Prophesies of the Messiah

Birth, Death, Burial, Resurrection, and Ascension

Year of Prophecy: © 3760 BC (Genesis 3:15)

Year of Fulfillment:  3 BC (birth: Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 2:1-7)

Time until fulfillment: 3757 years

There are many prophecies in the Bible regarding the birth of Christ, but Genesis 3:15 is the first. There are too many prophecies with correct fulfillment to be mere coincidence. A few are the following: a descendant of King David and of King Solomon (2Sa 7:12-17, 1Ch 28:4-5; Mt 1:1, 6-7), would be preceded by a forerunner (Is 40:3, Ml 3:1; Mk 1:2-4, Mt 3:1-3), born of a virgin (Is 7:13-14; Mt 1:18-25, Lk 1:26-35), the time of His coming given (Da 9:24-27; Mk 11:1-11, Lk 19:29-38), the place of birth given (Mi 5:2-3; Lk 2:1-7, Mt 2:1-6), and a celestial announcement of His birth (Nu 24:17; Mt 2:1-2). With the birth of Eve’s first son, Cain, there was hope that God’s promise was being fulfilled since his name probably meant ‘acquired.’ However, Cain turned out to be the first murderer! Satan had lost no time. He was at work in the life of Cain (Jn 8:44) and has worked throughout history to try and prevent Christ’s birth and the effectiveness of those serving Christ.

Christ’s death was also foretold. Christ was betrayed by a friend (Ps 41:9; Jn 13:21) for 30 pieces of sliver (Zc 11:12; Mt 26:15, Lk 22:5) which was used to buy a potter’s field (Zc 11:13; Mt 27:9-10), forsaken by friends (Zc 13:7; Mt 26:56), accused by false witnesses (Ps 35:11; Mt 26:60), silent to accusations (Is 53:7; Mt 27:14), spat upon, smitten and scourged (Is 50:6, 53:5; Mt 27:26, 30), was crucified with criminals (Is 53:12; Mt 27:35), was pierced (Zc 12:10; Jn 19:34) but no bones were broken (Nu 9:12, Ps 34:20; Jn 19:33-36), and was buried with the rich (Is 53:9; Mt 27:57, 60). In addition, Christ’s resurrection was foretold (Ps 16:10-11, 49:15; Mk 16:6) as well as His ascension (Ps 68:18, 110:1; Lk 24:51, Acts 1:9).

One event in and of itself may not be convincing, but the sheer number of the events which were prophesied and fulfilled become overwhelmingly persuasive. As we see above, it was almost 4000 years before Christ came after God stated He would come, but the timing of His coming was as God desired (Gal 4:4). During the interval between the prophecy and its fulfillment, God allowed so many prophecies to be stated. This should have been overwhelmingly convincing to everyone when Christ did arrive on the scene. However, doubt is a very effective tool used by Satan (Gen 3:1). We should not allow time to be a factor in our thinking of prophetic fulfillment because the concept of time is a human phenomenon and not God’s (2 Pet 3:8). Our source of belief should be on what God said and not the time it takes for its fulfillment.

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens