The Old Testament

Orthodox View of the Old Testament

"'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God' (John 1:1).

"It is no coincidence that St John begins his gospel in the same way as begins the first book of the Old Testament: “In the beginning…” (Gen. 1:1). Orthodox Christianity rests on the belief in “one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all ages”. Christ was there from the beginning. Yet while many Christians are happy to proclaim this doctrine in Sunday worship or in their daily prayers without any serious consideration for its implications, just as many are surprised by the suggestion that the Word (the Pre-incarnate Christ) was not only there (somewhere in the background) from the beginning, but that He actually appeared and spoke to the prophets – that He in fact was from the beginning the one Who reveals and declares the Father. And yet this doctrine is absolutely imperative for a correct understanding of the Old Testament.

"The Christian Orthodox exegesis of the Old Testament is founded upon three vital affirmations:

1) 'All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching' (2 Tim. 3:16)

2) The Old Testament speaks of Christ.

3) All manifestations of God in the Old Testament are of the Word."

-- Fr Vassilios Papavassiliou, Christ in the Old Testament, Jan 29, 2011

Pravmir

The Old Testament is about Jesus

"Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures." -- Luke 24:27

"What is the Bible really about?

"Is the Bible basically about me and what I must do, or is it basically about Jesus and what he has done? When you read in Luke and Acts, how Jesus, in those forty days, got his disciples together; forty days before he ascended, after he was raised; what was he doing? Basically he was saying, 'Everything in the Old Testament is about me.' He says, 'The reason you didn't understand what I was about was you didn't realize that everything in the Prophets and the Psalms and the Law was pointing to me.'

"Do you believe the Bible is basically about you, or basically about Him?

"Is David and Goliath basically about you and how you can be like David and Goliath, or basically about Him, the one who really took on the only giants that can kill us. And His victory is imputed to us.

"Who is it really about? That's the fundamental question. And when that happens, then you start to read the Bible anew.

"Jesus is the true and better Adam, who passed the test in the garden (His garden, a much tougher garden) and whose obedience is imputed to us.

"Jesus is the true and better Abel, who though innocently slain, has blood that cries out, not for our condemnation, but for our acquittal.

"Jesus is the true and better Abraham, who answered the call of God to leave all that was comfortable and familiar and go into the void not knowing whither he went.

"Jesus is the true and better Isaac, who was not just offered up by his father on the mount, but was truly sacrificed for us all. God said to Abraham, 'Now I know you love me because you did not withhold your son, your only son, whom you love from me.' Now, we at the foot of the cross, can say to God, 'Now we know that you love me because you did not withhold your son, your only son, whom you love, from me.'

"Jesus is the true and better Jacob, who wrestled and took the blow of justice we deserve, so we, like Jacob, only receive the wound of grace to wake us up and discipline us.

"Jesus is the true and better Joseph, who is at the right hand of the king and forgives those who betrayed and sold him, and uses his power to save them.

"Jesus is the true and better Moses, who stands in the gap between the people and the Lord and mediates a new and better covenant.

"Jesus is the true and better rock of Moses, who, struck with the rod of God's justice, now gives us water in the dessert.

"Jesus is the true and better Job. He is the truly innocent sufferer who then intercedes for and saves his stupid friends.

"Jesus is the true and better David, whose victory becomes his peoples' victory, though they never lifted a stone to accomplish it themselves.

"Jesus is the true and better Ester, who didn’t just risk losing an earthly palace, but lost the ultimate heavenly one. Who didn't just risk his life, but gave his life. Who didn't just say, 'If I perish, I perish', but, 'When I perish, I perish for them, to save my people.'

"Jesus is the true and better Jonah, who was cast out in the storm so that we could be brought in.

"He's the real Passover lamb, he's the true temple, the true prophet, the true priest, the true king, the true sacrifice, the true lamb, the true light the true bread.

"The Bible's not about you!" -- Timothy Keller, Youtube, "The Bible is not About You", November 10th, 2010.

Christ as the Burning Bush

It was the Word, breathed from the Father's mouth,
Who of the Virgin took a mortal frame.
The human form that not yet in the flesh
Appeared to Moses wore a brow like ours,
Since God, who would by power of the Word
Assume a body, made the face the same.
Flames rose and seemed to burn the thorny bush.
God moved amid the branches set with spines,
And tresses of the flames swayed harmlessly,
That he might shadow forth his Son's descent
Into our thorny members sin infests
With teeming briers and fills with bitter woes.
For tainted at its root that noxious shrub
Had sprouted from its baneful sap a crop
Of evil shoots beset with many thorns.
The sterile branches suddenly grew bright
As God enkindled with his mighty power
The leafy boughs, nor harmed the tangled briers.
He touched the scarlet berries, blood-red fruits,
And grazed the twigs that grew from deadly wood,
Shed by the tortured bush with cruel pangs. -- Aurelius Prudentius Clemens

The World in Hot Pursuit

Genesis 31:21 So he fled with all that he had. He arose and crossed the river, and headed toward the mountains of Gilead.

"The fact that the world should have been offended because of Christ, after the increase in the flocks of believers, and that [the world], excited by its anger, would have reacted, does not need to be confirmed with a long speech. Just see how Laban, together with his sons, pursued Jacob, who was running away, and recalled him. Christ himself, in a sense, departed from the world with his brides, that is, the churches, and moved out with the entire household by spiritually addressing his companions with these words: 'Arise, let us go from here.' The action of departing and moving away certainly is not material; there is no concrete move from one place to another. In fact, it would be incongruous to think or say these things in a material sense. But the fullness of life is in the moving from worldly thoughts to the accomplishment of the things that God approves. This is confirmed by the blessed Paul, who writes, 'Here we have no lasting city, but we seek one to come,' whose 'maker and creator is God.' And another of the holy apostles writes thus: 'I beseech you as pilgrims and strangers: abstain from sinful desires which war against the soul.'

"While we walk on earth, our way of life is in heaven, and certainly we do not want to live carnally anymore but rather in a holy and spiritual way. Paul encourages us to do that by writing, 'Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.'

"When we are not conformed anymore to the world and out of the worldly errors, we will be imitators of Christ. And perfectly understanding that this is the right way to think, the Savior himself said, 'If you were of the world, the world would love his own: but because you are not of the world, therefore the world hates you.'" -- St. Cyril of Alexandria, Glaphyra on Genesis, 5.5.