A few years ago, I read through the entire Bible, writing out a short summary for every chapter of every book in the Bible. I found the process to be very helpful for me, as I was forced to interact deeply with every chapter of the Bible. I found the result to be very helpful for me, as I compiled all of these summaries together in a booklet that I keep in my Bible. As I have continued my yearly read through the Bible, I have been able to consult my summaries, to give me a better understanding of what I read every day. Further, whenever I read (or hear) a verse quoted from the Bible, I can pick up my booklet, and within a few moments, have a good understanding of the context of the quoted verse. Also, within a minute or two, I can read all of my summaries of a particular book of the Bible, and be reminded of the flow of any particular book of the Bible.

So helpful has this been to me, that two years ago, I invited a few guys to join me in reading through the Bible, and writing summaries along the way. Yvonne also invited some gals to do this same. These groups have met for an hour each week, to update each other on the status of our reading, to share our summaries with each other, to talk about what we read. So helpful were these groups, that almost everyone one of those in the initial groups did the same thing this year, reading through the Bible, writing (or editing) summaries of what they read, meeting for an hour each week, and talking about what we read in the Bible. Most all of them have expressed interest to continue for a third year.

Last year, I opened up an invitation to everyone in the church, and eight of you have joined in this process with my wife and I. Again, most everyone has expressed an interest to continue on for another year. So profitable has this been for me and for others, that I have written a book entitled, "My Bible Summaries." I have here the first draft of the book. The second draft is off to the printers, I expect to receive a hard copy in a week or two. (I'm very thankful to Yvonne and Carissa for helping me edit this book in recent days). It's essentially a workbook, to help you read through the Bible for yourself, and create your own chapter summaries of the entire Bible. I plan to distribute it to all who want to read through the Bible with us this year.

I'm envisioning beginning a few more groups this year, probably not Yvonne and I leading them. So, talk with me (or Yvonne) if you would like to be involved in such a group. We will get you in a group, figure out what works best for a meeting time for all who are in the group, figuring out who would be best to lead such groups.

In doing this, I have been struck by an old, familiar verse,

2 Timothy 3:16-17
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

I have often thought about this passage on the microscopic level, that each and every single verse of Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for training in righteousness. However, in reading through the Bible, and working on summarizing every chapter, to help capture the big picture, has given me another perspective of these verses. Not only is the Bible profitable in its individual verses to train us in righteousness, but it's also profitable in its chapters, and it's also profitable in the message of books of the Bible, and it's also profitable as a whole.

In other words, there are ways that the storyline of the Bible, and the repeated patterns and themes of the Bible, can train us in righteousness. When you see the faithfulness of God, over and over and over again, it gives you confidence to trust in him. When you see the mercy of God, extended over and over and over again, it gives you hope that he will be merciful to you. When you see the sovereignty of God, exerted over and over and over again, it gives you confidence that the Lord is sovereign over all things.

It's in that spirit that I plan to preach a Christmas series this Christmas season. Often times, we simply take a verse from the Old Testament, and see how it was fulfilled in the coming of Jesus. That's helpful, to see how Jesus was prophesied to be born of a virgin (according to Isaiah 7:14), to see how Jesus was prophesied to be born in Bethlehem (according to Micah 5:2), to see how Jesus was the prophesied child that was given to us to reign over us (according to Isaiah 9:6-7). That's all fine and good. It's all helpful.

But this morning, in light of what I have been learning about the profitability of reading through the entire Bible with others, I want to take a different approach this Christmas season. Over the next three weeks, I want to take some major portions of the Old Testament, and show you how they all created an anticipation for the coming of the Messiah, not necessarily in the individual verses of the Bible which prophesy of this, but in the broad themes and storyline of the Old Testament. This morning, I want to take the Pentateuch as a whole, the first five books of the Bible, the writings of Moses.

My message is entitled, "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel," because this is the longing of the heart that is created when reading through the books of Moses. So, I invite you to open in your Bibles to the very beginning, to the book of Genesis. In the spirit of working to capture summaries of the Bible, I will start by sharing some summaries of mine from the first few chapters of Genesis.

Here's Genesis, chapter 1. "Genesis 1: The six days of creation." The first chapter of the Bible explains how the world was created. It was created by God's word, as he spoke it into existence in six days. I would love to include on my summary, exactly what was created on each of these days: light and darkness on the first day, the expanse on the second day, the plants on the third day, the sun, moon, and stars on the fourth day, the creatures in the waters and the sky on the fifth day, the land animals and human beings on the sixth day. But then again, my summary would be too long. My summary of Genesis, chapter 1 is this: "The six days of creation." (Easy enough).

Here's my summary for Genesis 2. "Genesis 1: The six days of creation. Genesis 2: God rested on the seventh day. The creation of Adam and Eve." Genesis 2 begins by describing how God rested after his creation, and made the day holy (Genesis 2:3). Then, it continues on by describing exactly how God created the first two people. Adam from the dust of the ground (Genesis 2:7). Eve from one of his ribs (Genesis 2:21-22). They were living in communion with God in a perfect paradise, the garden of Eden. Then, in chapter 3, we see sin entering the world. Here's my summary for chapter 3. "Genesis 1: The six days of creation. Genesis 2: God rested on the seventh day. The creation of Adam and Eve. Genesis 3: The fall. The curses. Adam and Eve banished from the garden."

"The Fall" is what theologians use to refer to the "fall of man," that is, the fall from innocence through their sin of eating the forbidden fruit. Then comes the curses, that is, the judgment of the LORD God upon the serpent, the woman and the man. Then, Adam and Eve are banished from the garden, to take on the difficult life of toiling and laboring with thorns and thistles (Genesis 3:18), eating only by the sweat of his brow (Genesis 3:19).

Nestled in these curses comes a promise. It's a promise to the serpent, of conflict, and a day of ultimate defeat.

Genesis 3:15
"I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel."

I have heard it said that this verse is the message of the Bible, and all the rest is commentary. This verse has often been called, "The proto-euangelion." That is, "the first gospel!" This is the first time that God speaks the "good news" into a fallen world. This verse speaks of the conflict that Satan will have with the woman (and her posterity). There will be enmity. But the good news of the gospel is that one will come, who will crush Satan, delivering him a death wound in the head, while Satan will only manage to bruise his heel.

This tells the story of the Bible. Satan waging war against humanity, and Jesus comes to win the war, by dying upon the cross for our sins and rising from the dead, conquering death and Satan. We know the ending, but those living through Biblical history didn't. Instead, they hoped and longed for the seed of the woman to come and crush Satan. When you read through the entirety of the Old Testament, you can discern their need for God to come and save them from the clutches of sin and Satan's devices, and you can sense their longing, beyond specific verses that prophesy directly about the coming of Jesus.

This all helps to make the full impact of Christmas, because you feel the longing of the Jews in the first century. Too often, when it comes to Christmas, we are like those who simply watch the end of the movie, without feeling the drama that led up to the climax. The weight of the coming of the Messiah is often lost on us.

We read in Luke 2 of Anna, the prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel. She was married for seven years, and then her husband died. As a widow, she dedicated herself to serving in the temple. "She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day" (Luke 2:37). But when she was 84 years old, she got a glimpse of the baby Jesus in the temple. When she did, she came up to him, and "she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem" (Luke 2:38). That implies that there were many in Israel during those days who were longing for the redemption of Jerusalem. This was the Jewish culture into which Jesus was born! There was this longing for years that God would come and ransom Israel. Thus, the title of my message, "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel!"

My argument this morning in my message is that a reading through of the Old Testament, brings this longing into focus in our own hearts. It doesn't always come through specific verses in the Old Testament, but it comes through chapter after chapter of seeing the sin in the world, and realizing that only the coming of Christ could ever fix our problems.

Just consider the next few chapters of Genesis. "Genesis 4: Cain kills Abel. Genealogy from Cain to Lamech. Genesis 5: Genealogy from Adam to Noah. All die but Enoch." There are many genealogies here in chapters 4 and 5. We are prone to skip such sections of Scripture, thinking them to be irrelevant to us. In some ways they are. But here in Genesis, they show a purpose! They show of the expanding population upon the earth. Yet, during this time, sin and death reign. Eden isn't restored. The seed of the woman hasn't arisen to defeat Satan. Instead, things go from bad to worse.

Here's my summary from Genesis, chapter 6: "Genesis 6: Man's wickedness. Directions for the ark." These two things are tied together. It was the wickedness of man, that stirred the LORD to destroy the earth with a flood. How wicked was the earth? In Genesis 6:5, we read,

Genesis 6:5
The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

That verse speaks of the breadth of our sin, it "was great in the earth." That verse speaks of the depth of our sin, "every intention of thoughts of [the] heart was only evil continually." Yet, why didn't the LORD destroy the entire earth? He had made a promise back in Genesis 3:15 that couldn't be broken. So, God gives directions to Noah to build an ark. Then, in Genesis 7, "Genesis 7: Noah and animals enter the ark. The flood." Chapter 8, "Genesis 8: The flood subsides. The dove flies. Noah's sacrifice." Eventually, a new humanity comes upon the earth. But it was no better than it was in the days before the flood. "The intention of man's heart is evil from his youth" (Genesis 8:21).

Such destruction upon the earth, such statements of sin, cry out to us that something needs to change! There's a longing in the story of Genesis, for the problem to be fixed! The seed of the woman needs to come! (Genesis 3:15). Such is the anticipation of Christmas. But note here, this morning, this anticipation for Christmas, isn't coming so much from individual verses in the Bible, but from the overall storyline of a perfect garden, destroyed by sin, which fills the earth. Something needs to be done.

Rather than bringing a Savior, God first builds a people. Genesis 12, here's my summary. "Genesis 12: Abram promised a land, a nation, and blessing. Abram's journey to Egypt. Abram and Sarai lie to Pharaoh." This is the call of Abram (who would eventually come to be known as "Abraham").

Genesis 12:1-3
The LORD said to Abram, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."

There are three parts to this promise. First off is a promise of a land. Second is a promise that Abraham's descendants would be a great nation. Third is the promise of great blessing coming through Abraham. This isn't the fulfillment of Genesis 3:15. Abraham wasn't the seed of the woman who would crush Satan! Instead, Abraham lies about his woman (chapter 12). Abraham can't crush Satan, he's a sinner like us all, ready to sell off his wife! The promise of God, however, is that through Abraham, "all the families of the earth shall be blessed" (Genesis 12:3).

In many ways, this is like the promise of Genesis 3:15. It is the promise of the blessing that God would bring upon the earth. It would come through Abraham. The apostle Paul would later say (in Galatians 3:8), "The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, 'In you shall all the nations be blessed.'" Of course, we understand this now, that the reason why the seed of Abraham would be such a blessing, is that the Messiah would come from Israel, come from the descendants of Abraham! Jesus was a Jewish man, who came to die, who came to bring the blessing of forgiveness of sins, not only for the Jews, but also for the Gentiles! Jesus came to be the sacrifice for sins for all who believe! Jew and Gentile alike! The promise stands! "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life," Jew or Gentile! To finish the verse! "Whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him" (John 3:36).

"O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" was the longing of the Jewish people from the birth of their nation! But back in Genesis 12, this was all in seed form. It was just Abraham and Sarah, and they were old! But in hope against hope, they had a child. Isaac was his name. But he wasn't the seed prophesied in Genesis 3:15. Isaac had two sons. Jacob and Esau were their names. But neither of them were the seed. Jacob had twelve sons. (Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin). But none of them were the seed of the woman that would come to crush Satan's head, because, they all brought trouble, rather than blessing.

In fact, reading through the book of Genesis is like working your way through a modern soap opera. There is deceit (Jacob and Esau) in Genesis 25 and 27. There is immorality and adultery and incest (Genesis 34, 38). There is family jealousy and betrayal (Genesis 37). Just consider a few of my chapter summaries. "Genesis 25: Jacob steals Esau's birthright. Genesis 27: Rebecca helps Jacob steal Esau's blessing. Genesis 34: Shechem the Hivite rapes Dinah. Genesis 37: Joseph's dreams: sheaves and stars. Joseph sold into slavery. Genesis 38: Judah lies with Tamar, his daughter-in-law." These were the great patriarchs of the nation of Israel! The founding fathers! There is no hope in them. They were as sinful as can be.

