How did The Patriarchs get saved?

This is a ver good question: "what was salvation for the people before Jesus?" I was asked this question a few days ago by a muslim friend. I believe it is a great question, because it is central to understanding the unique and consistent message of The Bible.

At the time of Jesus, the religion views were not unified. The Gospel records that there were two dominant religious groups: the Sadducees and the Pharisees. Unlike the Pharisees, the Sadducees did not believe on life after this life (Mt 22:23, Mk 12:18, Lk 20:27, Acts 23:6). It is related that Jesus questioned this Sadducean belief with this statement:

37. Moses even indicated in the passage about the burning bush that the dead are raised, where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. 38 He is not God of the dead but of the living, because all are living to Him.” 39 (Luke 20:37-39 HSCB)

In another passage of the Gospel we are told that in an occasion Moses and Elijah appeared in front of Jesus, James, Peter and John. Moses and Elijah were talking with Jesus. (Matthew 17:1-3). These passages indicate that before Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection, people who had physically died still were alive in spirit. So, this makes us question how were they saved if Jesus had not been yet crucified. 

A person I admire once told me, "don't think that God first gave laws to see if people would be saved, to then give Jesus as sacrifice because people couldn't keep all commandments" rather "God had a plan before creation; and that plan included the person of Jesus offering himself as ransom".

People may think this is simply the Christian view. While exploring Islam during the last 13 years, I asked myself if this Christian doctrine is true or not. Prior 2002, I was surrounded by a nominal christian majority. Since 2002, I've lived in muslim countries. Islam poses a direct challenge to Christianity and Rabbinical Judaism, it claims that neither is right. 

In order to shake any doubts from my mind, I thought the fairest way to check if the doctrine of Salvation through the Messiah is correct, is to review only the Scriptures given before the time of Jesus: The Jewish Tanakh or what Christianity knows as The Old Testament. And here are some of the reasons why I decided to look only at these Scriptures:

1. The first christians were Jews who only had access to the Tanakh.
2. Because the group which has preserved the Masoretic text are Rabbinical Jews. Rabbinical Judaism is the branch of the religion of the forefathers which did not believe in Christ as the Messiah. Hence they would have no reason why preserving any scriptures supporting the Christian view.
3. Because The New Testament claims that in Jesus the Old Testament Scriptures were fulfilled (Lk 24:44, Acts 10:43)
4. Because Islam claims that the Torah and the Psalms (Zabur) are inspired by God.

The Torah which today's Rabbinical judaism uses is based on the Masoretic text. This is the one I have been using as primary source for my studies of the Torah. Rabbinical Judaism considers that the written Torah is all the Tanakh. However, it should be clarified that in rabbinical judaism there is a distinction between the written Torah given to Moses and the other books in the Tanakh. Let me explain. All books in the Tanakh (Old Testament) are guidance for the rabbinical jews, hence why the books are also called "Torah" even though not all of the books are really the written Torah of Moses. The written Torah of Moses are the first 5 books of the Tanakh (Old Testament):

1. Genesis (Bere'shit)
2. Exodus (Shemot)
3. Leviticus (Vayikra)
4. Numbers (Bemidbar)
5. Deuteronomy (Devarim)

We previously mentioned that the gospels claimed that Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses and Elijah were saved. The stories of the first 4 are found in the Torah of Moses. The story of Elijah is found in other prophetical historical books of the Tanakh. I will look at the accounts about them to understand how were they saved. I will also take a look at 3 other important charachters: Adam and Noah. I'll do this because in the Tanakh it's mentioned that God made important covenants with them, and understanding these covenants gives better understanding of the single plan of God for us.

The Nakedness of Adam

After Adam married Eve, Genesis 2:5 says "Both the man and his wife were naked, yet felt no shame". The transliteration from the Masoretic text is vayyihyu shenehem 'arummim, literally "The two were 'arum". I have not translated the word 'arum because I want to focus on it. The word 'arum is traditionally translated "naked". And this is not a wrong translation. This is actually the translation presented by the Strong's lexicon (1). However, I want to draw your attention to the fact that this word is actually also used to denote "acting craftily" (2). We should not forget that God was speaking to Hebrew people in Hebrew. So the words used by God would speak in a deep and profound manner to the Hebrews. For a Hebrew mind, to be naked is a state in which all can be seen, all is exposed, specially our imperfections. And in the hebrew mind the uncovered imperfection is our craftiness, a tendency to do evil. Interestingly, Genesis 2:25 says that both Adam and Eve were not ashamed of being in that condition.

