A Biblical Vision, Part I: Mastering the Old Testament Witness to Christ

Session 5: Character Types of the Prophet Ministry, Pr iesthood, and Kingship of Jesus Chr ist 85

1. Moses’ ministry of being God’s prophet and messenger is fulfilled in the person of Christ.

2. Christ is in a final sense the last true messenger and prophet of God.

3. Christ’s ministry is superior to Moses’ in every respect, most namely in the fact that Jesus himself is the Word of the Lord made flesh.

III. Melchizedek, the High Priest of God (a type of Christ)

Gen. 14.18-20 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.) [19] And he blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; [20] and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!” And Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

Messiah Jesus Fulfills and Completes the Old Testament Picture of the Levitical Priesthood

The Messianic sense is by no means the only sense in which Christ is the theme and fulfillment of the Old Testament. Another Christo centric view of the Old Testament was suggested by Jesus’ quote in Heb. 10.5-7 (from Ps. 40.6-8). In this passage the emphasis is not upon the coming of the Messiah or anointed King but upon the perfect Priest, not upon the One who fulfills the Jewish expectation of a Ruler but of One who makes provision for them as a Mediator. The complete quote reads as follows: “Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, ‘Sacrifices and offerings thou has not desired, but a body has thou prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings thou hast taken no pleasure.’ Then I said, ‘Lo, I have come to do thy will, O God, as it is written of me in the roll of the book.’” It is evident from the immediate context here, as well as from the whole of the book of Hebrews, that Christ is written in the roll of the book of the Old Testament in the sense that he fulfills the Levitical priesthood and sacrificial system.

~ Norman Geisler. To Understand the Bible, Look for Jesus . p. 36.

A. Aspects of his priestly ministry that resonate with Christ

1. His name resonates with the person and ministry of Christ (King of righteousness, King of peace), Heb. 7.2 – and to him Abraham apportioned a tenth part of every thing. He is first, by translation of his name, king of