Article

He Came in Fulfillment of Prophecy

Part 1 of 2

John C. Lawrenz

First presented at a symposium at Dr. Martin Luther College, 1993 · Part 1 · Part 2

Christians have this in common. They know that the Lord Jesus Christ is their all. His first coming makes sense of everything. His second coming will resolve every matter. From eternity God the Father planned the coming of his Son. The Son obediently followed the Father’s script. God the Holy Spirit keeps the world informed through human mouthpieces. The apostles “did not follow cleverly invented stories when [they] told… about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Pe 1:16). As eyewitnesses, they give us the certain facts “about all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen” (Ac 1:1,2). This apostolic eyewitness, however, is but one of the two that we have to strengthen and confirm our faith. “We have the word of the prophets made more certain” (2 Pe 1:19). We have fulfilled prophecy.

Prophecy proclaims and anticipates, hence the aphorism prophets tell forth and prophets foretell. When prophecy proclaims, it is rock solid.¹ It embraces the grand truths of man’s sin and God’s grace. When prophecy anticipates, however, it is incomplete, even though it remains every bit as solid. Prophecy requires fulfillment. Until Jesus was born, his life and work was “not yet.” It was enough for the prophets to believe that God’s love, yet to be revealed in all of its fullness, was as certain as God’s existence itself.

Yet neither Moses, nor Isaiah, nor David, had a full picture. When these men prophesied concerning a Savior who had not yet come, their faith was reaching out. The prophets longed to see and hear their Savior in his full revelation. God in his wisdom left the longing of the prophets unrequited. Does this mean that the prophets’ words were ethereal, disconnected ramblings? No. Moses, Isaiah, David, and the rest of the prophets were not gropers grasping at straws. The Spirit of Christ was at work in them. The Old Testament prophets “searched intently and with the greatest of care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing” (1 Pe 1:10,11).

God’s, brand of prophecy was more than a weatherman’s prediction concerning tomorrow’s weather. A prophet’s words were measured by a simple test, given in Deuteronomy 18:14-22, especially verses 21 and 22. If a prophet anticipated correctly, God had spoken. If, however, a message was proclaimed in the name of the Lord and it did not come true, God was not with the prophet and the prophet’s words were not to be believed. Over the years God put together a mosaic of what was to come, one prophecy at a time. Eventually, enough was there for people of faith to see Jesus for what he was when he came.

Jesus was a prophet himself. Because he was the Prophet, however, he was different from the rest. Like them he proclaimed. Unlike them, he fulfilled. Jesus knew who he was and why he had come. The writer to the Hebrews tells us “when Christ came into the world, he said… ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll—I have come to do your will, O God’” (He 10:5,7; quoted from Ps 40:6-8). He was God in human flesh, the perfect witness to reveal God’s perfect love. He knew that he was the One the prophets had anticipated. “Do not think,” Jesus said, “that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them” (Mt 5:17). Jesus wanted the world to know that he was the confirmation of all that the prophets had written. On the way to Emmaus Jesus “explained… what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself” (Lk 24:27). Jesus started with Moses and covered all the prophets. He had ample time to do so. The seven mile walk from Jerusalem to Emmaus probably took a couple of hours. On Easter evening Jesus reminded his inner circle of disciples that “everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms” (Lk 24:44). Earlier he had said emphatically, “I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished” (Mt 5:18).

Did the disciples find it easy to put prophecy and fulfillment together? Not immediately! Jesus chided his followers for being “slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken” (Lk 24:25). Like the prophets, the apostles needed the Spirit of Christ to open their minds. Once the connection between prophecy and the Lord Jesus Christ was made, however, the fulfillment of prophecy became a precious and powerful force in apostolic teaching. The Apostle Paul wrote: “Everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope” (Ro 15:4). Peter looked upon fulfilled prophecy as “a light shining in a dark place” (2 Pe 1:19).

The New Testament is peppered with Old Testament quotations and allusions that bring Jesus and prophecy together. The apostles’ use of the Old Testament could vary. Matthew and his fellow evangelists draw attention to prophecy and fulfillment dozens of times with introductory phrases like “then what was said through the prophet was fulfilled” or “for it is written.” These words are followed by direct quotations. There are over four dozen of these in the Gospels and Acts. Peter and John cited Psalm 118:22 in Acts 4:11, “the stone you builders rejected, which has become the capstone,” in order to drive home to the Sanhedrin what the Jews had done and what God had made of it. Stephen in Acts 7 used the historical narratives of the Old Testament to defend himself against the charge that he opposed the Law and the Temple. His fellow deacon Philip offered a Christ-centered interpretation of Isaiah 53 for the Ethiopian (Ac 8:32,33). In addition to direct quotations the New Testament echoes the Old in its choice of words and phrases. A good example is the words from heaven spoken at the Transfiguration (Mt 17:5). “This is my beloved son” is taken from Psalm 2:7; “with whom I am well pleased” is from Isaiah 42:1; and the closing words, “listen to him,” are from Deuteronomy 18:15.

