Sect. 167The Person and Work of the Redeemer Portrayed in the Prophecies of the Old TestamentThe Person and Work of the Redeemer Portrayed in the Prophecies of the Old Testament

I. The Redemption of fallen man, decreed from all eternity, was announced immediately after the Fall, but its execution was delayed for a long time, during which its fruits were applied by anticipation to those who deserved it. The delay may be taken as a punishment for the pride of man, inasmuch as it brought home to him his utter helplessness and entire dependence on God. It thus served as a stage of preparation for the coming Redeemer. God, Who distributes His grace according to His own Will, selected the Jewish nation for special preparation; before the advent of the Saviour, the Jews stood out in the eyes of the rest of the world as a living prophecy of Him; and in their subsequent dispersion they are a living monument of the reality of His coming.

II. During the period of preparation, the Redemption was announced in prophecies gradually increasing in distinctness and precision. According to time and subject-matter, they comprise seven groups: (1) the Proto-evangelium, or the prophecy of Paradise; (2) the prophecies made to the Patriarchs; (3) to Moses; (4) to David; prophecies made by the Prophets (5) before, (6) during, and (7) after the Exile.

1. The first and fundamental promise of a Redeemer was made to our first parents immediately after their fall: “I will put enmities between thee (the serpent) and the woman, and thy seed and her seed; she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel” (Gen. 3:15). The liberation from the tyranny of Satan, founded on his victory over Adam, is to be accomplished by the crushing of the head of the serpent by a woman and her Son. The Hebrew text, in its present form, uses the same word (שׁוּפ) for “crushing” and “lying in wait.” As, however, the object of God’s curse on the serpent is to inflict a punishment on it, it must be admitted that the “crushing of the head” implies a final victory over the enemy, and the “crushing of, or lying in wait for, the heel” implies but an unsuccessful resistance; the devil’s power was destroyed when death befell the human body of the Saviour. Again, the present Hebrew text, instead of “she” (shall crush thy head) has “he,” or “it,” thus pointing out the seed of the woman as Redeemer. Yet, as the enmity to the serpent is common to Mother and Son, so also the victory must be common. A woman will be instrumental in the defeat of Satan, just as a woman was instrumental in the defeat of Adam. The “seed of the woman” is to be understood of “one man,” as by analogy we gather from Gal. 3:16. (Cf. Pius IX., Bull Ineffabilis Deus [defining the Immaculate Conception].)

2. The original promise takes a concrete form in the age of the Patriarchs. The “seed of the woman” is here determined as the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; his action is described as the blessing of all the nations of the earth, that is, as removing the curse of sin from all mankind. The last of the Patriarchs, Jacob, points out his son Juda (and his seed) as the lion-like bearer of dominion and victory, until the advent of the Conqueror, who is the expectation of nations. The time of the coming is thus also indicated. See Gen. 12:3; 22:18. Jacob’s prophecy to Juda is as follows: “Juda, thee shall thy brethren praise; thy hands shall be on the necks of thy enemies; the sons of thy father shall bow down to thee. Juda is a lion’s whelp … the sceptre shall not be taken away from Juda, nor a ruler from his thigh, till He come that is to be sent, and He shall be the expectation of nations” (Gen. 49:8–10; cf. Apoc. 5:5).

3. When Moses, as prophet of God, gave to the children of Israel the constitution and the legal institutions becoming the chosen people of God, God made this promise: “I will raise them up a prophet out of the midst of their brethren, like to thee (Moses), and I will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all I shall command Him, and he that will not hear His words which He shall speak in My Name, I will be the avenger” (Deut. 18:18, 19). Here the Redeemer is promised as a mediator of the testament between God and man, but a better mediator than Moses (Heb. 3:3). At the same time, when the chosen people was making its first appearance among the nations, the voice of Balaam is heard to this effect: “The hearer of the words of God hath said, who knoweth the doctrine of the Highest, and seeth the visions of the Almighty, who falling hath his eyes opened. I shall see Him, but not now; I shall behold Him, but not near. A star shall rise out of Jacob, and a sceptre shall spring up from Israel, and shall strike the chiefs of Moab, and shall waste all the children of Seth” (Num. 24:16, 17). This prophecy in the first instance probably refers to David, but its solemnity, the fourfold blessing which precedes it, the mention of the last days and of the star, extend its bearing beyond the kingdom of David.

4. The Messianic prophecies acquire greater distinctness in the time of King David. The Messias, the Anointed of the Lord, as He is henceforth called, will be of the family of David; the glory of the kingdom of David and Solomon is the germ and the type of His future universal kingdom; His nature, His origin, His functions, and the events of His life, are portrayed in outline. The Anointed appears as the Son of God by generation, and as God; as a priest-king after the manner of Melchisedech, Who will offer Himself in sacrifice, but shall not see corruption, and Who after His passion will gather all nations unto God, and be Himself the object of their adoration (2 Kings 7:11–16 [Nathan’s prophecy]; the Messianic Psalms, 88 and 131; 71, 2, and 109; 44).

