When reading the Old Testament, the believer faces two dilemmas. First, there is a seemingly sharp discontinuity between the universal proclamation of the gospel to the whole earth and God’s singling out of the nation of Israel. Second, the New Testament says of Jesus that “there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12)[1], yet Jesus and the Holy Spirit are not explicitly revealed in the Old Testament. Jeff Meyers has provided some answers to this latter dilemma by showing how Israel’s three stages of maturity from priest to king to prophet are connected to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Here, I want to show that, in these three overlapping periods, Israel is revealing the characters of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit to the nations. Everything I say in this paper is indebted to Jeff Meyers and if anything here sheds light on the text, it is only possible because of his work.[2]
In the time of Moses and the Exodus, God is showing the nations, especially of Egypt and Canaan that he is a Father to Israel and Israel in turn will bless the nations, functioning as a Father. In the time of Kings, the Lord of Hosts displays his self-sacrifice and designates Israel as a Son in the kings who sacrifice themselves for their brethren. The King’s self-sacrifice is, in fact, a picture of how Israel as a whole will sacrifice itself for their brothers, the nations. Finally, the post-exilic period reveals how God indwells the prophets with his word and they in turn indwell the rulers of the nations, showing how the Spirit will be poured out on the nations. But before we get to that we need to go back to the beginning.
The Patriarchs: Overture to the Trinity
The entire history of the Old Testament is previewed in the lives of the patriarchs. This may seem an irrelevant digression, but the Patriarchal treatments of Father, Son, and Spirit establish many themes that are expanded in Israel’s history and as well as providing context for Israel’s story as it pertains to God’s plan for the nations. The patriarch narratives are best understood as images of the Trinity by reading them in pairs: Abraham/Isaac, Isaac/Jacob, and Jacob/Joseph. Each patriarch dies only after their son has somehow taken center-stage. Abraham does not die until Isaac has a bride (Genesis 24-25), Isaac dies only after Jacob’s reconciliation with Esau (Genesis 33, 35), and Jacob dies seeing Joseph ruler over all Egypt (Genesis 49). Each father’s legacy is contingent upon the success of his son.
The call of Abraham is so important it is worth quoting in full: “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Genesis 12:1-3)
First, notice the repetition of blessing. As we see throughout history, the prerogative of blessing is the right of the superior over the inferior. Fathers name their children, not the other way around (cf. Genesis 27). Yahweh tells Abraham to break with his father’s house and the blessings that go along with it. In other words, Yahweh is promising to be Abraham’s father. Second, we have Yahweh’s promise to make Abraham a father of Isaac, a promise that he will be a father to Israel. Third, since blessing and fatherhood are closely linked, then this promise to make Abraham a blessing to the nations is a promise to make him a Father to the nations. From that time, Abraham’s vocation is to acknowledge Yahweh as His Father in order that he may be a father to Isaac and to the nations.
Throughout his life, Abraham’s life is contrasted with those of the nations around him. For instance in the wife-stealing narratives, the kings presume to be Abraham’s superior and use their power to forcibly take his wife; Pharaoh’s gifts afterwards merely display his power (Gen. 12:16). However, both cases are reversed as Yahweh, demonstrating his favor towards Abraham his true son, plagues Egypt, forcing the kings to acknowledge Abraham’s superiority and to offer tribute. Abimelech’s story is especially fascinating.[3] Yahweh tells Abimelech to ask Abraham to pray for him (20:7, 17) and asks Abraham to promise not to kill his descendants (21:22-24). Not only is Abraham his father, but Abraham represents the future nation of Israel that will be a Father to the nations.
The contrast between Melchizedeck and the King of Sodom continues this theme. The former represents Yahweh to Abraham, offering him the royal drink of wine, but also reminding him that he must acknowledge his heavenly Father if he is to possess victory over his enemies. The King of Sodom tries to take the people and give the wealth to Abraham (14:21). Abraham’s refusal is not merely an aversion to gifts: he had no qualms about accepting gifts from Pharaoh. In this case, however, Abraham would be abdicating his Kingship over the people and becoming subordinate to just another king among the nations. Abraham can only be a Father to the nations if He waits for gifts from his own Heavenly Father. Isaac is both a confirmation and a further promise of the blessings that will come to the nations through him.
Abraham’s vocation is tested with the sacrifice of Isaac. On one level, Abraham is admitting that his own fatherhood depends on his sonship to Yahweh, and continues his renunciation of confidence in the flesh (Genesis 17).[4] Abraham must affirm confidence that Yahweh will resurrect Isaac from the dead (Hebrews 11:19) just as He brought new life in Sarah’s dead womb. On a deeper level, Isaac’s sacrifice prefigures future events. Yahweh told Abraham that Israel would be held captive in Egypt (Genesis 15:13), so Abraham must trust that Yahweh will resurrect the greater son, Israel. After the sacrifice, Yahweh tells Abraham for the second time that, through Abraham’s seed, the nations of the world will be blessed (22:15-18).
The relationships of Isaac and his sons, Jacob and Esau reveal several things about Jesus and the sonship, the brotherhood, and even the husbandry of Yahweh (cf. Hebrews 10:18).
