5:6.
(4) Repeated sacrifices – Hebrews 10:1-10
c. The Serpent Crusher’s Land
i. Genesis 15:12-14, 18. There will be a people through whom the serpent crusher will come and there will be a land where they will settle and call home.
ii. The Book of Exodus – heading to the Promised Land
(1) After the Passover – Entrance into the Promised land is only for those who are under the blood. See I Cor. 5:6-7
iii. Re: Land won by Joshua
When the old hymn says “I am bound for the Promised land” it is not just some quaint way of referring to eternal life. It is what the bible wants us to understand. Israel’s possession of the Promised Land was just a picture of the true reality that God has in store for His people who will one day possess a new heavens and a new earth and will reign with Christ forever.
iv. See Joshua 1:13; 21:44 – God gave the people rest after they had defeated the enemies of God in the land that He had given them to possess. But see Hebrews 4:7-8. …
v. Enter the time of the Judges. The roller coaster ride of the Scriptures
(1) Judges 2:11-15 – the sins of the people and God’s response
(2) Judges 2:16-19 – and this is precisely the pattern that we see played out all through the Book. Again and again and again we read that the people sinned, God punished them for their sins, the people called out for mercy, God sent a judge, the judge does well until he dies and the cycle starts again. Finally the Book of Judges ends with this 21:25. No king. Ah! They need a king.
Enter the Book of Ruth – the beginning of the era of Kings. Why Ruth? She is the grandmother of the greatest king Israel ever had – David. (A Gentile BTW).
d. The Serpent Crusher – King
i. The covenant with David – II Samuel 7:12-16 – Israel learned over the centuries following David and Solomon that disobedience in her king always brought the nation to ruin. But the godly among them knew one thing for sure: God had promised that the throne of David would be established forever (2 Samuel 7:4). So they came to see that a son of David must be coming who would fulfill the conditions of the covenant, sit on David’s throne, and rule forever. A succession of imperfect kings could never fulfill the promise. If God were true to his word, if he stuck by his job description in 2 Samuel 7, he would have to raise up a righteous, obedient son of David to take the throne (see Psalm 89:29–37). [Piper]
ii. The point of the King stories in the OT is that none of them – not even the good ones, not even David, is the King who will crush the serpent’s head.
(1) David, though a man after God’s own heart is a sinner who is not good enough for the task that crushing the serpent’s head requires
(2) Uzziah, one of the greatest kings Israel ever saw, is punished for his sin because he took it upon himself to do the work of a priest. There is only one King who is also a priest – the promised one, the serpent crusher.
(3) Hezekiah who stupidly and sinfully showed the treasures of Israel to the King of Babylon – he cannot be the promised king of an eternal kingdom
Dear ones – read these stories through the grid of Jesus Christ. Look forward to this: Rev. 19:11-16 Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. [12] His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. [13] He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. [14] And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. [15] From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. [16] On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.
iii. God promised that David would have a kingdom forever. Jesus is the Son of David – but see Psalm 110:1 Psalm 110:1 (ESV)
The Lord says to my Lord:
“Sit at my right hand,
until I make your enemies your footstool.”
Jesus Himself makes reference to this text when He is challenged by the Jewish religious authorities – Matthew 22:41-46 (ESV)
Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question, [42] saying, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” They said to him, “The son of David.” [43] He said to them, “How is it then that David, in the Spirit, calls him Lord, saying,
[44] ” ‘The Lord said to my Lord,
Sit at my right hand,
until I put your enemies under your feet’?
[45] If then David calls him Lord, how is he his son?” [46] And no one was able to answer him a word, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.
Acts 2:32-35 (ESV)
This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. [33] Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. [34] For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says,
” ‘The Lord said to my Lord,
Sit at my right hand,
[35] until I make your enemies your footstool.’
1 Cor. 15:25 (ESV)
For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.
Ephes. 1:20 (ESV)
that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places,
Col. 3:1 (ESV)
If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
Hebrews 1:3 (ESV)
He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
Hebrews 1:13 (ESV)
And to which of the angels has he ever said,
“Sit at my right hand
until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”?
Hebrews 8:1 (ESV)
Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven,
Hebrews 10:12 (ESV)
But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God,
Hebrews 12:2 (ESV)
looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
1 Peter 3:22 (ESV)
who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.
iv. Jesus comes announcing the Kingdom
(1) Matthew 3:2 (ESV) “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
Matthew 4:17 (ESV) From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
Matthew 4:23 (ESV) And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people.
(2) The charge against Jesus was that He said He was a King
e. The Serpent Crusher – Prophesied
i. The judges failed. The Kings failed. The priests failed. Something better is needed and something better is promised. God sends prophets with a double barrelled message: judgement for sin and mercy for the repentant. The prophecies of mercy look ahead to the forgiveness that will come in the future when God sends His Messiah – the serpent crusher. Your sins have condemned you. But my plan shall not fail. You shall be punished but I will preserve a people for myself.
(1) Hosea – 14:4-9
(2) Joel 2:28f; 3:17-21
(3) Amos 9:11-15
(4) Obadiah 19-21 – A message to Gentiles!!
(5) Jonah – Salvation for the Gentiles
(6) Micah 7:18-20 (And of course 5:1-5a)
(7) Nahum – 1:15 – Peace for the people of Judah against her enemies
(8) Habakkuk 3:13
(9) Zephaniah 3:9-20
(10) Haggai 2:23
(11) Zechariah 9:9; 12:10-13:1
(12) Malachi 3:1; 4:5
ii. But the key prophetic passages regarding Christ are at least these:
(1) Jeremiah 31:31 – a new covenant – See Hebrews 8:7-13
(2) Isaiah 53 – brought to pass through the death and resurrection of Christ. Isaiah – the root of Jesse, the servant of the Lord, the coming King,
(3) Ezekiel 36 -37 – worked in people by the Holy Spirit through the Word
(a) 36:22-28
(b) 37:1-10
3. Dear ones. The Old Testament tells us
a. The plan of God cannot be thwarted by sin or conquest or disobedience.
b. But it also tells us that salvation is an absolute necessity and that no matter how good we are ort how obedient, we are sinful and need God Himself to come and do for us what is impossible for us to do if we are going to be saved from our sins.
c. It points us to the Promised One who alone can do what needs to be done.
d. It shows us that all the heroes of the OT despite their greatness in many ways were not the one who we needed to solve the problem of our sin.
e. The OT does not point us to Abraham, or Moses, or David. It points us to Christ.
f. You are not the exception to the rule that everyone needs the One that the whole OT points to.
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