First Prophecy

I begin with the following reference from Jeremiah:

“and I am as a lamb or a bullock brought to the slaughter; and I know not that they fabricate fabrications against me: — we ruin the tree with the bread (balachmo) and we cut him off from the land of the living so that we remember his name no more.”

Jeremiah 11:19  exeGeses Companion Bible (ECB(i))

Christian readers have long seen what the prophet said of himself as prefiguring what the Jewish authorities of Jesus’ generation did to the Lord Jesus, since Jeremiah’s language parallels that of Isaiah 53, which is the chief prophecy referenced in the New Testament in respect to Christ’s sacrificial and vicarious death:

“Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our peace fell upon Him, And by His wounds we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But Yahweh has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.

“He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth. By oppression and judgment He was taken away; And as for His generation, who considered That He was cut off out of the land of the living, That for the transgression of my people, striking was due to Him? So His grave was assigned with wicked men, Yet He was with a rich man in His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.

“But Yahweh was pleased To crush Him, putting Him to grief; If You would place His soul as a guilt offering, He will see His seed, He will prolong His days, And the good pleasure of Yahweh will succeed in His hand. As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities. Therefore, I will divide for Him a portion with the many, And He will divide the spoil with the strong; Because He poured out His soul to death, And was numbered with the transgressors; Yet He Himself bore the sin of many, And interceded for the transgressors.”

Isaiah 53:3-12  LSB

The association of tree with the term for bread, lechem, is significant since our Lord is said to have been crucified on a tree in order to offer his flesh and blood as the living Bread, which believers must feed on for eternal life:

“‘Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on Him the Father, God, set His seal.’ Therefore they said to Him, ‘What should we do, so that we may work the works of God?’ Jesus answered and said to them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.’ So they said to Him, ‘What then do You do for a sign so that we may see, and believe You? What work do You perform? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, “He gave them bread from heaven to eat.”’ Jesus then said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, Moses has not given you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.’ Then they said to Him, ‘Lord, always give us this bread.’ Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me will never hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.’”

John 6:27-35  LSB

“‘This is the bread which comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and also the bread which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh.’ Then the Jews began to argue with one another, saying, ‘How can this man give us His flesh to eat?’ So Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also will live because of Me. This is the bread which came down out of heaven, not as the fathers ate and died. He who eats this bread will live forever.’

“These things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum. Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this said, ‘This is a difficult statement; who can listen to it?’ But Jesus, knowing in Himself that His disciples were grumbling at this, said to them, ‘Does this cause you to stumble? What then if you see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before? The Spirit is the One who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life. But there are some of you who do not believe.’ For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who it was that would betray Him. And He was saying, ‘For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father.’ As a result of this many of His disciples went away and were not walking with Him anymore.”

John 6:50-66  LSB

What makes this all the more striking is that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, which in Hebrew literally means house of bread (beth lechem). See Matthew 2:1 and Luke 2:1-20.

And here is where the New Testament speaks of Christ dying on a tree:

“The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you put to death by hanging Him on a tree.”

Acts 5:30  LSB

“And we are witnesses of all the things He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They also put Him to death by hanging Him on a tree.”

Acts 10:39  LSB

“And when they had finished all that was written concerning Him, they took Him down from the tree and laid Him in a tomb.”

Acts 13:29  LSB

“Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree’—”

Galatians 3:13  LSB

This next passage is particularly striking since it even alludes to and quotes the prophecy of Isaiah 53:

“For to this you have been called, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in His steps, who did no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth; who being reviled, was not reviling in return; while suffering, He was uttering no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously. Who Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that having died to sin, we might live to righteousness; by His wounds you were healed. For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.”

1 Peter 2:21-25  LSB

Second Prophecy

This brings me to the next example, which the fathers and apologists of the Church quoted as foreshadowing the cross:

“Your life will be hung out (wahayu ḥayyeka talulim) in front of you. Night and day you will live in dread, and you will not expect to survive.”

Deuteronomy 28:66  Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV)

Remarkably, Deuteronomy even describes YHWH as the very life of his people:

“to love Yahweh your God, to obey his voice, and to cling to him; for he is your life (ki hu ḥayyeka), and the length of your days, that you may dwell in the land which Yahweh swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.”

Deuteronomy 30:20  World English Bible (WEB)

And yet the New Testament proclaims that it is Jesus himself who is our Life, since he is said to be Life and Eternal Life that became flesh — that is, a human being:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men… There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens everyone. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him… And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

John 1:1-4, 9-10, 14  LSB

“Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die—ever. Do you believe this?’”

John 11:25-26  LSB

“but put to death the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead, a fact to which we are witnesses.”

Acts 3:15  LSB

“Therefore, if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you died and your life has been hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is manifested, then you also will be manifested with Him in glory.”

Colossians 3:1-4  LSB

“What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we beheld and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life—and the life was manifested, and we have seen and bear witness and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us—what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you may also have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.”

1 John 1:1-3  LSB

“And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.”

1 John 5:20  LSB

Since the early Christians used the Greek versions of the Hebrew Bible, often referred to as the Septuagint (LXX), I will now quote the English rendering of the Greek as well. The translation is taken from the electronic edition of the second printing of A New English Translation of the Septuagint, published by Oxford University Press in 2009, including corrections and emendations made in 2009 and June 2014:

“And your life shall be hanging before your eyes (kai estai he zoe sou kremamene apenanti ton ophthalmon sou), and night and day you shall be afraid and you shall not be sure of your life.”

