In John 5:39 the Lord Jesus said, “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.”  Of course, the Lord was referring to the Old Testaments writings for the New Testament writings were not yet in existence.  He encourages us to search the Old Testament because “they are they which testify of me.”  Searching the OT scriptures, we see that the name of Jesus is not there.  We find Him in types and prophesies…and He is throughout the OT in those manners.

Typology is when we read a portion of scripture and we can recognize that there is a bigger picture to be considered.  Let’s consider one instance.

Exodus 12:1-7 says, “And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you. Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house: And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats: And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it.”  This is the Passover story, yet is speaks so vividly of the Lord Jesus Christ.

* The Passover lamb was kept up for four days to make sure that it was “without blemish.”  The public ministry of the Lord Jesus was for four years.  In that time, He manifested Himself as being “a lamb without blemish and without spot.” (1 Peter 1:19).

* While it was possible for the household to be too small for the lamb, it is not even considered that the lamb might be too small for the household.  This speaks of the sacrifice of Christ being powerful enough to pay for the sin debt of the whole world.  1 John 2:2 tells us, “And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.”

* The importance of the blood being applied to the sides and top of the doorway illustrates that we must appropriate the death and shed blood of the Lord for ourselves personally in order to be saved. Hebrews 9:14 asks, “How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”

There is much more that could be said about the Passover lamb.  I encourage you to read Genesis 22:1-14 and find the Lord Jesus shown in type when the Lord told Abraham to offer his only son as a sacrifice to God.  Let move on and briefly consider prophesies concerning the Lord Jesus.

Prophesy is a portion of scripture that speaks of upcoming events.  Let’s consider a prophesy concerning the Lord Jesus.  Psalm 22 is a psalm of suffering as King David poured out his heart to the Lord.  Psalm 22:1 says, “To the chief Musician upon Aijeleth Shahar, A Psalm of David. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?”  We realize quickly that this is a ‘Messianic psalm’, or a psalm that is prophetic of the Lord Jesus Himself.  The Lord Jesus said these same words as He hung on the cross.  Matthew 27:46 says, “And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”

Isaiah 9:6 says, “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”  This is surely prophetic of the coming of the Lord.

We could say much, much more about the OT prophesies that directly related to the Lord Jesus.  I will add just one more prophesy that speaks of the terrible agony of the Lord Jesus Christ as he suffered for us on the cross of Calvary.  Read this carefully and consider the love of Christ that compelled Him to die for your sins and mine.  Lamentations 1:12 says, “Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done unto me, wherewith the LORD hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger.”  What a savior we have!  (363.6)