Category: Christ in the Old Testament

The Old Testament and the New Covenant   Part 8

“Now the Lord appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre, while he was sitting at the tent door in the heat of the day.  When he lifted up his eyes and looked, behold, three men were standing opposite him; and when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the earth, and said, ‘My Lord, if now I have found favor in Your sight, please do not pass Your servant by’ “ (Genesis 18:1-3).

” ‘Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.’  So the Jews said to Him, ‘You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?’  Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am’ “ (John 8:56-58).

Who were these three strangers who appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre in Genesis chapter 18?  The passage starts with, “the Lord appeared”, suggesting God is in this group.  Could one of these men be God, the pre-incarnate Jesus?

Throughout Genesis chapter 18, the man doing the talking is referred to by phrases such as “The Lord said to Abraham” (vs 13), “And the Lord said” (vs 17), “And the Lord said” (vs 20), and “So the Lord said” (vs 26).  Additionally, when two of the men left to go down to Sodom, Abraham was “still standing before the Lord” (vs 22).  And finally, the two men who left to go down to Sodom are called “angels” in the opening verse of chapter 19.

So it seems to me that the three strangers were most likely Jesus and two angels.  And what was Jesus’ message to Abraham?

“The Lord said, ‘I will surely return to you at this time next year; and behold, Sarah your wife will have a son.’  And Sarah was listening at the tent door, which was behind him.  Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; Sarah was past childbearing.  Sarah laughed to herself, saying, ‘After I have become old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?’  And the Lord said to Abraham, ‘Why did Sarah laugh, saying, “Shall I indeed bear a child, when I am so old?”  Is anything too difficult for the Lord?  At the appointed time I will return to you, at this time next year, and Sarah will have a son’ “ (Genesis 18:10-14).

Jesus visited Abraham and Sarah to announce the coming of the child of promise.  This child would be the seed through which the earlier promise of Genesis chapter 15 would come to pass.  “And He took Abram outside and said, ‘Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.’  And He said to him, ‘So shall your descendants be’ “ (Genesis 15:5).

Not only would the child of promise launch a skyful of descendants, but he would also be the child through whom the Messiah would come.  Jesus announced to Abraham and Sarah the birth of a child whose descendant would be Jesus Himself.

Jesus was present at the oaks of Mamre, because Jesus was there from the beginning!

The Old Testament and the New Covenant   Part 7

“And Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine.  Now he was a priest of God Most High.  He blessed Abram and said, ‘Blessed be Abram of God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand’ “ (Genesis 14:18-20).

“For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham as he was returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, to whom also Abraham apportioned a tenth part of all the spoils, was first of all, by the translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then also king of Salem, which is king of peace.  Without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, he remains a priest perpetually” (Hebrews 7:1-3).

Look at these New Testament descriptions of Melchizedek, King of Salem.  “King of righteousness … king of peace … without father or mother … no beginning or end of days … made like the Son of God … and a perpetual priest.”  These are all descriptions of the Jesus we know.

The book of Hebrews goes to great lengths to explain how Jesus is a forever priest after the order of Melchizedek; a forever priesthood that predated and outlasted the priesthood of Aaron and the Law.  Here is just a snippet, “And this is clearer still, if another priest arises according to the likeness of Melchizedek, who has become such not on the basis of a law of physical requirement (a description of the priesthood of Aaron’s line), but according to the power of an indestructible life.  For it is attested of Jesus, ‘You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek’ “ (Hebrews 7:15-17).

Jesus was present on the plains of Salem, because Jesus was there from the beginning!

The Old Testament and the New Covenant   Part 6

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1).

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1).

I don’t think that it is an accident of translation that the first verse in the Bible and the start of John’s gospel begin with the very same phrase, “In the beginning.”  At the very birth of creation, God was there and at the very birth of creation, the Word was there.  Later in John’s opening chapter, the Word is identified as Jesus Himself.

“And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).  The bottom line?  Jesus was present from the very first verse of the Bible.

Paul writes the same thing in Colossians chapter 1, “For by Him [Jesus] all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities – all things have been created through Him and for Him.  He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:16-17).  Jesus is both the creator and the sustainer of His creation.

As we begin this journey of seeing Christ in the Old Testament, let us start at the very beginning.

Jesus was present at the creation of the world, because Jesus was there from the beginning!

The Old Testament and the New Covenant   Part 5

The New Testament makes clear that the old covenant is over.  But there is something hidden in the pages of the old covenant that commands our interest.  It is the message of the gospel.  It is the message of the coming Christ.

Jesus revealed this Old Testament message on the road to Emmaus following His resurrection.  “Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, Jesus explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures” (Luke 24:27).  “The Scriptures” refers to the Old Testament.  As they walked along together, Jesus explained to these two disciples all that the Old Testament was pointing to in the coming of the Messiah.

In the book of Acts, Paul preached Christ from the Old Testament.  “And according to Paul’s custom, he went to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and giving evidence that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, ‘This Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you is the Christ.’ “ (Acts 17:2-3).  Again, “the Scriptures” refers to the Old Testament.

Paul also wrote about the Old Testament pointing to Christ is his letter to Timothy.  “And that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus” (II Timothy 3:15).  The “sacred writings” are the Old Testament.  And they contain in them the gospel that leads to salvation by faith in Christ.

Finally, we have this introduction to the book of Romans, “Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning His Son” (Romans 1:1-3).  Set apart for what?  Paul was set apart for the gospel promised in the “holy Scriptures”, promised in the Old Testament.  Concerning who?  Concerning God’s Son, Jesus the Christ.

So when we fast forward from the Old Testament message ABOUT Jesus to the cross OF Jesus, what do we find?  We find that the requirements of the old covenant have ended.  And the gospel message of the old covenant, formerly hidden, has become fully exposed and continues on to this day.

So, how do we locate the gospel message in the Old Testament?  How do we find Christ in the Old Testament?

We have an advantage that the Pharisees and other students of the Old Testament in Jesus’ day did not have in finding Jesus in the Old Testament writings.  They had their ideas, but they really did not know exactly who they were looking for in the coming of the Messiah.  We find Christ in the Old Testament prophecies because WE NOW KNOW WHAT HE LOOKS LIKE!  Thanks to the New Testament, we know WHO we are looking for in the Old!  We are looking for the Jesus we know!

Do you remember those once popular books, Where’s Waldo?  If we had zero idea of what Waldo looked like, we would have no hope of finding him in those complicated drawings.  But the cover of the book informed us of what Waldo looked like with his red and white striped attire.  We could find Waldo even in a crowd of 10,000 medieval knights or ancient Egyptians or Red Sox fans because we know what Waldo looks like.  We have a visual of who we are looking for.

Likewise, we know who we are looking for in the Old Testament because we personally know Jesus.  We know the Christ.  We know what He looks like.  Over the next several days, we will look at specific passages in the Old Testament; stories that contain a beautiful picture of Christ, our Savior.