Page 63 - Biblical Theology Textbook - masters

David forever. He is the One that God distinctly identified
many years ahead of His arrival on earth, as Acts 3:18
affirms: “But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold
through all the prophets, saying that his Christ [Messiah]
would suffer” (NIV).

Likewise, according to 1 Peter 1:11, the Old Testament
prophets predicted “the sufferings of Christ and the glories
that would follow” (NIV). The Messiah’s coming was not a
secret left in a corner, but the repeated revelation of God to
His people in the Old Testament.

Here are some of the definite clues about this coming that God gave in the Old Testament:

• The Messiah would be the seed/offspring of a woman and would crush the head of Satan
(Genesis 3:15).
• He would come from the seed/offspring of Abraham and would bless all the nations on earth
(Genesis 12:3).
• He would be a “prophet like Moses” to whom God said we must listen (Deuteronomy 18:15).
• He would be born in Bethlehem of Judah (Micah 5:2).
• He would be born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14).
• He would have a throne, a kingdom and a dynasty, or house, starting with King David, that will
last forever (2 Samuel 7:16).
• He would be called “Wonderful Counselor,” “Mighty God,” “Everlasting Father,” “Prince of
Peace,” and would possess an everlasting kingdom (Isaiah 9:6-7).
• He would ride into Jerusalem on a donkey, righteous and having salvation, coming with
gentleness (Zechariah 9:9-10).
• He would be pierced for our transgression and crushed for our iniquities (Isaiah 53:5).
• He would die among the wicked ones but be buried with the rich (Isaiah 53:9).
• He would be resurrected from the grave, for God would not allow His Holy One to suffer decay
(Psalm 16:10).
• He would come again from the clouds of heaven as the Son of Man (Daniel 7:13-14).
• He would be the “Sun of Righteousness” for all who revere Him and look for His coming again
(Malachi 4:2).
• He is the One whom Israel will one day recognize as the One they pierced, causing bitter grief
(Zechariah 12:10).
• He would be GOD WITH US. The Messiah would be God taking on flesh (Isaiah 7:14).

The prophecies about the Messiah were not a bunch of scattered predictions randomly placed
throughout the Old Testament, but they form a unified promise-plan of redemption, where each
promise is interrelated and connected into a grand series comprising one continuous plan of God. Thus,
a unity builds as the story of God’s call on Israel, and then on the house of David, progresses in each part
of the Old Testament.

However, this eternal plan of God also had multiple fulfillments as it continued to unfold in the life and
times of Israel. For example, every successive Davidic king was, at once, both a fulfillment in that day as
well as a promise of what was to come when Christ, the final One in the Davidic line, arrived. Each of
these successive fulfillments gave confidence that what was in the distant future would certainly

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