“156 Pictures of Christ in the Old Testament”: An Introduction

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Welcome!

This series of articles will be a reflection upon the book 156 Pictures of Christ in the Old Testament (all drawn with pencil) by Rex Beck. I had the privilege of hearing the author speak a series of messages over this topic, and would like to walk through my notes and through the pages that he skipped to better digest the material. I hope that in writing this out for all to read, 1) many could be helped in their walk with the Lord, 2) some would be inspired to do their own study on this topic, and 3) I could have accountability to be more diligent in my personal pursuit of Jesus Christ.

With that said, why study Christ in the Old Testament? As a Christian, isn’t reading the New Testament enough to know about Jesus, the gospel, and salvation? What is there to gain from reading this series?

1. This was firstly the Lord’s idea. When Jesus appeared to his disciples after his resurrection, Luke records two stories where He references the Old Testament as being concerning Himself:

And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he [Jesus] interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself…. They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?”

Luke 24:27, 32

Then he [Jesus] said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.

Luke 24:44-45

2. To know the facts, i.e. what does the Bible actually say? A spiritual man once described the relationship between Facts, Faith, and Experience as three men walking along a wall. When Faith follows Facts and Experience follows Faith, then you can grow healthily. But if Faith turns his head to look at Experience, they will both fall off the wall.  In other words, the foundation of your faith should always be what the Bible actually says, not what you think the Bible says nor your own experiences. Knowing the facts gives us a bigger foundation to build faith on.
   
   How can a Christian be so firm as to say, “I would die for this?” Not by their feelings, but by standing on the entirety of Scripture and seeing Christ.

3. The benefit of Old Testament “pictures” in understanding who Christ is. Although the book itself has actual drawn pictures, all similar in style to the one on the cover, the “pictures” referred to in the book title are people, situations, or statements that are “types” of the Christ who was to come. The saying “a picture is worth a thousand words” can hold very true when it comes to the Bible. These pictures show some aspect of who Jesus is in a way that can inform, broaden, challenge, encourage, and/or wow us. (Note: the language of “type” comes from Paul in Romans 5:14, who calls Adam “a type of the one who was to come.” This also happens to be the first picture we will cover!)

As we go through this book, I hope that in knowing the facts in the Old Testament and seeing these pictures of Christ, we can begin to know, appreciate, and experience our Lord in more specific ways. May our hearts burn when He opens our minds to see Him in all the scriptures. Together, let’s leave behind the days of “I don’t know, the Lord is just good” to “Today, the Lord’s provisions were as ten fat oxen and twenty pasture fed cattle to me!” (see page 61 in 156 Pictures or 1 Kings 4:22-23).

Have any inspirations or questions about the content of the article? Or do you just want to say hello and introduce yourself? We’d love to hear from all our readers! Leave a comment or send an email to editors@asweetsavor.org with the title of this post in the subject line. If you are burning to engage with us, but don’t know what to say, here are some questions that could be a help: 

1. Some Old Testament passages about the person or experiences of Christ are well-known, like Isaiah 53. Is there any lesser known Scripture in the Old Testament about Christ that has impacted your life? 
2. Was there a time in your life when you realized you were basing your faith on your experience and not the facts of the Bible? What happened, and how did you come to that realization?
3. How would you describe the state of your own pursuit of the Lord? How do you hope to grow in the Lord in the coming year?