Old Testament Review

[00:00:00] Ignorant that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea. And did all eat the same spiritual food, and did all drink the same spiritual drink. For they drank of a spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ. [00:00:29] Howbeit with most of them, God was not well pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. [00:00:36] Now, these things were our examples to the intent that we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. [00:00:47] Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them. As it is written, the people sat down to eat and. And drink, and rose up to play. [00:00:56] Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed and fell in one day three and 20,000. [00:01:05] Neither let us make trial of the Lord, as some of them made trial and perished by the serpents. [00:01:12] Neither murmured ye, as some of them murmured, and perished by the destroyer. [00:01:18] Now, these things happened unto them by way of the example. Example. And they were written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the ages are come. [00:01:31] Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed, lest he fall. [00:01:38] There hath no temptation taken you but such as man can bear. [00:01:45] But God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able, but will with the temptation make also the way of escape, that ye may be able to endure it. Wherefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. I speak as to wise men. Judge ye what I say. The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a communion of the blood of Christ? [00:02:17] The loaf which we break, is it not a communion of the body of Christ? Seeing that we who are many are one loaf, one body? [00:02:31] For we all partake of the one. [00:02:36] Behold Israel. After the flesh, have not they that eat the sacrifices communion with the altar? [00:02:44] What say I then, that a thing sacrificed to idols is anything? Or that an idol is anything? But I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God. And I would not that ye should have communion with demons. Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. Ye cannot partake of the table of the Lord and of the table of demons. Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he? [00:03:23] Well, now, this evening we are going to review, as we have said, the Old Testament. [00:03:33] I have spent quite a bit, bit of the day, quite a large part of the day, preparing this chart behind me. You will remember that it is partly based on one or two that we have used during our studies on the books of the Bible. But I have now, in the light of all the study that we made on the various books, come back over it all and checked, and you will find some changes and small changes as to the placing of certain books. It will need a little bit of explanation. But I'd like to say, to begin with, one or two general things about the Old Testament as we look back over it tonight, especially for those who have not been with us in our previous studies, either introductory or on the actual books, as we have looked at them and studied them successively, the Old Testament is absolutely vital to the New Testament. [00:04:46] You cannot possibly dispense with the Old Testament. The idea amongst some people that you can somehow or other forget the Old Testament, that it really doesn't mean much. You can, you can overlook it, you can bypass it, because really the thing that matters is the New Testament is wholly false. [00:05:13] You will not find in the New Testament any single doctrine that has not got its own roots in the Old Testament. It is true to say that the New Testament is but the flowering of the old. [00:05:32] Now, that's very, very important, and we must make it clear, although it's been said many times here before now, the Old Testament is, in a sense, the foundation upon which the whole of the new testament is built, and it is, to all intents and purposes, a book of illustrations. That is the simplest, most childlike way we can describe the Old Testament. Its purpose is its object is, as it were, to put into our hands, illustrations of New Testament doctrine. [00:06:21] Remember when you were a child? [00:06:24] I don't know whether they still have them today. We used to have rag books, you know, those sort of floppy books of cloth, and they normally had on the first page something like a great apple, and then it had a for apple, and then you let over the page and it had a b, and it had b for b, and then you went the third, and it had a great big cat licking up her milk from a saucer, and it said above it, c for cat, and so it went on, d for dog, and so on and so on, and you had an illustration. And then as we got older, we had more things. We had a little storybook told you about a little Lucy Jane who went out for her walk and saw a little fluffy lamb and fell in love with the little lamb and took it back home and gave it a bowl of milk. And then you had all these lovely pictures at the side, a little bit of writing and a great big picture of Lucy Jane dancing along in a kind of party frock. And then you saw a hedge and you saw her looking through a gate, and there was a fluffy white lamb. And the next picture you saw, she was in. You would hardly need to read the words because the picture, the illustration, told you almost everything that was necessary. [00:08:07] Now, I may be oversimplifying it, but it is true to say that the Old Testament is rather like that kind of illustration book. It's a book of illustrations. It really is meant not to confuse us, but to so simplify things that we don't miss the point. [00:08:31] I'm afraid that some people, the more simpler thing is, the more complex it becomes for them, because they're quite sure that the simple, straightforward meaning can't be the true meaning. There must be some mystery in it, you see. But in actual fact, the Old Testament is a book of illustrations. Now, I can give you many examples of that illustration. For instance, we often say to a person, now, we say, you know, the devil will work unceasingly to get you to compromise when you become a child of God. And once he's got you to compromise, he started you on the road, away from himself. [00:09:22] And before long, your love grows cold, and then you have no more interest in the word of God, and you don't feel like praying. Your appetite for spiritual things ceases and you wander farther and farther and farther away until in the end, you feel somehow or other, that you have more in common with the world than the people of God, more in common with the world than God himself. You've somehow wandered away. [00:09:51] Now, we often say that if the scripture puts it like, if we confess our sin, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. It's really simple, isn't it? If we confess our sin, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, cleanse us from all unrighteousness. One John, chapter one, verse nine. [00:10:24] Now, there is the clear cut New Testament teaching, but we've got a wonderful example of it in the Old Testament. You see, if you turn, you find the story of David, and you can find it in psalm 51. [00:10:44] And David says this, verse six, behold, thou desirest, desirest truth in the inward parts and in the hidden part, thou wilt make me to know wisdom, purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean, wash me and I shall be whiter than snow. Verse nine, hide thy face from my sins and blot out all mine iniquities. Now, if we look at the chapter heading the psalm heading, we find a psalm of David when Nathan the prophet came unto him after he had gone into Bathsheba. And if you turn over to psalm 32, we have an even greater illustration of it. Listen. Verse three. When I kept silence, my bones wasted away through my groaning all the day long. For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me. My moisture was changed as with the drought of summer. Verse five. I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity did I not hide. