Studying God's Word

Jesus in the Prophets:

I love the book of Isaiah. It’s long and beautifully written. Isaiah is one of the four major prophets in the Bible and he ministered from 739 to 680 BC, mostly in Judah but also in Israel. Isaiah contains more messianic prophecies than any other prophetic book. Isaiah is a microcosm of the Bible. If I could only read one book of the Old Testament Isaiah would be my pick. Most people could read Isiah and come to belief in God and accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior without reading or knowing the rest of the Bible.

1. Isaiah 9:6-7 – For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be on His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

New Testament – John 8:58 – Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”

2. Isaiah 53:12 – Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong, because He poured out His soul unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors, and He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

New Testament – Acts 8:32-33 – He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and as a lamb before its shearer is silent, so He opened not His mouth. In His humiliation His justice was taken away, and who will declare His generation? For His life is taken from the earth.

3. Isaiah 62:11- Indeed the Lord has proclaimed to the end of the world: “Say to the daughter of Zion, surely your salvation is coming; behold, His reward is with him.”

New Testament – Revelation 3:12 – He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name.

Jesus in the poetical books:

The Book of Psalms is a collection of poems that were used as a hymnbook for the Hebrew people to sing praises to God. Psalms is a guide for us on how to bare our souls to God for an intimate conversation. It’s okay to be emotional and personal with God. You can’t hide anything from God anyway so you might as well be honest about your feelings. Psalms also points the way how to worship God. The Book of Psalms is the Old Testament book most quoted in the New Testament. The Book of Psalms contains more than 22 messianic prophecies of which I’ll only list a few along with fulfillment verses in the New Testament.

1. Psalms 2:7-8 – I will declare the decree: The Lord has said to Me, You are My Son, today I have begotten You. Ask of Me and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your possession.

New Testament – Revelations 2:27 – He shall rule them with a rod of iron; they shall be dashed to pieces like the potter’s vessels.

2. Psalm 49:15 – But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave, for He shall receive me. Selah

New Testament – Mark 16:6 – But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him.”

3. Psalms 68:18 – You have ascended on high, You have led captivity captive; You have received gifts among men, even from the rebellious, that the Lord God might dwell there.

New Testament – Ephesians 4:8 – Therefore He says: When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men.

4. Psalm 102:16 – For the Lord shall build up Zion; He shall appear in His glory.

New Testament – Revelation 5:10 – Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down.”

5. Psalm 118:22 – The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.

New Testament – John 1:11 – He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.

Jesus in the historical books:

The Bible repeatedly points to Christ as the Lamb of God whose blood would be shed for the remission of our sins and we see numerous examples throughout the Bible of blood sacrifices under the law.

1. 1 Samuel 7:9 – And Samuel took a suckling lamb and offered it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. Then Samuel cried out to the Lord for Israel, and the Lord answered him.

NT – Hebrews 9:22 – And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.

2. 2 Samuel 7:12-13 – When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.

NT – Luke 1:32 – He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David.

3. 1 Chronicles 17:11-12 – And it shall be, when your days are fulfilled, when you must go to be with your fathers, that I will set up your seed after you, who will be of your sons; and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build Me a house, and I will establish his throne forever.

NT – Acts 2:30-31 – Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption.

4. 2 Chronicles 21:7 – Yet the Lord would not destroy the house of David, because of the covenant that He had made with David, and since He had promised to give a lamp to him and to his sons forever.

NT – 2 Timothy 2:8 – Remember that Jesus Christ, of the seed of David, was raised from the dead according to my gospel.

Jesus in the Pentateuch:

The law of Moses, also known as the Pentateuch, is the first five books of the Bible written by Moses during the forty years Israel wandered in the wilderness prior to entering the promised land. We’ve already covered Genesis. I don’t find any reference to Jesus in Leviticus. Each of the remaining three books, Exodus, Numbers and Deuteronomy have verses that clearly reference the coming Messiah. There are several verses in each book but for the sake of brevity I’ll just select one verse from each book with one of the many corresponding fulfillments in the New Testament listed after it.

1. Blessing to the first-born son – Exodus 13:2 – Consecrate to Me all the first-born, whatever opens the womb among the children of Israel, both man and beast; it is Mine.

New Testament – Luke 2:23 – As it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord.”

2. A star out of Jacob – Numbers 24:17 – I see Him, but not now; I behold Him, but not near; a star shall come out of Jacob; a Scepter shall rise out of Israel, and batter the brow of Moab, and destroy the sons of tumult.

New Testament – Luke 1:33 – And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.

3. As a prophet – Deuteronomy 18:15 – The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from the brethren. Him you shall hear.

New Testament – John 6:14 – Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, “This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.”

