A man may pretend to know the future, and by mere coincidence some of his predictions might come to pass. If he knows the climate in a given part of the country, he may prophesy that it will rain on a certain day, and it might happen. Or he may say that someday you will meet a man who has a black mustache, and very likely you will. But should this pretender add some details, as for instance, saying that the rain will start at 2 o'clock and stop at 2:25, or that you will meet that man in a certain city, and specify the date, hour, and the place, there is less chance of its coming to pass. The more detail he adds, the sooner his fraud will be discovered.
But when God speaks of the future, it is as certain of fulfillment in all its details as though it were recorded history; and every detail given but enhances the beauty of the prophecy and displays the divine wisdom of Him who gave it.
The Old Testament abounds with prophecies concerning the first coming of Christ, and the very multiplicity of details concerning Him and His coming leave an "honest and good heart" no room for anything but admiration a n d praise. Let us consider
Some of the Details
The first mention of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ into this sin-stricken world is found in Genesis 3. As soon as sin came in, God made known His purposes concerning the conqueror of Satan in these words to the serpent: "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise His heel." Here the coming One is called t h e "seed" of the woman. That He would come into the world as a babe is further told in Isa. 9:6: "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given." The rest of the verse makes it plain that it refers to the Messiah.
Another point is brought forward in Isa. 7:14: "Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call r His name Immanuel." He was to be born of a virgin.
Next we may trace the line through whom He was to come. It was said to Abraham in Gen. 22:18, "And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." This is the starting point from which to trace the line through whom Messiah must come.
Abraham had Ishmael as well as Isaac, but here again the Word of God is explicit: "As for Ishmael,... I will make him a great nation. But My covenant will I establish with Isaac" (Gen. 17:20, 21).
Isaac then had two sons- Jacob and Esau. Numb. 24:17 will settle it as to which of them shall be in the line: "There shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Scepter shall rise out of Israel."
And when Jacob blessed his sons, he indicated through which one of the twelve sons the Messiah was to come: "The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto Him shall the gathering of the people[s] be." Gen. 49:10.
The line being traced through Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Judah, we shall next see what family in Judah is mentioned: "And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots." Isa. 11:1.
Jesse had many sons, but Isa. 9:7 tells us, "Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David." And, "Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth." Jer. 23:5.
He was to come into the world as a babe, and be born of a virgin, be the woman's seed, and come through Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, Jesse, and David.
Next let us notice the prophecy as to where He was to be born: "But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall He come forth unto Me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting." Mic. 5:2. He must be born in Bethlehem and in "Bethlehem Ephratah," in Judah—not the Bethlehem in Zebulun.
"Daniel the prophet" tells us when the Messiah was to
appear. We shall not go into the notable prophecy of Daniel 9 further than to state that there was to be a time when the Messiah was to appear, and the point of time from which calculations were to be made was definite and precise: "The going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem," which is found in Dan. 9:25. Those who have computed the years marvel at the accuracy with which it was fulfilled, some saying that it was to the very day of His presentation to Israel; and no doubt it was fulfilled exactly.
Then we have the character of His ministry foretold: "The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me; because the LORD hath anointed Me to preach good tidings unto the meek; He hath sent Me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD." Isa. 61:1, 2. "The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding." Isa. 11:2.
He would feed the poor with bread according to Psalm 132:15, and open the eyes of the blind according to Psalm 146:8. The man who had his eyes opened in John 9 said, "Since the world began was it not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind." This was a special miracle reserved for the Messiah. God had acted through prophets in the Old Testament to cure lepers and raise the dead, but of none do we read that they opened the eyes of a blind man.
When John the Baptist became discouraged when he was in prison, he sent some of his disciples to the Lord with a question. The answer they returned from Him was, "Go and show John again those things which ye do hear and see: the blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them." Matt. 11:4, 5. Such was the testimony of the Lord's ministry; He Himself could say, "The same works that I do, bear witness of Me, that the Father hath sent Me." John 5:36.