As James Jordan has rightly pointed out, Isaac becomes a tyrant in his old age, believing he can disobey his heavenly Father and dispense the blessing as he pleases.[5] This is especially threatening as Esau has mixed with the nations, despising his birthrite, buying food with what he cannot sell (25:34, 26:34-35). In Jacob, however, we have a preview of Christ as warrior and sacrifice. Unlike Abraham, whose vocation mostly consists of waiting for the Lord, Jacob must contend for the blessing. He contends, not by war, but by putting on Esau’s clothes, becoming a beast and going into exile for his wicked father and faithless brother.[6] Jacob goes and, for many years, contends with Laban for his bride, Rachel. Laban also believes that the power of blessing belongs to him, but is forced to acknowledge Jacob as a brother or equal.
Compared to Abraham, Jacob struggles considerably more with his various brothers and, ultimately, with his Father, Yahweh. Jacob is in many ways a son like Abraham, with his exile and slavery foreshadowing Israel’s slavery and exile in Egypt, but he is also defined as a warrior and a wrestler. Jacob’s renaming as Israel prefigures how Israel will contend against the nations and prevail. Yahweh promises to bring Jacob back from exile (28:15) and prospers him against Laban (31:5-7). Yahweh Himself is beginning to reveal that He is a Son and, more importantly, the one who contends for Jacob, going into exile with him.
Finally, Jacob is reconciled with Esau and presents a picture of Israel’s true brotherhood with the nations. By the end, Jacob is insisting that Esau accept gifts, showing again how Israel will be a gift-giver to the nations, including Edom (33:8-11). The message is that if Jacob trusts in Yahweh, his champion, then Israel will be a champion over the nations.
As Jacob becomes the nation of Israel and watches his seed multiply, we see Yahweh’s blessing coming to fulfillment as the Spirit of God indwells Joesph and his brothers and uses Joseph to bring a blessing on Egypt, revealing how Yahweh will cause Israel to be given for the nations.
The first few sons, born and named in conflict (29:32-34), fail disastrously in this mission. Simeon and Levi rebel against their father and use circumcision to bring a curse instead of a blessing upon Shechem. Reuben grasps for Jacob’s authority by lying with Bilha[7] and when Jacob designates Joseph as his manager of the flocks his brothers turn on him.[8]
Joseph, like his Fathers before him, goes down into the pit, down into Egypt, and down into Pharaoh’s jail. Joseph certainly has the blessing of Yahweh, but unlike all his fathers, Joseph never hears Yahweh guarantee his deliverance. Instead, Yahweh reveals His Spirit by giving Joseph wisdom and discernment. Unlike his power-grasping brothers who seek dominion over the nations, Joseph does not rise up against Potiphar by lying with his wife, resisting Reuben’s sin, and does not take vengeance upon his brothers, resisting the sin of Levi and Simeon. Because he exercises wisdom as a servant of Yahweh, he becomes a counselor to Pharaoh and a ruler in Egypt.
Again, a twofold revelation is taking place. First, Yahweh is revealing that he is a Spirit, one who confirms the word of his servants and rests upon them instead of speaking to them. Joseph is one “in whom is the Spirit of God” (41:38). Joseph has dreams that his brothers try to foil, but Yahweh confirms them, causing them to come to pass. Joseph interprets the dreams of Pharaoh and his servants and Yahweh confirms all of his interpretations, vindicating him as a prophet.
Second, Yahweh is revealing how, if Israel resists the way of the nations, he will actually become a Spirit and counselor to the nations. Joseph begins as his father’s manager, but every fall promotes him, making him the manager of Potiphar, the jailer, and Pharaoh himself. By being a servant wherever he goes, Joseph comes to wield power, acting on behalf of Pharaoh to buy all the land for him and thereby preserving the Egyptians from starvation (Genesis 47). Joseph shows that if the nations listen to the counsel of Israel, Yahweh will bless them.[9] Even if Israel’s sons are scattered, dying in exile, Yahweh resurrects them and gives them greater power and authority among the nations.
This pattern will be played out in Israel’s history.
Brian Marr is a senior at New St. Andrews College, Moscow, Idaho.
[1] All quotations from the Bible are taken from the English Standard Version.
[2] Meyers presents the basic framework for my paper in his “A Trinitarian Typology of History: Discerning the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in Hebrew History,” lecture, Annual Christ Church Ministerial Conference, Moscow, ID, 2004.
[3] Abimelech’s name, ironically, comes from the Hebrew, ab, meaning “my father,” and melech, meaning “king.”
[4] Peter Leithart, A House for My Name: A Survey of the Old Testament (Moscow, ID: Canon Press, 2000) 62.
[5] James Jordan, Primeval Saints: Studies in the Patriarchs of Genesis (Moscow, ID: Canon Press, 2001) 92-97.
[6] One is reminded of the scapegoating in Leviticus 16:20-22.
[7] Robert Alter, The Five Books of Moses: A Translation with Commentary (New York: W. W. Norton, 2004) 198: “More recent commentators have noticed with justice that in the biblical world cohabitation with the consort of a ruler is a way of making claim to his authority (as when the usurper Absalom cohabits with his father David’s concubines), and so Reuben would be attempting to seize in his father’s lifetime his firstborn’s right to be head of the clan.”
[8] I owe the observation that Joseph was his father’s manager to Dr. Leithart.
[9] That said, Israel is still in its fatherhood stage in some important ways. “So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt” (45:8). They are called “patriarchs” for a reason. Later, Jacob blesses Pharaoh, implying another Father-Son relationship (47:7).