In the previous post we detailed the eternal nature of our Lord and how he was the one of old. I often thought before I was saved: the Old Testament is pretty silent concerning the son of God I thought what if Christianity is just a false extension and is contrary to what came before?

That was of course the situation I found myself being an alien to God (Eph 2:12) and in darkness (Jhn 1:5). However when I got saved and started to read my bible I found the bible was a self contained revelation and its main theme was the unveiling of the Word of God that is the Lord Jesus.

It wasn’t long into reading in fact about 15 minutes into reading when I discovered a rather curious statement:

Gen 3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

In this statement we find the promise of the seed of a woman who would reconcile the problem which had been brought about by the cunning plans of Satan. It is interesting to note that usually within scripture we find that ‘the seed’ usually applies to the man this can be seen from numerous passages (Gen 12:7, Gen 48:11) we shall speak of this significance when we look at the glorious incarnation of the saviour.

Genesis 49:10 The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.

Again after Abraham has been promised that all the families of the earth would be blessed through his seed we find a prophecy concerning one known as ‘Shiloh’ which according to Strong’s means ‘he whose it is, that which belongs to him, tranquillity’ so we see that the promise of a messiah was laid out as early as the book of genesis.

In the book of Samuel we find promises of judgement from God and that the Lord will judge the ends of the earth as we know he will when he returns in his second advent. The patriarch told strangely of the redeemer who liveth and would stand on the earth in a latter day:

Job 19:25: For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth

Remarkable that in all of his trials and tribulations he could look forward to a day in which one would be able to redeem him, how blessed are those who died waiting for the promise of the father. Simeon lived to see the fulfilment of those scripture but what a joy to those who died in faith and believed God and it was counted to them as righteousness.

We will deal with prophetic psalms such as Psalm 22 and Psalm 69 when we think of the sufferings of the saviour, the prophesies of Isaiah all showing that the one who would come would be obedient (Psalms 40:6) and the messiah would be cut off (Dan 9:26) how amazing a revelation must this have been to the people living in the few hundred years coming up to the appointed time of his birth and presentation to the people of Israel (Luke 19:41-44) God had been faithful to the very day as we can see from the Lords lament for Jerusalem exactly 69 weeks into Daniels prophesy.

Re iterating the importance of the tribe and root of Judah was Isaiah the prophet who told of the rod out of the stem of Jesse which we see fulfilled in the Lords genealogy in the account of the gospel of Matthew.

Isaiah 11:1 And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: Isaiah 11:2 And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit

The spirit descending like a dove to testify the well beloved son of God that would commence his ministry where he would minister and not be ministered unto (Mar 10:45), he being fully aware he would pay the ransom for many.

The prophet spoke again of the chief corner stone in Zion speaking of the Lord Jesus:

Isaiah 28:16 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.

We find in various stories of various legends of the stone that was rejected by the builders during the erection of Solomon’s temple that was thrown over the brow of a hill to be taken up again and used in its rightful place.

Paul told that the rock that Moses drank from and the children of Israel was Christ (1Cr 10:4) and Peter exclaims in his epistle that Christ is precious indeed (1Pe 2:7). Isaiah prophesied of the voice in the wilderness John the Baptist the forerunner of the Lord Jesus (Isaiah 40:3). He tells us that he is indeed the elect servant in whom God delights (Isaiah 42:1).

Isaiah told that righteousness would come soon (Isaiah 56:1) in the person who has made us the righteousness of God in him (2Cr 5:21). These accounts are by no means exhaustive to Isaiah’s ministry and there others all telling of his coming (56:1; 59:16-18,20; 62:10,11).

Jeremiah told of the one who would come forth as the righteous branch:

Jeremiah 23:5 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.

So, we see in again in the royal line of the Lord (Matt 1) the right for the Lords claim to be the branch and the one who will rule with a sceptre of righteousness.

The bible is certainly not silent about the means by which he would come before he shall come again (Zech 13) he must have came as a man and was born of the virgin (Isaiah 7:14) and that he would be born in lowly Bethlehem (Mic 5:2). We will see more when we look at his birth and the prophecies concerning that wonderful event.

The Jew could not reconcile the fact that the Jesus of Nazareth claimed to be the messiah yet the old testament canon was full of statements and prophecies showing the riches, royalty and powerful Shiloh (Psalm 2:8; 22:27-31; 47:8; 65:2; 66:4; 68:31,32; 72:5,8-11,16,17,19; 85:10-12; 86:9; 87:1-5; 89:1-37; 96:1-13; 102:13-15; 110:1-6; 113:3; 138:4,5; 145:10,11; Isaiah 2:2-5; 4:2,3; 9:1-7). But we see in scripture in the letter to the Philippians’ that after his suffering and his humiliation he will be highly exalted (Phl 2:9) and:

Phl 2:10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of [things] in heaven, and [things] in earth, and [things] under the earth;

Phl 2:11 And [that] every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ [is] Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

So, as I look back now my doubts and fears are quenched all together when I look at the scripture which are God breathed (2 Timothy 3:16) and they are of truth (Daniel 10:21) I had no reason to question the authenticity and reconciling of the new and old testament.