Prophesies from the Old Testament

Good morning everyone, I hope you are all having a great day today! I hope you are all excited about this coming week where we will get to participate in the Leaf River Parade. Hey, those of you joining us online, we would love to see you out at the parade on Saturday night. We will be going through Leaf River and we will be passing out some at home hot chocolate bar baggies, so its gonna be a blast. We will have the live nativity and we will have our carolers, and over all its gonna be a blast.

For now though, I want to welcome you this morning and thank you for joining us here this morning, afternoon, or evening depending on when you are catching up with us. I also want to welcome our kids here to join your teachers in the back of the room as you get to go back and learn about the Bible in a way that makes sense to you. It’s so great that we have this ability. Thank you as always to our wonderful teachers, we could not do what we do on Sunday mornings without your dedication and love for these kids. Parents, thank your teacher when you pick up your kids later this morning.

Also, we have Christmas Eve coming up…Listen, those of you joining us online, we will have our Christmas Eve service streaming online at leafriver.church/live, but you can’t stream the friendly and family atmosphere, and you can’t stream the the hot chocolate, so if you are able, I know you will be blessed to join us on Christmas Eve at 6pm.

Ok, so we are in our Christmas series this year called

“The Journey” (title slide)

Now, in this series we are looking at the journey to the manger, then to the cross, and into your life…Last week we started this series looking at the very beginning of the story. We looked at creation and we looked at how everything started going downhill when Adam and Eve listened to the serpent. They came face to face with temptation, and instead of calling out to God, they fell to temptation and sinned. This was the beginning the beginning of a new relationship with God. You see, before this moment, God walked with Adam and Eve and they were in perfect relationship. After this moment, God removed them from paradise, becuase they were no longer worthy of being there. Now, we begin the process of coming back to God, or more accurately…God coming to us. So, during the creation account we see that God sacrificed in order to provide for Adam and Eve.

Genesis 3:21 ESV

And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.

You see, in order for God to make garments out of skin, there had to be death. This is the first physical death that began restoring the relationship between God and man. However, this death was not the death to cover everything…This death was the beginning of the journey where God would come down in the form of a man, taking on the identity and character of man, and sacrifice himself, so that we can have relationship with him. The thing is that, this has been a very long process for mankind. Depending on who you talk to, you are looking at between 4,000-8,000 years between the time this original sin happened, and Jesus walking the Earth. That’s a long time to wait, and to wonder what is going to happen So, becuase of the time frame here, God sent messages to people throughout the years. This morning, we are going to look at three of these messages that were sent to man from God to give hope. This morning we are going to see a progression from where Israel is, and where they are going. In order to do that, we are going to look at

Prophecies from the Old Testament

Take some time with me this morning to look at these… Now, we are not going to go super in depth into these various passages due to our time together, so I want to ask you to go home and look at these a little further. Understand what is happening around these events and see how God used their current culture and events to share hope for the future. To start off, lets look in Numbers at

The Story of Balaam

Ok, you need to know a little about who Balaam is before I share with you what he said that gave hope to future generations. Balaam is a prophet of God, but he is not exactly a righteous prophet. Actually he is a wicked prophet that is seeking to enrich himself. However, he is also not a false prophet. Balaam can only say what God tells him to say. So, when Balaam is alive and doing his thing there is a king named Balak of Moab. Now, the Israelites were traveling through his kingdom as they were traveling to Canaan, and…well, King Balak didn’t really like that. So, he hired Balaam to come and to put a curse on the Israelites. Obviously this isn’t something that Balaam can do, but King Balak really wants him to.

Listen, this is a fascinating story where a wicked prophet tries to get rich. This story is complete with money, fame, and even a talking donkey…Yes you heard that right, this story includes an actual talking donkey. Anyway, to cut the story short, King Balak tried to get Balaam to curse Israel 3 times, offering him great riches every time. However, God would only ever allow him to bless Israel. After the third time, King Balak finally gave up and sent Balaam away, he said, “Now leave at once and go home! However, Balaam wasn’t done, so Balaam gave 4 more blessings for Israel, free of charge. :) In the fourth and final prophecy, Balaam foretold of the Messiah…check this out,

Numbers 24:17 ESV

I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near: a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel; it shall crush the forehead of Moab and break down all the sons of Sheth.

