Today I want to remind us of a couple of Old Testament Passages about the promise of the coming Messiah. After today for the next 11 days I want to have a look at some writings from the four gospels of Jesus Christ according to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. This will be my run down to that explosive day when God became man, truly a man! On the whole it is unwise to take a verse without looking at it in its context. I am, as far as you are concerned, breaking that rule in what I am writing, but I have looked at the contexts and assure you that I believe that I am taking them within their contexts.
Micah 5 v2: But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,
who are too little to be among the clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
one who is to be ruler in Israel,
whose coming forth is from of old,
from ancient days. This promises that ‘from of old, from ancient days’, a name for the promised Messiah, would be born in Bethlehem. A fact known through the gospels and it was a prophecy used by the leaders of religious Israel to tell the wise men where to go to see the new born King. They knew of and understood the prophecies well.
Isaiah 7 v14: Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Mary was a virgin as we know from the gospel record in Luke and in Matthew the Angel told Joseph that the child would be the fruit of the Holy Spirit and the writer quoted this verse.
Isaiah 53 v4-6: Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.
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. This relates much more to Jesus’ death but He had to be born to fulfill it. And how clearly did He fulfill this passage and the surrounding verses.
The number of OT prophecies is great. Minimal numbers are about 50, but other scholars say there are greater than 600! At any rate let us approach Christmas recognizing that Jesus was not meant to be kept in a cradle as a babe but to be God’s answer to the problem of sin and the key to God’s future for mankind and the world.
Prayer: May this Christmas mean much to me, O Lord.
As I read it! 
Thanks Barry,
God always keeps His promises!!!
Remembering you as Christmas approaches.
Love to you and Robin
Denise
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Thank you Barry, for your comments on these passages. When one stops to think about the fact that when Jesus was born, there was only the Old Testament Scriptures. Nothing else had been written about Jesus at that point in time. It would do us good to try and read only the Old Testament and see where these prophecies are all written and dwell on them. God bless you.
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