Building on the Foundation

  God’s Word is filled with Passover symbolism and foreshadows of Jesus Christ’s death as our Passover Lamb. In fact, one could make a case that the entire Bible points to Passover because the entire Bible points to “Christ and Him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2) — and that’s what Passover is all about! “Before the foundation of the world” (1 Pet. 1:20), God planned for the sacrifice of Jesus Christ to cover our sins. And at Creation, even before He had created man, God likewise established His appointed times or Holy Days — including Passover, setting the sun and moon in the sky “for signs and seasons [ moedim ; appointed times], and for days and years” (Gen. 1:14). So the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and the symbolism of Passover is woven throughout the Bible, from the very beginning to the end. The Bible first mentions “unleavened bread,” or the Hebrew matzah (Strong’s # H4682), in Gen. 19, the story of Lot. Now I don’t know whether this event literally took place at Passover or not, but ...

  Nehemiah has long been one of my favorite characters in the Bible. His zeal for God, his faith, his courage, and his unwavering devotion to God’s way of life take a back seat to no one, save Jesus Christ. As we read through the Book of Nehemiah, written in the man’s own words, his zeal and passion for Almighty God fairly leap from the pages! Now according to the Hebrew lexicons, Nehemiah’s name means “YHWH comforts,” and his father’s name, Hachaliah, means “YHWH enlightens.” Both names define Nehemiah’s mission, as we’ll soon see. God enlightened Nehemiah and guided him, just as He does for each one of us if we put our faith and trust in Him. And God sent Nehemiah on a mission of comfort to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, to bring justice for the poor and oppressed, to restore Godly worship among the people of Judah, and to teach them to put their faith and trust in the God of their fathers. Nehemiah wrote most of the book in the first person, much like Ezekiel and some of the ot...

  As we’ve noted before, God’s Word contains an incredible depth of meaning. Layer upon layer. Every time we pick up the Bible and study it, we’re likely to learn something new, to notice some new detail we never noticed before. Concealed within the pages of the Old Testament are many types and foreshadows of Jesus Christ. The story of Joseph found in Genesis 37 is one such example. This, of course, is the story of how Joseph’s brothers grew jealous of him, hated him, and sold him into slavery. Throughout this story, we can see Joseph as a type, parallel, and foreshadow of Jesus Christ. Joseph was a shepherd, watching over and feeding his father’s flock: “Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers” (Gen. 37:2). Likewise, Jesus Christ said, “I am the good shepherd” (John 10:11, 14). And of Him, Mic. 5:4 prophesied, “He shall stand and feed His flock in the strength of the LORD.” Joseph’s brothers evidently were less than faithful in their duties, thou...

  God’s Word, the Bible, is an incredible book! Though it took more than 1,500 years to write, and though it involved roughly 40 or more human authors working under Divine inspiration, it all fits together perfectly. Researchers have identified roughly 340,000 cross-references between various passages in the Bible. The Old Testament explains the New Testament, and the New Testament explains the Old. It’s impossible to understand either one without the other. From beginning to end, it preaches the same God, the same plan of salvation, and the same standards of good and evil. There’s no filler or wasted space. Every story, every instruction, every prophecy, and every detail is there for a purpose. Or probably for more than one purpose, because God’s Word also contains many layers. There’s the face value interpretation, but hidden within are also types, symbols, and additional meaning. Today, let’s look at one such example: a part of the story of Isaac. I think we’re all familiar with...