For thousands of years, God sent this message to His people, ” A Messiah is coming, and this is how you will know him…”
There are hundreds of Old Testament prophecies, messages from God, that foretold Jesus’ coming. Each of these prophecies were intended to help the nation of Israel prepare for the savior.
During this second week of advent, the readings will come from Old Testament Messianic prophecies. At the end of the week, I have included a few prophecies that are looking forward to Jesus’ second coming.
Day 1 (Sunday)
The first prophesy that we are looking at is found in Isaiah 7: 14, which says:
” 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 Immanuel.”
In the story of Jesus’ birth is told in the gospels of Matthew and Luke, both accounts mention that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was a virgin.
In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
Mary was greatly troubled by his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, ” Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You’ll be with child and will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God give him the throne of his Father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”
“How will this be,” Mary ask the angel, ” since I am a virgin?”
The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative who’s going to have a child in her old age, and she who is said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God.”
“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered, “May it be to me as you have said.”
Luke 1: 26 -38
Matthew 1 tells a similar story but adds in verse 22, “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel:–which means “God with us.”
Jesus means “the Lord saves,” and He was called the Son of the Most High because in Jesus, fully God and fully man, God truly walked on the earth. Jesus was God with us, and he is still with us (as believers). He is truly Immanuel.
Day 2 (Monday)
The prophet Micah foretold that the Messiah would be born in a little town called Bethlehem.
“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathat, 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. ” (Micah 5:2)
Hundreds of years before Jesus was born, the people knew to look towards Bethelehem. The King of Kings would come from Bethlehem.
Mary and Joseph traveled to Bethlehem and there the Savior was born.
In those days, Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.” (Luke 2:1-7)
Day 3 (Tuesday)
The circumstances of Jesus’ birth fulfilled several prophecies about the Messiah. Today we are going to look at the timing of Jesus’ birth.
Jeremiah 23: 3-6 says:
“I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where i have driven them and will bring them back to their pasture, where they will be fruitful and increase in number. I will place shepherds over them who will tend them, and they will no longer be afraid or terrified, nor will any be missing,” declares the Lord.
“The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called: The Lord Our Righteousness.”
From history and the Bible, we know that the Jews were taken away from Israel because they were not faithful to God. Jeremiah’s prophecy, says that the Messiah would be born after the Jews were gathered back to Israel.
The first Jewish exiles returned to Jerusalem in 538 BC. They worked on building the wall around Jerusalem and then rebuild the temple. The second temple in Jerusalem was completed in 516 BC.
Daniel also prophesied about the timing of the coming of the Messiah. Daniel lived during the time of the exile, but he prophesied in Daniel 9:24-27 that
- there would be a decree to rebuild Jersusalem
- The temple and the city would be rebuilt (see the book of Ezra for the fulfillment of this prophecy)
- The “anointed one” (Messiah) would come after the temple was rebuild, and he would be “cut off” (killed)
- He will end the sacrificial system
- The temple will be destroyed again (fulfilled in 70 A.D. by the Romans)
“Seventy ’sevens’ are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy. “Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven ’sevens,’ and sixty-two ’sevens.’ It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble. After the sixty-two ’sevens,’ the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed. He will confirm a covenant with many for one ’seven.’ In the middle of the ’seven’ he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing of the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.
The importance of the seventy ’sevens’ is difficult to interprate. In Jewish tradition, the number 7 represents completeness. Others have notices that if the 70 ’sevens’ refers to 70 weeks of years (or 490 years) the beginning of Jesus’ ministry is very close to 483 years (7 ’sevens and 62 ’sevens’). This interpretation puts approximate end of Jesus’ ministry at the end of 69 ’sevens’ leaving a final week of years for the 7 year tribulation told in Revelation.
By these two prophecies, the timing of Jesus’ birth fits between the rebuilding of the temple and the destruction of the second temple.
Day 4 (Wednesday)
So far I have focused on prophecies surrounding Jesus’ birth because this is the season. No discussion of Messianic prophecies would be complete without studying the prophecies about the life of the Messiah.
