By ARTHUR W. PINK
CHAPTER FOUR: THE CHARACTER OF ITS TEACHINGS
EVIDENCES THE DIVINE AUTHORSHIP OF THE BIBLE
Take its teachings about God Himself. What
does the Bible teach us about God? It
declares that He is Eternal: “Before the
mountains were brought forth, or ever Thou
hadst formed the earth and the world, even
from everlasting to everlasting, Thou are
God” (Ps. 90:2). It reveals the fact that He
is Infinite: “But will God indeed dwell on
the earth? Behold, the heaven and heaven of
heavens cannot contain Thee” (I Kings 8:27).
Vast as we know the universe to be, it has
its bounds; but we must go beyond them to
conceive of God - “Canst thou by searching
find out God? Canst thou find out the
Almighty unto perfection? It is as high as
heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than
hell; what canst thou know? The measure
thereof is longer than the earth, and
broader than the sea” (Job 11:7-9). It makes
mention of His Sovereignty: “Remember the
former things of old: for I am God, and
there is none else; I am God, and there is
none like Me, declaring the end from the
beginning, and from ancient times the things
that are not yet done, saying, My counsel
shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure”
(Is. 46: 9-10). It affirms that He is
Omnipotent: “Behold I am the Lord, the God
of all flesh: is there anything too hard for
Me?” (Jer. 32:27). It intimates that He is
Omniscient: “Great is our Lord, and of great
power: His understanding is infinite” (Ps.
147:5). It teaches that He is Omnipresent:
“Can any hide himself in secret places that
I shall not see him? saith the Lord. Do not
I fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord”
(Jer. 23:24). It declares that He is
Immutable: “The same yesterday, and today,
and forever” (Heb. 13:8). Yea, that with Him
“is no variableness, neither shadow of
turning” (James 1:17). It reveals that He is
“The Judge of all the earth” (Gen. 18:25)
and that every one shall yet have to “give
an account of himself to God” (Rom. 14:12).
It announces that He is inflexibly just in
all His dealings so that He can by “no means
clear the guilty” (Num. 14:18); that all
will be judged “according to their works”
(Rev. 20:12), and that they shall reap
whatsoever they have sown (Gal 6:7). It
reveals the fact that He is absolutely holy,
dwelling in light inaccessible. So holy that
even the seraphim have to veil their faces
in His presence (Is. 6:2). So holy that the
heavens are not clean in His sight (Job
15:15). So holy that the best of men when
face to face with their Maker, have to cry,
“I abhor myself” (Job 42:6); “Woe is me! For
I am undone” (Is. 6:5). Such a delineation
of Deity is as far beyond man’s conception
as the heavens are above the earth. No man,
and no number of men, ever invented such a
God as this. Ransack the libraries of the
ancient, examine the musings of the mystics,
study the religions of the heathen and
nothing will be found which can for a moment
be compared with the sublime and exalted
description of God’s character which is
furnished by the Bible.
The teachings of the Bible about man are
unique. Unlike all other books in the world,
the Bible condemns man and all his doings.
It never eulogizes his wisdom, nor praises
his achievements. On the contrary, it
declares that “every man at his best state
is altogether vanity” (Ps 39:5). Instead of
teaching that man is a noble character,
evolving heavenwards, it tells him that all
his righteousnesses (his best works) are as
“filthy rags,” that he is a lost sinner,
incapable of bettering his condition; that
he is deserving only of Hell.
The picture which the Scriptures give of man
is deeply humiliating and entirely different
from all which are drawn by human pencils.
The Word of God describes the state of the
natural man in the following language: -
“There is none righteous, no, not one. There
is none that understandeth, there is none
that seeketh after God. They are all gone
out of the way, they are together become
unprofitable. There is none that doeth good,
no, not one. Their throat is an open
sepulcher; with their tongues they have used
deceit; the poison of asps is under their
lips; whose mouth is full of cursing and
bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed
blood: destruction and misery are in their
ways: and the way of peace have they not
known. There is no fear of God before their
eyes” (Rom. 3:10-18).
Instead of making Satan the source of all
the black crimes of which we are guilty, the
Bible declares, “For from within, out of the
heart of man proceed evil thoughts,
adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts,
covetousness, wickedness, deceit,
lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy,
pride, foolishness: all these evil things
come from within and defile the man” (Mark
7:21-23). Such a conception of man - so
different from man’s own ideas, and so
humilitating to his proud heart - never
could have emanated from man himself. “The
heart is deceitful above all things and
desperately wicked” (Jer. 17:9) is a concept
that never originated in any human mind.
The teachings of the Bible about the world
are unique. In nothing perhaps are the
teachings of Scripture and the writings of
man at such variance as they are at this
point. Using the term as meaning the
world-system in contradistinction to the
earth, what is the direction of man’s
thoughts concerning the same? Man thinks
highly of the world, for he regards it as
his world. It is that which his labors have
produced and he looks upon it with
satisfaction and pride. He boasts that “the
world is growing better.” He declares that
the world is becoming more civilized and
more humanized. Man’s thoughts upon this
subject have been well summarized by the
poet in the familiar language - “God is in
heaven: All’s well with the world.” But what
saith the Scriptures? Upon this subject,
too, we discover that God’s thoughts are
very different from ours. The Bible
uniformly condemns the world and speaks of
it as a thing of evil. We shall not attempt
to quote every passage which does this, but
shall merely single out a few specimen
Scriptures.
“If the world hate you, ye know that it
hated Me before it hated you. If ye were of
the world, the world would love his own: but
because ye are not of the world, but I have
chosen you out of the world, therefore the
world hateth you” (John 15:18-19). This
passage teaches that the world hates both
Christ and His followers. “The wisdom of
this world is foolishness with God” (I Cor
3:19). Certainly no uninspired pen wrote
these words. “Ye adulterers and
adulteresses, know ye not that the
friendship of the world is enmity with God?
Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the
world is the enemy of God” (James 4:4). Here
again we learn that the world is an evil
thing, condemned by God, and to be shunned
by His children. “Love not the world,
neither the things that are in the world. If
any man love the world, the love of the
Father is not in him. For all that is in the
world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust
of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not
of the Father, but is of the world” (I John
2:15-16). Here we have a definition of the
world: it is all that is opposed to the
Father - opposed in its principles and
philosophy, its maxims and methods, its aims
and ambitions, its trend and its end “And
the whole world lieth in the Evil One” (I
John 5:19, R.V.). Here we learn why it is
that the world hates Christ and His
followers; why its wisdom is foolishness
with God; why it is condemned by God and
must be shunned by His children - it is
under the dominion of that old serpent, the
devil, whom Scripture specifically
denominates “The prince of this world.”
The teachings of the Bible about sin is
unique. Man regards sin as a misfortune and
ever seeks to minimize its enormity. In
these days, sin is referred to as ignorance,
as a necessary stage in man’s development.
