Biblical Aspects That Explains The Foreshadowing Of Christ

By Mark Thompson


There is a relationship between the Old Testament and the new version of the Bible concerning the life of Jesus. Some of the events and statements in the Old Testament explains the life that Jesus would live. The following is a description of the foreshadowing of Christ as explained in the Old Testament.

The death of Abel. The book of Genesis, Abel who was a shepherd used to offer a burnt sacrifice to God together with his brother Cain. God was pleased with the offerings of Abel and is documented as a sweet fragrance to God. The fact that Abel was a shepherd signifies the role of Jesus in the New Testament. Also, his death suggests the death which the Messiah died for sinners.

Abraham attempt to sacrifice to his son. The event of Abraham and Isaac has a perfect relationship with the agony of Jesus before He was crucified. Isaac carrying firewood for the unknown sacrifice is an indication of the time that Christ carried His own cross to be crucified. Also, it took three days to for God to provide an alternative sacrifice which implies the three days that Jesus took to raise from the dead.

Aspects which implies the birth of Christ. A couple of aspects foretells the birth of Jesus. Jacob was promised that he would bless the nation of Israel through one of his offspring. Jesus is a member of the lineage of Jacob and this was a description of Him. A similar promise was given to David.

Foreshadowing of Jesus ministry. There are a couple of aspects which describes the ministry of Messiah. For instance, the burnt sacrifices used in various sacrificial events were supposed to one year old and were not supposed to have any blemish. Messiah is described in Hebrews as a person without sin who we become righteous through this.

The story of Moses and the bronze snake. The Israelite were attacked by snakes due to the wrath of God due to their wickedness. Even so, He instructed Moses to make a bronze snake and hang it at a place where every bitten member could look at to become healed. This implies that Christ adopted our sinful nature which is symbolized by the snake. At the same time, He is the redeemer of our sins hence the use of a bronze snake for healing.

Prefigure in Daniel chapter six. Daniel was a righteous man who was sought by many people to be persecuted. King Darius who was the kind of Babylon at that time signed a decree which prevented anyone from praying. Daniel went on and prayed and was bound to be persecuted. This is similar to Jesus when he was about to be persecuted. Pontius Pilate did not see anything worth persecuting Jesus but he had to do it since he had to comply with the law.

The similitude of the life of Elijah and Elisha. Elijah fed one hundred people with twenty loves which indicate the feeding of a multitude of five thousand people done by the Messiah. Elisha is documented to have raised a young boy which is similar to Jesus and healing the sick as well.




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