The Old Testament Predicted Jesus

“… And he is the expectation of nations.” Genesis 49:10 (Septuagint translation)

The 4th century church historian Eusebius of Caesarea argued that the Old Testament law was for the nation of Israel, not the wider world. Even Moses must have known this, said Eusebius. He certainly understood that it was impractical, for example, for nations around the world to come to three yearly festivals held at Jerusalem, as was required of the Jews. In addition, could people around the world come to the temple in Jerusalem when they needed purification from their sins? It is clear, said Eusebius, that the laws of the Old Testament were for the Jewish people in Old Testament times.

We see that this is what Jesus understood. At his ascension, he did not instruct his disciples to go and teach the laws of Moses. Rather, he told them to go to all the nations and make disciples, teaching them “all that I have commanded you,” that is, the contents of the gospels. In the discussions of the early church, this is what the church decided as well. The laws of Moses were not to be imposed on the Gentiles. Peter himself said, “Why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the necks of the disciples that neither we nor our fathers were able to bear” (Acts 15:10).

From the very beginning, noted Eusebius, the Old Testament pointed to the coming of a Messiah. Moses himself, spoke of him when he said, “another prophet like myself will God raise up; to him you will listen” (Deuteronomy 18:15). Moses spoke of Christ “in a riddle” said Eusebius. It would not be until the appearance of Jesus that this mystery would be revealed. What was clear, however, was that Christ would come from the Jews but rule all the nations. Daniel foresaw this in his vision of the Son of Man, who would be given a kingdom so that “all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him” (Daniel 7:14).

The Old Testament made it clear that the Christ would come from the tribe of Judah. It also pointed to the timing of his coming, said Eusebius. He quoted from Jacob’s blessing of his sons, where he prophesied of Judah, “A ruler shall not fail from Judah, nor a prince from his loins, until there come the things stored up for him, and he is the expectation of nations” (Genesis 49:10). Jacob had foretold that kingly succession from the tribe of Judah would not fail until the time of the Messiah came. This, says Eusebius, is exactly what happened. It did finally fail. When the people came back from exile, emphasis on tribal identity waned. Nehemiah may have been from the tribe of Judah, but Ezra was a priest. The Greeks and Romans would gradually remove the final remnants of the rule of the tribe of Judah from the land. The Hasmonean dynasty that ruled Judea in the century before Christ was a priestly family. Herod the Great, who was king when Christ was born, was not from any tribe because his father had converted to Judaism under threat.

The prophecy from Genesis that Eusebius quoted was from the Septuagint translation, which said that the Messiah was the “expectation of nations.” More modern translations tend to translate the verse as saying that the Messiah is “the one whom nations will honor,” or “the one to whom the nations will give obedience.” The Old Testament era was a time of preparation that awaited a future destiny. When the time was right, the Messiah appeared, and the meaning of the riddle became clear. Jesus Christ was indeed the One all the world had been awaiting and the One to whom all people owe their obedience.