It got really bad. Eventually, the Jews were enslaved in Egypt. Here's my summary from the first chapter of Exodus: "Exodus 1: Israel's sons listed. Hebrew people oppressed by a new Pharaoh (slavery, male infanticide)." Here is that great nation of Israel! (By this time, they had more than a million people in the nation). But they were enslaved and oppressed. They served the Egyptians, providing the labor in their great building projects (like the pyramids). They were oppressed, as the Egyptians were killing their newborn sons. This created a longing in their hearts! They longed for someone to come and deliver them!

That's when Moses comes upon the scene. Here's my summary from Exodus, chapter 2. "Exodus 2: Moses is born, raised by Pharaoh's daughter, killed an Egyptian, fled to Midian, married Zipporah, who bore Gershom. God heard Israel's cry and remembered his covenant." That's hardly a summary. It's quite long. Yet, quite a few important events come up in the chapter. The first is the birth of Moses. (I trust that you remember the story of how he was hidden among the reeds, and found by Pharaoh's daughter, who had compassion upon the crying baby). (So, Moses was a Jew, raised by the Egyptians) (He got so angry one day at the way that an Egyptian treated a Jew, that he ended up killing the man.) (This sent him into exile in Midian).

The second great event of chapter 2 is that Israel cried out to God, who "heard Israel's cry and remembered his covenant."

Exodus 2:23-25
The people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. God saw the people of Israel—and God knew.

They were crying out, "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel." This is no Christmas prophesy. But it mirrors the longing of God's people throughout the Old Testament. They were in trouble. They needed God to come to save them! In Exodus, the people of Israel were longing for God to bring the seed of the woman to crush the Egyptians! God heard their cry. He remembered his covenant in Genesis 12, to bless the people of Abraham. God raised up Moses to deliver them.

No task is too small with God. The book of Exodus tells the story of how God redeemed millions of people from slavery and oppression in Egypt. I trust that you remember how God did this. He did this by demonstrating his power to the Egyptians. Moses and Aaron go to entreat Pharaoh.

Exodus 7: Aaron's staff becomes a serpent. Nile turned to blood.
Exodus 8: Frogs. Pharaoh begins to weaken. Gnats. Swarms of Insects.
Exodus 9: Pestilence, Boils, Hail on Egyptians.
Exodus 10: Locusts. Darkness.
Exodus 11: Warning of the first-born plague.
Exodus 12: Passover Lamb and the Unleavened Bread feast. The LORD struck and Israel left Egypt. More on the feast of Unleavened Bread.
Exodus 13: God leads by the pillar of cloud and fire to the Red Sea.
Exodus 14: Israel crossed the divided sea. Egyptians drown.
Exodus 15: Moses' song of victory."

What a great redemption this is! As God redeemed millions of people! Yet, this is merely the first fruits of what God was planning to do in bringing his son to redeem the world. This was a physical redemption from slavery. But the redemption of Jesus is a spiritual redemption from the slavery of sin. This was a national redemption of the people of Israel. But the redemption of Jesus is a worldwide redemption. Jesus will redeem men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation! Moses even said later in the Pentateuch that this was only a taste of what would come. "The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen" (Deuteronomy 18:15). Of course, that prophet was Jesus, the one that they were longing for all the time. The one that we celebrate at Christmas time.

My hope and aim with my message is that you see how the Jews could say, "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel." I would love to continue on throughout the Pentateuch, but we will stop here for the sake of time. I simply want to share with you two more passages of Scripture, hopefully to open your hearts and minds to how the Old Testament anticipated the coming of Messiah, that we celebrate at Christmas time.

I simply want to share with you two New Testament verses to open your hearts and minds to how the Old Testament anticipated the coming of Messiah, that we celebrate at Christmas time. My first verse comes from Matthew 11:13.

