A Biblical Vision, Part I: Mastering the Old Testament Witness to Christ

Ses s i on 6: The Ol d Tes tament and the Fu l f i l lment of Mes s i an i c Pred i c t i ons 101

2. Prophecies about Messiah can illumine our understanding of the meaning of Jesus’ interpretation of Scripture.

1 John 5.5 Who is it that

overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

3. Augustine’s adage of the Old Testament being revealed in the New Testament, and the New Testament being concealed in the Old Testament is clearly illustrated in Messianic prophecy.

4. Nothing unifies our treatment of Scripture more than seeing the obvious connections which exist between Jesus of Nazareth and the expected Messiah .

II. Old Testament Messianic Prophecies Which Give Witness to Christ and His Kingdom: An Outline

The Books of Prophecy and the Expectation of Messiah Jesus

The Books of Prophecy look forward to Christ in expectation. The earlier prophets (Hosea, Joel, Amos) expect a national restoration by the Messiah. Isaiah and Micah predict international salvation through the coming of Christ. But Obadiah, Jonah, Nahum, Habakkuk and Zephaniah warn of God’s retribution on the nations. Lamenta tions grieves over God’s retribution on his people but Jeremiah looks for a covenantal reaffirmation in Christ. Ezekiel expects the nations religious restoration and Daniel predicts its political restoration. After the Babylonian captivity Haggai and Zechariah exhort the people in their religious reconstruction and Malachi in their social and moral reconstruction, as they await the coming of the “Sun of righteousness [that shall rise, with healing in its wings]” (Mal. 4.2).

~ Norman Geisler. A Popular Survey of the Old Testament . p. 228.

A. Prophecies concerning the birth of Jesus Christ

1. The ministry of Christ’s forerunner, Mal. 4.5-6 – Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. [6] And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.