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

Our objective for this segment, Character Types of the Prophet Ministry, Priesthood, and Kingship of Jesus Christ , is to enable you to see that: • The OT provides a solid and convincing witness to the life and ministry of Jesus through its character types of key figures in the history of Israel. Character types provide us with a full and rich presentation of the truth about Christ, spur great interest in the craftsmanship of the OT stories, cause us to worship God because of the richness of his salvation plan, and enable us to see the Bible as a whole, especially the connections between the testaments. • The elements of a proper character-type study highlight the need to be careful and circumspect in our use of them to provide a witness to Christ. We must create a general outline of the character’s life, search for links and resemblances between the character and Jesus as the antitype, avoid over-concentration on details that fail to connect the type to its antitype, and seek to expand one’s knowledge of the antitype through the understanding of the type. • The benefits of character-type investigations for creating continuity between the Old and New Testaments are enormous. They include our gaining an increased knowledge of the Scriptures, learning to communicate the Word to others at higher levels of interest, relevance, and entertainment, regaining a sense of wonder at the inspiration of the Scriptures, and discovering a more comprehensive picture of Jesus Christ through the types. • Some of the most important character types in the OT point to and illustrate the ministry of Jesus Christ in the NT in his roles as a prophet, priest, and king in the persons of Moses, Melchizedek, and David respectively. While Christ is illumined in the character types, the nature of his own roles is infinitely greater in both glory and significance. • Moses, the Prophet of the Lord, is an OT character type of Jesus Christ demonstrated in key aspects of his life. His life coincides with Jesus in that he was as an infant that was sought by a king, hidden in Egypt for a time for his protection, was sent by God to deliver God’s people and God’s message, and was rejected at his own “first coming.” In a sense, Moses (like Christ) chose a Gentile bride during the period of his rejection, and learned obedience through suffering. He also mediated a covenant between the

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