Prophecy in The Old Testament PDF

What is prophecy? It is a supernatural foreknowledge of future events manifested in words and signs for the good of others. In many ways, prophecy is different from fortune telling. Prophets and fortune tellers are two different people. Prophets are chosen people of God to speak in His name and br...

What is prophecy? It is a supernatural foreknowledge of future events manifested in words and signs for the good of others. In many ways, prophecy is different from fortune telling. Prophets and fortune tellers are two different people. Prophets are chosen people of God to speak in His name and bring His message for all. Fortune tellers are individuals who render service to selected individuals who compensate their services. The message and the gifts of the prophets are from God, while fortune tellers are not. In the Bible, prophets have the gift of prophecy infused by God to warn the people of the things that will come in the future. A person who has the gift of prophecy has a duty to be truthful to it and reveal it for the good of the community. In the Christian faith, the gift of prophecy is a crucial element particularly in understanding the message of the Scriptures. One reason why Christians acknowledge the Bible as inspired word of God is because it predicts future things and events to come, known as prophecy. One very important prophecy in the Bible is the coming of the Messiah, the Savior of Israel and of the whole world. The prophecy about the coming savior is foretold in the Old Testament by many prophets in different time and generation. The prophecy all points out to Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of many prophecies in the Old Testament, and the realization of \"God\'s promise\" to save His creation. What is the main prophecy about Jesus in the Old Testament? as a King. The main prophecy that points to Jesus is the coming of a Messiah (Savior) portrayed The Messiah that was to come, would bring peace with God and with one another. He is a King acquainted with sacrifice and suffering. He is human but also divine. He\'s the Star out of Jacob and the Scepter that rises out of Israel. Numbers 24:17 He is the One who sits on David\'s throne. Isaiah 9:7 He comes with the clouds of heaven to reign over a kingdom where all people, nations, and languages, will serve Him. Daniel 7:13-14 The prophecies of the coming Messiah in the Old Testament were fulfilled in Jesus Christ. In the Gospel of Matthew, the messianic theme of a coming King of kings is realized. Jesus Christ is presented as a man from the lineage of David. He is the \"Son of David, the Son of Abraham\" in Matthew 1:1. He is the King not only of the Jews but of the world, the King who wise men seek to worship in Matthew 2:2. Jesus Christ Himself proclaimed in His teaching that He has a Kingdom, the \"Kingdom of Heaven\" and the day will come when He will return to establish also His Kingdom here on earth (Matthew 26:64). The question about His Kingship was the crime used against Him that led Him to suffering and death on the cross. He was asked directly, \"Are you the King of the Jews?\" to which He replies, \"I am\" in Matthew 27:11. His affirmation of His identity caused severe anger to the leaders of His time and they demanded for His death. On the cross, Pilate put over His head the signs \"This Is Jesus, The King of the Jews.\" The Kingship of Jesus was presented in the Gospel of Matthew as the King of the living and the dead. He triumphantly ruled death by rising from the grave. He also commanded His followers to proclaim to the world that the King who died for our sin and brought salvation to mankind will once again come to rule the world. What is the connection of Jesus to the kings of Old? The Gospel presented Jesus as the \"son of David,\" considered the greatest King of Israel. He is a descendant of David and a rightful heir to the throne of His father. The prophet Nathan (2 Samuel 7:12-17) told David that His kingdom would remain forever and a son from his royal lineage will build the temple (house of God). Solomon the son of David built the temple of Israel; Jesus on the other hand built the temple of God, in every man\'s heart through His Spirit and in His Church. The royal line of David passes to Solomon, and passed to Joseph, the adopted father of Jesus, making Jesus the heir of David. The Gospel of Matthew showed the Genealogy of Jesus (Matthew 1:2-16). The ancestors of Jesus were traced through the lineage of His fathers. Another genealogy of genealogy - family history, tracing the lineages and history of the family Jesus was presented in the Gospel of Luke, but the longer listing of His genealogy was traced back through His mother. What are the other important prophecies about Jesus in the Old Testament? Other notable prophecies that point to Jesus are the following: 1\. The prophecy of the King from the line of David The Lord spoke to Nathan and said: \"Go, tell my servant David, When your time comes and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your heir after you, sprung from your loins, and I will make his kingdom firm. It is he who shall build a house for my name. And I will make his royal throne firm forever. I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me. Your house and your kingdom shall endure forever before me; your throne shall stand firm forever.\" 2 Samuel 4-5a, 12-14a, 16 The promised savior, a King from the line of David, was fulfilled by the incarnation of Jesus, the son of Joseph, the Messiah and Savior of the world. 2\. The prophesy of the Virgin mother of God Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. 3. 180 Isaiah 7:14 The prophecy of Isaiah was made real in the person of Mary, the virgin mother of Jesus. This prophecy is crucial in the role of Mary in the redemption of humankind and in the humanity of Jesus. The prophecy of the suffering Messiah Who has believed what we have heard? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or comeliness that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that made us whole, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the will of the Lord to bruise him; he has put him to grief; when he makes himself an offering for sin, he shall see his offspring, he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand; he shall see the fruit of the travail of his soul and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous; and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he poured out his soul to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. Isaiah 53:1-12 This is the most vivid description of the suffering Jesus. In the passion and death of Jesus, these words of old became all a reality. Jesus is called the suffering Messiah. By His stripes we are healed. There are many more prophecies and symbolisms that point to Jesus. Biblical experts believe that there are around 300 and more passages in the Old Testament that point to Jesus as the fulfillment of the prophecies. Jesus Christ is the new Moses, and the fulfillment of the Law, he is the true high priest from the order of Melchizedek who offered the perfect sacrifice to God, the only Sacrifice acceptable to God, the body and blood of Jesus. The Old Testament could only be understood in the light of Jesus, because everything that is written in the Old Testament is fulfilled in the person of Jesus. Integrating Holistically The Promised Messiah foretold in the Old Testament was already incarnated with us in the person of Jesus. The God who dwelt in us gave us a commandment of Love; to love God and each other. This commandment was taught to us by Jesus, not only with words but by His example. Jesus Christ, although a King, a God who assumed our humanity, was never ashamed to take the image of a servant, in order to show mankind that in being lowly, he/ she will be great. The power of God was best expressed by Jesus in His love for mankind until His death on the cross. God conquered evil by love. The God prophesied in the old became man. He left His mark, His footprints in our world doing His mission, and returned triumphantly to the Father. Jesus as we profess is seated now at the right hand of God, His rightful place. But He never abandoned us. The Eucharist is a memorial of His love for us. The Eucharist is our encounter with Him. He is sacramentally present in the sacred bread and wine, living with us in His Spirit.