Jesus In Every Book of the Bible (2)

Sometimes we forget that Jesus is the center of all Scripture. He is found from Genesis all the way through the end of the Book of Revelation. So I want to start a study call Jesus in Every Book of the Bible. I will not try to find every single scripture that deals with Jesus or references Jesus but I want us to see that He is plainly found in every book. Because the Bible is about Him and His redemptive work. One of the sources I plan to use through out this study is a Book called “The Bible Code: Finding Jesus in Every Book in the Bible; by Dr. O. S. Hawkins.

I) Jesus in Genesis

Hawkin’s 1st chapter is Finding Jesus in Genesis, “He is the Ram at Abraham’s Altar. But I want to back up in Genesis and show He is the Creator and He is the Blood Sacrifice for the covering of sin.

A) Creator:

Genesis 1:1 KJV

1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

This answers the question that many search for, that millions and probably billions of dollars has been spent to figure out. Where did we come from, what is our purpose? The simple answer is that God created. We did not come from some alien race, we did not emerge out of some primordial mist or some great explosion, we did not evolve over millions of years.

Genesis 1:26–28 KJV

26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. 28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

God Created the world, all that is in it and He created mankind in “Our own image”. So right away we find that God is more than just a single being. And we find that God would use similar language in dealing with the tower of Babel. And God is already introducing the Trinity or Triune Godhead to us.

And isn’t it interesting that this early on in Scripture we find that God is already making the sexes, male and female, and no species can continue to exist without both sexes. So from the very start God created male and female and introduced His perfect plan for the family and the building of society.

Genesis 11:7 KJV

7 Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.

So God in Genesis is already revealing the Trinity to us. Many say “God the Father Created”. But when we go to the New Testament and the Gospel of John we find that Jesus is the Creator.

John 1:1–4 KJV

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

The Word is Jesus and we find out that Jesus is not a created being, we find He did not get His start or beginning when Mary conceived, but that He was from the very beginning. Jesus is the only Man ever born that was older than His mother when He was born. Jesus was in the beginning and Jesus made all things and nothing that was made was made without Him.

Jesus is CREATOR.

B) Our Sacrifice

Genesis 3:21 KJV

21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.

Here is the first blood sacrifice, the first place that animals were killed for the good of mankind. There is much that can be learned here. God rejected the clothes made from figs. Why?

Hebrews 9:22 KJV

22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.

Because Adam and Eve had sinned. There sin needed to be covered. They tried to cover it themselves and God rejected their feeble attempt at covering their own sin. (I believe this is the same reason that God rejected Cain’s offering, blood is required for the covering of sin, Cain tried to cover His sin through his own works, and God had already given the standard of blood sacrifice. When Cain brought His offering to God it was rebellion against a Holy and Just God who set a standard by which sin was to be covered.) God rejected their efforts. And through the study of Scripture we find God had a plan of redemption that He put in place way before He ever created man.

Ephesians 1:3–5 KJV

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: 4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: 5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,

His plan was always the Blood Sacrifice of His only begotten Son. A perfect Lamb that would die for the forgiveness of all who would receive the free gift of eternal life through faith in Jesus. So back to Genesis 3:21 the Lord God made coats of skins to cover them. It was a blood sacrifice that was a look (a type) of what was to come, Jesus Christ who would die on the Cross. This was the beginning of the Old Testament sacrifices that would be made by the High Priests on behalf of the Chosen People, the Children of Israel. It was a a picture of the Perfect Lamb of God whose life would be offered for the salvation of souls, for the purchase of forgiveness for sin. All those sacrifices were a look forward to the ultimate sacrifice.

So we find the sacrifice of animals, the shedding of blood which is a picture of the ultimate Sacrifice, Jesus, all the way back in Genesis 3:21.

C) The Ram at the Altar

If you ever go to Jerusalem you will see the Dome of the Rock. It is on the summit of Mount Moriah. It was near this place or some believe in the same place that Solomon’s temple was built in all of it’s magnificent glory. But hundreds of years before there was a man by the name of Abraham who loved God and served God in a time that was full of evil. God made a promise to Abraham that he would be the father of a great nation, a nation who’s descendants would be as numerous as the stars of the heavens and the sands of the seas.

There was a problem though. Abraham had become and old man and his wife had aged well beyond the child bearing years and they had no son. But God gave them a miracle child and they had a son they named Isaac. Through his lineage the Messiah would be born, the Savior of the world. Isaac was the only son of Abraham and Sarah and it was through him that God’s promise would be kept. Abraham loved Isaac more than he loved anything in this world.

