01.3. The Faith of Old Testament Believers
The Faith of Old Testament believers 1) The Old Testament saints believed in Christ.
[In these passages, we have all the elements of the basic gospel message: God would send a Deliverer, born of a woman, who would crush the serpent’s head, but be mortally wounded in the conflict. That he would be ultimately victorious demands a resurrection. This gospel message was illustrated in God’s killing an innocent animal to cover man’s shame; and in Abel’s blood sacrifice, we see an indication of his understanding of these basic truths.]
[lit., "arise upon the dust"]: [Throughout the Book of Job, probably the first canonical scriptures ever written, the expression "to be upon the dust" ("lie down upon the dust," etc.) clearly means, "to die" (see Job 17:16; Job 20:11; Job 21:26; Job 34:15). Hence, the phrase, "to arise upon the dust," means, "to rise from the dead".]
Isaiah 53:1-12 [Even in the New Testament, there is no clearer declaration of the gospel than we find here.] 2) The New Testament authors recognized that the Old Testament saints knew of Christ.
Acts 2:25-31 (quoting Psalms 16:8-11)