What is prophecy?
Simon and Sarah learn about prophecy and the role of prophets in the Bible
SARAH: Wouldn’t it be class if you could predict the future?SIMON: Hello to you, too. And what's brought this up?SARAH: Well, imagine knowing you're going to be a famous pop star with loads of money and fame and save me having to go to school.SIMON: So is this your self-proclaimed prophecy, then?SARAH: No, it's me predicting my future.SIMON: That's what a prophecy is. There was actually a lot of that in the Old and NewTestament. Prophecy refers to the words which were given from God and then spoken by the prophets.The prophets were called by God and were sent mostly to the Jews to tell them to obey God's law.SARAH: So God's policeman then?SIMON: Well, kind of. But they also brought a message of hope that in the future God would send a Saviour to rescue His people.SARAH: Jesus?SIMON: There were lots of prophecies in the Bible. Cue the animated…SARAH: Fact file.SIMON: Storybook.SIMON: In the Old Testament, Prophet Isaiah spoke to Israel over 500 years before the time of Jesus. He said, "A voice of one calling in the wilderness: Prepare the way for the Lord. Make straight in the desert a highway for our God." And then in the New Testament, Matthew proclaims that John the Baptist tells people to prepare for the Messiah. John goes on to baptize Jesus. And this shows that John is preparing the way for Jesus the Saviour. The desire prophesied about thus fulfills the prophecy in the Old Testament. Isaiah also says, "The Virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and we’ll call him Emmanuel."SARAH: Is this one about Mary? I've got this. So God sent the Angel Gabriel to Nazareth, where Mary and Joseph lived. The angel was like, "Hi there. You are favored. You will conceive and give birth to a son who you will call Jesus."SIMON: Thus fulfilling the prophecy in the New Testament. We are told that Mary and Joseph traveled to Bethlehem to register as part of the Roman census, and while there, gave birth to Jesus, therefore fulfilling the prophecy that the ruler would come from Bethlehem. In the Old Testament, the Prophet Josiah wrote, "I loved him and out of Egypt I called my son."SARAH: My turn! Matthew then said that King Herod found out that Jesus had been born after the wise men believed that he was the promised King. So then King Herod planned to kill Jesus. And so God was like, "Joseph, get out of here." So they fled to Egypt until it was safe to return.SIMON: Which fulfilled the prophecy. In the New Testament, we read that King Herod slaughtered all baby boys under the age of two.SARAH: Thus fulfilling the prophecy.SIMON: That was very dramatic, even for you.SARAH: You know, on second thoughts, I don't know if I'd want to be able to see my future. What if it's awful?SIMON: Well, the connection between Jesus's birth and the words of the prophets were important for several reasons. Firstly, it confirms that Jesus really is the promised Savior sent from God who the Israelites have been waiting for. Secondly, the Gospel writers are showing that the coming of Jesus was always part of God's plan.SIMON: Thirdly, the fulfilled prophecies show that God can be trusted. And finally, the fact that Jesus fulfilled so many of the Old Testament prophecies, over 300, shows the uniqueness of Jesus.
The Old Testament contains a variety of books divided into different categories such as law or history. One important category is prophecy:
Prophecy in the bible refers to the words spoken by the prophets in the Old Testament.
The prophets acted as God's spokespeople, conveying God's messages to the Jews.
Most of the messages related to the time they were spoken, hundreds of years before Jesus was born.
Often the messages would call people to obey God's law and live just and faithful lives.
Sometimes the prophets would bring a message of hope that in the future God would send a saviour (a Messiah) to rescue his people.
How does this relate to the birth of Jesus?
Fast forward a few hundred years to the writers of the Gospels in the New Testament.
To confirm that Jesus was the Messiah sent from God, they referred to these Old Testament prophesies.
Why are the prophecies so important?
Some suggest that Jesus fulfilled over 300 prophecies, most of which were written around 500 years before his birth, so the connection between them is important for the gospel writers for several reasons:
They confirm that Jesus is the promised saviour sent from God who the Israelites had been waiting for
- When the gospels were being written, the Jews were trying to figure out who exactly Jesus was.
- Some of the Jews believed he was the Messiah and others thought he was a fraud who made claims to be the Son of God; such a claim meant Jesus was guilty of blasphemy, which was punishable by death.
- The gospel writers are trying to show their readers that Jesus really is the Messiah as he fulfils God’s promises from the Old Testament prophets.
They show that the coming of Jesus was always part of God’s plan
The gospel writers believed that the life, death and resurrection of Jesus was not a divine afterthought but was always God’s design for dealing with human sin and rebellion.
Hundreds of years before he was born, the prophecies showed that God had already planned to send Jesus.
The fulfilled prophecies show that God can be trusted. Everyone wants to trust their friends or family, but it is even more important for Christians to believe they can trust God
- The prophecies about Jesus in the Old Testament are God making his promises while the fulfilment in the New Testament is God keeping his word.
- This means that Christians know they can trust God in all things.
Finally, the fact that Jesus fulfils so many of the Old Testament prophecies shows the uniqueness of Jesus.
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