Jesus in OT

Most believers today believe that in Old Testament Jews worshipped Father God whereas in New Testament we worship God through Jesus. This is a falsity. There can be nothing further from the truth.

Salvation of mankind from the the beginning has been through the Messiah and believers waited for him till he came. So, every book of the Bible from Genesis to Malachi is about Christ. As Pastor Carter Conlon said once, The Gospel was first preached in Genesis 3, speaking of the seed of the woman, who would come to save mankind and the first lamb sacrificed in Gen 3, as a pointer to Christ. All prophets from Abraham, Moses, Samuel. David, Isaiah and Jeremiah spoke of Christ and the cross.

(Mashiach is Jewish word for Messiah, Christ in Greek. Both words mean the Anointed One.

In this article I use the words, Christ, Messiah, Jesus interchangeably for us to break the

mind-set and bring home the point).

Here we will give you 7 lenses through which you can see Jesus in the Old Testament.

1.Theophany

After the lunch meeting, Jesus tells Abraham, that the cry of the city Sodom is very great and he had come down to see if it was true or not. (Gen 18:20-22). The next chapter tells us that, "The LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven (Gen 19:24). Here there are two Jehovahs in this verse. One Jehovah (LORD) is on earth and the other Jehovah (LORD) is in Heaven, and the Jehovah on earth rains fire from the Jehovah in Heaven upon Sodom and destroys it. I still remember a Billy Graham sermon where he explains that Jesus has been coming to the earth again and again through the OT and quotes this verse as proof. In the above verse we can see that the Jehovah on earth is none other than Christ Jesus. In the New Testament Jesus tells the Pharisees, that Abraham rejoiced to see him. Then the Pharisees mock Jesus saying, you are not yet 50 years old and you have met Abraham? (John 8:56,57)

Lets skip a few generations. Joshua leads the children of Israel over Jordan into the Promised land. Here Joshua is standing by the huge walls of Jericho and wondering how to begin the war. Then suddenly God appears to Joshua by the walls of Jericho, He reveals himself as the Captain of the host of the LORD (v14 KJV). (Commander of the army of the LORD says NIV). That is Lord Jesus himself (Josh 5:13-6:5). Like this there are various instances (Hagar, Gideon, Manoah etc). Lack of space prevents me from going into all of those.

2.Messianic prophecies

There are literally hundreds of Messianic prophecies in the OT. What it means in simple

English is this: Every prophet believed in Christ and waited for his coming. They longed for the Salvation that he would bring, in a sacrificial death for mankind’s sins. They also prophesied of His Resurrection and His reign upon the earth.

The Talmud puts it succintly,

"All the prophets prophesied only of the days of the Messiah" - Sanhedrin 99a.

"The world was made only for the Messiah." - Sanhedrin 98b.

Most of you read Psalms without any connection to Christ. You may do well to correct that impression, Spurgeon called the Psalms the Songs of the Redeemed. David wrote about half this Song book. In these, he speaks hundreds of prophecies about the Messiah. A few Messianic Psalms are Psalm 2, 8, 16, 22, 23, 24, 40, 45, 69, 110, etc. (I omit many here).

In particular, let us look at Psalm 22. It is the most graphic description of the Cross in the entire Bible, this is Jesus speaking in the FIRST PERSON, of his physical pain and agony on the Cross. Please study it reverentially. The post The Cross as seen by David is on Psalm 22.

Let's move forward a few hundred years to Isaiah. He is one of the major prophets and wrote a very important book. Isaiah spoke much about the Messiah, entire chapters are about Jesus. His birth, growing up, preaching the Gospel and rejection, his suffering on the Cross and death, his Resurrection and reign. Isaiah wrote Isaiah 53 because he believed in the Cross and Christ's work on the Cross.

3.Messianic types

Throughout history there were leaders, kings, prophets, priests that God used to save his people. God used them as role-models in each generation, these are shadows that point to Jesus. For example, the book of Hebrews lists the various OT saints (Moses, Joshua, Aaron)– and shows how Jesus fulfilled these roles in a greater and a complete manner. These are types and shadows, whereas Christ is the substance.

A study of these kings and prophets will give us a sneak preview into the Millennial Kingdom of Christ. Studying David (Asa/ Jehoshaphat/ Hezekiah/ Josiah or Joseph or Daniel or Esther) will give you a preview of what the Son of God will accomplish when he returns to the earth and brings the Kingdom of God in its fullest to all nations.

4.The sacrificial system

From the moment Adam sinned, it was as if Christ was slain. That is why John calls him, "the lamb slain from the foundation of the world" (Rev 13:8). Since Gen 3, when an an innocent lamb was sacrificed to make goat skins for Adam and Eve, every lamb is a pointer to the Messiah. Old Testament people were not saved by the blood of bulls or goats, but by faith in the death of the Messiah to come. Nobody can enter Heaven without believing in the Blood of Jesus, the Messiah. That' why God says in the Psalms referring to their sacrifices, "Will I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats" (Ps 50:I3).

There were also hundreds of years throughout Jewish history, where there was neither a temple nor a sacrifice. Say during Captivity, or how was Joseph saved in Egypt, or how were Daniel and Ezekiel saved in Babylon, as there was neither temple nor sacrifice? - by faith in the Messiah. That is why Daniel confesses his faith in Christ and the Cross saying, and the Messiah shall be cut off, but not for his sins (Dan 9:26).

5.Nick names of Jesus

Some of these references are direct, while the others are deduced from the context. A direct example is Heb 11:24-26, The Author summarizing the life of Moses says, "By faith Moses... chose to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin in Egypt, because he esteemed the reproach of CHRIST greater riches than the treasures in Egypt for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward." Now you know for a certainty Moses believed in CHRIST. Of course Jesus himself said in John 5:46, "Moses wrote of me".

7.Memra of the Lord/Word of the Lord

In the first Century AD, (after Jesus time), the Bible was translated from Hebrew into Aramaic for common use, and these were called the Targums (Lit translations). In the public reading of scripture in the synagogues, Hebrew scriptures were read first followed by these Translations, for the common people to understand. In the Targums, there is a distinct human being who is with the Father and acts on the earth on behalf of God. Because God the Father cannot manifest Himself upon the earth, this Memra/Dabar/Word of the Lord comes to the earth, makes covenants with people, destroys sodom etc, fights their battles etc.

Basically the Memra is a mediator between God and man. (Dabar in Hebrew means Word).

The above are a few extracts from the Targums. More about the Memra and Targums can be found in various sources. I mention two articles here for further study.

In closing, a spiritual father Uncle Doug told us matter of factly one day, “I don’t know how you folks read the Bible, but if you don’t see Jesus in the portion you have read, then your Bible reading is a waste.” What he meant is, You got to see Jesus in every page of the Bible, only then it is of some benefit, else it is a waste. That word of correction shook me up and changed my perspective. Little by little, I began to see him, and underline things in my Bible, so that I now see Jesus in every page of the Bible clearly. I pray and hope that you too will be sensitive to the Holy Spirit. To see Christ is so satisfying, everything else is insipid.

(Uncle Doug is man of God who has deeply influenced my life. He is a Graduate (Math) from Harvard, worked with David Wilkerson in his early years. His teachings about Mercy are really pure, and traces his lineage to Azusa street. Rev Douglas Detert, has written a book called "A Vast Simplicity" about his faith journey, available on Amazon, kindle and hardcover editions. The book is a treasure trove of spiritual truths. He stays in Wisconsin, but travels to India yearly to teach, encourage the churches etc.)