The Old Testament and Jesus: How the Old Testament Makes Way for the Possibility of a Divine Messiah
Introduction
The Old Testament is the backbone for both Judaism and Christianity, the former considering it their Bible while Christians include the New Testament. Considered to have been written by many authors over a span of a thousand years, the Old Testament is full of fascinating stories, miraculous events, and prophecies. Much of the central theme around the Old Testament revolves around God’s relationship with humanity, particularly His people, the nation of Israel. Throughout scripture, God is pursuing His people but they keep rejecting Him. Much of Scripture is filled with stories of people turning away from the Lord and the Lord sending people to warn them to turn back to God otherwise they might perish. It is God’s love story to His people and ultimately meant to be for all nations. While it is true that the Old Testament is very specifically focusing on Israel, God tells Abraham that he will be the father of many nations (Genesis 17:5) and that all nations will be blessed through his offspring (Genesis 22:18). The Old Testament has many portions such as the Torah (The first five books ie the Law of Moses), Wisdom Literature, and the Prophets (major and minor). They tell stories, give warnings, and reveal the reality of mankind’s heart and where people stand. But also scattered throughout the Old Testament is the idea of something, or someone, who will come and be the fulfillment of God’s promises to His people.
One of the key components of much of the Old Testament is the idea that the Messiah would come forward. The word Messiah (Mashiach in Hebrew) literally translates into ‘Anointed One’. It comes from Old Testament times where kings were anointed with oil as a visible sign that God has given them power to lead. The Messiah was said to be of the line of David, was believed to be a political leader who will rebuild the temple in Jerusalem, and bring a true awareness of God to all people. The Messiah was also supposed to usher in what is known as the ‘Messianic Age’- an age of peace with the Messiah ruling (“Key Beliefs in Judaism”, n.d.). There is also the idea among many Jewish sources that the Messiah would be a great warrior who would fight God’s battles. Since the Messiah was considered to be a king, this seems to make a lot of sense (“Messiah #1: Military Leader”, n.d.). There are varying beliefs on how the Messiah would accomplish this and what methods would be used. Some don’t believe that the Messiah would be divine, rather that he would be purely flesh and blood- human with no divine trace in him (Kedmi, n.d.). Regardless of the various beliefs, much of the core tenants remain the same on what the Messiah would do. Christianity proposes that Jesus is the fulfillment of the Messianic promises given throughout the Old Testament while the modern subscribers to Judaism reject that theory, and many are still waiting on the Messiah. I am a Christian and thus believe that Jesus is the fulfillment of those Messianic Prophecies. However, what I want to touch on in this article is references to the Messiah in the Old Testament and how it ties into Jesus being the fulfillment of such things, or how the Old Testament references point to imagery of a divine Messiah. There are many references in the Old Testament that are Messianic or seem to bring forth the Messiah in certain characters. I will not be even close to exhausting all the references just because there are so many. For every reference I touch on, there will be a hundred more I cannot touch on simply due to length. However, I will touch on a few Old Testament references and attempt to describe the way I feel that these Messianic references in the Old Testament are tied to Jesus Christ. There are people who object to all possibilities of a divine Messiah in Jesus. I will not be addressing these objections in this article (maybe at a future date I shall tackle some of those). The purpose of this article is to hopefully provide a starting point so you can see certain ties between Old Testament and New Testament and look into the text of Scripture and be amazed at how wonderfully tied in everything is to each other.
Christianity proposes that Jesus is the fulfillment of the Messianic promises given throughout the Old Testament while the modern subscribers to Judaism reject that theory, and many are still waiting on the Messiah.
The Serpent in the Garden
We have all heard of the story. Adam and Eve were placed in the Garden by God. God tells Adam and Eve that they can eat of everything except the Tree of Knowledge. The serpent tricks Eve with certain false promises and she eats, gives it to Adam and he eats, and their eyes are opened. That commences the fall- they realise their nakedness and their depraved state and attempt to hide themselves from God.
It has been debated by people whether the serpent was a normal cunning snake or a symbol of a much darker supernatural power- the devil. There seems to be an indication that the serpent was one of the creatures that Yahweh created as a beast of the field (Genesis 3:1). However, what is interesting about this beast is that it has the ability to speak and it tempts Eve. Only in later texts is the serpent identified as the devil (Revelation 12:9). Regardless of whether it was the devil himself and the serpent is symbolic of him or he actually used a serpent for his purposes, later texts seem to point to the idea that this is a satan/tempter figure (Day, 2015).
