By Darrin Patrick
One of the most difficult things to do as a new Christian is to understand what the heck the Old Testament is all about. Even seasoned Christians have difficulty with it, and often choose not to read or study that part of the Bible. Someone much smarter than me has articulated what Jesus himself was talking about in Luke 24:13-49. Enjoy:
Jesus is the true and better Adam who passed the test in the garden and whose obedience is imputed to us.
Jesus is the true and better Abel who, though innocently slain, has blood now that cries out, not for our condemnation, but for acquittal.
Jesus is the true and better Abraham who answered the call of God to leave all the comfortable and familiar and go out into the void not knowing wither he went to create a new people of God.
Jesus is the true and better Isaac who was not just offered up by his father on the mount but was truly sacrificed for us. And when God said to Abraham, “Now I know you love me because you did not withhold your son, your only son whom you love from me,” we can look at God taking his son up the mountain and sacrificing him and say, “Now we know that you love us because you did not withhold your son, your only son, whom you love from us.”
Jesus is the true and better Jacob who wrestled and took the blow of justice we deserved, so we, like Jacob, only receive the wounds of grace to wake us up and discipline us.
Jesus is the true and better Joseph who, at the right hand of the king, forgives those who betrayed and sold him and uses his new power to save them.
Jesus is the true and better Moses who stands in the gap between the people and the Lord and who mediates a new covenant.
Jesus is the true and better Rock of Moses who, struck with the rod of God’s justice, now gives us water in the desert.
Jesus is the true and better Job, the truly innocent sufferer, who then intercedes for and saves his stupid friends.
Jesus is the true and better David whose victory becomes his people’s victory, though they never lifted a stone to accomplish it themselves.
Jesus is the true and better Esther who didn’t just risk leaving an earthly palace but lost the ultimate and heavenly one, who didn’t just risk his life, but gave his life to save his people.
Jesus is the true and better Jonah who was cast out into the storm so that we could be brought in.
Jesus is the real Rock of Moses, the real Passover Lamb, innocent, perfect, helpless, slain so the angel of death will pass over us. He’s the true temple, the true prophet, the true priest, the true king, the true sacrifice, the true lamb, the true light, the true bread.
The Bible’s really not about you — it’s about him.
HT: The Journey
2 comments:
Dear brother,
I read, with interest the post concerning the men typical of the Lord Jesus, the True Vine, the True David, the True Isaac, e.t.c. There is one thing which I would like to point out concerning the things written there, which I hope you will prayerfully consider in the light of Scripture. It is "Jesus is the true and better Esther". In Scripture, from the beginning, man is given as a type of God (He was made the image of God) and woman is consistently a type of man - thus Adam's wife, bone of his bone, is the Church formed from Himself. Israel is Oholah, and Judah is Oholibah - sisters. The (first) man was not deceived, but the woman was deceived, and through her being deceived, he came into suffering. Just as God is not deceived, but man has been deceived and has fallen into sin, and Christ has come into suffering, the cross, because of man. Consistently - man is a type of God, and woman is a type of man. There are other usages, as Hagar and Sarah as typical of the covenants, but there is a consistency in God being typified by man, and man by woman. So all those other types which you cited were men, you'll notice. I think that Esther is not a type of Christ, since women are typical not of God, but of man. Man was existing before the woman, just as God was in existence before man. Women are weaker than men, so man is weaker than God. Women bear fruit of the womb, but not apart from the man making them fruitful - so men bear fruit to God, though not without God acting in them to bring forth fruit. Heaven is in the masculine in Hebrew, earth is in the feminine. The sun, in Song of Solomon, is in the masculine, the moon in the feminine. She derives all her glory from the sun - he (the sun) is glorious in himself and self existent as it were. I don't think that God has ever used a woman as a type of Himself. I pray that you would consider these things in the light of the word.
Yours in Christ,
Christian Cain.
Dear Christian,
Thank you for your comments. I re-read Darrin's post with your comments in mind and I wonder if you may be reading more into his point than is actually there. I certainly have no argument, on the whole, with the points you raised, but I think we can agree that Esther, having been made in the image of God (Gen. 1:27), can demonstrate Christ-like characteristics, which I think is where Darrin's point about Esther begins and ends. Esther is an OT example of a living sacrifice, having risked her life for the sake of others. Granted, the point is enormously understated (e.g., Jesus is the better Esther), I think Darrin would agree, but nonetheless, his point is made and it supports his thesis that the key to understanding the Bible is Jesus; that is, the self-sacrificing love of Esther points us, or ought to, in the direction of the ultimate example of self-sacrificing love - Christ crucified.
Your brother in Christ,
Steve
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