If you read the Old Testament, you will find numerous pictures (or prophesies) and actual appearances of God the Son (Jesus, the Christ) throughout the text. In this post, we will focus on the pictures of Christ found in Genesis, and examine the verse(s) where they are found.
Genesis 3:14-15 – Son of Man introduced
In these verses, the Triune God curses the devil and prophesizes that Jesus Christ is the only One who can defeat the devil. Adam was also given a reprieve for his first sin and was told a Descendant – a Son of a man - would die in Adam’s place. The Descendant was also the same Son of Man whom Daniel saw in his night visions (Daniel 7:13).
“And I (Triune God) will cause hostility between you (devil) and the woman, and between your offspring and her Offspring.
He (God the Son) will strike your head, and you will strike His heel.”Genesis 3:14-15
The Seed of the woman is God the Son incarnate. A snake biting the heel of the Offspring (Son of Man) symbolizes the death of Jesus (the last Adam) on the cross. This also signifies the type of death that Jesus would suffer (Numbers 9:12; Psalm 22:14; John 3:14; 19:34-37). Snake bites cause death but do not break any bones (John 19:36).
“Strike the head” signifies His victory over Satan. The Seed of the woman (Jesus Christ) should be raised up in the fullness of time to avenge her quarrel, and to trample upon him, to spoil him, to lead him captive, and to triumph over him (Colossians 2:15).
Genesis 14:17-24 – Melchizedek and Abraham
Then Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine; he was a priest to God Most High.
Genesis 14:18
In Psalm 110:4 and Hebrews 5:6-8, we see that this story (Genesis 14:17-24) is meant to point us to Jesus Christ. The significance of the bread and wine that Melchizedek gave to Abraham is a picture of Bread and Wine established by Jesus Christ at the Lord’s Supper.
Genesis 22:2-19 – Abraham’s faith
Trinity, haElohim (literally, “[All] the Gods”) tests Abraham’s faith -- and prophesies Jesus' (God the Son) death and resurrection -- when They tell Abraham to go to a hill in the land of Moriah and sacrifice his only son, Isaac, as a burnt offering. Mt. Moriah was the very hill area on which the First Temple (II Chronicle 3:1) was built by Solomon. Furthermore, Calvary or Golgotha (where our Savior Jesus Christ was crucified) could have, conceivably, been the same spot where Abraham was about to sacrifice his son Isaac!
In addition, Abraham sacrificing his son who he loves -- quite a cost indeed -- foreshadows God the Father offering his only begotten Son as a sacrifice for our sins.
"Then God said, 'Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love'" (Genesis 22:2)
There is more:
1. The wood Isaac carried on his shoulders (for his own sacrifice) symbolized the wooden cross Jesus carried on his shoulders (for his own sacrifice) on his way to Golgatha.
2. Importance of Isaac's Voluntary Submission to Death: Isaac, who was 25 years old that time, could have resisted his old father Abraham if he so chose. Isaac knew it was part of God's plan -- His covenant with Abraham. Similarly, Jesus could have handily destroyed his enemies who derided and killed Him, but He knew that His death was part of God's larger plan to forgive all our sins (John 3:16a).
Importantly, Abraham’s faith that Malek Yahveh would resurrect Isaac, if necessary, (Genesis 22:5) also represents our faith that Jesus will raise us from death someday.
3. The ram God provides in place of Isaac foreshadows the blameless lamb that God would provide as a substitute for our death in sin -- Jesus.
4. Malek Yahveh, whom we learned is God the Son, the pre-incarnate Christ, intervenes for Abraham’s faithful obedience to God and spares Isaac's life. This is, of course, the same Malek Yahveh who died in our place for all our sins.
Genesis 28:11-15 – Jacob’s ladder
In verse 12, Jacob dreams of a “stairway/ladder that reached from earth up to heaven. And he saw the angels of God going up and down on the stairway.” Here we see a picture of Jesus, for through Jesus is the only way we can share in God’s kingdom. He is the “stairway” to heaven -- “the way, the truth and the life” (John 14:6).
Genesis 35:14 – Jacob prophesies about the Son and the Spirit
“Jacob set up a stone pillar to mark the place where El Shaddai (God the Son) had spoken to him. Then he poured wine over it as a drink offering to God and anointed the pillar with olive oil. And Jacob named the place Bethel (which means “house of God”), because God had spoken to him there.”
This is the first place in the Bible where a drink offering is mentioned. The wine represents Jesus Christ’s blood poured out for us. After the Blood came the Oil during the Pentecost - God the Holy Spirit, our Oil of Joy (Psalm 45). One can also see the same type of prophesy in Isaiah 48:16, where Yahveh the Son prophesies about His ministry on earth, “Now the Lord Yahveh (God the Father) has sent Me (Jesus Christ) and His Spirit” (Isaiah 48:16).
Genesis 43:8-9 – Judah
In persuading his (Judah) father to let Benjamin go with him and Reuben to Egypt to see Joseph (whom they don’t know is their brother) to procure food, Judah said, “I personally guarantee his (Benjamin’s) safety. You may hold me responsible if I don’t bring him back to you. Then let me bear the blame forever.” Here Judah is a picture of Christ and what He did for us. Judah was willing to sacrifice his freedom for the life of his whole family; Jesus sacrificed His life for our eternal life.
Genesis 48:12 – Jacob forms a cross
A blind Jacob forms a cross -- a picture of Jesus -- when he reaches out his arms to bless his grandsons Ephraim and Manasseh with his right and left hands, respectfully -- opposite from Joseph’s original positioning.
Genesis 49:10 – Jacob’s prophesy
In his last words to his sons, Jacob makes a messianic prophesy: from Judah, a king will never die (Jesus Christ), for Jesus is -- and always will be -- our king. He also prophesies Jesus’ second coming.
“The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from his descendants,
until the coming of the One to whom it belongs, the One whom all nations will honor.”
