Many people think that the central message of the Bible is how to be saved from hell. GES and Grace people have argued otherwise. The vast majority of the NT was written to believers who were already saved from hell. Most of the NT’s teachings concern how believers are to live so they can have intimacy with the Lord now and be rewarded by Him when He returns. 

Now, we know that the OT was written for our instruction and that it pointed to Christ. The events in it provide examples for us (Luke 24:27; 1 Cor 10:6).

I am convinced that, just as most mistakenly believe that the NT’s main purpose is telling people how to have eternal life, they likewise view the OT as a collection of books foreshadowing the NT message of how people can have eternal life. I was reminded of this recently while reading the book of Exodus. There are many things in that book that point to Christ: the Passover lamb, the tabernacle, the sacrifices, the rock, the high priest, etc. Most messages on Exodus will say that such things help us understand that unbelievers can “go to heaven” because the blood of Christ was shed for them as the perfect sacrifice. The exodus from Egypt and the trip to the Promised Land are seen as a picture of an unbeliever’s being saved from hell (Egypt) and taken to heaven (the Promised Land).

GES is working on a commentary of the entire Old Testament. The first volume (Gen-Deut) will be finished by our National Conference in May. Recently, I read what Geoff Stevens, the commentary’s author for the book of Exodus, said about it. He correctly points out that, although the book includes material that helps the unbeliever understand how Christ gives eternal life to all who believe in Him, that is not the book’s focus.

I would like to share some of the things Geoff says at the conclusion of his commentary. Speaking of the tabernacle, sacrifices, and the discussion about the high priest in Exodus, he comments:            

Christ takes up residence in the lives of believers (Col 1:27), and believers enjoy the fullness of His grace and truth in proportion to how they obey His Word. Christ obtained eternal redemption and functions as High Priest in a greater and more perfect tabernacle for believers concerning the good things to come (Heb 9:11-12).  

The book of Exodus recounts how Yahweh rescued Israel from bondage in Egypt, gave them the Law at Sinai, and came to dwell with them in the newly completed, Eden-like tabernacle. 

It is obvious that Stevens understands the book of Exodus as primarily foreshadowing and offering examples of matters relevant to believers. In Exodus, believers can learn why it is important to obey the Lord. The tabernacle pictures the Lord’s desire to have fellowship with those who are already His people. Jesus is not the High Priest of unbelievers, but of believers. The forgiveness provided by the sacrifices does not look at how an unbeliever is forgiven of his sins and goes to heaven. The forgiveness is the forgiveness God’s people need in order to continue to have fellowship with Him (1 John 1:9). Stevens is absolutely correct.

This was a good reminder for me. We should not view the OT the way many view the NT. The books in the OT do not primarily help unbelievers know how to be eternally saved. Just like the NT, they focus on things that will encourage believers. In 1 Cor 10:6, Paul tells the believers at Corinth that the events recorded during the Exodus were examples for them, not for their unbelieving neighbors.