The
Lord Jesus Christ In The Old Testament
Bishop Moussa
Some people
imagine that we believe in a great man who claimed and whom
we claim is God, but the truth is diametrically opposed to this. We believe
that our great God took human flesh and appeared in our midst.
For a man to claim that he is a god means that he is either a liar or
mad. But for God to take the body of man so that He is near us, so that
we see Him and He sees us, so that we
hear Him and He hears us, this is both logical and
reasonable. It is not logical for a human to become a god, but it is
reasonable for God to manifest Himself in any way He wants: as a man, fire, or
a voice. This is what happened in the Old Testament many times.
1. Manifestations
in the Old Testament: God appeared in the shape of man many times in the Old
Testament:
a. He appeared to Adam in the Garden of Eden; He
called him and talked with him (Gen.3:8).
b. He appeared to Abraham in the guise of one of three men, one of
whom talked to him as God and the other two were angels who went on to Sodom
(Gen. 18: 1,13,17). He also appeared as Melchizedek (Gen. 14:18), the
king of righteousness, who accepted tithes and was the owner of the sacrifice
of bread and wine.
c. He appeared to Jacob as a Man with whom he
wrestled till the break of day, and Who
then blessed him and gave him the promises (Gen. 32:24).
d. He appeared to Moses in the cloud, walking on it, and the children
of Israel saw Him (Ex. 24: 9-11).
e. He appeared to Manoah
and his wife in the form of a man and promised that they would beget Samson
(Jud. 13: 6, 18).
f. He appeared to Daniel in the shape of the
Ancient of Days, a symbol of the eternity of God (Dan. 13: 14).
2. The Old
Testament Prophecies:
God was not satisfied with His many manifestations as man in which He prepared us for the Incarnation, but He prophesied
about the Incarnation in clear and unmistakable terms.
·
God told the snake:
"And I will put enmity between you and the
woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you
shall bruise His heel" (Gen. 3:15).
·
"The scepter shall
not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh comes and to Him
shall be the obedience of the people" (Gen. 49: 10).
·
"I see Him, but not
now; I behold Him, but not near; a Star shall come out of Jacob, and a Scepter
out of Israel" (Num. 24: 17).
·
"Behold, the virgin
shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name
Immanuel" (Isa. 7: 14), and Immanuel means ‘God with us’
although He is also the
son of the Virgin, that is, He is the son of man or God made flesh.
·
"For unto us a
Child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the government will be upon His
shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
(therefore, He is God, Incarnate God) Everlasting Father, Prince of
Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no
end," (that is, He is eternal and immortal) (Isa. 9: 6,7).
Thus, the Old
Testament includes more than 300 prophecies that accurately describe the details of the life of the Lord Jesus Christ from
his virgin birth in Bethlehem up to His ministry, crucifixion, resurrection and
His appearance to the disciples and His ascension to heaven. The
following is a table showing some of these prophecies and their realization in
the New Testament.
Prophecy Old Testament
New Testament
Personalities in the Old
Testament:
All the events of the Old Testament aim at declaring salvation through
Christ; that is why even the personalities of the Old Testament clearly point
to the Lord Jesus Christ.
a. Adam: he is the head of the old creation and
indicates the Second Adam, the head of the new creation.
b. Abel: he was sacrificed without having sinned, symbolizing
the greater Sacrifice Whose blood, which is better
than Abel’s, speaks. (Heb. 12: 24).
c. Isaac: he is the only beloved son who offered
himself as a sacrifice, and who was given by his father with joy. He
carried the wood for the offering and returned alive exactly as Jesus Christ
carried the cross and rose from the dead.
d. Joseph: he was called the savior of the world because he saved his
people from physical death by giving them material bread. This is a
symbol of the Lord who saved us from eternal death, giving us the Bread of
Life. Just as Joseph’s brothers sold him for silver, so did Judas sell
his Master.
e. Jonah: because of him the nations
believed. He spent three days in the whale exactly like the days the Lord
spent in the grave.
f. Solomon: he is the successful king who
symbolizes the King of Kings, the wise man who symbolizes the Source of Wisdom,
and the man of peace who symbolizes the Prince of Peace.
Thus, many symbolized
the different aspects of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, The Lord
Jesus Christ is the Incarnate God of whom the Old
Testament tells a great deal, the Desire of generations and the
secret of men’s salvation.
Let us approach Him with
reverence, worship, and love, praying that His Holy Spirit might work in us, so
that we may be saved by His Blood, and so that we live with Him and for Him for ever.
|| Pope Shenouda || Father Matta || Bishop Mattaous || Fr. Tadros Malaty || Bishop Moussa || Bishop Alexander || Habib Gerguis || Bishop Angealos || Metropolitan Bishoy ||
|| The Orthodox Faith (Dogma) || Family and Youth || Sermons || Bible Study || Devotional || Spirituals || Fasts & Feasts || Coptics || Religious Education || Monasticism || Seasons || Missiology || Ethics || Ecumenical Relations || Church Music || Pentecost || Miscellaneous || Saints || Church History || Pope Shenouda || Patrology || Canon Law || Lent || Pastoral Theology || Father Matta || Bibles || Iconography || Liturgics || Orthodox Biblical topics || Orthodox articles || St Chrysostom ||
|| Bible Study || Biblical topics || Bibles || Orthodox Bible Study || Coptic Bible Study || King James Version || New King James Version || Scripture Nuggets || Index of the Parables and Metaphors of Jesus || Index of the Miracles of Jesus || Index of Doctrines || Index of Charts || Index of Maps || Index of Topical Essays || Index of Word Studies || Colored Maps || Index of Biblical names Notes || Old Testament activities for Sunday School kids || New Testament activities for Sunday School kids || Bible Illustrations || Bible short notes|| Pope Shenouda || Father Matta || Bishop Mattaous || Fr. Tadros Malaty || Bishop Moussa || Bishop Alexander || Habib Gerguis || Bishop Angealos || Metropolitan Bishoy ||
|| Prayer of the First Hour || Third Hour || Sixth Hour || Ninth Hour || Vespers (Eleventh Hour) || Compline (Twelfth Hour) || The First Watch of the midnight prayers || The Second Watch of the midnight prayers || The Third Watch of the midnight prayers || The Prayer of the Veil || Various Prayers from the Agbia || Synaxarium