BOB – The Old Testament

by Stephen Rodgers

Last week’s post went a little bit long and touched on a few issues that were a bit technical.  This week’s post will probably be a bit shorter, and nowhere near as technical.  In fact, I spent part of the day contemplating if I wanted to just make a post with the title What is the OT About? and then write Jesus in the post.

Nothing more.  Just Jesus.

I thought it would make a point…and it would.  But even though that would have definitively gotten the point across, let’s elaborate on it just a bit.

First though, let me point out a couple of articles that deal with other aspects of the OT:  I’ve previously mentioned Vern Polythress’ “Overview of the Bible: A Survey of the History of Salvation” but I’d also like to recommend C. John Collins’ “The Theology of the Old Testament” which takes a broader view.  They’re only a couple pages each, and there’s some great material in there (and if you own an ESV Study Bible, you have those articles already).  But for the purposes of this article, I want to make the point that the central character of the Old Testament is indeed Jesus…even if He never quite directly steps into the spotlight.

It was Mark Dever who once summed up the message of the OT and NT as “Promises Made” and “Promises Kept,” respectively (with Jesus as the primary object of both).  But as much as I respect Pastor Mark, I wouldn’t be comfortable making a claim and then falling back on “well, Mark Dever said so” as my primary justification.  On the other hand, “Jesus said so” carries a little more weight.

You see, it was Jesus who made it absolutely clear that the OT was all about Him! He said it more than once, and in a number of different contexts as well.  He said it before His resurrection (John 5:39-40) and He said it after His resurrection (Luke 24:27). He said it to His disciples (Luke 24:44-45) and He said it to large crowds of strangers (Matt. 5:17-18).  He said it at the beginning of His ministry (Luke 4:20-21) and He said it at the end of His ministry (Luke 22:37; Matt 26:56).

I don’t know about you, but I’ve got this crazy notion that being a “Christian” involves paying attention to Christ.

“Alright Stephen,” you might be saying.  “I believe you that the OT is about Jesus.  I even accept that Jesus said the OT was about Himself.  But can you give me examples of how it’s about Him?”

Yes.  Yes I can.

Prophetic Promises

The OT contains hundreds of prophecies concerning the coming Messiah.  And despite what some skeptics say, there are strong reasons to believe in their validity.  Here are just a few of them:

  • 1,000 BC: David prophesied that lots would be cast for Jesus’ clothes (Ps 22:18; John 19:23-24), that Jesus would be crucified (500 years before the first recorded instance of crucifixion) (Ps 22:16; Luke 23:33), and that Jesus would resurrect from Death (Ps 16:10)
  • 700 BC: Isaiah prophesied that Jesus would be born of a virgin who would conceive by a miracle (Isa 7:14; Matt 1:18-23), that Jesus would die and be buried in a rich man’s tomb (Isa 53:8-9; Matt 27:57-60; Luke 23:46), and that Jesus would resurrect from death (Isa 53:10-12; Acts 2:25-32)
  • 700 BC: Micah prophesied that Jesus would be born in Bethlehem (Mic 5:2; Luke 2:1-7)
  • 700 BC: Hosea prophesied that Jesus’ family would flee to Egypt (Hos 11:1; Matt 2:13-15)
  • 500 BC: Zechariah prophesied that Jesus would be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver (Zech 11:12-13; Matt 26:14-15)
  • 400 BC: Malachi prophesied that Jesus would enter the temple (which was destroyed in 70 AD) (Mal 3:1; Luke 2:25-27)

Christophonies

A “Christophony” is the theological term for an appearance of the pre-incarnate Christ.  You can think of these almost as “cameos” of Jesus, before we fully learn about who He is.  These include:

  • Walking with Abraham (Gen 18; John 8:56)
  • Wrestling with Jacob (Gen 32:30)
  • Appearing to Moses (Ex 3:2-6; John 8:58)
  • Joining Daniel in the fiery furnace (Dan 3:24-25)
  • Calling Isaiah into ministry (Isa 6:1-5; John 12:41)
One special Christophony that can be a little confusing is the appearance of “the angel of the LORD.”  I say “confusing” because not all angels are Jesus, but occasionally one shows up who is explicitly identified as God (Judg 6:11-14; 13:22).  Unlike other occasions, when people try to worship this “angel” (remember that “angel” just means “messenger) they are encouraged instead of corrected.  This is the same “angel” that provided the sacrifice in place of Isaac (Gen 22:1-19) and journeyed with Moses (Ex 3:14; 23:20-21; John 8:56-59)

Types

The aforementioned Vern Polythress defines a “type” as a special example, symbol, or picture that God designed beforehand, and that he placed in history at an earlier point in time in order to point forward to a later, larger fulfillment.  Sometimes a “type” is also called a “prefigure” or a “shadow.” These can be shown through individuals and institutions, services, and events.

  • Some individuals and institutions would be how Adam points to Christ as the second Adam, how the priesthood points to Christ as the High Priest, how David and the other kings point to Christ as the King of Kings, how Moses and the prophets point to Christ as the ultimate Prophet, animal sacrifices which point to Christ as the Lamb of God, the temple which points to Christ as God dwelling among us bodily in Jesus, shepherds who point to Christ as the Great Shepherd and many more.
  • Some services would be how Christ was the better Adam, the better Abel, the better Abraham, the better Jacob, the better Joseph, the better Moses, the better Job, the better David, the better Jonah, the better Boaz, the better Nehemiah, the better Hosea, and many more.  For more explanation of that, you might want to start with a short youtube video of an excerpt from a sermon by Tim Keller.
  • Some events would be the exodus as a pattern for salvation, and Yom Kippur as a pattern for the crucifixion.

Titles

Last but not least, Jesus is identified by a number of OT titles that are used to identify and describe God.  The most prevalent is the title “son of man” from Daniel 7:13-14, which Jesus uses more than 80 times in the four gospels.  Other titles include:

  • Suffering Servant (Isa 42: 1-4; 49:1-7; 52:13-53:12; Phil 2:1-11)
  • First and Last (Isa 41:4; 44:6; 48:12; Rev 1:17; 2:8; 22:13)
  • Light (Ps 27:1; John 1:9)
  • Rock (Ps 18:2; 95:1; 1 Cor 10:4; 1 Pet 2:6-8)
  • Husband/Bridegroom (Hos 2:16; Isa 62:5; Eph 5:28-33; Rev 21:2)
  • Shepherd (Ps 23:1; Heb 13:20)
  • Redeemer (Hos 13:14; Ps 130:7; Titus 2:13; Rev 5:9)
  • Savior (Isa 43:3; John 4:42)
  • Lord of Glory (Isa 42:8; 1 Cor 2:8)

At the beginning of the article I said it would be shorter and less technical than last week.  Well…now it’s longer, and I’ve quoted Polythress, so I probably failed on both counts.  But despite that, I hope you’re beginning to see that the OT is really all about Jesus. Until you understand that, you’re missing the entire point.

Next week we’ll dig deeper into a specific section of the OT as we explore the Pentateuch.  And after that…we’ll dive into an actual book of the Bible: Genesis.

Other Works Referenced

  • ESV Study Bible
  • Dever, The Message of the Old Testament
  • Dever, The Message of the New Testament
  • Driscoll, A Book You’ll Actually Read On The Old Testament