THE CHURCH FORETOLD IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
There are so many instances in the Old Testament in which people responsive to God prefigured Jesus that it’s difficult to find cases among Jesus’ words and acts that weren’t prefigured before by such people. The Patriarch Isaac, for example, is most well-known among Christians for the drama enacted by Abraham in responding to God’s command to him to sacrifice his son. The tale is presented in Genesis 22:
“And [God] said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer his there for a burns offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.”
Abraham responded in faith to that command, placing the obedient Isaac on a bed of kindling, drawing out his knife, and preparing to thrust it into his beloved son. He was prevented from completing the act by God, who substituted a ram for Isaac in the sacrifice.
Interestingly, on the way to the place of sacrifice Abraham lifted up his head and saw his destination:
“Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off.”
The “third day” may have another meaning in addition to the obvious one of denoting the third day of Abraham’s travel to the place of sacrifice. It also may be a cryptic reference to a vision by Abraham of Jesus’ resurrection on the third day after His crucifixion on Golgotha, the same place where the sacrifice of Isaac was to take place.
A complete listing of Old Testament references to Jesus could occupy a large book. But there are references there to the other Members of the Godhead as well. And to the Church.
In one such reference to the Church, the relationship between Jesus and His Church is foretold in Isaiah 54:1-7:
“Sing, O barren, thou who didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou who didst not travail with child; for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the Lord. Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations; spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes; for thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left, and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited. Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed, neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame; for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more.
“For thy Maker is thine husband; the Lord of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; the God of the whole earth shall he be called. For the Lord hath called thee like a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou was refused, saith thy God. For a small moment have I forsaken thee, but with great mercies will I gather thee.”
This passage in Isaiah 54 immediately follows the great Messianic passage of Isaiah 53, and, both by its content and its relative placement, can be considered to be a sequel to it. Yet, except for the hint in John 2 regarding the wedding in Cana where Jesus performed His first miracle, the Gospels are silent with respect to that subject.
Details that are missing in the Gospels are supplied not only by Paul in Ephesians 5, but in the Old Testament as well, in Genesis 24. In that passage Isaac, who prefigured Jesus during Abraham’s attempted sacrifice, in now foretelling Jesus’ marriage to His Church.
The account in Genesis 24 of Isaac’s marriage is rich in detail, particularly the influence of the Holy Spirit on the entire transaction. It’s a good read as well as being instructive in filling in some of the blanks of the Church’s epic future:
“And Abraham was old, and well stricken in age: and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things. And Abraham said unto his eldest servant of his house, that ruled over all that he had, Put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh; And I will make thee swear by the Lord, the God of heaven, and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell. But thou shalt go unto my country, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son Isaac. . .And the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham, his master, and swore to him concerning that matter. And the servant took ten camels of the camels of his master, and departed; for all the goods of his master were in his hand: and he arose, and went to Mesopotamia, unto the city of Nahor.
“And he made his camels to kneel down outside the city by a well of water at the time of the evening, even the time that the women go out to draw water. And he said, O Lord God of my master, Abraham, I pray thee, send me good speed this day, and show kindness unto my master, Abraham. Behold, I stand here by the well of water; and the daughters of the men of the city come out to draw water; and let it come to pass, that the damsel to whom I shall say, Let down thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink; and she shall say, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also; let her be the one whom thou hast appointed for thy servant, Isaac; and thereby shall I know that thou hast shown kindness unto my master.
“And it came to pass, before he had finished speaking, that, behold, Rebekah came out, who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, with her pitcher on her shoulder. And the damsel was very fair to look upon, a virgin, neither had any man known her: and she went down to the well, and filled her pitcher, and came up. And the servant ran to meet her, and said, Let me, I pray thee, drink a little water from thy pitcher. And she said, Drink, my Lord: and she hastened, and let down her pitcher upon her hand, and gave him drink. And when she had finished giving him drink, she said, I will draw water for thy camels also, until they have finished drinking. And she hastened, and emptied her pitcher into the trough, and ran again unto the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels. And the man, wondering at her, held his peace, to learn whether the Lord had made his journey prosperous or not. And it came to pass, as the camels had finished drinking, that the man took a golden ring of half a shekel weight, and two bracelets for her wrists of ten shekels of weight of gold; and said, Whose daughter art thou? Tell me, I pray thee: is there room in thy father’s house for us to lodge in? And she said unto him, I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Milcah, whom she bore unto Nahor. She said moreover unto him, We have both straw and fodder enough, and room to lodge in.
“And the man bowed down his head, and worshiped the Lord. And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of my master, Abraham, who hath not left destitute my master of his mercy and his truth: I being in the way, the Lord led me to the house of my master’s brethren. And the damsel ran, and told them of her mother’s house these things.”
