The Divine GPS: Tracing Christ Through the Old Testament

The Divine GPS: Tracing Christ Through the Old Testament
The Old Testament isn't just ancient history—it's a divine roadmap pointing directly to Jesus Christ. Like a GPS system guiding travelers to their destination, the Hebrew Scriptures illuminate the path to the Messiah in ways both profound and surprising.
The God Who Sees
Picture a desperate woman in the wilderness, pregnant and alone. Hagar, a servant caught in a dysfunctional household drama, fled into the desert with nothing but her despair. She had lost her position, her security, and seemingly her future. She was invisible—lower than furniture in the social hierarchy of her day.
Yet in her darkest moment, someone found her.
The Angel of the Lord appeared to Hagar by a spring of water. He didn't just offer comfort; He gave her specific promises about her unborn child, even naming him Ishmael. This encounter transformed Hagar's understanding of God. She called Him "the God who sees me," recognizing that even in her invisibility to the world, she was fully seen by the Divine.
This wasn't merely an angel delivering a message—this was a Christophany, an appearance of Christ before His incarnation. Throughout Scripture, whenever the "Angel of the Lord" appears, He speaks with divine authority, accepts worship, and makes promises only God can make.
No One Has Seen God—Or Have They?
Here's a puzzling statement from John's Gospel: "No one has ever seen God, but God the one and only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known."
Yet throughout the Old Testament, people claim to have seen God face to face. Jacob wrestled with a man all night and declared, "I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved." Moses and seventy elders of Israel went up the mountain, "and they saw the God of Israel" with sapphire pavement under His feet. They even ate and drank in God's presence.
The resolution to this apparent contradiction is breathtaking: every sighting of God in the Old Testament was actually an appearance of Christ. Jesus is "the image of the invisible God," the one who makes the Father known. The pre-incarnate Christ walked through the pages of Genesis, Exodus, and beyond, revealing God to humanity in forms they could encounter without being consumed.
The Burning Bush and the Great I AM
When Moses encountered the burning bush, he wasn't just seeing a supernatural fire. The Angel of the Lord appeared "in a flame of fire in the midst of a bush." This was Christ making Himself known to the man who would lead Israel out of bondage.
When Moses asked for God's name, the response echoed through eternity: "I AM WHO I AM." This wasn't just a name—it was a declaration of eternal, self-existent being. God simply IS. He is the foundation of all existence, the beginning and end of all theology.
Centuries later, when Jesus declared "Before Abraham was, I AM," the religious leaders immediately picked up stones to kill Him. They understood exactly what He claimed—to be the same eternal God who appeared to Moses, the One who simply IS.
Standing on the Rock
When Moses asked to see God's glory, God responded with a beautiful picture of salvation. He told Moses to stand on the rock, promised to place him in the cleft of the rock, and said He would cover him with His hand while His glory passed by.
Every element points to Christ. He is the Rock on which we stand—all other ground is sinking sand. We are hidden in Him, placed in the cleft of the Rock for protection. And God's "hand"—His right hand of power—is Christ Himself, the one who upholds the universe by the word of His power.
There's even a beautiful picture in the wilderness wanderings. When the Israelites were thirsty, God told Moses to strike a rock, and water poured forth to save the people. The Apostle Paul later revealed that "that rock was Christ." Jesus was struck once, and living water flowed forth for all who would drink.
Later, when the people needed water again, God told Moses to speak to the rock. But Moses, frustrated with the complaining people, struck the rock a second time. This marred the perfect picture, because Christ only needed to be struck once. Now we simply speak to the Rock through prayer, and living water flows.
The 1st First Responder
One of the most remarkable themes threading through these Old Testament encounters is God's pursuit of people. He doesn't wait for us to find Him—He comes looking for us.
After Adam and Eve sinned, God came walking in the garden, calling out, "Where are you?" After Cain murdered Abel, God approached him with a question that offered opportunity for repentance: "Where is your brother?" When Hagar fled into the wilderness, God pursued her there.
In every case of human failure, God is the first responder. He doesn't wait for us to clean ourselves up or figure things out. He comes to us in our mess, offering grace we don't deserve and mercy we haven't earned.
This pattern culminates in the incarnation, when God didn't just appear temporarily but took on human flesh permanently. The same Christ who walked with Adam, wrestled with Jacob, and spoke from the burning bush was born in Bethlehem to live among us, die for us, and rise again.
The Passover Lamb
Perhaps no Old Testament picture of Christ is more powerful than the Passover lamb. The Israelites in Egypt were instructed to take an unblemished lamb, slaughter it at twilight, and place its blood on their doorposts. When the angel of death came through Egypt, it would pass over every home marked with the lamb's blood.
This wasn't just a historical event—it was a prophetic picture. Christ is our Passover Lamb, the innocent one whose blood protects us from the wrath we deserve. He was slain at Passover, fulfilling what the festival had always pointed toward.
The blood on the doorposts didn't make the Israelites better people or more deserving. It simply marked them as belonging to God, protected by the sacrifice He provided. Similarly, we are saved not by our righteousness but by faith in the blood of Christ applied to the doorposts of our hearts.
Conclusion: The Scriptures Testify
Jesus once told the religious leaders of His day, "You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me." The Old Testament isn't a separate story from the New—it's the same story, pointing to the same Savior.
From Genesis to Malachi, Christ is there. He's in the promise of a seed who would crush the serpent's head. He's the Angel who sees the unseen. He's in the Rock that provides living water. He's in the Passover Lamb whose blood brings salvation.
The God who pursued Hagar in the wilderness still pursues lost people today. The God who wrestled with Jacob still engages with us in our struggles. The I AM who spoke from the burning bush still speaks to those who will listen.
And the Rock still stands, offering shelter to all who will come and stand upon Him.