Against Heresies: Book IV
Chapter 10: The Old Testament Scriptures, Especially Those Written by Moses, Frequently Refer to the Son of God and Predict His Arrival and Sacrifice. Therefore, They Must Have Been Inspired by the Same God
Therefore, John appropriately recounts that the Lord said to the Jews: “You search the Scriptures, in which you think you have eternal life; these are they which testify of me. And you are not willing to come to Me, that you may have life.” How then did the Scriptures testify of Him, unless they were from the same Father, instructing people beforehand about the coming of His Son and foretelling the salvation brought by Him? “For if you had believed Moses, you would have believed Me also; for he wrote of Me,” surely, because the Son of God is present throughout his writings: at one time, speaking with Abraham when about to eat with him; at another time with Noah, giving him the dimensions of the ark; then inquiring after Adam; at another, bringing judgment upon the Sodomites; and again, when He appears and guides Jacob on his journey, and speaks with Moses from the bush.
It would be endless to recount all the occasions where the Son of God is revealed by Moses. Regarding the day of His passion, Moses was not unaware, and he foretold it in a symbolic manner by naming the Passover; and during that very festival, long ago proclaimed by Moses, our Lord suffered, thus fulfilling the Passover. Moses not only described the day but also the place and the time of day when the sufferings ended, and the sign of the setting of the sun, saying: “You may not sacrifice the passover within any other of your cities that the God gives you; but in the place which your God chooses for His name to be called on there, you shall sacrifice the passover in the evening, towards the setting of the sun.”
And he had already proclaimed His coming, saying, "There shall not fail a chief in Judah, nor a leader from his descendants, until He comes for whom it is reserved, and He is the hope of the nations; binding His foal to the vine, and His donkey's colt to the creeping ivy. He shall wash His robe in wine, and His garment in the blood of grapes; His eyes shall be brighter than wine, and His teeth whiter than milk." Let those reputed to examine everything inquire when a prince and leader ceased from Judah, who is the hope of the nations, who is also the vine, what was the donkey's colt referred to as His, what the clothing, and what the eyes, the teeth, and the wine are, and let them examine each of the points mentioned. They shall find that no one else was announced but our Lord, Christ Jesus. Therefore, Moses, when criticizing the people's ingratitude, said, "You foolish and unwise people, is this how you repay the ?" And again, he indicates that He who from the beginning founded and created them, the Word, who also redeems and gives us life in the last times, is shown as hanging on the tree, and they will not believe in Him. For he says, "And your life shall be hanging before your eyes, and you will not believe your life." And again, "Has not this same one your Father owned you, and made you, and created you?"