The words of the Old Testament are reliable. Not only is it still studied by millions upon millions of Christians all over the world each and every day, but the Jews hold the first five books of the Bible in high esteem as well. Additionally, people have tried time and time again to disprove the events described in the Old Testament and no one has been able to (or ever will). Lastly, there are scriptures written hundreds of years prior that foretold future events.
Which future event written about in the Old Testament is of the utmost importance? The arrival of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. A book written by Paul Humber points to more than 400 prophecies, appearances, and foreshadowing of Jesus Christ in the Old Testament (see link).
Now, I will not go into all of them in detail for this post. That would take a while to put it lightly. Rather, I will point to key scriptures that both Christians and non-believers would agree describe the conception, birth, life, death, and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (the New Testament fulfillment of these key scriptures will be outlined in the post that follows).
[1] The Virgin Birth: “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14)
- First, the thought of a virgin giving birth is an impossible concept. However, the uniqueness and specificity of this prophecy provide for a clear path that points straight to Jesus. Now, some get hung up on the words “and will call him Immanuel.” He was given the name of Jesus, meaning “The LORD saves.” However, he has also been called Immanuel, meaning “GOD with us.”
- The importance of both names cannot be overstated. Jesus’ name is the one that is above every name and there is power when you speak it. That is why miraculous things happen when they are declared in the name of Jesus and align with His will. But the importance of also being called Immanuel is that God sent His Son to live among us. Thus, his arrival marked the arrival of the Messiah dwelling among us and blessing that generation and the generations that came after and those from the past who believed he would come.
[2] Born in Bethlehem: “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”
- The birthplace of the Messiah is also a very important prophecy that cannot be overstated. Of all the places the Messiah could be born, God chose a small clan from the Tribes of Judah. This points to the humility of the Messiah that was to come but also that we would recognize Jesus as the Messiah based on His birthplace. Additional scriptures not mentioned here also tell of Him coming from the house of David, from which Joseph, his earthly father, came.
[3] His Purpose and Ministry: “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” (Genesis 3:15)
- From the very beginning, God had a plan. When all seemed lost when Adam and Eve were deceived by Satan, it was a tough thing. However, the scripture above shows that even from the beginning, the LORD had foreknowledge of the devil’s plans and he had a plan of His own to crush and defeat every scheme the enemy had against Him. That plan was the Messiah coming to save the world from the original sin that happened on that day. That is why we see Jesus come when He did. The start of his ministry beginning at age 30 led to 3 years of profound impact the world has ever seen brought about by one man. There are prophecies in the Old Testament that even spoke specifically about his ministry. It was foretold the he would begin in Galilee (Isaiah 9:1-2), he would teach in parables (Psalm 78:1-2), preach righteousness to Israel (Psalm 40:9), and would have a miraculous ministry (Isaiah 35:5-6), just to name a few. But what followed was the most important act of love ever given.
[4] His Death: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish?” (Psalm 22:1)
- Sin requires a sacrifice. In the Old Testament, at Passover during the Israelite’s enslavement in Egypt, the Lord required that each family prepare a sacrifice so the angel of death would Passover their household. They were specifications for what could serve as that sacrifice: it needed to be a lamb without spot or blemish, it needed to be killed without breaking any of its bones, and the blood on the doorpost of the house until morning would cause the angel of death to Passover that household and not have their firstborn male child killed.
- Fast forward to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. He was beaten and bruised for us. He hung on a tree and died a criminal’s death, even though he was without sin. It is only because he was without sin that he was able to bear the weight of all sin for all time on that day. However, this meant that Jesus would have to experience separation from the Father for the time at which all sin for all time was placed upon him. This is why he spoke the words of the above verse shortly before he died.
- It was also custom that those being crucified would have their legs broken in order to have them die more quickly. However, when this was to take place, the Roman guard realized Christ Jesus was already dead, and pierced His heart through the ribs to make sure he was truly dead.
- Thus, Christ’s death on the cross was foreshadowed by the Passover lamb. He was without sin, he was killed without any of this bones being broken, and his blood serves as the perfect sacrifice for our sin. His sacrifice truly brought about his Messianic mission to first die for the sins of mankind; and the second part that followed was and will always be the most momentous occasion of the Christian faith.
[5] His Resurrection: “On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; he will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove his people’s disgrace from all the earth. The Lord has spoken” (Isaiah 25:7–8)
- Without the Jesus’ resurrection the power of death is not something we would have victory over. When Jesus died he descended to hell and took back the keys of death. Only his death on the cross had the power the break the chains of sin and death in our lives so that even now we can experience eternal life in this fallen world before we experience it perfectly in the New Heaven and New Earth with the New Jerusalem, the Holy City, as its capital. When it says, “…he will swallow up death forever”, that means IT IS FINISHED like Jesus also said on the cross. He restored the ability of His children to approach Him because of the New Covenant in Jesus Christ’s body and blood on the cross. I could go on and on about the importance of the resurrection, but I will leave it at this:
- The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the most important event in the history of the Christian faith. Paired with his atoning sacrifice through His death on the cross, there is no series of events more important and no sacrifice greater. Glory be to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, for what we could not accomplish for ourselves, He did for us out of his selfless and perfect love. I pray that you will allow the Holy Spirit to change your heart and accept this love that could never be fully expressed or understood by human comprehension.
Jesus Christ is the Messiah. Do not be deceived by the scoffers and those who seek to steal the truth from you. For even the devil and the demons know the truth that Jesus Christ is Lord and shutter. But I pray that you will accept Him whose name is above every other name, Jesus Christ. Grab onto the eternal life predestined for His Chosen Children and share the Gospel to all who will listen. Thank you for reading and may God bless your diligence.
Obviously, I did not cover everything that could have been said about Jesus in the amount of detail that I would have preferred. However, if you would like to read in detail about 55 prophecies from the Old Testament and their New Testament fulfillment, I would strongly recommend the article “55 Old Testament Prophecies about Jesus” by the Jesus Film Project. Thank God for people who have more time than me to lay it out in a more comprehensive manner. The link is below:
https://www.jesusfilm.org/blog-and-stories/old-testament-prophecies.html
Luke 21 Ministries 