(by pastor Jean)

There are many, many things in the Old Testament which are types and shadows of the New Testament. Think of what happened when God told Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac (Gen 22:1-19). Abraham prepared wood for his sacrifice just as Jesus died on a wooden cross. Abraham had to prepare his sacrifice on the third day and it was on the third day that Jesus was raised from the dead. The ram for Abraham’s sacrifice was caught in a thicket or thorn bush pointing to the thorny crown that Jesus wore. Then in Leviticus 16:5-28 we read about the “scape goat” and the day of Atonement. The High Priest laid his hands on the goat and confessed all the sins of the children of Israel and the goat was taken into the wilderness. Jesus became our scape goat and we no longer need a day of Atonement because Jesus completely wiped away our sins (Isa 53:6). Then there is the bronze serpent of Numbers 21:4-9 which Moses instructed the children of Israel to make and put it on a pole which points to the cross. All they had to do if they were bitten by a snake was to look at it and they were healed. In the same way, if we fully put our trust in Jesus we are saved, which includes healing. Thirdly, we read about the Passover lamb in Exodus 12:1-28. The sacrificial lamb had to be perfect and its blood was put on their doorposts so no one would be harmed by the death angel. Jesus is our sacrificial Lamb. On the day Jesus was crucified He died at around 3 in the afternoon which was the same afternoon as the Passover lambs were sacrificed in the temple (Matt 27:45-50, Mk 15:33-37, Luke 23:44-46). How remarkable is that?