What fascinates me however is what is considered to be one of the first major prophecies ever recorded in Genesis. After Adam and Eve are called out by God and are asked who told them that they were naked, Eve tells God it was the serpent. God turns to the serpent and pronounces a judgment. As part of His judgment, He states “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel”. As with anything in Scripture, there are people who have different interpretations and some interpret this one way while the other interprets it another way. One that is held by many commentators is that this offspring extends to humanity and ultimately refers to the Messiah- Jesus. Enmity seems to indicate some sort of blood feud- one group vs the other. If the serpent is symbolic of satanic power in this passage, it would likely mean his spiritual descendants. It is also important to note that the He in Hebrew is a singular, subject pronoun. It is not referring to He as a group of people but rather one person (Volkmer, 2017). The question that would come to the Old Testament reader when they read about the enmity between the seed and the one who will bruise the serpent is which person is the seed being referred to? Is it David? Is it Abraham? Is it a King of Israel or Judah? The fact that this passage also talks about bruising is quite interesting as well. In a way, Jesus’ death on the cross was like a bruise. It did not completely bring Him down. Why? Because Jesus’ death did not result in His defeat but Him rising from the dead and putting the evil forces to an open shame (Colossians 2:15). A bruise indicates something temporary and not an injury that leads to full defeat. While Jesus died, He did not stay dead and death did not have its ultimate claim on Him. He proved that He is the conqueror of even death. The serpent bruised his heel because he could not crush Jesus. The bruise of the head that the woman’s offspring does to the serpent is also fascinating. When one crushes the head, it indicates a full victory. The serpent was fully defeated by the bruising of his head and he is now powerless. While the devil still roams around seeking those whom he can devour (1 Peter 5:8), he is defeated by the cross and is doomed (“What does Genesis 3:15 mean”, n.d.).
In a way, Jesus’ death on the cross was like a bruise. It did not completely bring Him down. Why? Because Jesus’ death did not result in His defeat but Him rising from the dead and putting the evil forces to an open shame (Colossians 2:15).
The Angel of the Lord Through Scripture
Throughout Scripture, there is a mysterious character that appears in numerous places (Genesis 31:11, Exodus 3:2, Psalm 34:7) referred to as the Angel of the Lord. What is interesting about this angel compared to other angels is that often this angel speaks as if He is God. First , we need to break down what angel actually means. Angel in Hebrew is malakim and the Greek word for this same being is ángelos (“Greek Word study”, n.d.). The word just means messenger. So in Scripture, an angel is considered some sort of heavenly being that is a messenger. What is so interesting about the angel of the Lord is as mentioned above is that He seems to be much more than a normal messenger. I will provide two examples that seem to prove that the angel of the Lord could be a pre-incarnate Messiah.
There are numerous passages I can point to for the angel of the Lord showing similarity to Yahweh. I will just focus on two. The first one is Judges 2:1-5. In it, the angel of the Lord goes to the people of Israel and starts speaking as if He is God. He says things like “I brought you up from Egypt” and the fact that He swore never to break His covenant with the people of Israel. He mentions to the people of Israel that they have not obeyed His voice. When normal angels appear in the Old Testament, they don’t claim to speak as if they are God themselves (even though they are held in high status, the angels don’t hold the same status as Yahweh. An example is Daniel 4:13 of an angelic being showing up for a message).While this is one passage that shows the angel of the Lord is speaking as Yahweh, there are some other interesting tidbits in other passages in regards to the angel of the Lord that might make more of a direct correlation.