Deuteronomy 28:66  NETS, tr. Melvin K. H. Peters, p. 167

“to love the Lord your God, to listen to his voice and to hold fast to him, for this is life for you and the length of your days so that you may live in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers Abraam and Isaak and Iakob to give them.”

Deuteronomy 30:20  NETS, p. 169

In light of this, these early churchmen interpreted the phrase “Your life will be hanging before your eyes” as Christ — who is the Life of Israel and of all creation — being hanged on the cross.

Another connection worth drawing out: the statement regarding Israel seeing their life hanging right before them is found within the very same chapter where God threatens Israel with curses if they break the covenant:

“But it will be, if you do not listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, to keep and to do all His commandments and His statutes with which I am commanding you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you: Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the field. Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. Cursed shall be the offspring of your body and the produce of your ground, the increase of your herd and the young of your flock. Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out. Yahweh will send upon you the curse, confusion, and rebuke, in all that you send forth your hand to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, on account of the evil of your deeds, because you have forsaken Me… So all these curses shall come on you and pursue you and overtake you until you are destroyed, because you would not listen to the voice of Yahweh your God to keep His commandments and His statutes which He commanded you. And they shall become a sign and a wonder on you and your seed forever.”

Deuteronomy 28:15-20, 45-46  LSB

According to the New Testament, the reason why Jesus died on a tree was in order to save all who believe in him from the curses of God:

“For as many as are of the works of the Law are under a curse, for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law, to do them.’ Now that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident, for ‘The righteous shall live by faith.’ However, the Law is not of faith; rather, ‘He who does them shall live by them.’ Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree’—in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.”

Galatians 3:10-14  LSB

Early Church Writers

With the foregoing in perspective, I now turn to the early Christian witnesses themselves.

Irenaeus

Adversus Haereses, Book IV, Chapter 10
And already he had also declared His advent, saying, There shall not fail a chief in Judah, nor a leader from his loins, until He come for whom it is laid up, and He is the hope of the nations; binding His foal to the vine, and His ass’s colt to the creeping ivy. He shall wash His stole in wine, and His upper garment in the blood of the grape; His eyes shall be more joyous than wine, and His teeth whiter than milk. For, let those who have the reputation of investigating everything, inquire at what time a prince and leader failed out of Judah, and who is the hope of the nations, who also is the vine, what was the ass’s colt referred to as His, what the clothing, and what the eyes, what the teeth, and what the wine, and thus let them investigate every one of the points mentioned; and they shall find that there was none other announced than our Lord, Christ Jesus. Wherefore Moses, when chiding the ingratitude of the people, said, You infatuated people, and unwise, do you thus requite the Lord? And again, he indicates that He who from the beginning founded and created them, the Word, who also redeems and vivifies us in the last times, is shown as hanging on the tree, and they will not believe in Him. For he says, And your life shall be hanging before your eyes, and you will not believe your life. And again, Has not this same one your Father owned you, and made you, and created you?

Adversus Haereses, Book V, Chapter 18
For the Creator of the world is truly the Word of God: and this is our Lord, who in the last times was made man, existing in this world, and who in an invisible manner contains all things created, and is inherent in the entire creation, since the Word of God governs and arranges all things; and therefore He came to His own in a visible manner, and was made flesh, and hung upon the tree, that He might sum up all things in Himself. And His own peculiar people did not receive Him, as Moses declared this very thing among the people: And your life shall be hanging before your eyes, and you will not believe your life. Those therefore who did not receive Him did not receive life. But to as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God.

Tertullian

An Answer to the Jews, Chapter 11

Now the mystery of this sign was in various ways predicted; a sign in which the foundation of life was forelaid for mankind; a sign in which the Jews were not to believe: just as Moses beforetime kept on announcing in Exodus, saying, You shall be ejected from the land into which you shall enter; and in those nations you shall not be able to rest: and there shall be instability of the print of your foot: and God shall give you a wearying heart, and a pining soul, and failing eyes, that they see not: and your life shall hang on the tree before your eyes; and you shall not trust your life.

Cyprian

Cyprian compiles the prophetic testimonies under the heading he received from his tradition:

Treatise XII (Book 2), §20 — That the Jews would fasten Christ to the cross

In Isaiah: I have spread out my hands all day to a people disobedient and contradicting me, who walk in ways that are not good, but after their own sins. Also in Jeremiah: Come, let us cast the tree into His bread, and let us blot out His life from the earth. Also in Deuteronomy: And Your life shall be hanging (in doubt) before Your eyes; and You shall fear day and night, and shall not trust to Your life. Also in the twenty-first Psalm: They tore my hands and my feet; they numbered all my bones. And they gazed upon me, and saw me, and divided my garments among them, and upon my vesture they cast a lot… Whence in the Gospel the Lord says: As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whosoever believes in the Son may have life eternal.

Athanasius

On the Incarnation of the Word, §35 — Prophecies of the Cross

But, perhaps, having heard the prophecy of His death, you ask to learn also what is set forth concerning the Cross. For not even this is passed over: it is displayed by the holy men with great plainness. For first Moses predicts it, and that with a loud voice, when he says: You shall see your Life hanging before your eyes, and shall not believe. And next, the prophets after him witness of this, saying: But I as an innocent lamb brought to be slain, knew it not; they counselled an evil counsel against me, saying, Hither and let us cast a tree upon his bread, and efface him from the land of the living. And again: They pierced my hands and my feet, they numbered all my bones, they parted my garments among them, and for my vesture they cast lots. Now a death raised aloft and that takes place on a tree, could be none other than the Cross: and again, in no other death are the hands and feet pierced, save on the Cross only.