Prophecy of the First Coming Of The Lord
Prophecy of the First Coming Of The Lord • Sermon • Submitted
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The Lord Jesus Christ’s coming was foretold by our sovereign God. In Luke 1 we see that Mary was visited by a special messenger, Gabriel.
The mention of Gabriel was not random or an accident. This is the same angel who had visited Daniel 550 years prior to give a prophecy concerning the coming Messiah.
Most scholars age that here are about 300 prophecies in the Old Testament that relate to the First Coming of the Messiah. But, these are not 300 different prophecies. Many, like the prophecy that the Messiah will be born of the seed of Abraham, are repeated several times.
When all the repetitive prophecies are culled out, there remain slightly more than one hundred distinctively different, specific prophecies about the Messiah's First Advent.
These prophecies are outlined in detail later in this chapter.
Prophetic Types Of Christ
In addition to the specific prophecies, there are many prophecies in type which point to various aspects of the First Advent.
Prophecy in type is symbolic prophecy.
Paul refers to this kind of prophecy in Romans 5:14
14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.
where he points to Adam as "a type of Him who was to come."
The author of Hebrews also refers to it when he states that the High Priest and the Tabernacle were a "shadow of heavenly things" Hebrews 8:5
5 Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.
The Gospels relate that Jesus spent some of the 40 days between His resurrection and ascension teaching the Scriptures to His disciples. Luke says "He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures"
25 Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken:
I suspect that much of His teaching focused on prophecy in type. He most likely went through the Torah, scroll by scroll, and showed them how to find Him in every column, hidden in prophetic types.
A good example is Boaz in the book of Ruth.
He is a beautiful prophetic type of Jesus because he is a Kinsman-Redeemer who takes a Gentile bride. \
In like manner, Hosea and his tumultuous relationship with his prostitute wife pictures God's relationship with His unfaithful wife, Israel, and His willingness, in His perfect love, to pay the price of redemption to make it possible for His wife to be reconciled to Him.
Nehemiah tells us that the Judges were "Saviors" (Nehemiah 9:27
27 Therefore thou deliveredst them into the hand of their enemies, who vexed them: and in the time of their trouble, when they cried unto thee, thou heardest them from heaven; and according to thy manifold mercies thou gavest them saviours, who saved them out of the hand of their enemies.
and in that sense, they pointed to the ultimate Savior, the Messiah.
Joshua, Jeremiah, and Daniel all give us insights about the faith, courage, and compassion of the Messiah.
Joshua and Jesus even had exactly the same name - Yeshua, meaning the Salvation of God. "Joshua" is an English transliteration of the Hebrew name, Yeshua, and "Jesus" is a transliteration of the same name from the Greek.
Jesus identified Jonah as a prophetic type.
He pointed out that just as Jonah had been entombed three days in the belly of a great fish, He likewise would be entombed in the earth for three days (Matthew 12:38-40
38 Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee.
39 But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas:
40 For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
Abraham's experience
in offering his son Isaac as a sacrifice is one of the foremost prophetic types in the Old Testament (Genesis 22). It is the picture of a loving father willing to sacrifice his innocent son. The event even took place on Mt. Moriah where Jesus would later be crucified. This event is specifically referred to in the New Testament as a prophetic type pointing symbolically to the death and resurrection of Jesus Hebrews 11:19).
Prophetic Anti-Types
Another major Old Testament figure who serves as a type of Christ is Adam, although he is really more of an anti-type. An anti-type is a negative symbol that points to positive truths. Adam's anti-typical prophetic nature is illustrated below in
Satan is an anti-type of Christ. His weaknesses point to Jesus' strengths. For example, the basic sin that caused his fall was pride (Isaiah 14:13-14
13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
By contrast, Jesus was the essence of humility (Philippians 2:5-8
5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
Satan's agent in the Tribulation, the Antichrist, will also be an anti-type of the true Christ.
Whereas the Antichrist will be a deceiver, a liar and a blasphemer (Revelation 13:1-6
1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.
2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.
3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.
4 And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?
5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.
6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.
Jesus Christ will return as the "Faithful and True" One Revelation 19:11).
First Advent Prophecies in the Old Testament
Ceremonial Types
Much of the ceremonial law in the Law of Moses is deeply steeped in symbolic typology related to the First Advent. All the various types of sin offerings (Leviticus 1-6) pointed the worshiper to the Messiah who would serve as the perfect and all-sufficient offering for all our sins.
