God
has sent a message through His prophets for us to understand. These prophets
were sent to different generations of people to warn and teach them. God
gradually revealed Himself and His plan for mankind, so that mankind would come
to know Him and trust Him. He sent prophecies years in advance to assure men at
particular times that His plan of salvation was going to be fulfilled.
Though
God’s revelation is progressive, it is the same theme which never changes. This
theme is of the Messiah Saviour who would come and save man from sin. All the
prophets spoke about this Messiah and what He would do. That was God’s message
to men.
There
are numerous evidences that the prophets prior to Jesus knew that a great
Messiah was coming and that He would be far greater than all of the messengers
of God before Him. In His own teaching Jesus Christ spoke of many of the
leading patriarchs and prophets before Him and confirmed that they all foresaw
His coming and knew He would be greater then them.
Let
us look at some examples of what the prophets said about Jesus the Messiah.
1.
The prophet David (c. B.C.1000 )
The
prophet David prophesied so many times about the coming Messiah in the Psalms
(Zabur). Each time he attributed deity to Him. The writer of one of the New
Testament letters, called Hebrews, quoted and applied three of David’s Psalms
to Jesus Christ (Injil, Hebrews 1:5-13). Let us look at these Psalms.
For
example, in Psalm 45 verses 6 and 7, David said of the Messiah, “Your throne, O
God, is forever and ever.” The Messiah is called ‘God’.
In
another Psalm, David wrote of the coming Messiah, “Of old You
laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands.
They will perish, but You will endure; yes, they will
all grow old like a garment; like a cloak You will change them, and they will
be changed. But You are the same, and Your years will
have no end” (Zabur, Psalm 102:25-27).
In
Psalm 110:1 the Messiah bears the title ‘my Lord’, a title carrying implication
of deity since the One who bears this name sits on the right hand of Yahweh, a
supra-angelic position. Some angels are privileged to stand before God (Luke
2.
The prophet Isaiah (c. B.C. 700)
Seven
hundred years before the coming of Jesus, a prophet called Isaiah talked about
His nature. Foretelling the Messiah’s birth, he said, “the Lord Himself will
give you a sign; Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall
call His name Immanuel (which means God-With-Us)” (Isaiah
A
few pages later, Isaiah continues in his prophecy, ‘unto us a child is born,
unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His
name will be called Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father,
Prince of Peace’ (Isaiah 9:6).
Isaiah says that the
Child ‘will be born to us,’ thus affirming the humanity of Jesus.
But he also writes, “a Son will be given to
us.” Jesus was born of a woman - He was born to us, but His birth was of
divine origin - He was given to us.
The prophet Isaiah said that the Son who was to come would be
called:
Wonderful.
This word is generally used in Hebrew to refer to the miraculous work of God. A
miracle is something that is beyond the scope of human ability. In other words,
it is something only God can do.
Counsellor.
His every instruction is wonderful. His opinions are extraordinary. His
recommendations are impressive. His advice is phenomenal. He is the only one
worth listening to. Jesus is the wisdom of God. The promised Son would do
things that only God can do. Just in case we are in any doubt, Isaiah tells us
that this is a word he attributes to God: “This comes from the Lord of hosts,
who is wonderful in counsel and excellent in guidance” (Isaiah 28:29).
Mighty
God. This refers to the divinity and power of
the Child to be born. Jehovah (God) is referred to as “Mighty God” in Isaiah
10:20-21and Jeremiah 32:18. Here in our text, Isaiah used the same Hebrew word
and implied it to the Son (Jesus) who was to be born!
This Child is the one of whom the apostle John
would say 780 years later, “In the beginning was the Word (Jesus), and the Word was
with God, and the Word was God…And the Word became flesh and
dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of
the Father, full of grace and truth” (Injil, John 1:1,14).
Everlasting Father.
This literally means “Father of eternity.”
The rule of the promised Messiah knows no end. His government is like
that of a father. In Jesus Christ we have a love that will not let us go.
Prince
of Peace. Jesus is the exclusive owner of peace. He said,
“Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not
as the world gives do I give to you” (Injil, John
Seven
hundred years after this prophecy, an angel appeared to Mary and said to her,
“Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. And behold, you
will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name
Jesus. ‘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. And He will reign over
the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.’ Then Mary said to the angel, ‘How can this
be, since I do not know a man?’ And the angel answered and said to her, ‘the
Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you;
therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God”
(Injil, Luke 1:30-35).
So, long before a baby
cried in a manger in
3.
The prophet Micah (c.B.C. 700)
Micah foretold the
birthplace of the Messiah. “But to 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” (Micah 5:2). In addition to telling the birthplace of the
King, the Messiah, the prophet was saying that this Ruler is of supernatural
origin and that He was already in existence at that time! In other words, Micah
the prophet was saying that the One who was to be born in
4.
The prophet John the Baptist (A.D. 30)
Before
Jesus began His public ministry, John the Baptist had been preaching. He claimed
that he had come in fulfilment of the prophecy of Isaiah 40:3, “The voice of
one crying in the wilderness: ‘prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in
the desert a highway for our God.’” So it is clear that the One
following John the Baptist is Jehovah, God Himself.
So
the prophets of the Old Testament knew that the Messiah, the Son of God who was
to come would be God.