We should naturally infer from these passages that the delegated official Person, Jesus, the Christ, was the theme of the Old Testament Scriptures; that his official agency and relations were there continuously and amply treated of; that his complex character, his divine prerogatives, his prophetical, sacerdotal and regal offices, his works as Creator, Lawgiver, and Ruler, and his relations as Covenanter and Redeemer, were there conspicuously set forth, and were the recognized and acknowledged objects of the faith and trust of patriarchs, prophets, and all true worshippers.
And such undoubtedly was the case. He was the Jehovah of the Old Testament; the Elohe of the patriarchs and of Israel; the Angel or Messenger Jehovah, the Jehovah Zebaoth, the Adonai, the Messiah of the ancient dispensations. Under these and other designations Moses, the psalmists, and the prophets wrote of him; saw, acknowledged, and believed in him; worshipped and praised him in the tabernacle and temple; recognized and obeyed him as their Lawgiver, and trusted in him as their Saviour.
Their faith rested on him as the present object of their homage and trust, asserting his prerogatives, dispensing his benefits, and in all his relations exerting his official agency. They regarded him not merely as he was typified, but as he then manifested himself and executed his offices. In some respects his future manifestations, and especially his sufferings and death for the expiation of sin, were vividly prefigured by typical rites, and were objects of their faith; but in other respects, as their Mediator, Prophet, Lawgiver, Priest, and King, he was the present object of their homage, faith, love, and obedience. The faith of Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, and their successors, embraced his person and his official prerogatives and works, and was therefore effectual unto justification, precisely as that of believers under the present dispensation, who are therefore described as walking in the steps of that faith of Abraham which was counted for righteousness. The faith which was instrumental in his justification was the exemplar alike of that of all believers under the ancient, and of those under the present dispensation. To him the patriarchs erected altars and offered sacrifices and prayers, and from him received gifts and promises. To him the ministerial offices and typical services of the Levitical priesthood had immediate reference. In the tabernacle and temple, as Prophet, Priest, and King, he instructed them, prescribed their worship and obedience; and as their present Lawgiver and Ruler, exercised over them his providential and moral government.
All this is implied, indeed, in the facts that the Church of that and the present day is the same; that the method of salvation through faith in him was the same then as now; and that he was the Saviour and Mediator alike them and at present: and otherwise it is not perceived how an intelligible or satisfactory answer can be given to the questions, How did he exercise the office of Mediator under the ancient economy? What agency did he exercise towards his people? How did he exemplify his offices of Prophet, Priest, and King? A reference to the designations by which he was recognized, and the acts ascribed to him in connection with those designations, will supply the appropriate answer. If it was He who appeared in a form like that of man to Abraham, in the plains of Mamre, walked and conversed with him as a man, and heard the prayers addressed directly to him on behalf of the righteous dwelling in Sodom; and who, under various designations, appeared in the same form to Jacob, to Moses, to Balaam, to Joshua, to Gideon, to Manoah, to David, and others; then may we safely conclude that, under the like designations, he was familiarly known and worshipped throughout the patriarchal and Levitical dispensations.
[CHAPTER II.]
The Messiah announced by Malachi, as Adonai, even Melach, the Messenger of the Covenant—His Appearance to Jacob at Bethel; and to Isaiah, Abraham, Moses, Gideon, and others, under various designations, as Adonai, Melach, a Man, Jehovah Zebaoth, the Holy One, El-Shaddai, &c.
It will be seen that the designations referred to include all those which are applied to the Divine Being: and that in numerous instances they are applied interchangeably in the same passages and connections, in such manner as clearly to show that they identify the same Person. Thus the words El, Elohe, Elohim, translated God; and Jah, Jehovah, Adon, and Adonai, translated Lord, are, separately, and also in conjunction with Melach, Angel or Messenger, and with other names of office, employed to designate and identify that delegated Person who is “both Lord (Jehovah) and Christ.”
In demonstration of this, we may first refer to some passages in which the appellative Melach, the primary signification of which is Messenger, occurs, as a designation of him who was sent of the Father; as Malachi iii. 1: “Behold, I send my messenger, [John the Baptist,] and he shall prepare the way before me; and the Adon whom ye seek shall suddenly come to his temple, even Melach, the Messenger, of the Covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith Jehovah Zebaoth.” And Isaiah xl. 3, 5: “The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of Jehovah, make straight in the desert a highway for our Elohe.... And the glory of Jehovah shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken it.”
These prophecies are quoted by the Evangelists as identifying Jesus the Christ. See Matthew iii. 1-6; xi. 10; Mark i. 2-4; Luke iii. 3-6; John i. 6-8. They point to John as he who was spoken of by these prophets, and as proclaiming in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of Jehovah. He whose way was prepared was therefore the Messenger of the Covenant, the Adon, the Elohim, and the Jehovah—the delegated official Person to whom these several designations are applied in the predictions. That official Person was the Revealer, as well as the subject of the ancient revelations; and, as will hereafter be more particularly noticed, manifested himself in different aspects and relations of his official work, and in those diverse relations often spoke predictively (as at the close of each of the above passages) and otherwise, to and of himself.