Isaiah 53 is a unique chapter prophesying the ministry of Jesus. It could be called the Gospel according to Isaiah.
| Verse (Isaiah 53:2-12) | Fulfillment |
| 2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. |
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| 3He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. |
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| 4 Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. |
Matthew 8:16-17 When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: “He took up our infirmities and carried our diseases.” |
| 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. |
1 Peter 2: 23-25 When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. |
| 6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. |
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| 7He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. |
Acts 8:23-35 The eunuch was reading this passage of Scripture: “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before the shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth. In his humiliation he was deprived of justice. Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth.”The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?”Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.Luke 22: 66-71 At daybreak the council of the elders of the people, both the chief priests and teachers of the law, met together, and Jesus was led before them. “If you are the Christ,” they said, “tell us.”Jesus answered, “If I tell you, you will not believe me, and if I asked you, you would not answer. But from now on, the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the mighty God.”They all asked, “Are you then the Son of God?”He replied, “You are right in saying I am.”Then they said, “Why do we need any more testimony? We have heard it from his own lips.”Luke 23: 1-23 Then the whole assembly rose and led him off to Pilate. And So Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?” Then Pilate announced to the chief priests and the crowd, “I find no basis for a charge against this man.” But they insisted, “He stirs up the people all over Judea by his teaching. He started in Galilee and has come all the way here.” On hearing this, Pilate asked if the man was a Galilean. When he learned that Jesus was under Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem at that time. When Herod saw Jesus, he was greatly pleased, because for a long time he had Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers and the people, and With one voice they cried out, “Away with this man! Release Barabbas to us!” (Barabbas had been thrown into prison for an insurrection in the city, and for murder.) Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate appealed to them again. But they kept shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” For the third time he spoke to them: “Why? What crime has this man But with loud shouts they insistently demanded that he be crucified, and their shouts prevailed. So Pilate decided to grant their demand. He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and |
| 8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken. |
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| 9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. |
1 Peter 2:21-22 To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.” |
| 10 Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand. |
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| 11After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied ; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. |
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| 12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. |
Mark 15:27 (28)They crucified two robbers with him, one on his right and one on his left. (and the scripture was fulfilled which says, “He was numbered with the transgressors”)*not all Bible manuscripts include verse 28Luke 22:37 “It is written: ‘And he was numbered with the trangsressors’; and I tell you that this must be fulfilled in me. Yes, what is written about me is reaching its fulfillment.” |
Day 5 (Thursday)
Psalm 22 is another vivid prophecy. With remarkably accuracy, David described the scene of the crucifixion of the Messiah.
| Verse (Isaiah 53:2-12) | Fulfillment |
| 1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning? |
Matthew 27:46 “About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a lout voice, “Eloi, Eloi, Lama sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” |
| 2 my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, and am not silent.3 Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the praise of Israel.4 In you our fathers put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them.5 They cried to you and were saved; in you they trusted and were not disappointed. |
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| 6 But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men and despised by the people.7 All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads: |
Matthew 26:67-68Then they spit in his face and struck him with their fists. Others slappet him and said, “Prophesy for us, Christ. Who hit you?”Matthew 27:27-31 Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. They striped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. The put a staff in his right hand and knelt in front of him and mocket him. “Hail, king of the Jews!” they said. They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again. After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him. |
| 8 “He trusts in the LORD; let the LORD rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him.” |
Matthew 27:39-44 Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!”In the same way the chief priests, and the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! He’s the King of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” In the same way the robbers who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him.also Mark 15:29-32 and Luke 23:35, 39 |
| 9 Yet you brought me out of the womb; you made me trust in you even at my mother’s breast.10 From birth I was cast upon you; from my mother’s womb you have been my God.11 Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help. |
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| 12 Many bulls surround me; strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.13 Roaring lions tearing their prey open their mouths wide against me. |
Mark 15:16-20 The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium) and called together the whole company of soldiers. They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him. And they began to call out to him, “Hail, king of the Jews!” Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him. Falling on their knees, they paid homage to him. And when they had mocked him, they took off the pruple robe and put his own clothes on him. T hen they led him out to crucify him. |
| 14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted away within me.15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death. |
John 19:28 Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” |
| 16 Dogs have surrounded me; a band of evil men has encircled me, they have pierced my hands and my feet. |
John 20:25-27 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he [Thomas] said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it.”A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” |
| 17 I can count all my bones; people stare and gloat over me. |
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| 18 They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing. |
John 19:23-24 When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.”Let’s not tear it,” they said to one another. “Let’s decide by lot who will get it.”This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled which said,”They divided my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.”So this is what the soldiers did. |
| 19 But you, O LORD, be not far off; O my Strength, come quickly to help me.20 Deliver my life from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dogs.21 Rescue me from the mouth of the lions; save me from the horns of the wild oxen.22 I will declare your name to my brothers; in the congregation I will praise you.23 You who fear the LORD, praise him! All you descendants of Jacob, honor him! Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!24 For he has not despised or disdained the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help. |
Even through the story of the Crucifixion, the Bible is a beautiful, remarkable book. As you read through the prophecies, you see that everything in the Bible points to Jesus, the Messiah.
