Praise God for the season of Advent! Christians everywhere are preparing their hearts, souls, and minds to celebrate the arrival of God’s Son, Jesus Christ! To do so, we sing carols, purchase gifts, decorate our homes, and worship God every chance we get for the promised Messiah, now delivered.
I’m so thankful to live after Jesus’ visit to earth for it allows us the privilege of examining all the Scriptures He fulfilled during His first Advent. Prophecies, like a huge lake, began building up behind the dam of time. Beginning in Eden’s Garden with Genesis 3:15, God started promising the future arrival of a Savior to defeat Satan and save humanity from sin, death, and hell.
More water collected behind the dam when Isaiah prophesied in 7:14 that, “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call Him Immanuel.” Isaiah added many more gallons to the pent-up flood when he said in 9:6 “For to us a Child is born, to us a Son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” This same preacher also told us in chapters 52-53 how Jesus would suffer for our sins and be despised and rejected.
Another stream poured into Prophecy Lake from Micah 5:2-5, “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for Me One who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times… He will stand and shepherd His flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord His God. And they will live securely, for then His greatness will reach to the ends of the earth. And He will be their peace.”
King David added his own water to the gathering pool when he said in Psalm 23 that He would be a Good Shepherd and described His detailed crucifixion in Psalm 22 including no broken bones, gambling for His clothing, and pierced hands and feet. Zechariah added his tributary to this prophetic watershed by promising in 9:9 that this, “… King comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey.” Job, Hosea, Jeremiah, Malachi and others all fed their own streams of specific prophecies into this gathering lake.
The mighty dam holding back the Messiah’s arrival sprung a leak when Jesus was conceived of the Holy Spirit within the Virgin Mary in Matthew 1:18 and Luke 1:31-38. The crack grew larger when Caesar Augustus decreed that all should return to their ancestral towns for taxation, forcing Mary and Joseph to travel to Bethlehem. Water began to gush as Jesus was born in David’s City and was later spirited into Egypt fulfilling Hosea’s prophecy.
Throughout His ministry, the water continued to flow as He healed many and taught powerfully. And then on Palm Sunday, the dam was fully breached as He rode a donkey into Jerusalem while being admired by many, but rejected by most. On Good Friday He was sacrificed on the cross as the Passover Lamb paying for the sins of all humankind. And three days later, as Jesus Himself prophesied, He rose from the dead as Jonah came forth from the whale.
Standing on this side of Jesus, we can clearly see how He fulfilled over 350 distinct prophecies. And yet there are still more backed up regarding His second and final coming. Even now, cracks appear in time’s dam indicating it won’t be long until Advent 2 will occur to fulfill what has yet to be completed concerning the world’s Savior. As we celebrate Jesus’ first Advent, may we review the prophecies that had gathered behind time’s dam and worship God for the way He fulfilled all of these in His first coming even as we look forward to His final return. Blessings, George