The Messianic Vision of the Pentateuch, by Kevin S. Chen. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2019. xiv + 303 pp. $29.00.
Kevin Chen has written an important and welcome contribution to discussions surrounding typology, biblical theology, and Christocentric or Christotelic interpretations of the Old Testament. Chen serves as the Associate Professor of Old Testament at Christian Witness Theological Seminary in San Jose, CA. He completed his doctoral studies under the late John Sailhamer, with the latter bearing a formative influence on the perspective Chen brings to correlating the message of the Pentateuch. Chen argues that the OT Law points forward decisively and pervasively to the Messiah, not because the New Testament authors have moved beyond the constraints of the original text to find Christ but because the author Moses intended it to do so. As such, he submits that “the purpose of this book is to argue that the Pentateuch itself sets forth an authorially intended, coherent portrait of the Messiah as the center of its theological message” (5). In view of this purpose Chen examines in detail seven Pentateuchal passages that he contends constitute implicit prophecies or “lenses” on the coming Messiah: (1) Gen 3:15; (2) Gen 12:1–3 (with amplifications in the patriarchal narratives); (3) Gen 49:8–12; (4) Exodus 12 and 15; (5) Num 24:3–19; (6) Deut 18:15–19; and (7) Deut 33:7.
The first chapter sets the foundation by providing an introduction to Chen’s hermeneutical approach with a focus on typology and authorial intent. Here Chen introduces the concept of lenses as a metaphor for the way in which specific OT texts refract “light rays” to bring focus upon Messianic expectations to be developed later in the train of progressive revelation: “Each Messianic prophecy can be treated as a ‘lens’ that combines and focuses select Messianic ‘wavelengths’ or ‘colors’ (themes) (7). The metaphor is apt, although perhaps pressed too far. Chen argues here for several propositions that are increasingly rare in discussions of typology and the NT use of the OT: that the divine author and human author share a unitive intent in biblical texts, that meaning is derived from this singular intent, that biblical revelation should be read “forward” rather than “backward” (it is inherently prospective, even eschatological, rather than retrospective), and that the OT human authors frequently foreshadow the Messiah by design in addition to prophesying explicitly about him. In addition, Chen argues for several propositions with respect to the Pentateuch that undergird his thesis: that the Pentateuch is a single composition with a singular authorial message, that as a prophet Moses imbued the Pentateuch with a prophetic or eschatological hue, that the Pentateuch primarily constitutes instruction rather than law code or historical record, and that the literary structure of the Pentateuch provides the key to unlock its unified message, with the hinge poetic sections especially distilling its eschatological, Messianic agenda. Readers familiar with Sailhamer will discern his traces in these propositions.
In the next four chapters Chen examines in detail the passages that, he argues, advance the Messianic message of the Pentateuch. The first chapter addresses Gen 3:15, with Chen contending that the seed of the woman is a direct Messianic prophecy, the first in the OT. He suggests that five Messianic themes emerge from this text, including enmity, seed, woman, crushed head, and crushed heel (51). The present reviewer found this chapter one of the most compelling, with Chen making a good case for the presence of Messianic themes in the creation/fall account as well as for the significance of the singular referent to seed in Gen 3:15 as having Messianic implications. The second chapter analyzes Messianic themes in the patriarchal narratives, including the promised seed in Gen 12:1–3, the sacral kingship of Melchizedek in Gen 14:18–20, the (near-)sacrifice of Isaac in Gen 22:1–19, and the blessing of Jacob and Yahweh’s appearance to him in Gen 27:27–29 and 28:10–22. Chapter 3 examines the reference to the lion of Judah in Gen 49:8–12. Chen makes a case that the crouching and rousing of the lion is an implicit reference to the future Messiah’s death and resurrection, together with the allusion to washed garments and the blood of grapes. Chapter 4 turns to Exodus with a focus on the Passover narrative and the Song of the Sea. Here the role of Israel as firstborn son and the regulations concerning the Passover lamb are put forth as Messianic precursors. While Chen acknowledges that the Song of the Sea in Exodus 15 bears no direct Messianic predictions, he argues that it serves as a pattern for the second exodus that will be integral to the redemptive work of the future Messiah.
Chapter 5 presents “Shadows at Sinai,” with a development of themes that silhouette the coming Messiah rather than explicitly allude to him. These include themes from the narratives surrounding manna and water from the rock (Exod 16–17), the tabernacle construction of Bezalel (Exod 31–35), and the Day of Atonement (Lev 16). In the next chapter he turns to Numbers, with developments of the Messianic expectations evident in the bronze snake episode (Num 21:4–9) as well as the Balaam oracles (Num 24:3–19). The latter passage, recognized widely by conservative interpreters as a Messianic prophecy, receives surprisingly brief treatment compared to other parts where the Messianic ideal appears more obscure. Chapters 7 and 8 focus on Messianic expectations in Deuteronomy, including the future prophet like Moses (Deut 18:15–19) and the blessing of Judah (Deut 33:7). The final chapter explores how Israel’s failure to observe the law across the Pentateuch showcases the law’s provisional nature and inherent limitations, setting the stage for the future Messiah who will be the true and faithful Israelite, upholding the commandments. In his conclusion Chen briefly weaves together again the strands of his argument for the unified, Messianic message of the Pentateuch. Comparing the landscape of the Pentateuch to the work of painter Claude Monet, Chen posits that its rich and textured portrait of the Messiah “emerges with greater clarity and splendor” as passage after passage is explored (287), culminating with the understanding that “the meaning of the Pentateuch that Moses intended is the gospel of the Messiah” (290).
Chen’s volume has a number of strengths. First, his introduction provides a helpful counterbalance to many current discussions of typology and intertextuality that have tended to undermine the stability of meaning in OT texts. To be candid, this reviewer agrees with many of the propositions that Chen puts forward, especially those related to the unitive divine/human authorial intent and the inherently prospective posture of Scripture. On this score, Chen’s volume is a welcome addition to these discussions. Second, Chen’s exegesis of Messianic texts in the Pentateuch is thorough and often insightful. Many readers will find themes that are developed similarly in other treatments of the Pentateuch, such as those of Alexander and especially of Sailhamer. Nonetheless, Chen has woven these themes together in one place specifically with respect to demonstrating how the texts cumulatively foreshadow the coming Messiah.
In addition to these strengths, a few weaknesses bear mention. First, if the eschatological Messianic program is, in fact, the central message of the Pentateuch, it is odd that an entire book (Leviticus) receives scant mention. Chen moves almost directly from Exodus (chap. 5) to Numbers (chapter 6) with Leviticus largely passed over except for a relatively brief treatment of the Day of Atonement. One wonders if there is not a subtle clue here that perhaps the tail (Messianic expectation) is wagging the dog (the Mosaic Law) to some extent. Second, the exegesis is strained at points, with the reader likely sensing, as this reviewer did, that Chen at times allows enthusiasm for his topic to overtake measured, thoughtful conclusions. In this vein, the present reviewer was unconvinced by some of the Messianic clues he draws from his exegesis of the lion of Judah prophecy (Gen 49:9 especially), the Song of the Sea (Exod 15), the manna from heaven and water from the rock passages (Exod 16–17), and the Mosaic tribal blessings (Deut 33). One wonders if Chen would have discovered these Messianic elements without his prior agenda and especially without the influence of the NT? These weaknesses notwithstanding, the book is informative and provides a helpful contribution to biblical theologies of the Pentateuch. I plan to use the volume in my seminary classes on the Pentateuch, and I encourage readers to give consideration to Chen’s thesis that Moses intentionally foreshadows the Messiah in the Pentateuch.