And God tested Abraham. God wanted to ensure that Abraham’s faith was in Him and not in his son Isaac. So God told Abraham, take your son to Mount Moriah and sacrifice him to Me. And I wish that we were as obedient, as faithful in things as what Abraham was. Abraham obeyed God, without delay, without doubt, without any lack of faith. He took his son and struck out for Mount Moriah.

Hebrews 11:8–17 KJV

8 By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. 9 By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: 10 For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. 11 Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable. 13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. 14 For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. 15 And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. 16 But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city. 17 By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,

When we study scripture and we look at the journey that Abraham took with his beloved son Isaac, it gives us the picture of a journey that would take place around 2000 years later where Jesus accompanied by His Father would make a similar journey to Mount Moriah to be sacrificed for the sin of the world.

Genesis 22:5 KJV

5 And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.

What was to happen there on Mount Moriah at the altar that Abraham would prepare was to be between him and Isaac alone, the servants did not go up with them. And when Jesus was upon the cross and darkness fell over the land for 3 hours the business that took place there upon that mountain was between Jesus the Son and God the Father alone.

Genesis 22:6 KJV

6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together.

Wood: Isaac carried the wood of sacrifice, Jesus carried the cross

Fire: God released His consuming fire on Jesus, judgment on the cross.

Knife: Jesus was pierced and His blood flowed.

Only two went, Abraham and Isaac, only the Father and the Son went to the cross.

Genesis 22:7 KJV

7 And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?

Isaac asks about a lamb for the sacrifice and Abraham says God will provide. Abraham was speaking prophetic words, not only would God provide in that day, but God would provide Himself as a sacrifice for humanity.

Genesis 22:8–10 KJV

8 And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together. 9 And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. 10 And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.

And we notice that Isaac doesn’t fight, he doesn’t run; Abraham had faith in God, because in verse 5 Abraham said the lad and I will go worship and come again. So Abraham had faith that either God would provide a Lamb or God would bring his son back from the ashes. What a wonderful faith he had and he binds his son and I don’t believe there was ever a moment when Abraham said “I can’t do this” he just simply obeyed God.

Genesis 22:11–14 KJV

11 And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. 12 And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me. 13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son. 14 And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen.

God sees Abraham’s faith and He stops Abraham and God provides a ram for Abraham to offer as a burnt offering.

And we see types of Jesus first off in Isaac who bore the wood upon His own back. We see Isaac as a type of Jesus in the fact that he “died” and was raised again on the 3rd day. In the day that God told Abraham to offer Isaac, Isaac died as far as Abraham was concerned because Abraham knew he would do exactly as God commanded.

Genesis 22:1–4 KJV

1 And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am. 2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. 3 And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him. 4 Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off.

On the 3rd day Isaac was in a sense resurrected from the dead when God provided a ram for the sacrifice and Isaac did not have to die.

But we also see a “type” of Jesus in the Ram who died a substitutionary death on behalf of Isaac. Which is exactly what Jesus would do for us. God provided for us a substitutionary sacrifice an all sufficient Savior. He bore our sin, so we could be “born again” and be adopted into the family of God. Jesus took our sin so we could take His righteousness.

In verse 14 Abraham called the place Jehovahjirah which means the Lord will Provide. And the Ram provided a picture of the substitutionary Savior that was to come. Abraham understood that.

John 8:56 KJV

56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.

Abraham knew that the ram was a picture of the Messiah who would come for the forgiveness of the world. And when John the Baptist saw Jesus coming what did he say?

John 1:29 KJV

29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

And in Genesis Jesus is Creator, Our Sacrifice, and He is the ram (lamb).

II) Jesus in Exodus (Our Passover Lamb)

Exodus 12:3–13 KJV

3 Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house: 4 And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb. 5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats: 6 And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. 7 And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. 8 And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. 9 Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof. 10 And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire. 11 And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the LORD’S passover. 12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD. 13 And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.

One of the most important celebrations of the Jews is the celebration of the Passover. It commemorates the delivery from slavery in Egypt. God sent great plagues upon the Egyptians culminating in the death of the first born male in all the land of Egypt with exception of the homes that obeyed God’s command and that sacrificed a lamb and painted the blood upon the door posts of the house. And for the homes the death angel passed over and their first born was saved. So when the death Angel came, and he passed through the land he looked for the blood, if there was no blood then he entered that home and the first born was slain.

God laid out the criteria for the lamb, for how it was to be chosen, for how old it was to be, for what shape it was to be in and basically it had to be a perfect lamb. That lamb was a “type” or picture of our Lord Jesus Christ, the perfect Lamb of God.