Jesus in Genesis:

If you love Bible prophecy, you’ll love of the Old Testament because that’s where most prophecy is located. Jesus jumps off the pages of the Old Testament with messianic prophecies in almost all of the 39 books, starting with Genesis.

1. Seed of the woman – Jesus is the seed of the woman mentioned in Genesis 3:15; New Testament fulfillment is recorded in Galatians 4:4 – But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman (Mary), born under the law.

2. Blessing through Abraham – God tells Abraham through his seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. Jesus is a direct descendant of Abraham who will bring salvation to mankind. New Testament fulfillment is in Galatians 3:16 – Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “And to your Seed,” who is Christ.

3. Of the tribe of Judah – In Genesis 49:10, God tells us the Messiah will descend from the tribe of Judah, the fourth son of Jacob, and through King David. The New Testament corroborates this in Revelation 5:5 – But one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals.”

There are at least seven other messianic prophecies in Genesis: 9:27, 12:3, 17:19, 18:18, 21:12, 22:18, and 26:4. Some of these prophecies are redundant but all were fulfilled and documented in the New Testament in the order listed in Luke 6:36, Matthew 1:1, Romans 9:7, Galatians 3:8, Hebrews 11:18, and Galatians 3:8 (twice).

6. John 1:29 – “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” John the Baptist, the prophesied forerunner for the Messiah, made this proclamation upon seeing Jesus for the first time.

John 1:35 – “Behold the Lamb of God!” John the Baptist sees Jesus the next day and again announces to the world who Jesus is, the Messiah, the Christ, the Anointed One of God. God always repeats what is important for us to know. The lamb metaphor maintains the progressive thread of revelation. These verses show us who is the typified Lamb.

7. Isaiah 53:7-8 – “He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth.

He was taken from prison and judgement, and who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgressions of My people He was stricken.” An angel of the Lord instructed the evangelist Phillip to go to an Ethiopian eunuch on the way home and help him interpret Scripture. When the official of Queen Candace asked the meaning of the above verses Phillip told him the good news about Jesus (Acts 8:35). This shows that Jesus the Lamb is the promised Christ.

8. 1 Peter 1:18-21 – “Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.”

This pivotal passage is foundational for the progressive doctrine of the Lamb because it looks both backward and forward. Peter reaffirms the necessity, provision, character, and slaying of the lamb as previously mentioned. Peter then identifies the Lamb as Jesus. Peter goes on to give further revelation of the resurrection of Christ.

9. Revelation 5:6-8 – “And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth.

Then He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne. Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and the golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.” This reveals the enthronement of the Lamb of God in heaven.

10. Revelation 22:3-5 – “And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. There shall be no night there: they need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever.”

Chapters 21 and 22 are the last two chapters of Revelation and they reveal the climax of biblical salvation history. This shows Christ’s everlasting kingship. It also corresponds to the promise of everlasting kingship progressively revealed in each of the covenants God made with Israel from the Abrahamic through the Davidic and on to the New Covenant based on the blood of Christ.

The Bible is God’s progressive revelation of Jesus Christ, each revelation building upon the one before until they reach a climax with the second coming of Jesus Christ to set up His millennial kingdom on the earth. God’s redeeming love is revealed as God and man meet in the one who is the God-Man (Jesus). Not only does God reveal His truths progressively through the Bible, He actually revealed these truths progressively in history as well. All salvation history is progressive and is meant to parallel Scripture. We should all read the Bible remembering that God is laying out His salvation plan in the Bible by progressive revelation of Jesus Christ alongside world history. God’s use of the Bible doctrine of the Lamb is an example of progressive revelation whereby He uses a lamb as a metaphor for Christ. God uses the backdrop of history to progressively reveal that Jesus is the perfect lamb without blemish who will die on the cross to redeem mankind. Please note the ten Bible passages that follow:

1. Genesis 4:4 – “Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and their fat (a lamb). And the Lord respected Abel and his offering”. This shows the necessity of the shed blood of the lamb.

2. Genesis 22:13 – “Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son”. This shows it is God who will provide the sacrificial lamb.

3. Exodus 12:23 – “For the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood (of a lamb) on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and not allow the destroyer to come into your houses and strike you”. This shows the blood of a slain lamb protects those it covers.

4. Leviticus 22:21 – “And whoever offers a sacrifice of a peace offering to the Lord, to fulfill a vow, or a freewill offering from the cattle or sheep (a lamb), it must be perfect to be accepted; there shall be no defect in it”. This shows the sacrificial lamb has to be perfect and without blemish.

5. Isaiah 53:6-8 – “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth.

He was taken from prison and from judgement, and who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgressions of My people He was stricken”. This reveals the sacrificial lamb God will provide for the forgiveness of our sins is a person.

