Welcome to Part 4 of our November Series: Seeing Jesus in the Old Testament!

This series is an introduction to seeing Jesus in the Old Testament and covers four key ways we can find Him in the text (if you missed our previous parts, click below to catch up!):

1. Part 1: Christ in Old Testament Promises & Prophecy
2. Part 2: Christ in Christophanies (pre-incarnate appearances)
3. Part 3: Christ in Typology (Old Testament people and things that foreshadow Christ)
4. Part 4: Christ in Patterns (Old Testament events that predict and foreshadow Christ)

Learning to see Jesus in all of Scripture is a beautiful way to learn more about Him and to see the cohesive unity of the Bible on display. 

The Old Testament is not simply the history of Israel, it is the unfolding revelation of God’s work in this world to redeem mankind. Therefore, it all points to Jesus. He is the eternal second person of the Trinity and present (in one way or another) throughout the whole Old Testament. 

This week we will conclude this series by looking again at typology in the Old Testament. However, this time we will examine certain events that are a pattern for Christ or his work. From the Exodus to Jonah’s experience in the whale, there are many Old Testament events that anticipate Jesus in the Old Testament. Seeing these connections makes the Old Testament come alive. Let’s explore some of these events as we learn one more way to see Jesus in the Old Testament. 

Part 4: Christ in Old Testament Patterns

Last week we defined typology and discussed the guardrails we use to ensure we don’t go beyond what Scripture has made clear regarding the types of Christ. You can read last week’s post here.

This week, we are focusing on Old Testament events that anticipate Christ.

To begin, let’s remember Christ’s mission. The New Testament is explicitly clear about Jesus’ purpose on earth:

• Luke 19:10 – “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” 
• John 3:17 – “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” 
• Romans 5:8 – “…but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” 
• 1 John 4:9-10 – “In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” 
• 1 Peter 1:20-21 – “He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.”

Old Testament Events that Foreshadow Christ

Christ’s salvation provides not just for the redemption of sins, but complete restoration of body and soul in a new heaven and earth (see 1 Cor 15, 2 Pet 3:13; Rev 21-22). When we understand the redemptive mission of Christ through his death and resurrection, we can identify salvific events in the Old Testament that point to His life and work. In fact, DeRouchie says, “Every one of God’s major creative or redemptive acts in the Old Testament anticipates Christ’s work of salvation,” (DeRouchie, 98). This is an incredible framework to view the Old Testament in. DeRouchie tells us to look at events like this:

• Creation (Gen 1) points to the new heavens and earth (Rev 21-22)
• The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen 19) points to final day of judgement (Rev 20:11-15)
• The initial restoration of the land (Jeremiah 30) points to ultimate reconciliation and rest with God (Rev 21-22) (DeRouchie, 98).
• And more. 

The Passover and the Exodus

We can also look to large sweeping Old Testament stories like the Exodus of Israel from Egypt as a type of Christ. It points to the need for salvation and key aspects of the story are recognized by the New Testament as being fulfilled in Christ. For example, the crossing of the Red Sea is understood to be a type of baptism:

Paul says in Romans 6:3-4

“Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.”

And he makes walking through the Red Sea equivalent to baptism in Christ in 1 Corinthians 10:2:

“…and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea…”

Also, the Passover is recognized in 1 Corinthians 5:7 as being fulfilled in Christ:

“Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.”

The Flood

We could also understand epic events such as the Flood in Genesis 8 as a type of Christ. Peter explains that Noah’s experience anticipated our own with Christ. Just as we go unharmed from eternal judgement because we are “in Christ,” so Noah was saved from the flood by being “in the ark.”

“…because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.” (1 Peter 3:20-21)

Jonah and the Whale

Finally, even one of the most extreme events in the Old Testament points to Christ! Jonah being swallowed by a whale was an event that sovereignly anticipates Christ’s burial and resurrection:

“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)

Final Thoughts for Seeing Jesus in the Old Testament

These examples above represent a clear picture from Scripture of events that foreshadow Jesus, and we are wise to stay within the bounds it provides. Here is the chart I used earlier in this series if you want to review a good list of types and prophecies that foreshadow Jesus in the Old Testament. 

I pray this series gave you a glimpse of how God’s sovereign plans progress through Scripture and are fulfilled in Christ. He is present in all of the Bible in so many beautiful ways and I hope you never look at Scripture the same way again!