Balaam’s seven prophecies ended with this prophecy for long term salvation and blessing. You see, the Moabite king had hired Balaam to curse Israel, and instead Balaam was able to provide hope for the long term salvation of Israel. This future king that is prophesied here will one day eliminate once and for all the enemies of Israel.

What I love about this prophecy is that this came at a time when they were not doing extremely well. They are still on the way to Canaan and trying to get there in one piece… right. Does that sound familiar in your life? I mean, just be honest for a moment. Haven’t there been times in your journey where you felt a little like you were wondering around and hoping for something to come and save you. Isn’t it amazing when you hear something that gives you hope…Something like…This isn’t the end of the story…there is more coming…just hang on.

Balaam’s prophecy gave people hope

Now, they don’t know the details of the future, but this prophecy did give them hope to keep going. This morning, I want to tell you that I don’t know where you are in your journey…but I do know that there is hope! That is what this book is all about…the hope we have in Christ. That is what all of these prophecies are about…the hope they had in Christ. Let’s look at another one. Let’s take a look at

The Story of Micah

Ok, so who is Micah, and what does he have to do with anything. Well, let me share with you a little about Micah’s story. Again, this is a fascinating stuff that you can read about yourself, but I’m just gonna give you kind of the highlights about what is going on. So after the days of Judges, which saw Israel consistently growing further from the Lord and closer to various forms of idolatry, we see some prosperity within Israel. Actually, in the southern kingdom we see wealth brought by military victories, well…at least for some people. There began to be a stronger divide between the classes as those that were wealthy were growing their wealth at the expense of the poor. Actually, there was this wealthy merchant class that developed. Due to this, many poorer farmers found themselves at the mercy of government-supported businessmen. As business dealings became more corrupt, God’s prophets spoke to the nation, confronting the ill-gotten wealth and accompanying godlessness. None of this sounds familiar to us does it? I mean we have politicians that are truly out to help the little guy, right? We don’t have record numbers of people that are getting help from some sort of government-supported business, do we...

Well, this was a time when the commercial and secular values and ideals replaced God’s covenant ideal’s. This was a time when there was an international power shift giving rise to one of the most corrupt, evil, bloodthirsty, manipulative, and arrogant empires of the ancient world. As a result of this, Micah had a job to do. You see, Micah was about to give both a warning as well as an encouragement to the people of Israel. Here is what theologian Edwin Blum says,

CSB Study Bible: Notes (Circumstances of Writing)

Judah never learned its lesson. The people wavered between faith and apostasy and suffered many crises. Micah preached to people who had long since abandoned covenant loyalty, including the king, the royal court, judges, and religious leaders. As the rulers proved increasingly unfaithful, Micah prophesied Judah’s destruction and exile by the Babylonians (586 BC). Beyond that, however, he saw a future restoration for a remnant of the people (539 BC).

Let’s take a look at what this future restoration looks like,

Micah 5:2 (ESV)

But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.

You see, even in the midst of the horrible situation, there was a plan for restoration. That restoration wouldn’t happen immediately. There was going to be some hard times ahead. However, even with this warning from Micah, he gave way to hope. Hope that the destruction that seems so powerful is not eternal. Hope that even though they will loose in battle, and they will be removed from Jerusalem, that is not forever. Hope that even though there is sin and suffering, it will give way to hope…Now that is something that impacts us here this morning as well. You see, just like I said before, about Balaam’s prophecy…

Micah’s prophecy gave people hope.

Let’s take a look at what that hope was to those that were willing to listen. Specifically Micah is telling them that they will will loose their military power, the power that gave them the wealth is about to be lost. However, there is hope becuase there is coming a new leader that will be bring them to Jerusalem and there is a new leader who will be a ruler for Israel…a new leader that they have heard about before…maybe the leader that Balaam told them about.

