The Bible is the word of God. In it is the account of His creation of the universe, how He placed humankind at the most prominent position of His conceptions, how they turned against Him, and how, out of His immeasurable love and mercy, He offered His own Son for their salvation.
In our journey together, we have come to the moment for introducing the Messiah; and God tells us about Him throughout the Bible. Indeed, He is introduced to us at the point of Jehovah’s creation of humankind:
Then God said, “Let Us (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) make man in Our image, according to Our likeness [not physical, but a spiritual personality and moral likeness]… Gn. 1:26 AMP
What you say? The Messiah was present before He was born of the virgin Mary? Absolutely. God verifies it through the apostle John:
He was [continually existing] with God. All things were made and came into existence through Him; and without Him not even one thing was made that had come into being. Jn. 1:2, 3. AMP
If the Messiah was present before creation, because creation was facilitated through Him, He must have been by God’s side before the beginning of time. Jesus Himself affirms this through His prophetic revelations about the end of time:
These are the words of the Amen, the trusted and faithful and true Witness, the Beginning and Origin of God’s Creation: Rv. 3:14 AMP
Going back to Gn. 1:26 above, we see that Jehovah equated the Messiah’s image with His own. Indeed, God tells us through the apostle Paul, that Their images are exactly the same:
He is the exact living image [the essential manifestation] of the unseen God [the visible representation of the invisible], He is the firstborn [the preeminent one, the sovereign, and originator] of all creation. Col. 1:15 AMP
Jesus told us that God is a Spirit being (Jn. 4:24). Thus, prior to Christ’s incarnation on the earth, He too must have been fully Spirit in nature, because heaven does not accommodate human forms in our present state (1 Cor. 15:50).
Moses was Jehovah’s first prophet. God revealed through him that after the fall of Adam and Eve, He came to the devil and cursed him:
“And I will put enmity (open hostility) between you and the woman, and between your seed (offspring) and her Seed; He shall [fatally] bruise your head, and you shall [only] bruise His heel.” Gn. 3:15 AMP
This scripture is referred to as the ‘Protoevangelium:’ (the first messianic prophecy in the Bible), wherein it refers to the battle between the forces of good [Eve and her descendants – including Jesus (her Seed) and His followers] and evil (Satan and his co-conspirators), throughout the ages.
The prophecy tells us that Satan will bruise Christ’s heel (at His crucifixion), but that Jesus would overcome that (through His resurrection), and ultimately deliver a deathly blow to the devil (Rm. 16:20).
In a parallel time-frame as Moses’ book of Genesis, the book of Job (see An Uncharacteristic Model of Patience and Faith), also tells of the coming of the Messiah:
“But as for me, I know that my redeemer lives, and he will stand upon this earth at last. And after my body has decayed, yet in my body I will see God!” Jb. 19:25, 26. NLT
Continuing forward in the Mosaic narrative, to the time of the imminent death of Jacob, he gathers his children together and prophesies about their collective futures. When he speaks to his son Judah, he says:
“The scepter [of royalty] shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until Shiloh [the Messiah, the Peaceful One] comes, and to Him shall be the obedience of the peoples.” Gn. 49:10 AMP
Christ would be a descendant of King David, of the tribe of Judah. Note that Jesus was referred to as the ‘Lion of the tribe of Judah’ (Rv. 5:5).
Going back to Moses, near the end of his days, God inspired him with another prophecy (1400 years before Jesus’ earthly visitation):
“I will raise up a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites. I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell the people everything I command him.” Dt. 18:18 NLT
Thus, the Messiah will be of Jewish descent when He is incarnated, and He will speak for God.
Taking a 400-year leap in time, God brings a similar messianic revelation to the prophet Samuel, who reveals it to Kind David – telling of the nature of his dynasty, first through his son Solomon, and culminating with the birth of the Messiah:
“…I will raise up one of your descendants, your own offspring, and I will make his kingdom strong. He is the one who will build a house – a temple – for my name. And I will secure his royal throne forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son.” 2 Sam. 7:12 – 14. NLT
No human has a forever throne. God is referring to Christ’s spiritual kingdom.
King David himself was also Holy Spirit-inspired with messianic prophecies:
For the Lord declares, “I have placed my chosen king on the throne in Jerusalem, on my holy mountain. The king proclaims the LORD’s decree: “The LORD said to me, ‘You are my son. Today I have become your Father. Only ask, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance, the whole earth as your possession.” Ps. 2:6 – 8. NLT (see also Acts 13:33; Heb. 1:5).
So, what we know so far is that the Messiah is the Son of God, He’s been around since before time began, and that He will have an eternal kingdom.
