The Lamb of God: Seeing Jesus in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy is the second book from Nancy Guthrie’s Seeing Jesus in the Old Testament series that I’ve had the privilege of working through. I’ve been eager to read more of these since I first reviewed The Promised One: Seeing Jesus in Genesis last year. 

I’ve been working through The Lamb of God alongside my Bible reading plan and it is fantastic! The format for this study is the same as in The Promised One. Each week (except the first week) begins with a “Personal Bible Study” section that guides the reader through the passage for the week with questions, charts, and related Scripture passages, followed by the meat of the study, called the”Teaching Chapter”. The teaching chapter is followed by a short section called “Looking Forward”, which is designed to show how what we’ve just studied gives insight into what is still to come when Christ returns. Finally, there’s a short discussion guide meant to be used in group studies.

The ten weeks cover:

• A Prophet Like Me
• Slavery and a Savior (Exodus 1-4)
• Plagues and Passover (Exodus 5-12)
• Salvation and Provision (Exodus 13-17)
• The Giving of the Law (Exodus 19-24)
• The Tabernacle (Exodus 25-40)
• The Priesthood (Exodus 28-29)
• Sacrifice and Sanctification (Leviticus)
• In the Wilderness (Numbers)
• Love and Obey (Deuteronomy)

As you can see, the majority of the book (seven of ten weeks) is spent on the book of Exodus, and just like in the first volume, it continually ties every passage to the larger story of redemption. The continuity of Scripture is something I think is absolutely essential to grasp. It’s not a series of disconnected events, stories, and writings, but one big story pointing to Jesus Christ. The events of the Exodus, the giving of the Law, the tabernacle and entire sacrificial system, all point to the coming Redeemer, down to the last detail, and Nancy Guthrie shows this in a clear, insightful, and incredibly edifying way. The weeks spent on the tabernacle, priesthood, and sacrificial system are phenomenal!

Throughout the history of his dealings with Israel, God provided his people with context and categories they would need to understand Jesus. When he gave instructions for the tabernacle, the priesthood, and the sacrifices, he was not simply setting up a religious system that would be an end in itself. They were not means of worship that were replaced because they didn’t work out. They were always meant to be temporary. In the tabernacle, priesthood, and sacrifices, God was providing a framework, a set of categories, that would help his people to understand the ministry of Jesus when he came. In every aspect of the priesthood-calling, it’s clothing, it’s consecration and commission-we see shadows cast backward into Israel’s history by our Great High Priest, Jesus himself. (p. 172)

Each week (except the first week) begins with a “Personal Bible Study” section that guides the reader through the passage for the week with questions, charts, and related Scripture passages. For those short on time, the most crucial questions are marked with a clock symbol. This is followed by the meat of the study, called the”Teaching Chapter”. Ms. Guthrie has a gift for expressing herself that makes this section a real feast for the soul. She’s able to tie every passage in to the larger storyline of redemption in an understandable, insightful, and incredibly edifying way. Each teaching chapter closes with a short section on”How Genesis Points to What is Yet to Come”, which further points to the continuity of the story, and shows how foundational the book of Genesis is to all the major themes of Scripture.

The study begins, appropriately, with a discussion of the story of Jesus and the disciples on the Emmaus Road:

And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. (Luke 24:27)

The goal isn’t just to pick out specific prophecies and promises of Jesus, though:

More profoundly, the whole of the Old Testament was designed by God to provide a context within which we can understand the necessity of the suffering and the certainty of the glorification of Christ. In fact, without the Old Testament foundation of fall, curse, law, sacrifice, temple, priesthood, and salvation, then the cross, resurrection, and glorification of Christ would make little sense. (p. 19)

What I believe about the importance of understanding the “big picture” is so eloquently expressed here that I’ll quote it at length:

As Jesus worked his way through the writings of Moses and the prophets, he didn’t merely point out specific prophecies that he fulfilled, which is what my understanding of how the Old Testament points to Christ has been limited to for most of my life (i.e., that he would be born in Bethlehem and that he would enter Jerusalem riding on a donkey). And he didn’t use Old Testament characters or situations as examples to instruct the two disciples on how to live the life of faith, which is how many of us have always heard the Old Testament taught.

It is doubtful that he turned to the story of Noah and began teaching them that they needed to obey God even when it meant going against the crowd. More likely he turned to the story of Noah, the one whose name means rest, and said, “Hide yourself in me like Noah and his family hid themselves inside the ark and were saved from the judgment.” He didn’t turn to the story of Abraham offering Isaac and tell these disciples that they needed to be willing to give up what is most precious to them for their God. Instead, perhaps he said something like, “See how this father was willing to offer up his only son as a sacrifice? Can you see that this is what my Father did when I was lifted up on the cross?” He didn’t turn to the story of Joseph to teach them that they should flee temptation. More likely he said something like, “Remember how Joseph became the one person that everyone in the world came to for food in the famine? That’s me. I am the bread of life, the one to whom all men and women must come to find life. 

Jesus didn’t work his way through Genesis to point out what we must do for God, but to help us see clearly what God has done for us through Christ.  

As we read the Old Testament, we don’t want to merely make observations about the behavior of the godly and godless and then try harder to be like the godly and less like the godless. Instead, we must realize that there are no true heroes in the Old Testament. No one is perfectly and persistently pleasing to God-the judges aren’t strong enough, the kings aren’t good enough, the prophets aren’t clear enough, and the priests aren’t pure enough. 

The Old Testament serves to point out our cavernous need for a better law keeper, a better judge, a better prophet, a better priest, a better king. Jesus must have looked Cleopas and his companion in the eyes that day, and said, “That’s me. I’m the one the whole of the Old Testament points to. I’m the one God intended to send all along.” 

The Old Testament is an uncompleted story, a promise waiting for it’s fulfillment. And Jesus is that fulfillment. (p. 19-21)

The subsequent weeks build on this foundation as they go through the text of Genesis from beginning to end, looking at every event through gospel eyes, recognizing Jesus in the people, the promises, the stories, the symbols, and the shadows.

Even though the study is designed to be done in a group, I’ve been reading through it myself and very much enjoying it! I’m finding it truly rich and edifying, and in a group with discussion I’m sure it would be even more so.

Individually, with just a couple of friends, or in a small group or Sunday school class, this study won’t fail to have an impact. I highly recommend it and can’t wait to dive into the next volume, The Wisdom of God: Seeing Jesus in the Psalms and Wisdom Books , which releases in February. I’ll share my thoughts on it once I’ve had an opportunity to look at it.