What about us, we who live between Jesus’ first and second coming? We have the apostolic Word as an incontrovertible witness to the Jesus of history. Our faith, born of the Word, is strengthened each time we hear the testimony of Scripture regarding our Lord’s birth, death, resurrection, and ascension. We believe, even though Jesus is not with us in the flesh as he once had been with his disciples. Why do we believe? Because the Spirit of Christ convinces us that Jesus lived and died and rose again for us.

Some may say, there were others who claimed a spiritual mission for themselves. They are historical figures, too! What about Gautama Buddha and Mohammed? What about Zoroaster and Confucius? What about Joseph Smith and David Koresh? Non-Christian religions have laid claim to people’s souls on the basis of the ethics, the charisma, the mental acuity, or the high moral sensibilities of extraordinary people who pop up periodically in history. Christianity is different. It is the true revelation of the true God through a true man whose coming was anticipated by divinely inspired mouthpieces from the very beginning of history. The Lord Jesus Christ is unique. He is the incarnate Word, as the opening chapter of John’s Gospel declares. Manmade religions define God in human words, spoken by human tongues. God alone defines himself. He is the I AM WHO I AM of Exodus 3:14. The prophecies concerning the incarnate Word set the stage for Jesus’ unique life. The testimony of the apostles slams the door shut on any doubt that he is unique. “We have the word of the prophets made more certain” and we would “do well to pay attention to it as to a light shining in a dark place” (2 Pe 1:19).

But the question now arises; how do we pay attention to the prophets as they speak of the Lord Jesus Christ? How do we keep the lamp of prophetic truth burning? Since our sinful nature wars against the Spirit of Christ in us, we may ask a better question: How do we keep from snuffing out the light of prophecy?

Ignoring the connection between the prophets and the apostles will snuff out the light of prophecy. Scripture is a unity. Like the two eyes in our head each testament sees Christ. One anticipates. The other fulfills. Together the two of them give us spiritual “depth perception.” The prophecies of the Old Testament are like the threads of a large tapestry or like the dabs of paint on an artist’s canvas. Put your nose to the work of art and not much is clear. Stand back and the scene is obvious and awe-inspiring. When we stand back and pay attention to both prophecy and fulfillment, we can join the prophet Isaiah and the Apostle Paul in saying, “Those who were not told about him will see, and those who have not heard will understand” (Ro 15:21; Is 52:15 ).

Another way to snuff out the prophetic light is to use the Old Testament to define the New, rather than the other way around. We know that one of our eyes is dominant. So it is with Scripture. Regarding the covenant relationship that God established with Israel at Mt. Sinai, the New Testament declares, “Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes” (Ro 10:4). God’s justification of sinners by faith without works is at the heart of the matter. The Old Testament tale of faithless Israel is one gigantic proof that human beings cannot keep a pledge of faithfulness to God. Jesus did not come to be a new lawgiver and put humanity under the yoke all over again. Rather, he came as the only human being in all of history who could be holy and remain holy. He did it so that God might impute the righteousness of his Son as a free gift to all. The prophetic word is like a gorgeous frame around a beautiful picture of the Savior. It is a splendid setting for the dazzling gem of Christ’s perfect life.

Scripture gives us an illustration of its own. The Old Testament is a shadow, while the New Testament is the real thing.. Paul says so in Colossians 2:17 as he discusses Old Testament ceremonial observance: “These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.”² The writer to the Hebrews (10:1) deals with the Old Testament blood sacrifices, as commanded by God through Moses. Such sacrifices are “only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves.”³

The truth of the Old Testament unfolds in the New. The words of the prophets are buds. Every bit of the flower is in the bud, yet the truth is wrapped tight and partially hidden. The truth is not fully seen or appreciated until the flower blooms. Jesus is the blossom.

Still another way to quench the power of the prophetic witness is to tamper with the text. The Word is the last word. The Scripture’s first and last writers, Moses (Dt 4:2; 12:32) and John (Re 22:18,19), solemnly warn against tampering with God’s Word. We must never find something about Christ in the message of the prophets that adds to what is clearly proclaimed by the apostles. Nor may we subtract from the prophets the full range of inspired insight that they brought by the Spirit’s prompting to the mystery of Christ.

