Seeing Christ in the Old Testament.
Christ Himself taught us how to read our Bibles through the lens of Grace. He taught the Good News (the gospel of grace) from the Old Testament on the same day of His resurrection as He walked with the two depressed and despondent disciples (Cleopas and his companion) on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24:27-
“And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself."
Christ taught them things about Himself in all the Scriptures. The New Testament hadn't been written at this time. That same evening, Jesus appeared to the disciples in Jerusalem (also in Luke 24;) Here’s what He did in verse 45 (MSG)-
“He went on to open their understanding of the Word of God, showing them how to read their Bibles this way.”
But what Bibles? The New Testament hadn't been written at this time. Paul who wrote most of the NT was not even saved yet. As He did with the two on the road to Emmaus, Christ showed the disciples how to see Himself in the The Old Testament. It is filled with faith pictures that have as their substance Jesus Christ and our life in Him. In His wisdom, we get to see these faith pictures in the OT; we get to see Christ- our love story with our Saviour and how salvation is entirely by Grace through faith.
See Christ in the love story of Isaac and Rebekah in Genesis 24. Our walk in the Spirit today is portrayed in this faith picture. It begins with Abraham sending his most senior servant, the one in charge of all that he had, to go and get a wife for his son, Isaac. Isaac is a picture of our Saviour Jesus while Abraham's servant Eliezer is a picture of the Holy Spirit.
When the servant met with Rebekah (she's a picture of the church- the bride of Christ,) he gave her gifts (representing the gifts of the Spirit for us today). Even Rebekah's mother and brother who were not brides of Isaac received gifts from the servant because of Rebekah. In Christ, even people who are not believers get blessed because of you, just as it was with Joseph and Potiphar. Did you notice that Rebekah had no idea that someone was coming to take her away to marry Isaac, just as no one can come to Jesus except the Father calls him/her? Jesus said so in John 6:44-
“No one is able to come to Me unless the Father Who sent Me attracts and draws him and gives him the desire to come to Me, and [then] I will raise him up [from the dead] at the last day.”
God prepared her for Isaac; He knew her in advance and called her according to His purpose, just as He knew us in advance, chose us to become like His Son, called us, gave us right standing with Himself and gave us His glory (Romans 8:28-30).
The Lord worked in Rebekah both to will and to do for His good pleasure as He does with His children in Christ today (2 Philippians 2:13.) She drew water for Abraham's servant and watered all of his camels. She was also willing to travel with the servant to marry a man that she had never seen before! That's us in Christ today! We believe in Jesus and do God's will (work out our salvation) not by our own effort but because “it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure” - Philippians 2:13.
Rebekah’s family members could not find a reason to stop her from leaving to marry Isaac. Abraham's servant would have none of it when her mother and brother (Laban) tried to delay her departure for a few days, at least 10 they said, (representing the Ten Commandments). Today, these two represent those that tell you who believe:
“Yes, we know you are saved by grace but you still need to keep the law in order to be righteous/godly and acceptable to God."
This horrid mixture of part-law and part-grace is the “neither cold nor hot” that Christ speaks of in Revelation 3. Galatians 5:4 tells us that following this mixture doctrine is how Christ becomes of no effect in the life of a believer:
“4 For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace.”
Just as Abraham’s servant would not allow the 10-day delay in which time Rebekah could be convinced to change her mind about marrying Isaac because of her “unworthiness,” the Holy Spirit keeps us on track by convicting us of God’s righteousness (John 16:8) and guiding us into all truth—
“When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future.” John 16:13.
Rebekah followed Abraham's servant Eliezer on the long and arduous journey to meet Isaac. On the way, Abraham's servant would have told her things about her husband; told her about his beauty and character, taught her what he likes and what pleases him, told her how blessed she was to be marrying into a family where she would lack for nothing; just as we have the Holy Spirit to teach us all things about our Lord Jesus Christ and all we need to know today.
Did you know that Abraham's servant Eliezer's name means "my God is help?" It's no coincidence that our Saviour Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as Helper in John 14:26 -
“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you."
Anytime Rebekah got discouraged or tired from the journey, Abraham’s servant would comfort her and help her in her weaknesses, just as we have the Holy Spirit to comfort and help us during life’s challenges, persecutions and when we feel helpless and alone. He’s always there. The Comforter. If anyone stopped them on the way and tried to tell Rebekah that she was making a mistake (false doctrine peddlers) or that she still had some sins that made her unworthy of being the bride of Isaac, Abraham's servant was always by her side to reassure her of Whose she was, never leaving her nor forsaking her and leading her in the right direction. See John 14:
“16 And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. 17 He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth....”
Rebekah had no idea how to get to where Isaac was staying. Abraham’s servant led the way. Today, we are led by the Holy Spirit! But many people are still preaching law-keeping and right doing as the path of righteousness as the way, even when Isaiah 64:6 says “all of our righteousnesses are like filthy rags”! Remember Psalms 23 – “He leads me on the path of righteousness…” No human knows how to walk this path. Only our Lord God knows, and we who are on this path, the ransomed of the Lord, even though we are fools, we will not go astray (Isaiah 35:8-10.) His righteousness is a gift to us.
Believers, as Abraham’s servant was with Rebekah all through her journey to meet Isaac, today, the Holy Spirit is with us on this journey we’re on, giving us gifts, making intercession for us, helping us in our weaknesses, comforting us and teaching us all things, until we meet our Lord Jesus face-to-face on the day Paul wrote about in 1 Thessalonians 4:16 – 17 arrives:
“16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.”
And thus we shall always be with the Lord.
Here are some more expositions of Christ and His finished work of our salvation from the Old Testament:
What is the true meaning of the blood over the doors at Passover?
In the Old Testament, why was Moses not allowed to enter the Promised Land?
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