Christians should know the Prophecies concerning the Gospel. Speaking about the Gospel, Romans 1:2 states that the Gospel is that “which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures. In the Greek “promised beforehand” is a compound word that is redundant, the preposition “ahead of time” and the verb “promise,” it thus strongly emphasize temporal sequence of promise and fulfillment (Moo, 44). So the Gospel was predicted a long time ago in the Old Testament Scriptures. Note the plural in”prophets” and “Scriptures” that thus indicate multiple authors and books in the Bible that these prophecies have been made. Do you know more than one Messianic prophecies? Off the top of your head, do you know any Old Testament prophecies about Jesus? Are you aware of Isaiah 53 and Psalms 22? Do you know more than one Messianic prophecies? Vow to study them if you don’t! But don’t just study it academically or to win arguments; study Messianic prophecies to worship God, and experience that joy and assurance knowing that its all true! Some might think “Why? I am not Jewish so why study the Old Testament?” But knowing the context of Romans should encourage us to study the Old Testament even as Gentiles, Paul is addressing primarily Gentiles believers and he states the importance of the Old Testament here! Matter of fact Paul quotes and allude to the Old Testament in Romans more than any other epistles. Study the Old Testament for Christians should know the Prophecies concerning the Gospel.
Reblogged this on Talmidimblogging.
Thanks for reblogging this! I’m going to get to reading your blog in just a bit!
You’re very welcome Pastor Jim! Thanks!
I remember how confusing the OT prophets seemed to me as a new Christian now, they often make more sense to me than anything else I read. They are all about Jesus, really and though much of them are history,s human behavior doesn’t change and I find guidance in understanding the world around me. These days, everyone seems focused on the end-times and there is a lot of fear around it with cults using that uncertainty to draw people in. The only protection is rightly divided knowledge of the Bible. It’s the only way to obtain the wisdom needed to negotiate reason in the age of information.
The more I grow in the Lord the more I appreciate the Old Testament. I have found Messianic prophecies of His first advent to be more interesting than some of the end times sensationalized speculations out there
Me too…the later drives me nuts sometimes…
I love that you said to study the prophecies as an act of worship, and an aid to worship!
Thanks Dawn, if our applications from Scripture doesn’t include worship we might be doing it all wrong.
That’s a good reminder Brother Jim. The OT is surely not my best subject, and certainly not Messianic Prophecy. Thanks for the reminder.
I’m kind of weak with the OT too. I was asked if I can teach on a OT survey class to pastors overseas and I had to acknowledge my weakness. Man, God is so gracious to us, I hope to grow more in the OT.
A lot of us are weak in the OT. What helped me was learning that Jesus is in every book in the OT.
In Genesis, Jesus is the seed of the woman.
Exodus, he is our Passover lamb.
Leviticus, our high priest.
Numbers, the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night.
In Deuteronomy, the prophet greater than Moses.
In Joshua, Jesus is the captain of our salvation.
Judges, he is our judge and lawgiver.
Ruth, he is our redeemer.
I & II Samuel, he is our trusted prophet.
Kings and Chronicles, he is our reigning King.
Ezra, he is the rebuilder of our broken down walls of our lives.
In Nehemiah, Jesus is our restorer.
Esther, he’s our Advocate.
In Job, Jesus is our ever-living redeemer.
Psalms, he’s our shepherd.
Proverbs & Ecclesiastes, he’s our Wisdom.
Song of Solomon, he’s the lover of our souls.
In Isaiah, Jesus is the Prince of Peace.
Jeremiah, the righteous branch.
Lamentations, the weeping prophet.
Ezekiel, the glory of God.
Daniel, the everlasting God.
In Hosea, Jesus is the forgiving husband.
Joel, the giver of the Holy Spirit.
Amos, the builder of the city of God.
Obadiah, our savior.
Jonah, the firstborn of the dead.
Micah, the ruler of all ages
Nahum, the avenger.
Habakkuk, the God or our salvation
Zephaniah, our savior.
Haggai the restorer of the kingdom.
Zechariah, the Priest on the throne.
Malachi, the son of righteousness, with healing in his wings.
That’s awesome James
Awesome breakdown of how each one points us to our Savior!
Too many people think the OT is old and irrelevant but it all leads up to our savior.
Amen!
This is great!
For unto us a child is born; unto us a Son is given and the government shall be upon His shoulders. And His name shall be Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace… Isaiah 9:6 (One of my memory verses) 🙂
Beautiful Messianic prophecies
It is pretty amazing to see how many prophecies there are about the gospel, thanks for this post.
I’m so grateful for all the many messianic prophecies there are in the Old Testament that points to the person and work of Christ and the Gospel!