Episode 77 Show Notes
Christ in the Old Testament
From the Show
Michael Horton: Folks, “in him all things hold together,” Paul says in Colossians 1:17. John, at the beginning of his gospel, says “the word was with God and the word was God.” Everything was created through him and for him. So, when we’re talking about going back and finding Christ present throughout the Old Testament, already he is present before the creation and already he is present as the one through whom the Father made all things. So, it’s not surprising that he’s going to show up later, right, in these manifestations that we’ll be talking about.
Whitney Gamble: Yeah, it's not as if the Trinity all of a sudden once Christ became incarnated appears. And in the New Testament, finally Christ is here. Both Christ and the Holy Spirit, as well as of course, God the Father. They’re present. They're doing things throughout the whole testament. And certainly, it's different, it's veiled. It's pointing forward to when Christ would come in flesh but he’s definitely active during that time.
Justin Holcomb: First angel can be a messenger or a sent one. That’s helpful to keep in mind so when it says angels when we’re reading these. Another thing to keep in mind is that some of these appearances of a messenger, sometimes the people will bow down. The humans will bow down and the angel says. “Don’t do that.” Other times, when there's someone who is radiant that happens and there's no declaration of like, “No, don’t that.“ So, paying attention — it this being saying anything like, “Stop worshipping me. I'm only sending you a quick message.” So, that’s the little hint. It's because the apostles have done this and pointed back and said hey, Christ is a fulfillment here. It is shocking how much of the Old Testament is actually pointing to the fulfillment in Christ.
Adriel Sanchez: And the principle is such an important one for us to follow is Christians allowing the New Testament to help us read the Old Testament, because frankly the only infallible interpreter of Scripture is the Scripture itself. So, we’re blessed in that. We can look at these passages that maybe are or were baffling for rabbis throughout the centuries, where the Lord himself appears to person in this sort of physical manifestation and we can say, okay, we know, we know what's being spoken of there because we have the help of the apostles. And so, we are not left guessing saying, oh man, why is this being identified with God or the Lord. Well, we can say the New Testament gives us help with this.
Questions in this Episode
1. I have been listening to the show and I have been really enjoying it. It’s challenging. One question that has come up in my mind a few times is how to find Christ in the Old Testament? Often when you guys talk about the Old Testament you seem to see Jesus everywhere. How can I learn to see Jesus in the Old Testament?
Resources
Why the Old Testament Sacrifices Couldn't Actually Take Away Sin
The Psalms Are All About Jesus: Psalm 1
How Is Jesus Our Prophet, Priest, and King?
Journeys with Jesus: Every Path in the Bible Leads Us to Christ by Dennis Johnson
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