Later after eating of the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, "Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves. Gen 3:7 HCSB". Few interesting points are drawn from this passage:

• Adam and Eve knew of their ruggedness only after eating the fruit. This was the fruit of knowledge of good and evil (Gen 3:5 and 3:22). It is implied therefore that even though Adam and Eve were rugged, only the awareness of good and evil made the difference on their acts. Before, they would not be accountable for their acts. But after knowing evil, if they acted on evil ways, they were accountable for it. This is the "stain" that people talk about was introduced by Adam, which is central to what people later came to call "original sin".
• They tried to cover their ruggedness using loincloths, in Hebrew "khagor". Note that a loincloth does not fully cover the nakedness. What did God do? "The LORD God made clothing out of skins for Adam and his wife, and He clothed them. Gen 3:21 HCSB " The word clothing in hebrew is "ketonet" (3). This word is tranlated by the strong's lexicon as a tunic. Gesenius in his Hebrew Chaldee lexicon says it is a tunic which could cover to the knees or to the ankles, and that this word is derived from the word "katan" which meaning is "he covered". So in this story God was telling to the Hebrew audience in a Hebrew way that what Adam and Eve worked out trying to cover their crafty acts did not cover them completely. God made for them something that would completely cover them, and that garment was made out of skins. That means that to cover Adam and Eve, God was saying he had to do a sacrifice. This was the first sacrifice spoken about in the Bible. This is not obscure interpretation, rather interpretation taking into consideration the cultural context under which this passage was given.
• God did also pronounced one more prophecy "I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will strike your head and you will strike his heel" (Gen 3:15 (HCSB). This prophecy was saying that God would put an end to the hostility of Satan when a Man born of a woman would hit Satan on the head. A blow on the head denotes a defeat, Satan will only strike this Man on the heel, that is the character prophesied about would not be defeated, though he would be hurt.

Noah, bringing rest to the curse on the land

How was Noah saved? One important point to highlight is that Noah was one of those who was delivered from the flooding. The book of Genesis tells us that "Noah was a righteous man, blameless among his contemporaries; Noah walked with God. Gen 6:9" The main reason Noah was righteous was because he walked with God. This denotes that Noah was not only following the precepts of God, but Noah was close with God, he had a relationship with God. One could say Noah was chosen by God to go on the Ark and spare him because he was righteous. But why then was his family saved? It is not said that his children, nor his wife, nor his daughters-in-law were righteous too. However, they were also spared along with Noah. So being spared from the flood does not have to do 100% with being righteous. This is confirmed by God, whom after the waters disappeared, he told Noah:

“I will never again curse the ground because of man, even though man’s inclination is evil from his youth. And I will never again strike down every living thing as I have done.(Gen 8:21b HCSB)"

Noah was righteous, but God also acknowledged that Noah was as any other man inclined to do evil. How was Noah righteous? It is not because he was perfect and he never committed sin. We see that after the flood, Noah was the first person ever to get drunk (Genesis 9:21) and he uncovered himself in the tent. In the same way as in the story about Adam, this story also carries also a pun. God is telling to the Hebrew reader that Noah was also rugged, crafty, and that his righteousness did not come from deeds. How was Noah then righteous? The story of Abraham tells us how a man is righteous in the eyes of God. Before reviewing Abraham let's look at one last important thing about Noah's life. God made a covenantal promise to Noah:

11 I confirm My covenant with you that never again will every creature be wiped out by the waters of a flood; there will never again be a flood to destroy the earth." 12 And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant I am making between Me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all future generations: 13 I have placed My bow in the clouds, and it will be a sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. 14 Whenever I form clouds over the earth and the bow appears in the clouds, 15 I will remember My covenant between Me and you and all the living creatures: water will never again become a flood to destroy every creature. 16 The bow will be in the clouds, and I will look at it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all the living creatures on earth." 17 God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant that I have confirmed between Me and every creature on earth."[Gen 9:11-17 HCSB] 

Again, looking at this with a 21st century mind, we may understand this as the rainbow on the skies only. However, what did the bow mean to the Hebrew minds who read this first? The Hebrew Chaldean Lexicon of Gesenius presents an interesting description:

"Bow (qeshet) is used metaphorically for strength and power; hence to break any one's bow, i.e. to break his strength, to overturn his power" (4)

Under this point of view, the promise to Noah has striking similarities with the vision of the prophet Daniel in Daniel 7:

"13 I continued watching in the night visions, and I saw One like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was escorted before Him. 14 He was given authority to rule, and glory, and a kingdom; so that those of every people, nation, and language should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and His kingdom is one that will not be destroyed.[Dan 7:13-14 HCSB]"

The parallelism is very important. Noah was promised that the Power of God (His Bow) would be in the clouds, and that when God would see His Bow, he would remember the promise He made. In the vision of Daniel, the Son of Man has the power of God (His bow) and is coming on the clouds of Heaven, in the clouds of God.

Abraham, the man who lived by faith

Abraham is pivotal. His testimony tells us what God expects from us:

1 After these events, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield; your reward will be very great. 2 But Abram said, "Lord GOD, what can You give me, since I am childless and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus? " 3 Abram continued, "Look, You have given me no offspring, so a slave born in my house will be my heir." 4 Now the word of the LORD came to him: "This one will not be your heir; instead, one who comes from your own body will be your heir." 5 He took him outside and said, "Look at the sky and count the stars, if you are able to count them." Then He said to him, "Your offspring will be that numerous." 6 Abram believed the LORD, and He credited it to him as righteousness. Gen 15:1-6 HCSB

Here we have an answer of why Noah was also considered righteous. Both Noah and Abram believed that God would do things out of what is normal. They both believed, they both had faith in God and that is what was credited for them as righteousness. However, was Abram perfect? was he free of sin? No. Was he righteous in the eyes of men? No. Why do I say this? Righteousness is doing always what is right. And we know Abram did not do what is right in several ocassions. For example Abraham lied about being married to Sarai twice (see Genesis 12:13, 12:19, 20:2, 20:5, 20:12).

God made a covenant to bless all peoples through Abraham. Abraham was indeed considered righteous because of his faith, of his believing capabilities:

1 The LORD said to Abram: Go out from your land, your relatives, and your father's house to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make you into a great nation, I will bless you, I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, I will curse those who treat you with contempt, and all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you. [Gen 12:1-20 HCSB] 

Isaac and the promise through his seed

Isaac was the second person mentioned by Jesus on Luke 20:37. According to Jesus, Isaac was also among the living. Was Isaac righteous? What was the standard of righteousness? As we discussed before, based on what Genesis 15:16 says that righteousness is based on faith. Habbakuk 2:4 confirms this.

However, Isaac was not righteous in all of his dealings. Genesis 27:6:11 tells us how Isaac preferred to lie about his wife, to prevent anyone from killing him:

6 So Isaac settled in Gerar. 7 When the men of the place asked about his wife, he said, "She is my sister," for he was afraid to say "my wife," thinking, "The men of the place will kill me on account of Rebekah, for she is a beautiful woman." 8 When Isaac had been there for some time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked down from the window and was surprised to see Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah. 9 Abimelech sent for Isaac and said, "So she is really your wife! How could you say, 'She is my sister'? " Isaac answered him, "Because I thought I might die on account of her." 10 Then Abimelech said, "What is this you've done to us? One of the people could easily have slept with your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us." 11 So Abimelech warned all the people with these words: "Whoever harms this man or his wife will certainly die." [Gen 26:6-11 HCSB] 

However, to Isaac God extended the promise given to Abraham, not because of his good behavior:

• 2 The LORD appeared to him and said, "Do not go down to Egypt. Live in the land that I tell you about; 3 stay in this land as a foreigner, and I will be with you and bless you. For I will give all these lands to you and your offspring, and I will confirm the oath that I swore to your father Abraham. 4 I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky, I will give your offspring all these lands, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed by your offspring, 5 because Abraham listened to My voice and kept My mandate, My commands, My statutes, and My instructions." [Gen 26:2-5 HCSB] 
•  24 and the LORD appeared to him that night and said, "I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you. I will bless you and multiply your offspring because of My servant Abraham."[Gen 26:24 HCSB]

Jacob, also counted among the living

Jacob impersonated his brother to steal the blessing his father planned to give to Esau (Genesis 27). He lied about it, he acted treacherously. However he was also given the same promise given to Abraham and Isaac:

13 Yahweh was standing there beside him, saying, "I am Yahweh, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your offspring the land that you are now sleeping on. 14 Your offspring will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out toward the west, the east, the north, and the south. All the peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.[Gen 28:13-14 HCSB] 

If his behavior wasn't an example, the righteousness of Jacob should have come as well from faith, as it occurred to Abraham and Jacob. His righteousness was to believe on the promise from God. The promise given to these 3 patriarchs included a blessing through one of their descendants. That blessing will impact all peoples on earth.

The word salvation appears for the first time on Genesis 49:18. It's uttered as part of the speech given by Israel (Jacob) on his deathbed:"  18 I wait for Your salvation, LORD. [Gen 49:18 HCSB]". Israel knew he could not do any good deeds in his deathbed. It was the end of his earthly road. His words of faith pointed to the one and only who could save him. He acknowledged that only God could save him.

Moses and Elijah, under the Law of Sinai

Moses and Elijah appeared to John, James and Peter speaking to Jesus. For Rabbinical Judaism, Moses and Elijah were obliged to fulfill all 613 Mitzvot given in Sinai, in order to be righteous and achieve eternal life. As we pointed before, this has not been the unified vision of Judaism through history. We said before that the Sadducees did not believe on the afterlife. Why? Because they understood that the Sinaitic covenant was a covenant of blessings or curses on the earth. The Sadducees based most of their judgement on the first 5 books of the Tanakh:

The fact that the Sadducees had a very high opinion of the five first books of the Bible, does not mean that they denied that the other books of the Bible -e.g., the prophets and the historical writings- were divinely inspired. But they refused to accept the other Biblical books as sources of law. When a Sadducee had to judge a case, he would look in the written Torah and ignore the oral traditions that the Pharisees accepted as normative. One of the consequences was that the Sadducees stressed the importance of the priests in the Temple cult, while the Pharisees insisted on the participation of all Jews.(5)

The book of deuteronomy explains the objective of the covenant of Sinai:

• [Deu 10:12-14 HCSB] 12 "And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you except to fear the LORD your God by walking in all His ways, to love Him, and to worship the LORD your God with all your heart and all your soul? 13 Keep the LORD's commands and statutes I am giving you today, for your own good. 14 The heavens, indeed the highest heavens, belong to the LORD your God, as does the earth and everything in it

• [Deu 11:8 HCSB] 8 "Keep every command I am giving you today, so that you may have the strength to cross into and possess the land you are to inherit,

• [Deu 11:13-15 HCSB] 13 "If you carefully obey my commands I am giving you today, to love the LORD your God and worship Him with all your heart and all your soul, 14 I will provide rain for your land in the proper time, the autumn and spring rains, and you will harvest your grain, new wine, and oil. 15 I will provide grass in your fields for your livestock. You will eat and be satisfied.

• [Deu 11:22-23 HCSB] 22 For if you carefully observe every one of these commands I am giving you to follow -- to love the LORD your God, walk in all His ways, and remain faithful to Him -- 23 the LORD will drive out all these nations before you, and you will drive out nations greater and stronger than you are.

On the book of leviticus, multiple sacrifices are described as a commandment for the people of Israel (see for example Leviticus 4 and Leviticus 16). However, we see that in other books of the old testament God spoke to the people of Israel explaining that these sacrifices and other good deeds were not sufficient to bring the required holiness to enter the presence of God eternally:

• [Psa 51:16 HCSB] 16 You do not want a sacrifice, or I would give it; You are not pleased with a burnt offering. 
• [Isa 40:14-17 HCSB] 14 Who did He consult with? Who gave Him understanding and taught Him the paths of justice? Who taught Him knowledge and showed Him the way of understanding? 15 Look, the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are considered as a speck of dust in the scales; He lifts up the islands like fine dust. 16 Lebanon is not enough for fuel, or its animals enough for a burnt offering. 17 All the nations are as nothing before Him; they are considered by Him as nothingness and emptiness. 
• [Psa 14:2-3 HCSB] 2 The LORD looks down from heaven on the human race to see if there is one who is wise, one who seeks God. 3 All have turned away; all alike have become corrupt. There is no one who does good, not even one. 
• [Mal 1:6-9 HCSB] 6 "A son honors his father, and a servant his master. But if I am a father, where is My honor? And if I am a master, where is your fear of Me? says Yahweh of Hosts to you priests, who despise My name." Yet you ask: "How have we despised Your name? " 7 "By presenting defiled food on My altar." You ask: "How have we defiled You? " When you say: "The LORD's table is contemptible." 8 "When you present a blind animal for sacrifice, is it not wrong? And when you present a lame or sick animal, is it not wrong? Bring it to your governor! Would he be pleased with you or show you favor? " asks the LORD of Hosts. 9 "And now ask for God's favor. Will He be gracious to us? Since this has come from your hands, will He show any of you favor? " asks the LORD of Hosts.
• [Isa 64:6 HCSB] 6 All of us have become like something unclean, and all our righteous acts are like a polluted garment; all of us wither like a leaf, and our iniquities carry us away like the wind.

