Did Old Testament Believers Look Forward to the Christ?

William Kilgore

As New Testament believers, we know that God requires men and women to place their faith in Jesus

Christ as their Savior. Jesus alone is the sacrifice for sin. But what about those in Old Testament times? If anyone was to be justified before God in OT times, their sins must be atoned for. If this is not true, then the Incarnation is made redundant. Think about it carefully - if there were ever any people who could be redeemed apart from Christ, then we could be redeemed without Christ as well! God did not send His Son as one of several options, but because there was no other way - "without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin" (Heb. 9:22).

Yet some will no doubt ask a good question: "Didn't Moses instruct the Israelites to sacrifice various animals for atonement?" Yes, he did. However, those animal sacrifices could never atone for their sin (Heb. 10:4-12; cf. Isaiah 1:11). These OT sacrifices were types that prefigured the sacrifice of Christ. (1) I am a firm believer in the illustration that OT believers looked forward to the cross, while NT believers look back to the cross. OT believers had the sacrificial system; NT believers have the sacrament of communion. The sacrifices prefigured the cross; the communion meal remembers it.

Recently, a friend has challenged this idea on the grounds that the Bible never speaks of the OT saints as looking forward to Christ. Since I value the truth and want to remain open to correction, this has made it necessary to reexamine the concept (it has been years since I rejected dispensationalism (2) and formulated these ideas) in order to determine if it still holds the weight I once felt that it did. After careful examination, I still believe that it does (despite the fact that I won't be leaving the SBC for the Presbyterian church down the street!). This brief paper is an attempt to demonstrate this from the text of scripture.

To begin with, there are some general observations that must be made clear. Most obvious is the fact that it flies in the face of NT revelation to suggest that anyone gets into the Kingdom apart from the sacrifice of Christ (cf. Romans 5; 1 Cor. 15). If someone would suggest that there was another way previous to Christ, they blaspheme by making the Incarnation a redundancy that was wholly unnecessary for our redemption. The several "gospels" of traditional dispensationalism are fictions - there is only one true Gospel. (3)

Second, an important eschatological observation is that no one gets into the Kingdom (in the ultimate sense) without being glorified: "flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom" (1 Cor. 15:50). Yet our glorification involves resurrection with a new body like that of Christ - our resurrection is dependent on Christ (1 Cor. 15)! And so it is with that of Abraham, Moses, Jabez, Jonah or any other OT believer.

Third, as mentioned above, we understand from scripture that there is only one Gospel. (4) Yet this Gospel is said to be found in the OT (Isaiah 52:7/Rom. 10:15; Luke 4:18; Gal. 3:8,14; Heb. 4:2, 6), as well as being preached by the twelve disciples before Christ's death and resurrection (Luke 9:6). Job is perhaps the earliest book in the Bible and has Job expressing a detailed faith that included God incarnate, the Second Coming and bodily resurrection (Job 19:23-27). Even the new birth should have been understood by Nicodemus (John 3:8-10), being essential to entrance into the Kingdom (John 3:3-5) and incorporating the truth of Messiah's sacrifice (John 3:14-18). Note also in Ephesians 2:12 that to be "without Christ" and "aliens to the commonwealth of Israel" is the equivalent of being "strangers to the covenants of promise." The OT covenants possessed by Israel were a kind of enfolded Gospel. Therefore, Paul was able to tell Timothy that the OT scriptures were able to make him "wise unto salvation" (2 Tim. 3:14-15).

Fourth, many NT passages make it abundantly clear that the OT scriptures (which was all they had at that time) speak continually of Christ (Luke 10:23-24; 16:29-31; 24:25-27; John 5:39; 12:41; Acts 3:20-24; 24:14; 26:22-23; 28:23; 1 Peter 1:9-12).

Finally, we know from scripture that redemption in Christ was purposed by God from eternity (e.g., Matt. 25:34; Acts 15:18; Ephesians 1:4; Titus 1:4), and that Christ is "the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world" (Rev. 13:8 - KJV; cf. 1 Peter 1:20). The Book of Life was already filled out before Adam took his first breath of oxygen (Rev. 17:8)! The Creator of all that is stands outside of time as we know it and reckons the atonement wrought by Christ to all who have ever or will ever believe. There is no other basis for the justification of sinful human beings.

The NT book of Hebrews is essential to understand the sacrificial prescriptions codified in the Law of Moses (in particular, Leviticus), and apparently going all the way back to God's personal communication with Adam. (5) The animal sacrifices commanded by God "to atone for sin" (a phrase used throughout Leviticus) had no real power to do so (Heb. 9:9; 10:4-11). How then were they efficacious? Only insofar as they signified and represented the sacrifice of Christ.

Are all of the OT Jews who sacrificed now asleep in Christ? No, of course not. Just like the fact that not all who get wet in baptism or join the church are in Christ. Only those who sacrificed in faith are to be found in Christ. The question, then, is this: faith in what? The answer is: faith in the atonement of Christ, the only basis for eternal redemption that there is or ever will be.

