The Writings of Moses

45 Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope. 46 For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me.

Jesus here, what we saw last week - was that Jesus makes a STARTLING claim...

He says here to the Jews - if you BELIEVED Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote of Me.

NOW - Moses is believed to have written the first 5 books of the OT...

known as the Torah…or the Pentateuch...

And so what we want to do today…is to actually RESEARCH out what Christ said here to the Jews at the end of chapter 5...

…that Moses in fact - WROTE about Christ…!

SO let’s dive into the OT and search for Jesus...

SLIDE: The Writings of Moses: The Lineage of Christ

The Writings of Moses

In Genesis 3:15 we find what’s called the - Protevangelium

- Because it’s the first prophecy about Christ...

Genesis 3:15 ESV

15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

Here we have the Messiah (Jesus Christ) described as “her offspring”...

…this phrase “her offspring” refers to - Mary alone

And so Messiah is born of Mary alone...

In Matthew 1:16 we see this other phrase “of whom”

Matthew 1:16 ESV

16 and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ.

(read verse) Mary…of whom - Jesus was born...

Now you say - well this verse was not written by Moses...

And that’s correct...

BUT -

This phrase “OF WHOM” is a feminine relative pronoun...

And so because it is - it points to the fact that Jesus was born without Joseph’s participation.

Now THAT’s dealing with the virgin birth...

But Moses wasn’t done...

He then begins making his way down through the LINES of various people...

First up...

SLIDE: The Writings of Moses: Christ Through the Line of Shem

The Writings of Moses

In Genesis 9:26 we read this...

Genesis 9:26 ESV

26 He also said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem; and let Canaan be his servant.

And so this phrase here “God of Shem”…points to the BLESSINGS of God flowing through this line...

From here - Moses then gets into the next LINE...

SLIDE: The Writings of Moses: Christ Through the Line of Abraham

The Writings of Moses

In Genesis 12:2 we read this...

Genesis 12:2 ESV

2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.

Notice this phrase: “I will make your name great”...

God says here to Abraham - I will make your name - GREAT....

*When I mention these names, think about what comes to mind:

Luther

Spurgeon

Edwards

C.S. Lewis

Sproul

MacArthur

These are and were - GREAT men of the faith...

BUT THESE men were great - - Because of their MINISTRIES...

Influential to say the least!

But that’s NOT what God was promising Abraham when He said - I will make your name GREAT...

If we look at this verse in context...

Genesis 12:2–3 ESV

2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

WOW - in YOU - ALL the families of the earth will be BLESSED!

What a claim...

What does it mean - it MEANS - that through the line of Abraham would come the ULTIMATE BLESSING…!

A blessing SO great - that it would IMPACT HUMANITY itself!

Jesus Christ!

And the BIBLE confirms this...

Matthew 1:1 ESV

1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

Galatians 3:16 ESV

16 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.

The Bible confirms for us here that - JESUS Christ - FULFILLED the promises made to Abraham!

And that THROUGH the line of Abraham would come - the Messiah (Christ Himself).

But Moses wasn’t done!

SLIDE: The Writings of Moses: Christ Through the Line of Isaac

The Writings of Moses

In Genesis 17:19 we read this...

Genesis 17:19 ESV

19 God said, “No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him.

Many years ago, probably 5 or 6 at this point, we did a sermon series where we walked through the Old Testament...

And we just hit the main pillars of the OT...

And it was throughout that Series that we saw these same things...

God here - establishes that The Offspring, who is Christ - would come through the line of ISAAC...

And remember, we’re still in Genesis - so here we have MOSES - writing about Jesus Christ!

And he continues on...

SLIDE: The Writings of Moses: Christ Through the Line of Jacob

The Writings of Moses

Genesis 25:23 ESV

23 And the Lord said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you shall be divided; the one shall be stronger than the other, the older shall serve the younger.”

Genesis 28:13 ESV

13 And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring.

So God here - speaking to Jacob in a dream...

We see that THROUGH the line of Jacob would come the Savior...

The book of Numbers also speaks into this as well...

Numbers 24:17 ESV

17 I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near: a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel; it shall crush the forehead of Moab and break down all the sons of Sheth.

So here we see a RULER will come through the line of Jacob, and He will crush the enemy!

And then finally...