King David received another Holy Spirit vision, revealing Jesus’ own description of parts of His crucifixion – chillingly accurate, even though it predates the actual event by 1000 years:
My enemies surround me like a pack of dogs; and an evil gang closes in on me. They have pierced my hands and feet. I can count all my bones. My enemies stare at me and gloat. They divide my garments among themselves and throw dice for my clothing. Ps. 22:16 – 18. NLT
Even King Solomon was blessed with a vision of the Messiah’s kingdom to come:
He will judge your people with righteousness and the poor with justice…In His days the righteous shall flourish, and abundance of peace, until the moon is no more. He shall have dominion from sea to sea…all kings shall fall down before Him; all nations shall serve Him…His name shall endure forever… Ps. 72:2, 8, 11 & 17. NKJV
Now, we must make another 300-year time jump to the approximate time of 740 – 710 B.C., to the preeminent prophet of the Old Testament, Isaiah, whom we’ve already visited (see Bringing Hope to the Darkness 5). Yet, at that time, I did not discuss his messianic visions, saving them for this post.
He begins:
“…the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us.’).” Is. 7:14 NLT
The only virgin birth recorded in the Bible is that of Jesus.
The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined. Is. 9:2 NKJV
For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His government and its peace will never end. He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David for all eternity. Is. 9:6, 7. NLT
So, the Messiah (Christ) will bring the light of God to the people who have suffered at the hands of darkness (Satan), and establish an eternal kingdom of peace and righteousness for all. (As for all those names for the Messiah, we’ll break that down very soon.)
Out of the stump of David’s family will grow a shoot – yes, a new Branch bearing fruit from the old root. And the Spirit of the LORD will rest on him – the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. He will delight in obeying the LORD. He will not judge by appearance nor make a decision based on hearsay.
He will give justice to the poor and make fair decisions for the exploited. The earth will shake at the force of his word, and one breath from his mouth will destroy the wicked. He will wear righteousness like a belt and truth like an undergarment. Is. 11:1 – 5. NLT
And now the LORD speaks – the one who formed me in my mother’s womb to be his servant… “You will do more than restore the people of Israel to me. I will make you a light to the Gentiles, and you will bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.” Is. 49:5, 6. NLT
We are reminded again that Jesus’ earthly incarnation will descend from the line of Jesse (King David’s father). He will be filled with the Holy Spirit and will exercise that power to righteously judge those who do their best to seek God and live by His precepts.
Also, we see that Christ is God’s light for all peoples – Jews and Gentiles alike. Now, Isaiah shifts his prophetic revelations from who the Messiah is, to what He will experience on earth:
I offered my back to those who beat me and my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard. I did not hide my face from mockery and spitting. Because the Sovereign LORD helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore, I have set my face like a stone, determined to do his will. Is. 50:6, 7. NLT
That is an exact description of how Jesus was treated just prior to His crucifixion.
Miracles aside, God sent His Son in the form of a humble ordinary man – to save humble ordinary people:
There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him. He was despised and rejected – a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care. Is. 53:2, 3. NLT
Yet in spite of His atrocious reception, He willingly laid down His life, to pay the price for our self-induced sins, so that all would have the potential for redemption:
Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins! But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed.
All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s path to follow our own. Yet the LORD laid on him, the sins of us all. He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word. Is. 53:4 – 7. NLT
Lastly, let’s consider some of Isaiah’s near contemporaries for the closing of the Old Testament picture of the Messiah: (see also Dn. 7:9 – 14, previously discussed here).
“But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, are only a small village among all the people of Judah. Yet a ruler of Israel, whose origins are in the distant past, will come from you on my behalf.” Mi. 5:2 NLT
He will stand and shepherd them in the strength of the LORD, in the majestic name of the LORD his God. They will live securely, for his greatness will extend to the ends of the earth. He will be their peace. Mi. 5:4, 5. CSB
Thus, the prophet Micah pinpoints where the Messiah will be born, and that He comes in the name of His Father.
The prophet Jeremiah gives us another name for our Messiah:
“…this is the name by which He will be called, ‘The LORD our righteousness.’ “ Jer. 23:6 NASB
Finally, we hear from the prophet Zechariah:
“Rejoice, O people of Zion! Shout in triumph, O people of Jerusalem! Look, your king is coming to you. He is righteous and victorious, yet he is humble, riding on a donkey…” Zec. 9:9 NLT
“On that day a fountain will be opened for the dynasty of David and for the people of Jerusalem, a fountain to cleanse them from all their sins and impurity.” Zec. 13:1 NLT
Jesus did ride triumphantly into Jerusalem on a donkey. The rest is history…
Every year, I write a post about Easter (or ‘Resurrection Sunday’ for the politically correct churches). I thought that this year I would instead introduce you to how God set the stage throughout history for His Son, and just how majestic He is. I hope you enjoyed it.
Praise God for His Son!
Goodnight and God bless.