Old Testament Prophecies concerning Jesus Christ
Part Two
Prophecy of His Resurrection-- Psalms 16: 8-10 Matt 28: 5-7 Psalm 16:8-10 (NKJV)
8 I have set the Lord always before me; Because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; My flesh also will rest in hope. 10 For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption
Matthew 28:5-7 (NKJV)
5 But the angel answered and said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. 6 He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come see the place where the Lord lay. 7 And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him. Behold, I have told you.”
This prophecy in Psalms is fascinating on many accounts. However, in verse 8, God refers to the Lord, not my Lord. In all other scriptures, the writer refers to Jesus as my Lord. This indicates who is speaking, God Himself. In verse 10, He says that ‘my soul will not stay in Sheol (the grave),’ meaning that He is Jesus. They are one and the same.
Prophecy of His Humility and perfection -- Zech. 9-9 Matt 21:5
Zechariah 9:9 (NKJV)
The Coming King
9 “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, Lowly and riding on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey.
Matthew 21:5 (NKJV)
5 “Tell the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your King is coming to you, Lowly, and sitting on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey.’
Mark 11:2-4 (NKJV)
2 and He said to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and as soon as you have entered it, you will find a colt tied, on which no one has sat. Loose it and bring it. 3 And if anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord has need of it,’ and immediately he will send it here.”
4 So they went their way and found the[a] colt tied by the door outside on the street, and they loosed it.
The book of Mark was the first of the Gospels. It was probably written in the year 55 and is most likely the memories of Peter, who was in Rome awaiting his execution. Mark was Peter’s scribe and took down his first-hand accounts of Jesus as a servant and a sacrifice.
His Atonement-- Lev. 17:11 Matt 26:28, John 1:29
Leviticus 17:11 (NKJV)
11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.’
Matthew 26:28 (NKJV)
28 For this is My blood of the new[a] covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
John 1:29 (NKJV)
The Lamb of God
29 The next day, John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
Leviticus was the third book of Moses and was the Lawbook of God. It also set the rules on the sacrificial practices to do away with sin. This verse tells of a blood sacrifice, such as Jesus became, years later.
Prophecy of His Return, Second Coming-- Psalms 50:3-6-- Matt 24:30
Psalm 50:3-6 (NKJV)
3 Our God shall come and shall not keep silent; A fire shall devour before Him, And it shall be very tempestuous all around Him.
4 He shall call to the heavens from above, And to the earth, that He may judge His people: 5 “Gather My saints together to Me, Those who have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.” 6 Let the heavens declare His righteousness, For God Himself is Judge. Selah
Matthew 24:30 (NKJV)
30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
Both of these prophecies refer to His second coming. The first coming was as a sacrificial lamb to cleanse us of our sins. The second coming is when Jesus comes as a King. After we complete the ‘Great Commission,’ He returns for His church. There are many prophecies in Revelations and other New Testament books regarding His second coming.
Prophesies of His Mission-- Isaiah 42:1,6-7 ---Matt 4:23, Luke 2:32
Isaiah 42:1 (NKJV)
The Servant of the Lord
42 “Behold! My Servant, whom I uphold, My Elect One in whom My soul delights! I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles.
Isaiah 42:6-7 (NKJV)
6 “I, the Lord, have called You in righteousness, And will hold Your hand; I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people, As a light to the Gentiles, 7 To open blind eyes, To bring out prisoners from the prison, Those who sit in darkness from the prison house.
Matthew 4:23 (NKJV)
23 And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the Gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people.
Luke 2:32 (NKJV)
32 A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, And the glory of Your people Israel.”
In the book of Isaiah, God is telling us that He is sending His Son to serve His people. But, significantly, God is also informing us that Jesus will reach out to the Gentiles as well. All of mankind
Prophecy of His Miracles-- Isaiah 35: 5-6--- Matt 11: 4-5, John 21:25
Isaiah 35:5-6 (NKJV)
5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, And the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. 6 Then the lame shall leap like a deer And the tongue of the dumb sing. For waters shall burst forth in the wilderness, And streams in the desert.
Matthew 11:4-5 (NKJV)
4 Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: 5 The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up, and the poor have the Gospel preached to them.
John 20:30-31 (NKJV)
30 And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.
John 21:25New King James Version (NKJV)
25 And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen.
Acts 8:7 (NKJV)
7 For unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed; and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed.
John was the closest to the Savior. Jesus allowed him to care for His mother, Mary. A sure sign of love and respect for the disciple, John. The Gospel of John was written between the years 50AD and 70AD. He was also the author of three epistles and the Book of Revelation.
The Book of Acts was written by Luke as a follow-up to Luke’s Gospel. It deals with the beginning of the church and the ministries of Paul and Peter. There has been speculation that Luke was going to write a third in a trilogy. Acts ends, leaving the story incomplete. There may have been another book to be written by Doctor Luke. But that theory was only speculation.
