PROPHETS, EXILE, & A NEW COVENANT: THE Expectation of Jesus

As we have seen, the story of Jesus does not begin with the first chapter of the New Testament.

EXPECTING THE SUFFERING SERVANT

Isaiah 6:9 KJV 1900

9 And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; And see ye indeed, but perceive not.

Isaiah 11:1–2 KJV 1900

1 And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, And a Branch shall grow out of his roots: 2 And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and might, The spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord;

Isaiah 52:13 KJV 1900

13 Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, He shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high.

Isaiah brings three bright rays of hope to Israel: a coming Child, a coming King, and a coming Servant.

What Isaiah foreshadows in the Old Testament, Jesus fulfills in the New Testament.

EXPECTING A NEW COVENANT

Ever since the law was given to Moses, the people demonstrated an utter inability to obey God and receive life through the law. If their future relationship with God was to be based on their ongoing obedience to the Law, they were still in a hopeless position.

Aware of their need, God raises up more prophets to tell of a coming day when He will establish a new covenant with His people.

Jeremiah 2:11 KJV 1900

11 Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit.

Jeremiah 2:13 KJV 1900

13 For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.

Jeremiah 23:5 KJV 1900

5 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.

Just as God promised to David, He will one day bring a righteous descendant to take up the throne.

Jeremiah 31:31–34 KJV 1900

31 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, That I will make a new covenant With the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: 32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers In the day that I took them by the hand To bring them out of the land of Egypt; Which my covenant they brake, Although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord: 33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, And write it in their hearts; And will be their God, And they shall be my people. 34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: For they shall all know me, From the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: For I will forgive their iniquity, And I will remember their sin no more.

Instead of giving the people the Law on tablets of stone, God will now write the Law on their hearts - just a He intended all along. He will forgive the iniquities of the people, and He will not remember their sins.

Ezekiel 36:25–28 KJV 1900

25 Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. 26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. 28 And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.

God now promises to put His Spirit in His people and to cause them to walk in His statutes and obey His rules.

How? He is going to give them a new heart and a new spirit that enables them to walk in obedience.

Daniel 7:14 KJV 1900

14 And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.

Malachi 3:1 KJV 1900

1 Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: And the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, Even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: Behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts.