as recorded in the Old
Testament, is the preliminary history of the incarnation. The whole
sacrificial system of the levitical priesthood told out beforehand, in
many ways, what the great redemptive work of the Lamb of God was to be.
Each offering and sacrifice revealed the different phases of His work on
the cross, as well as His holy and spotless humanity. The sufferings of
Christ and their meaning for lost sinners were thus made known. From
Abel's lamb to the last lamb, which died before the true Lamb of God
uttered the never to be forgotten words on the cross, "It is finished,"
the thousands of lambs and bulls and goats, the innumerable herds of
animals slain, were all types of the one great sacrifice, brought on
Calvary's cross. The tabernacle in all its appointments, down to the
minutest details, had I some meaning in connection with the Person of
Him who is "Wonderful" and His wonderful work. And what else could we
say of the historical events, such as the Passover, the passage through
the Red Sea, the brazen serpent hung up in the wilderness. And to this
we might add how men in their experiences, like Isaac, Joseph, David and
others foreshadowed the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should
follow.

Direct Prophecies.

Still more numerous are the direct prophecies announcing the different
phases of the work of Christ. That He should appear as man, how and
where He should be born, His life, His service, His miracles, all was
repeatedly foretold by the Prophets. But the great mass of predictions
concern His sufferings as the sin-bearer and His glories as the King.
None of the details of His sufferings were omitted. Think, for instance,
of the predictions contained in the xxii Psalm. Death by crucifixion was
unknown among the Jewish people. No nation in touch with Israel, living
at that time, put human beings to death in that way. It was reserved for
cruel Rome to invent death; by crucifixion. Yet in this Psalm there is
given by divine inspiration a complete picture of that unknown mode of
death by crucifixion. We read of His hands and feet pierced, the bones
out of joint, the excessive thirst, the tongue cleaving to the jaws. And
so we find His resurrection, His presence with God, His coming again and
His Kingdom of Righteousness and Glory foretold in the Prophets.

The Inspiration of the Old Testament.

We emphasize these facts of divine foreshadowing and prediction, because
in these last days thousands