By others, sin is looked upon as a mere
negation, the opposite of good; while Mrs.
Eddy and her followers went so far as to
deny its existence altogether. But the
Bible, unlike every other book, strips man
of all excuse and emphasizes his
culpability. In the Bible sin is never
palliated or extenuated, but from first to
last the Holy Scriptures insist upon its
enormity and heinousness. The Word of God
declares that “sin is very grievous” (Gen
18:20) and that our sins provoke God to
anger (I Kings 16:2). It speaks of the
“deceitfulness of sin” (Heb. 3:13) and
insists that sin is “exceedingly sinful”
(Rom 7:13). It declares that all sin is sin
against God (Ps. 51:4) and against His
Christ (I Cor. 8:12). It regards our sins as
being “as scarlet” and “red like crimson”
(Is. 1:18). It declares that sin is more
than an act, it is an attitude. It affirms
that sin is more than a non-compliance with
God’s law - it is rebellion against the One
who gave the law . It teaches that “sin is
lawlessness” (I John 3:4, R.V.), which means
that sin is spiritual anarchy, open defiance
against the Almighty. Moreover, it singles
out no particular class; it condemns all
alike. It announces that “all have sinned
and come short of the glory of God,” that
“there is none righteous, no, not one” (Rom.
3). Did man ever write such an indictment
against himself? What human mind ever
invented such a description of sin as that
discovered in the Bible? Whoever would have
imagined that sin was such a vile and
dreadful thing in the sight of God that
nothing but the precious blood of His own
beloved Son could make an atonement for it!
The teaching of the Bible about the
punishment of sin is unique. A defective
view of sin necessarily leads to an
inadequate conception of what is due sin.
Minimize the gravity and enormity of sin and
you must proportion- ately reduce the
sentence which it deserves. Many are crying
out today against the justice of the eternal
punishment of sin. They complain that the
penalty does not fit the crime. They argue
that it is unrighteous for a sinner to
suffer eternally in consequence of a short
life span of wrong-doing. But even in this
world it is not the length of time which it
takes to commit the crime which determines
the severity of the sentence. Many a man has
suffered a life term of imprisonment for a
crime which required only a few minutes for
its perpetration. Apart, however, from this
consideration, eternal punishment is just if
sin be looked at from God’s viewpoint. But
this is just what the majority of men refuse
to do. They look at sin and its deserts
solely from the human side. One reason why
the Bible was written was to correct our
ideas and views about sin, to teach us what
an unspeakably awful and vile thing it is,
to show us sin as God sees it. For one
single sin Adam and Eve were banished from
Eden. For one single sin Canaan and all his
posterity were cursed. For a single sin
Korah and his company went down alive into
the pit. For one single sin Moses was
debarred from entering the Promised Land.
For a single sin Achan and his family were
stoned to death. For a single sin Elisha’s
servant was smitten with leprosy. For a
single sin Ananias and Sapphira were cut off
out of the land of the living. Why? To teach
us what an infinite evil it is to revolt
against the thrice holy God. We repeat, that
did men but see the terribleness of sin -
did they but see that it was sin that put to
a shameful death the Lord of Glory - then
they would realize that nothing short of
eternal punishment would meet the demands
which justice has upon sinners.
But the great majority of men do not see the
meetness or justice of eternal punishment;
on the contrary, they cry out against it. In
lands which were not illumined by the Old
Testament Scriptures, where there existed
any belief in a future life, it was held
that at death the wicked either passed thro’
some temporary suffering for remedial and
purifying purposes or else they were
annihilated. Even in Christendom, where the
Word of God has held a prominent and public
place for centuries, the great bulk of the
people do not believe in eternal punishment.
They argue that God is too merciful and kind
to ban one of His own creatures to endless
misery. Yea, not a few of the Lord’s own
people are afraid to take the solemn
teachings of the Scriptures on this subject
at their face value. It is therefore evident
that had the Bible been written by
uninspired men; had it been a mere human
composition, it certainly would not have
taught the eternal and conscious torment of
all who die out of Christ. The fact that the
Bible does so teach is conclusive proof that
it was written by men who spake not of
themselves, but as they were “moved by the
Holy Spirit.”
The teachings of God’s Word upon eternal
punishment are as clear and explicit as they
are solemn and awful. They declare that the
doom of the Christ rejector is a conscious,
never-ending, indescribable torment. The
Bible depicts the place of punishment as a
realm where the “worm dieth not” and “the
fire is not quenched” (Mark 9:48). It speaks
of it as a lake of fire and brimstone (Rev.
20:10), where even a drop of water is denied
the agonized sufferer (Luke 16:24). It
declares that “the smoke of their torment
ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they
have no rest day nor night” (Rev. 14:11). It
represents the world of the lost as a scene
into which penetrates no light - “the
blackness of darkness for ever” (Jude 1: 13)
- a doom alleviated by no ray of hope. In
short, the portion of the lost will be
unbearable, yet it will have to be borne,
and borne for ever. What mortal mind
conceived of such a fate? Such a conception
is too repugnant and repulsive to the human
heart to have had its birth on the earth.
The teachings of the Bible about Salvation
from Sin is unique. Man’s thoughts about
salvation, like every other subject which
engages his mind are defective and
deficient. Hence the force of the admonition
- “Let the wicked forsake his way and the
unrighteous man his thoughts” (Is. 55:7). In
the first place, left to himself, man fails
to realize his need of salvation. In the
pride of his heart he imagines that he is
sufficient in himself, and thro’ the
darkening of his understanding by sin he
fails to comprehend his ruined and lost
condition. Like the self-righteous Pharisee,
he thanks God that he is not as other men,
that he is morally the superior of the
savage or the criminal, and refuses to
believe that so far as his standing before
God is concerned there is “no difference.”
It is not until the Holy Spirit deals with
him that man is constrained to cry, “God be
merciful to me a sinner.”
In the second place man is ignorant of the
way of salvation. Even when man has been
brought to the place where he recognizes
that he is not prepared to meet God, and
that if he died in his present state he
would be eternally lost; even then he has no
right conception of the remedy. Being
ignorant of God’s righteousness he goes
about to establish his own righteousness. He
supposes that he must make some personal
reparation for his past wrong-doings, that
he must work for his salvation, do something
to merit the esteem of God, and thus win
heaven as a reward. The highest concept of
man’s mind is that of merit. To him
salvation is a wage to be earned, a crown to
be coveted, a prize to be won. The proof of
this is to be seen in the fact that even
when pardon and life are presented as a free
gift, the universal tendency, at first, is
to regard it as being “too good to be true.”
Yet, such is the plain teaching of God’s
Word - “For by grace are ye saved through
faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the
gift of God: not of works; lest any man
should boast” (Eph. 2:8-9). And again - “Not
by works of righteousness which we have
done, but according to His mercy He saved
us” (Titus 3:5).
