CHAPTER ONE
THE SCRIPTURES WERE
GIVEN TO REVEAL JESUS
Rightly understood, the prophecies are just as important and contain
just as much concerning the Gospel as other portions of Scripture. God
inspired the prophets to write the prophecies of Scripture in order that
by them men might find salvation. The Bible is not a book
composed of portions containing the essential facts of the Gospel and
other less important parts containing the prophecies. Satan seeks to
deflect the moral purpose of prophecies and, by false interpretations,
robs them of their vitality.
The opening words of the Apocalypse distinctly inform us that the
prophecies in this wonderful book have been given as "the
Revelation of Jesus Christ" (Rev. 1:1). A study of the underlying
principles upon which the Revelation is based enables us to know that all
Bible prophecies are a "Revelation of Jesus Christ" as the
Saviour of those who put their trust in Him, and the Destroyer of evil.
Interpretations of prophecies which do not set forth in clearer light
the Gospel of Christ are not God-inspired. Interpretations of prophecies
which do not find their center in Jesus as Saviour, or as Destroyer of
evil, are wrong applications of Scripture.
In the old sanctuary, and later in the temple of the Jews, only those
dedicated to the holy office of the priesthood were permitted to view
the wonderful glories to be seen within the sacred edifice. And only
those whose lives are dedicated to God are permitted to see the inner
beauties of the temple of truth. Said Jesus to the Jewish leaders:
"Search the Scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life:
and they are they which testify of Me" (John 5:39, 46).
The New Testament shows how Jesus brought fulfillment to the Old
Testament prophecies. In the unfolding of the Gospel, the New Testament
employs 1,500 quotations of sentences and phrases from the Old Testament
Scriptures. The first verse of Matthew shows one of the main reasons for
the writing of the book of Matthew and the New Testament; namely, to
show the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies in Jesus and His
work of salvation. Through Jesus the fulfillment of the Old Testament
prophecies is made certain. (See 2 Cor. 1:20; Acts 13:27-37.) The book
of Matthew contains 99 direct references to the Old Testament
Scriptures. Nine times he employed the formula, "That it might be
fulfilled" (see Matt. 1:22, 23; 2:15, 17, 23, etc.), and at other
times he referred to the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies,
saying. For thus it is written by the prophet" (Matt. 2:5);
"Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by the prophet"
(Matt. 27:9); "But all this was done, that the Scriptures of the
prophets might be fulfilled" (Matt. 26:56); "For it is
written" (Matt. 26:31, etc.). Thus Matthew illustrates the burden
of the writers of the New Testament to show that Jesus' birth, life,
ministry, death, resurrection, and the development of His church and her
work, all fulfill the prophecies of the Old Testament.
The first words we read in Matthew's Gospel direct our minds back to
the prophecies which were given to David and Abraham. While Solomon was
the son who sat upon David's throne in the days immediately following
the prediction, the longer and the real fulfillment is to be fulfilled
by "a greater than Solomon" (Matt. 12:42). The peacefulness
and the wisdom of the earlier part of Solomon's reign when people came
from afar to learn of him, find their larger application in Christ.
David was to have a son who would sit upon his throne (2 Sam. 7:12, 13,
16; Luke 1:32, 33). Abraham was promised a son who would be the channel
of blessing. Isaac was the immediate fulfillment; but Isaac prefigured
the greater fulfillment in Jesus Who, through His church, blesses the
world (Gal. 3:16, 29; 4:28). The Old Testament prophecies which set
forth the coming of the sons of Abraham and David are concentrated in
the first verse of Matthew: "The book of the generation of Jesus
Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham." Thus, from its
commencement, the New Testament takes the things of the Old Testament
and applies them in connection with Christ and His work of redemption.
Christ and His salvation is the central theme of the Bible, and to make
plain the way of salvation was the sole purpose for which the Scriptures
were written. As the sun is reflected in each of the millions of
dew-drops, so Jesus, "the Light of the world," shines forth in
every chapter of the Bible.
"In every page, whether history, or precept, or prophecy,
the Old Testament Scriptures are irradiated with the glory of the Son of
God. So far as it was of divine institution, the entire system of
Judaism was a compacted prophecy of the gospel. To Christ 'give all
the prophets witness' (Acts 10:43)." "The Desire of
Ages," p.211.
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