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Week 15 Genesis to Jesus – Covenant Enforcers – The Prophets

Part 2 – The Prophets – The Coming Messiah

There are thousands of verses of prophesy in the Old Testament, about one hundred of them are about the coming Messiah, Jesus, so in the amount of time we have we will look at just six very important ones. Isaiah, chapters 7 through 11 begin to tell us of a miraculous virgin birth of male child, who will grow up and become the man named Emmanuel, or God with us. Isaiah chapter 9 talks about this same man coming from the region of Galilee, a Nazarene, from the very same area where the Davidic kingdom began to fall apart.

This passage also related directly to a passage starting in Isaiah chapter 11, Isaiah 11:1–3 (RSV2CE) 1 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. 2 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 the fear of the LORD. 3 And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. Galilee is the very place where King David’s family tree was cut off, leaving nothing but a dead stump. But here we see a shoot that will grow out of the dead roots of the stump of Jesse, Jesse being the father of King David.

In the last half of the Book of Isaiah we read Four Servant Songs about the coming Messiah, and the last song begins with chapter 52 and goes through to the end of chapter 53. I want us to look at a portion of this last song, Isaiah 52:13 (RSV2CE) 13 Behold, my servant shall prosper, he shall be exalted and lifted up, and shall be very high. But in chapter 53, the song speaks of the great suffering He will endure, Isaiah 53:3–10 (RSV2CE) 3 He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men

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hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. 5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that made us whole, and with his stripes we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. 8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? 9 And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. 10 Yet it was the will of the LORD to bruise him; he has put him to grief; when he makes himself an offering for sin, he shall see his offspring, he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand;

It is this very oracle that converted the chief rabbi of Rome in 1945, Israel Zolli was protected during WWII by the Vatican and several Catholic families. When asked about his conversion he shared that he left nothing of his Jewish heritage behind, he simply fulfilled all that he prayed for in the Synagogue of Rome, and this passage helped him see that Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah.

Another oracle that is stunning, is the one in Jeremiah, Jeremiah 31:31–33 (RSV2CE) 31 “Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant which I made with their fathers when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant which they broke, and I showed myself their Master, says the LORD. 33 But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it upon their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

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All hope seems lost, the Davidic kingdom is in ruin and yet another covenant has been broken, and here comes this prophecy from Jeremiah that is full of such hope. This cycle once again repeats itself, first of sin and disobedience, covenant breaking. Then and judgement, followed by God’s people crying out for forgiveness, and finally the prophets proclaiming messages of hope and of deliverance. Over and over and over, this same destructive cycle went on for generations, and kept on repeating. But now God speaks through the prophet about a new covenant, but this one very different from all the ones that have gone before, “I will put my law within them, and I will write it upon their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”

The Mosaic covenant produced a tablet of stone with the Law of God carved into that cold, hard, rock tablet. This new covenant proclaimed by Jeremiah brings with it a new law that will swallow up all five of the failed covenants that have come before. This new law of God’s love, will not be written in stone, but instead carved into the flesh of our hearts, deep within us. The Law of Love will be circumcised into our hearts, marking us with a New Covenant seal for all eternity.

The next major prophet to step up is Ezekiel, and in chapter 34 he delivers a scathing oracle to the leaders of Israel and condemns them as bad shepherds, with no compassion or care for their sheep. Ezekiel 34:2–6 (RSV2CE) 2 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say to them, even to the shepherds, Thus says the Lord God: Ho, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep? 3 You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fatlings; but you do not feed the sheep. 4 The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the crippled you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them. 5 So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd; and they became

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food for all the wild beasts. 6 My sheep were scattered, they wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill; my sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with none to search or seek for them.

Then Ezekiel speaks of a new shepherd that was coming to care for the sheep, and that shepherd would be the Lord Himself. Ezekiel 34:22–24 (RSV2CE) 22 I will save my flock, they shall no longer be a prey; and I will judge between sheep and sheep. 23 And I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd. 24 And I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them; I, the Lord, have spoken.

