Prophecies About Christ's Life

Last time we discussed all the prophecies that needed to be fulfilled about the birth of the Messiah. We discussed the Old Testament prophecies and the New Testamant fulfillment of those prophecies. We concluded that Jesus fulfilled all those prophecies about His birth. Today I would like to go over the Old Testament prophecies that talk about the Messiah's life and the fulfillment of these prophecies in the New Testament. 
The first prophecy is that Messiah would be preceded by Elijah. 
⁵ “See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. ⁶ He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction.” Malachi 4:5-6
God was exhorting the Israelites to turn their hearts back to Him or else He would strike the land with destruction. Elijah was the Old Testament prophet who confronted King Ahab and Israel when they turned away from worshiping God and were worshiping Baal. This prophecy means that God would send a prophet that would precede the Messiah and pave the way for Him. He would exhort the Israelites to follow Messiah. This verse was fulfilled in the New Testament.
¹¹ Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. ¹² From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been subjected to violence,^[d] and violent people have been raiding it. ¹³ For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John. ¹⁴ And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come.    Matthew 11:11-13
The second prophecy is similar to the first, Messiah would be preceded by a messenger. 

3 A voice of one calling:
“In the wilderness prepare
    the way for the Lord[a];
make straight in the desert
    a highway for our God.[b]
4 Every valley shall be raised up,
    every mountain and hill made low;
the rough ground shall become level,
    the rugged places a plain.
5 And the glory of the Lord will be revealed,
    and all people will see it together.
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” Isaiah 40:3-5
This was fulfilled in the book of Luke in the New Testament:

 ² during the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. ³ He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. ⁴ As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet:

“A voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
    make straight paths for him.
⁵ Every valley shall be filled in,
    every mountain and hill made low.
The crooked roads shall become straight,
    the rough ways smooth.
⁶ And all people will see God’s salvation.’”^[a]

⁷ John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers!Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? ⁸ Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. ⁹ The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”

¹⁰ “What should we do then?” the crowd asked.
¹¹ John answered, “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.”
¹² Even tax collectors came to be baptized. “Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?”
¹³ “Don’t collect any more than you are required to,” he told them.
¹⁴ Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?”
He replied, “Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely—be content with your pay.”                                                                                                                                    ¹⁵ The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Messiah. ¹⁶ John answered them all, “I baptize you with^[b] water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with^[c] the Holy Spirit and fire.  Luke 3:2-15
From these verses it is clear that John is a prophet calling the people to prepare themselves for the Messiah that was coming. 

The third prophecy is that Messiah would be a prophet. 

¹⁵ The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him. ¹⁶ For this is what you asked of theLord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, “Let us not hear the voice of the Lord our God nor see this great fire anymore, or we will die.”
¹⁷ The Lord said to me: “What they say is good. ¹⁸ I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words in his mouth. He will tell them everything I command him. ¹⁹ I myself will call to accountanyone who does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name. Deuteronomy 18:15-19

This prophecy occurred during the time of Moses, he was giving the people the law that they were to obey in obedience to God. This prophecy of a future prophet was in response to their fear of death from hearing the voice of God or of seeing His fire. 
The fulfilment of this prophecy is found in the gospels, or the first four books of the New Testament. Also this verse in Acts:
²² For Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you must listen to everything he tells you. ²³ Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from their people.’^{[a] Acts 3:22-23}
What is a prophet? This is the dictionary definition of a prophet: A person regarded as an inspired teacher or proclaimer of the will of God. Looking back at the life of Jesus we can definitely see that he was a prophet. Even other religions, such as the Muslims agree that Jesus was a prophet.

The fourth prophecy is that Messiah would be called a Nazarene. There is no place in the Old Testament where Messiah is literally referred to as a Nazarene, the word Nazarene is derived from the Hebrew word "nester" which means "branch", "flower", or "offshoot". 
A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
    from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
² The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—
    the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
    the Spirit of counsel and of might,
    the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—  Isaiah 11:1-2
⁸ “‘Listen, High Priest Joshua, you and your associates seated before you, who are men symbolic of things to come: I am going to bring my servant, the Branch.⁹ See, the stone I have set in front of Joshua! There are seven eyes^[b] on that one stone, and I will engrave an inscription on it,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘and I will remove the sin of this land in a single day.         Zechariah 3:8-9
The fulfillment of this prophecy would be found in Matthew.
²³ and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene. Matthew 2:23
We know that Jesus is a branch from the line of King David and in Hebrew he would be called "Nazar", Matthew extends this word to Nazarene.

In the fifth prophecy Messiah would bring light to Galilee. 

Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the nations, by the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan—

² The people walking in darkness
    have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of deep darkness
    a light has dawned.   Isaiah 9:1-2

This is fulfilled in Matthew:


¹² When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he withdrew to Galilee.¹³ Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali— ¹⁴ to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah:

¹⁵ “Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,
    the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan,
    Galilee of the Gentiles—
¹⁶ the people living in darkness
    have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death
    a light has dawned.”^[f]

¹⁷ From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”  Matthew 4:12-17

Jesus began his ministry in Galilee. They were the first to hear his message of repentance and he called his first disciples who were fishermen in Galilee. 

I will continue the prophecies of Messiah's life in the next post. If you have read through the prophecies that I have posted about Messiah's birth and life you will see that they were ALL fulfilled in Jesus. The odds are too great that these prophecies being fulfilled in one person are a coincidence. It is obvious that Jesus must be the Messiah, and if he is the Messiah what does that mean for you? Have you put your trust in him? If not, you can pray a simple prayer and ask him to be the Lord of your life. There is no official prayer and you don't have to go anywhere to pray it, you can pray it where you are. Here is an example:

Heavenly Father, in Jesus' name I confess that I have sinned and ask for forgiveness. I ask that Jesus come into my heart and become my  Lord and Savior. I believe Jesus died for my sins and was raised from the dead.
Thank You Father for saving me in Jesus' name. Amen.

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.
⁶ 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:

² Abraham was the father of Isaac,

Isaac the father of Jacob,

Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,

³ Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar,

Perez the father of Hezron,

Hezron the father of Ram,

⁴ Ram the father of Amminadab,

Amminadab the father of Nahshon,

Nahshon the father of Salmon,

⁵ Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab,

Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth,

Obed the father of Jesse,

⁶ and Jesse the father of King David.

David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife,

⁷ Solomon the father of Rehoboam,

Rehoboam the father of Abijah,

Abijah the father of Asa,

⁸ Asa the father of Jehoshaphat,

Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram,

Jehoram the father of Uzziah,

⁹ 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:

⁴ 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. ⁵ He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. ⁶ While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, ⁷ 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 ² 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.”

³ When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. ⁴ 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. ⁵ “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:

⁶ “‘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]”

⁷ Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. ⁸ 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.”

⁹ 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. ⁹ 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!