fter a period of the establishing of Israel as a nation, a period in which a group of judges and spiritual leaders governed, the people decided that they wanted to be like other nations and be under a monarchial government. They wanted a human king. God gave them a fighting man called Saul, however Israel’s two most famous and notable kings were David and his son Solomon.
David was the youngest son of a man named Jesse. He was a shepherd boy and while his big brothers were away fighting the wars, he was fighting off lions and bears with a sling-shot as he protected the sheep and goats. Israel is in conflict with the Philistines during this period, the ‘Sea People’ who had previously harassed the Egyptians and finally settled in the land. One of their fighting men was a giant known as Goliath. The two armies were drawn up on opposite sides of a large valley. Every day Goliath would go down into the valley and taunt the Israelite soldiers, and curse God in such a way as to incite them to battle.
Goliath challenged the Israelites to send down their own champion to battle with him one on one, and the winner would claim victory over the other’s entire army. No-one in the Israelite camp dared to fight this descendent of the Nephilim. He was about three meters (nine feet) tall, was heavily armored and well trained in battle. David heard him blaspheming God when he was delivering food to his brothers on the front line. He was infuriated that this creature should be allowed to say such things against the Lord, so he asked Saul’s permission to kill the giant. David’s only real claim was that God was always with him and that the Lord would help him to kill this abomination. Saul agreed reluctantly, and after unsuccessfully trying to dress the boy in battle armor, David headed down into the valley in simple shepherds clothes.
The giant was highly amused to see a young boy approaching him and even more amused to see that he was armed with nothing but a sling-shot by which he could throw stones. David told the giant and the entire Philistine army that the Lord God of Israel would deliver the giant into David’s hands, and that he would cut off his head using his own sword. David loaded his sling-shot and his stone struck Goliath in the unprotected area between his eyes. When the giant fell, David then proceeded to cut off his head.
In this story, David is not commended for his skill with a sling-shot, considerable as it may have been, but rather for his faith in God. He had no doubt that God would help him kill Goliath. He went on to become Israel’s king and most prolific writer of worship songs and poems. David was a worshipper, a man who delighted in God, a man whose first passion was to know and enjoy the presence of God in his life. While he was king over Israel, the people, generally speaking, followed the commandments and laws given by Moses. David was a powerful man, in the sense that he was a king, and at one stage of his life he allowed his power to seduce him into adultery and murder. He seduced another man’s wife, got her pregnant, and then killed her husband to hide his guilt. God sent a prophet to challenge him and David was driven through his conscience to repent sincerely before God and receive forgiveness for his actions. He lost the child of his affair, a consequence of the sin; however, after marrying Bathsheba, the woman in question, they produced a son who they called Solomon.
Solomon is the king best known for having profound wisdom and also for building the magnificent temple in Jerusalem, of which only one wall survives today. Solomon was a young man when he took the throne of Israel. He was commended by God for seeking wisdom to govern and judge rather than asking for long life and wealth, therefore, God gave him his request and great wealth also. Kings and queens from other nations brought large quantities of tribute to Solomon and for a time Israel was a wealthy and powerful nation. However, Israel’s prosperity was always tied to its faithfulness to God and often its leaders led the nation away from God and into demonic worship.
All people have weaknesses, and Solomon’s was women. He disobeyed the decree of God and married women who worshipped demons. The old adage, ‘you become like those you live with’, manifested itself in his life, and he turned away from the worship of God and toward demonic practices. Solomon had seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines. He ruled over Israel for forty years. He wrote several books which are included in the Bible and his wisdom sayings are indeed profound and inspired. His worship of foreign gods marked the beginning of a downward slide for the kingdom of Israel. It also marked the beginning of a divided Israel. Over the next several centuries Israel had many kings. Most of them worshipped demonic entities, false gods and idols, leading to an almost total collapse of the covenant system established through Moses. Sometimes the holy temple itself was converted for demonic worship.
