Revelation: from the Greek apocalypse, which means the unveiling

Sunday, February 3, 2013

Prophecies About the Birth of Messiah

Last time we looked at the very first prophecy on the Bible, the protoevangelium. Today we are going to look at the prophecies concerning the birth of the Messiah. If you look at the prophecies statistically, the odds of one event being fulfilled is 1 in 5, the odds of two events being fulfilled is 1 in 10, as more and more prophecies are fulfilled by the same person, the odds, of course, will go up. You would have a better chance of winning the lottery than for one person to fulfill all the Old Testament prophecies, yet that is what Jesus did. This can't be a coincidence because the odds are so astronomically large. Only through God can these prophecies have been fulfilled in one person. 

The Messiah must be born of a specific bloodline. The verses narrow the bloodline until there is no doubt.  First Messiah was promised through the seed of Abraham. 
18 and through your offspring[b] all nations on earth will be blessed,[c] because you have obeyed me.” Genesis 22:18
The Messiah was promised through the seed of Abraham's son Isaac.
 But God said to him, “Do not be so distressed about the boy and your slave woman. Listen to whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that your offspring[b] will be reckoned.  Genesis 21:12
The Messiah would come from the tribe of Judah
“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
    though you are small among the clans[b] of Judah,
out of you will come for me
    one who will be ruler over Israel,
whose origins are from of old,
    from ancient times.” Micah 5:2

Messiah would come from the family of Jesse.
A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
    from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. Isaiah 11:1

Messiah would be born of the House of David.
“The days are coming,” declares the Lord,
    “when I will raise up for David[a] a righteous Branch,
a King who will reign wisely
    and do what is just and right in the land.
In his days Judah will be saved
    and Israel will live in safety.
This is the name by which he will be called:
    The Lord Our Righteous Savior. Jeremiah 23:5-6


This is the genealogy of Jesus:

This is the genealogy[a] of Jesus the Messiah[b] the son of David, the son of Abraham:

Abraham was the father of Isaac,
Isaac the father of Jacob,
Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,
Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar,
Perez the father of Hezron,
Hezron the father of Ram,
Ram the father of Amminadab,
Amminadab the father of Nahshon,
Nahshon the father of Salmon,
Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab,
Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth,
Obed the father of Jesse,
and Jesse the father of King David.
David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife,
Solomon the father of Rehoboam,
Rehoboam the father of Abijah,
Abijah the father of Asa,
Asa the father of Jehoshaphat,
Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram,
Jehoram the father of Uzziah,
Uzziah the father of Jotham,
Jotham the father of Ahaz,
Ahaz the father of Hezekiah,
10 Hezekiah the father of Manasseh,
Manasseh the father of Amon,
Amon the father of Josiah,
11 and Josiah the father of Jeconiah[c] and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.
12 After the exile to Babylon:
Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel,
Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,
13 Zerubbabel the father of Abihud,
Abihud the father of Eliakim,
Eliakim the father of Azor,
14 Azor the father of Zadok,
Zadok the father of Akim,
Akim the father of Elihud,
15 Elihud the father of Eleazar,
Eleazar the father of Matthan,
Matthan the father of Jacob,
16 and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah.
17 Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Messiah.  Matthew 1:1-17
This is five separate prophecies written in the Old Testament that were fulfilled in Jesus Christ. 

The next prophecy is that Messiah will be born in Bethlehem.
“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
    though you are small among the clans[b] of Judah,
out of you will come for me
    one who will be ruler over Israel,
whose origins are from of old,
    from ancient times.” Micah 5:2
The fulfillment of this prophecy is found in Luke:
So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehemthe town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them. Luke 2:4-7
Not only is Jesus born of a rare and specific bloodline, but he is born in Bethlehem.
Messiah must be born of a virgin. We can look back at the protoevangelium where it is written that Messiah would be of a woman's seed. 
Therefore the Lord himself will give you[c] a sign: The virgin[d] will conceive and give birth to a son, and[e]will call him Immanuel. Isaiah 7:14
18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about[d]: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet[e] did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,[f] because he will save his people from their sins.” Matthew 1:18-21


26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth,a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called[b] the Son of God.36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. 37 For no word from God will ever fail.”
38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her. Luke 1:26-38


Another prophecy is fulfilled in Jesus. He is of a rare bloodline, he is born in Bethlehem and he is born of a virgin. 

The next two prophecies concern those that came to worship the baby Jesus. First the wise men, or the Kings of the east. 
May the kings of Tarshish and of distant shores
    bring tribute to him.
May the kings of Sheba and Seba
    present him gifts. Psalm 72:10
After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi[a]from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:
“‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
    are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
    who will shepherd my people Israel.’[b]
Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”
After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route. Matthew 2:1-12


The other people that were prophesied to come worship Jesus were the Shepherds. 
May the desert tribes bow before him
    and his enemies lick the dust. Psalm 72:9
And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
    and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told. Luke 2:8-20

There were many babies born in Bethlehem, why would the Kings from the east and Shepherds come to see this one? The only reason is that this baby was special, he had been foretold in the Old Testament and was the fulfillment of the prophecies. 
Now we see that Jesus fulfilled all these prophecies. The odds of this happening by chance is not possible. This was God fulfilling the prophecies. Jesus is the only person that fulfilled these prophecies even before he was born. He could not have done this on purpose since it was all out of his control, he was a baby. Jesus IS the fulfillment of prophecy and the Jewish Messiah. Many Jews are still waiting for their Messiah, they should only look at the Bible and they would see that Jesus is the Messiah and they missed it. After the church is raptured, it will be time for the Jews to acknowledge their Messiah. The 144,000 Jewish witnesses will arise and will reach many Jews with the message that Jesus is their Messiah. Millions and millions will finally believe!




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