I will put enmity between you and the woman, 

and between your offspring and her offspring; 

he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.

(Gen 3:15)

The term, Christ figure, is an informal reference to deliverer, redeemer, or messiah that is more of a literary designation—even in popular literature (e.g. Schaefer 2013). The most obvious challenge arises in external struggle:

“And when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the LORD your God has driven you, and return to the LORD your God, you and your children, and obey his voice in all that I command you today, with all your heart and with all your soul, then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes and have mercy on you, and he will gather you again from all the peoples where the LORD your God has scattered you.” (Deut 30:1-3)

Walter Brueggemann (2016, 59) describes this passage as the Deuteronomic Cycle, which he paraphrases as: collective sin, scattering, enslavement, crying out to the Lord, and the sending of a deliverer. For Jesus suffering is most apparent late in life beginning in the garden of Gethsemani, while for Christ figures in the Old Testament the internal challenge arises much earlier.

Joseph as a Christ Figure

This deliverance is often embodied in charismatic leadership. The first hint of this deliverer in Genesis 3, cited above, shows up in spiritual warfare—a clash of the divine and the demonic.

In the Joseph story, this spiritual conflict is primarily internal. Born to Jacob’s favorite wife, Rachel, Joseph is sold into slavery in Egypt by his jealous brothers (Gen 30:24, 37:28). Joseph is talented, faithful, and gifted by God with the ability to interpret dreams, but he must learn to channel his gifts with sensitivity. Joseph must also overcome his own self-pity and hatred of his brothers before he can deliver his family from drought and starvation.

Joseph overcomes his internal struggle and become a deliverer of his people once he learns to forgive his brothers: “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.” (Gen 50:20) As a Christ figure, Joseph is interesting because we normally interpret spiritual warfare as an external struggle, not an internal one.

Moses as a Christ Figure

The archetype of this external struggle shows up in Moses’ confrontation with Pharaoh:

“So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the LORD commanded. Aaron cast down his staff before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent. Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers, and they, the magicians of Egypt, also did the same by their secret arts. For each man cast down his staff, and they became serpents. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs.” (Exod 7:9-12)

God himself mediates this confrontation between Moses and Pharaoh, instructing Moses as to what he should do, which models our dependence on the Holy Spirit in such power encounters. Still, Moses might be described as an Old Testament Christ figure because with God’s mediation he delivers the Nation of Israel from the hand of Pharaoh, symbolized in this passage by Aaron’s staff swallowing the staves of the Egyptian sorcerers and magicians.

We often gloss over Moses’ backstory and internal struggle but Moses could not return to Egypt until he overcame his fear. Moses had murdered an Egyptian and was exiled for forty years in the deserts of Midian. Thus, the deliverance of Israel from the Egyptians started with Moses’ struggle to deal with his fear of being prosecuted for murdering an Egyptian (Exod 2:11-15).

Gideon as Christ Figure

The Book of Judges repeats the Deuteronomic cycle over and over introducing us to many examples of charismatic leadership.

One popular example of charismatic leadership is Gideon, whose story begins: “The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD gave them into the hand of Midian seven years.” (Jdg 6:1) The people of Israel call out to God (Jdg 6:6) And God sends an angel to Gideon to call him into leadership. With only three hundred men, Gideon then defeats the army of the Midianites almost miraculously (Jdg 7:25).

Again, while we often remember Gideon’s victory over the Midianites, his own struggle with fear initially holds him back. Listen to Gideon’s prayer:

“And he said to him, Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house. And the LORD said to him, But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.” (Jdg 6:15-16)

Gideon’s faith is also weak. Consider one of several tests that God gives him:

“That night the LORD said to him, Take your father’s bull, and the second bull seven years old, and pull down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the Asherah that is beside it and build an altar to the LORD your God on the top of the stronghold here, with stones laid in due order. Then take the second bull and offer it as a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah that you shall cut down. So Gideon took ten men of his servants and did as the LORD had told him. But because he was too afraid of his family and the men of the town to do it by day, he did it by night.” (Jdg. 6:25-27)

Through a series of such tests, Gideon’s faith grows and with it comes support from the wider community of Israel.

These Christ figures in the Old Testament, of course, anticipate the coming of Christ in the New Testament. They also show how internal faith challenges must be overcome in growing into leadership, which we might as Christians recognize as the role of the Holy Spirit in our own lives.

References

Brueggemann, Walter. 2016. Money and Possessions. Interpretation series. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press.

Schaefer, Jack. 2013. Shane (Orig Pub 1948). New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Christ Figures

Also see:

The Face of God in the Parables

The Who Question

Preface to a Life in Tension

Other ways to engage online:

Author site: http://www.StephenWHiemstra.net

Publisher site: http://www.T2Pneuma.com