My dear adopted sister/sister-in-law unwittingly provoked a great Bible study for me through a question she left as a comment on this blog yesterday about salvation in the OT and the need for Jesus' sacrifice. I'm so grateful that she left this comment, as it reminded me once again to think what life would be like without Christ or the hope of Christ.
The question she asked was: If people were saved in the OT, what was the need for Christ's sacrifice? Here's what Scripture spoke to me in regards to that question.
The question itself reminds me a bit of the question asked in Hebrews 7: 11- "Now if perfection was through the Levitical priesthood (for on the basis of it the people received the Law), what further need was there for another priest to arise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not be designated according to the order of Aaron?"
These are some of the Scriptures I was reminded of... check them out for yourself and ask the Lord to illuminate more of Himself and His truth!
Genesis 15: 16
Leviticus 16: 30
Romans 3: 25 (Pay special attention to what the "forebearance of God" means)
Romans 4
Hebrews 7-10 (ESPECIALLY 9 and 10)
Hebrews 11
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In the OT as well as the NT we find the doctrine of salvation by grace through faith. Abraham BELIEVED God and it was credited to him as righteousness. (clearly outlined in Romans 4) We find this same faith in Moses whose acts prompted by his faith are highlighted in Hebrews 11. The means of salvation is the same. It was not works in the OT that saved a person. It was faith. But true faith always LEADS to works.
Another dimension to OT salvation is that there is a high probability that many in the OT encountered a pre-incarnate Christ. Abraham meets with God as one of his visitors in Genesis. Since God the Father tells Moses that no one can see his face and live (Exodus 33: 20), how did Abraham see him? For that matter, how did anyone talk with God "face to face" as is described of Moses himself in Genesis 32: 30 or Exodus 33: 11. Many scholars have also argued that Melchizedek whom Abraham meets in Genesis 14: 18 is another such appearance of Christ (Hebrews 7: 3). This is a matter of faith but I must ask, if none of the "righteous" in the OT knew of Christ, why do we find Moses described as "treasuring CHRIST above all the treasures of Egypt" in Hebrews 11? How could he treasure CHRIST if he knew nothing of Christ? Also, we hear Jesus saying in the gospels that Abraham himself would condemn the lack of faith of the Pharisees? (John 8)
The OT Scriptures themselves also testify to the sinners need for Christ as well as the coming of Christ one day. It's why the Jewish people were so zealous for a messiah, even though many misunderstood what He would look like. In Luke 16: 29, Abraham is described as telling the rich man that his relatives have Moses and the prophets as a testimony for them and they need nothing else. On the road to Emmaus, Christ spends time explaining everything in the law and the prophets that is written about him. Even the OT pointed people to the day when Christ would come. If they were saved and their sins were already forgiven without the blood of Christ, why would they care that Christ comes?
Many people believe that the sacrificial system saved people through the blood of goats/sheep, etc. I belive that the sacrifices under mosaic law were intended to prefigure Christ. Where in the OT does it say that these actually saved anyone? I believe it's sort of like us celebrating the Lord's supper today. It is a symbol that is meant to lead us to the day when we will eat that supper in the presence of Christ in the full knowledge of what He accomplished on our behalf. In the same way, the Mosaic sacrificial system continually reminded the Israelites of their sin before a holy God and the need for blood to one day cleanse that sin. God was preparing their hearts for a revelation of Christ who would ONE day (in God's forebearance) save them.
EVERYTHING is about Christ. He is found in appearance, prophecy, or symbolically manifested in every inch of the OT too. As Hebrews 10 says, the blood of goats cannot take away sin. But as Hebrews 9 says, there is no forgiveness without blood. The sacrifices were offered in faith from the covenant people of God, faith that He would credit as righteousness. I believe the righteous in the OT foresaw and anxiously awaited the day of their redeemer. Even Job said that He knew His redeemer lived and one day he would see him with his own eyes (Job 19: 25). God's forebearance (which I could compare to the forebearance of a loan company who waits for you to finish school before they make you pay your debt back) did not excuse the sin of the OT. It justified it in Christ later just as we are STILL justified in Christ.
Even those in the OT were offered the hope of Christ, the hope that one day their hearts would be changed and they would be given a covenant filled with better promises of redemption from their wickedness. I am sure they did not begin to understand what this redemption would look like but I'm equally certain they knew that this redemption would somehow have to come from blood that was far more powerful than that of the useless sacrifices of innocent animals that had been offered day-after-on the behalf of a stiff-necked and rebellious people. This covenant had been in place for generations and hearts remained unchanged.
Though many knew something better was coming, if most had known what it was, they would have been aghast. A high priest from a new order was on His way. And once and for all, this high priest's own blood- a blood of a greater innocent- would pour forth from His wounded flesh and drip slowly to the dusty ground of Golgotha. No high priest had died in purity for the people. And none would again. It was finished. How few knew the immensity of what took place at Calvary and the garden tomb. How few still do. Myself included. Lord, give us eyes to see.
Full speed ahead with our study tomorrow. We'll look at Jesus as "the branch" from Isa. 11:1; Jer. 23:5; Zech. 3:8; 6:12; and Rev. 11:1.
*UPDATE: It seems I'm a bit overzealous. My husband and I are moving this Saturday and I'm still in the midst of my work week. I had hoped to start back up today, but due to all that is involved with packing and such, I'm going to postpone my post (not my study, however) of Jesus as the branch until July 1st or 2nd. I know that is a week away, but once we move on Saturday, we have no internet until the 1st of July. :-) SO, be studying those verses and we'll be back to the regular blog posts on July 1st or 2nd. (depending on internet availability :-))
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