Zemirah Loc: Sojourner En Route...

There are many Old Testament prophecies about Jesus Christ.

Some interpreters place the number of Messianic prophecies in the hundreds. The following are those that are considered the clearest and most important.

Regarding Jesus’ birth—Isaiah 7:14: “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” Isaiah 9:6: “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Micah 5:2: “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”

Concerning Jesus' ministry and death—Zechariah 9:9: “Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” Psalm 22:16-18: “Dogs have surrounded me; a band of evil men has encircled me, they have pierced my hands and my feet. I can count all my bones; people stare and gloat over me. They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.”

Likely the clearest prophecy about Jesus is the entire 53rd chapter of Isaiah. Isaiah 53:3-7 is especially unmistakable: “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.”

The “seventy sevens” prophecy in Daniel chapter 9 predicted the precise date that Jesus, the Messiah, would be “cut off.” Isaiah 50:6 accurately describes the beating that Jesus endured. Zechariah 12:10 predicts the “piercing” of the Messiah, which occurred after Jesus died on the cross.

There are many more examples which could be provided, but these will suffice. The Old Testament's most important theme is its prophesies foretelling the coming of Jesus as the Messiah.

susanblange Loc: USA

You are misinterpreting scripture and taking it out of context. The child born to the young woman ("virgin" is a mistranslation) will be named "Emanuel" which means "God with us". Jesus was not named "Emanuel". The entire prophecy is Isaiah 7:10-16. In verses 15-16 it says, "Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil and choose the good. For before the child shall know to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings". This was not fulfilled by Jesus.

fiatlux

Not only that, there was quite a contrivance going on to get him to Bethlehem: absolutely no evidence such a census was conducted and if it were decreed by Rome, there was no need to leave Nazareth. But this is minor, of no consequence. It is just the way of appellation at that time. It is not exactly error. However, to take it literally is error.

Both the Old and New Testament have many errors if we choose to take what it says literally. Spiritual truth is not in any supposed historical presentation, such as Adam and Eve, the Creationist story, the Flood, or the tale of Jonah. Those stories have something to say about the nature of God but, again, a literal interpretation will always miss the mark of its spiritual significance.

Blade_Runner Loc: DARK SIDE OF THE MOON

Yes, the count is around 360 Messianic Prophesies and are they are found in every OT book except the Book of Esther.

The Psalms and Isaiah are loaded with them. Collectively, the prophesies provide remarkably accurate details about the coming Messiah, his life, ministry, death and resurrection.


Here is just one list:

OT Messianic Prophesies listed with NT references to fulfillment

Blade_Runner Loc: DARK SIDE OF THE MOON

You are not one to be interpreting any scripture pertaining to the Messiah. Your hostility toward Jesus and Christianity in general disqualifies you as a credible commentator on this matter. You said yourself that you have manufactured your own "brand" of Judaism. Read Ephesians 6 and II Timothy 3, maybe you'll get the picture.


Here is one Christian theologian's commentary of the passage you have failed miserably to understand.


Isaiah 7:10-16

Secret disaffection to God is often disguised with the colour of respect to him; and those who are resolved that they will not trust God, yet pretend they will not tempt him. The prophet reproved Ahaz and his court, for the little value they had for Divine revelation. Nothing is more grievous to God than distrust, but the unbelief of man shall not make the promise of God of no effect; the Lord himself shall give a sign. How great soever your distress and danger, of you the Messiah is to be born, and you cannot be destroyed while that blessing is in you. It shall be brought to pass in a glorious manner; and the strongest consolations in time of trouble are derived from Christ, our relation to him, our interest in him, our expectations of him and from him. He would grow up like other children, by the use of the diet of those countries; but he would, unlike other children, uniformly refuse the evil and choose the good. And although his birth would be by the power of the Holy Ghost, yet he should not be fed with angels' food. Then follows a sign of the speedy destruction of the princes, now a terror to Judah. "Before this child," so it may be read; "this child which I have now in my arms," (Shear-jashub, the prophet's own son, verse 3,) shall be three or four years older, these enemies' forces shall be forsaken of both their kings. The prophecy is so solemn, the sign is so marked, as given by God himself after Ahaz rejected the offer, that it must have raised hopes far beyond what the present occasion suggested. And, if the prospect of the coming of the Divine Saviour was a never-failing support to the hopes of ancient believers, what cause have we to be thankful that the Word was made flesh! May we trust in and love Him, and copy his example.

fiatlux

How does hostility toward Christianity make one less able to correctly interpret scripture than the Christian who finds ever untoward comment challenging their belief to be a mark of Satan? A believer is somehow best qualified to interpret the Bible properly? Do you the insanity of such an idea?

Blade_Runner Loc: DARK SIDE OF THE MOON

Spare me the sass. When someone who has devised their own brand of Judaism repeatedly proclaims that Christ is the incarnation of Satan, I'd say there was some serious errors in interpretation. My belief isn't the one being challenged here.

Zemirah Loc: Sojourner En Route...

