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January 4, 2015 |
| Prophecies of Messiah | ||
Prophecy is an important component of the Bible. It is one of the ways that God showed his greatness to mankind.
The Old Testament contained more than 100 fulfilled prophecies about the coming Messiah. This does not include the symbolic prophecies of the seven travel feast days, the temple and its contents, and the sacrificial system, all of which were prophetic descriptions of who the Messiah would be and what he would do. There are also prophecies of the Messiah's second coming. These of course are not yet fulfilled.
Even ignoring the prophecies the Old and New Testaments are a single story about God's love and plan for mankind. So when we sing songs that say "It's all about you" we mean it's "all" about "the Messiah".
In this lesson we will look at 39 of the written prophecies in the Old Testament that were fulfilled by the Messiah. At points we'll also discuss why the Jews did not understand these prophesies correctly.
After Jesus' Resurrection he appeared to many people. Among them were two of his disciples. He came up on them as they were walking to a town called Emmaus. He had closed their minds though so that they would not recognize him. As these verses begin he has asked them what they are talking about.
18 One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, "Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?"
19 "What things?" he asked.
"About Jesus of Nazareth," they replied. "He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. 20 The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; 21 but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. 22 In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning 23 but didn't find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. 24 Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus."
25 He said to them, "How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?" 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.
We don't know exactly which prophesies Jesus talked about with them but the list below is a good list.
"Some of these prophecies are very clear and easy to understand. However, if you are new to reading the Bible, other prophecies will not be easy to understand. Therefore, we have taken the liberty of highlighting those prophecies that are easier to understand by a person who is not familiar with "prophetic language." This does not imply that these passages are more important than the others."1
| The Messianic Prophecy (paraphrased) | Where the prophecy appears in the Old Testament |
| There will be a Messiah who will crush Satan | Genesis 3:15 |
| The Messiah will be a descendant of Abraham, through whom everyone on earth will be blessed | Genesis 12:3; 18:18 |
| The Messiah will be a descendant of Judah | Genesis 49:10 |
| The Messiah will be a prophet like Moses | Deuteronomy 18:15-19 |
| The Messiah will be the Son of God | Psalm 2:7 |
| The Messiah will be raised from the dead (resurrected) | Psalm 16:10,11 |
| The Messiah crucifixion experience | Psalm 22 (contains 11 prophecies-not all listed here) |
| The Messiah will be sneered at and mocked | Psalm 22:7 |
| The Messiah will be pierced through hands and feet | Psalm 22:16 |
| The Messiah's bones will not be broken | Psalm 22:17 and 34:20 |
| Men Will Gamble for the Messiah's clothing | Psalm 22:18 |
| The Messiah will accused by false witnesses | Psalm 35:11 |
| The Messiah will be hated without a cause | Psalm 35:19 and 69:4 |
| The Messiah will be betrayed by a friend | Psalm 41:9 |
| The Messiah will ascend to heaven (at the right hand of God) | Psalm 68:18 |
| The Messiah will be given vinegar and gall to drink | Psalm 69:21 |
| Great kings will pay homage and tribute to the Messiah | Psalm 72:10,11 |
| The Messiah is a "stone the builders rejected" who will become the "head cornerstone" | Psalm 118:22,23 and Isaiah 28:16 |
| The Messiah will be a descendant of David | Psalm 132:11 and Jeremiah 23:5,6; 33:15,16 |
| The Messiah will be a born of a virgin | Isaiah 7:14 |
| The Messiah's first spiritual work will be in Galilee | Isaiah 9:1-7 |
| The Messiah will make the blind see, the deaf hear, etc. | Isaiah 35:5-6 |
| The Messiah will be beaten, mocked, and spat upon | Isaiah 50:6 |
| The "Gospel according to Isaiah" | Isaiah 52:13-53:12 |
| People will hear and not believe the "arm of the LORD" (Messiah) | Isaiah 53:1 |
| The Messiah will be rejected | Isaiah 53:3 |
| The Messiah will be killed | Isaiah 53:5-9 |
| The Messiah will be silent in front of his accusers | Isaiah 53:7 |
| The Messiah will be buried with the rich | Isaiah 53:9 |
| The Messiah will be crucified with criminals | Isaiah 53:12 |
| The Messiah is part of the new and everlasting covenant | Isaiah 55:3-4 and Jeremiah 31:31-34 |
| The Messiah will be our intercessor (intervene for us and plead on our behalf) | Isaiah 59:16 |
| The Messiah has two missions | Isaiah 61:1-3 (first mission ends at "… year of the LORD's favor") |
| The Messiah will come at a date specified | Daniel 9:25-26 |
| The Messiah will be born in Bethlehem | Micah 5:2 |
| The Messiah, as son, will be called out of Egypt, will ease their yoke, bend down to them, feed them | Hosea 11:1-4 |
| The Messiah will enter Jerusalem riding a donkey | Zechariah 9:9 |
| The Messiah will be sold for 30 pieces of silver | Zechariah 11:12,13 |
| The Messiah will be forsaken by His disciples | Zechariah 13:7 |
| The Messiah will enter the Temple with authority | Malachi 3:1 |
Such a large number of fulfilled prophecies
We can also learn from how the missed and rejected the Messiah, even though they had these prophecies. The primary reason was that they followed their own will and desires and did not listen for God to speak. Even when God spoke in a vision to the chief priest, it was misunderstood (John 11:49-52).
1 http://www.clarifyingchristianity.com/m_prophecies.shtml