But when the Blessed One came, according to the prophecies, He was not received, but despised and rejected. This also was foretold in the Old Testament: "He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from Him; He was despised, and we esteemed Him not." Isa. 53:3. And "To Him whom man despiseth, to Him whom the nation abhorreth" (Isa. 49:7).
Not only was He going to be despised, but actually "cut off"—to die. This is plainly stated in Dan. 9:26; after the presentation of Messiah to Israel at the appointed time "shall Messiah be cut off." So His rejection and death were as definitely foretold as His coming.
Isa. 53:8 even lets us know what would precede His being "cut off." "He was taken from prison and from judgment"; or, as given in Acts 8, where the Septuagint translation is quoted, "In His humiliation. His judgment was taken away." In other words, He was to be given a trial, but an unfair one where judgment would be wrested and the innocent One be condemned to death.
Other details of His sufferings from men are recorded thus: "They shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek" (Mic. 5:1).
All they that see Me laugh Me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, He trusted on the LORD that He would deliver Him: let Him deliver Him, seeing He delighted in Him." Psalm 22:7, 8.
"They pierced My hands and My feet" (Psalm 22:16).
"And they shall look upon Me whom they have pierced" (Zech. 12:10).
"They part My garments among them, and cast lots upon My vesture." Psalm 22:18.
Judas, one of His disciples, was to betray Him. "Yea, Mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of My bread, bath lifted up his heel against Me." Psalm 41:9.
"I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none. They gave Me also gall for My meat; and in My thirst they gave Me vinegar to drink." Psalm 69:20, 21.
Scriptures could be multiplied that foretold of His rejection and the manner of it, but these are sufficient to show some of the details that God gave many centuries before His coming.
The first scripture we referred to (Gen. 3:15) indicates a conflict with Satan; this we know took place, first in the wilderness at the beginning of His ministry, and then again at the close.
That He would die for the sins of others was also foretold in Isa. 53:5: "But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed."
Psalm 22 begins with those awful words, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" David wrote the psalm as a prophet, but he was never forsaken of God, nor were his hands and his feet pierced; it is plainly evident that this psalm could refer to no other than Jesus, our Lord. The first words of the psalm are the words used by the Lord Jesus in that cry of abandonment, when He, the holy One, was made sin, and was forsaken of God.
No doubt it was the intent of those who crucified Him between two thieves to bury Him in like manner; but the prophetic utterance was, "And men appointed His grave with the wicked, but He was with the rich in His death" (Isa. 53:9; J.N.D. Trans.), and it had to be fulfilled. So we read of Joseph of Arimathea—a rich man—lovingly giving Him a rich man's burial.
But was He to stay in the tomb? was death to hold Him? No indeed, for the Scriptures said, "Thou wilt not leave My soul in hell [sheol]; neither wilt Thou suffer Thine Holy One to see corruption." Psalm 16:10. "I waited patiently for the LORD; and He inclined unto Me, and heard My cry. He brought Me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set My feet upon a rock, and established My goings. And He hath put a new song in My mouth, even praise unto our [in resurrection victory He associates others with Himself] God." Psalm 40:1-3.
Now, reader, we have but very briefly touched upon the manifold details given centuries before the coming of Christ, which foretold His birth, of whom He was to be born, where and when, His ministry, His reception (or rather rejection), His cutting off, His mock trial, His sufferings (both from man, and for man), His burial, and His resurrection. All these prophetic details, and many more, were precisely fulfilled.
One thing we did not mention was that in many of the scriptures quoted His deity was carefully guarded and maintained-yes, He was and is "God blessed forever," "whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting" (Mic. 5:2). "His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace" (Isa. 9:6).
What a treasure we have in the Bible-the Word of God! May this brief review open our eyes to see more of its beauty, its perfection, and its divine authorship, so that we shall praise Him from whom all blessings flow.