Here’s the deal, the wealth the prosperity that Israel was experiencing was not due to their amazing faith in God, instead it was do to their military victory. That military victory has given them what they wanted, but they had to remove God from the equation to get there. You see, they began more and more bringing in pagan worship and bringing in ungodliness into their worship. They did this to the point that they were no longer worshiping God, but their own version of God.

Does that sound familiar? Have you heard anyone that is attempting to worship their own version of God? I mean, we could point to the various cults like Mormonism or Jehovah’s Witness, but thats not even what I am talking about. Im talking about the person that changes who God is or what a Christian is based on how they feel at the moment, instead of what Scriptures say. Frankly I’m talking about a large portion of society that says things like David was actually in the LGBT community, or that Paul was racist, or that Jesus was simply a man who did so well that he became god-like. You see, there are thousands of false teachings out there, and you can find someone to agree with whatever you need in order to feel better about your own sin. That is called idolatry. You have idolized your sin. You see, an idol is anything that captures our hearts, minds, and affections more than God.

The nation of Judah had allowed their wealth, their military to become their god…or their idol. So, what was the response? God removed it from their lives, and allowed an opportunity for repentance. Well, that same thing is offered to you and me today. What is it in your life that has captured your attention and is pulling you away from God? What I really love here, is that even though there is a promise of judgement, there is also a promise of hope. Hope is the greater promise! Hope is what we celebrate this Christmas season.

That’s not all I want to share this morning though, becuase there is another prophecy that really helps to solidify what is going on. There is a guy named Isaiah, so let’s take a look at

The Story of Isaiah

The thing that I love about Isaiah’s story is that there is more to it. You see, Isaiah also served in the southern kingdom of Judah, just like Micah, actually they were about the same time. That tells you the culture at the time of Isaiah’s prophecy. The people of Israel were pushing against God. You can read about how just how evil this kingdom is by reading about King Ahaz in Isaiah and 2 Chronicles. So that is the context for when Isaiah shares what he is about to say. Let’s read together,

Isaiah 7:14 (ESV)

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

So, we have seen some prophecies about the hope that is coming, however, there hasn’t been a clear picture into the details. Now the faithful in Israel have something to look for. Now they can focus on finding the child…they knew this was coming, but it wasn’t as specific yet. The thing is, that is how you feel sometimes isn’t it? I mean, you know the general idea behind what Scripture teaches and what is being said, however, you are left looking and wondering what to do next. Things around you are rough and you are just not quite sure where to look. I mean, you know to look at Scripture, but sometimes that can be a daunting task to simply open up Scripture and expect your struggles to leave. Sometimes it’s helpful to know where to look. You see, the Israelites have known for many years something was happening. They knew that there would be one that would come from Bethlehem, but that could be a lot of houses. Now,

Isaiah’s prophecy gave people direction

You see, now they know what to look for. There will be a virgin birth and the baby’s name will be called Immanuel. Immanuel, that is a pretty special name. You see, Immanuel means, God with us. Now, they are waiting for the time when God will return and walk with us...

We are in a similar place today. Today we all need hope, and today we all are looking for the time when God will once again come down and walk with us. Oh it will be different, but the same God that we are waiting for, is the God that came down and walked this earth. God’s son, Jesus, who came in the form of man, who lived a completely sinless life, and who shed his blood so that you and I can have life.

That is the hope that we are looking to this Christmas. You see, the Israelites were looking for a manger, without even knowing it, and so are some of you today…Listen, if you are here this morning, or joining us online, I want to encourage you to know that the answer to the struggles you are having came to this earth a manger…much like this one behind me. He came down in order to provide a way out of your struggles. He came down in order to remove your idol. He came down in order to restore more fully his relationship with you and me. So, this morning…what are you going to say to him?

This morning I am going to leave you with this question…You see, we all know that there is a need and we need hope. The question I want to leave you with this morning is, “Will I continue to hope for salvation, worshiping a false god…or will I follow the Scriptures to the manger?”

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