The Old Testament Witness to Christ and His Kingdom, Mentor's Guide, MG09

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T H E O L D T E S T A M E N T W I T N E S S T O C H R I S T A N D H I S K I N G D O M

17. Ezra: his zeal for the Scriptures, Neh. 8; Matt. 21.42; 22.29; Mark 12.10, 24; Luke 4.21; 24.27; John 10.35

18. Nehemiah: his zeal for the Holy City, Neh. 1–2; Matt. 23.37–39; Luke 19.41

~ H. L. Willmington. Willmington’s Book of Bible Lists . Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House, 1987.

This list of characters reinforces our understanding of the connection between Jesus and the lives of the OT saints as prefigurations of his own ministry as Lord and Messiah. The allusion to Jonah, therefore, is Jesus’ understanding that critical aspects of his life and ministry are seen in the historical events of Jonah and his time spent in the belly of the fish. Those of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at Jonah , and in Christ, someone infinitely greater than Jonah was before them. The amazed and astonished queen of the South (Sheba), likewise, will condemn it, for, as Jesus says, “she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.” Jesus is greater than both Jonah and Solomon; yet, in a fundamental way, to read the stories of Jonah and Solomon is to gain insight into the very nature of the Messiah himself , whom we now know to be the living and risen Savior, Jesus Messiah, of Nazareth. Those who truly have eyes that see and ears that hear will see this hidden yet significant under-story and plot that connects all of the personages, institutions, offices, and histories included in the OT. In a very real sense, Jesus’ testimony about the Word of God is true, and must be affirmed in all of our study of the OT: John 5.39-40 - You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, [40] yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. The Lord is there, testifying, witnessing, revealing the glory of Christ throughout the OT history of Israel, in the characters of its key figures, in the prophet’s foretellings of Messiah, in the tabernacle, sacrifices, the priesthood, and grand events. What we must pray for is a spirit soft enough and a heart clear enough that we do not “miss the forest for the trees,” rather that we see history and not see His Story . For those with eyes to see, we know that “as with them, so with him.”

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