How much of the Old Testament is prophecy? All of it? Most of it? Parts of it? Just those passages that are clearly identified in the New Testament as prophecy? How we answer the question has a bearing on interpretation.

Paul asserts that God’s house is “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone” (Eph 2:20). Thus Paul teaches that two groups of authors laid our faith’s foundation. The apostles were witnesses. But so were the prophets. The apostles knew that prophecy was not limited to the sixteen literary prophets (Isaiah to Malachi) whom we immediately equate with prophecy. The writer to the Hebrews says “Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s house, testifying to what would be said in the future” (He 3:5). The Apostle Peter asserts “all the prophets from Samuel on, as many as have spoken, have foretold these days… And you are heirs of the prophets…” (Ac 3:24,25). Of David Peter says, “he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne. Seeing what was ahead, he spoke of the resurrection of the Christ…” (Ac 2:30,31). Moses, Samuel, and David are fitting representatives of the men of God who spoke from all three parts of the Hebrew Bible, the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings.

Is it going too far to say that all of the Old Testament is prophecy? Don’t the Old Testament’s thirty-nine books contain history, biography, moral instruction, dreams, discussions, and a lot more? Yes, they do. These trappings of humanity anticipate the full humanity of Jesus, particularly those unrecorded details which the Apostle John tells us could fill the whole world with books (Jn 21:25). We hold that “in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form” (Col 2:9). Furthermore, we believe the Apostle Paul when he says “you have been given fullness in Christ” (Col 2:10). No, it is not going too far to say that every part of inspired Scripture in some way points to Christ and that through God’s Word, Old Testament and New, we may appropriate the promised fullness which God means for us to have in Christ. We have this encouragement: “Continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of,… the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (2 Tm 3:14,15). Luther wrote in his commentary on 2 Samuel 23:1-5:

We Christians have the meaning and import of the Bible because we have the New Testament, that is, Jesus Christ, who was promised in the Old Testament and who later appeared and brought with Him the light and true meaning of Scripture… For that is the all-important point on which everything depends. Whoever does not have or want this Man properly and truly who is called Jesus Christ, God’s Son, whom we Christians proclaim, must keep his hands off the Bible—that I advise. He will surely come to naught. The more he studies, the blinder and more stupid he will grow, be he Jew, Tartar, Turk, Christian, or whatever he wants to call himself.⁴

It is not necessary that every part of the Old Testament be prophetic to the same degree. Some things the prophets say will stand out like searchlights. Others will cast but a dim shadow. The prophets’ contributions are not unlike those made by the members who form the church, the body of Christ. Each member is a part of the body, yet all members are not eyes or ears. Some members serve lesser, yet still important, functions. The frame into which the Old Testament places Christ has many angles. The setting has many sides. The bud has many petals. The shadow has many edges.

It is always wise to begin with passages that the New Testament identifies as fulfillments of prophecy. These are the searchlights which stand out. They are the lights by which we learn how to search the rest of the Old Testament with care. Identified prophecies show us the Holy Spirit at work as an interpreter. One thing will strike us immediately. Most citations deal with the person and work of Jesus. Sometimes we grasp the connection between prophecy and fulfillment immediately. Sometimes the Holy Spirit’s interpretation is not what we would expect. This underscores why the prophets had to search their prophecies with diligence.

Prophecies cited in the New Testament touch all aspects of the Savior, such as who Jesus is, what Jesus came to do, where he would appear, when and how God’s plan would be carried out, and why Jesus is so important. A few examples will illustrate. According to David Jesus is both the Lord God (Ps 110:1; Mt 22:44) and true man (Ps 8:4-6; He 2:6-8), yet he was without sin according to Isaiah (53:9; 1 Pe 2:22). The ministry of Jesus would be in Galilee as Isaiah had said (9:1,2; Mt 4:15-16).⁵ Yet the Savior would appear in Jerusalem according to Zechariah (13:7; Mt 26:31). Jesus came to instruct humanity in the ways of God (Ps 78:2; Mt 13:35), to bear the infirmities and diseases of people (Is 53:4; Mt 8:17), and to heal their wounds as Isaiah predicted (53:5; 1 Pe 2:24). According to Zechariah his disciples would desert him (13:7; Mt 26:31) and leave him to be pierced by his foes (12:10; Jn 19:37). He would hang, accursed, on a tree (Dt 21:23; Ga 3 13).⁶ Even so, no bones of his body would be broken (Ps 34:20; Jn 19:36),⁷ nor would his body rot in the grave (Ps 16:10; Ac 2:31). Rather he would sit at God’s right hand in glory (Ps 110:1; Ac 2:34). Salvation would manifest itself in the last days and be accompanied by an outpouring of the Holy Spirit (JI 2:28-32; Ac 2:17-21). The Spirit in turn would be poured out through preaching, according to Isaiah (61:1,2; Lk 4:18,19). And why this outpouring? “All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name” (Ac 10:43).