This good shepherd will be not only divine, he will also be Davidic, which raises a huge question. How is God going to send a good shepherd who is both, in the line of David, and God. Does that sound like someone you know? But the real shocker is found in Ezekiel chapter 36, as the prophet speaks of gathering all His people and sprinkling them with clean water, and giving them a new heart and a new spirit. Ezekiel 36:24–27 (RSV2CE) 24 For I will take you from the nations, and gather you from all the countries, and bring you into your own land. 25 I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26 A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will take out of your flesh the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to observe my ordinances.

You can’t miss what is going on here, Ezekiel sees into the future, and he sees the sacrament of baptism, sprinkling them with clean water, “and I will give you a new spirit”. The prophet Ezekiel long ago, could see into the future the time that you and I would be made clean, and be given a new spirit through the Holy waters of Baptism.

Don’t you know right now that Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel are cheering us on to finish the race that we have begun on this earth, to keep the faith, and

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fulfill our destiny…the very purpose and meaning of our lives. We need to quit saying, “the Force be with you” …instead say “the Prophets be with you”, because they are with us, in the cloud of witnesses we call the Church triumphant who are all around us right now.

The prophet Daniel, during the dispersion of the Israelites, is the one that gets the Messianic clock ticking. In Daniel 2, he interprets the dream of King Nebuchadnezzar, and he tells the king how the empire of Babylon will be followed by three succeeding empires. Following the fall of Babylon will come the Medo Persia empire, then the Greek empire, and finally the Roman empire. In Daniel 7, he prophesies of one coming, but in this instance, he uses a different name for the Messiah, he is called the Son of Man, coming in the clouds of heaven to the Ancient of Days. This understanding comes from St. Jerome, written in Bethlehem around 400AD, from his famous commentary on the Book of Daniel. Daniel 7:13–14 (RSV2CE) 13 I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. 14 And to him was given dominion and glory and kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.

What comes next is nothing short of amazing, speaking of the “saints”, Daniel 7:18 (RSV2CE) 18 But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, for ever and ever.’ Guess who the saints are, you and me brother and sister…you and me. Preach it Daniel, preach it!!!

This next passage describes the angel Gabriel delivering a message to Daniel, declaring because of the transgression of the people, their deliverance will be delayed another “seventy weeks of years”, or 7 times 70 years, about 490 years. But read what happens after that 500-year delay. Daniel 9:21–26 (RSV2CE) 21 while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the first, came to me in swift flight at the time of the evening sacrifice. 22 He came

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and he said to me, “O Daniel, I have now come out to give you wisdom and understanding. 23 At the beginning of your supplications a word went forth, and I have come to tell it to you, for you are greatly beloved; therefore consider the word and understand the vision. 24 “Seventy weeks of years are decreed concerning your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place. 25 Know therefore and understand that from the going forth of the word to restore and build Jerusalem to the coming of an anointed one, a prince, there shall be seven weeks. Then for sixty-two weeks it shall be built again with squares and moat, but in a troubled time. 26 And after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off, and shall have nothing; and the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.

The anointed one is coming, but he shall be cut off, and the sanctuary and the city shall be destroyed. That actually happened in 70AD, 40 years after the resurrection of Jesus. Then we see in the next verse the anointed one will make a strong covenant with many, and cause sacrifices to cease, which also happened with the destruction of the Temple during that same time. Daniel 9:27 (RSV2CE) 27

And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week; and for half of the week he shall cause sacrifice and offering to cease; and upon the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator.”

500 years after this prophecy, just as Daniel had prophesied, King Herod is ruling in Jerusalem, and the foot of the Roman Empire is on the neck of the Israelites, and everyone is looking for the Messiah. Herod wants to kill Messiah before he comes to power, and Israel is looking for the anointed one to come and crush the Romans and restore the Davidic Kingdom. The Messianic clock that they have read about and heard the rabbis argue about for 500 years, is about to strike 12. Rumors of his coming are at a fever pitch, and there is a sense

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that they are about to experience world changing events. And very soon a child will be born of a virgin in the City of David, the tiny village of Bethlehem, just as the mighty prophets foretold. I am getting those big Catholic goose bumps again. Praise God.