The fulfillment of the Old Testament

Jesus said very plainly, ''Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.'' (Matt. 5:17) This article will be about how Christ's Church and its beliefs are prefigured in the Old Testament. It will be a BRIEF overview. Also, do keep in mind Hebrews 10:1 which says, ''..since the law has but a SHADOW of the good things to come..'' Thus, as Matt Dula says, these Old Testament prefigurements are inferior to the New Testament's fulfilment. St Augustine clarifies, saying, ''The New Testament lies hidden in the Old, and the Old Testament is unveiled in the New''.

Adam and Eve VS Jesus and Mary

Scott Hahn, in his TV show ''Hail, Holy Queen'' talks about how there is a parallel between Genesis and John; I will briefly summarize this in a paragraph. In Genesis chapters 1 and 2 we read, ''In the beginning'' (1:1) ''the Spirit of God was
moving over the face of the waters'' (1:2) ''God said'' (1:3) ''God separated the light from the darkness'' (1:4) ''one day'' (1:5) ''second day'' (1:8) ''third day''
(1:13) ''fourth day'' (1:19) ''fifth day'' (1:23) ''sixth day'' (1:31) ''seventh day'' (2:2) and then there is a marriage between Adam and Eve "Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and cleaves to his wife'' (2:24) then Adam calls Eve ''Woman'' (2:23).

In John chapters 1 and 2, John copies Genesis 1 and 2 as we read,
''In the beginning'' (1:1) ''I saw the Spirit descend as a dove from heaven, and it remained on him'' (1:32) ''the Word'' (1:1) ''The light shines in the darkness'' (1:5)
''The next day'' (1:29) ''The next day'' (1:35) ''The next day'' (1:43) ''On the third day'' (2:1 and this ''third day'' is the third day after the last day mentioned
which was the 4th day) ''there was a marriage'' (2:1 and realize that the marriage couple goes unnamed, Jesus and Mary are the main figures) ''And Jesus said to her, ''O woman'' (2:4)''.

As you can see, St. John is describing a ''new creation'' with Jesus as the New Adam (Rom. 5:14; 1 Cor. 15:45) and Mary as the New
Eve (Genesis 3:15) respectively. In regards to Mary, St. Ireneaus said, ''[T]he knot of Eve's disobedience was loosed by the obedience of Mary: What the virgin Eve had bound in unbelief, the Virgin Mary loosed through faith.'' (''Against Heresies'' 3,24,4. 180 AD) Another parallel between Adam/Eve and Jesus/Mary is that Adam and Eve were created without sin and, since the Old Testament types are inferior to the Old Testament, Jesus and Mary would also have to be without sin. As Adam and Eve would sin in their life, Jesus and Mary would never sin. To support this claim for Jesus, 1 John 3:5 says, ‘’You know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin.’’ To support this claim for Mary, the angel Gabriel said to Mary in Luke 1:28, ‘’Hail, full of grace’’ (To be ‘’full of grace’’ means that your will is turned perfectly to God’s will, hence, you do not sin). The early Christians agree, ''Mary is free from all stain of sin’’ - Ambrose of Milan, 379 AD.

Davidic King and Queen Mother VS Jesus and Mary

Also in Scott's TV show, he talks about how Jesus and Mary are prefigured in the Old Testament with the Davidic King and the Queen Mother. As Tim Gray said, ''In fulfillment of biblical prophecy, Jesus came to restore the Davidic kingdom, albeit in a way that surpassed all expectations. The messiah was to be a descendant of David, who would reestablish the kingdom of God and reign forever (cf. 2 Sam. 7; Ps. 2; 72; 89).'' The Archangel Gabriel said to Mary, ''..the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David.." In Matthew 1:1-16 St. Matthew goes through the entire geneology of Jesus, showing after verse 6 that He is in the line of David, thus, making Him the new Davidic King.

If we then turn our attention to 1 Kings 2, we notice that there is a Queen in the Davidic Kingdom, and she isn't his wife. In 1 Kings 11:3, it says that Solomon had 700 wives. So, what does he have one of?
A mother.
1 Kings 2:19 says, ''..a throne was provided for the king's mother..'' (NAB) 2 Kings 24:12 says, ''Then King Jehoiakim, along with his advisers, nobles, and officials, and the queen mother..'' and ''Say to the king and the queen mother,'' (Jeremiah 13:18). The Queen Mother also intercedes (to speak on behalf of another) for the people in 1 Kings 2:12-22. In John 2, we see the new Queen Mother (Mary) interceding on behalf of the Bride and Groom at the wedding feast at Cana. Also, when the Angel Gabriel speaks to Mary at the Annunciation, he says, ''HAIL, full of grace'' (Luke 1:28). The Greek word for ''hail'' (Chaire) is the same one that is used for Jesus when they said, ''Hail, king of the Jews'' (Matt. 27:29). As Scott Hahn says, ''The Queen Mother can intercede, but the king is the final judge.''