1 Peter 1:19 KJV

19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

This lamb was a perfect a picture of Jesus as we could have here in this world, without it being Jesus himself. And the description is Exodus is very detailed. And the way it was to be sacrificed was spelled out for all to see and understand exactly what God expected.

Exodus 12:46 KJV

46 In one house shall it be eaten; thou shalt not carry forth ought of the flesh abroad out of the house; neither shall ye break a bone thereof.

No broken bones and look at the description of Jesus upon the cross.

John 19:33–36 KJV

33 But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs: 34 But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water. 35 And he that saw it bare record, and his record is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe. 36 For these things were done, that the scripture should be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken.

Why were the Israelites saved on that death filled night where thousands upon thousands died? Because in faith they applied the blood of the lamb to the doorposts of their homes, just as God had instructed. And what a picture it paints for us who live in this dispensation. The judgment of the Lord is coming, and millions upon millions of souls will be lost. The only escape is the prescribed method that God gives. Faith in His only begotten Son. We must have the blood upon our hearts or Jesus will say to us, depart from me ye worker of iniquity for I never knew you.

Around 1500 years after the first Passover Jesus gathered His disciples in the upper room in Jerusalem. He knew that in a short time He would give His own life. He passed the bread and lifted the cup knowing that in just a few short hours His blood would be spilled to make a way of salvation for us. When the Israelites applied the blood to the doorpost there were 2 results: freedom from slavery in Egypt and deliverance from death for the first born. Today when we apply the blood of Jesus there are 2 results: freedom from slavery to sin and deliverance from spiritual death, from an eternity separated from God.

Romans 6:23 KJV

23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Jesus is the only answer for our sin debt. And in Exodus we find Jesus as the Passover Lamb, the deliverer.

III) Finding Jesus in Leviticus (Our Sweet Smelling Aroma)

This is maybe the first book where some ask, “Where is Jesus?”. But when we look for Him we find Him. He is found in the sweet smelling Aroma that is offered.

Leviticus 1:1–2 KJV

1 And the LORD called unto Moses, and spake unto him out of the tabernacle of the congregation, saying, 2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man of you bring an offering unto the LORD, ye shall bring your offering of the cattle, even of the herd, and of the flock.

Leviticus 1:9 KJV

9 But his inwards and his legs shall he wash in water: and the priest shall burn all on the altar, to be a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD.

Leviticus is a book that many of us read quickly and kind of just skim over. This is likely at least in part to the fact that we don’t offer burnt sacrifices to the Lord. Yet in Leviticus we find the sweet smelling aroma of Christ our sacrifice. Leviticus paints the picture of Christ’s atoning work. And when we look at the Old Testament sacrifices and begin to understand what was happening and going on it will help us to better understand what Christ did upon the cross for us.

The thousands upon thousand of animal sacrifices that were made in the Old Testament never took away a single sin.

Hebrews 10:4 KJV

4 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.

So why did they practice these sacrifices? They were used to cover sins till Christ came, they were really just to prepare the Jews for the Lamb of God, the actual Sacrifice that would bring forgiveness of sin.

It is kind of like when we go make a purchase on a credit card. When the card is processed in the checkout line it is a promise for us to pay later when the bill comes. The card covers the purchase till the final payment is made. Those sacrifices were all looking forward to the final payment that Christ would make upon the cross.

And every time these sacrifices were offered according to verse 9 there was “a sweet savour unto the Lord.” It was pleasing to God. Look what the Psalmist said:

Psalm 40:6–8 KJV

6 Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required. 7 Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, 8 I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.

Jesus came to do the will of the Father and His obedience brought Him to His own place of death, it put Him upon the cross. Jesus became the final sacrifice for sin. And those who reject the sacrifice that Jesus made have no place left to turn. There is no reason to make any further sacrifice, there is no looking forward to the coming Lamb of God, we look back to the Lamb who came, we look forward to the Lion who will come. Look what Paul said:

Ephesians 5:2 KJV

2 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.

And the sweet aroma of sacrifice found in Leviticus is now found in the life of the faithful, those who have recieved the free gift of eternal life.

2 Corinthians 2:15–16 KJV

15 For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish: 16 To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things?

When we are saved and live obediently we become the sweet-smelling aroma to God and a blessing to others. Christians are to be a sweet smelling aroma to the world around us, that they might seek Jesus while He can still be found.

In Leviticus Jesus is found in the sweet aroma from the burnt sacrifices.