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord, and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. [00:12:17] Now there you have in the Old Testament a perfect illustration of the New Testament doctrine. If thou shalt confess. [00:12:28] If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Here we have the story of a great man of God who fell in the foulest and vilest way. There is no excuse for his sin. He arranged for a very faithful friend to be murdered in the most awful way in order that he could carry on with his friend's wife. [00:12:59] As simple and as wicked as that. [00:13:04] And it was only when Nathan the prophet went into him that he realized something of what he'd done. [00:13:12] And when he realized it, he confessed. [00:13:17] And when he confessed, he was forgiven. [00:13:22] And though he suffered, and he did suffer, for you never get away with sin entirely, though he did suffer. Yet the Lord, in the most wonderful way, worked it all to good account. Now you've got another illustration of this matter of falling. We can sometimes get out of the will of God. There's some point along the path when we just take the wrong road and we go off the way and out of the way of God. Perhaps at the time, we're not absolutely sure about it. It's not as clear cut at that time, but the Lord may have been putting his finger upon a certain issue, and finally we say, no. [00:14:04] And at that point we turn out of the way for a while, we wander. [00:14:09] It's only when we come back to that point and confess it and settle the issue that we go on. Now, we've got a perfect example, illustration in the Old Testament of this very thing in the book of Genesis. [00:14:30] In the book of Genesis can we find it. [00:14:37] And I'll tell you what it is, and you'll be able to find it straight away. It is the time when Abraham went down. He built an altar. It's somewhere here in these chapters, 1617 or 18, he built an altar to the Lord. He was going right on with the Lord. He was in the promised land. And a famine came to the land. And he didn't quite know what to do. And he went down to Egypt. He listened to Sarah, his wife. And he said, of course, that's the common sense thing to do. We ought to go down to Egypt. Obviously, the Lord doesn't mean us to stay up here where there is no food. So he went down to Egypt. His first twelve, I think. [00:15:26] Yes, it is. [00:15:28] And the interesting thing is that he had built an altar at Bethel. And then he went down to Egypt. [00:15:39] And, you know, before he could get back with God and into the way of God. He had to come straight back to the very place where he had built that altar. You see, in verse eight. He removed from thence unto the mountain on the east of Bethel. And pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west and AI on the east. And there he builded an altar unto the Lord. And called upon the name of the Lord. Verse ten. There was a famine in the land. And Abraham went down into Egypt to there. For the famine was sore in the land. Now you know what that led him into terrible trouble and compromise. Verse 13. [00:16:18] Chapter 13. Verse three. And he went on his journeys from the south even to Bethel, unto the place where his tent had been. At the beginning between Bethel and AI. He was back in a right relationship with God. The whole chapter of his stay in Egypt was finished. It started with him leaving Bethel, the house of God, and going down into Egypt. And it ended when he came back up out of Egypt. And went right back to the point where he'd gone out of the will of God, confessed it and put it right and started on again with the Lord. Now, in that you see that this book, this old Testament is a book of illustrations. There are two examples I hope that I have given you. In the passage we read together. In one corinthians, chapter ten. [00:17:16] And verse eleven. We read it. Now, these things happened unto them by way of example. [00:17:25] And they were written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the ages are come. In other words, you mustn't just think that the few matters that are mentioned in the preceding verses of chapter ten. Are the only examples in the Old Testament. In fact, the whole old Testament in every single way is for our admonition. And all the things that happened to the saints, the patriarchs, the children of God under the old covenant. Were in fact, as examples to us. They are a kind of illustration, a kind of sample, as it were, by which we can learn. Now, I believe that's very, very important. So it doesn't matter where you turn. The Old Testament is an amazing book. [00:18:31] If you know anything about the ways of God which are wholly inexplicable, so inexplicable that no one can help you. [00:18:50] It's no good you talking with anyone really about it for people if you only share it with them. They say all kinds of legitimate right things which only make the mess far greater. [00:19:03] It's absolutely inexplicable, and you can't. Well, it's inexplicable. That's all. That's all you can say. Where do you turn? Where do you turn? Now I ask you, where do you turn? Of course, I trust that most of you haven't got such a problem in your family or in your life or in your being, but where do you turn if you have to the New Testament? Well, yes, of course, but where in the whole Bible is this whole matter thrashed out from beginning to end? In the book of Job, there this whole great problem of the inexplicable is threshed out in the most glorious way, actually, there you can find your help. Many, many people with that kind of problem have discovered in the book of Job an answer. You see, in the end, this is the amazing thing. After poor job goes through it and says all kinds of things he should never have said, and his dear, dear righteous friends have said righteous things that they should never have said. All kinds of good, righteous, scriptural, divine, godly things, they said all these things, and yet they should never have said them. [00:20:23] At the end of it all, God finally speaks to job. And, you know, the Lord never explains jobs problem. That's the thing that always leaves my mouth wide open. I think after all that, he lost all his family, he lost all his cattle, he lost all his possessions, he lost his health, he lost everything. And it seems as if he was tried to the very last extent, as if he was putting the crucible to the point where it was almost impossible for a man to go through. And then at the end of it all, God appears to job in a whirlwind, and job bows down, you know, and he says, once have I spoken, twice have I spoken? Now he says, I repent in sackcloth and ashes. And he goes right down before the Lord. But, you know, the Lord never, ever gives any