Remember counting down the days until Christmas when you were a child? The anticipation? There were signs Christmas was coming: decorations, Christmas songs, and gifts showing up under the tree. Even if you were too young to find December 25th on the calendar, you knew when it was getting close.
Throughout the Old Testament, God’s people were eagerly anticipating the coming Savior. Through the biblical writers, God gave clues to when the God-man would arrive. We now call those prophetic passages—they point to a time to come. Today, in our series on Christ in the Old Testament, we’re going to look at a few of these passages.
The first mention of a Savior comes in Genesis 3:15, what we refer to as the protoevangelium, or first announcement of the gospel. In giving the curse, God says to the serpent, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel” (Genesis 3:15). The New Testament tells us Christ overcame Satan, just as this passage predicted (see Hebrews 2:14; 1 John 3:8; Luke 10:18; John 12:31; 1 Cor. 15:24; Col. 2:15).
The prophet Isaiah spoke of the coming Savoir, predicting many details about His birth, life, and death. Here are just a few:
- Isaiah 7:14 says He will be born of a virgin (see fulfillment in Luke 1:26-31).
- Isaiah 9:7 says He will be an heir to the throne of David (Luke 1:32, 33).
- Isaiah 40:3-5 says He will have His way prepared (by John the Baptist, John 1:19-28).
- Isaiah 53:1, 3 says He will be widely rejected (John 12: 37, 38).
- Isaiah 53: 6, 8 says He will be our substitute (Romans 5:6, 8)
- Isaiah 53:9 says He will be buried in a rich man’s tomb (Matthew 27:57).
The book of Psalms also foretold of events that happened hundreds of years later at the cross:
- Jesus was crucified (Psalm 22:16; Matthew 26:56).
- His garments were divided (Psalm 22:18; Matthew 27:35).
- He was given wine with gall (Psalm 69:21; Matthew 27:34, 48).
- He cried out from the cross (Psalm 22:1; Mark 15:34).
- He had no broken bones (Psalm 34:20; John 19:33).
We can praise God today for fulfilling the promise He gave for a Savior! His Word points to Christ as the promised one, the spotless lamb, our redeemer. Thank God today, because He still fulfills His promises to us!
Primary source used: The Woman’s Study Bible
The vast amount of references to the coming Christ in Isaiah alone always astound me. It’s so incredible!