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that person was not allowed to go back home. If he did so, the avenger was permitted to take the life of
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the murderer (Num. 35; Deut. 19:1-13; Josh 20).

Christ in the Old Testament Prophecy.

There are two types of Messianic prophecies: general and specific Old Testament prophecies. General
prophecies are those where people are discussed in Scriptures as the fulfillers of prophecies when
actually, the language itself points to Jesus as the fulfiller (1 Sam. 2:35). Specific prophecies are those
that are applied directly to the person of Jesus Christ. Those passages contain language which can only
be fulfilled by the coming Messiah. Our focus will be on these specific characteristics of the Messianic
prophecies.

Specific Characteristic of the Messianic Prophecy.

The Messianic Line; His Lineage.
Stated clearly in Genesis 3:15 is the birth of the seed of the woman who was going to crush the
serpent’s head. The subject of a seed is again referenced in Genesis 12:1-3 when God pronounced
incomparable future blessings to Abraham. From Abraham’s seed was to come a great nation. Physically
it was to be made possible through Isaac, but spiritually, through Jesus Christ. The blessing was to the
son Isaac, through whom, the seed (Jesus [Gen 17:19]) was going to come. “Subsequent revelation
traces the lineage through Isaac, Jacob (Gen 28:14), Judah (Gen 49:10), Boaz, Obed, Jesse, and David (2
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Sam 7:12-13).” The lineage of blessing is confirmed by Matthew and Luke in Jesus Christ’s genealogies
(Matt 1:2-16; Luke 3:23-38).

Prophecies of the Birth of Christ (Isa. 7:14-17)
Isaiah 7 opens with God’s conversation with one of the evil kings of Judah, Ahaz (2 Kings
16:3; 2 Chr. 28:3). God told Ahaz that he would receive judgment from both the king of
Israel and that of the Syrians. Ahaz was trusting in the king of the Assyrians—
Tiglathpileser—for protection as he was already paying tributes to him (2 Kings 16:7-8; 2
Chr. 28:16). Isaiah informed Ahaz that as a sign of God’s faithfulness, a virgin was going to
conceive and give birth to a son who would be Emmanuel—God with us (Matt 1:20; Luke
1:34-35). The meaning of the word virgin in Hebrew language can have a wide range of meanings. John
Walton’s addition to the definition of virgin is worthy noting. “There is no defensible logic for suggesting
the meaning ‘virgin’ for the Hebrew ‘alma.’ Exegetical methods lead us to the meaning of ‘youth’ or
‘adolescent.’” Based on the Hebrew term, virgin could mean someone who is of marriageable age and
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has not slept with anyone. Matthew interprets virgin as someone who has never had sexual
intercourse with anyone. Theologically, that is significant for the preservation of Christ’s purity. Since
the Holy Spirit was the father of Jesus, a nature to sin was not passed on to Jesus who was born without
sin.

Prophecies Concerning the Person of Christ.
From Genesis 3:15, we know that God promised to send the seed of a woman to crush the head of
Satan. That means that this seed will be a human being. Micah 5:2 states that the Messiah would be
born in Bethlehem from the tribe of Judah. Walvoord observes that “The combined testimony of these
passages as well as many others leave no doubt that the Messiah when He came was to be both God
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and Man in one person.”

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