1. Read it recognizing that it testifies about Christ.
Christ Himself teaches us that the Old Testament scriptures testify about Him. Before His crucifixion, Christ our Lord told His disciples that He must be rejected, suffer, die, and be buried. On the night in which He was betrayed He said, “The Son of Man goes as it is written of him” (Matthew 26:24). It is written in the Old Testament scriptures that the Christ must die. After the resurrection, Christ our Lord said to His disciples, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” (Luke 24:25–26).
Christ Himself teaches us that the Old Testament scriptures testify about Him. Before His crucifixion, Christ our Lord told His disciples that He must be rejected, suffer, die, and be buried. On the night in which He was betrayed He said, “The Son of Man goes as it is written of him” (Matthew 26:24). It is written in the Old Testament scriptures that the Christ must die. After the resurrection, Christ our Lord said to His disciples, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” (Luke 24:25–26).
And again, He said, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled” (Luke 24:44). God the Father tells us, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him” (Matthew 17:5). Thus, we learn from Christ how to read the Old Testament scriptures which testify about Him.
2. Read it in the same way that the Apostles read it.
We learn to listen to Jesus as we learn to listen to the blessed apostles. Jesus spoke to them saying, “The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me” (Luke 10:16, ESV). Christ was sent by the Father to give to us the knowledge of salvation found in Him alone. Before His ascension, He sent out the apostles to reveal the knowledge of salvation found in Christ alone. He opened their minds so that they would be able to understand the Old Testament scriptures (Luke 24:45-48). Jesus spoke to the apostles saying, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”” (John 20:21) And again Christ spoke to His Apostles saying, ““These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. 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 that I have said to you” (John 14:25–26). The same Holy Spirit was at work in the preaching of the prophets and the apostles. The Holy Spirit testifies about Jesus both through the mouth of the prophets and the apostles (John 15:26; 1 Peter 1:10-12). Thus, we learn from the apostles how to read the prophets.
3. Read it grasping that it is not merely a catalog of future promises about the coming Christ; rather, Christ was present and active in those days.
The Apostle John tells us that Christ is the Eternal Son who was in the beginning creating all things (John 1:1-2). Christ was actively redeeming the people of Israel from bondage in Egypt (1 Cor. 10; Jude verse 5). Abraham saw Him (John 8:56-58). Isaiah saw Him (John 12:41). In fact all the Old Testament saints that saw God saw Christ. The prophetic scriptures are filled with accounts of God coming to His people in visible form. Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. John tells us, “No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known” (John 1:18). The Son of God is the One who makes the Father known. The Father’s form has never been seen (John 5:37; 8:56-68)
4. Read it with the understanding that God was rejected by His own people who refused to listen to His word.
Why don’t the Jewish rabbis see Christ in the Old Testament Scriptures? It is due to the fact that the people of Israel even in the days of the prophets rejected God’s word which proclaimed Christ and His Kingdom. The Prophet Isaiah opens his scroll by identifying the root problem. He preached, “The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s crib, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand” (Isaiah 1:3) And again Isaiah opens chapter fifty-three about the Suffering Servant of Yahweh lamenting, “Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?” (Isaiah 53:1) Commenting on this passage, the Apostle John teaches us, “Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him, so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: “Lord, who has believed what he heard from us, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” (John 12:37–38). Jesus told the rabbis in His day, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life” (John 5:39–40). Jesus is the Stone that the builders rejected (Psalm 118).
5. Read it realizing that the revealed knowledge of salvation is the same message given to us in the New Testament Scriptures.
The first book of Moses opens with the promise that Virgin will conceive a Child who will crush the serpents head, restoring or corrupted nature, defeating death, and destroying the power of Satan over us (Genesis 3:15). The Prophet Moses closes the book on the same note teaching us to say, “I wait for your salvation, O Yahweh” (Genesis 49:18). Later the Prophet Isaiah preaches, “Behold, your salvation comes” (Isaiah 62:11). When Simeon sees the Christ Child at the Temple, he sings to God saying, “my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples” (Luke 2:30–32). John the Baptizer was sent to prepare the way of the Lord and to give the knowledge of salvation in the forgiveness of their sins (Luke 1:77). The Apostle Peter preached that regarding Christ “all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives the forgiveness of sins through his name” (Acts 10:43). Abraham was counted righteous through faith just as we are and all who believe are his offspring (Romans 4:9-12). Isaiah teaches that “In the Yahweh all the offspring of Israel shall be justified” (Isaiah 45:25). Jesus is Yahweh and in Him we are justified, that is, declared righteous. Jesus is our righteousness as the Prophet Jeremiah teaches us that he will be called “Yahweh our Righteousness” (Jeremiah 23:6).
