Christ Portrayed in the Old Testament

By Andre T. Hibler

Written in a comprehensive style, this concise book will educate all Christians who desire to see Christ represented in the Old Testament. The chronology of the historical documents will give believers a more practical perspective with regard to the sequence of events that pertain to Hebrew history, and to provoke them—particularly those who infrequently engage the Old Testament—to learn and grow in all revealed aspects of Christ as He is delineated in each book.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trafford Publishing
• Release date: Sep 23, 2021
• ISBN: 9781698709475

Andre T. Hibler

Andre T. Hibler is a deacon and an expository Bible teacher at Rooted Bible Fellowship Church in Edgewood, Maryland where he has faithfully served since 2004. He has been married to his wife, Clarissa, for over twenty years.

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GENESIS

Approximately 4004-1800 BC

R egarding the world and mankind, Genesis is the beginning. The word Genesis is derived from the Latin translation of the Hebrew word bereshith, meaning in the beginning. The Latin translation is related to the Greek root genos , denoting lineage and beginnings. Genesis is essentially creation (chapters 1-2); the fall and the Seed of a woman (3); Adam’s descendants of Cain, Abel, and Seth (4-5); corruption, the flood, and the universal language confusion of Babel (6-11); and the election of the Jewish nation (12-50).

The fall of man in the garden effected salvation. To view this picture from a deeper perspective, we need to return to eternity past, when the fall of the Son of Morning (the first fall) occurred. Jesus stated He was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning (Lk. 10:18). Three things take place in this verse. Initially, Jesus was there because, even before His birth, He was always the eternal Son of God. Second, the Lord changed the Son of Morning’s name to Satan to accommodate his character. Third, the sentence was not immediately executed. God expelled Satan and his angels from heaven to earth—their new territory. Earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep (Gen. 1:2). Formless and void is translated in the Hebrew as tohu bohu, meaning desolate emptiness, or commonly known as a wasteland. According to His will, the Lord formed the earth and created living creatures into its known structure (1:3-25). God then created man on the sixth day (1:27).

With provisions, God gave the earth to Adam, allowing maximum freedom with one prohibition—not to eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. The serpent deceived Eve; she subsequently ate the forbidden fruit, and gave some to her husband. Adam—the head of Eve—with eyes wide open, disobeyed God, ate the fruit, and handed the earth back to Satan.

Christ Portrayed

Because Adam was responsible for Eve (2:18-23), and the Lord created her under man’s authority (1 Cor. 11:3), He held Adam responsible for the fall. Adam not only disobeyed God, but rejected His sovereignty. The fall caused spiritual death (Gen. 2:17)—separation of God from man—and the sentence of physical death (3:19)—the literal end of man’s life. Adam and Eve needed simply to follow God’s provision to live by His revelation (2:16-17) and not their own experimentation (3:6). Now man is separated from the Lord and helpless to save himself. Hence, God enacts salvation as He conveys to the serpent, who prompted this tragedy.

Because you have done this, cursed are you more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field; on your belly you will go, and dust you will eat all the days of your life; and I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel.

(3:14-15)

Due to Satan’s malevolent orchestration of the fall of man, two families now exist: the family of Satan (your seed [the reprobate]) and the family of God (her seed [the elect]). Jesus, who represents those who love God, will deliver a death blow to Satan’s head on the cross, thereby ending the reign of death. Satan, who stands for those who lead a rebellion against the Lord, will bruise Christ’s heel, thus causing Him to suffer.

This is the reason the unfolding drama of redemption is instituted—that Jesus, also known as the last Adam, came to die for all mankind. He reclaimed from the devil what Adam relinquished. God expelled Adam from the garden and placed him in the wilderness; the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness to qualify Him as our High Priest that He may escort man back into the garden. Satan conquered the first Adam; the last Adam defeated Satan and drove him from the pasture.

Christ will come from the tribe of Judah (49:10), the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, a descendant of Shem, in the line of Seth, the son of Adam, the Son of God.

JOB

Occurs during the time of Genesis

T he events of Job most likely happened in the patriarchal, pre-Mosaic era. In Job, the Lord demonstrates how He permits His people to endure sanctified afflictions that cause great pain. Job suffered immensely through no fault of his own. He lost his livestock; his servants; his children; and, eventually, his health. These calamities took place within the providential will of God.

As Satan was at work in Genesis, he is at work in Job, too. In Genesis, Satan attacked Eve’s mind; in Job, he attacks the physical body of the wealthy nomad.

Let’s examine these events closely. First of all, when God questioned Satan’s whereabouts, Satan responded to the Lord that he was roaming about on the earth and walking around on it (1:7; 2:2). As in the garden of Eden and as he does today, Satan was prowling around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour (1 Pet. 5:8). God suggests His blameless and upright servant Job; however, Satan determined that Job worships or obeys God solely because the Lord continues to bless him (Job 1:9-11). With God’s permission, Satan obliterated Job’s livestock, servants, and children (1:13-19). Satan undermines Job’s doxology (1:21), implying that it was insincere love or maybe a recompense for health insurance (2:4-5). Again, with God’s permission, Satan stripped Job of his health (2:7). Job’s reverential trust in the Lord ran deeper than Satan had anticipated, though. Satan resolved to prove that Job would not obey or worship God if he did not receive any blessing in return. Satan reasoned that selfishness, not love, motivated Job’s obedience.

In summary, the Lord tests Job (1-2); Job dialogues with his friends and repents (3-42:1-6); God is annoyed with Job’s friends (42:7-10); and Job is restored (42:10-17).

Christ Portrayed

Concerning Christ, we know that Job laments for a mediator (9:33; 33:23). The first verse in parentheses uses the word umpire (NASB). The transliterated Hebrew word is yakach, which means to decide, adjudge, or adjudicate. 1 Timothy 2:5 states that there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. Job’s friends could not adjudicate or mediate his situation. According to Jesus, no one comes to the Father except through Him (Jn. 14:6).

We additionally know that Job concedes to a Redeemer (Job 19:25). In several books of the Old Testament—Ruth, Psalms, Isaiah, and Jeremiah—God is communicated as the Redeemer. However, we know that Christ redeems us from our sin, and He is the only One who can elucidate the mystery of suffering by suffering and victorious triumph