The first messianic prophecy about Jesus occurs in the third chapter of Genesis, immediately after Adam and Eve have fallen into sin by eating the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. As God is administering His judgement for their sin He is unveiling His promise of redemption.

Genesis 3:15 – And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.

God is cursing the serpent (Satan) who caused Adam to sin against God while at the same time announcing the gospel and the Redeemer to come. The offspring or seed of the woman referred to here is Jesus Christ – He is to be born of a woman (Mary), but not by man (Joseph), but sired by the Holy Spirit. Satan will bruise the heel of Jesus by making Him suffer and literally nailing His heel to the cross. Jesus will crush the head of Satan by His triumph over death and the redemption of believers through his sacrificial death on the cross and His resurrection. Jesus would defeat death and reclaim what Adam had lost.

In Genesis we also learn of the Abrahamic covenant whereby God promises Abraham that through him all the nations of the earth will be blessed. This is the gospel message given to Abraham. Jesus is that Messiah, a descendant of Abraham, who will bless all nations by bringing redemption and salvation to fallen mankind by His sacrificial death. All the books of the Old Testament after Genesis are a continuation of this salvation history culminating in the birth, crucifixion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The coming of Jesus to save mankind is the theme of the entire Bible. Without Jesus the Bible doesn’t make sense.

Some people are put off by the Old Testament because they see a vengeful God portrayed in its pages which does not square with their vision of the kinder, gentler Jesus Christ of the New Testament. The Bible is clear throughout that God is unchanging and that He is one God, not two. The God of the exodus who appeared to Israel by day as a column of smoke and by night as a pillar of fire is the same God who appears in the New Testament as the incarnation of Jesus Christ as the suffering Messiah.

Malachi 3:6 – For I the Lord do not change.

Numbers 23:19 – God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind.

I don’t see a stern and vengeful God at all when I read the Old Testament. I see a loving, kind, gentle and soft-hearted God. I see a God who is repeatedly scorned and rejected by His people yet He remains faithful and patient. God’s forbearance can be seen by His giving Israel numerous chances to obey his statutes. God could have ended history when Adam fell in the Garden of Eden but instead He came up with a plan to redeem fallen mankind. The Old Testament presents God’s love, mercy, grace, and patience on an epic scale. In the Bible God says He loves us but God’s actions in the Old Testament shows He loves us.

James 1:17 – Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.

2 Peter 3:9 – The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

With the possible exception of the book of Ester, every book of the Old Testament makes reference to the coming of Jesus Christ to redeem mankind. There are over 60 prophecies in the Old Testament about the Christ, the Messiah, and the man Jesus fulfilled them all as documented in history. Our God is the true God because, as the Author of history, He knows the end from the beginning and He proves it through prophecy. The Bible is one third prophecy (28%) and most of that is in the Old Testament. There are over 1,000 prophecies in the Bible, over 500 of which have been fulfilled as written. No prophecy has failed to be fulfilled at its appointed time. God gives us prophecy not only to prove that He is God but also to let us know what’s coming so we’ll be prepared.

The overarching theme of both the Old and New Testaments is crystal clear: from first to last it’s Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the key to understanding the Old Testament. At first this is not apparent to the average reader. It’s only after reading the New Testament that we are able to look back at the Old Testament and see Jesus clearly in its pages. Our salvation was the message of the Bible and Jesus was the divine vessel through which eternal life was made possible for us. The Old Testament was Jesus prophesied and the New Testament was Jesus fulfilled. We need both testaments to clearly see God’s redemptive plan for us.

The Son of God came down from heaven, took on flesh, and fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies of His birth. There are many ways in which the Old Testament prefigures, anticipates, and predicts Christ and His crucifixion. You may notice that the Bible repeats ideas and themes in different contexts and settings. God does this to show His consistency and faithfulness toward us. The New Testament makes hundreds of references to the Old Testament and Jesus Himself affirms the Old Testament is all about Him. If we have faith in Jesus we must love and revere the Old Testament as part of the eternal Word of God.

Jesus said He didn’t come to do away with the Law but to fulfill it. The Old Testament covenant helps us understand the new blood covenant of Christ Jesus. As Christians we’re lucky we don’t have to look for God or guess why we’re here as do other religions. Almighty God has chosen to reveal Himself to us through general (e.g., nature) and special (e.g., Scriptures) revelations, and that He revealed Himself in person in the incarnation of Jesus Christ.

Romans 1:1-2 – Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God which He promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures.

Romans 1:19-20 – Because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead, so they are without excuse.

During His ministry on earth Jesus followed up by telling us exactly who He is. Jesus could not have been clearer:

John 10:30 – I and My Father are one.

John 14:11 – (Jesus speaking) – Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me.