The prophets spoke to the people of Israel telling them that they had lost focus. It is not the righteous deeds alone what please God. The righteous deeds are not what's most important for God. This is clearly understood in Isaiah 64:6. The HCSB translation is quite polite translating the phrase "ukebeged 'iddim" as "polluted garment". This in Hebrew literally means "menstrual clothes" or "menstrual rags". God spoke to the prophets telling the people that their deeds were to God as filthy menstrual rags. The people thought they could simply fulfill a checklist of commandments to then demand access to heaven. God speaks clearly here that if we think that's the way, then we are lost.

How does then God speak that everyone can attain Salvation? Through him:

• [1Sa 2:1 HCSB] 1 Hannah prayed:  My heart rejoices in the LORD;  my horn is lifted up by the LORD. My mouth boasts over my enemies, because I rejoice in Your salvation.  
• [2Sa 22:3 HCSB] 3 my God, my mountain where I seek refuge. My shield, the horn of my salvation, my stronghold, my refuge, and my Savior, You save me from violence. 
• [1Ch 16:23 HCSB] 23 Sing to the LORD, all the earth. Proclaim His salvation from day to day.
• [Psa 3:8 HCSB] 8 Salvation belongs to the LORD; may Your blessing be on Your people.Selah 
• [Psa 27:1 HCSB] 1 The LORD is my light and my salvation -- whom should I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life -- of whom should I be afraid? 
• [Psa 40:10 HCSB] 10 I did not hide Your righteousness in my heart; I spoke about Your faithfulness and salvation; I did not conceal Your constant love and truth from the great assembly. 
• [Psa 118:14 HCSB] 14 The LORD is my strength and my song; He has become my salvation. 
• [Psa 119:166 HCSB] 166 LORD, I hope for Your salvation and carry out Your commands. 
• [Isa 12:2 HCSB] 2 Indeed, God is my salvation; I will trust Him and not be afraid, for Yah, the LORD, is my strength and my song. He has become my salvation." 
• [Isa 45:8 HCSB] 8 "Heavens, sprinkle from above, and let the skies shower righteousness. Let the earth open up so that salvation will sprout and righteousness will spring up with it. I, Yahweh, have created it. 
• [Isa 51:5 HCSB] 5 My righteousness is near, My salvation appears, and My arms will bring justice to the nations. The coastlands will put their hope in Me, and they will look to My strength. 
• [Jonah 2:9 HCSB] 9 but as for me, I will sacrifice to You with a voice of thanksgiving. I will fulfill what I have vowed. Salvation is from the LORD! 
• [Hab 3:18 HCSB] 18 yet I will triumph in Yahweh; I will rejoice in the God of my salvation!

How was He going to do it? All the promises which started with the promise given to Adam and Eve, to Noah, to Abraham, to Jacob, to Isaac, to David, to Moses, to Isaiah, to all other prophets, point to himself as the bearer of the sins of the people. He spoke that He would lay the sins of the people on His Servant in Isaiah 53, and in Daniel 9 it was said that the Messiah would bring to end sin and transgression.

• [Isa 53:5 HCSB] 5 But He was pierced because of our transgressions, crushed because of our iniquities; punishment for our peace was on Him, and we are healed by His wounds. 
• [Dan 9:24-26 HCSB] 24 Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city -- to bring the rebellion to an end, to put a stop to sin, to wipe away iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy place. 25 Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince will be seven weeks and 62 weeks. It will be rebuilt with a plaza and a moat, but in difficult times. 26 After those 62 weeks the Messiah will be cut off and will have nothing. The people of the coming prince will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come with a flood, and until the end there will be war; desolations are decreed.

So those who put their faith on God, regardless of whether they knew or not how they would be saved, they were counted among the righteous. This is exactly the same as today. The only difference is that we know today how God did it. Those prophecies talking about reconciliation and payment of sins were fulfilled. If you believe, if you have faith on the fulfilment of those prophecies, then God becomes your Salvation too.


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Footnotes
(1) Strong's H6174 http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H6174&t=HCSB
(2) See the Gesenius' Hebrew  Chaldee Lexicon entry for the root 'aram, which states that the word 'arum is a derivative of this root. The root means acting craftily as well as to be naked http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?strongs=H6191&t=HCSB
(3) Ketoneth H3801 Strong's http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H3801&t=HCSB
(4) http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H7198&t=HCSB
(5) http://www.livius.org/people/sadducees/