it into a Christian book, in which Christ was openly identified with the God of the .Jews (cf. Ro 10'"- ll-"'-, Eph 4' 5", etc.), and the history of Israel was read typically (t-i/ttuuis, ' by way of pattern' or 'figure'), as a series of illustrative moral examples, 'written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages are come' (I Co 10"). Thus the promise to Abraham is extended to all who walk in the steps of his faith, whether in circumcision or in uncircuracision (Ro 4'-), while 'it was not written for his sake alone, that it (his faith) was reckoned unto him (for righteousness), but for our sake also, unto whom it shall be reckoned, who believe on him that raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered up for our trespasses, and was raised for our justification' (Ro 4-'^"-). The true Israel unto whom the Word was given is no more Abraham's seed according to the flesh, but ' the children of the promise,' whether .lew or Gentile (Ro 9"-, Gal 3-'). Thus ' whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for o\ir learning, that through patience and through comfort of the scriptures we might have hope' (Ro 15'').
This transformation of the OT into a distinc- tively Christian book was the more easily eflected as the conflict for freedom turned decisively around the Law. For orthodox Judaism the Law was the heart of the Scriptures, the very ' holy of holies.' Like the other apostles, St. Paul was a child of the Law, who excelled them all in his zeal for its honour. Even as a Christian he remained under its influence, and was ready in the interests of the gospel, if need were, to circumcise and to carry through the statutory vows for himself and his converts (cf. his procedure in Ac 16^ 18'* 21^'-). But to impose the Law on Gentile Christians as a necessary condition of their salvation would in- evitably reduce Christianity to a mere Jewish sect. The Apostle knew, moreover, from personal experience, as well as from observation of life, that there was no saving power in the Law. As coming from the holy God, the Law was holy, and its commandment 'righteous and good.' But so weak and sinful was human flesh that the very constraint of the Law not only awoke the con- sciousness of sin, but roused an inward opposition, and thus actually provoked sin. Hence the paradox of moral life, that the ' law of sin ' in man's members ' worked death through that which is itself good — that through the commandment sin might become exceedingly sinful.' And the only real virtue of the Law was to drive men in despair to Christ (Ro 7™-).
On this profound psychological analysis the Apostle based his new reading of OT history. For him the Law was no longer the heart and spirit of the older revelation, but a mere paren- thesis or side-issue. Sin was a great fact which directly entered the world {el<rrj\dev) in Adam. To circumvent its fatal effects, grace likewise entered (Ro 5'-*-). The Law came in sideways {irap(iiTrj\8ey), and therefore in a subordinate and non-essential capacity (Ro 5-"). Its purpose was not to save men, but to hold them in ward or prison until the true faith should be revealed (Gal 3^). At best, it was but the slave-boy (irai5o7U7(5s), who kept them under a certain moral restraint until Christ came {eis Xpiardy, i.e. 'up to the time of Christ'), when they might be 'justified by faith' (Gal 3=^). Thus the gospel had its spiritual affinities, not with the Law, but with that faith of Abraham which was the be- ginning of the promise (Gal 3'°'''-). In a real sense, indeed, the gospel was already inherent in the covenant between God and Al/raham, con- firmed 430 years before the giving of the Law, and
110
OLD TESTAMENT
OLD TESTAMENT
reniaininf); valid in spite of its interposition. If it be rightly leail, therefore, the OT is a revela- tion of the same prace as is made manifest in Christ. Only the Jews have obscured its true character by the fatal empliasis tiiey have placed (in the Law. The veil with which .Moses covered his face when he spoke to the people is a .sjniliol of tluit still darUcr veil lyin^' heavily upon the heart of Israel 'at the readinj; of the old covenant,' which will never be removed until they turn to Christ. In Ilim the veil has been 'done away.' .And all who have found liberty through Him, ' with unveiled face bcholdinj,' as in a mirror [liV'tn] the ^^lory of the Lord,' are able to trace that glory shining througli the ancient Scriptures, and are likewise 'transformed into the same image from glury to glory' (2 Co 3'-^-).
'3. The Old Testament as the foreshadowing of the gospel. — In the Epistle to the Hebrews the ]iroblein is attacked from a different point of view. The unch'rlying assumptions are, no doubt, the same. The OT is treated throughout as the very Word of God, and quotations are introduced with the formula, ' he saitli ' [Myci), used of God Himself (He pf 5='-), or the Holy Spirit (3™- 10>™-). or God speaking through the Spirit (4^'- S^"-), or even tiie Messiah (2'-'- 10'"^-), irrespective of their human authorship. Kut the widest freedom of interpreta- tion is claimed. The autlior cites invariably from the LXX, being evidentlj' ignorant of the original Hebrew. He is quite unfettered, too, by the historical apjilication of texts. Thus not merely are Messianic Psalms like Ps 2 and Ps 110 re- ferred directly to Christ (He 1»-™-), but the highly dubious D'nSs, ' O God,' of Ps 45(46)^ and the ' .son of man' in Ps 8' are both identihed with Him (He l"'- 2*'''-), while even Isaiah's description of himself and his children as ' signs and portents in Israel ' ( Is 8'*) is cited as a proof of Jesus' onene-ss with His people and His participation in the same flesli ami blood as theirs, ' that through death he might bring to nought him that had the power of death, that is, the devil ; and might deliver all them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage' (He 2'*"-). But, as a Jew of the school of Alexandria, he is much more influenced by the allegorical spirit than St. Paul. To him, indeed, the OT is a system of signs and symliols, foreshadowings and anticipations of .something better, wliich is to be found only in Christ and the ' new covenant ' of grace.