The Long-Expected Jesus

On March 11, 1942, as the Pacific War raged in the months after Pearl Harbor, the Philippine Islands were invaded by the Japanese. Faced with overwhelming enemy resources, U.S. General Douglas MacArthur was ordered by the Joint Chiefs of Staff to leave his adopted home of Corregidor Island and transfer his base of operations to Australia.

It was a heart-wrenching journey for MacArthur, as he knew he was leaving behind hundreds of thousands of vulnerable Philippine citizens and 90,000 American troops to an uncertain fate. When he arrived at the U.S. army base in Australia, a loud speaker was hastily set up for the tall, imposing American general to address his troops and the world. It was here that he first spoke the words that would later be immortalized in American folklore and in the famous Fallen Soldier statues on the Philippine Islands. He said with his patented authoritative voice:

I have left the Philippines, but I shall return!

It wasn’t long before all of the Philippine Islands fell into the hands of the Japanese, and 70,000 American troops were captured, most of whom suffered mightily at the hands of their captors, including over 6,000 who were tortured and killed.

For two long years, MacArthur would repeat those words. He campaigned for the Philippine cause not only with the Joint Chiefs and the administration, but also with the American people. The American press began to publish emotionally-charged stories of the atrocities of Japanese imprisonment on the Islands, including the horrific “Batan Death March” which resulted in 60,000 Philippine and Americans dead. Finally the Pacific War began to turn as the American forces gained an upper hand at Guadalcanal and the Solomon Islands, and MacArthur received the go-ahead for his long awaited plan to invade the islands and recapture his former home base.

On October 20, 1944, after successful U.S. campaigns in the initial invasion, MacArthur waded ashore the Island of Leyte in the Philippines and announced in a nationwide radio broadcast:

I have returned. By the grace of Almighty God our forces stand again on Philippine soil—soil consecrated in the blood of our two peoples. We have come, dedicated and committed, to the task of destroying every vestige of enemy control over your daily lives, and of restoring, upon a foundation of indestructible strength, the liberties of your people.

As they say, the rest of the story is history. MacArthur and the American forces did indeed liberate the Philippines, and the war was won.

The reason this story looms so large in American history is that it captures a very important value. The value of a “promise kept.” We all have great admiration for a man who stands in front of the world and makes a promise, and then focuses all his passion on keeping that promise.

This brings me to the next important topic I want us to focus on as we continue our journey to discover the many ways the Old Testament points us to the Advent of Christ. The Lord God made a very important promise to His people. The promise was not unlike the promise MacArthur made to the Filipino people on that fateful day. The promise was in effect,

A day of liberation is coming!

The biblical story makes clear our desperate condition. The enemy has established temporary control over our lost world. This story line is emphasized over and again throughout the Old Testament text. But within the text there is a divine promise.

It is important to understand the meaning of that promise as we think about the reason that Christ came. Because it is not just significant that many signs and stories point us to His coming, it is also important to understand how His coming fit into the eternal purposes of God. Those purposes were made clear in His promise. That promise is alluded to several times in the biblical text as “covenant.”

What is a covenant?

There are a wide range of opinions about the meaning of the various covenants that are written about in the Old Testament. Some argue that there is only one major covenant, and all the others are just reflections of that one. Others see three types of covenants; still others see only two types. I know respected biblical scholars on both sides, and so my purpose is not to argue for one or the other. For the purposes of this book, I only want to deal with the general nature of the meaning of covenant and not get into their many nuances.

I think it is important just to remember that in the Old Testament, the Lord God gave His people a promise. That promise was emphasized repeatedly through the expression of covenants.

A covenant is a bond. It is the acknowledgement of an agreement or relationship. It was a reflection of the promise God made of His coming redemption. Keep in mind, when God established His covenant after the fall of man, it wasn’t because His people were so wonderful and deserving. It was quite the opposite! He was saying in effect, “Regardless of your faithfulness, I will love you just because I love you” (Deuteronomy 7:8). It was unconditional and unmerited.

This is the truly compelling thing about the divine covenants. They are the gracious means of a relationship with God for a people who deserve to be removed from His presence forever, by a loving God who has no need whatsoever, in and of Himself, for such a relationship. Therefore, the objective of covenant, so often beautifully demonstrated by God Himself, is that expression of intimate relationship, however undeserved and promise for future redemption: “You will be my people, and I will be your God” (Jeremiah 30:22). All of the covenants in Scripture reflect that promise.