"Virgin" IS NOT a mistranslation. You are reading from the Masoretic text of the Tanakh, which is a revision of the Hebrew text, completed between the 6th and 10th centuries A.D., long after the B'rit Hadasha (New Testament) was completed, which was before the end of the first century.

The 1st century text was the Septuagint, the common or "koine" Greek spoken throughout the Middle East at that time, which is the Jewish translation made by Jewish scribes in pre-Christian Alexandria, and it takes almah to mean "virgin" here.

The commonly held view that "virgin" is Christian, whereas "young woman" is Jewish is not true. The fact is that the Septuagint, and accordingly, the New Testament follows Jewish interpretation in Isaiah 7:14.

Therefore, the New Testament rendering of almah as "virgin" for Isaiah 7:14 rests on the older Jewish interpretation, which in turn is now borne out for precisely this annunciation formula by a text that is not only pre-Isaianic but is pre-Mosaic in the form that we now have it on a clay tablet.

Keep a close eye on context. The context of Isaiah:7:14 includes the historical narrative of Ahaz, the king of Judah who was faced with an invasion from both Syria and the northern kingdom of Israel. Isaiah prophesied under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to King Ahaz. In verses 10-11, the Lord inspired Isaiah to tell Ahaz, "Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above." What a tremendous offer!

Ahaz, the grandson of Uzziah, was twenty when he came to the throne of Judah. Of his reign, the writer of Scripture recorded that he "did not that which was right in the sight of the Lord his God..." (2 Kings:16:2).

To the Lord's gracious invitation, King Ahaz replies, "I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord." This almost sounds like a humble response until one reads Isaiah's (still under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit) rejoinder:

"And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also?" This clearly indicates that Ahaz's motives for refusal were not right. As a consequence, the Lord went beyond the immediate need of deliverance for Judah and its king. "Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel."

The Lord is giving a prophecy so far-reaching that it offers a deliverance to the entire world. In context, the time frame of this promise goes beyond the time of Ahaz. We know this because Isaiah:7:16 notes, "For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings."

Before the child born of a virgin shall grow to maturity ("know to refuse the evil, and choose the good"), the threatening nations shall have their kings removed. Historically, this would come about through the conquest and domination by another power. This prophecy could not possibly have been limited to the reign of Ahaz.

Further, we have the testimony of Matthew that (speaking of Mary's miraculous conception), "all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet..." (Mat:1:22).

There are a number of other Scriptures that go beyond their immediate time frame. Hosea:11:1 states, "When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt." Clearly there is the historical record of Israel's slavery in and deliverance from Egypt. That is the immediate application.

Yet, the apostle Matthew, writing of Mary, Joseph, and Jesus, said that they would be "...there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son" (Mat:2:15).

Consequently, what Isaiah was speaking under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit was NOT limited to Ahaz alone. Isaiah:7:16, in context, furnishes details for a prophetic fulfillment that did not yet take place in the time of Ahaz.

Bible doubters and skeptics have sought to discredit Matthew's application of this prophecy, according to their own preconceived ideas - that Hosea:11:1 is speaking of Israel in Egypt only. It is obvious that is not true.

Emanuel IS one of the Scriptural names of Jesus, for it means "God with us."

susanblange Loc: USA

There are thousands of messianic prophecies and Jesus fulfilled none of them. Everything allegedly fulfilled in the NT was done in an attempt to fulfill scripture. Prophecy just happens. Trying to fulfill it is a good way to break it and trying to break it is a good way to fulfill it. Christians also count prophecies by the verse and obviously, take them out of context. I count messianic prophecy by the paragraph, chapter, and Psalm. There are many prophecies about Jesus as the modern day idol of Israel. Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 are two of them.

Blade_Runner Loc: DARK SIDE OF THE MOON

You are free to believe whatever floats your boat, susan. Rejection of Jesus as the one and only Messiah is entirely a Jewish belief, but it is futile to try to sell that to Christians.

fiatlux

You're friendliness toward Jesus and Christianity is a far more significant disqualification. Anyone truly concerned with truth would much prefer the one hostile than the one convinced.

Blade_Runner Loc: DARK SIDE OF THE MOON

WTF are you talking about? "Disqualification"? Disqualified for what? From what? Not your place to pass judgement, baby, if you have a problem with Jesus and Christianity, it's your problem, not mine.

What was it Jesus said? "I am the way, the TRUTH, and the life. . " And you're suggesting that we should be hostile toward Him in order to know the truth?

"For ye shall know the TRUTH, and the TRUTH shall make you free . . . "

fiatlux

If a young woman at that time, unmarried, was not a virgin, she would be dead. To say young woman naturally assumes virgin. It may seem vital to you and many others that it was a miraculous birth, but given the translation questions, young woman and virgin are or could be interchangeable. The prophecy is still fulfilled. And if it wasn't, I have no problem calling Jesus as my lord. Prophecy has zero to do with my faith in Christ, right or wrong. I am at a loss, actually, why it has any importance.