How Much Did the Old Testament Saints Know?
Dr. Julian Kennedy challenges Don Doezema's interpretation regarding whether Old Testament saints, specifically Simeon, understood Christ's suffering and death through Old Testament prophecies like Isaiah 53 and Psalms 22. Kennedy argues that the Spirit's testimony throughout the Old Testament concerning Christ's sufferings and resurrection would have been known to believers like Job, Daniel, David, and John the Baptist, making Simeon's statement to Mary indicative of messianic foreknowledge.
Don Doezema's writings have always benefitted me, and his writings in the Standard Bearer continue to do so. However, I have a query regarding his last article "Robbing Christ of His Honour" (20) in SB April 15, 2017. Speaking about Simeon in Luke 2, Don gives an emphatic "no" to the idea Simeon was anticipating the cross when he told Mary, "A sword shall pierce through thy own soul also." How come? Surely the mystery of the incarnation and death of the Son of God was known to him from the Old...
Full article available on sb.rfpa.org