Prophecy, a word which evokes all kinds of images in our mind from terrifying scenes of the Anti-Christ and the end of days to a baby in a manger. Prophecy is certainly concerned with prediction of future events, but it is more than just the last days. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines prophecy as follows:
- An inspired utterance of a prophet
- The function or vocation of a prophet specifically: the inspired declaration of divine will and purpose
- A prediction of something to come.
Merriam-Webster has the order right. The proclamation of warnings and admonishments to the people of Israel and their neighbors were much more prevalent than talking about the future. Prophets would speak judgement in God’s name, on nations around Israel and Israel itself.
While speaking about the future is the not the only or even the key role of a prophet, it is a crucial, beautiful one. This role comes into play most significantly in predications about the very Son of God in the Old Testament. I am pointing out the other roles of a prophet as I did not want to add to the impression that speaking of the future is the only or even the main function of a prophet.
The prophets forecast the future of Israel, the surrounding nations, the nations of the North (Babylon and Persia), and the people of the entire world. Our interest lies in the prophecies of the coming Messiah. In this series of posts, we will look at what was said of the second person of the Trinity concerning His earthly advent and His second coming. It is in the predictive passages that we find what we are searching for.
We will find passages that clearly talk of His coming as a baby, living a sinless life, dying for our sin, rising, and ascending to Glory in Heaven. We will also find passages speaking of His return in judgement and for His people, and where Jesus is setting up His eternal Kingdom in a new Heaven and a new Earth. We will also see passages that, at first glance, did not seem to have a prophetic nature but are indicated in the NT to have been fulfilled by Jesus.
We will be learning a great deal about Jesus by looking at each of the prophecies about Him. The very first and most important discovery we will make is that the Son’s first coming and His return are the most planned events in the cosmos. Christ’s death and resurrection were not a plan B because man sinned or Israel could not live up to God’s standard. The coming of Christ was the one and only plan from the foundation of the world (Eph 1:4). God planned so well that He inspired the prophets to speak of Christ’s coming with great accuracy and in amazing detail hundreds of years before the events unfolded. Future posts of our series on Jesus in the Old Testament will examine these amazing expectations about Jesus.
Until the next time we see you here at CultivatingFaith.org, God Bless! #CultivatingFaithOrg