Davidic Prime Minister - Christ's Prime Minister

In the Davidic Kingdom, there was a Prime Minister who was the king's representative. The kings' ''vicar'' has supreme authority over the whole kingdom. He is the one who is ''deputed to oversee the king's affairs.'' as Catholic Answers' staff said. It is talked about in Isaiah 22:19-22 where, in this situation, a Prime Minister is being replaced, ''I will thrust you from your office and pull you down from your station. On that day I will summon my servant Eliakim, son of Hilkiah; I will clothe him with your robe, and gird him with your sash, and give over to him your authority. He shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah. I will place the key of the house of David on his shoulder; when he opens, no one shall shut, when he shuts, no one shall open.'' This office of Prime Minister was an office of ''dynastic succession,'' meaning that, as Steve Ray says, ''as one steward (Prime Minister) dies or is removed, another takes his place.''

Now, when Jesus came and established His Kingdom, it ''shall stand forever'' (Daniel 2:44). He did this in Matthew 16:19, ''I will give you (Peter) the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.'' Here, He gives the keys to Peter, nobody else. Hence, his
office will have successors - perpetual leaders. As St Irenaeus said in his ''Against Heresies'' (180 AD), ''The blessed Apostles, then, founded and built up the church in Rome. They committed the office of bishop into the hands of Linus. Of this, Linus, Paul makes mention in the Epistles to Timothy. To him succeded Anacletus. After him, in the third place from the Apostles, Clement was allotted the office of bishop.'' Keep in mind, St Irenaeus learned from St Polycarp, who was a disciple of St John the Apostle. After saying that Peter gets the keys, He gives him the authority to ''bind and loose.'' The website,
‘’biblicalcatholic.com'' has this to say about binding and loosing,
''The language of "binding" and "loosing" is Rabbinic terminology for authoritative teaching or a teaching function (or "Halakhic" pronouncements), denoting the authoritative declaration that an action is permitted or forbidden by the law of Moses, and in the Church the authority to pronounce judgment on unbelievers and promise forgiveness to believers''.

Levitical Priesthood VS Catholic Priesthood

God said to the Israelites in Exodus 19:6, ''You shall be to Me, a kingdom of priests, a holy nation''. The Israelites were fulfilled with Christ's Church, so we are now a ''kingdom of priests'' (1 Peter 2:5-6). Even though the Israelites were all priests, there still was a separate priesthood within them which Aaron, his sons, and the rest of the Levites received (Numbers 18:1-7), who were to do many duties (Deuteronomy 33). One was to offer sacrifice (Jeremiah 33:18) and, in Leviticus 19:20-22, God communicated His forgiveness through the Priest. The Priesthood was also associated with Fatherhood, as when someone asked a transient Levite, ''Stay with me; be father and priest to me'' (Judges 17:10). Succession was done through the laying on of hands (Deuteronomy 34:9). The priests also had authority to make binding decisions (Deuteronomy 17:8-13).

Now the stage is set for discussion on the Catholic Priesthood. Jesus calls His priests (the Apostles and disciples) and sends them in Matthew 10:1-8. He tells them to offer sacrifice of His own Body and Blood (Re-presenting His sacrifice on Calvary, not resacrificing Him. Luke 22:19), and to forgive sins (John 20:22-23). They become spiritual fathers through the Gospel (1 Cor. 4:14-15), and succession is done with laying on of hands (Acts 1:21-26 shows succession, 1 Tim
1:6, 4:14 shows it is done with laying on of hands). They also have the authority to make binding decisions (Matt. 16:18, 18:15-18).

Water and Spirit - Baptism

Jesus said in John 3:5, ''..no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.'' Catholics understand this to mean water Baptism, so, let's see if that adds up based on the context of the Scriptures. In Genesis 1:2, it says ''..the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters''. Notice the water and Spirit present. In Genesis 8:10-11, we see that when Noah was in the ark because of the flood, he ''..sent out the dove from the ark. When the dove returned to him in the evening, there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf!'' As we know from the Old Testament, a dove represents the Holy Spirit, hence - water and Spirit are seen again. In Exodus 14, we see the Israelites going through the Red sea, however, what was there before this leading them? A pillar of fire. What does fire symbolize? The Holy Spirit. Once again, water and Spirit. To hammer the point, look at the context of John's gospel to see if Jesus meant water Baptism when he said, ''born of water and Spirit''. In the first chapter of John's Gospel, we read about Jesus' Baptism, and how the Spirit decended upon Him like a dove. As we have seen before, actual water and Spirit are present. Also, directly after speaking about water and the Spirit, He said ‘’After this Jesus and his disciples went into the land of Judea; there he remained with them and baptized.’’ (John 3:22)

What I have just said is only a small sampling of what was prefigured in the Old. I recommend that you read this list over and over again until it ''clicks'' (It took me awhile!). For further reading, check out: Hail, Holy Queen by Scott Hahn, Upon This Rock by Steve Ray, and Sacraments in Scripture by Tim Gray.