SLIDE: The Writings of Moses: Christ Through the Line of Judah

The Writings of Moses

Genesis 49:10 ESV

10 The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.

Moses tells us that the Messiah will come from the Tribe of Judah...

That He will possess the scepter...

that He will rule over the nations...

And so we see here pretty clearly that Moses’ writings pointed to the Messiah...

Jesus Christ -

And clearly defined for us His lineage...

BUT EVEN MORE THAN THAT - within the writings of Moses, we see MANY - shadows and types of Christ’s - which also point to the REAL THING...

There are MANY different stories in the Old Testament that point to Jesus Christ, so let’s look at several...

SLIDE: The Writings of Moses: Jesus As the Last Adam

The Writings of Moses

Now - when we think of Adam, we think of what - #epicfail

Well - that makes sense, but that doesn’t mean that Adam wasn’t a foreshadowing of Jesus Christ...

When we look at Adam - pre-fall, we see several different ROLES he was to take on...

SLIDE:

Adam as prophet

Adam as priest

Adam as king

In a Prophetic Role - Adam was spoken to directly by God - and so he was responsible to MEDIATE God’s word by...

Trusting

Keeping

Preaching it to his wife and children...

In a Priestly Role - Adam was called to MEDIATE God’s presence to the world by filling it with IMAGE BEARERS and ruling over creation

In a Kingly Role - Adam was given dominion over the earth as a servant king…who would act as God’s image in the world.

And so:

Prophet

Priest

King

Each meant for Adam..

…and yet - instead of prophet, priest, king...

Adam became - SINNER

And that was the FALL - but - the FALL lead to and pointed to - Jesus Christ...

Listen to how the Apostle Paul describes this - ADAM-Jesus connection...

Romans 5:12–19 ESV

12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— 13 for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. 14 Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come. 15 But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. 16 And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. 17 For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. 18 Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. 19 For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.

And so here it’s clear - Paul confirms for us that when Moses was writing about ADAM...

Adam and his failures...

THAT SAME STORY was at the same time - pointing to the LAST ADAM - Jesus Christ...

who WOULDN’T fail - but instead bring Salvation...

And it was Christ who FULFILLED those roles that Adam could NOT!

Christ as Prophet:

Deuteronomy 18:15 ESV

15 “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen—

Christ as Priest: we see this in Hebrews

Hebrews 5:9–10 ESV

9 And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, 10 being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.

Christ as KING: we read it before

Numbers 24:17 ESV

So in Moses’ writings we see Christ as the Last Adam...

BUT WHAT ELSE?

Where else in Moses’ writings do we see a FORESHADOWING of Christ?

Think of all the stories we read about in the Torah...

SLIDE: The Writings of Moses: Noah’s Flood; Judgment and Salvation

The Writings of Moses

When we read about Noah’s Flood, and all the details that go into it...

Yes it teaches us about how God kept the animals from dying off..

And how Mankind was able to continue living on earth...

But DEEPER than ALL of that - is this:

SLIDE:

Noah’s flood is a foretaste of judgment, and of salvation found in Jesus Christ.

Genesis 6:11–13 ESV

11 Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. 13 And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

So here we see Judgment - the Judgment of God coming down upon all flesh...

This is what SIN deserves from God...

The wages of sin is - DEATH

And DEATH is what God brought to the earth!

THAT’s Judgment...

But what about Salvation?

Genesis 7:23–24 ESV

23 He blotted out every living thing that was on the face of the ground, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens. They were blotted out from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those who were with him in the ark. 24 And the waters prevailed on the earth 150 days.

So God SAVED Noah....saved mankind.

Peter mentions this in 1 Peter:

1 Peter 3:20–21 ESV

20 because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. 21 Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,

The Baptism of the Spirit - which comes upon FAITH - brings SALVATION!

And so the story of Noah and the Flood - point to the judgment and salvation of Jesus Christ...

What else?

SLIDE: The Writings of Moses: Isaac; A Sacrifice Provided

The Writings of Moses

When we look at the story of Abraham and Isaac, we see an amazing display of TRUST...

Genesis 22:2 ESV

2 He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”

So God tells Abraham to take his son Isaac up to this mountain...

..and sacrifice him to God...

Isaac...

the Promised son...

the LONG-AWAITED son...

Go and kill him God said...

