A pattern notable in the Old Testament is the distress/deliverance motif, sometimes depicted directionally with descent/ascent language. The story of Jonah features such a motif, and it even includes a three-day reference for the prophet’s deliverance. Just as Jonah was in the fish for a period of days associated with the number three, so too was Jesus in the grave until the third day.

Matthew 12 is packed with powerful claims. In Matthew 12:6, Jesus said, “I tell you, something greater than the temple is here.” And he was referring to himself. In 12:8, “For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.” Again, he was referring to himself. In 12:29, “Or how can someone enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man?” Yes, Jesus is the stronger man plundering the evil one’s domain. In 12:42, “Behold, something greater than Solomon is here.” Who is greater than Solomon? You only need one guess.
Among the incredible statements from Jesus in Matthew 12, we read of the prophet Jonah in Matthew 12:38–41. The reason Jesus brings up Jonah is because God literally brought up Jonah from the belly of a fish in Jonah 2:10. Soon Jesus would descend into death and then ascend through a victorious resurrection, and the story of Jonah provided the descent/ascent pattern that foreshadowed the Messiah’s work.
The story of Jonah had a typological function. In other words, Jonah’s experience was a type (or prophetic pattern) of Christ. I’ve written about typology on this site before (see here and here and here), and I’ve written about Jonah as well (see here and here). For a book-length treatment of typology, check out 40 Questions About Typology and Allegory.
My claim about Matthew 12:38-41 is that Jesus is reading the story of Jonah typologically. Some scribes and Pharisees wanted a sign (12:38), Jesus responded by calling them an evil and adulterous generation, and he told them that no sign would be given except the sign of the prophet Jonah (12:39).
What about Jonah’s life did Jesus have in mind? “For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matt. 12:40).
The correspondence between Jonah and Jesus involves the descent-and-ascent pattern. Differences in the stories are obvious.
Read More
Related Posts:

We have a new federal head, the bringer of everlasting pardon and life, the Lord Jesus. Through faith, we are united to Christ. And this union is not weak. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” In 2 Corinthians 4:16, we’re reminded that while “our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.”

The phrase “total depravity” refers to a person’s sinful condition outside of the mercy of Christ. So, after conversion, is a sinner still totally depraved?
“Total depravity” summarizes the effects of sin upon an image bearer. Sin has affected every faculty of our being—and thus is “total.” Body and soul, we are corrupted. We are “in Adam,” the federal head of humanity who defied and disobeyed the Lord. There is no spiritual life for us “in Adam.”
Total depravity means we are dead in our trespasses and sins (Eph. 2:1). We are in the domain of darkness (Col. 1:13). We stand condemned under the wrath of God (John 3:36). The desires of our mind and body are not honorable to God but, rather, are bent toward rebellion, in the direction of “the course of this world” (Eph. 2:2–3). Our will is hostile to God and refuses to submit to him (Rom. 8:7). Our thinking is futile, and our understanding is darkened (Rom. 1:21). We are spiritually blind in our unbelief (2 Cor. 4:4).
That’s total depravity, and it is the miserable condition of unsaved image-bearers in this fallen world.
Now consider what the salvation of Christ accomplishes in the life of the sinner. We are made alive by mercy and are no longer dead in our trespasses.
Read More
Related Posts:

Welcome good news to be encouraged, and also be a sharer of good news to be an encourager. And when Sunday comes, don’t stay away from God’s people. Go to church on the Lord’s Day. Our hearts need joy and our bones need refreshed. There’s no greater good news than gospel news.

As Dane Ortlund once put it, people are not going around overencouraged. There are plenty of discouraging things happening in the world, and our hearts are affected by tragedy. Everyone we meet is carrying burdens, struggling with sins, dealing with disappointments.
From Solomon’s wise words we read, “The light of the eyes rejoices the heart, and good news refreshes the bones” (Prov. 15:30).
This proverb is about the effect of good news. The “light of the eyes” probably refers to the demeanor of the speaker who is coming to tell someone something, and the effect on the listener is a joyous heart (“rejoices the heart”). Parallel to this is the second line: someone comes with good news, and the effect on the listener is refreshed bones.
Solomon mentions the “heart” and “bones” in order—with these parts—to represent the person. We know the toll that life in a fallen world can take. Our inner life needs strength, rejuvenation. And in the providence and kindness of God, the arrival of fresh strength and joy can come through news.
Imagine you’re sitting by yourself and feeling low when, suddenly, you get a call from a friend who wants to share news that they know you will want to hear.
Read More
Related Posts:

God created male and female, boys and girls, men and women. Our bodies are not opposed to our identities but, rather, give objective and biological clarification to who we are. We are not bodiless image bearers. We are embodied creatures because bodies matter. And bodies matter because God made them.

