Presentation of Christ as Sun to Israel and Morning Star to the Church. The day star or the morning star is the hope of the Lord‘s coming for His saints, which arises in the hearts of believers. 2 Peter 1:19 explains that prophecy, which is what the Old Testament saints had, is like a lamp shining in a dark place. They only had a little bit of instruction, but in the New Testament the day has dawned. The lamp of prophecy was good, and we do well to take heed to it, but since the day of New Testament truth has come, the prophecies are confirmed and greater light is given. The effect of New Testament truth is that the hope of the Lord’s coming rises in our hearts. This is something that couldn’t be true for Old Testament saints because the day had not dawned yet. The appearing of Christ is likened to the rising sun (Mal. 4:2), and this in natural terms follows close behind the morning star. The hope of the Lord’s coming could not rise in the hearts of Old Testament saints in the same way it does New Testament saints because they did not have the revelation of it like we have in the New Testament. This presents no difficulty in reconciling the hopes of Old Testament saints with the more enlightened hopes of New Testament saints. Sometimes you’ll hear people say Revelation 22:16 can be divided like this: Christ is “the root and the offspring of David” to Israel, and “the bright and morning star” to the Church. But in reality both of those things are said to the seven churches of Asia. In other words, Christ having His rightful place as the son of David is as much a part of the church’s hope as the rapture. Paul’s revelation of the rapture in no way diminishes our looking for and longing for the appearing of Christ (2 Tim. 4:8).