Finding JESUS in the Old Testament

The whole Bible is supposed to be about Jesus, even the Old Testament. It is there that we find prophesies and foreshadows of the coming Messiah and Savior. As I was reading through the Old Testament this month and tried to find a reference to Him in each book. There are several books with obvious references to Christ, some with more of a “shadow" but there are a few books that it was rather hard to find Him in. Those of the last category are marked with*. If you find something better to use for those books, be sure to comment!

Genesis 3:15

[God speaking to Satan:] “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel."

Exodus 12:5-7, 13

“Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats. Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it… Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you…”

Leviticus 16:5

 And he shall take from the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats as a sin offering, and one ram as a burnt offering.

Numbers 21:8-9

Then the Lord said to Moses, "Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live." So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.

Deuteronomy 18:15

"The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear…”

Joshua 2:18-19, 21

“…unless, when we come into the land, you bind this line of scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and unless you bring your father, your mother, your brothers, and all your father's household to your own home. 19 So it shall be that whoever goes outside the doors of your house into the street, his blood shall be on his own head, and we will be guiltless. And whoever is with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head if a hand is laid on him…” And she bound the scarlet cord in the window.

Judges 13:18

And the Angel of the Lord said to him, "Why do you ask My name, seeing it is wonderful?"

Ruth 4:9-10

And Boaz said to the elders and all the people, "You are witnesses this day that I have bought all that was Elimelech's, and all that was Chilion's and Mahlon's, from the hand of Naomi. Moreover, Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of Mahlon, I have acquired as my wife, to perpetuate the name of the dead through his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brethren and from his position at the gate.”

1 Samuel 2:35

“Then I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest who shall do according to what is in My heart and in My mind. I will build him a sure house, and he shall walk before My anointed forever.”

2 Samuel 7:16

“And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever."

*1 Kings 7:21

Then he set up the pillars by the vestibule of the temple; he set up the pillar on the right and called its name Jachin [“he establishes”], and he set up the pillar on the left and called its name Boaz [“in him is strength”].

2 Kings 4:42-44

 Then a man came from Baal Shalisha, and brought [Elisha] bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley bread, and newly ripened grain in his knapsack. And he said, "Give it to the people, that they may eat." But his servant said, "What? Shall I set this before one hundred men?" He said again, "Give it to the people, that they may eat; for thus says the Lord: 'They shall eat and have some left over.' " So he set it before them; and they ate and had some left over, according to the word of the Lord.

*1 Chronicles 17:10b

“Furthermore I tell you that the Lord will build you a house.”

*2 Chronicles 3:1

Now Solomon began to build the house of the Lord at Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to his father David, at the place that David had prepared on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.

*Ezra 6:19

And the descendants of the captivity kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month.

*Nehemiah 13:7-9

I came to Jerusalem and discovered the evil that Eliashib had done for Tobiah, in preparing a room for him in the courts of the house of God. And it grieved me bitterly; therefore I threw all the household goods of Tobiah out of the room. Then I commanded them to cleanse the rooms; and I brought back into them the articles of the house of God

*Esther 4:14

“For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?"

Job 19:25

“For I know that my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth…”

Psalm 22:14-18

I am poured out like water, and all My bones are out of joint; My heart is like wax; it has melted within Me. My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and My tongue clings to My jaws; You have brought Me to the dust of death. For dogs have surrounded Me; the congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet; I can count all My bones. They look and stare at Me. They divide My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots.

*Proverbs 8:35

For whoever finds me finds life, and obtains favor from the Lord…

*Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man's all. For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil.

Song of Songs 4:8

Come with me from Lebanon, my spouse, with me from Lebanon. Look from the top of Amana, from the top of Senir and Hermon, from the lions' dens, from the mountains of the leopards.

Isaiah 53:5-6

But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

Jeremiah 23:5-6

"Behold, the days are coming," says the Lord, "that I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; a King shall reign and prosper, and execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell safely; now this is His name by which He will be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.”

Lamentations 3:58

“O Lord, You have pleaded the case for my soul; You have redeemed my life.”

Ezekiel 34:23

I will establish one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them--My servant David. He shall feed them and be their shepherd.

Daniel 7:13-14

"I was watching in the night visions, and behold, One like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him. Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed.

Hosea 3:1-2

Then the Lord said to me, "Go again, love a woman who is loved by a lover and is committing adultery, just like the love of the Lord for the children of Israel, who look to other gods and love the raisin cakes of the pagans." So I bought her for myself for fifteen shekels of silver, and one and one-half homers of barley.

Joel 3:21

“For I will acquit them of the guilt of bloodshed, whom I had not acquitted; for the Lord dwells in Zion."

Amos 9:11

"On that day I will raise up The tabernacle of David, which has fallen down, and repair its damages; I will raise up its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old…”

Obadiah 1:17

"But on Mount Zion there shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness; the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.”

Jonah 1:17

And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

Micah 5:2

"But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting."

*Nahum 1:15

Behold, on the mountains the feet of him who brings good tidings, who proclaims peace!

*Habakkuk 3:18

Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.

Zephaniah 3:15 & 17

The Lord has taken away your judgments, He has cast out your enemy. The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst… The Lord your God in your midst, the Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing."

*Haggai 2:23

'In that day,' says the Lord of hosts, 'I will take you, Zerubbabel My servant, the son of Shealtiel,' says the Lord, 'and will make you like a signet ring; for I have chosen you,' says the Lord of hosts." (Zerubbabel was a descendant of King David and in line of Christ)

Zechariah 6:12-13 (there are several in this book)

Thus says the Lord of hosts, saying: "Behold, the Man whose name is the BRANCH! From His place He shall branch out, and He shall build the temple of the Lord; Yes, He shall build the temple of the Lord. He shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule on His throne; so He shall be a priest on His throne, and the counsel of peace shall be between them both."

Malachi 3:1-3

"And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple, even the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight. Behold, He is coming," says the Lord of Hosts. "But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner's fire and like launderer's soap. He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer to the Lord an offering in righteousness.