Once we have exhausted the study of the prophecies that are directly identified with Jesus, we take our place alongside the prophets who “searched intently, and with the greatest of care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing” (1 Pe 1:10,11). In a short paper it will be possible to offer only a sample of what may be found. We will use the words of the Second Article of the Apostles Creed. It is a summary of the apostolic doctrine concerning Jesus. Next to the Creed’s words and phrases describing Jesus, we will muster those Old Testament concepts and themes which anticipated the full truth of the New Testament message.

We believe in Jesus. Jesus is the special name chosen by God for Mary’s son (Lk 1:31).⁸ “ It means “the Lord saves.” The Old Testament is a series of saving acts on the Lord’s part: Noah and his family preserved in the ark (Go 6-9), Jacob’s offspring ushered through the Red Sea (Ex 14), Israel carried on eagles’ wings to the mountain of God (Ex 19:4) and to the Promised Land like sheep led by a shepherd (Ps 78:52-55), Balaam the sorcerer frustrated in his mission to curse God’s people (Nu 22-24), Joshua in Ajalon when the sun stood still (Jos 10) and at his farewell when recalling God’s saving acts in the past (Jos 24),⁹ Gideon winning at Moreh with a mere handful of men (Jdg 7), Samuel turning Israel’s fortunes around at Ebenezer (1 Sm 7), David striking down Goliath (1 Sm 17), Esther on Purim, Daniel in the lion’s den (Dn 6), and the remnant of Israel brought back to Zion in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah.

We believe in Jesus Christ. Christ means “anointed one.” Jesus was called to fulfill all that the anointed ones of the Old Testament tried, but failed, to do. Aaron’s priesthood served the spiritual needs of God’s people in Shiloh for almost 400 years. Priests were anointed to offer sacrifices (He 5:1), to distinguish that which was ceremonially clean from what was unclean (Lv 10:10), and to teach the people (Lv 10:11; Mal 2:7). Yet the priests failed to meet God’s standard of perfection. The priests were sinners, all the way from Aaron, who crafted the golden calf (Ex 32:1-6), to the sons of Eli, who debauched the sanctuary (1 Sm 2:12-17,22,25).¹⁰

God anointed kings to shepherd the nation (2 Sm 5:2; 7:7) and be guardians of God’s truth (Dt 17:18-20). Some like David and Solomon served the spiritual needs of the people, but all had feet of clay. David’s sin with Bathsheba and his murder of Uriah touched off a series of rebellions that tore at the fabric of the kingdom. For all of Solomon’s wisdom, he did not rule well when he violated the three prohibitions laid down by Moses (Dt 7:25) and Joshua (Jos 23:7,12), those against intermarriage, treaties with the Canaanites, and idolatry. Saul, Israel’s first king, committed suicide (1 Sin 31:4). Zedekiah, the last king of Judah, was blinded after seeing the royal seed slaughtered, while Jerusalem and the Temple smoldered (2 Kgs 25:7).

Prophets were anointed to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth (1 Kgs 17:24; 22:16). Over the closing years of the Old Testament the prophets towered. They preached sin and proclaimed grace in order to keep a corrupt, idolatrous Israel from suffering the curses of the Law they so richly deserved. The prophets, however, did not halt Israel’s slide to destruction. The failure of these, and of all the Old Testament “christs,” educated Israel to hope for a better Christ to come.

We believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son… Speaking for God, the prophet Hosea said: “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. But the more I called Israel, the further they went from me” (Hos 11:1,2). The Lord selected Israel from all the nations to demonstrate his desire to include the human race in his family. Through the covenant struck on Sinai, the heavenly Father singled Israel out as the firstborn of all the nations (Ex 4:22; Jr 31:9).

This truth was renewed each generation through the redemption of the firstborn (Ex 13:11-13). Upon leaving Egypt the firstborn of the tribes were redeemed by setting aside one man from the tribe of Levi for each firstborn. Because there were not enough Levites, a few firstborn had to be redeemed with five shekels of silver (Nu 3:11-13,41). Money continued to be used to redeem the firstborn through the following generations.¹¹ Levites remained the “redemption price” throughout the rest of the Old Testament. Their special duties were to minister at the altar, burn sacrifices, and teach the law (Dt 33:810). “Firstborn” is also a term used to describe the Messianic heir to the throne of David (Ps 89:27).