explanation. It is as if the Lord is saying to job, my presence. [00:21:32] You have come into an experience, into a knowledge of my presence, which no human being will ever or any evil being will ever be able to take away from you. [00:21:46] I've given it to you, but I'm not explaining. So the book of Job ends where it began, with an inexplicable problem. But Job is so happy he's got all his inexplicable problem. But now he's seen God. Now that's what it means in the Bible when it speaks of the glory of God. [00:22:08] See, people want this experience and that experience and the other experience. And thank God that you can have all kinds of experiences of the Lord Jesus. But believe me, there is a kind of experience on an infinite level, which means that you can be left with inexplicable and insoluble problems. And in the end, you're satisfied because you have come into an experience of the presence and the glory of God that makes you finite and him infinite. However, I won't go on there, or we shall spend the whole evening upon job. But there you are. [00:22:50] If any of you should ever hit such a problem like this, if in the course of your history, something should happen to you that you can't understand, and all the time in your heart there is an eternal questioning, why? Why? Why did this happen? Were we not in the will of God? Was I not in the will of God? Did I not love the Lord? Had I not given up all this to go? Why should this happen to me? If God is sovereign, if God is almighty, why does he permit it? Then you will find that there is only one book in the whole Bible that will speak to your need. [00:23:29] It is the book of Job, and it is in the Old Testament. [00:23:34] But there are many other things I could tell you. Do you sometimes get to the place where you feel that you cant really praise the Lord at all? [00:23:45] You just feel for some unknown reason that somehow you're pressed down. And you know that brother so and so and sister so and so will tell you you ought to take the Lord and get on top, but you just don't feel you can get on top. And when you see some saint going along merrily and gaily, you almost feel bad about it because you don't feel you can come on top. [00:24:10] You know, those other saints may be so right and thank God that they're so merry and gay, but, and I'm not saying that you should be like that all the time, because some people who enjoy being melancholic and sort of digging around in the mud pool all the time for something awful to moan about and look sour about, that's not what I'm talking about. I am talking about those times when suddenly you're pressed down and you just somehow can't praise. Look. But you see, you see, where do you turn? [00:24:44] Well, you see, you might turn to the new testament. You might find something which is rejoice always. [00:24:50] And you say, oh. [00:24:53] But then you turn to the Old Testament and you come to psalm 42. And you find there's a man there who's got a deep experience of God. A real and a deep experience of God. He knows the Lord. He's not just superficial. [00:25:06] And he speaks about deep. Calleth unto deep. [00:25:13] Now all thy ways and thy billows have gone over me. He said, here's the illustration book again. Here's a man who knows what it is to rejoice always. Do you know what he says? Thy song shall be with me the night that comes out of that psalm. But he says, I shall yet praise the Lord who is the help or help of my countenance and my God. So he couldn't just at that point. But he didn't sink, see? He didn't let go. He said, I can't just now. But his son will be with me in the night. There's faith for you. Don't you think that means more to the Lord than a little gay praised the Lord when it's not real, there's something that means a tremendous amount to the Lord. When a person in faith says, I can't just yet, Lord, but I will. [00:26:10] That's faith. That's real worship. Then, of course, there are times when you're so joyful you don't know where to put yourself. Well, where do you turn? Why, you turn to the psalms again. Look at psalm 118. I shall cut them off in the name of the Lord. They came at me like beads. But I shall cut them off in the name of the Lord. There's a song of triumph now you think that's just me, Lord this morning lord's got me there. Cut them off. Times when you're full of praise. That wonderful psalm. I can't just think of its number. Where David says, gilead is mine and Edom is mine. I shall throw my shoe over Philistia and so on. As if he said, everything's mine. [00:26:56] Got out of bed on the right side and he said, everything is mine. The Lord is with me. It's all mine. [00:27:05] Now where do you find words like that when you know the Lord is with you. And when somehow you see the triumph of Calvary. And you see the power of the Holy Spirit. And you know very well that the Lord is with you and that you can do all things through him. There, you've got it in the old Testament. You've got the illustration book. There's David exalting of what the Lord has done for him. But you may have other problems. I don't know what your problems are. [00:27:39] You may have that problem of a nagging wife. Well, it's all there. Book of proverbs, it says, a continual dripping on a dark grey day and a nagging woman are alike. [00:27:56] It doesn't matter where you turn, you'll find it. The Bible's got humor as well as wisdom, and the Book of Proverbs provides the most. I've always said it again and again. If you're feeling really a little down, read the Book of Proverbs. And if you want some practical help in some problem, read the book of Proverbs and read it in a modern version. If you can't get far in the old version what that Book of Proverbs has to say, you'll see all kinds of practical situations in your own circumstances in the Book of Proverbs. Put into a nutshell, just into a nutshell, a few words, see it all there in this book. [00:28:41] So you see, what we say is absolutely true. The Old Testament is a book of illustrations. These happen to them for as examples. They are examples to us for our admonition, our instruction, our training, our teaching, our education upon whom the ends of the ages have come. But before we go on, I think onto a deeper level in this matter, I would just like to remind you of another thing, and that is that the New Testament church had no new Testament. [00:29:16] It had only an old Testament. And the old Testament was that which it studied by the leading of the Holy Spirit. The spirit of truth led them into the truth. [00:29:29] In the Old Testament. It was the old Testament that the Lord Jesus opened their minds and their hearts opened their understanding to. And it says in the walk to Emmaus, he spoke of himself from all the scriptures. And then it says in the upper room, then opened he their understanding of the scriptures. Now, those scriptures were the Old Testament. [00:29:57] Now we all know, I think, that the old Testament as we have it now in our final arrangement is we had the Pentateuch, the first five books, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, numbers, Deuteronomy. Then we have the historical books from Joshua right through to Esther. Then we have what we call the poetical books or the wisdom books, from job right through to the Song of Solomon, including the psalms and proverbs, ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, and then we