Seek and you will find

"the Scriptures.... which testify of Me"

John 5:39

One of the things I love about studying the Old Testament, is finding Jesus there.  Sometimes it's obvious, like when it's prophecy about Him:

"Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign:  The virgin will be with Child and will give birth to a Son, and will call Him Emmanuel" ~ Isaiah 7:14

Or in Psalm 22: "They pierced My hands and My feet... They look and stare at Me.  They divide My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots."

Those speak directly about Him. Other times, though, it's something that points us to Jesus, but it's a little more subtle, and we have to try harder to see it. {Or we see it because one of the gospels points it out to us... } ~ "As Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth."

I also love to connect Isaac's question in Genesis 22:7, "Where is the lamb?" with John the Baptist's answer in John 1:29, when he saw Jesus coming toward him, "Behold!  The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!"

But I like to approach every chapter of the Old Testament with the question, "Where is Jesus in this?"  And I often find Him in ways I don't anticipate. 

Such was the case with 2 Samuel chapter 10.  King David decided to do something nice for someone else.  But you know the old saying, "no good deed ever goes unpunished."  And this one won't either.

Nahash, the king of Ammon died, and his son, Hanun, took over as king.  So David decided to show kindness to Hanun, "as his father showed kindness to me."  So he sent a delegation of his men to express David's sympathy to Hanun over the death of his father.

But Hanun's advisers convinced him that David's servants were not reaching out in love, but as spies.  The men were sent back to David with their beards have shaved off, and their robes cut off at the waist.  They were humiliated.  So David told them to stay in Jericho, out of sight, until their beards had grown back, and I presume he also encouraged them to solve their wardrobe malfunctions...

Though I've read this passage before, this time the Jesus parallel was unmistakable.  He came to earth as the King's emissary ~ reaching out to show kindness.  But He was rejected.  His beard was plucked and He was humiliated in myriad ways before He hung on the cross, naked.  Hard to think about... both Him and David's men.

The Old Testament has so much to teach us about God's people and their adversaries... but look for Jesus, too.  You'll find Him in unexpected places. 

~ "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God,

and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, 

for correction, for instruction in righteousness" ~

2 Timothy 3:16