The use of the Old Testament by the New Testament can be troubling. Sometimes,
it might even seem as if the New Testament writers had illegitimately lifted
material from their original OT context to prove their points. Let me give you
an example. The resurrected Jesus had taught His disciples that His
resurrection on the third day was a
fulfillment of OT prophecy. However, there is no OT prophecy that explicitly
states this:
·
Then he said to them, “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.” Then he
opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, “Thus it is
written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from
the dead.” (Luke 24:44-46 ESV; also Matthew 17:22-23)
Elsewhere, Jesus claimed that Jonah’s three days in the
great fish was more than just an historic event but also a prophecy about the
Messiah spending three days in the grave:
·
“For just as Jonah was three days and three
nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and
three nights in the heart of the earth.” (Matthew 12:40)
However, the original account provides no evidence that
Jonah’s experience in the great fist was also prophetic (Jonah 1:17). This
leaves us with a question: “Did Jesus illegitimately make use of this account?”
I want to make the case that everything that had been written was more than
just historical accounts but also contained valuable lessons for us today:
·
Now these things happened to them as an example,
but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the
ages has come. (1 Corinthians 10:11)
·
But the words “it was counted to him” were not
written for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be counted to us
who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord. (Romans 4:23-24)
·
For whatever was written in former days
was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the
encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. (Romans 15:4)
However, does the OT
regard its historical accounts as more than just history? Do these accounts
also teach spiritual lessons? Of course! Joshua recounted Israel’s history to
prove that God is faithful:
·
And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says
the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘Long ago, your fathers lived beyond the
Euphrates, Terah, the father of Abraham and of Nahor; and they served other
gods. Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the River and led him through
all the land of Canaan, and made his offspring many. I gave him Isaac. And to
Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. And I gave Esau the hill country of Seir to
possess, but Jacob and his children went down to Egypt. And I sent Moses and
Aaron, and I plagued Egypt with what I did in the midst of it, and afterward I
brought you out.” (Joshua 24:2-5)
The author of the Book
of the Chronicles concluded that Israel, based upon the preceding accounts
of their history, had been unfaithful. Consequently, they suffered destruction
and exile:
·
The LORD, the God of their fathers, sent
persistently to them by his messengers, because he had compassion on his people
and on his dwelling place. But they kept mocking the messengers of God,
despising his words and scoffing at his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD
rose against his people, until there was no remedy. (2 Chronicles 36:15-16)
However, this alone does not prove that Israel regarded
history as prophecy, as the NT usage suggests. Nevertheless, there are numerous
OT passages that point to this fact, even to the Crucifixion.
God had asked Abraham to present his son Isaac as a human
sacrifice, but just before Abraham was about to plunge the knife into his son,
the Angel of the Lord prevented him and provided a ram in the place of Isaac.
Nevertheless, Abraham did not name Mt. Moriah, “God has provided,” but “God will
provide.”
·
So Abraham called the name of that place, “The
LORD will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the LORD
it shall be provided.” (Genesis 22:14)
God’s deliverance was a matter of history. However, the name
Abraham assigned signified that it was predominantly a matter of prophecy. God
had not only provided in the past, but He also would provide in the future.
Likewise, I’d like to suggest that Jonah in the great fish was not simply a
matter of history but also of prophecy pointing to the Savior. Even the OT
understood that it contained deeper meanings hidden beneath the surface.
We find this same principle reflected in other OT passages. After
the exiles returned to the Promised Land from Babylon:
·
[God] showed me [Zechariah] Joshua the high
priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right
hand to accuse him. And the LORD said to Satan, “The LORD rebuke you, O Satan!
The LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this a brand plucked from
the fire?” Now Joshua was standing before the angel, clothed with filthy
garments. And the angel said to those who were standing before him, “Remove the
filthy garments from him.” And to him he said, “Behold, I have taken your
iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with pure vestments.” And I said,
“Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his
head and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the LORD was standing by. And
the angel of the LORD solemnly assured Joshua, “Thus says the LORD of hosts: If
you will walk in my ways and keep my charge, then you shall rule my house and
have charge of my courts, and I will give you the right of access among those
who are standing here. Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, you and your friends
who sit before you, for they are men who are a sign: behold, I will bring my
servant the Branch. For behold, on the stone that I have set before Joshua, on
a single stone with seven eyes, I will engrave its inscription, declares the
LORD of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day. (Zechariah
3:1-9)
While this cleansing from sin pertained to the high priest
Joshua, it also pertained to a future Joshua (“the Branch”) through whom the
Lord would “remove the iniquity of this land in a single day.” In light of
this, Joshua served as a type, shadow, or symbol of One to come, the One who
would bring the ultimate release from sin.
Who is this Branch? All the ancient rabbis were in agreement
about His identity. The Branch is the promised descendant of David, the
Messiah, who would establish an everlasting kingdom (2 Samuel 7):
·
“Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD,
when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king
and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In
his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the
name by which he will be called: ‘The LORD is our righteousness.’” (Jeremiah
23:5-6)
This Branch had been designed by many names or titles. This
one suggests that He is the Lord, “Yahweh” in the Hebrew. This name also points
to the Gospel. Instead, of earning our own righteousness, He would be our
righteousness.
Afterwards, the Lord directed Zechariah to return with
others to Joshua:
·
“Take from them silver and gold, and make a
crown, and set it on the head of Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest.
And say to him, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, “Behold, the man whose name is
the Branch: for he shall branch out from his place, and he shall build the
temple of the LORD. It is he who shall build the temple of the LORD and shall
bear royal honor, and shall sit and rule on his throne. And there shall be a
priest on his throne, and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.”’ (Zechariah
6:11-13)
God’s
command was highly irregular. A priest could not be a king. Joshua, therefore,
could not wear the crown of a king. This privilege was reserved only for the
Branch, the Messiah:
·
The Lord said to my Lord [the Branch],
"Sit at My right hand (KINGSHIP), till I make Your enemies Your
footstool."…The Lord has
sworn and will not relent, "You are a priest forever
according to the order of Melchizedek." (Psalm 110:1-4)
Therefore, Joshua wearing a crown was history, but it also
had to be prophecy of the coming priest/king Joshua (or “Yeshua”). Also
perplexing is the fact that the Branch would build the Temple. However, the
Jerusalem Temple had already been rebuilt at this point. How then to we resolve
this apparent contradiction? Perhaps this history/prophecy was pointing to a
different Temple, where Israel would meet their God to find His mercy.
Talking about Himself, Jesus told the Jewish leadership:
·
“Destroy this temple, and in three days I will
raise it up.” The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this
temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking about the
temple of his body. (John 2:19-21; 1:14 which suggests that Jesus “templed”
among us in His incarnation.)
For the OT Jews, history taught lessons, even about what
would happen in the future. For Jesus, the Book
of Jonah taught a prophetic lesson about Himself. We should therefore
assume that the Holy Spirit also directed the Apostles to other OT lessons
pointing to the Messiah.
On our own, we might not be able to discern how Jonah served
as a symbol of the coming Branch. However, these things had been revealed by
the Spirit to the Apostles, as Jesus had promised them:
·
“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)
Since the Apostles were taught directly by the Spirit, we
might not fully grasp how the Apostles used the Hebrew Scriptures. However, we
should be willing to accept their usage:
·
These things God has revealed to us through the
Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. (1
Corinthians 2:10)
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