The servant then was warmly welcomed into Rebekah’s house by her brother Laban, who had been impressed by the finery that Rebekah was now wearing. The adornments represented obvious wealth. After introducing himself as the servant of Abraham, the uncle of Bethuel, the man explained his mission of obtaining a wife for Abraham’s son Isaac out of his kin. He went on to recount how he prayed to God to select this bride through her specific response to his request for water, and of how Rebekah, through the Holy Spirit, had responded exactly as he had prayed. After hearing this, both Bethuel and his son Laban accepted this event as having come from God, making her the one that God Himself had chosen as wife for her kin Isaac.
“Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, The thing proceedeth from the Lord: we cannot speak unto thee bad or good. Behold, Rebekah is before thee, take her, and go, and let her by thy master’s son’s wife, as the Lord hath spoken. And it came to pass that, when Abraham’s servant heard their words, he worshiped the Lord, bowing himself to the earth. And the servant brought forth jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment, and gave them to Rebekah: he gave also to her brother and to her mother precious things. And they did eat and drink, he and the men that were with him, and tarried all night; and they rose up in the morning, and he said, Send me away unto my master. And her brother and her mother said, Let the damsel abide with us a few days, at the least ten; after that she shall go. And he said unto them, Hinder me not, seeing the Lord hath prospered my way; send me away that I may go to my master.”
Up to this point Rebekah apparently had little to say about the matter, her brother and mother having spoken for her. Now, however, at what almost seems like an afterthought in the wake of this last-minute tug-of-war, Rebekah is given a say in the proceedings:
“And they said, We will call the damsel, and inquire at her mouth. And they called Rebekah, and said unto her, Wilt thou go with this man? And she said, I will go. And they sent away Rebekah, their sister, and her nurse, and Abraham’s servant, and his men. And they blessed Rebekah, and said unto her, Thou art our sister, be thou the mother of thousands of millions, and let thy seed possess the gate of those who hate them. And Rebekah arose, and her damsels, and they rode upon the camels, and followed the man: and the servant took Rebekah, and went his way.
“And Isaac came from the way of the well Lahairoi; for he dwelt in the Negev. And Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the eventide: and he lifted up his eyes, and saw, and, behold, the camels were coming. And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she lighted off the camel. For she had said unto the servant, What man is this that walketh in the field to meet us? And the servant had said, It is my master: therefore she took a veil, and covered herself. And the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done. And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her: and Isaac was comforted after Rebekah’s death.”
As we have noted, the Church and her relationship to Jesus was clearly foretold in the Old Testament. Among the most obvious representations is the beautiful story of Ruth. The magnificent story of her loyalty to Naomi begins at verse 10, following the death of Naomi’s husband and two sons, who had married the Moabite (Gentile) women Orpah and Ruth:
“And Naomi said, Turn again, my daughters. Why will ye go with me? Are there yet any more sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands? Turn again, my daughters, go your way; for I am too old to have an husband. If I should say, I have hope; if I should have an husband also tonight, and should also bear sons, would ye tarry for them till they were grown? Would ye refrain from marrying? Nay, my daughters; for it grieveth me much for your sakes that the hand of the Lord is gone out against me. And they lifted up their voice, and wept again; and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clave unto her. And she said, Behold, thy sister-in-law is gone back unto her people, and unto her gods; return thou after thy sister-in-law.”
How little did Naomi appear to understand, at this point, the great blessing the Lord was showering upon her, and upon her daughter-in-law Ruth! Through this circumstance not only would the Gentile Ruth be integrated into the bloodline of Jesus Christ, but she would prefigure His future Bride. In response to Naomi’s reluctant advice, Ruth voices her timeless expression of devotion:
‘And Ruth said, Entreat me not to leave thee, or to return away from following after thee; for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God, my God. Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried; the Lord do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me.”
Naomi and Ruth returned to Israel, arriving in Bethlehem at the time of the barley harvest. Under circumstances directed by God, Ruth gathered food for herself and Naomi by gleaning in the fields of the wealthy Boaz, who became attracted to her. Boaz, of the tribe of Judah and in the bloodline to Christ, also typified Christ as a spiritual precursor. His marriage to Ruth gave them a child who eventually was a grandfather of David and thus an ancestor of Jesus Christ through both Mary and her husband Joseph.
Just as importantly, Ruth, in marrying Boaz, represented the Church as the Bride of Christ. Significantly, Ruth’s Gentile roots represented the Gentile nature of the Church during the Church age. It is also significant that the Book of Ruth is traditionally read at the Feast of Pentecost linking Ruth in that additional manner with the birth of the Church at the first Pentecost following Jesus’ resurrection, that wonderful time that the Holy Spirit came upon the body of believers and transformed them into spiritual warriors.
Both of the Old Testament accounts of Ruth and Rebekah cited above represent the Church as a female married to Christ. The accounts also hint of romantic involvement. Are they just hints, or is there real substance to the thought that the relationship between Jesus and His Church might be a romantic one?
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