Finding Jesus in the Old Testament - Part 1

The following article, which will be a two-part series, was written and presented by Rabbi Jonathan Bernis, a leading Rabbi in Messianic Judaism as well as President and CEO of Jewish Voice Ministries International and a contributor to Charisma Magazine.

A rabbi explains how and why Scripture's theophanies offer more than just head knowledge about Christ

The book of Daniel describes one of the most dramatic appearances of the Son of God in the entire Old Testament. The passage in Daniel 3 tells of three Jews, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who were sentenced to death for refusing to worship an idol that King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon erected and commanded all his subjects to revere. The king was enraged that they had questioned his supreme authority and ordered that they be thrown into a furnace and it be heated to seven times its normal intensity. The fire became so hot that it killed the soldiers assigned to push them into the inferno. 

But when the three were in the blaze, Daniel states: "Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished; and he rose in haste and spoke, saying to his counselors, 'Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?' They answered and said to the king, 'True, O king.'

"'Look!' he answered, 'I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God'" (vv. 24-25).

What Nebuchadnezzar saw in the fire—the fourth man—was God in human form, Yeshua (Jesus). Many times I have been asked, "If Jesus is Messiah, why isn't there anything about Him in the Tanakh (the Jewish Old Testament)?" The answer is, there are many references to Yeshua in the Old Testament—throughout the Torah (Genesis to Deuteronomy), the books of the prophets and the other Scriptures.

In fact, when I began to read the Bible with an open mind, I was astounded to discover that Yeshua is mentioned more than 150 times in the Old Testament. The apostle Paul even used the Tanakh to teach about Yeshua: "[The leaders of the Jews] arranged to meet Paul on a certain day. ... From morning till evening he explained and declared to them the kingdom of God and tried to convince them about Jesus from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets" (Acts 28:23, NIV).

Understanding the Scriptures—both the Old Testament and New Testament—is a matter of spiritual revelation. As Jesus Himself said, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!" (Mark 4:9, NKJV). 

Everyone who reads the Scriptures, then, does so through either a lens of faith or a lens of doubt. If one reads the Tanakh with an open mind, he or she will see many references to Yeshua.

For example, the name Yeshua means "salvation" or "God saves." His name signifies why He came into this world—to rescue us from the penalty we deserve because of our sins. Let's take a look at a few times Yeshua's name is mentioned in the Old Testament (with emphasis added):

"The Lord is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation" (Ex. 15:2). In other words, "He has become my Yeshua."

"God be merciful to us and bless us, and cause His face to shine upon us, that Your way may be known on earth, Your salvation [Yeshua] among all nations" (Ps. 67:1-2).

"And it will be said ... 'Behold, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us. We will be glad and rejoice in His salvation [Yeshua]' " (Is. 25:9).

You see, Yeshua is much more than a name in the human sense, such as Jonathan, David or William. It is a description of His mission: to bring salvation to people everywhere.

Still I am often asked, "OK, but why didn't the writers of Scripture tell us plainly, 'The Messiah's name will be Yeshua'?"

My answer simply is: God does not work that way. Studying His Word is like working on a jigsaw puzzle. He gives us a piece of the complete picture here, another piece there, and so on. The evidence is all there, but we must do our part. He wants us to seek Him wholeheartedly, and when we do, we will find Him (see Deut. 4:29).

The Lord in Human Form

Finite human beings simply cannot understand the greatness or holiness of an infinite Creator. The only way we can even begin to comprehend God is to understand Him in finite terms. 

This is where the concept of the Messiah comes in. Isaiah 53:1 asks, "Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?" In the context of this chapter, it is obvious that when Isaiah says "arm of the Lord," he is referring to Messiah. They are the same. 

The Hebrew Scriptures tell of a number of occasions before the birth of Jesus when God revealed Himself in human form. Theologians refer to these instances as theophanies. 

Theophany is Greek, meaning "God" (theo) and "to reveal oneself" (phaneia). As already mentioned, Daniel 3:24-25 is one of the Old Testament's most dramatic theophanies. But there are many others. Here are a few others among the more than 152 contained in the Old Testament:

The Son of Man. Four chapters later, the same "Son of God" figure who Nebuchadnezzar saw in the fire makes another appearance, this time to Daniel in a vision. 

Daniel writes: "In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. 

"He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshipped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed" (Dan. 7:13-14, NIV).

Yeshua often used the title "Son of Man" when referring to Himself (see Matt. 20:18, 24:30, 44; Mark 10:45, 14:62; John 3:13). Obviously this Son of Man Daniel saw is divine, or He would not accept the worship of "nations and men of every language."

The Mysterious King. The first theophany may be a bit controversial due to scholarly interpretation of the passage, but it is worth mentioning. In Genesis 14 the patriarch Abram (Abraham) has a mysterious encounter with King Melchizedek: 

"Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, and he blessed Abram, saying, 'Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. And blessed be God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand.' Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything" (Gen. 14:18-20, NIV).

Abraham tithed to Melchizedek, which says a great deal about his regard for this man who was both a priest and a king (as we'll see). Abraham is the paramount character in Judaism—the father of the Jewish people. And yet he pays homage to Melchizedek by giving him a tithe. He clearly recognizes that Melchizedek is greater than he is.

Centuries later, the psalmist tells us that Messiah is "a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek" (Ps. 110:4). While this is a mysterious passage and there are differences of opinion about it, some Bible scholars believe that Melchizedek was God in human form. 

In fact, the name Melchizedek comes from two Hebrew words: melech, which means "king," and Ts'dek, which means "righteous" or "righteousness." Hence, "king of righteousness." I believe this is the first Old Testament reference to Yeshua.


Finding Jesus in the Old Testament - Part 2