The Resurrection: Old Testament Prophecies and their New Testament
Introduction
Approximately 2,500 prophecies appear in the Bible; 2,000 have been fulfilled. The remaining 500 speak to future events. The Bible contains almost 500 specific prophecies concerning the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ—some of which were made well over 2,000 years before he was born. For example, it was prophesied that Christ’s hands and feet would be pierced (Psalm 22:16) long before crucifixion was created as a form of capital punishment by the Persians and 1,000 years before it was made common by the Romans.
Some time before 500 b.c. the Old Testament prophet Daniel proclaimed that Israel’s Messiah would begin his public ministry 483 years after the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem (Daniel 9:25–26). He also predicted that the Messiah would be killed and that this event would take place prior to a second destruction of Jerusalem. The decree regarding the restoration of Jerusalem was issued by Artaxerxes to the Jewish priest Ezra in 458 b.c., 483 years later the ministry of Jesus Christ began in Galilee. Jesus’ crucifixion occurred only a few years later; about 40 years after that, in 70 a.d., Titus destroyed Jerusalem.
The timing of the Messiah’s birth had been indicated in Genesis 49:10 in words spoken by Jacob to his son Judah: The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from his descendants, until the coming of the one to whom it belongs, the one whom all nations will obey.
Shiloh was recognized by Jewish rabbis as a Messianic title. Scepter referred to the nation’s judicial power. This prophecy states that the Messiah will come at a time when the nation’s judicial power has been removed.
The first visible sign of the beginning of the removal of the scepter from Judah came when Herod the Great, who had no Jewish blood, succeeded the Maccabean princes who belonged to the (Jewish) tribe of Levi and were the last Jewish kings to reign in Jerusalem.
The crucial turning point came soon after Herod’s death when, in about 7 a.d., the Romans removed the power of the Sanhedrin Council in Judah to pronounce the death penalty. The scepter passed from Judah.
There is a note about this event in the Jewish histories. On this occasion the members of the Sanhedrin were overtaken by “a general consternation.” They “covered their heads with ashes and their bodies with sackcloth, exclaiming: ‘Woe unto us, for the scepter has departed from Judah, and the Messiah has not come!’ ” He had, of course, yet they wouldn’t recognize him.
Following are a number of other prophecies about Jesus, along with their New Testament fulfillments.
Old Testament Prophecy (OTP):
“The virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and she will call him Emmanuel” (Isaiah 7:14; 701 b.c.).
New Testament Fulfillment (NTF):
God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”
“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God.”
“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as you have said” (Luke 1:26–38).
(OTP):
“The days are coming,” declares the LORD,
“when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch,
a King who will reign wisely
and do what is just and right in the land.
This is the name by which he will be called:
The LORD Our Righteousness (Joshua in Greek, Jesus in English)” (Jeremiah 23:5–6; 600 b.c.)
(NTF):
“She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).
(OTP 1):
The kings of Tarshish and of distant shores
will bring tribute to him;
the kings of Sheba and Seba
will present him gifts (Psalm 72:10; 960 b.c.).
(OTP 2):
“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
though you are small among the clans of Judah,
out of you will come for me
one who will be ruler over Israel,
whose origins are from of old,
from ancient times” (Micah 5:2; 725 b.c.).
(NTF):
After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.”
When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:
“ ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
who will be the shepherd of my people Israel’ ”
The star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, incense and myrrh (Matthew 2:1–6,9–11).
Note: Ephrathah is a geographical designation that indicates which Bethlehem is being identified. There were two Bethlehems in Israel. By specifying the area of Ephrathah, Micah’s prophecy made it clear that the Bethlehem that would host the birth of the Messiah would be the one in the south of Israel, near Jerusalem.
(OTP):
The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn (Isaiah 61:1–2; 681 b.c.).
(NTF):
He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, and he began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:16–21).
(OTP):
I will open my mouth in parables,
I will utter hidden things, things from of old (Psalm 78:2; 850 b.c.).
(NTF):
Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables; he did not say anything to them without using a parable (Matthew 13:34).
(OTP):
The eyes of the blind will be opened
and the ears of the deaf unstopped.
Then will the lame leap like a deer,
and the mute tongue shout for joy (Isaiah 35:5–6; 692 b.c.).
(NTF):
Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures and the paralyzed, and he healed them (Matthew 4:23–24).
(OTP):
“Here is my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen one in whom I delight;
I will put my Spirit on him
and he will bring justice to the nations.
He will not shout or cry out,
or raise his voice in the streets” (Isaiah 42:1–2; 682 b.c.).
(NTF):
Many followed Jesus, and he healed all their sick, warning them not to tell who he was (Matthew 12:15–16).
(NTP):
There was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:
“Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,
you now dismiss your servant in peace.
For my eyes have seen your salvation,
which you have prepared in the sight of all people,
a light for revelation to the Gentiles
and for glory to your people Israel.”
The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too” (Luke 2:25–35).
(NTF):
Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Dear woman, here is your son,” and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.”
With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit (John 19:25–27,30).
(OTP):
He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.
Like one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Surely he took up our infirmities
and carried our sorrows,
yet we considered him stricken by God,
smitten by him, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before her shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,
and he will divide the spoils with the strong,
because he poured out his life unto death,
and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors (Isaiah 53:3–7,12; 681 b.c.).
(NTF):
But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life (Titus 3:4–7).
(OTP):
The Lord had said to Abram, “All peoples on earth will be blessed through you” (Genesis 12:1,3; 1750 b.c.).
(NTF):
Those who believe are children of Abraham. The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.” So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith (Galatians 3:7b–9).
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