This is one of the themes of the book of Hebrews. Comparing the sacrifice of animals under the Law to the sacrifice of Jesus, the book of Hebrews says:
13 For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh:
14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
One of the most detailed ceremonial types of the Messiah to be found in the Old Testament scriptures is the Tabernacle of Moses. Every aspect of the Tabernacle was prophetic of the Messiah. See Figure 2 on the next page.
The Ark of the Covenant
The Holy of Holies contained the Ark of the Covenant. Everything about the Ark was symbolic of the Messiah. It was made of wood, indicating the Messiah would be a human. It was overlaid with gold, signifying the Messiah would be divine.
It contained three objects - the tablets of stone,
a pot of manna,
and Aaron's rod that budded.
The tablets signified that the Messiah would have the Law of God in His heart.
The manna meant the Messiah would be the Bread of Life.
51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.
The rod with blooms was a prophecy that the Messiah would arise from the dead.
The lid of the Ark was called the Mercy Seat.
Once a year the High Priest sprinkled blood on the Mercy Seat to atone for the sins of Israel. The Mercy Seat pointed to the fact that through the work of the Messiah the mercy of God would cover the Law. The blood foreshadowed the fact that the Messiah would have to shed His own blood to atone for our sins.
Jesus fulfilled every prophetic type of the Ark. He was God in the flesh (John 10:30
30 I and my Father are one.
He had the Law in His heart (Matthew 5:17
17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
He declared Himself to be the "Bread of Life" (John 6:35). And He shed His blood on the Cross, atoning for our sins and covering the Law with Grace (Romans 3:21-26).
Historical Types
Even some historical events are prophetic types.
A dramatic example is the Passover experience (Exodus 12).
To prevent the death of the first born of both man and beast in each family on the day that the Lord passed over Egypt, each Jewish family had to slay a lamb and put its blood on the doorposts and lintels of their houses. This was a prophetic symbol that the salvation of all men would be made possible through the sacrifice of the Lamb of God and the appropriation of His blood.
Another historical event with prophetic significance occurred in the Wilderness when the Children of Israel were attacked by fiery serpents (Numbers 21:4-9
4 And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way.
5 And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread.
6 And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.
7 Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord, and against thee; pray unto the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.
8 And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.
9 And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.
A bronze serpent was placed on a pole and lifted up for all to see. Those bitten by the snakes were told to look upon the bronze serpent for healing.
That bronze serpent was a type of Christ.
Just as the Israelites bitten by the fiery serpents died, so men bitten by Satan's serpent of sin must suffer spiritual death. And just as the bronze serpent was lifted up for their salvation, in like manner, Jesus was lifted up on a pole to save men from their sins (John 3:14
14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:
Bronze and serpents are both Biblical symbols of sin. Jesus is typified as a brazen serpent on a pole because He took the sins of Mankind upon Himself while He was on the Cross.
Finally, those bitten by the snakes only had to look in faith at the bronze serpent in order to be healed. And in like manner, sinners need only look to Jesus in faith in order to be saved.
The early history of the Jewish nation is the story of Jesus in prophetic type.
The Children of Israel were born in Canaan, descended into Egypt, emerged through the Red Sea (the baptism of Moses), endured testing in the Wilderness, and then entered the Promised Land. Likewise, Jesus was born in Ca-naan, descended into Egypt, emerged publicly at His baptism, and led the way to Heaven.
Prophecy Outline
In the outline that follows, 109 of the Old Testament's specific prophecies about the First Advent are identified and classified into categories related to the chronology of the life of Christ. In each case the prophecy's origin is cited from a major Old Testament source (with alternative sources indicated in parentheses).
Then, a New Testament source is quoted to show the prophecy's fulfillment in the life of Jesus. One interesting thing to note is that most of the 34 prophecies regarding the Messiah's death were all fulfilled in a 24 hour period.
The Gospel of Matthew was written to the Jews. For this reason, it emphasizes the fulfillment of Jewish prophecy in the life of Jesus. Matthew is, therefore, an excellent place to start in any study of prophecy concerning the First Advent.
"The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."
- Revelation 19:10
Revelation 19:10 (KJV 1900)
10 And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
