CHAP. VIII. Representations of the Glory of Christ under the Old Testament.

It is said of our Lord Jesus Christ that beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he declared to his disciples in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself (Luke 24:27). It is therefore evident that Moses and the prophets, and all the Scriptures, give testimony to him and his glory. This is the line of life and light that runs through the whole Old Testament; without following it we can understand nothing rightly in it. And the neglect of this is what makes many as blind in reading the books of it as are the Jews, the same veil being upon their minds. It is faith alone, discovering the glory of Christ, that can remove that veil of darkness which covers the minds of men in reading the Old Testament, as the apostle declares (2 Corinthians 3:14–16). I shall therefore briefly consider some of those ways and means by which the glory of Christ was represented to believers under the Old Testament.

1. It was so in the institution of the beautiful worship of the law, with all its means. In this these institutions had an advantage above all the splendid ceremonies that men can invent in the outward worship of God — they were designed and framed in divine wisdom to represent the glory of Christ in his person and his office. This nothing of human invention can do, or even pretend to. Men cannot create mysteries, nor give to anything natural in itself a mystical significance. But so it was in the old divine institutions. What were the tabernacle and temple? What was the holy place with the furniture of it? What was the oracle, the ark, the cherubim, the mercy seat placed within it? What was the high priest in all his vestments and administrations? What were the sacrifices, and the annual sprinkling of blood in the most holy place? What was the whole system of their religious worship? Were they anything but representations of Christ in the glory of his person and his office? They were a shadow, and the body represented by that shadow was Christ. If anyone would see how the Lord Christ was in particular foresignified and represented in them, he may consult our exposition on the ninth chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews, where it is handled so fully that I shall not again dwell upon it here. The sum is: Moses was faithful in all the house of God as a testimony of those things which were to be spoken afterward (Hebrews 3:5). All that Moses did in the erection of the tabernacle and the institution of all its services was simply to give an antecedent testimony by way of representation to the things of Christ that were afterward to be revealed. And that also was the substance of the ministry of the prophets (1 Peter 1:11–12). The dim apprehensions of the glory of Christ which they obtained by these means were the life of the church of old.

2. It was represented in the mystical account given to us of his communion with his church in love and grace. As this is hinted at in many places of Scripture, there is one entire book designed for its declaration. This is the divine Song of Solomon, who was a type of Christ and a penman of the Holy Spirit in it. It is a gracious record of the divine communications of Christ in love and grace to his church, with their returns of love to him and delight in him. And then may a man judge himself to have somewhat profited in the experience of the mystery of a blessed interchange and communion with Christ, when the expressions of them in that holy dialogue give light and life to his mind and effectively communicate to him an experience of their power. But because these things are little understood by many, the book itself is much neglected if not despised. Indeed, to such impudence have some arrived — foaming out their own shame — as to ridicule the expressions of it. But we are forewarned of such mockers in the last days, who would walk after their own ungodly lusts; they are not our present concern.

The former instance of the representations of the glory of Christ in the institutions of outward worship, together with this record of the inward communion they had with Christ in grace, faith, and love, gives us the substance of that view they had of his glory. What holy strains of delight and admiration, what raptures of joy, what solemn and divine satisfaction, what fervor of affection, and what diligence in attending to the means of enjoying communion with him — this discovery of the glory of Christ produced in the souls of those who believed, is vividly expressed in that discourse. A few days, a few hours spent in the frame characterized in it, is a blessedness surpassing all the treasures of the earth. And if we, whose revelations of the same glory far exceed theirs, should be found to fall short of them in fervor of affection toward Christ and continual holy admiration of his excellencies, we shall one day be judged unworthy to have received them.

3. The glory of Christ was also represented and made known under the Old Testament in his personal appearances on various occasions to several eminent persons who were leaders of the church in their generations. This he did as a prelude to his incarnation. He was as yet God only, but appeared in the assumed shape of a man to signify what he would become. He did not create a human nature and unite it to himself for such a season; he only by his divine power took on the form of a man composed of whatever ethereal substance he pleased, immediately to be dissolved again. So he appeared to Abraham, to Jacob, to Moses, to Joshua, and others, as I have at length proved and confirmed elsewhere. And herein also, because he was the divine person who dwelt in and dealt with the church under the Old Testament from first to last, he constantly assumes to himself human affections — to intimate that a season would come when he would act immediately in that nature. Indeed, after the fall there is nothing spoken of God in the Old Testament, nothing of his institutions, nothing of the way and manner of his dealings with the church, but what has respect to the future incarnation of Christ. And it would have been absurd to represent God perpetually with human emotions — as grieving, repenting, being angry, well-pleased, and the like — were it not that the divine person intended was to take on him the nature in which such affections dwell.

4. It was represented in prophetic visions. So the apostle affirms that the vision which Isaiah had of him was when he saw his glory (John 12:41). And it was a blessed representation of it. For his divine person being exalted on a throne of glory, his train filled the temple. The whole train of his glorious grace filled the temple of his body — this is the true tabernacle which God pitched and not man, the temple which was destroyed and which he raised again in three days, in which dwelt the fullness of the Godhead (Colossians 2:9). This glory was now presented to the view of Isaiah (Isaiah 6:1–3), which filled him with dread and astonishment. But from this he was relieved by an act of the ministry of that glorious one, taking away his iniquity by a coal from the altar, which typified the purifying efficacy of his sacrifice. This was food for the souls of believers; on these and like occasions did the whole church lift up their voice in that holy cry, "Make haste, my beloved, and be like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountains of spices."

Of the same nature was his glorious appearance on Mount Sinai at the giving of the law (Exodus 19). For the description of it by the psalmist (Psalm 68:17–18) is applied by the apostle to the ascension of Christ after his resurrection (Ephesians 4:8–11). Only as it was then full of outward terror because of the giving of the fiery law, it was referred to by the psalmist as full of mercy with respect to his accomplishment of the same law. His giving of it was as death to those concerned, because of its holiness and the severity of the curse attached to it; his fulfilling of it was life, through the pardon and righteousness that flowed from it.

5. The doctrine of his incarnation, by which he became the subject of all that glory we inquire after, was revealed — though not as clearly as by the gospel after the actual accomplishment of the thing itself. In how many places this is done in the Old Testament I have declared elsewhere, at least having explained and vindicated many of them, for no man can presume to know them all. One instance therefore shall here suffice, and this is that of the same prophet Isaiah, chapter 9, verses 6–7: "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this." This one testimony is sufficient to confound all Jews, Socinians, and other enemies of the glory of Christ. I acknowledge that notwithstanding this declaration of the glory of Christ in his future incarnation and rule, there remained much darkness in the minds of those to whom it was then made. For although they might and did acquiesce in the truth of the revelation, yet they could form no notions of the way or manner of its accomplishment. But now, when every word of it is explained, declared, and its mystical sense visibly laid open to us in the gospel, and by the accomplishment exactly answering every expression in it, it is judicial blindness not to receive it. Nothing but the satanic pride of the hearts of men — which will admit of no effects of infinite wisdom but what they suppose they can comprehend — can shut their eyes against the light of this truth.

6. Promises, prophecies, predictions concerning his person, his coming, his office, his kingdom, and his glory in them all, with the wisdom, grace, and love of God to the church in him — these are the line of life, as was said, that runs through all the writings of the Old Testament and takes up a great portion of them. These were the things he expounded to his disciples out of Moses and all the prophets. Concerning these things he appealed to the Scriptures against all his adversaries: "Search the Scriptures, for they are they that testify of me." And if we find them not, if we discern them not therein, it is because a veil of blindness is over our minds. Nor can we read, study, or meditate on the writings of the Old Testament to any advantage unless we aim to find out and behold the glory of Christ declared and represented in them. For lack of this they are a sealed book to many to this day.

7. It is usual in the Old Testament to set out the glory of Christ under metaphorical expressions; indeed, it abounds in this. For such allusions are exceedingly suited to let a sense of those things into our minds which we cannot distinctly comprehend. And there is an infinite condescension of divine wisdom in this way of instruction, representing to us the power of spiritual things in what we naturally discern. Instances of this kind in calling the Lord Christ by the names of those creatures which to our senses represent the excellence that is spiritually in him are innumerable. So he is called the rose for the sweet savor of his love, grace, and obedience; the lily for his gracious beauty and gracefulness; the pearl of great price for his worth, for to those who believe he is precious; the vine for his fruitfulness; the lion for his power; the lamb for his meekness and fitness for sacrifice — with other things of the like kind almost innumerable.

These things I have mentioned not with any design to search into the depths of this treasury of divine truths concerning the glory of Christ, but only to give a little light to the words of the evangelist — that he opened to his disciples out of Moses and all the prophets the things which concerned himself — and to stir up our own souls to a contemplation of them as contained therein.

Scripture tells us that beginning with Moses and all the prophets, Christ explained to His disciples in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself (Luke 24:27). It is therefore clear that Moses, the prophets, and all the Scriptures bear witness to Him and His glory. This is the thread of life and light running through the entire Old Testament — without following it, we cannot understand the Old Testament rightly. Neglecting this is what leaves many as blind in reading the Old Testament as the Jews are, with the same veil over their minds. It is faith alone, perceiving the glory of Christ, that can remove the veil of darkness covering people's minds as they read the Old Testament, as the apostle declares (2 Corinthians 3:14-16). I will therefore briefly consider some of the ways in which the glory of Christ was represented to believers under the Old Testament.

First, the glory of Christ was represented in the institution of the beautiful worship of the law, with all its forms and ceremonies. In this respect these institutions had an advantage over all the elaborate ceremonies that humans can devise for the outward worship of God — they were designed and shaped by divine wisdom to represent the glory of Christ in His person and office. Nothing invented by human imagination can do this or even claim to. Human beings cannot create mysteries, nor give any naturally ordinary thing a mystical significance. But this is exactly what the ancient divine institutions did. What was the tabernacle and temple? What was the holy place with all its furnishings? What was the inner sanctuary, the ark, the cherubim, the mercy seat within it? What was the high priest in all his robes and ministrations? What were the sacrifices, and the annual sprinkling of blood in the Most Holy Place? What was the entire system of their religious worship? Were these anything other than representations of Christ in the glory of His person and office? They were a shadow, and the body casting that shadow was Christ. Anyone wishing to see in detail how the Lord Christ was foreshadowed and represented in them may consult my exposition of the ninth chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews, where it is treated so fully that I will not dwell on it again here. The summary is this: Moses was faithful in all God's house as a witness to the things that would be spoken afterward (Hebrews 3:5). Everything Moses did in building the tabernacle and establishing its services was simply to provide a preliminary witness — through representation — to the things of Christ that would be revealed afterward. That was also the substance of the ministry of the prophets (1 Peter 1:11-12). The partial glimpses of Christ's glory that believers obtained through these means were the very life of the ancient church.

Second, the glory of Christ was represented in the mystical account given to us of His communion with His church in love and grace. While this is hinted at in many places of Scripture, one entire book is devoted to setting it forth. That book is the Song of Solomon — Solomon being a type of Christ and a penman of the Holy Spirit. It is a gracious record of Christ's outpouring of love and grace to His church, and their response of love and delight in Him. A person may judge that he has made real progress in experiencing the mystery of this blessed exchange and communion with Christ when the expressions of it in that holy dialogue bring light and life to his mind and genuinely convey to him a felt sense of their power. But because these things are little understood by many, the book itself is much neglected, if not despised. Indeed, some have reached the point of shamelessly mocking its language. But we are forewarned of such scoffers in the last days, who walk according to their own ungodly desires — they need not concern us further here.

Together, the representations of Christ's glory in the institutions of outward worship and the record of the inward communion believers had with Christ in grace, faith, and love give us the substance of the view they had of His glory. That holy book vividly expresses what this discovery of Christ's glory produced in the souls of those who believed: strains of delight and wonder, raptures of joy, deep and solemn satisfaction, fervent affection, and diligent pursuit of communion with Him. A few days — a few hours — spent in the frame of heart described there is a blessedness that surpasses all the wealth of this earth. And if we, whose revelations of the same glory far exceed theirs, are found to fall short of them in fervent affection toward Christ and sustained holy wonder at His excellencies, we will one day be judged as unworthy of the greater revelation we received.

Third, the glory of Christ was also represented and made known under the Old Testament through His personal appearances on various occasions to several prominent leaders of the church in their generations. He did this as a prelude to His incarnation. At that time He was God only, but appeared in the assumed form of a man to foreshadow what He would become. He did not create a human nature and unite it to Himself on these occasions; He only took on the form of a man by His divine power, composed of whatever substance He chose, to be dissolved again immediately. So He appeared to Abraham, to Jacob, to Moses, to Joshua, and others — as I have proven and established at length elsewhere. In all of this, because He was the divine person who lived in and dealt with the church throughout the entire Old Testament, He consistently attributed to Himself human emotions — to hint that a time was coming when He would act directly in human nature. Indeed, after the fall, nothing is spoken of God in the Old Testament — nothing of His institutions or His ways of dealing with the church — that does not look forward to the future incarnation of Christ. It would have been absurd to portray God continually with human emotions — grieving, relenting, being angry, being pleased, and the like — were it not that the divine person in view was going to take on the nature in which such emotions reside.

Fourth, Christ's glory was represented in prophetic visions. The apostle affirms that the vision Isaiah saw was a vision of His glory (John 12:41). And it was a remarkable representation of it. His divine person was exalted on a throne of glory, and His train filled the temple. The full train of His glorious grace filled the temple of His body — the true tabernacle that God and not man set up, the temple that was destroyed and that He raised again in three days, in which the fullness of the Godhead dwells (Colossians 2:9). This glory was presented to Isaiah's view (Isaiah 6:1-3), filling him with dread and astonishment. He was relieved from it by an act of ministry from that glorious one, who took away his sin through a coal from the altar — a symbol of the purifying power of His sacrifice. This was nourishment for the souls of believers; it was on these and similar occasions that the whole church would lift their voice in that holy cry: 'Hurry, my beloved, and be like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountains of spices.'

Of the same nature was His glorious appearance on Mount Sinai at the giving of the law (Exodus 19). The psalmist's description of it (Psalm 68:17-18) is applied by the apostle to the ascension of Christ after His resurrection (Ephesians 4:8-11). When the law was given, the scene was full of outward terror because of the fiery law; the psalmist treated it as full of mercy in light of Christ's fulfillment of that same law. His giving of the law was like death to those under it, because of its holiness and the severity of its curse; His fulfilling of it was life, through the pardon and righteousness that flowed from it.

Fifth, the doctrine of His incarnation — by which He became the subject of all the glory we are exploring — was revealed in the Old Testament, though not as clearly as it is in the gospel after the actual accomplishment of the thing itself. In how many places this is done in the Old Testament I have set forth elsewhere, having explained and defended many of them — for no one can claim to know them all. One example will suffice here: the same prophet Isaiah, chapter 9, verses 6-7: 'For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this.' This one testimony is enough to confound all Jews, Socinians, and other enemies of Christ's glory. I recognize that despite this declaration of Christ's glory in His future incarnation and reign, much darkness remained in the minds of those to whom it was given at the time. They could accept the truth of the revelation, but they could form no idea of how or in what manner it would be fulfilled. Now, however, every word of it has been explained and declared, its deeper meaning plainly opened to us in the gospel, and its fulfillment answers every expression in it exactly — so to refuse to receive it is judicial blindness. Nothing but the satanic pride of the human heart — which will not accept the effects of infinite wisdom unless it can comprehend them — can shut people's eyes against the light of this truth.

Sixth, promises, prophecies, and predictions concerning His person, His coming, His office, His kingdom, and His glory in all of these — along with the wisdom, grace, and love of God to the church in Him — are the thread of life running through all the writings of the Old Testament and making up a great portion of them. These are the things He explained to His disciples out of Moses and all the prophets. He appealed to Scripture on these matters against all His opponents: 'Search the Scriptures, for they are the ones that testify about Me.' If we do not find them, if we cannot see them there, it is because a veil of blindness lies over our minds. We cannot read, study, or meditate on the Old Testament writings to any real benefit unless we are seeking to find and behold the glory of Christ declared and represented in them. For lack of this, those writings remain a sealed book to many people to this day.

Seventh, the Old Testament constantly represents the glory of Christ through metaphorical language — in fact, it is full of it. Such images are extraordinarily suited to conveying to our minds a sense of things we cannot grasp directly. There is an infinite condescension of divine wisdom in this method of instruction, representing the power of spiritual realities through things we naturally perceive. The names applied to the Lord Christ drawn from creatures that represent to our senses the excellence that is spiritually in Him are almost beyond counting. He is called the rose for the sweet fragrance of His love, grace, and obedience; the lily for His gracious beauty and loveliness; the pearl of great price for His worth, since to those who believe He is precious; the vine for His fruitfulness; the lion for His power; the lamb for His meekness and fitness for sacrifice — along with countless other images of the same kind.

I have mentioned these things not with any intention of plumbing the depths of this treasury of divine truth about the glory of Christ, but only to shed a little light on the evangelist's words — that Christ opened to His disciples out of Moses and all the prophets the things concerning Himself — and to stir up our own souls to contemplate them as they are found there.