And so Abraham - listen to this - OBEYS God - and heads out to the mountain with Isaac.

On the way - Isaac WONDERS what is going on...

Genesis 22:7–8 ESV

7 And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” 8 Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together.

So Abraham - fully trusting God - takes Isaac, and places him on the altar…to sacrifice him...

He LIFTS the knife...

and at the LAST second…this

Genesis 22:11–14 ESV

11 But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 12 He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” 13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called the name of that place, “The Lord will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”

The LORD WILL PROVIDE:

The LORD WILL PROVIDE the sacrifice needed!

You see?

The story of Isaac on the altar - POINTS to the ULTIMATE SACRIFICE of Christ on the cross...

ONCE for ALL!

And the last connection we’ll look at today is this...

SLIDE: The Writings of Moses: A Greater Exodus, A Greater Law-Covenant, A Greater Rest

The Writings of Moses

One of the main stories in the OT is the story of the Israelites coming out of SLAVERY...

the EXODUS...

Moses leads the people (Israelites) out of Egypt - OUT from under Pharaoh...

to FREEDOM...

PHYSICAL Freedom...

and so WHAT we need to see - to understand - is the Spiritual CORRELATION...

Remember the first Passover?

Exodus 12:3 ESV

3 Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers’ houses, a lamb for a household.

Exodus 12:5 ESV

5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats,

Exodus 12:7 ESV

7 “Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it.

Exodus 12:12–13 ESV

12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. 13 The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.

The Blood of the Lamb brought salvation…that night.

And Freedom from physical slavery

Jesus Christ - as John the Baptist called him- the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the World!

BRINGS a GREATER EXODUS...

We all - once SLAVES to sin...

NOW - FREE - SPIRITUALLY - in Christ!

He is the GREATER EXODUS!

AND also - the GREATER Law-Covenant!

Hebrews 7:22 ESV

22 This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant.

Where in Moses’ writings we’d see the priests enter the tabernacle...

YEAR AFTER YEAR - to make sacrifices on behalf of the people..

It was never enough…Year After year this was needed...

that was the OLD Covenant...

BUT NOW - through Jesus Christ - a BETTER covenant...

Hebrews 9:24–28 ESV

24 For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. 25 Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, 26 for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, 28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

Jesus Christ is - A Greater Exodus...

A Greater Covenant...

A Greater Rest...

The writings of Moses end with the final chapter of Deuteronomy...

The Israelites ready to enter the promise land...

The promise land - a foretaste of the ULTIMATE REST we find in Jesus Christ!

The sacrifices of man CAN NEVER deal with SIN and therefore CAN NEVER bring - REST...

BUT...

Hebrews 10:11–13 ESV

11 And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet.

Jesus Christ is the Greater REST!

He’s ALL throughout the writings of Moses - and so back to our text today...

John 5:46–47 ESV

46 For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. 47 But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”

Moses wrote of Jesus Christ!

It ALL pointed to Jesus Christ!

The 1st century Jews couldn’t make the connection...

They were HUNG up on the Physical...

Couldn’t get past the PHYSICAL...

And because of that - MISSED Jesus Christ.

They missed - the Messiah to come - in the writings of Moses...

AND they missed - God Himself - in the flesh.

THINK the world today...

They DO NOT believe the writings of Moses..

the writings of Matthew

the writings of John

the writings of Paul

AND THEREFORE - when they LOOK up into the sky at night...

They don’t see A CREATOR worthy enough to worship

When they see an ULTRASOUND they don’t see AN IMAGE BEARER of GOD

And it’s almost as if we can hear the Lord whispering this phrase to us again...

“If they do not believe John’s writings, Paul’s writings, how will they believe my creation?”

Unless God awakens them through our proclamation of His truth…they will not see or believe.

What have we seen today?

SLIDE: Summary

The Writings of Moses:

The Lineage of Christ

Jesus As the Last Adam

Noah’s Flood; Judgment and Salvation

Isaac; A Sacrifice Provided

A Greater Exodus, A Greater Law-Covenant, A Greater Rest

The story of the Bible is the Story of Christ...

SUPREME above all things!

May our lives ALSO be ALL ABOUT Jesus - pointing to Him in all we do and say.

Let’s Pray...

(song - Mackenzie and Reagan)

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