At the outset we would draw particular attention to the fact that God has graciously sought to prepare men's minds gradually for the reception of the Gospel message. He might have done otherwise had He chosen. In His kindness and wisdom He has prepared the minds of men to expect a Savior. No other book but the Bible has dared to prophesy such an event hundreds of years before fulfillment.
So we find prophet after prophet foretelling that a Savior would be raised up, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Judah, of David's kingly stock, that He would be born at Bethlehem of a virgin with no human paternity, thus narrowing the sent One of God to a single individual, to the only One of all the millions of the human race, who has come into the world in this miraculous fashion.
To crown all, the prophet Isaiah, seven centuries before our Lord was born into the world, wrote, "Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, THE MIGHTY GOD, THE EVERLASTING FATHER, THE PRINCE OF PEACE." (Isa. 9:66For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)). In this most striking prophecy, Isaiah foretold our Lord's entrance into this world as Man, whilst taking care, at the same time, to affirm His eternal Deity. No uninspired writer would have dared to pen these lines in his wildest dreams, to record such a human impossibility. But Isaiah was inspired of God to write what he did, and he wrote the truth in harmony with the whole tenor of Scripture, which presents our Lord as God and Man, one blessed Person, an inscrutable mystery.
Isaiah likewise prophesied most plainly of a suffering Messiah. So we read the wonderful words, which have been blessed to the salvation of multitudes, "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." (Isa. 53:55But 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. (Isaiah 53:5)).
King David, likewise, prophesied of a suffering Christ about ten long centuries before He hung upon Calvary's cross of shame (Psa. 22). He wrote of hands and feet being pierced. He could not have referred this to himself, for his hands and feet were not pierced. For hundreds of years these words lay an enigma on the sacred page, for crucifixion was a death unknown till the time of the Romans. David further prophesied that the garments of the suffering Savior would be gambled for, and this was literally fulfilled when the Roman soldiers divided His clothing, and cast lots for His seamless vesture. (John 19:23,2423Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also his coat: now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout. 24They said therefore among themselves, Let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be: that the scripture might be fulfilled, which saith, They parted my raiment among them, and for my vesture they did cast lots. These things therefore the soldiers did. (John 19:23‑24)). Surely Old Testament prophecies of the coming Savior are given of God graciously to help our poor unbelieving hearts to receive the most wonderful message that ever fell on human ears.