Discernment: Seeing Jesus in the Old Testament

     My gift is "discernment": grasping what is hard to understand. Discernment is particularly useful in understanding scripture because of the "mystery of God". There are not two religions: Judaism and Christianity. Holy Scripture, even the Old Testament, is all about Jesus! Discerning Jews should realize that their Masiah is merely the Hebrew word for the Greek Christos, transliterated to the English as "Christ". 
     Salvation was thus never by the Law but always by grace! The best example of that is when Abraham's willingness to obey was credited to him as faith! 

Gal 3:7 Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.

     Abraham's obedience was doing what is right, called righteousness. (Rom 4:9).  By doing right in the eyes of God, Abraham was credited with faith. It wasn't obedience which brought on faith, but faith which brought on righteousness. The problem with Judaism is that of backward-thinking, of course with the exception of the patriarchs which were the beginning of the Christian Church:

Ephes 2:19 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; (the Church) 20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone...

     The Church was built not only on Peter, but the apostles, and the prophets. In his own way of living prophecy by replicating what God would do with His Son, Abraham was, I believe, the greatest prophet!
     Abraham was as much a "Christian" as were any of the apostles, or even you! In fact, the "faith of Abraham" is the standard for the faith of Christians! (Rom 4:16).
     We find that Lazarus was in Abraham's bosom when he died (Luke 16:22). Abraham's bosom was Paradise in the Third Heaven! Abraham went to Heaven because he was a Christian. His faith was greater than ours because He saw Jesus in Old Testament Scripture whereas Christians tend to see Jesus only in the New. Because there is truly only one "testament" one would expect the Way to salvation to be the same. Indeed it is! Let us examine Isaiah's vision:

Isa 2:12 For the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low... 17 And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low: and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day... 21  To go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.

    One must have discernment when reading the Word. Reader's must look for Jesus in the Old Testament. He is there! John said so (John 3:1-2,14)! Because God gives me discernment, I found the Doctrine of Jesus in what Isaiah wrote hundreds of years before! "The day of the Lord of hosts" is when the Church shall be threshed out on Judgment Day. However, that great and terrible day will be determined long before the Great White Throne Judgment of God (Rev 20:11). The "great day" is when one is born-again. The "terrible day" is when one when last offered rejects rebirth! The basis for acceptance or rejection is what happened on the "ragged rocks" of verse 21 above. The question must be asked of oneself: Can I save myself or can it only be Jesus? If that question is answered with Jesus only, then the person is born-again. That realization is enlightenment and therein commences faith in Jesus's Name.
     If you'll remember from the Book of Genesis, the entry gate to Paradise is guarded by cherubim. There is only one gate and there is not another entry through a back door, so to speak. To get through the Gate to Paradise the password is God's Name. He is called Jesus! Assuredly, it is not just saying "Jesus" which is the password but the blood which was shed by him! As I have written before, the command not to take God's Name in vain, means not to take Jesus's crucifixion frivolously. Thus, passing the third commandment is entry into Heaven.
     The term "born-again" is demoting oneself and elevating God on His pedestal to which Jesus alluded with the Hebrews, Moses, and the bronze serpent on the pole. (John 3:14). Look how Isaiah was saying the same thing: And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low: and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day! Isaiah was speaking of those who were born-again! It is obvious from Scripture that there was always One and only One Way for re-entry into Paradise and that was through Jesus! 
     The discerning person understands that the "mystery of God" (Col 2:2) is indeed "the mystery of Christ":

Ephes 3:4 Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ)

     Discernment is looking for the revelation of the mystery and seeing it in Holy Scripture. When I read the Old Testament, I see Jesus everywhere because that Testament is, indeed, all about Jesus!