"A graduate level course" raised "many questions" in the minds of three young gospel preachers as "to how New Testament writers used the Old Testament". These young men believe that the Old Testament "testimonies are wonderful" (Psalm 119:129), and are convinced that "the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy" (Revelation 19:10). They are the kind of men who begin their studies with a prayer: "Open my eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of your law" (Psalm 119:18).

GENESIS 1:26

To adam, man, mankind in general, dominion was given "over all the earth" (Genesis 1:26). "All things" were put "under his feet" (Psalm 8:6). The Creator "left nothing" not subject to anthropos, man, yet thousands of years later, even in 1997, "all things" are not subject to man (Hebrews 2:6-8). Has prophecy failed? Can any statement of God be voided? Gabriel was quite certain as to the dependability of every word from the Lord, because (he told Mary) "No saying from God is impossible" (Luke 1:37).

A surprise awaits us when we see how a New Testament writer explained Genesis 1:26. The prophecy that "man" would have the dominion included the man Christ Jesus. Though unnamed specifically in Genesis 1:26, the inspired Paul said that the prophecy included him: "He [God] put all things in subjection under his [Jesus’] feet" (1 Corinthians 15:27).

The prediction was spoken in the past tense, as if already a fact, when as yet it was not true! Amazing! "He calls things that do not exist as though they do exist" (Romans 4:17). He spoke of one particular adam, a special anthropos, the Lord Jesus, as fulfilling what the prophecy said would come to pass. Jesus personally conquered death never more to die (Revelation 1:18), but the rest of us still have death staring us in the face as an inevitable appointment (Hebrews 9:27). Jesus is now reigning, but death holds sway and will until "he has put all his enemies under his feet" (1 Corinthians 15:20-23), and finally Genesis 1:26 will have been fulfilled.

The idea of a one event fulfillment of prophecy, though sometimes valid, is not universally true. Beginning with Adam, Genesis 1:26 began to be fulfilled, but not until the resurrection will that verse have complete fulfillment. That verse of scripture becomes the protevangelium, the first announcement of the coming Messiah. And that verse goes beyond the first advent: it encompasses his reigning from A. D. 30 to the end of time, his second advent, and the universal resurrection of the dead!

One doubts if Moses understood all that was included when he penned Genesis 1:26. "Many prophets and righteous men wanted to see what you see [said Jesus to some first century people, Matthew 13:17], but did not; and to hear what you hear, but did not."

GENESIS 3:15

To the snake God said,

Mistakenly (as shown above), this verse is usually called the protevangelium. Did the New Testament writers look on Genesis 3:15 as being Messianic? How did they use the verse? Directly, not at all.

Yet some well-meaning scholars directly use Genesis 3:15 as predicting the virgin birth. This is true, they say, because, except in Mary’s case, only males have seed (semen); therefore, the virgin birth of Jesus is announced. But New Testament writers did not so use the passage. Furthermore, women do have seed (Meaning descendants, cf. Hagar and Rebecca, Genesis 16:10; 24:50).

But, laying aside the fallacious virgin birth interpretation, can Genesis 3:15 be rightly cited as Messianic? Among Eve’s descendants, was there one who bruised the head of the snake? It becomes evident that only Jesus can fulfill Genesis 3:15: in his dying, Satan bruised Jesus’ heel; and in Jesus’ resurrection, he bruised Satan’s head, that is he conquered Satan and abolished death (Hebrews 2:12; 2 Timothy 1:10). "The Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil" (1 John 3:8).

Though no New Testament writer applies Genesis 3:15 to Jesus, yet its breath of hope makes it a passage of strength and encouragement. Furthermore, it could very well be that Romans 16:20 predicts Christians’ rising from the dead, and is an echo of Genesis 3:15: "The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet."

GENESIS 15:6

The Hebrew text of Genesis 15:6 says, "And he believed in YHWH and he accounted it to him righteousness." How did New Testament writers use the verse? Immediately one notices that they did not quote from Moses’ Hebrew Bible. Instead they used an uninspired Greek translation called the Septuagint, usually abbreviated as LXX, and made Moses’ statement to read as follows: "And Abraham believed in God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness" (Romans 4:3; Galatians 3:6; James 2:23).

Then one notices that the translators (1) had inserted the name "Abraham", and (2) had changed "YHWH" to "God" and (3) had changed the voice of the verb from active to passive. Then one notices that Paul said that Genesis 15:6 was fulfilled before Abraham was circumcised (Romans 4:3-11). At that time Abraham was about 85 years old (cf. Genesis 12:4; 16:16). But James said that Genesis 15:6 was fulfilled when he offered Isaac on the altar (James 2:23), when he was about 235 years old (if Josephus, Antiq., 1, 13, 2 is accurate). Some 40 years lie between the two fulfillments of Genesis 15:6! Amazing!