Admittedly, it cannot be demonstrated that every single individual believer in the OT looked forward to Christ. But it is not at all necessary to do this. We have already examined some solid NT reasons to hold that OT believers looked forward to the cross in their sacrifices and faith. What we can do is to look at some representative examples spoken of in scripture that strengthen the case. The examples I will look at here are those of Adam, Abraham, Moses, and the general statements concerning OT believers found in Hebrews.

First, we have the example of Adam. The first messianic promise is found in the proto-evangelium of

Genesis 3:15:

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.

Keep in mind that the context of this promise is God's cursing of the serpent, the woman, the man and creation in general. After telling of these various woes and then pronouncing a death sentence on Adam (Genesis 3:19), Adam turns right around and gives his wife the new name of "Eve" - a word meaning "life" or "living" and full of hope (Genesis 3:20). Why is this? Why, after receiving the curse of death, would Adam name his wife life? It can only be because Adam believed God when He spoke of the Seed of the Woman who would triumph over the Serpent.

For all practical purposes, God Himself preached the Gospel for the first time and Adam was the first convert. This has long been the belief expressed throughout Church history among Catholics, Orthodox, the Reformers (Melanchthon wrote a treatise on this very subject), the Anabaptists, and others. Charles Spurgeon, perhaps the greatest Baptist preacher in the historical Church, said of this passage, "This is the first promise to fallen man. It contains the whole gospel and the essence of the covenant of grace." (6)

Did Adam look forward in faith to the Christ? Yes, he certainly did! Immediately after this, God clothes them with animal skins, an act picturing redemption (Genesis 3:21). (7) It is not much of a stretch to infer that Adam communicated the promise of Genesis 3:15 to subsequent generations; note that his sons Cain and Abel already are taking part in a sacrificial system (Genesis 4:2-6; cf. Heb. 11:4).

Our second example is Abraham. Is it possible that Abraham anticipated the Christ? Not only is it possible, it is certain without a doubt! Note what Jesus says to the Jewish leaders in John 8:56 -- "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad." Likewise, Hebrews 11:10 states that Abraham "waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God." Abraham took part in the sacrificial system that could not itself atone for sin (Heb. 10:4-11). On what basis then was he redeemed? He did so in anticipatory faith, looking toward the Christ and His Kingdom (the substance of the Gospel). In fact, Paul teaches that NT believers become partakers in the promise and blessing of Abraham when they embrace Christ (Gal. 3; Rom. 4). God's promise to Abraham was simply another way of stating the Gospel (Gal. 3:8). It is not just faith in general that is accounted for righteousness. Both Abraham and David believed on Him who justifies the ungodly (Rom. 4:1-8). God does not justify the ungodly on a whim, but only on the merits of Christ.

Third, we have the important example of Moses. Did Moses look forward to Christ? I offer the following evidence that he did. In Luke 16:29 (The Parable of the Rich man & Lazarus), it is "Moses and the Prophets" that the Jews should hear to know the way of salvation. Likewise, "beginning at Moses and all the Prophets" Jesus explained to some disciples "in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself" (Luke 24:27). Note Peter's preaching in Solomon's portico:

But those things which God foretold by the mouth of all His prophets, that the Christ

would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began. For Moses truly said to the fathers, "The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear in all things, whatever He says to you. And it shall be that every soul who will not hear that Prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people." Yes, and all the prophets, from Samuel and those who follow, as many as have spoken, have also foretold these days (Acts 3:18-24).

Those in the OT, including Moses, were not ignorant concerning the Messiah. Later, Paul testified that "to this day I stand, witnessing both to small and great, saying no other things than those which the prophets and Moses said would come" (Acts 26:22). And what was Paul referring to? " … that the Christ would suffer, that He would be the first to rise from the dead, and would proclaim light to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles" (Acts 26:23)! Paul "explained and solemnly testified of the kingdom of God, persuading [the Jewish leaders] concerning Jesus from both the Law of Moses and the Prophets, from morning till evening" (Acts 28:23).

Hebrews 11 speaks very clearly of Moses looking forward to Christ:

By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward" (Heb. 11:24-26).

Notice, "the reproach of Christ"! Further, what was this "reward" that Moses "looked to"? It was a "heavenly country" - that is, the Kingdom of God; it was "the promise" which they saw from afar that we now receive (cf. Heb. 11:13-16, 39-40). Adam knew a little, Abraham knew more, and Moses understood still more - but they all in some measure looked forward to the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. They were not nearly so ignorant as some have supposed.

Finally, Hebrews 12:1-3 tells us of a "great a cloud of witnesses" that have run the race before us. Many of these OT saints are described in Hebrews 11 - Abel, Enoch (8), Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua and the army of Israel, Rahab, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets. "These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth" (Heb. 11:13).