5. The prophets between the time of David and the Captivity add new touches to the portrait of the Messias drawn in the Psalms. When the local and earthly glory of David’s empire was dwindling away, they announced the future rise of a nobler and a universal kingdom; they foretold the deliverance from the impending captivity through Cyrus, sent by God as an omen and a type of the coming spiritual deliverance from the captivity of sin and hell through God’s Anointed: they represent the promise of the Messias as a pledge and guarantee for the perpetuity of the house of David, and for the liberation of his people from temporal captivity. The principal bearer of these prophecies is Isaias (ישעיה, Jehova’s salvation), the Evangelist among the Prophets. In many passages of the first part, and in the whole of the second part of his Book, he describes expressly and in order the heavenly origin of the “Bud of the Lord,” or the “Orient;” the Divine nature and exalted attributes of the Anointed; His teaching, His vicarious suffering as just servant of God, and the glory of His universal kingdom, the Church (2:2, 3, and 4:2, with parallel Mich. 5:2; also Jeremias 23:5 sqq. and 33:15 sqq. “I will raise up to David a just branch … the name that they shall call Him is: The Lord [Jehovah] our just one;” Zacharias 3:8, and 6:12; Isa. 45:8). The origin and nature of the Bud of God are characterized in 14:7, 9:3–7, 11:7 sqq.; and in the second part passim, esp. 49–66.

6. The Prophets of the Captivity, with the exception of Daniel, add but little to the description of the Anointed given by their predecessors. Jeremias and Ezechiel lay stress upon the spiritual kingdom of Christ, teaching expressly that the earthly throne of David will not be filled again (Jer. 30:23; Ezech. 21:25–27). Jeremias, in the most important Messianic parts of his prophecy (23, 31, and 33), in contrast with the prevailing injustice and guiltiness of the Chosen People, and with the external destruction of the Old Covenant, introduces the Messias as the bud, or branch (צמח), whose name is “Jehovah our just one,” and promises the institution of a new and eternal Testament (31:31 sqq., and 32:39). Ezechiel, on the other hand, treats the Messias, whom he calls “God’s servant David” (34:23–31, and 37:21–28), as Shepherd and Prince. Baruch (3:36–38) represents the apparition of the Eternal Wisdom on earth and His dwelling among men, as the completion of the education of Israel by God. Lastly, Daniel announces, in a more concrete form than any other prophet, the historical events which prepared the coming of Christ; His solemn taking possession of His universal and eternal sovereignty; the exact time of His appearance; the institution of a new alliance, and the destruction of the old: and thus his prophecy is the sealing and fulfilment of all preceding prophecies (Dan. 7:13, 14; 9:24–27). The best Catholic commentary on this last prophecy is by Rohling, The Book of the Prophet Daniel (in German).

7. After the return from the Captivity, the Prophets speak of the Messias in connection with the second temple, as God and as Priest. Aggeus calls him “the Desired of all nations,” Who will glorify the temple with His presence, and announce therein the peace of God. Zacharias announces Him to the first High Priest of the new temple as the Orient Who taketh away the sins of the world, and the High Priest himself is set down as a type of the Messias’ royal priesthood. The “Orient” is here the foundation stone and the builder of the new spiritual temple, uniting in Himself the functions of king and priest. When He is again spoken of as Shepherd, He becomes “the man that cleaveth to God,” and who is violently put to death. In fine, Malachias prophesies the founder of a new and universal sacrificial worship, and the rising sun of justice (Aggeus 2:7–10; Zach. 3:8; 6:11–13; 9:9; 13:7. Malachias 1:11; 3:1; 4:2, 5, 6). The natural sequel to this latter prophecy (announcing the Precursor of Christ) is the message of the Angel Gabriel to Zachary, the father of the Baptist (Luke 1:16, 17).

III. Side by side with the verbal prophecies of the Old Testament run the types or figures of the Messias, which are a kind of real or substantial prophecy. Repeated assertions of Christ and the Apostles place the existence of such types beyond all doubt The Fathers and Theologians, however, considering as types whatever bears a similarity to Christ, point out a great number of types which are not positively mentioned as such in the New Testament. It must be conceded that, before the Gospel shed its light upon them, the typical character of many true figures or types was not easy to recognize. Many others, on the other hand, were brought out by the Prophets themselves in connection with verbal prophecies, e.g. Moses, Melchisedech, David, Solomon, Cyrus. The typical character of others, e.g. religious sacrifices and ceremonies, is self-evident. In dogmatic theology a twofold use is made of those ancient types: they furnish a proof that Jesus is really the Messias prepared from the beginning, and they offer useful illustrations, by analogy, of many points revealed in the New Testament. The Gospels use them chiefly as proofs; St. Paul, in his Epistles, more as illustrations. To obtain a comprehensive grasp of all the types of Christ, it is best to group them according to epochs, as we did the prophecies: to each group of prophecies corresponds a group of types, and they help to explain one another. As examples we refer the reader to the following: in group i., Adam (Rom. 5:14) and Eve (Eph. 5); in group ii., Melchisedech (Psalm 110, Heb. 7), Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph. Thus Moses was sent by God as Prophet, endowed with miraculous powers, as Shepherd and Legislator, as Founder of a new form of worship, and a new alliance between God and His people, etc. Again the Paschal Lamb, the Manna (John 6:30, 48), the water from the rock (1 Cor. 10:4), the Brazen Serpent (John 3:14, and 12:32, etc.). With the more important figures we shall deal extensively when we come to treat of the corresponding antitypes.