The best Christian books to learn about Jesus Christ in the Old Testament

Why am I passionate about this?

I am the teaching pastor of Woodland Christian Church. I have been in ministry since 2007, preaching God’s Word an average of 1 to 3 times weekly. Because my ministry focuses on teaching and preaching, I study God’s Word for 20 to 30 hours per week, and I have developed a deep and rich understanding of Christ in the Old Testament.


I wrote...

A Father Offers His Son: The True and Greater Sacrifice Revealed Through Abraham and Isaac

By Scott LaPierre,

Book cover of A Father Offers His Son: The True and Greater Sacrifice Revealed Through Abraham and Isaac

What is my book about?

Have you ever wondered why God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son in Genesis 22? The Angel stopped Abraham showing God did not intend for him to kill Isaac, but what did God desire? God wanted to test Abraham, and readers will discover the account primarily reveals: in human terms what God would do with His Son two thousand years later; the many ways Abraham and Isaac are a picture of God and His Son; and the tremendous love of God shown through Christ’s sacrifice.

Learn the remarkable parallels between God and Abraham, and Jesus and Isaac. With thought-provoking questions at the end of each chapter, the book is perfect for personal use or small groups.

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of The Emmaus Code: Finding Jesus in the Old Testament

Scott LaPierre Why did I love this book?

Mr. Limbaugh’s New York Times bestseller discusses how each book of the Old Testament points to Jesus, or in other words how Jesus is shown in each book.

One chapter is given to the book of Genesis, with some attention to Abraham sacrificing Isaac, but again this makes little of the content. This book is for people looking for a broad understanding of the Old Testament in general and how it looks to Christ.

Some Old Testament books, such as Numbers, contain multiple types, while other books, such as Deuteronomy, contain less types; therefore, some types can’t receive the attention they deserve, while other books are given more attention than they should.

By David Limbaugh,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Emmaus Code as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A New York Times Bestseller!

In the 2014 New York Times bestseller Jesus on Trial, David Limbaugh made a case for the Gospels as hard evidence of the existence of God, drawing on his own spiritual journey from skeptic to believer. Now, in The Emmaus Code, Limbaugh unlocks the mysteries of the Old Testament and reveals hints of Jesus Christ's arrival through all thirty-nine Old Testament books.

The key to the secrets of the Old Testament, Limbaugh argues, is the crucial New Testament encounter between the risen Jesus and two travelers on the road to Emmaus. With that key, and…


Book cover of The Promised One: Seeing Jesus in Genesis

Scott LaPierre Why did I love this book?

This is a bible study by Mrs. Guthrie. She takes each of the ten weeks to look at Christ in a different way throughout the book of Genesis.

For example, she sees him as the agent of creation, the offspring who will crush the head of the serpent, the ark of salvation, the source of the righteousness credited to Abraham, the substitutionary sacrifice provided by God, the Savior to whom the whole world must come for life. Some of these are prophecies and some of these are types and shadows.

The book is focused on small groups and comes with a leader’s guide. Christ in the Old Testament can be used in small groups, but it’s just as fitting for personal study.

By Nancy Guthrie,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Promised One as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This ten-week study helps readers understand the book of Genesis through a Christological, redemptive-historical lens. Book 1 in the Seeing Jesus in the Old Testament series.


Book cover of Discovering Jesus in the Old Testament: A Creative Devotional Study Experience

Scott LaPierre Why did I love this book?

This is a devotional with 60 entries. Many of the devotions are not types or shadows, but instead are illustrations and devotional thoughts. Additionally, some of the “types” are actually prophecies.

With a devotion for each day there is a nice understanding given for each entry. The book also elaborates on each type and shadow in a greater way, providing more depth. There is a wonderful emphasis on some of the stronger messianic passages, which is also how the chapters are divided.

For example, chapter 1 looks at Genesis 3 and Jesus being the Seed of the Woman who crushes the head of the serpent. Chapter 2 is about Genesis 22 and Isaac being a picture or type of Christ when he is sacrificed by Abraham. Jesus is the sacrificial lamb of Exodus 12 in chapter 3, the afflicted one of Psalm 22 in chapter 4, and so on. Other Old Testament chapters examined our 2 Samuel 7, Psalm 110, Isaiah 9, 49, and 53.

By Pam Farrel, Jean E. Jones, Karla Dornacher (illustrator)

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Discovering Jesus in the Old Testament as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Experience the Old Testament as Never Before

Take a journey to discover all God has planned since before the foundation of the earth. You'll never grow tired of studying Scripture with this innovative and immersive Bible study experience. Through compelling instruction and motivational devotions, it reveals God's redemptive plan from the beginning of creation. Explore...

timeline icons to help you track God's plan through the Old Testament key questions at the beginning of each section to guide your focus opportunities for creative expression, including full-page graphics and bookmarks to color sidebars that offer fascinating historical insights practical application questions to…


Book cover of 7 Feasts: Finding Christ in the Sacred Celebrations of the Old Testament

Scott LaPierre Why did I love this book?

