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Q. Dear Sam, How were people in the Old Testament saved prior to Jesus? I thought that all those with the Lord prior to Jesus were saved by faith, same as us. But in a class, someone stated that people were saved by the sacrifice of animals, since it was the shedding of blood that saved them. I’m confused, especially in light of Hebrews 10:1-18. Thanks, Bill.*
A.
Hi Bill, No one in the Tanakh (OT) was saved by sacrifice alone, but by faith in God--that is, faith that responded to personal guilt with a prescribed sacrifice; faith in God that He would accept the sacrifice for atonement, and thereby forgive their sins against Him. This would restore a right relationship between God and the formerly guilty person. All of the prescribed sacrifices were types, in that they pointed to Messiah, the only effectual sacrifice for sins (see Heb. 9:8-15). Animal sacrifices only covered (kippur) the sins, but Messiah’s atonement would actually cleanse those (same?) sins (see 1 John 1:7,9). Thus, those in Tanakh who were saved, were saved by faith in God (Gen 15:6; John 8:56) evidenced by making the prescribed sacrifices for sin atonement. So today, by faith we trust in Messiah’s sacrifice for sins and by grace are restored to God, for Yeshua is the final and fulfilling sacrifice.
Q. Hi Sam, From what you said, my understanding is that the sacrifices had to be accompanied by faith in God for salvation to occur. How about people, Jewish or otherwise, who believed in God, were sorry for their sins, but either did not follow the sacrificial system, or did not do it in the prescribed manner? Thanks again, Bill
A. It would be the same principle then as today: Sincere folks, then and now, who ‘believe in God’, though they are sorry for their sins, they are still guilty, dead in sins, and separated from their Creator: in a word, lost. This would characterize all people who may be ‘religious’, but do not know Messiah (Rom 10:1-4). People need the revelation of God from the Scriptures: How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard?…So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. (Rom. 10:14,17). This is why we need to proclaim the Good News, even to the Jew first.
Q. How did Jewish people in Old Testament times get to Heaven before Jesus died on the cross?
A. They were saved the same way as you and me. Whether it was Abraham, Moses, David, or Isaiah, people have always been redeemed the same way at all times- by faith (Gen. 15:6; Habakkuk 2:4). Prior to Messiah’s coming people
had faith that anticipated what God would provide. After Messiah’s coming and in our day people have faith that appropriates what God has provided. All with the same faith trusting in Yeshua, the centerpiece of history.
Q.
“What type of Messiah were Old Testament Jewish people looking for?”
A. Essentially, Jewish people were looking for a ‘deliverer’. Believers in the Scriptures (i.e., Simeon and Anna, Luke 2) were seeking One to bring redemption from sin, as found in Isaiah 53 and Daniel 9:24-26, etc. However, many first century Jewish opinions regarding Messiah, simply were not biblical. Most expected Him to conquer the Romans and restore Israel, as Judah Maccabee had done to the Assyrians in 165 BC (this is celebrated at Hanukkah, see John 10:22-31). By not relying on the Scriptures, it is understandable how the famous Rabbi Akiba declared General Bar Kochba as the Messiah in 135 AD: they wanted to get rid of the Romans. Then, as now, most people don’t see the real problem: our fallen nature, and our own sins. Hence ‘the real enemy’ is internal (sin), rather than external (i.e. the Romans).
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*Name changed to protect individual’s privacy. |
