If I were to hand you a Bible and ask you to find Jesus somewhere within its pages, where would you look first? Probably the New Testament right? Especially in the Gospels – Matthew, Mark, Luke and John where we have all the information and the stories about Jesus’s life. But what if I told you that you can actually find Jesus in every book of the Old Testament and that that fact was one of the greatest evidences of the inspiration of the scriptures.
Here’s why that’s so important. It’s because the Bible was written by about 40 different men and it was written over a period of 1,600 years. And every single one of those men came from a different time period in history, a different political environment, a different geographical area and yet as they wrote, there’s one unified message throughout the entire Bible and that is the redemption of man through Jesus Christ, purposed before the world began, by design of the Father.
In Genesis, Jesus is the offspring of woman who will crush the head of the serpent (Gen 3:15)
In Exodus, he’s the Lamb of God without blemish (Exodus 12)
In Leviticus, the high priest (Lev 21:11-12)
In Numbers, he’s the one who’s lifted up in the wilderness of sin (Num 21:9)
In Deuteronomy, he’s a prophet like Moses (Deut 18:18)
In Joshua, he is the one who’s going to lead the people into the land of rest (Josh 1:1)
In Judges he’s God’s appointed deliverer (whole book)
In Ruth, he’s a kinsman redeemer (Ruth 4:1-2)
In 1 Samuel, he is God rejected as the king (1 Sam 8:7)
In 2 Samuel, he’s the heir of David’s throne (2 Sam 5:4)
In 1 Kings, he’s the one who’s greater than Solomon (NT reference: Matt 12:42)
In 2 Kings, he’s the one like Elijah who isn’t accepted in his own country (NT reference: Luke 4:24)
In 1 Chronicles, he’s the son of David (NT reference: Matt 22:41-46)
In 2 Chronicles, he’s the only perfect King (entire book)
In Ezra, he’s the divine temple rebuilder (Ezra 3-5, NT reference John 2:19)
In Nehemiah, he’s the guide of the remnant of God’s people (Neh 1:3, 2:5)
In Esther, he’s the providential protector (Esther 4:14)
In Job, he is the advocate to plead our case to God and our Redeemer (Job 9:33)
In the Book of Psalms, he’s the one who is crucified but is not left in Hades (Psalm 16:10)
In Proverbs, he is the wisdom of God and the founder of the earth (Prov 9:10)
In Ecclesiastes, he’s the one who will bring everything into judgment (Ecc 12:14)
In the Song of Solomon, he’s the best example we have of true love (entire book)
In Isaiah, he’s the virgin- born suffering servant (Isa 7:14, Isa 53)
In Jeremiah, he’s the branch (Jer 23:5)
In Lamentations, he’s a man of sorrows who’s weeping over the city of Jerusalem (entire book, NT reference Matt 23:37)
In Ezekiel, he’s God’s servant and God’s Prince (Eze 34:23-24)
In Daniel, he’s the king over the kingdom that shall never be destroyed (Dan 2:44)
In Hosea, he is the forgiving and redeeming husband to the unfaithful wife (Hos 1:2)
In Joel, he’s the savior of those who call on God (Joel 2:32)
In Amos, he’s the rescuer of Judah (entire book)
In Obadiah, he’s the deliverer of Mount Zion (Obadiah 1:17)
In Jonah, he’s the three days that Jonah spends in the fish (NT reference Matt 12:40)
In Micah, he’s a blessing of Bethlehem in a home, the stronghold in the day of wrath (Micah 5:2)
In Habakkuk, he is the justifier of those who live by faith (Hab 2:4)
in Zephaniah, he is the channel through whom all the nations of the world can worship (Zep 3)
In Haggai, he’s the shaker of heaven and earth whose kingdom can never be shaken (Hag 2:6, NT reference Heb 12:28)
In Zechariah, he’s the one who was betrayed for 30 pieces of silver (Zec 11:12-13)
In Malachi, he’s the one whose forerunner is Elijah (Mal 4:5-6)
If just 10 people today were picked who were from the same place, born around the same time, spoke the same language, and made about the same amount of money, and were asked to write on just one controversial subject, they would have trouble agreeing with each other.
The Bible is truly an amazingly consistent document. The messages of approximately 40 different writers of the 66 books of the Bible, written over 1,500 years, in three different languages, all fit together like the pieces of a giant jigsaw puzzle. There is one continual theme throughout-God’s plan of salvation from sin won for the whole world by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
This consistency itself attests to the common source of this book.
1. Written over a 1,500 year span
2. Written over 40 generations
3. Written by more than 40 authors, from every walk of life, including kings, peasants, philosophers, fishermen, poets, statesman, scholars, etc.
4. Written in different places
-Moses in the wilderness -Paul inside prison walls
-Jeremiah in a dungeon -Luke while traveling
-Daniel on a hillside and in a palace
-John on the isle of Patmos
5. Written at different times
-David in times of war
-Solomon in times of peace
6. Written during different moods
-Some writings at the height of joy and others from the depths of sorrow and despair
7. Written on three continents:
-Asia, Africa, Europe
8. Written in three languages
-Hebrew, the language of the OT
-Aramaic, the common language of the Near East until the 6th century A.D.
-Greek, the N.T. language, international language during the time of Christ.
9. Finally, its subject matter includes hundreds of controversial topics. Yet, the biblical authors spoke with harmony and continuity from Genesis to revelation. There is one unfolding story: “God’s redemption of man.”