CHRIST IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

By Akin Ojumu

For a variety of reasons, yours truly has not had the time – or to be more exact, created the time – to coalesce my thoughts and refocus on the subject of the houses of horror in Nigeria. I could tell you it’s all because of professional commitment, international travel, or familial obligation. That amounts to making untenable silly excuses. If I’m being honest, there’s really no good excuse for the intermission. It all boils down to laziness.

My sincere apology goes to the loyal and faithful members of the African Plume Reading Club who, having had their appetites whet, are now left in suspended animation as they wait in earnest expectation for the Part X of the Nigeria House of Horror to drop. Hopefully, we'd be able to conclude the series in due time.

But while we wait for me to gather my thoughts and shake off the cobweb of complacency, let me introduce to you a book I’m reading. Titled “The Christ Key,” this is a book written to demonstrate the centrality of Christ in Scripture. The author, Chad Bird, shows how Christ is revealed in every book of the Old Testament.

In the foreword, the author succinctly writes:

The purpose of the book is to get you inside the rooms of the Old Testament. To swing wide the door leading into Genesis. To walk into wild and crazy halls of Judges. To inspect the poetic furniture and musical decorations in the book of Psalms. 

And the author introduces the book, writing:

The key called Christ not only opens doors of every room from Genesis to Malachi; when you walk inside, what you see there is Christ as well. He is the key, and he is the content. In one way or another, every narrative, every prophet, every psalm, whispers his name and winks about his mission.

Reading the Old Testament can seem like exploring an old, mysterious mansion, packed with all sorts of strange rooms. The creation room, vast and sublime. The exodus room, with hardhearted pharaohs and dried-up seas. The war room, with bloody swords, and crumbling walls. The tabernacle room, with smoking altars and dark inner sanctums.

What does this odd and ancient world have to do with us, who are modern followers of Jesus? As it turns out, everything! Every chapter in the Old Testament, in a variety of ways, tells the story that culminates in Jesus the Messiah. Every room in the Old Testament, from the lavish chamber of Eden to the sacred cubicle of the Holy of Holies, is opened by a single key. That key is the Messiah, the fulness and fulfillment of God’s Word.

Furthermore, he states:

What Christians today call the Old Testament is what Jesus and the earlier believers simply called the Scriptures. That was their Bible. From its pages, they taught about the Messiah’s divine nature, his priestly work, his ministry of salvation. The Christ Key will reintroduce the readers to these old books as ever-fresh, ever-new testimonies of Jesus. By the end, you will see even Leviticus as a book of grace and mercy, and you will hear in the Psalms the resounding voice of Christ.

If you really want to enrich your understanding of Scripture, I highly recommend The Christ Key. This is one of those rare well-written Christian books that when used in companion with the Bible makes the Scripture easier to grasp. It’s a book that’ll free you from bondage to the charlatans and false teachers out there who are profiting off of the ignorance of God’s people.

And for those who’d like to take it even a step further, you should consider signing up for the online teaching course, “Christ in the Old Testament.” Registration for the course is free. Simply go to the 1517 Academy website and sign up.