Bible Study - Scripture Interprets Scripture and Points to Christ

I was surprised at the number of Scriptures in our Old Testament reading this week that were quoted later on in the Scriptures or at least alluded to. It was a good reminder that the Scriptures themselves help us to interpret other Scriptures, most especially when a Biblical writer, inspired by the Holy Spirit, is referring to another Scripture passage himself. Old Testament Scriptures are so often pointing forward to the future, too, and especially pointing to the saving work of our Lord Jesus Christ, at the center of the Triune God’s work for us, revealed in God’s Word. Here are just a few examples. Be watching for these.

In Romans 3:10-12, Paul quotes from Psalm 14:1-3 and its parallel, Psalm 53:1-3, along with Ecclesiastes 7:20. In the verses that follow, in Romans 3:13-18, Paul refers to at least seven other Old Testament Scriptures which also make his point that we are all sinners who need the saving work of Jesus. Later on, in Romans 11:26, Paul refers to Psalm 14:7, in saying that “the Deliverer,” who brings salvation, “would come from Zion“ and bless the descendants of “Jacob,” just as Jesus came to do for them and for the New Israel, all believers in Christ. Also, as Psalm 14:4 speaks of “evildoers who eat up God’s people as they eat bread,” Paul reminds believers in Galatians 5:14-15 that they are to “love their neighbors as themselves.” But, he says, “if you bite and devour one another (in sharp disagreements), watch out that you are not consumed by one another.”

Look also at Isaiah 29:11-19. Jesus quotes very directly from this passage, in Mark 7:6-7 (and in the parallel passage in Matthew 15:8-9), showing that His fellow Jews had the same problem in His day as many Jews had in the time of Isaiah’s prophecy, following human commandments and not the Word of God. Jesus had come into the world to help those literally “deaf and blind,” but also those spiritually deaf and blind, for whom the Scriptures seemed to be like a “sealed” book. Jesus showed this for John the Baptist, in prison, and his disciples, too, by referring to the prediction in Isaiah 29:18-19 that when the Savior came, He would help the deaf and blind and the spiritually poor. He would help them “exult in the Holy One of Israel,” for He was the promised Holy One and their Savior.

We heard last week that Peter was brought to that faith and belief in Jesus as “the Holy One of God.” Peter said, in John 6:68-69, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” Paul also quotes from Isaiah 29:13 in 1 Corinthians 1:19, where He shows that many people who thought they were so “wise and discerning” were missing the one most important One for their lives and future, Jesus “Christ crucified,” “the Power of God and the true Wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1:23-24).

I could go on and on with more examples, but the point is that the Scriptures of the Old Testament are rich with Scriptures that point us to the New Testament and to Christ Jesus as our Savior above all. Paul reminded a young pastor, Timothy, “From childhood, you have been acquainted with the sacred writings which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 3:15). That is the greatest wisdom, in Christ our Wisdom. As John said, “These things are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:30-31). Keep reading and listening to the Scriptures, and let them interpret God’s Word for you, with Christ as the Key. If you have a Bible with cross references, they can help you find passages like the ones I have mentioned. There are so many.