In Judges 6:11-24, the mighty warrior Gideon has an encounter with the angel of the Lord. He originally is talking to the angel of the Lord about how he feels like Yahweh has forsaken them and how he feels that he cannot save Israel. Gideon later goes to make some food for the angel of the Lord (he refers to it as a present). When he gives it to the angel, the angel touches it with his staff, and fire from a rock consumes it and the angel of the Lord then disappears. What is fascinating is that verse 22 states that Gideon realizes that he had just encountered the angel of the Lord. What is said next should be telling. Gideon states that he has seen the angel of the Lord face to face and there seems to be some sort of shock that Gideon is feeling. But Yahweh then tells him “Do not fear; you shall not die” (Judges 6:23). Why is Gideon’s reaction and Yahweh’s response to this so interesting? Because it goes back to what God said in Exodus. Recall that Yahweh told Moses that “You cannot see my face, because anyone who sees my face will die” (Exodus 33:22). The fact that Gideon is terrified when he meets the angel of the Lord and Yahweh comforts him by basically stating that he shall not die might seem to be an indication that this angel is more than just a normal angel. The term ‘angel of the Lord’ never appears again after the Old Testament (“Who is the angel of the Lord?”, n.d.). We know that Jesus makes claims such as “Before Abraham, I AM” (John 8:58), a clear reference to His divinity and the Exodus story. Is it possible that the angel of the Lord is a pre-incarnate Christ? I don’t see why not.
Psalmic References
It is no secret that the Psalms are full of prophecy. The Psalms are constantly referenced in the New Testament, especially when Jesus is on the cross. The Psalm I am going to be focusing on is Psalm 2, specifically the second half.
The Psalm starts with the question of why are the people raging against Yahweh and His Anointed? Right off the bat, there is messianic imagery in this Psalm. The nations are raging against the Lord AND His Anointed. While some Jewish people will deny that this Anointed is referring to the Messiah, the belief that it is the Messiah has a long history in rabbinic Judaism (“Is Psalm 2 considered Messianic”, 2005). So let us go based on the assumption that this Anointed One is the Messiah.
In the later portion of the Psalm, Yahweh tells the rebellious kings of the Earth that He has set His King on His holy hill in Zion. This seems to be some sort of phrase of victory, that no matter what the kings of the world might do, Yahweh wins in the end and has established His King on His Throne. The next verses are fascinating. Verses 7-9 says:
“I will tell of the decree:
The Lord said to me, “You are my Son;
today I have begotten you.
Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,
and the ends of the earth your possession.
You shall break] them with a rod of iron
and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”
Why is this so fascinating? For one, it refers to a sort of father and son relationship. Yahweh tells the King He has established that this King is now Yahweh’s son and if He so asks, He will make the nations his heritage and the ends of the earth His possession. It is no coincidence that when Paul in the New Testament is preaching to his people he quotes Jesus as being the fulfillment of Psalm 2:7 (Acts 13:33). It is also interesting to note that this same father and son terminology occurs in Matthew 17:5 where Jesus is transfigured and a voice from Heaven says “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to Him” (Matthew 17:5). When the disciples heard this, could they have correlated this back to Psalm 2 where Yahweh seems to claim the King as His Son?
In the Book of Revelation, the final book of the Bible, the same imagery of Psalm 2 is used in correlation to Jesus but also His followers. Jesus promises the one who conquers in Revelation 2:26 the authority over nations and that he will rule them with a rod of iron such as when earthen pots are broken into pieces. How could this be used for humans when it seems like Psalm 2 is connected to Jesus? It might be because when believers give their lives to Christ, they are seated with Him in Heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6), and in some ways, Christ shares His authority with us. We will never be God, but Christ in the coming age will share some of His rule over things with us, just like we will have glorified bodies like His (1 John 3:2). It seems clear that Psalm 2 is about the Messiah and then the Messiah in Revelation shares some of that authority with His people. If He did not receive the authority in Psalm 2 in the first place, He could not share that with His people. You can’t share what you don’t have.
One of the last fascinating things about this Psalm that I want to touch on is verse 12. Verse 12 of Psalm 2 states that one must kiss the Son, lest He is angry and you perish and blessed are all those who take refuge in Him. The fact that one can take refuge in Him and be called blessed is interesting in and of itself because refuge in the Old Testament is usually reserved for God (Psalm 34:8, Psalm 46:1-2, etc). If one is blessed to take refuge in the Son, it indicates a Messianic Divine presence. Taking refuge in a spiritual sense in anyone else would be a form of idolatry. The other interesting element is the aspect of “kissing the Son”. The original context is that kissing the Son is an act of obedience. It’s an act of homage (“What does it mean to kiss the Son”, n.d.). So when the Psalmist refers to kissing the Son lest he is angry, it is the idea that you should submit to the Son or else you will perish. This goes in line with much of what the New Testament teaches with salvation coming only through Christ and placing our obedient faith in Christ for if we don’t, we will perish.
It is no coincidence that when Paul in the New Testament is preaching to his people he quotes Jesus as being the fulfillment of Psalm 2:7 (Acts 13:33).
