The entire Bible is about Jesus. The Old Testament points again and again to a coming Messiah, King, and Savior. Throughout the Old Testament narrative, God prepared His people to receive His Son. From the book of Genesis through the end of the Old Testament in Malachi, there are more than 300 prophecies that tell of the Messiah’s birth, life, death, resurrection. They tell about His First Advent, when Jesus was born, and His Second Advent, when He will come again someday.
They predicted specifics of Jesus’ life. He was a descendant of Abraham (Genesis 22). He descended from Abraham’s son Isaac, not Ishmael (Genesis 21), and specifically from Isaac’s son Jacob, not Esau (Numbers 24). The Messiah came from the family line of Jesse (Isaiah 11, Jeremiah 23) out of the tribe of Judah (Genesis 49). He was born in Bethlehem (Micah 5) of a virgin (Isaiah 9). His ministry began in Galilee (Isaiah 9) and was characterized by miracles (Isaiah 35). He entered Jerusalem on a donkey (Zechariah 9) and was betrayed for 30 pieces of silver (Zechariah 11). He stood silent before His accusers (Isaiah 53), was spit upon (Isaiah 50), and His hands and feet were pierced on the cross (Psalm 22). He was buried in a rich man’s tomb (Isaiah 53) and was raised from the dead on the third day (Psalm 16).
Most importantly, all the way back in Genesis, God told Abraham who Jesus was coming for: everyone. He said, “I will make you into a great nation...and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you” (Genesis 12:2-3 NIV). It’s easy to think of the stories in the Bible, especially in the Old Testament, as being about people long ago and far away, but it’s more personal than that. It’s about Jesus, and it’s about us. From the very beginning, the blessing God promised was for “all peoples on earth.”
Again and again God made this promise, and again and again He sent His prophets to remind us. In Isaiah, He said, “I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth” (Isaiah 49:6 NIV). Later in Isaiah, He said, “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn” (Isaiah 60:1-3 NIV). We are the Gentiles, the people dwelling in darkness. Jesus is the light.
The prophet Malachi was the final prophet, and his book is the end of the Old Testament. Some 300 years after Isaiah and 400 years before Jesus, Malachi repeated the promise: “My name will be great among the nations, from where the sun rises to where it sets. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to me, because my name will be great among the nations” (Malachi 1:11 NIV). God’s son was for all the people of the world, “from where the sun rises to where it sets.”
For thousands of years of history, God was preparing the world for something. God was preparing the world for someone. The Old Testament is the story of a savior promised to us. The prophet Micah pointed us to a shepherd for God’s people. Jeremiah spoke of a king who would rule righteously. The prophet Isaiah had more to say about Jesus than anyone else in the Old Testament. He saw Jesus’ life and His purpose on Earth clearly, saying, “He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5 NIV).
Isaiah didn’t just see what would happen to Jesus and because of Jesus. He predicted what our relationship to Jesus would be like. “He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6 NIV). Jesus is the Wonderful Counselor, who tells us what we need to hear rather than what we want to hear. He is the Mighty God, who shares His victory over death with us. He is the Everlasting Father, and there is nothing we can do to make us love him more and nothing we can do to cause him to love us less. He is the Prince of Peace, who will come again and abolish all that is wrong and broken in the world so that peace can reign truly and forever. “He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever” (Isaiah 9:7).
This season, keep this close to your heart: God keeps all His promises. Advent is about looking back at all the things God has done for us, and it is about looking forward to all that God will do for us again one day, as He has promised.
