CHRIST PATTERNED
The burning bush has so many biblical resonances. Plants are often likened to God’s people (or to the king who represents them; Judges 9; Isaiah 5; John 15). The people’s sufferings in Egypt are commonly described as a furnace (Deuteronomy 4:20; 1 Kings 8:51; Jeremiah 11:4). Here at the burning bush, we see God’s people on fire in a furnace of affliction, and yet — here is the Christlike pattern — their King, the great “I Am,” descends into the burnings to be with his people and to lead them out. The pattern of the exodus is the pattern of the gospel.
CHRIST PROMISED
The exodus itself is the fulfillment of promises. In Genesis 12, we learn that the “seed of Abraham” will bless and rule the nations. The promise includes an ambiguity — is the “seed” plural (Israel) or singular (Christ)? In essence, the answer is yes. The “seed” is first the nation of Israel and, in the fullness of time, it is Christ — the Messiah who singularly represents the nation (Galatians 3:16). So as the promise develops, we read Genesis 15, where the Lord prophesies a suffering-and-rising pattern for the “seed of Abraham”: the seed will be enslaved and afflicted, yet through judgment the seed would come out to a greater glory (Genesis 15:13–15). This death and resurrection would first be endured by Israel, but as we watch the exodus, we are seeing a preview of the coming gospel drama. In other words, the whole of the exodus is a promise of Christ.
CHRIST PRESENT
The divine name “I Am” is foundational to our understanding of God. “I Am” is preserved in the name “Yahweh,” which is used 6,800 times in the Hebrew Bible. The God of Israel is, most fundamentally, “him who dwells in the bush” (Deuteronomy 33:16). And who is he? He is the angel of the Lord who is himself the Lord (Exodus 3:2, 6, 14). John Owen explains that he is “the Angel of the covenant, the great Angel of the presence of God, in whom was the name and nature of God . . . this was no other but the Son of God.” No wonder Jude can look back on the exodus and say “Jesus . . . saved a people out of the land of Egypt” (Jude 5). Jesus Christ really is the God of Israel and the Hero of the whole Bible.
Jesus Is Lord of All
When the novice preachers groaned that “we’re supposed to” bridge to Christ, what was the issue? I believe it was this: They failed to see the magnitude of Christ, and they failed to see that the Old Testament is already, in its own context and on its own terms, Christian Scripture. It is already a proclamation of the Lord Messiah.
It’s certainly true that there are patterns to spot in the Old Testament. Gospel imagery was built up over centuries, layer upon layer. Jesus really is the true temple, lamb, priest, king, and prophet. He is a true and better Joseph, David, Jonah, and so on. This is all true. But it is not all of the truth.
There are vital promises to trace throughout the Scriptures — from Genesis 3:15 onward. Jesus is the seed — the seed of the woman, the seed of Abraham, the seed of David. He fulfills each promise of land, peace, blessing, and so on. This is all true. But it is not all of the truth.
In addition to these perspectives, we also should see the Son of God as presentin the Hebrew Bible. This is a vital component lest we imagine a “crunch of gears” between the covenants. What straddles the Old and the New is not simply a plan or a promise; it’s a Person.
Jesus unites the Bible. He is not absent from the Old Testament, sitting on the bench, awaiting his fourth quarter winning play. He is the player-coach-manager directing all things. Throughout the Old Testament, he is the one and only Mediator of God Most High, marching purposefully toward his own incarnation. Jesus is Lord. He always has been.
