Where does the Old Testament predict the coming of Christ?

In the Old Testament, as in the New, the greatest variety of moral appeal accompanies prediction almost everywhere, and in volume commonly exceeds it, as being of the utmost importance. But specific predictions are given throughout to be fulfilled in due time. Apply this test to Christ's first advent, incomparably the most momentous of all facts here below, so declared to be by both the Old and the New Testaments; and what can be more decisive? From Moses to Malachi the grand testimony was to the coming Messiah. Even Genesis narrowed the limits down from the first woman to Shem, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, successively; as the Psalms did to One Who should be David's son, yet David's Lord, sitting at Jehovah's right hand before He strike through kings in His wrath (Ps. 110) Who is set on the holy hill of Zion, and sways the universal sceptre as Son of man over all nations (Ps. 8; Dan. 7). The time was fixed by Daniel, the place by Micah, the birth from a virgin by Isaiah, even the strange land (where Israel was a bondman) to the Messiah a shelter from the Edomite king of Judæa, as the Spirit showed by Hosea. (Hosea 11:1-3). So we have in Isaiah and Malachi His herald, "A voice crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of Jehovah"; for indeed He was Immanuel and Jehovah. By the same prophet His servant-character, so hateful to man's pride and rebelliousness, was fully made known. It told the tale of the world's state, His utter rejection by man, though Jehovah's chosen, in Whom His soul delighted, Whom man despised, Whom the nation abhorred. There, too, the ministry of His life, the atonement of His death, are with equal clearness revealed. So long before, David wrote in Psalm 22. what was immeasurably beyond his own sufferings, and any kingly power of his — indeed, what He alone of all men knew. He is on the one hand the Holy One of God, abandoned by His God, as He must be to make expiation of sins, and on the other raised and glorified in virtue of it, so as to praise "in the midst of the congregation" or church (v. 22) now, as He will ere long "in the great congregation," i.e. "all Israel" then saved (v. 25); when all the ends of the earth shall remember, and all the kingdoms of the nations worship. So it is to be, when the kingdom becomes de facto, as it is de jure, Jehovah's, and He is the ruler over the nations.

When the dread scene of the cross drew near, was the prophetic word in vain? or did it utter generalities, or easy guesses, or dubious oracles? Was it only within the space of man's life or observation that one predicted the treachery of a disciple (Ps. 41:9), as another did the goodly price He was prized at by them — the thirty pieces of silver (Zech. 11:12-13)? Was it within the compass of man's mind to say centuries before that He, over Whom Jehovah watched with delight and loving care without parallel, should, in His obedience, be surrendered to the basest smiting and the cruellest contumely (Isa. 1), because His vindication was to be by resurrection (Ps. 16) and heavenly glory (Ps. 8; Ps. 110) that grace might reign through righteousness to life eternal through Jesus Christ our Lord? Was it the prognostic of a mortal to say of Messiah (for of Him only Psalm 22 treats), "They pierced My hands and My feet," and again, "They part My garments among them, and upon My vesture they do cast lots"? anticipatively to provide the very words the Lord Jesus appropriated when suffering once for all for sins, Just for unjust? Was it a mere conjecture to lay down that not a bone of Him should be broken (Ex. 12:46; Ps. 34:20) when the legs of the others were? or that only He should be pierced (Zech. 12:10), whereas they were not? Was it fortuitous that even in such circumstances He should be with the rich in His death, whilst His grave would naturally be made with the wicked? (Isa. 53:9).

Thousands of years ago the coming of the Christ in humiliation to suffer was announced. These prophecies were amplified as time progressed. Details were gradually revealed. The way of His coming — born of a virgin; the place of His coming — Bethlehem Ephratah; the date of His coming — see Daniel 9:26; the result of His coming — despised, rejected, led as a lamb to the slaughter, hands and feet pierced, His soul made an offering for sin; all this and much more was foretold. Foretold and fulfilled to the very letter.

The very first announcement concerning the Saviour is to the point here. To the serpent in Eden the Lord God said: "I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise His heel" (Gen. 3:15) . Three things are here predicted of our Lord: His incarnation; His sufferings, and His victory. But mark the total omission of all reference to the man in this prophecy. The woman, the enemy, and the Deliverer are the only parties mentioned therein. As Revelation unfolded itself, so did the mind of God concerning the coming One. Thus of all Adam's sons Seth was to be His progenitor; later, of Noah's sons, Shem; of Terah's sons, Abram; of Jacob's, Judah; and of Jesse's, David. In due course, the very village was named in which He should be born; and the time of His coming (Mic. 5:2; Dan. 9:25). Then in Isa. 7:14 we read: "Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call His name Immanuel." How this passage is applied by the Spirit of God in Matt. 1:23 is known to every Bible reader.