The first time the words “male” and “female” appear in Scripture is on page one. God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth” (Gen. 1:26).
God would make image-bearers, and they would exercise dominion over the creation he had made. “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them” (Gen. 1:27).
Then God blessed his image-bearers and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth” (Gen. 1:28).
God made Adam and Eve as embodied creatures (Gen. 2:7, 22–23), and their embodiment had a sexual design because they were capable of procreation. Their maleness and femaleness were not separate from biology but were clarified by it.
Now, of course, in a Genesis 3 world, not every male will father a child, and not every female will deliver one. Reasons for this abound. Nevertheless, we must notice that in Genesis 1:26–28, maleness and femaleness involve sexual complementarity. Moreover, God had told the man, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him” (2:18).
Read More
Related Posts:

The confidence which opens Psalm 23 is not like the opening of the preceding one, Psalm 22. David says in Psalm 22, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?” (22:1). David’s words in Psalm 22 are drenched with agony and steeped in affliction. In Psalm 22, he is surrounded, overwhelmed, undone, and at the edge of destruction. When we pass from Psalm 22 and read Psalm 23, we can discern a progression. The psalmist doesn’t fear the Lord’s remoteness. 

How should we study the Psalms?
If we choose a psalm to study, we should certainly read and reread its content. We should look for literary transitions and notice any literary devices. We should consider whether the writer speaks from the first-, second, or third-person perspective. We should discern the emotion being conveyed: is the writer lamenting, celebrating, recounting, hoping, recoiling, etc.? Is the psalmist asking for anything specific? Does the superscription give us information, such as the author or any detail about a historical setting? Does the New Testament cite or allude to the psalm?
Studying the Psalms involves these kinds of questions. Another question to fold into the others is this: how do the preceding and following psalms illuminate the one I’m studying? Let’s apply such a question as we look at Psalm 23.
In Psalm 23 (arguably the best-known psalm in the book) the author, David, is expressing his trust in the Lord. The Lord is a faithful shepherd who guides the psalmist to green pastures and still waters (23:1–2). The Lord restores the psalmist’s soul and directs his feet to the right paths (23:3). Not even the deep dark valley excludes the Lord’s presence. The faithful shepherd, equipped with rod and staff, is with the psalmist (23:4).
The confidence which opens Psalm 23 is not like the opening of the preceding one, Psalm 22. David says in Psalm 22, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?” (22:1). David’s words in Psalm 22 are drenched with agony and steeped in affliction. In Psalm 22, he is surrounded, overwhelmed, undone, and at the edge of destruction.
Read More
Related Posts:

Many connections confirm that Eden was a proto-temple, a sanctuary where Adam and Eve dwelled in the presence of God. 1 And in Genesis 3:22–24, Adam (and Eve with him) left the garden sanctuary because of exile.To prevent reentry, God placed at the east of the garden “cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life” (Gen. 3:24). We can imagine the aftermath for the image-bearers, that they would be able to see the entrance to the sanctuary they were now forbidden to enter.

When we look at the end of Genesis 3 with the beginning of Genesis 4, we can pair together the notions of sacred space and sacrifice. And this pairing can help us think about the location of Cain and Abel’s sacrifices.
In Genesis 4:3–4 we’re told, “In the course of time Cain brought to the LORD an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions.” Notice the phrase “brought to the LORD an offering.” Bringing something to the Lord suggests a location, and we might wonder where.
Could the location be the entrance to Eden?
Read More
Related Posts:

At the beginning of Exodus, the Israelites are dwelling in Egypt. By the end of Exodus, the Israelites are out of Egypt and God is dwelling with them. At the beginning of Exodus, the Israelites are building things for Pharaoh. As the book closes, they are building things for God. God had come to tabernacle among his people, so read the details in Exodus 25—40 with a renewed appreciation.

The book we call Exodus is named such because the Lord delivered the Israelites from Egyptian captivity. But out of the forty chapters in Exodus, only the first twelve are devoted to Israel’s life in and leave from Egypt.
The last and longest section of Exodus is devoted to a portable dwelling place called the tabernacle. From Exodus 25 to 40, we read about instructions and constructions. The reputation of this part of Exodus for readers is not stellar because the minutiae, the level of detail, is intense. These chapters cover:

The kinds of contributions the people were to make (25:1–9)
Instructions for the ark of the covenant (25:10–22)
Instructions for the table of bread (25:23–30)
Instructions for the golden lampstand (25:31–40)
Instructions about the tabernacle design and measurements (26:1–37)
Instructions about the bronze altar that stood in the courtyard (27:1–8)
Instructions about the courtyard of the tabernacle (27:9–19)
Instructions about oil for the lampstand (27:20–21)
Instructions about the garments and consecration of the priests who work at the tabernacle (28:1—29:46)
Instructions about the golden altar of incense (30:1–10)
Instructions about the bronze basin that stood in the courtyard (30:17–21)

The details are many, and readers can find themselves lost among the linens and cubits and multiple metals. But notice the obvious: the instructions about the tabernacle and its furniture are lengthy. The inclusion of such lengthy instructions surely highlights the importance of the tabernacle.
Read More
Related Posts:

While Noah wasn’t the serpent-crushing and curse-reversing victor, he was a type of the one to come. Jesus, the greater Noah, would bring us relief. He would bring blessing into the world laden with toil and curse.