have the prophetical books from Isaiah to Malachi. This is the fourfold division, as we now have it in its final arrangement. Originally in the jewish canon, it was only a threefold arrangement. [00:30:54] The law, the prophets, and the psalms, as it was called. But now we have it in this fourfold arrangement, the Pentateuch. The first five books are the foundation of the Old Testament. And then you have the historical books, which are but the interpretation and expansion of that foundation. [00:31:20] The poetical books are the furnishing of the details, and the prophetical books are all to do with interpretation and recovery. Now, that simply is the Old Testament as we have it. Now, I want you to see a note, this little diagram here, because, you see, the Bible has a theme. [00:31:51] Now, the first thing we can say about the Bible is it has an apparent theme. [00:31:58] Once you start to look at the scriptures, it becomes clear. If you're a child of God and the Holy Spirit is leading you into the truth in the word of God, then it will become quite clear to you that there is a theme. Now, this theme is threefold, and I call it the apparent theme. [00:32:22] And this apparent theme, as I've said, is threefold. It is the Redeemer, the work of redemption and the Redeemed, the Redeemer, the work of redemption and the Redeemed, the Redeemer, the messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, God the Son, the work of redemption through the work of his cross, the death of his cross, and the last thing, the people who are the subjects of his love and mercy and grace. Now, that threefold chord is a theme that runs from Genesis to revelation. And in the whole Old Testament, it doesn't matter where you look, you will find that theme. Now, we can't spend all that amount of time this evening looking for this theme, but just literally, I can turn you to two or three points where I believe you will discover the theme. Now, first of all, there'll be well known ones. And first of all, of course, the Redeemer. Now, where will you find the redeemer, may I ask? In the Old Testament, is he everywhere? We know that to Adam and Eve it was promised that the seed of the woman would bruise the serpent's head, crush the serpent's head. That was the first promise of a messiah. Right at the dawn of human history, God promised a redeemer. And from that moment, we had the work of redemption. Because God took an animal, the leaves they had made were not sufficient for them, and blood had to be shed. [00:34:22] There you have the picture of the work of redemption. And Adam and Eve, being clothed with those skins by the blood that was shed covered by those skins, became the subjects of the grace of God. So right in the third chapter of Genesis you had the beginning of this threefold theme. But I think it reaches its high watermark in Isaiah 52. [00:34:54] Here, I'll read it to you. Many of you know it from verse 13. [00:35:00] Behold, my servant shall deal wisely. He shall be exalted and lifted up, and shall be very high like as many were astonished at thee. His visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men. So shall he sprinkle many nations. Kings shall shut their mouths at him. For that which had not been told them shall they see, and that which they had not heard shall they understand. [00:35:32] Who hath believed our message, and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed? For he grew up before him as a tender plant and as a root out of a dry ground. He hath no form nor comeliness, and when we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And as one from whom men hide their face, he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquity. The chastisement of our peace was upon him. And with his stripes we are healed all we, like. Sheep have gone astray. We have turned every one to his own way. And the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. Who is the prophet Isaiah speaking about? Forget Jesus Christ for a moment, if you can. Who is the prophet speaking about? Is he speaking about himself? [00:36:47] But was he wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities? Are we healed with the prophet Isaiah's stripes? [00:36:55] Who is this man that the prophet Isaiah speaks about? Is it King Hezekiah? But Hezekiah. If you look at the chart, you'll see that Isaiah lived in his day and he was the great reformer. But Hezekiah was never wounded for our transgressions. It would have been blasphemous to the mind of any God fearing jew that any man could be wounded for our transgressions. We could be healed with his stripes. When was. When was Hezekiah stripped of his clothes? [00:37:28] When had he no form nor comeliness? When did he grow up before them as a root out of a dry ground? When? When was his visage more marred than any man? When? [00:37:43] When did he bear the sorrows of all? [00:37:47] Surely had borne our griefs and carried ourselves? It cannot be a Hezekiah. It cannot be. Isaiah then, said the rabbis, it is the jewish people. [00:37:58] It is the people of God that Isaiah speaks of. But how? [00:38:05] In what way are we healed by the stripes of the jewish people? In what way were they wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities? How had they borne us griefs and carried our sorrows? But just wait. Carry on. He was oppressed. Yet when he was afflicted, he opened not his mouth as a lamb that is lent to the slaughter, and as a sheep that before its shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And as for his generation, who among them considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living for the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due? [00:38:52] And he made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death. Of whom does the prophet speak? [00:39:07] And then he goes on. [00:39:09] Although he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Now listen. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him. God hath put him to grief. When thou shalt make his sow an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied. Of whom is the prophet speaking if it is not the redeemer? And who is the redeemer if it is not Christ? Jesus Christ? [00:39:51] Here you have a strand. Now this is the high water mark of the promise of the Redeemer. But it's everywhere. You know that in the Old Testament. Turn to psalm 22. And there you've got it. Turn to many others on psalm 72. You've got it again. Turn to Micah, chapter five. You've got it again. Turn to Zechariah, chapter 13 or twelve or 13. You've got it again, again and again and again and again. You've got this great strand from Genesis right through to the New Testament, the Redeemer. [00:40:27] Now what about the work of redemption? If we've got the redeemer, here he is. As it says, I am thy savior and none else. [00:40:38] I am thy savior, God himself. [00:40:44] Unto us a child is given, unto us a son is born, and the government shall be upon his shoulder. His name shall be called wonderful counsellor, the mighty God, the everlasting father, the prince of peace. Of whom does the prophet speak, if it is not that redeemer but the work of redemption? Well, the work of redemption. I think we could look at one of the high water points of the revelation of the work of redemption. It is in Exodus, chapter twelve. [00:41:26] Exodus, chapter twelve. [00:41:34] Listen, verse five. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male, a year old. Ye shall take it from the sheep or from the goats. Ye shall keep it until the 14th day of the same month. And the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at even. And they shall take of the blood and put it on the two side posts and on the lintel upon the houses wherein they shall eat it. [00:42:02] Does God take delight in the slaughter of innocent animals? [00:42:09] There you have a picture of the work of redemption. It was the thing the prophets pointed out again and again. God has no delight in the death of sheep, or of bullocks or of goats or of the heifer. He has no delight in it. That's not the thing he looks for. It is but a picture of the hideousness of sin. [00:42:36] And the only way that sin can be removed is by this redeemer, God our savior, appearing at the right time on earth and removing it in the perfection and thinlessness of his own being. [00:42:54] Now you've got it there of lamb without blemish. [00:42:59] Let your mind travel to the New Testament, and there you've got a lamb without blemish. John the Baptist, the concluding figure of the Old Testament, cries out, behold the lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world. [00:43:20] And it was on the Passover even, that the Lord Jesus was apprehended. And it was on the Passover day, just before it began properly, that he died, sacrificed. At the same time as all over Jerusalem, people were bringing their sheep to the temple outside the walls, just as it were within sight of the temple in which, after century upon century upon century, on Passover Eve, the lamb, the perfect lamb, had been slain. That night the lamb of God was sacrificed. The work of redemption. [00:44:08] The work of redemption. Now listen to what the prophet says in Isaiah 44. [00:44:19] Isaiah 44, verse 21. Remember these things, o Jacob and Israel, for thou art my servant. I have formed thee. Thou art my servant, o Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of me I have blotted out as a thick cloud thy transgressions, and as a cloud thy sins return unto me, for I have redeemed thee. Sing, o ye heavens, for the Lord hath done it. Shout, ye lower parts of the earth. Break forth into singing, ye mountains, o forest and every tree therein. For the Lord hath redeemed Jacob and will glorify himself in Israel. Isn't that wonderful? Don't you catch the thrill of it? When the prophet says to them, I have redeemed thee. Then he cries out as if he sees Calvary itself. Sing, o ye heaven. Let every tree rejoice. Let everything burst into song, because the Lord has done it. [00:45:26] That's wonderful. [00:45:28] The work of redemption. It's right through the scripture. [00:45:33] Well, you wonder, you say, I give you another high point in this matter of the work of redemption. You've got another picture of it in Leviticus. And it's chapter. [00:45:45] Chapter 16. [00:45:49] Chapter 16, verse six. Now, listen to this. Now, you may seem a bit involved to begin with, but listen to it. It's wonderful, really. [00:46:01] Next week, on October 3, there will be this very day kept in all jewish households throughout the whole of the world. It is the day of atonement, October 3. Now listen. And Aaron shall present the bullock of the sin offering which is for himself. And make atonement for himself and for his house. He shall take two goats and set them before the Lord at the door of the 10th meeting. And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats. One lot for the Lord and the other lot for Azazel. [00:46:39] And Aaron shall present the goat upon which the lot fell for the Lord and offer him for a sin offering. But the goat on which the lot fell for Azazel shall be set alive before the Lord to make atonement for him, to send him away for Azazel into the wilderness. Now, what does that mean? Well, here you've got an illustration again. You see, there were two goats. [00:47:03] One goat was slain at the altar. And as it died, it was as if the child of God saw his sin die. [00:47:15] As the blood was shed, so it was as if his sin disappeared. It died with the goat. So the priest lay his hand upon the creature. And so the offerer laid his hand upon it. And as it were, he identified himself with the death of that ghost. [00:47:39] It died. And when it died, it was as if his sin died. But there was another side to the picture. The other goat was for Azazel. And Azazel means removal. [00:47:51] It means disappearance. [00:47:53] And the other goat went out into the wilderness and disappeared. And as the child of God went to the tabernacle door and watched the goat going out and out and out into freedom, farther and farther away, it was as if he saw his sin disappearing from history, it was removed. [00:48:13] It was gone. It was as far as the east is from the west. It was removed. The work of redemption. The Lord Jesus Christ has not only cleansed you from sin, but he has removed it from you. He's blotted it out. Here. You've got it in the picture book. But you've got the redeemed. The redeemed? Where are the redeemed people? [00:48:39] You have the Redeemer. That's the first strand in the theme. You have the work of redemption. That's the second strand in the theme. But what about the third strand? Well, again, you know, it is everywhere. But I'll just take two or three. What I consider. I think everyone's got their own high water marks in this. But I consider these to be high water marks. Listen to this. [00:49:08] Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hut, and the tongue of the dumb shall sing. For in the wilderness shall waters break out and streams in the desert. And the glowing sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water in the habitation of jackals, where they lay shall be grassed with reeds and rushes. And the highway shall be there and away, and it shall be called the way of holiness. The unclean shall not pass over it, but it shall be for the redeemed. The wayfaring, then. Yea fools. Isn't that marvellous? Yea, fools shall not err therein hope for every one of us. No lions shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast go up thereon. They shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there. And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come with singing unto Zion. And if a lasting joy shall be upon their heads, they shall obtain gladness and joy and sorrow and sighing shall flee away the redeemed. [00:50:16] Then if you turn over, you find this. Listen to this. That was Isaiah 35, if you didn't know it. This is Isaiah 42. Now listen to this. I have long time, Holden. My peace, saith the Lord. I have been still and refrained myself. Now will I cry out like a travailing woman. I will gasp and pant together. I will lay waste mountains and hills and dry up all their herbs. I will make the rivers, islands all dry up the pools. And I will bring the blind by a way they know not. [00:50:53] I'm sorry. By a way that they know not. In paths that they know not will I lead them. I will make darkness light before them, and crooked places straight. These things will I do, and I will not forsake the redeem. There you've got three great strands. It doesn't matter where you turn, you'll find it right through the old Testament. Three great strands throughout the whole old Testament. Now there's the theme. That's the theme of the Old Testament. You have difficulties, yes. You have problems, yes, but the theme is amazing once you see it, and it is everywhere. And it binds all those books from different ages by different authors with different backgrounds. It binds them together into a unity. [00:51:47] But that's not all. I say that that was the apparent theme, and it is the apparent theme. It stands on the foreground, but the background is as glorious as the foreground. The background is this. The background of the Bible is the eternal purpose of God. The eternal purpose of God. Now, my dear child of God, God's thought for you isn't that you should just be saved and should go along to church and should say your prayers and sing a few little hymns now and again and try to win someone else to the Lord and read your Bible last, go to heaven to sit on a couch all day long and do nothing but rest and rest and rest and rest, world without end. [00:52:39] That's not the gospel. The gospel is this. God has an eternal purpose, and you will find it in Ephesians and chapter three. He has an eternal purpose in Christ Jesus. And that eternal purpose is that you and I, human beings, should become part of God, that we should become one with God, joined with God, fused with God, so that we become an entity with God. God is in us, we in him. [00:53:11] The old russian liturgy says, adam tried to become a God. [00:53:19] Fail, God became man. [00:53:24] That man may become part of God. [00:53:29] Isn't that wonderful? [00:53:31] That's the whole point of the Bible, you and I, there is a purpose, a design in our very being. We have a capacity for God. It's not just that we should go to church. It's not just that we should sort of become peculiar people. We don't do this, we don't do that, we don't do the other. We're a bit negative. That's not the point. Why is there a redeemer? Why is there a work of redemption? Why are there a redeemed people? Because originally, before ever there was a need of a redeemer. Before ever there was a need of a work of redemption. Before ever there was a need for us to be redeemed. [00:54:09] God had a purpose, and that purpose was that you and I should enter, as it were, into him and he enter into us and that we become one. And wouldn't the world have been a wonderful place if that had happened? [00:54:23] We talk about the natural creation groaning with pain. We don't know what that really means, except that we have some un inkling of an understanding that this natural creation we see around it, with all its glories and beauty, has been subjected to corruption, to emptiness, to futility. Something's gone wrong because man got out of his place. Man was the hub, but God was the heart. [00:54:52] So when God was in man and man was in God, then the whole natural creation, as it were, all its spooks would be in the right place and the whole thing would blaze with glory. [00:55:05] That's why it says that one day when it happened, that it will happen. The end is not h bombs or nuclear war are all being sizzled to a frazzle. That's not the end. It may be the end on one level, but that's not the end as far as God is concerned. God's great end is that one day this eternal purpose of is going to be realized. [00:55:33] And when that's realized, the natural creation around us will no longer be subjected to futility. What will come into its own for the first time in millenniums? [00:55:46] And when that happens, the prophet says, in figurative, symbolic language, he says, the trees will clap their hands, the mountains will sing with joy, the lion will lie down with the lamb, the child will play with the addar. That's how he puts it. He says everything will be a harmony instead of this awful, this disharmony, this strife that is in the very fabric of life, in every sphere. [00:56:19] Now, don't you ever think that when God put his hand upon you, it was to just make you religious? God forbid. [00:56:29] There are christian people who make one another religious. The most awful parody of the truth it's possible to conceive. [00:56:40] There are so few christians who have any conception of what God's eternal purpose is. But God's eternal purpose for you and for me is this, that you and I should become one with him. It's union with him. We call it, in New Testament language, union with Christ. That's the point. Now, that was the original intention of God and the fall of man. Genesis one to three. But the end is the original intention of God realized and the glory which followed. Because when man fell, it says in symbolic language, cherubim was set at the way to the tree of life with the flame of a sword to stop man from taking of the tree of life and receiving the glory. [00:57:30] But you see, when the Redeemer comes and when the work of redemption is accomplished and when the people are redeemed, then they are taken from the original intention of God into its fulfilment. [00:57:46] And that is the Bible. Genesis one three, revelation, 2022. So the Bible ends with God's eternal purpose. Realize now, if that doesn't lift your heart, nothing on earth will. [00:58:04] And if you're expecting something else to lift your heart, well, I'm very sorry for you. [00:58:11] It's all I can say. [00:58:13] Because, you know, the real point of our being is not that you and I should be selfish, even spiritually, and have lots of little bits and pieces that we can rattle around and exhibit to people and say, look at me. Look at me. I've had this, I've done that. I'm. Now, that's not the point at all. That's the way of misery. That is the very principle of the fall of man. [00:58:40] And God only knows how many christians are living on that basis. [00:58:44] But when you and I lead that basis, and when it's Christ and Christ alone, and when it is the glory of God which means most to us, even if we are failing and sinful people, then, my dear friends, we are on our way from here to there, and we're going from glory to glory. It is by much tribulation we enter into the kingdom. But thank God that's all right if we know we're going somewhere, is it not? [00:59:19] It's light affliction, which is but for a moment, which worketh for us an eternal and exceeding weight of glory. [00:59:29] Now then, think of that. Now, that's your Bible. That's the Old Testament. That's what it's all about. Now tell me that the Bible has no theme and no unity. Oh, my dear friend, the book is the most remarkable book. [00:59:47] Most remarkable book. [00:59:50] Well, now, you see, we've seen, said a little bit about that. I hope that helps you a little as we look back now, we come to this in, I think, closing here. You've got a whole chart. I hope you can see it. [01:00:08] Some of you probably can't at all, I'm sorry to say. Well, that's too bad, but maybe you're having spent so long on, I feel like sort of Michelangelo, you know, I feel people should at least come and admire it for a while, anyway. It begins with Adam. That's where the Bible begins. It begins with God, of course, but I mean, as far as we're concerned, it begins with Adam and man and the Old Testament and ends with Christ. [01:00:42] I have put no dates before Abraham because I think it's absolutely ridiculous to even try to give dates. I don't even believe the Bible tries. [01:00:51] So you may find dates in your Bible, but really, I question them very, very seriously indeed, and so do many others. But I have put here these dates as approximate dates from David onwards. We can be more