But God has always had a voice for the people through various individuals. Throughout this period of Israel’s history and right up to four hundred years before the birth of Jesus Christ, God raised up individuals who gave Israel instructions and warnings about their sins. Sometimes Israel listened and reformed, but more often than not they ignored God. Warning Israel of coming judgment and doom was not the only task that prophets performed, they also gave hundreds of details about the birth, life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ the Messiah. There would be many pretenders claiming to be Israel’s Messiah, and also the people themselves would have preconceived ideas of what their Messiah should be like, so the Lord gave all generations precise details so that no sensible person would miss the signposts which point to Christ. If you have a Bible, I invite you check the following references.
In the charts below are some of the most important prophecies concerning Jesus. Biblical references are given of the prophecy in the Old Testament,anditsfulfillmentintheNewTestament. Most of the following Old Testament prophecies are dated between 1000 – 400 BC and fulfilled from 1-33 AD.
DescriptionChrist as God and Human
Old Testament ProphecyIsaiah 9:6 For
unto us a child is born, to us a son is given…he will be called Wonderful Counselor,
Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
John
10:30-33. I and the
Father are one.
John
14:6-11
His Birth Place and Eternal
Origin
His Mother will be a
Virgin
Micah 5:2 But
you, Bethlehem Ephrathah…out
of you will come for me one…whose origins are from old, from eternal times.
Daniel 9: 24-27
Daniel shows that the Messiah
must appear an
exact number of years from
when king
Artaxerxes issued his decree.
Isaiah 7:14
Therefore the Lord himself will give You a sign: the
virgin will be with child, will
give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.
Mathew 2:1 Jesus was born in
Bethlehem.
Luke2:1ff Caesar
Augustus’ decree
verifies
the date of Jesus birth.
Mathew
1:18-23.
Mathew
quotes
Isaiah here. He will go to Egypt,
Herod tries to kill Him
Sacrificed
for Sin
Prophecy
Hosea 11:1. Out of Egypt I will call my son…
Jeremiah 31:15
Isaiah 52:14 His body beaten,
whipped and
bruised beyond recognition. Psalm 22. Details of
crucifixion.
2:13-23
See Table Below
See table Below
In one of his Psalms, (22), king David prophesied about the crucifixion of Jesus in detail. This Psalm
was written at about 1000 BC, and crucifixion would not be used as a means of execution for at least another 700 years.
DescriptionChrist forsaken. His cry on the cross
Psalm 22 New Testament Fulfillment
Psalm 22: Matthew 22:46,
1 Mark 15:34 Mocked and Verses 6-7 abused by those
watching
Surrounded by Verses spiritual enemies 12-13 Physical torture Verses 14-15
In need of Verse 15 something to
drink
None of His Verse 17 bones will be
broken. Exodus
12:46
God hears His Verses prayer for help 20-24
Fulfillment Fulfillment 68, 27:27-31
68, 27:27-31
44, Luke 23:35,
37
Matthew 27:
27-32, Mark
15:16-20
John 20: 20,25
John 19:31-36
Mathew 27:35, Luke 23:34
Hebrews 5:7-8 Future Verse 31 generations will
hear about Jesus
In Isaiah’s book of prophecy, especially chapters 52 and 53, there is a detailed description of the ministry of Jesus. These two chapters succinctly outline that He will be rejected by His own people, He will carry our sicknesses, He will be considered as cursed by God, wounded for sinners, whipped as a punishment for human sin, and that He will not cry out during His crucifixion ordeal. Isaiah also tells us that He will live a sinless life, He will die with two thieves, be buried in a rich man’s grave, be an offering for sin and offer forgiveness to all who will trust in Him for their salvation.1
Those who have read the New Testament willrecognize that Jesus fulfilled every prophecy written of Him. He did this in order that people might believe and seek God for forgiveness and salvation. Over the years, many enemies of Christianity have
tried to find ways of disproving the prophecies in the Bible, however, none have ever been able to find an answer to how the prophets could be so detailed and accurate. If a person chooses to remain ignorant, that is their prerogative, however, when each of us finally stands before our Creator God, we will have no excuses for rejecting a message which has been made so plain to us.