However, the point of the comparisons is that we were told by God, through Isaiah, that the savior, Jesus, would perform many miracles, and the New Testament bears this out.
Prophecy of His willingness to Die-- Psalms 40: 8 Matt 26:39, John 4:34
Psalm 40:6-8 (NKJV)
6 Sacrifice and offering You did not desire; My ears You have opened. Burnt offering and sin offering You did not require. 7 Then I said, “Behold, I come; In the scroll of the book, it is written of me. 8 I delight to do Your will, O my God, And Your law is within my heart.”
Matthew 26:39 (NKJV)
39 He went a little farther and fell on His face and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”
John 4:34 (NKJV)
34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work.
It is interesting to see that the Psalmist writes of the Savior's willingness to do the Father’s will, even to death.
It is inconceivable for the Creator of all things to allow His beloved Son to sacrifice Himself for us. No other ‘religion’ in this world would ask their god to die for his followers. The fact that God’s will makes no sense to us is proof of its authenticity.
Prophecy of His unjust Suffering-- Isaiah 50:6,53:5--- Luke 23: 41,
Isaiah 50:6 (NKJV)
6 I gave My back to those who struck Me, And My cheeks to those who plucked out the beard; I did not hide My face from shame and spitting.
Isaiah 53:9 (NKJV)
9 And they[a] made His grave with the wicked— But with the rich at His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was any deceit in His mouth.
Luke 23:41 (NKJV)
41 And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.”
1 Peter 2:22 (NKJV)
22 “Who committed no sin, Nor was deceit found in His mouth”; [a]
Isaiah tells us that the Savior was sinless and was put into a grave with the wicked. A very detailed prophesy that indeed came to pass. There is surely no way that Jesus and His disciples could have planned his death and burial to suit the Old Testament prophecies. The disciples didn’t even know He was going to rise in three days.
Prophecies of His offer of Virgin birth— Isaiah 7:14--- Matt 1: 23
Isaiah 7:14 (NKJV)
14 Therefore, the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.[a]
Matthew 1:23 (NKJV)
23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”
Prophecy of the Coming Messiah from Bethlehem Micah 5: 2--- Matt 4: 10
Micah 5:2 (NKJV)
2 “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, From everlasting.”
Matthew 2:6 (NKJV)
6 ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, Are not the least among the rulers of Judah; For out of you shall come a Ruler Who will shepherd My people Israel.’”[a]
At the time of the prophecy of Micah, Bethlehem was a little town out in the desert and very unsuitable for a King to come from.
In addition to these scriptures, the entire chapter 53 of Isaiah is devoted to prophesy and is a fascinating read. In the Jewish faith, there has always been a test of a prophet that we see running throughout the Old Testament. The Old Testament prophets would be tested by writing a prophecy that would be fulfilled shortly. This way, it would be determined if he were a true prophet. Then he would be trusted to prophesy for the far future. If any mistakes were made in the early prophesies, he would not be believed for future events. In some cases, it could mean the death of the false prophet. All the Old Testament prophets passed this test with 100% accuracy. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, and all the others were trusted men of God. What they wrote could be relied on as the truth of God through the Holy Spirit who guided these men of old. God spoke through them to inform the Jews that their Messiah was coming. Unfortunately, many didn’t listen or understand what was told to them. If the prophecies were right about the first coming of Jesus (and they were), we can believe the Bible about His second coming. There is as much in the Old and New Testaments regarding His second coming as about His first. This is coming soon; by all accounts, we are in the endtimes Jesus Himself told us about. There are well over three hundred Old Testament prophecies regarding the first coming of Jesus. Some try to say that the disciples fabricated the stories to fit the prophecies. This can’t be correct. There were too many eye-witnesses who could have disputed their accounts. For example, the Piercing of Jesus' side while on the cross is prominent. None of Jesus' bones were broken as predicted in Zechariah and Psalms. If the disciples had fabricated these stories, plenty of Pharisees, scribes, and Roman soldiers were there to participate in the crucifixion and would contradict them. None of that happened. Certainly, the Pharisees would have said something to disprove Jesus' claim of being the Son of God. But they never did. There is no place in the writings of those who were first-hand witnesses, either for or against Jesus, who contradicted the Gospel.
Zechariah 12:10 (NKJV)
10 “And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.
Psalm 34:19-22 (NKJV)
19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the Lord delivers him out of them all. 20 He guards all his bones; Not one of them is broken. 21 Evil shall slay the wicked, And those who hate the righteous shall be condemned. 22 The Lord redeems the soul of His servants, And none of those who trust in Him shall be condemned.
John 19:33 (NKJV)
33 But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs.
John 19:36 (NKJV)
36 For these things were done that the Scripture should be fulfilled, “Not one of His bones shall be broken.”[a]
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