Genealogies have rhythm. In the genealogy of Genesis 5, the refrain “and he died” is mentioned over and over again. The generations in Genesis 5 are tenfold, extending from Adam to Noah.
Generation 1—AdamGeneration 2—SethGeneration 3—EnoshGeneration 4—KenanGeneration 5—MahalalelGeneration 6—JaredGeneration 7—EnochGeneration 8—MethuselahGeneration 9—LamechGeneration 10—Noah
When studying a genealogy, it’s good to note both rhythms as well as any information that’s added when a particular person or generation is recounted. For example, we notice that Enoch didn’t die an earthly death. Instead, “Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him” (Gen. 5:24).
Another comment in Genesis 5 occurs with Lamech, the ninth name in the list. We’re told that Lamech had a son and named him Noah, saying “Out of the ground that the LORD has cursed, this one shall bring us relief from our work and from the painful toil of our hands” (Gen. 5:29).
The name Noah sounds like the Hebrew word for “rest,” so there’s a deliberate echo in Noah’s name with the hope his father had in naming him. Lamech, like the generations before him, dwelled outside Eden and in a world needing rest from the curse and corruption of sin and death.
The words of Lamech in Genesis 5:29 mention “the ground that the LORD has cursed.” This alludes to what happened in Genesis 3:17, when God said to Adam, “Cursed is the ground because of you.”
Read More
Related Posts:

As we zoom out from this story and behold the canonical trajectory of types and shadows, we can say that Moses typifies Christ, the one who would ascend the mountain and lift his hands to a cross to accomplish victory. Though wearied and weakened physically, the Lord Jesus prevailed because he acted with divine authority.

I’ve argued previously that the New Testament does not identify all Old Testament types. I’ve illustrated this point by discussing the famous example of Rahab’s cord and whether that cord has anything to do with the cross.
In this post I want to consider the narrative in Exodus 17:8–16, when the Israelites defeat the Amalekites as Moses raises his hands with the staff of God. How might we teach this passage in light of the person and work of Christ?
Consider the scene itself in Exodus 17:8–16. The Israelites had to fight the Amalekites. Moses told Joshua, “I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand” (17:9). We’ve seen this staff before. The “staff of God” was involved in the exodus plagues, the parting of the Red Sea, and—most recently in Exodus 17—in the striking of the rock from which water flowed.
So up the mountain Moses went. But then we get an intriguing description of his movements. When Moses’s hands were raised the Israelites prevailed, but the Amalekites prevailed whenever he lowered his hands (17:11). Why would the position of Moses’s hands have anything to do with winning or losing the battle below? Because Moses’s hands held the staff of God. The point was the staff, not Moses’s hands. As shown in previous stories in Exodus, the staff represented the divine authority and power of God.
As the battle unfolded below, Moses was on the mountain acting as the mediator and intercessor for the Israelites, raising the staff of God that symbolized divine power and authority.
Read More
Related Posts:

There are no doubt more than six examples we could identify in Psalm 18 that recall the days of Moses and Joshua, but these six are sufficient to show how a psalmist—in this case, David—was aware of, shaped by, and echoed earlier Scripture. As we become deeper readers of the Old Testament, such allusions and echoes will become more apparent to us.

According to Deuteronomy 17:18–20, the king of Israel “shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, approved by the Levitical priests. And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them, that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, either to the right or to the left, so that he may continue long in his kingdom, he and his children, in Israel.”
The king of Israel was to be a Torah-man, a Scripture-shaped ruler. Given the integral role that Scripture was to play in the king’s heart, we would not be surprised to find the prayers of such a king being influenced by the Torah.
Psalm 18 is a perfect test case for this idea, because it is long and thus gives us much material in which to notice echoes.
The superscription of Psalm 18 calls David “the servant of the LORD.” The term “servant” is used for various people in the Old Testament, but the particular phrase “servant of the LORD” is applied to only two names besides David’s, and both characters are earlier than he. Moses is called the “servant of the LORD,” as is Joshua.

Moses is called the “servant of the LORD” in Deuteronomy (34:5), in Joshua (1:1, 13, 15; 8:31, 33; 11:12; 12:6; 13:8; 14:7; 18:7; 22:2, 4, 5), in 2 Kings (18:12), and in 2 Chronicles (1:3; 24:6).
Joshua is called a “servant of the LORD” at the end of the book that bears his name (Josh. 24:29).

If we keep the stories of Moses and Joshua in mind as we read Psalm 18, we can notice several things in David’s prayer.
First, when David described the rescuing power of the Lord arriving to save him, he uses language reminiscent of God’s presence at Sinai.
Read More
Related Posts: