The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.
We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only,
who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)
The coming of Jesus displayed before our eyes the magnificent revelation of God’s plan, and the treasures of his Kingdom. Through him we can know what the teachings of the Old Testament mean, and how they are significant in our lives. At the beginning of history God gave to his chosen people commandments and symbols which were glimpses into his eternal plan of salvation. A symbol pressuposes the existance of a real element associated with it. The symbols in the Old Testament are never random, and they were not meant to remain as abstract, unrevealed concepts. They are thoughtful, insightful representations of heavenly realities and they were manifested when the Word became flesh. Here is what I have found so far about the symbols of the Old Testament and the real things that they were meant to represent. Suggestions and comments are so very welcome.
|
Symbol |
Real Thing |
| Tabernacle, Temple | Our own bodies |
| The Holy Place, The Holy of Holies | Intimacy with God (lost after Eden’s fall) |
| The spotless lamb offered for sacrifice | Jesus |
| Mikvah | Baptism: dying to the sinful life and being born new in a life free of sin |
| The Priest’s not dying when the sacrifice was accepted | Resurrection |
| Mana | The Word of God |
| Passover | God’s “passing over” our sins because of Jesus’ sacrifice |
| Painting the door frames with blood | The blood of Jesus that was offered in sacrifice |
| Circumcision | The identification with a holy nation through the identity given by the new life in the Son of God |
| Israel | The Church: A holy people belonging to God |
| The 40 years in the desert: The Israelites fell into 3 main sins: gluttony (God sent them the birds to eat and afterwards they died for their gluttony), questioning God’s power (the Israelites tempted God believing he was not powerful enough to save them) and idolatry (the Israelites adored the gold statue) | The 40 days that Jesus spent in the mount where he was tempted but didn’t sin. He went through the same temptations as the Israelites: gluttony (Satan told him to tell the rocks to turn into bread), questioning God’s power (Satan told him to throw himself from the top of the Temple to try God’s power) and idolatry (Satan tempted him to adore him in exchange for all the kingdoms of the world). |
| The Promised Land, the land flowing with milk and honey | The abundance of love and wisdom and knowledge found in the presence of God |
| The Ark of the Covenant | God’s eternal promise and the keeping of his Word |
| Aaron’s staff that blossomed | The power of God to give new life to what is dead |
| The 7 lampstand chandelier | The seven churches that started to spread the good news of the Gospel as lights shining forth in the world |
| The fine priestly garments | The beauty of the life into which we are transformed |
| Anointment | God’s consecration of our persons for a certain ministry |
| Incense | The “fragrant smell” of worship and praise |
| The Sabbath | Devotion to the Lord, love for his knowledge, dedication to him |
| The Law of Moses | Love |
2009 Erica Yanina Luján
