The Cross in the Torah

Introduction

The Bible as we know it was canonized or accepted around 397 BC. That means for about four centuries, the scripture that was known to the Church was the TANAKH. What’s that you ask? Tanakh is actually an acronym meaning Torah, Nevi’im and Ketuvim.

Tanakh - תַּעְנָךְ

Torah (Teachings)- תּוֹרָה

Nevi’im (Prophets) - נביאים

Ketuvim (Writings) - כטובים

The Bible that Jesus knew and loved was a portion of the one we know. It was essentially what we call the Old Testament, and it wasn’t neatly bound and arranged the way we have it today. It was made into a large elaborate scroll, actually it was three scrolls called sefers!

Torah Scroll

Why three scrolls? Well because the Tanakh was divided quite logically. The first book, the Torah or teaching, included what we would call the Pentateuch, meaning Genesis Exodus Leviticus and Numbers. If you look at a modern Tanakh, you will see that these are the first five books of the Jewish Bible, and they are identical to our Bible.

The second scroll, the Nevi’im or prophets, Is divided up into 3 sections: the first prophets (Including Samuel and Kings), the recent prophets and the 12.

The final scroll is called the Ketuvim (or writings) which includes books such as Psalms and Proverbs, and Ruth and Daniel amongst others.

This is what the early Church had, that’s it, nothing else. No Gospels, no epistles nothing. And yet they flourished and they studied the Word of God together, for 400 years, when the disciples came together, they came together to learn Torah - the teachings in the Old Testament. So would it surprise you if I told you that the message of the cross is all over the Torah? Well it is! And the New Testament even points you to the fist one! Today I want to give you three examples of the cross in the Torah, and we will start with the easiest one. I say easiest but that's the one that is directly pointed out by scripture.

The Poisonous Serpent

John 3:13–17 NKJV

No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

What exactly is Jesus talking about here? Well let’s go back to the Tanakh, and see. First of all, we are looking for a story about a serpent being raised up and we are going to find it in the Torah (one of the teaching books). There we will see it found in

Numbers 21:4–9 CJB

Then they traveled from Mount Hor on the road toward the Sea of Suf in order to go around the land of Edom; but the people’s tempers grew short because of the detour. The people spoke against God and against Moshe: “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt? To die in the desert? There’s no real food, there’s no water, and we’re sick of this miserable stuff we’re eating!” In response, Adonai sent poisonous snakes among the people; they bit the people, and many of Isra’el’s people died. The people came to Moshe and said, “We sinned by speaking against Adonai and against you. Pray to Adonai that he rid us of these snakes.” Moshe prayed for the people, and Adonai answered Moshe: “Make a poisonous snake and put it on a pole. When anyone who has been bitten sees it, he will live.” Moshe made a bronze snake and put it on the pole; if a snake had bitten someone, then, when he looked toward the bronze snake, he stayed alive.

Wait pastor, I see that the New Testament says that, but Jesus is the Lamb of God not the poisonous snake! How could you compare the two? Well, first of all let me ask you a question. What was it that was killing the people? Right, poisonous snakes! What was it that was raised up on the pole? The very thing that was killing them. Now fast forward to Jesus. What is it that was killing you and me? What is it specifically that Jesus came to save us from? If you said sin, then you are beginning to understand where I’m going. Turn with me to..

2 Corinthians 5:20–21 NKJV

Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

So then now we look at that passage we understand that when Jesus was raised up on the cross, He had been made sin, and so when people looked at Him, the venom of their sin had been removed. But pastor, you’ll say. That doesn’t make sense we can’t look at Jesus, and that’s not what Jesus tells us, He tells us that we are not saved by looking at Him on the cross, but that we are saved by grace through faith. Fair enough, so let’s talk about faith. What is faith? To understand what faith is we have to go to the book of Hebrews.

Hebrews 11:1–3 NKJV

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.

To understand faith, we need to understand the word itself. The word faith in Hebrew is אֱמוּנָה and it is pronounced emmunah.

New American Standard Hebrew-Aramaic and Greek Dictionaries: Updated Edition 530 אֱמוּנָה (emunah)

אֱמוּנָה

The word itself is more than just believing, it speaks of a steadiness, fidelity, honesty stability, strength, and truth. It is not just a noun, it is a verb it’s not merely something you possess it’s something you do. They looked at the serpent (active faith) and they lived. Does that seem like a stretch? Well it really isn’t. And our next cross in the Old Testament will illustrate that beautifully. So let’s look for that next cross shall we?

The Cross of Moses

Not only did Moses make a representation of the cross in the form of a poisonous snake, Moses himself played the part of Jesus on the cross. And this cross of Moses directly speaks to what we are talking about right now. So let’s go see it, I bet you didn’t even know it was there.

Exodus 17:8–13 CJB

Then ‘Amalek came and fought with Isra’el at Refidim. Moshe said to Y’hoshua, “Choose men for us, go out, and fight with ‘Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with God’s staff in my hand.” Y’hoshua did as Moshe had told him and fought with ‘Amalek. Then Moshe, Aharon and Hur went up to the top of the hill. When Moshe raised his hand, Isra’el prevailed; but when he let it down, ‘Amalek prevailed. However, Moshe’s hands grew heavy; so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. Aharon and Hur held up his hands, the one on the one side and the other on the other; so that his hands stayed steady until sunset. Thus Y’hoshua defeated ‘Amalek, putting their people to the sword.

