How to See Jesus in the Old Testament Through Analogy

            It makes sense for us to look at seeing Jesus analogically next in our series. The reason for this is that it functions like the squishy middle ground between prophecy and typology. If the way we are seeing Jesus in the Old doesn’t fit into either prophecy or typology, then it likely fits into this category of analogy. So, what do we mean by “seeing Jesus in the Old Testament analogically?”

            Analogy is just a fancy way of saying likeness or similarity. Prophecy is noticing places in the Old Testament where Jesus, or his work, is explicitly promised. Typology (which we will cover in our next article) is noticing symbols in the Old Testament that always intended to point to Jesus. Analogy is noticing similarities between things in the Old Testament and Jesus Christ in the New.

            There is a peculiar danger to this category. With prophecy and typology we are limited by the promise or the symbol. With analogy we are not as limited. There is a much wider breadth of similarities between things in the Old Testament and Jesus in the New. Due to this, there is a dark history of interpretation which ran amok, finding similarities between Jesus and the Old Testament in very obscure places.

            A great example of this can be seen in how many medieval Christians interpreted Song of Solomon. An aversion to human sexuality and an elevation of celibacy in the pastorate meant that they often interpreted this entire book as an analogy. For them it was not talking about human marriage at all, but only about Christ and the church. Thus, every passage became an opportunity to find the most obscure similarities between it and Jesus Christ. This is a shame. Clearly, Song of Solomon does speak to how Christ relates to the church. Yet it is also a wonderful book about the beauty of Christian marriage. To read all of it as an analogy for Christ and the church does not do justice to the Old Testament text itself, it does not take seriously authorial intent, and it spiritualizes a very practical book on the relationship of marriage.

            So as we approach finding analogies between the Old Testament and Jesus Christ how do we guard against this? Similar to last week, we do this by taking the Old Testament text at face value and then looking to the New for similarities. By doing this we respect Scripture. It prevents us from reading into texts things that are not there. I have devised two questions that we can ask to help us do this. The first question we need to ask is, “What does this Old Testament text teach?” The second question we need to ask is, “Where do we learn something similar in the life and work of Jesus?”

            Let’s practice this by looking at Exodus 32:11–14. Prior to this text, the Israelites have been freed from slavery in Egypt by the mighty hand of the Lord. They’ve been led through the wilderness to Mt. Sinai where the glory of the Lord overtook the mountain. Moses has gone up on the mountain to meet with God and receive the Law. But while he is up there, the people of Israel fall into sin. They decide to make an idol and they begin to worship it. As a result of this, the Lord is rightfully angry and ready to judge the people. However, Moses intercedes for the people and stands between them and God. He says to the Lord, “Why should the Egyptians say, ‘With evil intent did he bring them out to kill them in the mountains.’” (32:12) He then implores the Lord to remember his covenant with Abraham, “Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self.” (32:13) As a result of this God relents from judging the people of Israel.

            So what does this Old Testament text teach? First, we learn about the consequences of sin. The people of Israel deserve to die because they have sinned against the Lord. Second, we learn that Moses acts as a mediator between God and the people. He stands in between God and the people speaking on the Israelites’ behalf. Third, we learn that with the presence of a mediator God relents from carrying out his judgement against them. Therefore, we can answer our first question like so; this text teaches us that God is rightfully angry at sin and that people need someone to mediate between them and God.

            Let’s now answer our second question, “where do we learn something similar in the life and work of Jesus?” We can answer this question by looking at a variety of passages from the New Testament. First, 1 Timothy 2:5–6 tells us that Jesus Christ is the “one mediator between God and men.” We learn something similar in Hebrews when the author writes, “he [Jesus] is the mediator of a new covenant.” (9:15) Looking more broadly at the New Testament we learn how Jesus does this. At the cross Jesus died in our place. We deserved to die for our sins, but Jesus Christ took our sin upon himself at the cross dying on our behalf. In this way he stands in between us and God’s wrath so much so that there is no wrath left for us. We are completely forgiven and made right with God through the death of Jesus. Therefore, we could answer our second question like this; we see a similarity in the New Testament when it speaks of Jesus as our mediator who took our sins upon himself.

            By doing this process we start to see similarities between the Old Testament and the New. Moses acted as a mediator by pleading for God’s people to be kept from God’s wrath. In a similar way, Jesus acted as our mediator by taking our sin upon himself at the cross so that there is no wrath left for us. In other words, as we read this story about Moses it should cause us to think about Jesus who is the true and better mediator. We see a similarity between the actions of Moses and what Jesus did on the cross, with Jesus’s actions being infinitely better.

            Let’s practice this on our own. Do the same thing you did last week and grab a piece of paper. Flip in your Bible to Numbers 21:4-9. Read the passage a few times and then write on your paper, “what does this Old Testament text teach?” Write out your thoughts and then try to answer the question in a single sentence. Next, write, “where do we learn something similar in the life and work of Jesus?” Again, utilize your cross-reference tools. Turn to passages in the New Testament that speak about this text. Write down your thoughts on the paper and then write a one sentence answer to this question. After doing this you should start to see the similarities between what Moses does with the bronze snake and Jesus’s death on the cross.