Returning to early Christian reading practices allows us to see how the repeating symbols of the Old Testament point to and are fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
The post Encountering Jesus in the Symbols of the Old Testament appeared first on Bible Gateway News & Knowledge.
As a former college pastor, I loved starting Bible studies at the beginning of each school year. There is an almost indescribable magic that comes from watching 18–22-year-olds grab hold of the Bible for themselves — some for the first time.
One year, I decided to structure these studies in a “Bible in two semesters” format, with key chapters from the Old Testament in the fall, and key passages from the New Testament in the spring. I had been reading deeply from early Christian Bible commentaries and had become increasingly convicted that our modern Christian formation was leading us to neglect the Old Testament.
Accordingly, I decided to spend a full semester on the Old Testament, even though I had a large number of atheist and agnostic students. To my delight and astonishment, multiple students who had never had sustained exposure to the Gospel came to faith that semester — before they had ever read a page of the New Testament!
A Return to Symbol: Recovering Early Christian Reading Practices
How was it possible for these students to encounter Jesus Christ and make a commitment of faith while only reading the Old Testament? We shouldn’t be shocked at this possibility, since most early Christians did not read the New Testament, as it was yet to be written.
As it turns out, it was through a return to early Christian reading practices that enabled students to encounter Jesus right at the beginning of our Old Testament Bible study. Early Christians read the Bible with an acute attention to symbols: repeated occurrences of objects such as water, fire, trees, and above all, mountains.
Since God is the author of the entire Bible, he has arranged it so that these symbols stitch together the various stories of the Bible, and enable us to draw closer to Jesus. For instance, we can learn about the sacrifice of Christ not only from the wood of the cross, but also in the wood of the tree of life. We can learn about our commitment to Christ not only in the water of baptism, but also in the passing of Israel through the waters of the Red Sea.
Examples of Symbolism in the Bible
How can we see these kinds of connections between symbols in the Bible? In order to do so, we have to first learn the overall story of scripture. Fortunately, the Bible gives us a preeminent symbol that can guide us through its story of creation, fall and redemption: the mountain.
The Mountain
In the Bible, mountains are the places where human beings encounter God and draw near to God’s glory. The garden of Eden rested on top of a mountain, and it was here that Adam and Eve were created in order to worship and have intimacy with God (Genesis 2). Their goal was to one day reach the top of Eden and partake in the tree of life. But because of their sin, they were banished from Eden instead; the Fall was a literal fall off of the mountain.
The rest of the Bible is a story of God making a way for humankind to get back to this mountain:
- On Mount Sinai, God reveals to Israel their sinfulness by giving the Ten Commandments (Exodus 19-20), and gives his people a limited way to encounter him through tabernacle sacrifice (Ex. 40).
- On Mount Tabor, Jesus is transfigured, showing that full access to God’s glory can only come through him (Matt. 17:1-8, Mark 9:2-13, Luke 9:28-36).
- On Mount Golgotha, Jesus removes the barrier that separates us from the mountain through his death and resurrection.
- On Mount Zion, all those who profess faith in Jesus as Lord and God stream up the mountain to behold the face of Jesus standing next to the tree of life (Rev. 22:1-5).
Other Symbols
Once we grasp the story of scripture, we will discover dozens of symbols that occur and reoccur around these various mountain narratives. Each of these symbols find their deepest meaning in and through Jesus Christ. They include:
- Sword: A flaming sword blocked Mount Eden (Gen. 3:24), preventing Adam and Eve from approaching God after they had sinned. But on Mount Golgotha, Jesus is stabbed with this sword while on the cross (John 19:34), showing that he bore the punishment for sin and enabled us to approach God once again. Then, in Revelation, Jesus takes up this sword to punish Satan and bring an end to evil and death (Rev. 19:15).
- Water: Israel is rescued from slavery by passing through the waters of the Red Sea on their way to Mount Sinai (Ex. 14:21-22). Jesus then passes through the waters in his baptism (Matt. 3:13-17), allowing us to be rescued from our slavery to sin when we believe and are baptized into him.
- Garments: Adam and Eve were clothed with God’s glory on Mount Eden (Gen. 1:26-27, 2:25), but lost this clothing when they sinned (Gen. 3:7, 11). On Mount Tabor, the glory of God shined in and through Jesus (Matt. 17:1-2), a sign that we can be clothed with God’s glory once again if we believe in him (Isa. 61:10, 2 Cor. 3:18).
Once you begin to see these connections throughout scripture, you will soon be able to make your own connections between the Old Testament, New Testament, and your life in Christ.
Ancient Exegesis for Everyday Christians
Based on my experiences with scripture and students, I wrote Four Mountains: Encountering God in the Bible from Eden to Zion to help others encounter scripture along the trajectory of the early Christians. In academic circles, there has been a decades-long move to recover these ancient reading practices, but unfortunately this knowledge has not permeated the pews. So if you want to read the Bible like the early Christians, it seems like you need to acquire an advanced degree in theology or exegesis.
But as it turns out, reading the Bible with an attention to its symbols doesn’t have to be difficult. It is actually rather intuitive: our brains are wired to constantly draw connections between symbols, persons, and events. When we hear an old song on the radio, we can instantly be taken back to a moment in our childhood. The sight of a blooming rose can lead us to contemplate the love of a close friend.
God wants to access this connection-making part of our brains, and has providentially arranged scripture so that all of it would connect to Jesus. Once we begin to draw out these connections in scripture, God will even begin to use our everyday experiences in the world to draw us into Christ through symbols: a simple oak tree will prompt us to contemplate the tree of life, and a pleasant walk by a creek will invite us to picture our eternity by the river of life on Mount Zion.
Four Mountains
I wrote Four Mountains with the everyday Christian in mind. Whether you have been a Christian for 40 days or 40 years, my hope is that you too will be able to read scripture alongside of the early Christians, discovering in turn a deeper relationship with God through Jesus Christ.
The book can be read by individuals or as part of a church Bible study or Sunday school class. Each chapter takes readers through important chapters of the Bible from Genesis through Revelation, presenting the grand story of the Bible and inviting readers to encounter Jesus through its symbols.
The post Encountering Jesus in the Symbols of the Old Testament appeared first on Bible Gateway News & Knowledge.