If it is true that man left to himself would
never have fully realized his need of
salvation, and would never have discovered
that it was by grace thro’ faith and not of
works, how much less would the human mind
have been capable of rising to the level of
what God’s Word teaches about the nature of
salvation and the glorious and marvelous
destiny of the saved! Who would have thought
that the Maker and Ruler of the universe
should lay hold of poor, fallen, depraved
men and women and lifting them out of the
miry clay should make them His own sons and
daughters, and should seat them at His own
table! Who would ever have suggested that
those who deserve naught but everlasting
shame and contempt, should be made “heirs of
God and joint-heirs with Christ”! Who would
have dreamed that beggars should be lifted
from the dunghill of sin and made to sit
together with Christ in heavenly places! Who
would have imagined that the corrupted
offspring of disobedient Adam should be
exalted to a position higher than that
occupied by the unfallen angels! Who would
have dared to affirm that one day we shall
be “made like Christ” and “be for ever with
the Lord”! Such concepts were as far beyond
the reach of the highest human intellect as
they were of the rudest savage. “But as it
is written, eye hath not seen, nor ear
heard, neither have entered into the heart
of man, the things which God hath prepared
for them that love Him. But God hath
revealed them unto us by His Spirit: for the
Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep
things of God” (I Cor. 2:9-10).
Again we ask, what human intellect could
have devised a means whereby God could be
just and yet merciful, merciful and yet
just? What mortal mind would ever have
dreamed of a free and full salvation,
bestowed on hell-deserving sinners, “without
money and without price”! And what flight of
carnal imagination would ever have conceived
of the Son of God Himself being “made sin”
for us and dying the Just for the unjust?
The teaching of the Bible concerning the
Saviour of sinners is unique. The
description which the Scriptures furnish of
the Person, the Character, and the Work of
the Lord Jesus Christ is without anything
that approaches a parallel in the whole
realm of literature. It is easier to suppose
that man could create a world than to
believe he invented the character of our
adorable Redeemer. Given a piece of
machinery that is delicate, complex, exact
in all its movements, and we know it must be
the product of a competent mechanic. Given a
work of art that is beautiful, symmetrical,
original, and we know it must be the product
of a master artist. None but an Angelo could
have designed Saint Peter’s; none but a
Raphael could have painted the
“transfiguration;” none but a Milton could
have written a “Paradise Lost.” And, none
but the Holy Spirit could have produced the
peerless portrait of the Lord Jesus which we
find in the Gospels. In Christ all
excellencies combine. Here is one of the
many respects in which He differs from all
other Bible characters. In each of the great
heroes of Scripture some trait stands out
with peculiar distinctness - Noah, faithful
testimony; Abraham, faith in God; Isaac,
submission to his father; Joseph, love for
his brethren; Moses, unselfishness and
meekness; Joshua, courage and leadership;
Job, fortitude and patience; Daniel,
fidelity to God; Paul, zeal in service;
John, spiritual discernment - but in the
Lord Jesus every grace is found. Moreover,
in Him all these perfections were properly
poised and balanced. He was meek yet regal;
He was gentle yet fearless; He was
compassionate yet just; He was submissive
yet authoritative; He was Divine yet human;
add to these, the fact that He was
absolutely “without sin” and His uniqueness
becomes apparent. Nowhere in all the
writings of antiquity is there to be found
the presentation of such a peerless and
wondrous character.
Not only is the portrayal of Christ’s
character without any rival, but the
teaching of the Bible concerning His Person
and Work is also utterly incredible on any
other basis save that they are part of a
Divine revelation. Who would have dared to
imagine the Creator and Upholder of the
universe taking upon Himself the form of a
servant and being made in the likeness of
men? Who would have conceived the idea of
the Lord of Glory being born in a manger?
Who would have dreamed of the Object of
angelic worship becoming so poor that he had
not where to lay His head? Who would have
declared that the One before whom the
seraphim veil their faces should be led as a
lamb to the slaughter, should have suffered
His own blessed face to be defiled with the
vile spittle of man, and should permit the
creatures of His hand to scourge and buffet
Him? Whoever would have conceived of
Emmanuel becoming obedient unto death, even
the death of the Cross!
Here then is an argument which the simplest
can grasp. The Scriptures contain their own
evidence that they are Divinely inspired.
Every page of Holy Writ is stamped with
Jehovah’s autograph. The uniqueness of its
teachings demonstrates the uniqueness of its
Source. The teachings of the Scriptures
about God Himself, about man, about the
world, about sin, about eternal punishment,
about salvation, about the Lord Jesus
Christ, are proof that the Bible is not the
product of any man or any number of men, but
is in truth a revelation from God.
CHAPTER FIVE: THE FULFILLED PROPHECIES OF
THE BIBLE BESPEAK THE OMNISCIENCE OF ITS
AUTHOR
In Isaiah 41:21-23 we have what is probably
the most remarkable challenge to be found in
the Bible. “Produce your cause, saith the
Lord; bring forth your strong reasons, saith
the King of Jacob. Let them bring them
forth, and show us what shall happen; let
them show the former things, what they be,
that we may consider them, and know the
latter end of them; or declare us things for
to come. Show the things that are to come
hereafter, that we may know that ye are
gods.” This Scripture has both a negative
and a positive value: negatively it suggests
an infallible criterion by which we may test
the claims of religious impostors;
positively, it calls attention to an
unanswerable argument for the truthfulness
of God’s Word. Jehovah bids the prophets of
false faiths to successfully predict events
lying in the far distant future and their
success or failure will show whether or not
they are gods or merely pretenders and
deceivers. On the other hand, the
demonstrated fact that God alone grasps the
ages and in His Word declares the end from
the beginning, shows that he is God and that
Scriptures are His Inspired Revelation to
mankind.
Again and again men have attempted to
predict future events but always with the
most disastrous failure, the anticipations
of the most far-seeing and the precautions
of the wisest are mocked repeatedly by the
bitter irony of events. Man stands before an
impenetrable wall of darkness, he is unable
to foresee the events of even the next hour.
None knows what a day may bring forth. To
the finite mind the future is filled with
unknown possibilities. How then can we
explain the hundreds of detailed prophecies
in the Scriptures which have been literally
fulfilled to the letter, hundreds of years
after they were uttered? How can we account
for the fact that the Bible successfully
foretold hundreds, and in some instances
thousands of years beforehand, the History
of the Jews, the Course of the Gentiles, and
the Experiences of the Church? The most
conservative of critics, and the most daring
assailants of God’s Word are compelled to
acknowledge that all the Books of the Old
Testament were written hundreds of years
before the incarnation of our Lord, hence,
the actual and accurate fulfillment of these
prophecies can only be explained on the
hypothesis that “Prophecy came not at any
time by the will of men: but holy men of
God, spake, moved by the Holy Ghost.”
