Finding Jesus in the Old Testament
Reading the Old Testament without looking for Jesus is a bit like trying to assemble a complicated piece of flat-pack furniture whilst ignoring the instructions and the illustration on the box; you might eventually produce something that stands upright, but you will almost certainly miss the intended beauty of the design. Many of us sometimes treat the earlier half of our Bibles as a dusty collection of history, distasteful episodes and somewhat confusing laws, yet the Holy Scriptures are actually akin to a grand family photo album where the younger version of our Lord is visible in every snapshot. We call these “types and shadows,” which is simply a theological way of saying that God is the ultimate master of the “spoiler alert,” leaving subtle clues and picture-previews of Christ long before He was born in Bethlehem.
One of the most moving shadows is found in the curious ritual of the Scapegoat during the Day of Atonement. While one goat was sacrificed, a second goat, known in Hebrew as Azazel, had the sins of the people symbolically placed upon its head before being led away. We read in Leviticus 16:21 that “Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions, all their sins.” This is a vivid preview of Jesus who was led outside the city walls of Jerusalem, carrying the heavy weight of our sins into a place of separation so that they might never be seen again.
We also find a wonderful shadow in the character of Boaz from the Book of Ruth, who acts as a Goel, or a “Kinsman-Redeemer.” In those days, if a family fell into poverty, a wealthy relative could step in as a champion to buy back their land, and we hear Naomi exclaim in Ruth 2:20 that “the man is a close relative of ours, one of our redeemers.” Boaz did not have to help Ruth, but he chose to do so out of pure kindness, much like Christ, who looked at our spiritual bankruptcy and paid the price to bring us back into rightness, alignment with God.
In the desert wanderings, we see the “Smitten Rock” at Horeb, which Moses was commanded to strike so that water might flow for the thirsty Israelites. God promised in Exodus 17:6 that “you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink.” Paul later makes the connection crystal clear in 1 Corinthians 10:4 by telling us that “they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ.” Just as the rock had to be struck to release the life-giving water, Jesus was struck on our behalf so that the living water of the Holy Spirit could flow into our parched lives.
Even the scarlet cord hanging from Rahab’s window serves as a crimson thread pointing towards the Gospel. The spies told her in Joshua 2:18 that “you shall tie this scarlet cord in the window,” and that simple red rope was a sign of safety amidst a crumbling city, much like the blood of the Lamb provides our security in a chaotic world. Finally, we might consider the mysterious figure of Melchizedek, the King of Salem, who appears in Genesis 14:18 and “brought out bread and wine,” being a priest of God Most High. He is a preview of our Great High Priest described in Hebrews 7, who meets us in our own lives and offers us holy sustenance. By spotting these patterns, our personal Bible study becomes a joyful treasure hunt, proving that God has always had a plan for our restoration.
As you ponder these and the many many more in the Old Testament, I encourage you to approach the that aprt of Scripture not as a closed book of history, but as a map that leads directly to the person of Jesus. Think of it as walking through a stately home at dawn where the shapes are initially indistinct, yet as the light of the day rises, every piece of furniture and every architectural detail begins to make perfect sense. Our Lord himself took the time on the road to Emmaus to show his friends how, “beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself” (Luke 24:27 ESV). When we open these pages with a heart full of interest and expectancy, we are joining that same walk, finding that the one who meets us in the bread and wine of the altar has been whispering his name through the stories of rocks, goats, and kings for thousands of years. May you find great joy in this search, discovering that the Saviour who loves you today is the same one who has been promised since the very foundation of the world.
Pax
Shaun
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