"In the Bible, prophecy is very important. In fact, more than one-third contains prophecies, making it the most unique book. We read much prophecy in the writings of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekial, Daniel, Zechariah, and in the book of Revelation. There are prophecies about different empires and kings, such as Philistia, Tyre, Sidon, Assyria, Babel, and Persia. One prophecy names Cyrus, the Persian ruler, 200 years before his coming to power. Other prophecies are about Greece and its divided kingdom, the Romans, the destruction of Jerusalem, and the captivity and return of God's people." The Unique Christ, Nizar Shaheen.I just finished a 2 lesson series for an adult Sunday School class on Prophecy. I printed this 'scroll' of over 300 Messianic prophecies (click) starting with Genesis 3:15 with their fulfillments!! One thing was clear to Jews, the Messiah was coming. There was a period of over 400 years between the Old and New Testament when there was no new public message from God. But God started speaking when the Astronomers arrived from the Middle East. They had been tracking this star for a few years and followed it all the way to Jerusalem and talked about a king being born. King Herold caught off guard asked the scholars about the birth of a king. This led the Astronomers right to Jesus the Messiah in Bethlehem. God made sure that the details of the prophecy made 700 years before the birth of Jesus were exactly fulfilled. A virgin would give birth to the Messiah in Bethlehem. Huge miracles.
The Messiah - Christians don't make a big deal of his name. Some are familiar with The Messiah production with the Hallelujah chorus imbedded. Most forget that Jesus Christ(in the Greek) means Jesus the Messiah --the anointed one.
Muslims mostly gloss it over. Sura 4:171 mentions that "Jesus was the 'Word of God, the Messiah, and has the Holy Spirit." Although the Qur'an refers to only one Messiah eleven times, some Muslims reject the uniqueness that this title implies by stating that there are many who are called Messiah in the Old Testament.
Nizar Shaheen points out that this genealogy(Matthew 1:1ff) written to a Jewish audience in mind, makes sure that this is the very one--the Messiah predicted in the Old Testament. And what a testimony it is that 61 of these 300+ prophecies were fulfilled during the first advent of our Lord and another 31 during Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection. Isn't that amazing--92 of these prophecies were fulfilled to the detail. Our God is amazing.
It spurs us on to continue sharing the message of the Messiah. From this vantage we are assured that:
- God keeps his promises
- He is sovereign
- He has a divine and specific plan
- The central theme of the Messiah coming is to reveal his plan of Salvation
- Proof of the deity of Christ
- The fulfillment of the prophecies draws people to the truth--so important in sharing the Good News with our Muslim friends
Dear Jesus, we pray that you would continue to draw Muslims to yourself--your whole message revealed in the Old and New Testament. Prepare us for your second Advent to take all believers to heaven. Amen.