Ancient of Days and Jesus
Some of my favorite passages in all of Scripture are Daniel 7:9-10 and Daniel 7:13-14. For the sake of length, I am not going to post what those Scriptures say here and will trust that the reader will be able to look it up. However, I really love the very apocalyptic feel of Daniel 7. The second half of the book of Daniel is very apocalyptic in nature. What I really want to touch on is Daniel 7:13-14.
Daniel 7:13-14 mentions how from the clouds of Heaven came one like a son of man and He was presented before the Ancient of Days (Ancient of Days seems to be an indicator of Yahweh). He was given dominion over all that all shall serve Him and His Kingdom will not be one that is destroyed. In other words, His Kingdom is God’s Kingdom because only God’s Kingdom cannot be destroyed. It is no coincidence that Jesus constantly referred to Himself as the son of man. While this definitely is in reference to Him being fully human as well as fully God, there is also the Messianic connection in Daniel 7:13-14. The disciples and others would have known that He was making a claim to Lordship when He stated that He was the son of man. In fact, in Jesus’ trial, when the Pharisees ask Jesus if He is indeed the son of God, not only does Jesus answer in the affirmative but He quotes directly from Daniel in Matthew 26:64. He tells the Pharisees that He will come on the clouds of Heaven. This causes the Pharisees to declare that He has blasphemed and desire His death. Why? Because the Pharisees knew He was quoting from the Book of Daniel. That also means that they knew the rest of the verse- that Jesus was claiming to be the One that all shall serve and His kingdom shall not pass. It’s no wonder that Revelation ends with the creation of the New Heaven and Earth and with Jesus ruling on the Earth forever and ever with his saints (Revelation 22).
The other reference I want to look at is Daniel 7:9-10. Why? Because it connects very well with Jesus’ appearance in Revelation. What needs to be understood is that much of Daniel 7 seems to be in reference to judgment- God being judge and taking back what is His. When John sees the Son of man in Revelation 1:12-17, he says that the heads on Jesus’ hair is white, like white wool and snow. This is the exact same description given in Daniel 7:9 of the Ancient of Days. In Daniel’s vision, fire surrounds the Ancient of Days. In John’s vision, Jesus is fiery in appearance. Could it be that John is trying to make the reader connect with the Ancient of Days described in Daniel? Thus equating Jesus with God? So the reader could say “Oh, I see the connection?” Jesus can be interpreted as being identified with the Ancient of Days here through the similarities in both Revelation and Daniel. After all, in Revelation, Jesus comes back to judge and reign- the exact things that Daniel describes the Messiah and Ancient of Days having the authority to do and will do during the last days.
Conclusion
While these are just a few of the references, there are many more in the Old Testament that point to the Messiah and that Christ in numerous ways has fulfilled. I have to admit that this article was very challenging to write as when I was writing each reference, many more popped in my mind that I wanted to write on or expand on. The list is just a very small percentage of Messianic references and prophecies. There are numerous websites, books, scholarly articles, and YouTube channels that are dedicated to this topic. I would encourage the reader to do their own research to verify if what I am saying is accurate or not. As mentioned earlier, there are numerous works out there dedicated to this topic. I pray that this article was a blessing to you and helped you grow in your walk with the Lord if you are a Christian, and if you are not, I pray that it gives some interest to at least explore this topic. Prophecy in the Old Testament is fascinating and the Messiah is the Chosen One of the Old Testament. This is a topic that is both epic and beautiful in my opinion. If you have any questions or criticisms based on what I wrote or just want to discuss further, please don’t hesitate to email me at vivekanrajan@gmail.com. Would love to talk about this further.
Vivek is a current grad student at Rutgers University studying cybersecurity with a concentration in digital forensics. In his free time, he loves to work out, walk his dog, read or explore the great outdoors. If you have any questions or criticisms you can send him an email at: vivekanrajan@gmail.com
References:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zjbyb82/revision/5
https://www.livius.org/articles/religion/messiah/messiah-2-military-leader/
https://bibleinterp.arizona.edu/articles/2015/04/day398028
https://www.biola.edu/blogs/good-book-blog/2017/jesus-in-genesis-3-15
https://www.gotquestions.org/crush-head-bruise-heel.html
https://www.logosapostolic.org/greek-word-studies/0032-angelos-angel.htm