This book focuses strictly on the seven feasts in Leviticus 23 as opposed to multiple types from throughout the Old Testament.

This book is also more of a devotional, with something to read each day. There are also questions to answer, which makes it more like a study guide or workbook than an actual book or devotional. With that said, the book provides a great understanding of the seven feasts and the way they each looked to Christ.

For example, most people know that Jesus is our Passover Lamb, but they would be surprised to see that the other six feasts look to him as well. You will be blessed to see how Jesus is revealed through each of them.

By Erin Davis,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked 7 Feasts as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

What’s the story behind all those feasts?

It’s hard to know when you read about the Feast of Booths why exactly it matters for your life. What in the world is the Feast of Trumpets supposed to be teaching you? And, in this case, the text itself doesn’t tell you. You need a resource, a guide that can help you understand the cultural significance and how these feasts relate to the rest of the Bible.

That’s exactly what Erin Davis does in this new 8-week Bible study, 7 Feasts. She’ll teach you:

The significance of these feasts and why God…


Book cover of Knowing Jesus Through the Old Testament

Scott LaPierre Why did I love this book?

This book is part of a series, or set, written by Dr. Wright. The other books in the series are about knowing God, knowing that Father, and knowing the Holy Spirit, all through the Old Testament.

Dr. Wright’s book does not focus on types and shadows. Instead, his book encourages the reader to see Jesus largely as the replacement of Israel. Where Israel failed, Jesus succeeded. Dr. Wright’s book is also a summary of how the early church view Jesus.

The book traces the life of Christ as it is illuminated by the Old Testament. And he describes God's plan for the nation of Israel by seeing it fulfilled in Jesus Christ.

By Christopher J. H. Wright,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Knowing Jesus Through the Old Testament as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

We cannot know Jesus without knowing his story.
Today the debate over who Jesus is rages on. Has the Bible bound Christians to a narrow and mistaken notion of Jesus? Should we listen to other gospels, other sayings of Jesus, that enlarge and correct a mistaken story? Is the real Jesus entangled in a web of the church's Scripture, awaiting liberation from our childhood faith so he might speak to our contemporary pluralistic world?
To answer these questions we need to know what story Jesus claimed for himself. Christopher Wright is convinced that Jesus' own story is rooted in the…


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Who Is a Worthy Mother?: An Intimate History of Adoption

By Rebecca Wellington,

Book cover of Who Is a Worthy Mother?: An Intimate History of Adoption

Rebecca Wellington Author Of Who Is a Worthy Mother?: An Intimate History of Adoption

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

I am adopted. For most of my life, I didn’t identify as adopted. I shoved that away because of the shame I felt about being adopted and not truly fitting into my family. But then two things happened: I had my own biological children, the only two people I know to date to whom I am biologically related, and then shortly after my second daughter was born, my older sister, also an adoptee, died of a drug overdose. These sequential births and death put my life on a new trajectory, and I started writing, out of grief, the history of adoption and motherhood in America. 

Rebecca's book list on straight up, real memoirs on motherhood and adoption

What is my book about?

I grew up thinking that being adopted didn’t matter. I was wrong. This book is my journey uncovering the significance and true history of adoption practices in America. Now, in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, the renewed debate over women’s reproductive rights places an even greater emphasis on adoption. As a mother, historian, and adoptee, I am uniquely qualified to uncover the policies and practices of adoption.

The history of adoption, reframed through the voices of adoptees like me, and mothers who have been forced to relinquish their babies, blows apart old narratives about adoption, exposing the fallacy that adoption is always good.

In this story, I reckon with the pain and unanswered questions of my own experience and explore broader issues surrounding adoption in the United States, including changing legal policies, sterilization, and compulsory relinquishment programs, forced assimilation of babies of color and Indigenous babies adopted into white families, and other liabilities affecting women, mothers, and children. Now is the moment we must all hear these stories.

Who Is a Worthy Mother?: An Intimate History of Adoption

By Rebecca Wellington,

What is this book about?

Nearly every person in the United States is affected by adoption. Adoption practices are woven into the fabric of American society and reflect how our nation values human beings, particularly mothers. In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade, the renewed debate over women's reproductive rights places an even greater emphasis on adoption. As a mother, historian, and adoptee, Rebecca C. Wellington is uniquely qualified to uncover the policies and practices of adoption. Wellington's timely-and deeply researched-account amplifies previously marginalized voices and exposes the social and racial biases embedded in the United States' adoption industry.…


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