Now picture with me if you will, poor Moshe standing there with his hands raised up. What do you see? Church what do you see? Now I want to tell you something else. This passage of scripture is not translated correctly. It isn’t. It’s one of those passages of scripture that the translators had to guess at because in the Hebrew it makes no sense. So much so that the Hebrew sages debated its meaning. Because what the passage actually says in verse 12 is this.

However Moshe’s hands grew heavy; so they took a stone and put it under him , and he sat on it. Aharon and Hur held up his hands, the one on the one side and the other on the other ; so that his hands were אֱמוּנָה (emmenah).

What in the world does that mean? It doesn’t even make sense, what does it mean that his hands were emmenah? The Hebrew sages explain it this way. That it wasn’t Moses’ hands that had any particular power, it was the faith that the people put in those outstretched hands that gave them the courage to press forward. His hands became emmenah they became faith as it were. Remember, those were the same outstretched hands that had delivered them from Pharaoh. They were the hands that parted the Red Sea and the same hands that when they were let down drowned Pharaoh and his armies. They knew those hands, and as Moses stood there with outstretched arms he became a perfect type of Jesus hanging on a cross, whose outstretched arms would conquer death and sin once and for all. But this is not the last cross, for that let’s pop back over to Hebrews chapter 11 and see if we can find it there.

The Cross of Isaac

Hebrews 11:17–19 NKJV

By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, “In Isaac your seed shall be called,” concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.

I know what you’re thinking now. “Whoa, now we know you’ve really lost it pastor, there is no cross there!” And if you’re thinking that I will tell you this, just because you’ve never seen it doesn’t mean it’s not there, so let’s go to that portion of Torah now.

Genesis 22:1–12 CJB

After these things, God tested Avraham. He said to him, “Avraham!” and he answered, “Here I am.” He said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love, Yitz’chak; and go to the land of Moriyah. There you are to offer him as a burnt offering on a mountain that I will point out to you.” Avraham got up early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, together with Yitz’chak his son. He cut the wood for the burnt offering, departed and went toward the place God had told him about. On the third day, Avraham raised his eyes and saw the place in the distance. Avraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey. I and the boy will go there, worship and return to you.” Avraham took the wood for the burnt offering and laid it on Yitz’chak his son. Then he took in his hand the fire and the knife, and they both went on together. Yitz’chak spoke to Avraham his father: “My father?” He answered, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “I see the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” Avraham replied, “God will provide himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son”; and they both went on together. They came to the place God had told him about; and Avraham built the altar there, set the wood in order, bound Yitz’chak his son and laid him on the altar, on the wood. Then Avraham put out his hand and took the knife to kill his son. But the angel of Adonai called to him out of heaven: “Avraham? Avraham!” He answered, “Here I am.” He said, “Don’t lay your hand on the boy! Don’t do anything to him! For now I know that you are a man who fears God, because you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.”

Do you not see it yet? First let’s look at this a bit at a time. It says that Avraham took the wood for the burnt offering and laid it on Yitz’chak his son.

So here’s poor Isaac, not only does he have to take the journey to Mt. Moriah he actually has to carry the wood. The very wood that is going to be used to sacrifice him! Does that remind you of anything?

Yes! this is exactly like Jesus carrying His cross! Do you see it? Now if this weren’t crazy enough, let’s take a look at where they are going, shall we?

“Take your son, your only son, whom you love, Yitz’chak; and go to the land of Moriyah.”

OK so what’s so special about the land of Moriah? Well what if I were to tell you that on Mt. Moriah, there is a very well known hill. The name of that hill is one you might recognize. That hill is called Golgotha! Oh but we’re not done yet church it gets better than this if you can believe it.

They came to the place God had told him about; and Avraham built the altar there, set the wood in order, bound Yitz’chak his son and laid him on the altar, on the wood.

Abraham lays his only son on the wood to sacrifice him! Do you see it saints? This is the perfect picture of what God the Father did when He sent His one and only son to die in our place! And guess what? This story is also a great illustration of one other thing. Emmunah!

Avraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey. I and the boy will go there, worship and return to you.”

His action was Emmunah!

Putting it All Together

Even without the New Testament the early church had all they needed to be able to illustrate God’s purposes, His goodness and the consistency of His Word. They had the ability to look at the Torah and see the sacrifice of Yeshua, the one we call Jesus. But it didn’t just stop there, they had the ability to learn the lesson of emmunah.

What have you learned about faith today? The snake on a pole was emmunah because the people were desperate because of their own sinfulness. The outstretched hands of Moses were emmunah when the people were besieged by the enemy, and Abraham and Isaac demonstrated incredible emmnah as Isaac took up his cross and walked toward his imminent death. Here’s what I know church, God is perfectly trustworthy in each of those situations. Whether we are in a bind because of our own sinfulness, or because of an outside attack, or because God has demanded of us that we sacrifice our dreams to him, the answer is the same. Look to the outstretched hands of Yeshua, of Jesus our savior, if Moses’ arms were emmunah, how much more the perfect hands of Jesus?

Numbers 6:24–26 LHB

יְבָרֶכְךָ֥ יְהוָ֖ה וְיִשְׁמְרֶֽךָ׃ יָאֵ֨ר יְהוָ֧ה׀ פָּנָ֛יו אֵלֶ֖יךָ וִֽיחֻנֶּֽךָּ׃ יִשָּׂ֨א יְהוָ֤ה׀ פָּנָיו֙ אֵלֶ֔יךָ וְיָשֵׂ֥ם לְךָ֖ שָׁלֽוֹם׃

Numbers 6:24–26 NKJV

“The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.” ’