J Brentner: The Sign Of Fulfilled Prophecy

THE SIGN OF FULFILLED PROPHECY

Jonathan Brentner

We can learn a lot by looking at fulfilled prophecy.

At His first coming, Jesus fulfilled forty-eight specific prophecies concerning His birth, lineage, life, death, burial, and even His resurrection.

Here are just some of the key Old Testament passages that accurately foretold the details of the Messiah’s first arrival in the world:

1. Micah 5:2: Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem

2. Isaiah 7:14: Jesus was born of a virgin

3. Jeremiah 31:15: Herod’s murder of children in Bethlehem

4. Zechariah 11:12-13: Jesus betrayed for thirty pieces of silver

5. Psalm 22:16: the piercing of Jesus’ hands and feet

6. Psalm 22:18: the casting of lots for Jesus’ clothing

7. Psalm 16:10: Jesus’ resurrection

Let’s examine what this sampling of prophetic texts tells us:

Perhaps I’m just stating the obvious, but it’s an important point. The fulfillment of prophecy regarding Jesus’ first coming tells us that words supremely matter when God reveals the future in Scripture.

Jesus fulfilled all the details of the above sampling of prophecies just as He did with all forty-eight of them.

Matthew went to great lengths to show how Christ met the specifics of what the Old Testament prophets wrote. For example, He didn’t ride a horse or just any donkey into Jerusalem, but He rode the “foal of a donkey” just Zechariah foretold (Zechariah 9:9; Matthew 21:2-5).

Those familiar with my writing know that I emphasize the importance of words in the prophetic texts of the Bible that pertain to the end times. A key reason for doing so comes from the pattern we see with those pertaining to Jesus’ first coming. The Lord fulfilled the precise wording of all those texts.

Since the Psalms contain several references to Jesus first coming, then we should also expect to see passages there that pertain to many aspects of His Second Coming and reign over the nations. And that is precisely what we discover in the Psalms.

In the introduction, I included three examples of fulfilled prophecies that come from the Psalms. I did this because many in the church today dismiss its prophetic value.

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