Foreshadowing: be a warning or indication of a future event
One of the means of communication our Lord uses throughout the Old Testament and in the gospels is the tool of Foreshadowing.
The Lord explains and shows certain things that He is doing through the events and lives recorded in scripture. The story's imagery gives us a mental picture of what it looks like to Him.
Foreshadowing is a tool for elevating our minds and imaginations so that we can better understand our Lord and His workings and concentrate more on Him.
A couple of illustrations:
Following Adam’s sin, he and Eve make themselves aprons of Fig Leaves and hide among the trees when they hear God's voice calling for them.
This is a foreshadowing of what will come.
Studying the Bible, we learn that the Fig Tree is a chosen Image to represent the nation of Israel pictorially in the scriptures.
Adam and Eve being covered by their aprons of fig leaves pictures that humanity would be covered by the works of Israel’s religious law, but ultimately, the works of the Law would not satisfy once our Lord Christ appears; these are unsatisfactory. Sin cannot be allowed to exist in the presence of God.
When we get the book of Galatians, the Lord, through the Apostle Paul, teaches us that the Law was a schoolmaster to demonstrate that sin couldn't simply be covered. It had to be eliminated.
We observe for a short season that Adam and Eve wore these aprons and existed amongst the garden trees, but once the Lord entered in, the sacrifice was needed.
Just as Israel was called to be a kingdom of priests in Exodus nine-teen, they stood before God to the nations, offering sacrifices unto God until sin was abolished in Christ, so we see the picture in Eden.
But once Christ came to the Earth in His first advent, sacrifice was the goal so that sin would be cleansed, not covered.
So we learn from Adam and Eve’s aprons of fig leaves that sin would be covered for a season by the Law, but ultimately, humanity would never find acceptance in the sight of God only by Christ’s sacrifice and being clothed by His righteousness.
Another foreshadowing of this exact nature of Israel as priests and the Law as coverings is found in Genesis eighteen.
Abraham is praying vigilantly for the Lord to spare Sodom, ultimately for the sake of Lot and Lot’s family.
Here again, we find a foreshadowing: Abraham, the Father of the Jews, operating as a priest, making intercession on behalf of the people of Sodom and Gomorrah.
We must not suppose these things but rather compare scripture with scripture. The New Testament will validate accurate interpretations of Old Testament foreshadowings. So will the gospels, as Jesus explains many of the pictures given in the Old Testament and their meanings.
I would recommend a believer who desires to follow the threads of scripture utilize the Thompson Chain Reference Bible and follow the text system provided in the center margin of the particular study bible.
I hope this will inspire our readers to examine the Scriptures with care and dedication to detail.
Our Lord has so much to teach us through the Bible!
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