What two parallel themes run through the Old Testament?
The Old Testament carries two parallel themes: the coming of a king and his kingdom, connected to the Abrahamic covenant, and a suffering Savior. Isaiah 53 presents the Savior bearing chastisement for sins. These two lines run together through the Old Testament as a progressive revelation, with the kingdom requiring born-again entrants.
Les explains that two thoughts come up through the Old Testament like two parallel lines. One theme is the coming of a king and his kingdom, tied to the Abrahamic covenant, where the Messiah will come to fulfill that covenant and be the king. Running parallel with all those verses is another theme: a suffering Savior. Les points to Isaiah 53, where the Savior is prepared as a sheep before his shearers and suffers the chastisement of our sins. This was also promised. The suffering Savior was necessary because, as Jesus told Nicodemus, except a man be born again, he cannot enter the kingdom, and there will be no unbelievers in that kingdom.