His Forerunner "Behold I send My messenger before Thy face." (Mal. 3:1) "Saying prepare ye the way of the Lord." (Isa. 40:3; Matt. 3:3) The manner of His birth "The seed of the woman." (Gen. 3:15) "Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and thou shalt call His name Emmanuel." (Isa. 7:14; Matt. 1:23) The place of His birth "But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall He come forth to Me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from [the days of eternity — marg.]." (Micah 5:2; Matt. 2:5) The slaughter of the children "Thus says the Lord; A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rachel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not." (Jer. 31:15; Matt. 2:18) The flight to Egypt "Out of Egypt have I called My Son." (Hos. 11:1; Matt. 2:15) His home at Nazareth "He shall be called a Nazarene." (a reproach) (Ps. 22; Isa. 53; Matt. 2:23) His Mission "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good tidings to the meek." (Isa. 61:1; Luke 4:18) His character and entry into Jerusalem "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem; behold, thy King comes to thee. He is just and having salvation lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass." (Zech. 9:9; Matt. 21:5) His rejection by the people "The stone refused by the builders." (Ps. 118:22) "Despised and rejected of men." (Isa. 53:3) "Cut off." [and shall have nothing — marg.] (Dan. 9:25) The price of His betrayal "They weighed for My price thirty pieces of silver — a goodly price that I was prized at of them." (Zech. 11:12-13; Matt. 26:15) His death by crucifixion "And they shall look upon Me whom they have pierced." (Zech. 12:6) "And one shall say what are these wounds in Thy hands?" (Zech. 13:6; John 19:34) The object of His death "For the transgression of My people was He stricken." (Isa. 53:9) His glorious resurrection "For thou wilt not leave my soul in hades; neither wilt Thou suffer Thy Holy One to see corruption. Thou wilt show me the path of life." (Ps. 16:10) His ascension to glory "Thou hast ascended on high, Thou hast led captivity captive: Thou hast received gifts for men." (Ps. 68:18)

The two lines of truth as to His Deity and Manhood had run in the prophetic word right through the Old Testament. He had been spoken of as the woman's Seed (Gen. 3), the seed of Abraham (Gen. 22), the Lion of the tribe of Judah (Gen. 49), and the Prophet greater than Moses (Deut. 18:15), all of which found their fulfilment in this holy birth. But when we come to the prophets Isaiah and Micah we get not only the Man, but God and Man prophetically announced in one glorious Person. "For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace" (Isa. 9:6). "But thou Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah yet out of thee shall He come forth unto Me that is to be ruler in Israel; Whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting" (Micah 5:2).

The great bulk of the prophecies of the Old Testament refer to the coming of the Son of God into this world as Man in order to be the Redeemer. They refer to His Person as God and Man, the place and manner of His birth, the wonder of His life, and above all His death and its sacrificial meaning and His glorious resurrection. We append a few of these prophecies and their fulfilment.

Our point in part one was the wealth of typical instruction contained in the Old Testament concerning our Lord Jesus Christ. As the centre of the divine volume, He fills both Testaments but in the Old Testament it comes out necessarily in type, figure, symbol, promise and prophecy. Prophecy foretold what history records namely, that the march of events in this world, from Adam, for four millenniums, was towards the incarnation of the eternal Son of God. During much of this period, Messianic songs sounded out in strains of heavenly music, both from men and women, in ecstatic vision, as under the control of the Holy Spirit. This glorious event was foretold in a threefold way as answering to what we have already seen in the Divine-Human Person of our Lord. (1). God Himself was coming down to deliver. Ex. 3:8; Isa. 13:3, 5; Zech, 14:5; Mark 1:1, 3. (2). The seed of the woman; the Son of Abraham; the Son of David; the Prophet like unto Moses that would be heard. Gen. 3:15; Deut. 18:15; Matt. 1:1. (3). These two lines of Messianic prophecy run right through the Old Testament, but combine together in Isa. 6:9 and Micah 5, where the Babe of Bethlehem is described as the eternal God whose goings forth have been from eternity.

Ever since the day of Adam's transgression, men of faith had the hope shining before them that in God's good time One would undertake their cause who should be truly man, and yet infinitely more than man. He was to be the woman's Seed, the man having no place whatever in the prediction (Gen. 3:15). Later, He was foretold as the virgin's Son (Isa. 7:14), and by a contemporary prophet Bethlehem was designated as the spot where the mysterious event was to take place (Micah 5:2). The prophets speak as distinctly of the Deity as of the humanity of the heavenly Visitant. Those already cited, Isaiah and Micah (leaving other witnesses aside), testify to Him as the Mighty God, the Father of eternity, and as the Governor whose goings forth have been from everlasting.

"Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call His name Immanuel" (Isa. 7:14). "Bind thou up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples. And I will wait for the LORD that hides his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him. Behold, I and the children whom the LORD has given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, which dwells in Mount Zion" (Isa. 8:16-18). "In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time has he made it glorious by the way of the sea beyond Jordan, Galilee of the nations. The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them has the light shined" (Isa. 9:1-2). "And there shall come forth a shoot out of the stock of Jesse, and a branch out of his roots shall bear fruit; and the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD; and his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD," etc. (Isa. 11:1-3). "Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone of sure foundation: he that believes shall not make haste" (Isa. 28:16).

The light of this great truth is intensified in the Prophets, where we have the promise of the Son of the Virgin, of God's Servant (Isa. 7:14; Isa. 42:1), and the cross most clearly foretold (Isa. 53). Jeremiah speaks of the righteous Branch of the house of David (Jer. 23:5-6), and Zechariah of the smiting of the Shepherd (Zech. 13:7). But besides the direct prophecies and allusions to this great truth, we find it beneath the surface like the veins of gold in the earth.