Seeing Christ in the Old Testament
As Christians, we love the Bible. We believe that it is God’s authoritative self-revelation. It is his instruction for how to live our lives in a way that pleases him. It illuminates areas of sin and failure and prescribes the solution for our sin: the redemption offered through Jesus perfect sacrifice. It is inspired, inerrant, infallible, necessary and clear.
But often, when Christians turn to the left side of their Bible, the Old Testament, there abounds confusion and frustration. What are we to do with the old covenant? How are we to apply passages about blood and bodily discharge and animal sacrifice and the slaughter of entire nations by the sword? I want to offer a few practical helps for us in reading and studying the O.T.
The Method
First, we need to start at the right place. We need to not only admit, but celebrate the fact that all Scripture (including the O.T) is breathed out by God, and is profitable for teaching, encouragement, exhortation and rebuke (2 Tim 3:16). While this is the right place to start, it is not the place to remain. We need to move beyond affirmation to application; how do we read, study and benefit from the pages of the O.T? One of the best methods I have found is to look for (and see) Christ in the O.T. If we read the historical narratives only as historical narratives, we miss a helpful connection that points us to the redemption that is found in Jesus Christ.
This way of studying the Scriptures I am commending to you is called the Redemptive-Historical hermeneutic. Hermeneutics (her-man-oo-ticks) simply means a method of interpretation, how you understand the text. So when I say Redemptive-Historical, I mean that we should read the O.T in a way that shows the story of redemption as it is woven throughout the entirety of the Bible, while not ignoring the significance of the original (historic) context.
When we read this way, we trying to understand why the passage was significant to the original audience (what was God trying to teach or communicate to his people at that time) and we also see how a particular event or situation or person fits into the broader storyline of Scripture and points forward to a greater salvation, a greater redemption.
Example: Moses & the Bronze Serpent
“4 From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom. And the people became impatient on the way. 5 And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.” 6 Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. 7 And the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. 8 And the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” 9 So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.”
If we read this account using the Redemptive-Historical hermeneutic, what do we see?
Historically we see:
God is punishing the people of Israel for their sin against him.
He provides a way of salvation from this punishment
Not everyone is saved, only those who “look up at the serpent.”
There is one who mediates or stands between the people of Israel and God
All of these would fall into the category of the Historical part of our interpretation. They really happened, they are historically accurate, and they help us to understand what was going on in the moment. Now let’s take those same bullet points and view them through the Redemptive lens.
Redemptive:
God is punishing the people of Israel for their sin against him.
This helps us see the seriousness of sin. Paul in the book of Romans details just how devastating and deadly sin is, telling us that the result, or wage of sin is death (Rom 2:23)
God provides a way of salvation from this punishment
When we see that God did not allow his people to totally perish, but provided a way of salvation, we should think about Jesus and how he himself said that this account in Number 21 was referring to and pointing to him. John 3:14-15 “14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
So we see this account pointing forward to a better salvation found in Christ.
Not everyone is saved, only those who “look up at the serpent.”
There is only one way of salvation for every human being, and that is through the blood of Jesus Christ. If we go outside of God’s design and try and save ourselves another way, we will perish for Jesus is the only way (see John 14:6, Acts 4:12)
There is one who mediates or stands between the people of Israel and God
Moses here is acting as a type of Jesus Christ, meaning that just as Moses stood between God and the people, interceding for them, so Jesus Christ became the mediator of a new and better covenant (Heb 8:6) standing between us and God and interceding even now for his people (Romans 8:34)
There is so much more that could be said about this passage, but we will leave it at that. I would also add that seeing the text historically, and seeing the text redemptively, should not be at odds with one another. They are equally helpful, equally relevant and both teach us about God, his character and his dealings with his people. I would not want us to swing the pendulum to either side, while excluding the other.
I am by no means an expert on interpretive principles or Biblical Theology. There is much I have yet to learn. But having the right tools to help in our study of the Scriptures is vitally important if we want to rightly divide (or handle) the word of truth.
For Further Study
Nancy Guthrie has a helpful list of ways that the Old Testament points to and prepares us for Christ (read her full article here). She says we should look for and see Jesus clearly when we see:
A problem that only Christ can solve (the curse, our inability to keep the law, our alienation from God)
A promise only Christ can fulfill (blessing, presence of God with us)
A need that only Christ can meet (salvation from judgment, life beyond death)
A pattern or theme that only comes to resolution in Christ (kingdom, rest)
A story that only comes to its conclusion through Christ (the people of God, creation/fall/redemption/consummation)
A person who prefigures an aspect of who Christ will be or what he will do by analogy and/or contrast (Joseph, Moses, David)
An event or symbol that pictures an aspect of who Christ will be or what he will do (ark, exodus, sacrifices)
A revelation of the pre-incarnate Christ (wrestling with Jacob, commander of the Lord’s army)
This is not a complete list, but I have found this to be a helpful tool in making sense of the O.T. As we grow in our love for God’s word at GBC, do not neglect your study of the O.T. It is a wealth of insight, encouragement, anticipation and it will point you to Jesus if you know where and how to look.
Here are 3 of my favorite resources that I have used and found very helpful as I look for Christ in the Old Testament, I encourage you to pick up a copy if this is something you are interested in learning more about:
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“In Jesus on Every Page, Dr. Murray guides the reader down his own Road to Emmaus, describing how the Scriptures were opened to him, revealing Jesus from Genesis 1 all the way through Revelation 22. Dr. Murray shares his ten simple ways to seek and find Christ in the Old Testament”
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“The massive diversity and complexity of the Bible can make it a daunting project for anyone to tackle. Getting a grasp on the unity of the Bible, its central message from Genesis to Revelation, helps immensely in understanding the meaning of any one book or passage. That is the goal of this book by Graeme Goldsworthy.”
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“Have you ever wondered what Christ said to his disciples on the Emmaus road making their hearts burn? Follow Ed Clowney through the Old Testament as he shows how all the Scriptures point to Christ. As you explore Old Testament characters and events, you'll be inspired by the many specific insights they give us into Jesus' character and lordship.”
Lastly, remember that the only hope we have of understanding and applying God’s word in a way that honors him is to have our eyes opened by the work of his Holy Spirit. I would encourage you, every time you open your Bible to pray along with the Psalmist,
“Open my eyes, that I might behold wondrous things from your law.”