2. Read it in the same way that the Apostles read it.
We learn to listen to Jesus as we learn to listen to the blessed apostles. Jesus spoke to them saying, “The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me” (Luke 10:16, ESV). Christ was sent by the Father to give to us the knowledge of salvation found in Him alone. Before His ascension, He sent out the apostles to reveal the knowledge of salvation found in Christ alone. He opened their minds so that they would be able to understand the Old Testament scriptures (Luke 24:45-48). Jesus spoke to the apostles saying, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”” (John 20:21) And again Christ spoke to His Apostles saying, ““These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. 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 that I have said to you” (John 14:25–26). The same Holy Spirit was at work in the preaching of the prophets and the apostles. The Holy Spirit testifies about Jesus both through the mouth of the prophets and the apostles (John 15:26; 1 Peter 1:10-12). Thus, we learn from the apostles how to read the prophets.
3. Read it grasping that it is not merely a catalog of future promises about the coming Christ; rather, Christ was present and active in those days.
The Apostle John tells us that Christ is the Eternal Son who was in the beginning creating all things (John 1:1-2). Christ was actively redeeming the people of Israel from bondage in Egypt (1 Cor. 10; Jude verse 5). Abraham saw Him (John 8:56-58). Isaiah saw Him (John 12:41). In fact all the Old Testament saints that saw God saw Christ. The prophetic scriptures are filled with accounts of God coming to His people in visible form. Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. John tells us, “No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known” (John 1:18). The Son of God is the One who makes the Father known. The Father’s form has never been seen (John 5:37; 8:56-68)
4. Read it with the understanding that God was rejected by His own people who refused to listen to His word.
Why don’t the Jewish rabbis see Christ in the Old Testament Scriptures? It is due to the fact that the people of Israel even in the days of the prophets rejected God’s word which proclaimed Christ and His Kingdom. The Prophet Isaiah opens his scroll by identifying the root problem. He preached, “The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s crib, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand” (Isaiah 1:3) And again Isaiah opens chapter fifty-three about the Suffering Servant of Yahweh lamenting, “Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?” (Isaiah 53:1) Commenting on this passage, the Apostle John teaches us, “Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him, so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: “Lord, who has believed what he heard from us, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” (John 12:37–38). Jesus told the rabbis in His day, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life” (John 5:39–40). Jesus is the Stone that the builders rejected (Psalm 118).
5. Read it realizing that the revealed knowledge of salvation is the same message given to us in the New Testament Scriptures.
The first book of Moses opens with the promise that Virgin will conceive a Child who will crush the serpents head, restoring or corrupted nature, defeating death, and destroying the power of Satan over us (Genesis 3:15). The Prophet Moses closes the book on the same note teaching us to say, “I wait for your salvation, O Yahweh” (Genesis 49:18). Later the Prophet Isaiah preaches, “Behold, your salvation comes” (Isaiah 62:11). When Simeon sees the Christ Child at the Temple, he sings to God saying, “my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples” (Luke 2:30–32). John the Baptizer was sent to prepare the way of the Lord and to give the knowledge of salvation in the forgiveness of their sins (Luke 1:77). The Apostle Peter preached that regarding Christ “all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives the forgiveness of sins through his name” (Acts 10:43). Abraham was counted righteous through faith just as we are and all who believe are his offspring (Romans 4:9-12). Isaiah teaches that “In the Yahweh all the offspring of Israel shall be justified” (Isaiah 45:25). Jesus is Yahweh and in Him we are justified, that is, declared righteous. Jesus is our righteousness as the Prophet Jeremiah teaches us that he will be called “Yahweh our Righteousness” (Jeremiah 23:6).
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