Who was right, Paul or James? Bible believers say both were right. How did New Testament writers use the Old Testament? For one thing, clearly they believed a verse might be fulfilled more than once.

If it be thought strange that a verse could have more than one fulfillment, the strangeness disappears when one notices that 2 Samuel 7:14a and 14b had their first fulfillment in Solomon about 970 B.C., and that 14a was fulfilled a second time in Christ about 30 A.D. (Hebrew 1:5). It is amazing to me that part of a verse could have one meaning only, and the other part have a double meaning!

Some entire verses, it is true, have only one fulfillment, as Psalm 16:10 (cf. Acts 2:27). But some verses have double fulfillments, as Psalm 22:1 (cf. Matthew 27:46). Some have multiple fulfillments, as Isaiah 6:9-10 (cf. Matthew 13:14-15; Acts 28:26-29).

Every time the Lord’s Supper is observed, Luke 22:16 is being fulfilled. Every time the story of a certain devoted woman is told, Mark 14:9 is fulfilled. Every time a Christian obtains the forgiveness of his sins, 1 John 1:9 receives another fulfillment.

How did Jesus use the Old Testament? In one instance half of a verse shows one fulfillment only, while Jesus affirmed that the second half had a double meaning. In Psalm 41:9 David was likely speaking of Ahithophel (cf. 2 Samuel 16:23). He, as the right hand man of Absalom, was the Judas of the Old Testament. Half of the verse (the first two statements) apparently had only one fulfillment, and then again certainly by Judas:

It is not accidental that Jesus did not quote the first two statements. Judas was not Jesus’ familiar friend, and Jesus did not trust him (John 6:64). All four statements were fulfilled in David’s time, but only two carried over in Jesus’ time. What Judas did was "that the scripture may be fulfilled, `He who eats my bread has lifted up his heel against me’" (John 13:18). Only One who could see the end from the beginning could have written the Bible! (Isaiah 46:10).

GENESIS 22:18

One cannot determine by the Hebrew word zera`, seed, whether it means one or more than one. Both the Hebrew and English words are ambiguous, and the meaning has to be determined by the context. Clearly in Genesis 12:7; 13:15-16; 15:5; 16:10; 22:17 the plural is meant, while just as clearly the singular is meant in Genesis 3:15; 4:25; 15:3. But in Genesis 22:18 we need the help of New Testament writers to know that "seed" is singular.

The Greek word for "seed", sperma is not ambiguous: it has a distinct form for the plural, spermata. Paul emphasized that the word in Genesis 22:18 is singular and refers only to Christ: God "did not say, `and to seeds’, as of many, but as of one, ‘and to your [Abraham’s] seed,’ who is Christ" (Galatians 3:16). Peter also used the singular form in quoting Genesis 22:18 as referring to Christ: "in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed" (Acts 3:25).

REVERENCE

I do not know why the same Holy Spirit who inspired Psalm 68:18 reversed the meaning in one particular when he quoted the verse in Ephesians 4:8. David wrote that God ascended, led captives, and received gifts; Paul wrote that Christ ascended, led captives, and gave gifts. What was true in David’s day had some similarity to what was true in Christ’s day, but not completely.

The same anomaly appears in Isaiah 7:14 and Matthew 1:23. What was true in Ahaz’ day had some similarity to what was true in Christ’s day, but not completely. Similarly, what was true in Hosea’s day about Israel had some similarity to Jesus’ being brought out of Egypt, but not completely (Hosea 11:1; Matthew 2:15). Likewise the language used in Hosea’s day about Israel’s despair was reversed in meaning by the Holy Spirit to give Christians a glorious hope (Hosea 13:14; 1 Corinthians 15:55).

Other anomalies present themselves in the way that New Testament writers used the Old Testament. The "me" in Malachi 3:1 has been changed by the Holy Spirit in Matthew 11:10; Mark 1:2; Luke 7:27 to "you", with no explanation given. The word "Damascus" in Amos 5:27 has been changed to "Babylon" in Acts 7:43, with no explanation given.

There is a divine reason for these abnormalities, but the Lord did not see fit to enlighten us. Reverence in our hearts will respect God’s purpose in handling them this way, a purpose known to him. "His understanding is infinite" (Psalm 147:5).