Day 6 (Friday)
The season of Advent is a waiting time for Jesus’ arrival. We are waiting for the celebration of His birth, and we are waiting for His triumphant return to earth.
This week, we have read prophecies regarding Jesus’ birth and life. For the last two days of this week, we are going to look and prophecies about the second coming of Jesus.
There are 300 prophecies in the Old Testament that were fulfilled by the Life and ministry of Jesus, and 500 prophecies about his second coming.
As time passed, the prophecies regarding His first coming became more and more specific (i.e. family lineage, ministry, death, etc). Likewise, the prophecies of the second coming became more specific in the New Testament.
The Old Testament prophets, did not seem to clearly understand that the Messiah would come to earth twice.
Zechariah 14 is one example of Messianic prophecy that was not completely fulfilled by Jesus’ ministry.
Then the LORD will go out and fight against those nations, as he fights in the day of battle. On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south. You will flee by my mountain valley, for it will extend to Azel. You will flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the LORD my God will come, and all the holy ones with him.
On that day there will be no light, no cold or frost. It will be a unique day, without daytime or nighttime—a day known to the LORD. When evening comes, there will be light.
On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half to the eastern sea and half to the western sea, in summer and in winter.
The LORD will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one LORD, and his name the only name.
The whole land, from Geba to Rimmon, south of Jerusalem, will become like the Arabah. But Jerusalem will be raised up and remain in its place, from the Benjamin Gate to the site of the First Gate, to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the royal winepresses. It will be inhabited; never again will it be destroyed. Jerusalem will be secure. (Zechariah 14:3-11)
If the Old Testament prophets did not know that there would be a second coming of the Messiah and Jesus did not fulfill all the Old Testament Messianic prophecies, why should we believe that He is, indeed, the Christ?
I mentioned at the beginning of today’s devotional that Jesus fulfilled 300 of the Old Testament Messianic Prophecies. The statistical likelyhood that any one person would fill even 50 prophecies that were made thousands of years before his birth is incredibly tiny, small, minute. When you consider that Jesus filled 300 of the prophecies, the simplest answer is that he was most likely the Messiah.
Secondly, when you examine many of the unfulfilled prophecies, (such as the one above), many of them were partially fulfilled during Jesus’ life. For example, we know that in Matthew 24, Jesus stood on the Mount of Olives and told his disciples about the end times (including prophesing His return). The prophecy was partially fulfilled, and Jesus’s prophecy in Matthew brought the picture into clearer focus.
Day 7 (Saturday)
This is the final day in a rather weighty week. Yesterday I mentioned that Jesus prophesied a second coming in Matthew 24. I would like to end this week with that passage, and I encourage you to anticipate and prepare for His return. Go out and share the gospel with courage.
Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. “Do you see all these things?” he asked. “I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”
As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”
Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.
“Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
“So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand— then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let no one on the roof of his house go down to take anything out of the house. Let no one in the field go back to get his cloak. How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again. If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect—if that were possible. See, I have told you ahead of time.
“So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the desert,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.
“Immediately after the distress of those days
” ‘the sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light;
the stars will fall from the sky,
and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’“At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. 31 And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.
“Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door. I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
“No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left.
Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left. “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.
“Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. I tell you the truth, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’ and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
photos: Sunny Ellis copyright 2007, Clinton Steeds CC-by 2.0,