or less certain of the date I have followed. There are two schemes of dating, and I have followed Professor Bruce's one. Here. [01:01:17] It's a question of how you work out the kings of Judah and the kings of Israel. [01:01:26] From about Hezekiah onwards, everyone is agreed. So, except perhaps a year. So that's how we put it. Now, can I just explain? Name one or two things. The red is the dating, the blue are the names of figures, well known figures up here. Adam, Seth, Enoch, Noah, Shem, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Gideon, Samuel, David, Solomon. Then you have the kings of Israel from Jeroboam to Hosea, the last one. And then you have the kings of Judah, from Rehoboam to Zedekiah. [01:02:08] Now, in the white yellow chalk, you have the books of the Bible, the books of the Old Testament. You will find there on the board every single one of the old Testament books. They're all there. Now, just a word about the sort of lines. [01:02:32] That's because some of the books cover quite a long period. [01:02:38] In other words, they were compiled over quite a period of time. [01:02:47] So I have put, for instance, Genesis, we believe now it was a series of clay tablet, very, very ancient indeed. At one time it was thought that they didn't write in Moses Day. Now, of course, they've discovered they wrote long before Moses. [01:03:07] And it is thought that the book of Genesis has some very ancient authorities behind it. Now, Moses acted as editor and he brought those family histories together. [01:03:25] And so I have put Genesis like that. Then I put Genesis again, because it was then that it was actually compiled more in the form that we have it now. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, numbers, deuteronomy. Then we have Joshua, judges and Ruth in the time of Gideon and Samuel, one and two, Samuel in the time of Samuel. David. Then we have Song of Solomon, Ecclesiastes, the time of Solomon. Now, you will notice that some of these are repeated in brackets. [01:03:58] For instance, down here, let's see, near Ezra, we have proverbs again in brackets. [01:04:08] Now, that is because the book of proverbs actually goes, in fact, before the time of Solomon, right the way down to the exile. [01:04:20] And it is probable that it was actually compiled by Ezra in the form that we have it now. There was an original collection of proverbs by Solomon and the wise men, and then there were one or two others collected by Hezekiah's men. It says so in the book itself. And it's probable that it was finally put in the form we have it in the days of Ezra the scribe. It's the same with ecclesiastes. It's thought the days of the tradition is that Ezra was the one who finally gave us ecclesiastes written by Solomon, but it was given to us in the form we have it now by Ezra, and the same with one or two chronicles. Now, when you see the book in bracket, that means that is the point at which it was compiled or finally cast in the form we have it. I hope that is clear. Now, you see here you have job, because the story of job is one of the oldest stories we have in the Bible, and it can be anywhere from Abraham to Moses. Talmud says, of course, he was a contemporary of moses. Others believe it's more likely he was a contemporary of Abraham. He was not, of course, ONE of the. [01:05:42] One of the Israelites. [01:05:45] He belonged to one of the other tribes, but he was a child of God. Now, the book, as we have it, it is believed, was finally put in its dramatic form. It's cast as a drama, you know that, in the day of Hezekiah. Now, that's why we have it like that. Now, I hope that's quite clear to you. That's not on modernistic scholarship. That's simply from what the Bible itself says about itself. [01:06:16] If you do be clear about that, there are some very odd ideas about the Bible in some ways. Now, I hope that all that then is clear. [01:06:30] If you want to take some time, I'm afraid, to copy it. I wish it could be run off and then you could have it. But in that you have really all the different books of your old Testament fitted into the time of the history that we have. [01:06:49] You will notice, I think, one or two things with a question mark. You've got Joel with a question mark. Joel is one of the books of the Bible not dated. So we, in fact, have no idea where it comes. We have to go by what it says. And there are two or three places it can be. The most likely place is in the reign of Joash. So we put it there. Obadiah is another book, which is an enthralling little book, one of the smallest books in the Old Testament. But again, we have no date, and it talks about the destruction of Jerusalem and the Edomites part in it. There are three destructions of Jerusalem, and three times the Edomites took part in it. But we think that it was because of its language. It was the final destruction of Jerusalem in 587. So we put it there. But we put it there with a question mark. Now, I hope that that makes it reasonably clear. One little thing which is very interesting is that some books overlap. In other words, in one sense, they duplicate. Now that you can see, for instance, in one and two chronicles. One and two chronicles goes right back to Adam and goes right on to the exile. And why should we have one and two chronicles when we've already got one and two Samuel and one and two kings, which does the same work for us? Now, that's the kind of superficial question and query and criticism which actually, once it's investigated, proves to be so false. Because, you see, one or two Samuel and one or two kings were written to explain the kingdom and the throne. But one or two chronicles has another objective altogether, and that is the house of God. So there are two histories written actually with different objectives, but they run, overlap each other completely. Then you've got another little book, which is a lovely one. Ruth and Ruth. Actually, you must set into judges. It is actually, you mustn't think that it succeeds, judges. When you read Ruth, you must go back, as it were, into the period of judges, and it happens sometime during the period of judgment. So in all that failure and misery and backsliding, you had the little gem of the Book of Ruth, of some who were faithful to God from the start to the finish and provided in the end, the king for the throne. And then again, you have other ones. You've got the Book of Esther, which you must set in to Ezra and Nehemiah. She comes right in the middle of the book of Ezra. That's another interesting thing, because Esther tells us that it's all full of reason. Now, when God takes one of the books and seems to duplicate it on another, there is always, you can be absolutely sure, a vitally important reason, as one of the things we've done is we've gone to the books is to discover what that reason is. Esther is a very interesting commentary on that. Well, now I think perhaps we should come to an end of all that and an end like this. [01:10:34] One of the most interesting things about the Old Testament is the way each section ends. [01:10:41] We talked about the eternal purpose of God. [01:10:46] Do you know the Pentateuch ends with the book of Deuteronomy. And the book of Deuteronomy's essential message is that it is not just the system God wants. He doesn't just want truth, he wants the love of his people. [01:11:07] And it speaks again and again of his dwelling. [01:11:12] When