Before we get back to the crucifixion of Christ, I think it’s important to illustrate the effectiveness of the ritual system in the Old Testament. Even before the Lord had given detailed instruction to Israel in Leviticus regarding a ritual system that included the Levitical offerings, the daily offerings, the sacrifices offered at each new moon and the specially designated holy days (Passover, Pentecost, Trumpets, the most solemn Day of Atonement and Tabernacles), those who lived prior to that time learned how to submit themselves to God and know Him through ritual sacrifices.
From righteous Abel (Genesis 4:4, Matthew 23:35), on to Noah and his family (Genesis 8:18-9:1), then to Abraham (Genesis 12:1-8), Isaac and Jacob (look at Matthew 8:11) and Joseph (Genesis 39:2), all these righteous men knew God and served Him.
Let me emphasize again what Jesus says in John 14:6. “Jesus said to him, I am the Way, the Truth and the Life; and no one comes to the Father except through Me.” The ritual sacrifices clearly taught the principle of substitutionary death and taught believers in the Old Testament to look forward to the time when Christ would carry out the reality of what those sacrifices represented. The blood of sacrificial animals created a graphic illustration of a life given on behalf of others.
And make no mistake about this – those mentioned above, and countless others, understood the meaning of those ritual sacrifices, knew the animal on the altar represented Christ on the cross and looked forward to the time when He would offer Himself as the perfect sacrifice that had been promised. In the Old Testament, the blood was literal and the judgment was symbolic; but on the cross, the blood was symbolic, while the judgment was literal.
Moses is a good example of someone in the Old Testament who learned from the system of ritual animal sacrifices and experienced intimacy with God. In Exodus 2 we see that from the time he was weaned Moses lived as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He was, no doubt, raised, educated and trained as an Egyptian. He knew little or nothing of the Hebrew culture or the Hebrew God. Follow with me as I show you the sequence of events that allowed Moses to respond to this ritual system so he could learn to know God.
In Genesis 25:1-6 we see the record of Abraham’s second family. After Sarah had died, Abraham took Keturah as his wife and she bore him six sons. One of them was named Midian. Before he died, Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac. But to his other sons, he gave gifts and sent them away into the country to the east.
When we look at Exodus 2:15, 16 we pick up the story of Moses. When he was about 40 years old, Moses went out to see how his people were being treated, got involved in a situation and killed an Egyptian. Verse 15 tells us that Pharaoh wanted to kill him and Moses fled to Midian, where he meets Jethro, the priest of Midian.
Now, the area that was then known as Midian was the place that Abraham’s son, Midian had settled. It was the Arabian Peninsula. And Jethro is a direct descendant of Abraham through Midian (Moses is also a direct descendant of Abraham through Isaac). And further, Jethro is the priest of Midian. He’s the one responsible for carrying on the traditions of the ritual system handed down to him from Abraham, Midian and others. For the next 40 years of his life, Moses will live with Jethro, experience the ritual system, and learn how to have a relationship with the God of Israel (Acts 7:29, 30).
We know that Jethro understood this ritual system, because later in Exodus 18:9-12 he meets up with Moses and Israel in the wilderness 3 months after they had left Egypt. The account tells us that he is given the honor of presenting a burnt offering and sacrifices to the Lord in thanksgiving and celebration of the Lord’s greatness and Israel’s freedom.
And make no mistake about this; Moses did learn how to have a relationship with God that was real. He learned to submit himself to God. He learned to hear the still, small voice of God. He learned to seek God for direction and purpose. And he learned how to follow that purpose regardless of personal cost to himself. And at this point I have to remind you of the fact that he did all this without a Bible, without a church and Sunday School, without the interference of a pastor and pastoral staff and without a Christian bookstore where he could run to buy the latest how-to, self-help books that don’t actually tell you how to and don’t really help.
The conclusion of this matter is found in Hebrews 11:24-27. Here we see that Moses came to a point in his life where he preferred to be identified with the people of God. And that through faith, he willingly endured the hardships and bore the abuse of the world for the sake of the Christ that he looked forward to. He ignored the opposition of Pharaoh and by faith he held steadfastly to the purpose of God as one who lived continually in the presence of the invisible God.
And again, the faith that Moses had was not a result of what he read in a book. It wasn’t a system of doctrine that someone had taught him. His faith was real. It was founded in what God said to him personally. Moses didn’t follow a denomination, a church or a man. He followed God. His faith rested in the same things our faith must rest in, personal revelation, submission and obedience to a living God.
Now, in the next several lessons we’ll examine just how Christ took upon Himself the sins of mankind and paid the penalty due a righteous God, fulfilling all that was pictured in the Old Testament and promised in the New.