As strong as the concept of the firstborn was in the Old Testament, neither the Levites nor the Israelites could do more than anticipate God’s one and only Son. Israel could not return a Father’s perfect love with a perfect love of their own. From the very first Israel proved prodigal. “When our fathers were in Egypt, they gave no thought to your miracles; they did not remember your many kindnesses, and they rebelled by the sea, the Red Sea” (Ps 106:7). The opening chapters of Judges tell us how generation after generation wandered from faith. The failure in Israel of the Levitical “clergy” is highlighted in Judges 17 through 19. Later, ten of the tribes dishonored their birthright by bowing to calves (1 Kgs 12:28-30), something their forefathers had once done at Mt. Sinai (Ex 32:4,8). The kingdoms of Israel and Judah proved to be overly religious. They had rituals, sacrifices, and gods aplenty. Yet the prophets condemn this religion begotten of many fathers. It had drifted away from the one and only Father’s covenant. It was devoid of fatherly charity. Indeed, the more the Father poured out his love on Israel, the further his chosen “son” wandered from him. Wayward Israel drove home the point that sinful humans cannot keep a covenant with God. This impossibility is the theme of the opening chapters of Paul’s letter to the Romans.

Jesus Christ, the Father’s only-begotten Son, was the only human being to fulfill the law perfectly (He 4: 15; Ro 5:17). He was the true firstborn (Ro 8:29) of all creation and of every creature (Col 1:15,16), as well as the firstborn from the dead (Re 1:5). By his work Jesus creates “the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven” (He 12:23). Matthew (2:15) points out to us how the heavenly Father called his first and only-begotten from Egypt, just as he once called Israel. This son succeeded where Israel and the Levites failed. Jesus was the “light for revelation to the Gentiles” and “for glory to [God’s] people Israel” (Lk 2:32).

Continued in Part 2 →

Notes

¹ English uses the future tense of the verb to express what is anticipated. Hebrew grammar does not. Hebrew operates with the concepts of certainty and uncertainty in its verbal system. Of the two, certainty is the preferred vehicle for expressing prophecy.

² The Greek σκιά, “shadow,” is the image caused by the interruption of light that gives the outline without detail, whereas the Greek σῶμα, “reality,” is the physical body.

³ Here Greek for reality is εἰκών, the very image as opposed to the likeness.

⁴ Quoted in Oswald & Robbert, Luther as Interpreter of Scripture (Concordia, 1982), p. 121.

⁵ Isaiah anticipates that the Messianic light would appear in the land of Zebulun and Naphtali, i.e., Galilee. Matthew cites Isaiah as Jesus moves from Nazareth (in Zebulun) to Capernaum (in Naphtali).

⁶ The cross as an instrument of salvation, rather than shame, is also prophesied. Moses lifted up a bronze snake in the wilderness to save the dying (Nu 21:8,9). Jesus applies this to the gift of eternal life wrought by his crucifixion (Jn 3:14,15).

⁷ The Passover lamb’s bones were not to be broken (Ex 12:46; Nu 9:12).

⁸ Throughout the centuries leading up to the birth of Jesus, God intervened to give or change names, often in conjunction with key events in salvation history. The Lord gave new names to Abraham, “father of many” (Ge 17:5), to Sarah, “princess [of kings]” (Ge 17:15), and Jacob, “he who struggles [with God] and wins” (Ge 32:28). The names of many Old Testament believers were short sentences that were testimonials, e.g., Elijah, “My God is the Lord.” An angel named the forerunner of Jesus, “John,” that is, “God is gracious” (Lk 1:13,60).

⁹ In his farewell Joshua asked Israel whether they wished to keep God’s covenant. When they said yes, Joshua impressed upon them that success would come only by God’s intervention. Joshua cited Abraham’s call from idolatry, Israel’s escape from Egypt, the thwarting of Balaam, and the conquest of Canaan.

¹⁰ The Bible depicts leaders honestly, something the ancient leaders of foreign lands seldom did. The failure of Israel’s leaders provides a purposeful contrast to the total success of Jesus, the perfect anointed one.

¹¹ According to the Mishna, Berakot, viii, 8, this was done on the 40^th day after a male child was born. Mary and Joseph probably followed this custom in presenting Jesus, Lk 2:27.