you come into the land, there shall be a place that I will cause my name to dwell there. Worship me. Then again, when you come to the second great section, the historical books from Joshua right the way through to Esther, again you come to the end, and you come to Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, and what are they all about? Especially Ezra and Nehemiah, they're all about, again, the house of God. So again, the second great section ends with an emphasis upon the recovery and the building of the dwelling place of God. When you come to the third great section of the Old Testament, the poetical books or the books of Wisdom, what do you find? Where do they end? They end with the most glorious book in the Old Testament, the song of Solomon. [01:12:06] And what is the song of Solomon about? It is the most amazing allegory concerning the union between God and his people and his people and their God. [01:12:22] It's an amazing book, little book, but it's a love story, a divine love story of the love of God for his redeemed people and how he longs that they may come into him, be with him, join to him as husband and wife. And when you come to the last great section of the Old Testament, the prophetical books, where do they end? They end with Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi. And what are they all about? They're all about the same theme again. So every single one of the four great divisions of the Old Testament ends on this point. [01:13:04] On this point we come right back to this matter of really being part of the Lord himself. Now there are many other things I would like to have said this evening. Of course, obviously, you can't possibly survey a work as great as the Old Testament in an hour, but, you know, I'll end, as I've said on this point, that one of the things that helps us to understand the whole of the Bible is its parallelism. [01:13:41] And you've got an amazing parallelism in the Old Testament right the way through. I just mention these things. We spoke just a little last week on one of the aspects of it. You have two, you have two seeds, you have the bad seed and you have the good seed. The bad seed is by Cain, who murdered his brother. And from that point, the Old Testament traces what it calls the bad seed, the satanic seed, those inspired by the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience, as the New Testament puts it, energized by the prince of darkness. Now, that's the bad seed. But you have the good seed and you have it going from Abel when he dies, to Seth and then on to Noah and to Shem to Abraham, to Isaac, to Jacob, to Judah, to David, to HezekiAh to CHRiSt. [01:14:58] The good seed going right through the whole of the Old TeStament, carefully preserved for us in the genealogies of the BIBLE. You have two cities. The first city is Babylon. And you find it all in the beginning of Genesis. And you find that NimRod built a city. They built a tower, tower of Babel. Later they built a city and they called it BAbylon. It was the beginning of this great parallel that goes right through the scripture with the other city, Jerusalem. And you find in the book of revelation this great thing, that great city, Babylon. And then you have the new Jerusalem. These two are guess. The whole old testament is explained by this parallel. On the one side, Babylon, on the other side, Jerusalem, you have two lands. You have Israel. And Israel has always spoken of as land flowing with milk and honey, a land that is the promised land of God. And on the other hand, you have Egypt and Egypt continually. God speaks of Egypt as the place where it's woe to them that go down to Egypt, rely on the flesh. Egypt speaks of something different, something of the devil, of the world. And the book of revelation. It's put like this. Very amazingly. It says, where that which is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt, where they crucified our lord. Now, our Lord wasn't crucified in Egypt. So you see, it is a spiritual thing. [01:16:37] It's a spiritual thing. [01:16:40] And then you have two ways. And this right through the Old Testament, you have the flesh and the spirit. [01:16:50] No matter where you tell the cross and the spirit and the flesh, you've got it beautifully portrayed in Esau. Esau, flesh. Jacob with all his wickedness and deceitfulness, the cross and the spirit, Esau just remained himself. Flesh. All the energy and qualities and character of nobility, even of flesh. Jacob went through to the cross of Jabbok, and the spirit, the spirit of God possessed him and he became Israel. [01:17:25] You've got it again, right? You've got it again in Saul. Saul is the king of the Flesh. David is the king through the cross and the spirit. So right through the Bible, you've got this parallel. On the one side, flesh, on the other, the cross and the spirit. You've got two authorities right the way through the whole. On the one side you have the power of darkness, and on the other side you have the throne of God. And it's rather wonderful that the apostle Paul puts it in colossians like this. He says, you have been translated out of the power of darkness into the kingdom that is the throne of the son of his love. And the whole Old Testament is that you'll see that parallel running through. So you've got one side the power of darkness, the other side the throne of God. And the book of Daniel is the final example of it. Here you've got the power of darkness exemplified in Daniel's day. And Daniel sees a vision and one like unto the son of man sitting on the throne, and to him was given the authority and the dominion and the government of the whole world. Well, there you've got it. Those are the two parallels. They run right the way through from beginning to end. Now, I think that's really a lot we've covered this evening. I don't suppose by any means you can retain all of that, but it gives you perhaps some little idea of the immensity of the Old Testament. [01:19:18] And at the same time I do trust that within it there is a theme. It is not just a hopeless tangle or jumble of historical incidents or stories or fables or legends, but there is a reason, an objective within it. There is a theme from beginning to end. Well, that Old Testament ended with Malachi. And when Malachi had said what God told him to say, the canon of the Old Testament was cleansed. There was a lot of spurious literature that came after that. It never reached the same standard as the standard of the Old Testament. But as far as the spirit of God was concerned, the canon was closed. For 400 years there was quietness until suddenly, from out of the desert there appeared a man in a skin and a wild looking man. [01:20:22] And suddenly it seems that the spirit of God was powerfully and mightily upon him, and with him he was the herald of the promised Messiah, John the Baptist. Now, next week we trust we'll be able to take a little look at those so called hidden ears. Shall we pray? [01:20:52] Lord Jesus, we do pray that whatever we lose from this evening, we may at least retain one thing, and that is that in the Old Testament we are dealing, Lord, with something which is thy word, and that within it, Lord, we have some great revelation that thou art seeking to transmit to us. Lord, open our eyes by thy spirit and grant that we may not only see these things. But above all, we may enter fully into them. We ask it in thy name. Amen. Amen.