These OT saints sought a "heavenly country" - the city prepared for them by God (Heb. 11:16). We are included with them in inheriting "the Kingdom prepared … from the foundation of the world" (Matt. 25:34; cf. Matt. 8:11; Heb. 11:39-40); together, we are all a part of the same "olive tree" whose root is

Jesus Christ (Rom. 11). We, through faith in Christ, share in "the inheritance of the saints in light" (Col. 1:12).

The Apostle Peter wrote:

Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith--the salvation of your souls. Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven--things which angels desire to look into (1 Peter 1:8-12).

They did not receive the promise of salvation in Christ, of the Kingdom of God - but they were far from ignorant! They knew enough to look forward to the Gospel in faith. When Paul stood before Agrippa to answer the charges brought against him concerning the Gospel, he referred to that Gospel as "the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers. To this promise our twelve tribes, earnestly serving God night and day, hope to attain. For this hope's sake, King Agrippa, I am accused by the Jews" (Acts 26:6-7).

This is the promise that those in Hebrews 11 looked to, because it was made to them. This is confirmed in Hebrews 12. The "great cloud of witnesses" enumerated in chapter 11 are witnesses to the same race we run, "looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God" (Heb. 12:2). Jesus was as much the Author and Finisher of their faith as He was of our's (cf. Rom. 3:21-22).

One note of clarification is in order. I am not suggesting that OT believers literally knew the name "Jesus" and "received Him as their personal Savior" or anything like that. God certainly reserved "something better" for us (Heb. 6:9; 7:19, 22; 8:6; 9:23; 11:40; 12:24). In fact, the inclusion of non-Jews in Christ was -- to a large degree - a "mystery" to the OT believers (cf. Eph. 3). The faith of OT believers was a primitive one, to be sure. The faith of Moses and the Prophets was not nearly as full as our's. Abraham's was more vague than their's. Adam's was perhaps the most primitive. Yet all of them had a faith that - to one degree or another - looked forward to the redemption of Christ.

As the staff at Billy Graham's Decision Today have written:

The Old Testament makes clear that God taught the people to approach Him by way of animal sacrifices. The Mosaic law required that animals be offered as sacrifices and that the priests sprinkle the blood upon the designated altar. Those sacrifices foreshadowed and symbolized the anticipated shedding of blood and sacrificial death of Jesus, the Messiah. Christ's eventual sacrifice of His own life as the "lamb without blemish" was the

fulfillment of the sacrificial offerings to atone for sin. The Old Testament book of Leviticus and the New Testament book of Hebrews provide an excellent harmony of truth on this subject. Both Old Testament believers and New Testament believers were saved by grace through faith on the basis of the shed blood of Jesus Christ. The Old Testament looked forward to the sacrifice of Christ, while the New Testament looks back on that same sacrifice. (9)

For instance, we have Jesus saying to His disciples, "Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see; for I tell you that many prophets and kings have desired to see what you see, and have not seen it, and to hear what you hear, and have not heard it" (Luke 10:23-24). Immediately one will say, "Ah-ha! See? They did not get to see or hear Jesus!" But no one is claiming that they saw the fulfillment. Rather, we focus here on the fact that they desired to see and hear it and thus were in no sense ignorant of it.

What I am saying is that those who were truly saved in the OT sacrificed with the full knowledge that their sacrifices signified something yet to come that God had promised: One who would redeem them. This is certainly a more "primitive" faith in Messiah that lacks the detail we enjoy, but nonetheless is a faith that looks forward to Messiah and what He would accomplish. This is why, when the Messiah did finally come in the person of Jesus Christ, those Jews living and sacrificing at that time were expected to transfer their faith to Him - those who did not were "broken off" from the people of God (cf. Romans 11).

End Notes

1. If I am doubted here, a careful study of the NT book of Hebrews will bear this out.

2. See my online paper, Problems With Dispensationalism.

3. See my online paper, The Gospel of the Kingdom.

4. Ibid.

5. Note what seems to be the immediate beginnings of a sacrificial system in God's actions following Adam's fall (Gen. 3:21). The sacrificial system is regularly practiced as early as Cain and Abel (Gen. 4:2-7), and is known to Noah both before (Gen. 7:2-3; note the 'clean' and 'unclean' distinction) and after the flood (Gen. 8:20-21). Job, probably the oldest book in the Bible, reveals a sacrificial system as well (Job 1:5).

6. From Spurgeon's Faith's Checkbook (Pasadena, TX: Pilgrim Publications); emphasis mine.

7. God clothing them with "tunics of skin" necessitated the prior shedding of blood as the animals were killed and skinned.

8. Who, incidentally, actually prophesied concerning Christ's Second Coming - cf. Jude 14-15.

9. Billy Graham Evangelistic Association News & Special Events E-mail Update. Monday, February 25, 2002. <emphasis mine>

last updated 08-05-2002.

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