THE GOSPEL IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

The gospel of the grace of God was as certainly preached by Moses as by Isaiah or Ezekiel. In the tabernacle of the wilderness, in the priesthood and sacrifices, the same fundamental doctrines of reconciliation with God, of access to him and communion with him, are found in type and symbol as are revealed in the Gospels and the Epistles. Jesus said, “For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me” (John 5:46); “These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses, and in the Prophets, and in the Psalms, concerning me” (Luke 24:44). The testimony of Paul is as explicit as that of Jesus. To the chief men of the Jewish colony at Rome he “expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses, and out of the Prophets, from morning till evening” (Acts 28:23). The Son of God and his greatest apostle alike found in the law of Moses, in the rites and offices instituted by Moses, no less than in the Prophets, abundant proof of the person, work, and glory of the promised Deliverer.

Two ordinances lie at the foundation of Israel’s relation to God as the covenant nation — the Passover and the Day of Atonement. The national history began with the Passover and the exodus. All subsequent legislation rests on the two prime facts of redemption and deliverance. But what is the deepest significance of the paschal lamb, of which not a bone was to be broken? “For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us,” is Paul’s answer. Majestic was the ritual of the Day of Atonement, when Aaron passed beyond the veil into the most holy place, and, standing before the awful Presence at the ark, sprinkled the blood of the sin-offering on the mercy-seat. But had this solemn transaction, the most sacred of all the Mosaic rites, no added object — no higher aim than to cover ceremoniallythe sins of the congregation — than to effect a sort of scenic atonement? Let Romans 3:25 answer: “Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation (a mercy-seat) through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remissiion of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God.”

“Let Hebrews 9:7–12 also make the conclusive answer: “But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people: the Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing: which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience; which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation. But Christ being come an High Priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.”

Here is both contrast and comparison: two holy places, two sacrifices, two entrances with blood, two priests, two expiations. The one was Aaron, the other Christ; the one was the blood of a sacrificial beast, the other was his own blood;; the one was the earthly sanctuary, the other the heavenly; the one was a symbol, the other its reality; the one was picture, the other its original; the one was the prediction, the other its fulfillment. We may summarize it all thus: Israel’s day of atonement perfected in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

While both these ordinances, the Passover and the annual Expiation, were intended to effect a positive good during the time of their observance by Israel, yet this by no means exhausts the divine intention in their institution. They were filled with a noble prophecy; they looked forward to a blessed future;; and the Holy Spirit in the New Testament has knit together the prediction and its accomplishment.

In the previous paragraphs we have had occasion to refer to the Epistle of the Hebrews. We turn to it now to study its general bearing on the question of the typical character of the Mosaic institutions.

The epistle is an inspired commentary on ancient Judaism. All the prominent features of that system are clearly pictured by the writer, and at his touch each of them becomes full of life, and glows with a profound meaning. The thoughts spring from the heart of the Old Testament. The language is largely drawn from the books of Moses. The imagery is taken bodily from the tabernacle, the priesthood, the altar, and sacrifices of Israel. The doctrinal portion of the epistle (chs. 1–10) falls into two main divisions. The theme of the first division is, Jesus our High Priest (chs. 1–7). The theme of the second is, The Offering of Our High Priest, Himself (chs. 8–10). Even the exhortations with which it abounds. are based on events in the history of the Hebrew people. The first is found in chapter 2:1–4, and it is based on the scenes connected with the giving of the law at Sinai. The second exhortation is chapter 3:7–4:5, and its powerful appeal is grounded upon the wilderness journey. The third is chapter 4:6–16, and has for its background the rest of Canaan. The fourth is chapter 10:19–21, and here the tremendous-appeal is drawn from the temple and its sprinkled blood. The last exhortation is chapter 12:18–29, and it is taken, from the holy city, Jerusalem.

But there is much more in this precious scripture. The Spirit is here constantly finding the germs of the New Testament dispensation in the rites and ceremonies of Moses. Under his handling, “shell and husk, in which the precious kernel is hidden, fall away one after another until at length the kernel itself, the Christ, appears personally.”

History gives Melchizedek a very small place. Hebrews 7 draws out at length the striking parallel between the priesthood of Melchizedek and of Christ. The summing up of the argument is in verse 21: “The Lord sware and will not repent, Thou art a Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.” Instantly at the touch of this verse Melchizedek becomes transparent, and a greater Priest is seen through him; he almost disappears in the person of the Messiah.

Aaron and his successors stood at the head of the priestly office in Israel. But those high priests were compassed with infirmity (5:2); they must needs offer sacrifices for their own sins (5:3); and they were not suffered to continue in the office by reason of death (7:23). But the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the perfect embodiment of all priestly types, has an unchangeable priesthood because he continues forever, and he is holy, undefiled, and undefilable (7:24,26). The whole Levitical order now disappears, for it has found in Him its realization and its completion.

For Judaism had a voice for the chosen people, and its voice was prophetic. Its voice was the significant word Wait. Wait, and the true Priest will come, the Priest greater than Aaron, than Melchizedek. Wait, and the Prophet like unto Moses, but far greater than Moses, will appear. Wait, and the true Sacrifice, that of which all other offerings were but faint pictures, will be presented and sin be put away.

From what has been said about the relationship between the Old and New Testaments and the tabernacle, its services and the priesthood, we can come to no other conclusion than: “The law is the Gospel beforehand; The Gospel is the law fulfilled” To refuse to recognize any relation between Judaism and Christianity, as some now pretend to do; to regard the world periods or dispensations of the past as altogether separated from the present age, is to deny the unity of Scripture and of God’s plan of redemption,… is to deny the witness of the New Testament, and to deprive us of a legacy which God surely meant should enrich our Christian thought.

Next Month: The Tabernacle

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