Matthew 11:13
For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John.

In the context, Jesus was talking about John the Baptist. In this verse, Jesus said that two portions of the Old Testament prophesied of something greater to come: the Prophets and the Law. They both prophesied.

We understand how the prophets prophesied, especially at Christmas time. "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel" (Isaiah 7:14). "But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days" (Micah 5:2). But how does the Law prophesy? It doesn't do it in the same way that the Prophets do. There aren't passages in the law that prophesy of the coming Messiah. Rather, it's the sense that we get, this longing of brokenness, the knowledge that we cannot live up to the law's demands.

"For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin" (Romans 3:20). The Law teaches us the knowledge of sin. The knowledge of sin in us compels us to long for something better. Who keeps the law for us? Who kept the law perfectly? Jesus did. You get this sense as you work your way through the Scriptures. Over and over, you see how Israel failed to live the lives that they were called to live. They failed to keep the law. But there's one they were longing for and hoping for, as the law paints this picture of the perfect man, the one law-abiding in every way. The law tells us to love the LORD with all of our heart, mind and soul (Deuteronomy 6:4-5). The law tells us to love our neighbor as ourselves (Leviticus 19:18). We know that we need another. "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel."

That would be like the second half of Exodus. We could take you through passage after passage after passage. It just shows your sin. You see your sin. You long for God to come and save you from that.

Here's my other New Testament passage: Hebrews 10:1-4. Before reading through this passage, I want to show you some of my summaries from Leviticus.

Leviticus 1: Burnt offerings from the herd, flock, and birds.
Leviticus 2: Grain offerings unleavened with salt and oil.
Leviticus 3: Peace offerings from the herd and flock.
Leviticus 4: Sin offerings for priests, for the whole congregation, for leaders, and for the common person.
Leviticus 5: Sin offerings from the herd, the bird, or the grain.

Leviticus speaks of offerings for sin over and over again. Many of you have tried to read through the Bible and died in the desert of Leviticus. You will die in that desert if you don't have this "O come, O come, Emmanuel" and realize that there's something that this repeated emphasis upon sacrifice teaches you. It's teaching you of a greater sacrifice. Just consider Hebrews 10.

Hebrews 10:1-4
For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

The sacrifices of Leviticus were a shadow of something to come. The writer of Hebrews is saying that the law, the sacrifices, were prophesying of something better. These sacrifices continually offered year after year can never make perfect those who draw near. The design of these sacrifices is that there are daily sacrifices, weekly sacrifices, monthly sacrifices, yearly sacrifices. Just all these sacrifices. The whole point is that you always need a sacrifice. You're never perfect. You're never quite there. If the sacrifices of the Old Testament were perfect, they'd make you clean forever. No more sacrifice. But the fact that they come again and again and again demonstrates they're a shadow pointing to something better. "But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins" (Hebrews 10:3-4).

Leviticus creates in us a longing for that perfect sacrifice to come, for Emmanuel to come and offer that once-for-all sacrifice for all time, where you sit down and we never need to repeat sacrifices again. That's the longing of sacrifices. In light of reading through the entire Scripture, I hope you see that it's not just a verse and then an application. It's the scheme of things. When you read for a week at a time all these sacrifices of Leviticus, you're thankful for the sacrifice of Jesus. Thankful how this points to him.

This Christmas season, we've looked today through Moses. Next week we're going to pick it up with Joshua, Judges, and through First and Second Samuel. We'll look at the history of Israel, how that prophesies of a coming and longing for Emmanuel. Then we'll look at the prophets the week after that. I just hope that it stirs within you this longing for this Jesus to come. Of course he has come and he is our perfect sacrifice. He is the perfect redeemer that Moses wasn't. He is the one who was the seed of the woman who crushed the serpent's head, and in that we can rejoice. But again, this Christmas season, big scope of Scripture, look back and just say, "O come, O come, Emmanuel."

This sermon was delivered to Rock Valley Bible Church on December 4, 2022 by Steve Brandon.
For more information see www.rockvalleybiblechurch.org.