The Inspirer of the Scriptures has told us
that “We have also a more sure word of
prophecy; where unto ye do well that ye take
heed as unto a light that shineth in a dark
place” (II Peter 1:19). In the limited space
at our command we shall appeal to but a few
from among the many fulfilled prophecies of
God’s Word, and shall limit ourselves to
those which have reference to the Person and
Work of the Lord Jesus Christ. The
cumulative force of these will be
sufficient, we trust, to convince any
impartial inquirer that none other but the
mind of God could have disclosed the future
and unveiled beforehand far distant events.
“The testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of
Prophecy.” The Lamb of God is the one great
object and subject of the Prophetic Word. In
Genesis 3:15 we have the first word about
the Coming of Christ. Speaking to the
serpent, Jehovah said, “And I will put
enmity between thee and the woman, and
between thy seed and her seed; it shall
bruise thy head, and thou shall bruise His
heel.” Note that the Coming One was to be
the “woman’s seed,” the Miraculous Character
of our Lord’s Birth being thus foretold four
thousand years before He was born at
Bethlehem!
In Genesis 22:18 we have the second distinct
Messianic prophecy. Unto Abraham, the angel
of the Lord declared, “And in thy seed shall
all the nations of the earth be blessed.”
Not only was the Saviour of sinners to be
human as well as Divine, not only was He to
be the “woman’s” seed, but in the above
Scripture it was declared that He should be
a descendant of Abraham - an Israelite. How
this was fulfilled we may see by a reference
to the first verse in the New Testament,
where we are told (Matt. 1: 1) that Jesus
Christ was “The Son of David, the son of
Abraham.”
But still further was the compass narrowed
down, for we have intimated in the Old
Testament Scriptures the very tribe from
which the Messiah was to issue - our Lord
was to come of the tribe of Judah (the
“kingly” tribe). He was to be a descendant
of David. Nathan the prophet was commanded
by God to go and say to David, “I will set
up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed
out of thy bowels, and I will stablish His
kingdom. He shall build an house for My
name, and I will stablish the throne of His
kingdom for ever” (II Sam. 7:12-13). And
again, in Psalm 132:11 David declares
concerning the promised Messiah, “The Lord
hath sworn in truth unto David; (He will not
turn from it) Of the fruit of thy body will
I set upon thy throne.
Not only was our Lord’s nationality defined
hundreds of years before His incarnation,
but the very place of His birth was also
given. In Micah 5:2 we are informed, “But
thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be
little among the thousands of Judah, but out
of thee shall He come forth unto Me that is
to be Ruler in Israel; whose goings forth
have been from of old, from the days of
eternity.” Christ was to be born in
Bethlehem, and not only in one of the
several villages which bore that name in
Palestine, but Bethlehem of Judea was to be
the birth-place of the world’s Redeemer; and
though Mary was a native of Nazareth (far
distant from Bethlehem) yet through the
providence of God, His Word was literally
fulfilled by His Son being born in Bethlehem
of Judea.
Further, the very time of Messiah’s
appearing was given through both Jacob and
Daniel (see Gen. 49:10 and Daniel 9:24-26).
Now in order to appreciate the force of
these marvelous, super-natural prophecies,
let the reader seek to foretell the
nationality, place and time of the birth of
some one who shall be born in the
twenty-fifth century A. D., and then he will
realize that none but a man inspired and
informed by God Himself could perform such
an otherwise impossible feat.
So definite and distinct were the Old
Testament prophecies respecting the Birth of
Christ, that the hope of Israel became the
Messianic Hope; all their expectations were
centered in the coming of the Messiah. It is
therefore the more remarkable that their
sacred Scriptures should contain another set
of prophecies which predicted that He should
be despised by His own nation and rejected
by His own kinsmen. We can only now call
attention to one of the prophecies which
declared that the Messiah of Israel should
be slighted and scorned by His brethren
according to the flesh.
In Isaiah 53:2-3 we read, “And when we
(Israel) shall see Him, there is no beauty
that we should desire Him. He is despised
and rejected of men; a Man of sorrows, and
acquainted with grief; and we hid as it were
our faces from Him; He was despised, and we
esteemed Him not!” We pause here for a
moment to enlarge upon this strange and
striking phenomenon.
For more than fifteen centuries the Coming
of the Messiah had been the one great
national Hope of Israel. From the cradle the
sons of Abraham were taught to pray and long
for His advent. The eagerness with which
they awaited the appearing of the Star of
Jacob is absolutely without parallel in the
history of any other nation. How then can we
account for the fact that when He did come
He was despised and rejected? How can we
explain the fact that side by side with the
intense longing for the manifestation of
their King, one of their own prophets
foretold that when He did appear men would
hide their faces from Him and esteem Him
not? Finally, what explanation have we to
offer for the fact that such things were
predicted centuries before He came to this
earth and that they were literally fulfilled
to the very letter? As another has said, “No
prediction could have seemed more
improbable, and yet none ever received a
sadder and more complete fulfillment.”
We pass on now to those predictions which
have reference to the death of our Lord. If
it was wonderful that an Israelitish prophet
should foretell the rejection of the Messiah
by His own nation, what shall we say to the
fact that the Old Testament Scriptures
prophesied in detail concerning the manner
or form of His death? Yet again and again we
find this to be the case! Let us examine a
few typical instances.
First, it was intimated that our Lord should
be betrayed and sold for the price of a
common slave. In Zechariah 11:12 we read,
“So they weighed for My price thirty pieces
of silver.” Who was it that was able to
declare, centuries before the event came to
pass, the exact amount that Judas should
receive for his dastardly deed? In Isaiah
53:7 we have another line in this marvelous
picture which human wisdom could not
possibly have supplied - “He is brought as a
lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before
her shearers is dumb, so He opened not His
mouth.” Who could have foreseen this most
unusual sight, of a prisoner standing before
his judges with his life at stake, yet
attempting and offering no defense? Yet this
is precisely what did happen in connection
with our Lord, for we are told in Mark 15:5,
“But Jesus yet answered nothing; so that
Pilate marveled.” Again; who was it that
knew seven hundred years before the greatest
tragedy of human history was enacted that
the Son of God, the King of the Jews, the
gentlest and meekest Man who ever trod our
earth, should be scourged and spat upon? Yet
such an experience was foretold: “I gave My
back to the smiters, and My cheeks to them
that plucked off the hair: I hid not My face
from shame and spitting” (Is. 50:6).
Further; the form of capital punishment
reserved for Jewish criminals was “stoning
to death,” and in David’s time the
experience of “crucifixion” was entirely
unknown, yet we find in Psalm 22:16 that
Israel’s king was inspired to write, “They
pierced My hands and My feet!” Again; what
human foresight could have seen that in His
thirst-agonies upon the cross our Lord
should be given gall and vinegar to drink?
