I.        INTRODUCTION

A.      The Jews of the first century trusted in the Scriptures for salvation, but they failed to see that Jesus was the salvation of which the Scriptures testified.

                                                             1.      Jesus said to them, "You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life” (John 5:39-40).

                                                             2.      The Old Testament writings are filled with more than three-hundred prophecies of the Christ, all of which were fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth.  He is the Messiah of the Old Testament Scriptures.

B.      The Jews especially trusted in Moses’ writings, but they did not believe that Moses had written about Jesus.

                                                             1.      Moses’ writings consist of the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.  All Jews accepted these books as their God-given law.

                                                             2.      In John 5:45-47, Jesus said to the unbelieving Jews, "Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; the one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have set your hope.  For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me.  But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”

                                                             3.      Because the Jews had Moses’ writings, they were without excuse for rejecting Jesus.  Moses had written about Jesus, but they refused to accept either the words of Moses or the words of Jesus.

C.      Let us consider what Moses wrote of Jesus so that we may increase our belief in Jesus as the Christ.

II.      WHAT DID MOSES WRITE ABOUT JESUS?

A.      Moses wrote that Jesus would crush Satan.

                                                             1.      Moses wrote that when the serpent tempted Eve into sin, God pronounced the serpent’s punishment, saying, "And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise Him on the heel” (Gen. 3:15).

                                                             2.      The serpent in the garden of Eden was Satan, for Revelation 12:9 describes him as "the great dragon… the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world.”

                                                             3.      The seed of the woman who would crush Satan was Jesus.  Galatians 4:4 says of Him, "But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law.”

                                                             4.      Through His death on the cross and resurrection from the grave, Jesus overcame Satan.  Notice Hebrews 2:14-15 – "Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.”

B.      Moses wrote that all nations would be blessed through Jesus.

                                                             1.      Moses recorded the promises given to Abraham, including the promise of blessings to all nations through Abraham’s seed.  Notices this promise from the book of Genesis.

a.       Genesis 12:3 – "And I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse.  And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”

b.       Genesis 22:18 – "In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”

                                                             2.      The promised seed of Abraham is Jesus Christ, which is confirmed in Galatians 3:16 – "Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, ‘And to seeds,’ as referring to many, but rather to one, ‘And to your seed,’ that is, Christ.”

a.       Of course, Jesus was descended from Abraham.  Notice how He is identified in Matthew 1:1 as "Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham.”

b.       Through this message, the writings of Moses gave an early view of the gospel of Christ, which was received by Abraham.  Notice Galatians 3:8 – "The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, ‘All the nations will be blessed in you.’”

C.      Moses wrote that Jesus would be the ruler of all people.

                                                             1.      Moses recorded Jacob’s final words to his sons.  In Genesis 49:9-10, Jacob said of Judah:

"Judah is a lion’s whelp; from the prey, my son, you have gone up.  He couches, he lies down as a lion, and as a lion, who dares rouse him up?  The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until Shiloh comes, and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.”

                                                             2.      Jesus is the fulfillment of Jacob’s words, for He is the sovereign ruler over all mankind.

a.       Jesus was descended from Judah (Matt. 1:2; Luke 3:33).

b.       Revelation 5:5 describes Jesus as "the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah.”

c.        Jesus was given all authority in heaven and earth (Matt. 28:18), and He was made both Lord and Christ (Acts 2:36).

                                                             3.      A similar prophecy was recorded by Moses in the oracles of Balaam – "I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near; a star shall come forth from Jacob, a scepter shall rise from Israel, and shall crush through the forehead of Moab, and tear down all the sons of Sheth” (Num. 24:17).

D.      Moses wrote that Jesus would be a Prophet like himself to whom the Jews must listen.

                                                             1.      In Deuteronomy 18:15, Moses prophesied, "The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen, you shall listen to him.”

                                                             2.      By the first century, the Jews were looking for the fulfillment of Moses’ prophecy, and Jesus was the answer.

a.       Some of the Jews recognized Him from Moses’ words.  Notice John 6:14 – "Therefore when the people saw the sign which He had performed, they said, ‘This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.’”

b.       Peter declared that Jesus was the expected Prophet in Acts 3:22-23, 26 – "Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren; to Him you shall give heed to everything He says to you.  And it will be that every soul that does not heed that Prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.’…For you first, God raised up His Servant and sent Him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways.”

c.        Stephen likewise connected the words of Moses to Jesus in Acts 7:37 – "This is the Moses who said to the sons of Israel, ‘God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren.’”

III.   BELIEVE THE WRITINGS OF MOSES

A.      Those who believed the writings of Moses recognized that Jesus fulfilled them.

                                                             1.      Notice the words of Philip in John 1:45 – "We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote--Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”

                                                             2.      Moses and the Prophets wrote their words by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit so that faithful men like Philip would recognize the Lord Jesus when He came.  Notice 1Peter 1:10-12:

As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries, seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow.  It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven--things into which angels long to look.

B.      The same is still true today.

                                                             1.      The words of Moses and the Prophets were not only for the Jews, but they were also preserved for us so that we would also believe that Jesus is the Christ.

                                                             2.      Consider again John 5:39-40, 45-47, and notice the responsibility we have as possessors of God’s word concerning Jesus and salvation:

"You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life…Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; the one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have set your hope.  For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me.  But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”

IV.    CONCLUSION

A.      The Bible truly is the story of Jesus our Savior.  Moses wrote of Jesus just as the other Bible writers wrote of Him, for they were telling the story of our salvation brought about through Jesus Christ.

B.      Therefore, let us read and believe all of the writings of Moses and the Prophets, for they are "the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus” (2Tim. 3:15).