Yet it was declared a thousand years before
the Lord of Glory was nailed to the tree
that, “They gave Me also gall for My meat;
and in My thirst they gave Me vinegar to
drink.” (Ps. 69:21). Finally; we ask, how
could David foretell, unless he was inspired
by the Holy Spirit, that our Lord should be
taunted by His enemies and challenged to
come down from the Cross? Yet in Psalm
22:7-8 we read, “All they that see Me laugh
Me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they
shake the head, saying, He trusted on the
Lord that He would deliver Him: let Him
deliver Him, seeing He delighted in Him.”
Such examples as the above might be
multiplied indefinitely, but sufficient
illustrations have already been given to
warrant us in saying that the fulfilled
prophecies of the Bible bespeak the
omniscience of its Author.
Were it necessary, and had we the space at
our command, scores of additional fulfilled
prophecies relating to the History of
Israel, the Course of the Gentiles, and the
Experiences of the Church - prophecies just
as definite, accurate, and remarkable as
those relating to the Person of the Lord
Jesus Christ - could be given, but our
present limits and purpose forbid us so
doing.
Having examined a few of the startling
prophecies which treat of the Birth and
Death of our Saviour, it now only remains
for us to apply in a word the significance
of this argument. Many have read over these
Scriptures before and perhaps have regarded
them as being wonderfully descriptive of the
Advent and Passion of Jesus Christ, but how
many have carefully weighed the fact that
each of these Scriptures were in
indisputable existence more than five
hundred years before our Lord came to this
earth?
Man is unable to accurately predict events
which are but twenty-four hours distant;
only the Divine Mind could have foretold the
future, centuries before it came to be.
Hence, we affirm with the utmost confidence,
that the hundreds of fulfilled prophecies in
the Bible attest and demonstrate the truth
that the Scriptures are the inspired,
infallible, inerrant Word of God.
CHAPTER SIX: THE TYPICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THE
SCRIPTURES DECLARE THEIR DIVINE AUTHORSHIP
“In the volume of the Book it is written of
Me” (Heb. 10:7). Christ is the Key to the
Scriptures. Said He, “Search the
Scriptures..they are they which testify of
Me.” (John 5:39), and the “Scriptures” to
which He had reference, were not the four
Gospels for they were not then written, but
the writings of Moses and the prophets. The
Old Testament Scriptures then are something
more than a compilation of historical
records, something more than a system of
social and religious legislation, something
more than a code of ethics. The Old
Testament Scriptures are fundamentally a
stage on which is shown forth in vivid
symbolism and ritualism the whole plan of
redemption. The events recorded in the Old
Testament were actual occurrences, yet they
were also typical prefigurations. Throughout
the Old Testament dispensations God caused
to be shadowed forth in parabolic
representation the whole work of redemption
by means of a constant and vivid appeal to
the senses. This was in full accord with a
fundamental law in the economy of God.
Nothing is brought to maturity at once. As
it is in the natural world, so it is in the
spiritual: there is first the blade, then
the ear, and then the full corn in the ear.
Concerning the Person and work of the Lord
Jesus, God first gave a series of pictorial
representations, later a large number of
specific prophecies, and last of all, when
the fullness of time was come, God sent
forth His own Son.
It is failure to discern the typical import
of the Old Testament Scriptures which has
caused so great a part of them to be
slighted by so many readers of the Bible. To
multitudes of people the Pentateuch is
little more than a compilation of effete and
meaningless ceremonial rites, and if there
is nothing in them more excellent than their
outward semblance, then, surely, it is
passing strange that they should find a
place in the Word of God. Take Christ out of
Old Testament ritual and you are left with
nothing but the dry and empty shell of a
nut. It is therefore a matter of small
surprise that those who see so little of
Christ in the Old Testament Scriptures
should undervalue the instruction and
edification to be derived from every part of
them, and that they entertain such degrading
ideas of their inspiration. Deny that there
is a spiritual meaning in all the laws and
customs of the Israelites and what food for
the soul can be gathered from a study of
them? Deny that they are so many typical
representations of Christ and His Sacrifice
for sin and you cast reproach on the name
and wisdom of God by suggesting that He
instituted the carnal ordinances, the
cumbrous ceremonies, the propitiations by
sacrifice of animals, which are recorded in
the opening Books of the Bible.
The typical import and the spiritual value
of the Jewish economy, both as a whole and
in its many parts, is expressly affirmed in
the New Testament. The Apostle Paul, when
referring to the narratives and events
recorded in the Old Testament, declares
that, “Whatsoever things were written
aforetime were written for our learning”
(Rom. 15:4). Later, when making mention of
Israel’s exodus from Egypt and their journey
through the wilderness, he affirms, “Now
these things were our examples” and “Now all
these things happened unto them for
ensamples: (marg. “types”) and they are
written for our admonition” (I Cor.
10:6-11). Again; when commenting upon, and
while expounding the spiritual significance
of the Tabernacle, he declares that it was
“the example and shadow of heavenly things”
(Heb. 8:5). In the next chapter he declares,
“The Tabernacle...was a figure for the time
then present” (Heb. 9:8-9) and in Hebrews 10
he states, “The law” had “a shadow of good
things to come” (10:1). From these
declarations it is evident that God Himself
caused the Tabernacle to be erected exactly
according to the pattern which He had showed
Moses, for the express purpose that it
should be a type for symbolizing heavenly
things. Hence it becomes our privilege and
bounden duty to seek by the help of the Holy
Spirit to ascertain the meaning of the types
of the Old Testament.
In addition to the express declarations of
the New Testament quoted above, there are a
number of additional passages which also
teach the same thing. John the Baptist
hailed our Saviour as “The Lamb of God which
taketh away the sin of the world,” that is,
as the great Antitype of the sacrificial
lambs of Old Testament ritual. In His
discourse with Nicodemus our Lord alluded to
the lifting up of the Brazen Serpent in the
wilderness as a type of His own lifting up
on the Cross. Writing to the Corinthians the
Apostle Paul said, “Christ our Passover is
sacrificed for us” (I Cor. 5:7), thus
signifying that Exodus 12 pointed forward to
the Lord Jesus. Writing to the Galatians the
same Apostle makes mention of the history of
Abraham, his wives and his children, and
then states “which things are an allegory”
(Gal. 4:24). Now there are many brethren who
will own the typical significance of these
things, but who refuse to acknowledge that
anything else in the Old Testament has a
typical meaning save those which are
expressly interpreted in the New. But this
we conceive to be a mistake and to place a
limit upon the scope and value of the Word
of God. Rather let us regard those Old
Testament types which are expounded in the
New Testament as samples of others which are
not explained. Are there no more prophecies
in the Old Testament than those which, in
the New Testament, are said to be
“fulfilled”? Assuredly. Then let us admit
the same concerning the types.
Several volumes would be filled were we to
dwell upon everything in the Old Testament
which has a typical meaning and spiritual
application. All we can now attempt is to
single out a few illustrations as samples,
leaving our readers to pursue further this
entrancing study for themselves.
The very first chapter of Genesis is rich in
its spiritual contents. Not only does it
give us the only reliable and authentic
account of the creation of this world, but
it also reveals God’s order in the work of
the new creation. In Genesis 1:1 we have the
original or primitive creation - “in the
beginning”. From the next verse we infer
that some dreadful calamity followed. The
handiwork of God was marred, “the earth
became (not “was”) without form and void” -
a desolate waste and empty ruin. The earth
was submerged. A scene of dreariness and
death is introduced - “and darkness was upon
the face of the deep.” Not only was this the
history of the earth, but it was also the
history of man. In the beginning he was
created by God - created in the image and
likeness of his Maker. But a terrible
calamity followed. An enemy appeared on the
scene. The heart of the creature was
seduced, unbelief and disobedience being the
consequence. Man fell, and awful was his
fall. God’s image was broken: human nature
was ruined by sin: desolation and death took
the place of God’s likeness and life. In
consequence of his sin, man’s mind was
blinded and darkness rested upon the face of
his understanding.
Next, we read in Genesis 1, of the work
reconstruction. The order followed is
profoundly significant - “The Spirit of God
moved upon the face of the waters. And God
said, Let there be light: and there was
light” (vs. 3-4). The parallel holds good in
regeneration. In the work of the new birth
which is performed within the darkened and
spiritually dead sinner, the Spirit of God
is the prime mover, convicting the soul of
its lost and ruined condition and revealing
the need of the appointed Saviour. The
instrument that He employs is the written
Word, the Word of God, and in every genuine
conversion God says, “Let there be light,”
and there is light. “For God, who commanded
the light to shine out of darkness, hath
shined in our hearts, to give the light of
the knowledge of the glory of God in the
face of Jesus Christ” (II Cor. 4:6). The
parallel might be followed much further, but
sufficient has been said to show that
beneath the actual history of Genesis 1 may
be discerned by the anointed eye the
spiritual history of the believer’s new
creation, and as such it bears the stamp of
its Divine Author and evidences the fact
that the opening chapter of the Bible is no
mere human compilation.
In the coats of skin with which the Lord God
clothed our first parents we have an
incident that is full of spiritual
instruction and which could never have been
invented by man. To obtain these skins life
had to be taken, blood had to be shed, the
innocent (animals) must die in the place of
Adam and Eve who were guilty, so as to
provide a covering for them. Thus, the
Gospel truths of redemption by
blood-shedding and salvation thro’ a
substitutionary sacrifice, were preached in
Eden. Be it noted that man did not have to
provide a covering for himself any more than
the “prodigal son” did, nor were they asked
to clothe themselves any more than was he:
in the one case we read, “The Lord God made
coats of skins and clothed them” (Gen.
3:21), and in the other the command was,
“Bring forth the best robe, and put it on
him” (Luke 15:22), and both speak of “the
robe of righteousness” (Is. 61:10) which is
furnished in Christ.
In the offerings which Cain and Abel
presented to the Lord, and in the response
which they met with, we discover a
foreshadowing of New testament truths. Abel
brought of the firstlings of the flock with
their fat. He recognized that he was
alienated from God and could not draw nigh
to Him without a suitable offering. He saw
that his own life was forfeited thro’ sin,
that justice clamored for his death, and
that his only hope lay in another (a lamb)
dying in his stead. By faith Abel presented
his bloody offering to God and it was
accepted. On the other hand, Cain refused to
take the place of a lost sinner before God.
He refused to acknowledge that death was his
due. He refused to place his confidence in a
sacrificial substitute. He brought as an
offering to God the fruits of the ground -
the product of his own labors and in
consequence, his offering was rejected.
Thus, at the commencement of human history
we have shown forth the fact that salvation
is by grace thro’ faith and altogether apart
from works (Eph. 2: 8-9).
In the great Deluge and the ark in which
Noah and his house found shelter, we have a
typification of great spiritual verities.
From them we learn that God takes cognizance
of the doings of His creatures; that He is
holy and sin is abhorrent to Him; that His
righteousness requires Him to punish sin and
destroy sinners. Yet, here also we learn
that in judgment God remembers mercy, that
He has no pleasure in the death of the
wicked; that His grace provides a refuge if
only His sinful creatures will avail
themselves of His provision. Yet only in one
place can deliverance from the Divine wrath
be found. In the ark alone is safety and
security. And, in like manner, today, there
is only one Saviour for sinners, and that is
the Lord Jesus Christ, “Neither is there
salvation in any other: for there is none
other name under heaven given among men,
whereby we must be saved” (Act 4:12).
In the deliverance of Israel from Egypt and
their wilderness journey we see portrayed
the history of God’s people in the present
dispensation. We, too, were living in a
world “without God and without hope.” We,
too, were in bondage to the cruel
taskmasters of sin and Satan. We, too, were
in imminent danger of falling beneath the
sword of the avenging Angel of Justice. But,
for us, too, a way of escape was provided.
For us, too, a Lamb was slain. Unto us, too,
was given the precious promise, “When I see
the blood I will pass over you” (Exod.
12:13). And we, too, were redeemed by
Almighty power and were “delivered from the
power of darkness and translated into the
kingdom of God’s dear Son” (Col. 1:13)
After our exodus from Egypt there lies
before us a pilgrim journey thro’ a barren
and hostile wilderness as we journey toward
the Promised Land. We have to pass thro’ a
strange country and meet with enemy forces,
that we are unable to overcome in our own
strength. For these tasks our own resources
- the things we brought with us out of Egypt
- are altogether inadequate, and thus we,
too, are cast upon the sufficiency of
Israel’s God. And blessed be His name, ample
provision is made for us and grace is
furnished for every need. For us there is
heavenly manna in the exceeding great and
precious promises of God. For us there comes
water out of the Smitten Rock in the person
of the Holy Spirit (John 7:38-39) who
refreshes our souls by taking of the things
of Christ and showing them unto us and who
strengthens us with might in the inner man.
For us too, there is a pillar of cloud and
fire to guide us by day and by night in the
Holy Scriptures which are a lamp unto our
feet and a light unto our path. For us, too,
there is One to counsel and direct us, to
intercede for us and help us overcome our
Amalekites in the Captain of our salvation
who has said, “Lo, I am with you alway, even
unto the end.” And, at the close of our
pilgrimage we shall enter a fairer land than
that which flowed with milk and honey for we
have been begotten “to an inheritance
incorruptible and undefiled, and that faded
not away, reserved in heaven” for us.
Let the careful and impartial reader weigh
thoroughly what has been said above, and
surely it is evident that the numerous
resemblances between the story of Israel and
the spiritual history of God’s children in
this dispensation cannot be so many
coincidences, and can only be accounted for
on the ground that the writings of Moses
were inspired by the Living God.
The history of Israel in Canaan as the
professed people of God corresponds with the
history of the professing church in the New
Testament dispensation. After Moses, the one
who led Israel out from their Egyptian
bondage, came Joshua who led Israel in their
conquest of Canaan. So after our Lord left
this earth, He sent the Holy Spirit who
through the Apostles caused the Jericho’s
and Ai’s of Paganism to be overthrown and
the greater part of the world to be
evangelized. But after their occupancy of
Canaan Israel’s history was a sad one, being
characterized by spiritual declination and
departure from God. So it was with the
professing church. Very quickly after the
death of the Apostles heresy corrupted the
Christian profession, and just as Israel of
old grew tired of a theocracy and demanded a
human head and king, like the nations which
surrounded them, so the professing church
became dissatisfied with the New Testament
form of church government and submitted to
the domination of a pope. And just as
Israel’s kings became more and more corrupt
until God would bear with them no longer and
sold His people into captivity, so after the
setting up of the Papal See there followed
the long period of the Dark Ages when Europe
was subjected to a spiritual bondage and
when the Word of God was bound in chains.
Then, just as God raised up Ezra and
Nehemiah to recover the living oracle and to
lead out of their captivity a remnant of His
people, so in the sixteenth century, A. D.,
God raised up Luther and honored
contemporaries to bring about the great
Reformation of Protestantism. Finally: just
as after the days of Ezra and Hehemiah the
Jews in Palestine witnessed a marked
spiritual declination, ultimately lapsing
into the ritualism of the Pharisees and the
rationalism of the Sadducees from which
God’s elect were delivered only by the
appearing of His own Son, so has history
repeated itself. Since Reformation and the
last of the Puritans, Christendom has moved
swiftly in the direction of the predicted
apostasy, and today we have reproduced the
ancient Phariseeism in the rapid spread of
Roman Catholicism, and the ancient
Sadduceeism in the far-reaching effects of
the infidelistic Higher Criticism: and as it
was before, so it will be again - God’s
elect will be delivered only by the
reappearing of our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ.
Thus we see how wonderfully and accurately
the Old testament history runs parallel with
and anticipated the history of the
professing church in the New Testament
dispensation. It has been truly said that
“Coming events cast their shadows before
them,” and who but He who knows the end from
the beginning and who upholds all things by
the word of His power, could have caused the
shadow of the Old Testament to have taken
the shape they did, and thus give a true and
comprehensive parabolic setting forth of
that which has taken place thousands of
years later!
But not only do the broad outlines of Old
Testament history possess a typical meaning,
everything in the Old Testament Scriptures
has a spiritual value.
Every battle fought by the Israelites, every
change in the administration of their
government, every detail in their elaborate
ceremonialism, and every personal biography
narrated in the Bible, is designed for our
instruction and edification. The Bible
contains nothing that is superfluous. From
beginning to end the Scriptures testify of
Christ. Inanimate objects like the ark,
which tells of security in Christ from the
storms of Divine wrath; like the manna,
which speaks of Him as the Bread of Life;
like the brazen Serpent uplifted on the
pole, of the Tabernacle, which presents Him
as the meeting place of God and men - all
foreshadowed the Redeemer. Living creatures
like the Passover Lamb, the sacrificial
bullocks, goats and rams, all pointed
forward in general and in detail to the
great Sacrifice for sins. Institutions like
the Passover which prefigured His death;
like the waving of the first-fruits, which
forecast His resurrection; like the fast of
Pentecost with its two loaves baken with
leaven, telling of the uniting into one Body
of the Jew and the Gentile; like the Burnt,
the Meal and the Peace “sweet savor”
offerings, which proclaimed the excellency
of Christ’s person in the esteem of God -
all emblemized our blessed Saviour. And,
many of the leading personages of Old
Testament biography gave a remarkable
delineation of our Lord’s character and
earthly ministry.
Abel was a type of Christ. His name
signifies vanity and emptiness which
foreshadowed the Lord Jesus who “made
Himself of no reputation,” literally
“emptied Himself” (Phil. 2:7), when He
assumed the nature of man who is “like unto
vanity” (Ps. 72:9). By calling, Abel, was a
shepherd, and it was in his shepherd
character he brought an offering to God,
namely, the firstlings of his flock -
speaking of the Good Shepherd who offered
Himself to God. The offering which Abel
brought to God is termed an “excellent” one
(Heb. 11:4) and as such it pointed forward
to the precious blood of Christ, the value
of which cannot be estimated in silver and
gold. Abel’s offering was accepted by God,
God “testifying” His approval of it; and, in
like manner, God publicly witnessed to His
acceptance of Christ’s sacrifice when He
raised Him from the Dead (Acts 2:32). Abel’s
offering still speaks to God - “by it he
being dead, yet speaketh;” so, too, Christ’s
offering “speaks” to God (Heb. 12:24).
Though guilty of no offense, Abel was hated
by his brother and cruelly slain at his
hand, foreshadowing the treatment which the
Lord Jesus received at the hands of the Jews
- His brethren according to the flesh.
Isaac was a type of Christ. he was the child
of promise. His nativity was announced by an
angel. He was supernaturally begotten. He
was born at an appointed time. He was named
by God (Gen. 1: 18-19). He was the “seed” to
whom the promises were made and thro’ whom
they were secured. He became obedient unto
death. He carried on his own shoulder the
wood on which he was to be offered. He was
securely fastened to the alter. He was
presented as a sacrifice to God. He was
offered on Mount Moriah - the same on
which,two thousand years later, Jesus Christ
was offered. And, it was on the “third day”
that Abraham received him back “in a figure”
from the dead (Heb. 11:19).
Joseph is a type of Christ. He was Jacob’s
well-beloved son. He readily responded to
his father’s will when asked to go on a
mission to his brethren. While seeking his
brethren he became a “wanderer in the field”
(Gen. 37:15) - the “field” figuring the
world (see Matt. 13:38). He found his
brethren in Dothan which signifies the law -
so the Lord Jesus found His brethren under
the bondage of the law. His brethren mocked
and refused to receive him. His brethren
took counsel together against him that they
might put him to death. Judah (Judas is the
Greek form of the same word) advised his
brethren to sell Joseph to the Ishmaelites.
After he had been rejected by his brethren,
Joseph was taken down into Egypt in order
that he might become a Saviour to the world.
While in Egypt, Joseph was tempted, not
without any compromise he put from him the
evil solicitation. He was falsely accused
and thro’ no fault of his own was cast into
prison. There he was the interpreter of
dreams - the one who threw light on what was
mysterious. In prison he became the savor of
life to the butler, and the savor of death
to the baker. After a period of humiliation
and shame, he was exalted to the throne of
Egypt. From that throne he administered
bread to a hungering and perishing humanity.
Subsequently Joseph became known to his
brethren, and in fulfillment of what he had
previously announced to them, they bowed
down before him and owned his sovereignty.
Moses was a type of Christ. Moses became the
adopted son of Pharaoh’s daughter - so that
legally he had a mother but no father, thus
typifying our Lord’s miraculous birth of a
virgin. During infancy his life was
endangered by the evil designs of the ...
ruler. Like Christ’s, his early life was
spent in Egypt. Later, he renounced the
position of royalty, refusing to be called
the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; and he who
was rich, for the sake of his people, became
poor. Before he commenced His life’s work, a
long period was spent in Midian in
obscurity. Here he received a call and
commission from God to go to deliver his
brethren out of their terrible bondage. The
credentials of his mission were seen in the
miracles which he performed. Though despised
and rejected by the rulers in Egypt, he,
nevertheless, succeeded in delivering his
own people. Subsequently, he became the
leader and head of all Israel. In character
he was the meekest man in all the earth. In
all God’s house he was faithful as a
servant. In the wilderness he sent twelve
men to spy out Canaan as our Lord sent out
the twelve Apostles to preach the Gospel. He
fasted for forty days. On the mount he was
transfigured so that the skin of his face
shone. He acted as God’s prophet to the
people, as as the people’s intercessor
before God. He was the only man mentioned in
the Old Testament that was prophet, priest
and king. He was the giver of a Law, the
builder of a Tabernacle, and the organizer
of a Priesthood. His last act was to “bless
the people (Deut. 33:29), as our Lord’s last
act was to “bless” His disciples (Luke
24:50).
Samson was a type of Christ - see the Book
on Judges. An angel announced his birth
(13:3). From birth he was a Nazarite (13:5)
- separated to God. Before he was born it
was promised that he should be a saviour to
Israel (13:5). He was treated unkindly by
his own nation (15:11-13). He was delivered
up to the Gentiles by his own countrymen
(15:12). He was mocked and cruelly treated
by the Gentiles (16:19-21, 25) yet he was a
mighty deliverer of Israel. His miracles
were performed under the power of the Holy
Spirit (14:19). He accomplished more in his
death than he did in his life (16:30). He
was imprisoned in the enemy’s stronghold;
the gates were barred, and a watch was set;
yet, rising up at midnight, in the early
hours of the morning - “a great while before
day” - he burst the bars, broke open the
gate, and issued forth triumphant - a
remarkable type of our Lord’s resurrection.
He occupied the position of “judge,” as our
Lord will in the last great day.
David was a type of Christ. He was born in
Bethlehem. He is described as “of a
beautiful countenance and goodly to look
upon.” His name means “the beloved.” By
occupation he was a shepherd. During his
shepherd life he entered into conflict with
wild beasts. He slew Goliath - the opposer
of God’s people and a type of Satan. From
the obscurity of shepherdhood he was exalted
to Israel’s throne. He was anointed as king
before he was coronated. He was preeminently
a man of prayer (see the Psalms) and is the
only one in Scripture termed “The man after
God’s own heart.” He was a man of sorrows
and acquainted with grief, suffering chiefly
from those of his own household. Repeated
attempts were made upon his life by Israel’s
ruler. When his enemy (Saul) was in his
power he refused to slay him, instead, he
dealt with him in mercy and grace. He
delivered Israel from all their enemies and
vanquished all their foes.
Solomon was a type of Christ. He was
Israel’s king. His name signifies
“Peaceable,” and he foreshadows the
millennial reign of the Lord Jesus when He
shall rule as Prince of Peace. He was chosen
and ordained of God before he was crowned.
He rode upon another’s mule, not as a
warrior, but as the king of peace in lowly
guise (I Kings 1:33). Gentiles took part in
the coronation of Solomon (I Kings 1:38)
typifying the universal homage which Christ
shall receive during the millennium. The
Cherethites and Pelethites were soldiers, so
that Solomon was followed by an army at the
time of his coronation (I Kings 1:33; cp.
Rev. 19:11). Solomon began his reign by
showing mercy to and yet demanding
righteousness from Adonijah (I Kings 1:51) -
such will be the leading characteristics of
Christ’s millennial government. Solomon was
the builder of Israel’s Temple (cp. Acts
15:16). At the dedication of the Temple,
Solomon was the one who offered sacrifices
unto the Lord: thus the king fulfilled the
office of priest (I Kings 8:63), which
typifies the Lord Jesus who “shall be a
Priest upon His throne” (Zech. 6:13).
Solomon’s “fame” went abroad far and wide
and “all the earth sought to Solomon” (I
Kings 10:24). The queen of Sheba,
representing the Gentiles, came up to
Jerusalem to pay him homage (I Kings 10) as
all the nations will to Christ during the
millennium (see Zech. 14:16). All Israel’s
land enjoyed rest and peace. The glory and
magnificence of Solomon’s reign has never
been equaled before or since - “And the Lord
magnified Solomon exceedingly in the sight
of all Israel, and bestowed upon him such
royal majesty as had not been on any king
before him in Israel” (I Chron. 29:25).
In the above types we have not sought to be
exhaustive but suggestive by singling out
only the leading lines in each typical
picture. There are many other Old Testament
characters who were types of Christ which we
cannot now consider at length: - Adam
typified His Headship; Enoch His Ascension;
Noah as the provider of a Refuge; Jacob as
the one who served for a Wife; Aaron as the
great High Priest; Joshua as the Captain of
our salvation; Samuel as the Faithful
Prophet; Elijah as the Miracle worker;
Jeremiah as the despised and rejected
Servant of God; Daniel as the Faithful
Witness for God; Jonah as the One raised
from the dead on the third day.
In closing this chapter let us apply the
argument. Of the many typical persons in the
Old Testament who prefigure the Lord Jesus
Christ, the striking, the accurate, and the
manifold lights, in which each exhibits Him
is truly remarkable. No two of them
represent Him from exactly the same
viewpoint. Each one contributes a line or
two to the picture, but all are needed to
give a complete delineation. That an
authentic history should supply a series of
personages in different ages, whose
characters, offices, and histories, should
exactly correspond with those of Another who
did not appear upon earth until centuries
later, can only be accounted for on the
supposition of Divine appointment. When we
consider the utter dissimilarity of these
typical persons to one another; when we note
that they had little or nothing in common
with each other; when we remember that each
of them represents some peculiar feature in
a composite Anti type; we discover that we
have a literary phenomenon which is truly
remarkable. Abel, Isaac, Joseph, Moses,
Samson, David, Solomon (and all the others)
are each deficient when viewed separately;
but when looked at in conjunction they form
an harmonious whole, and give us a complete
representation of our Lord’s miraculous
birth, His peerless character, His life’s
mission, His sacrificial death, His
triumphant resurrection, His ascension to
heaven, and His millennial reign. Who could
have invented such character? How remarkable
that the earliest history in the world,
extending from the creation and reaching to
the last of the prophets - written by
various hands thro’ a period of fifteen
centuries - should from start to finish
concentrate in a single point, and that
point the person and work of the blessed
Redeemer! Verily, such a Book must have been
written by God - no other conclusion is
possible. Beneath the historical we discern
the spiritual: behind the incidental we
behold the typical: underneath the human
biographies we see the form of Christ, and
in these things we discover on every page of
the Old Testament the “watermark” of heaven.