The Prophecies of Christmas

December, 2009

by: Jack Hughes

“December is the month when we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ the Messiah, Savior, Redeemer, and King of kings. Ironically, we don’t actually know what time of the year Christ was born, however we do have Old Testament prophecies related to His birth. In this Calvary Review I want to look at five of them.

The Woman’s Seed – Gen. 3:15

In Gen. 3:15 as God is giving out the consequences of Adam and Eve’s sin, the Lord says to Eve, “And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.” This text is the first place in the Bible that mentions the Messiah. Theologians often use a big word to refer to this text. They call it the “proto-evangelium”, proto meaning first, and evangelium meaning gospel i.e., “the first Gospel.” One of the unique qualities of Gen. 3:15 is the phrase “her seed” which only appears in this text. The word “seed” can mean descendants, offspring, or seed of a male which leads to conception. The Bible usually traces descendants from men and only males have “seed.” Here, God says, the woman’s seed will bruise the serpent’s head. How can that be?

If you know the Christmas story, you know that Mary the mother of Jesus was “found to be with child by the Holy Spirit” (Mt. 1:18). The power of the Most High overshadowed Mary, she conceived a child, and gave birth as a virgin never having known a man. I believe this is what Gen. 3:15 is alluding to. Mary is “the woman” and Jesus is her “seed.” The birth of Jesus and even Mary giving birth to Jesus as a virgin is fulfilled in the promise of Gen. 3:15. God said the woman’s seed would crush the serpent’s head and this is what Jesus accomplished on the cross and through His resurrection from the dead.

A Virgin Gives Birth to God With Us – Isa. 7:14

The virgin birth was explicitly predicted in Isa. 7:14. Isaiah the prophet prophesied during the reign of Ahaz, king of Judah. Judah was being attacked by Rezin, king of Aram and Pekah, king of the northern kingdom of Israel. But God was not ready to let Jerusalem be captured, so He sent Isaiah and his young son Shear-jashub, whose name means “a remnant will return,” to give a prophecy to King Ahaz. Isaiah told King Ahaz that within 65 years nothing would be left of the two kings who threatened Judah. God knew that this would be difficult for Ahaz to believe, so He said this in Isa. 7:10-11, “Then the Lord spoke again to Ahaz, saying, Ask a sign for yourself from the Lord your God; make it deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” God, like a mythological genie, gives Ahaz a chance to ask for anything he wants to prove that his enemies will be defeated. But Ahaz is proud and stubborn and says, “I will not ask, nor will I test the Lord!”

God then responds, not just to Ahaz, but to the entire house of David and says in Isa. 7:13-14, “Listen now, O house of David! Is it too slight a thing for you to try the patience of men, that you will try the patience of my God as well? Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.” Because Ahaz refused to ask for a personal sign “as deep as sheol or as high as heaven,” God provides one for all Judah. God’s sign is amazing in two specific ways. First, “a virgin will conceive and bear a son,” something impossible, and secondly, “and she will call His name Immanuel” which means “God with us.”

What has confused some people is that God went on to speak through Isaiah to Ahaz and in Isa. 7:15-16 God also promises that before the child was old enough to discern good from evil, the land of the two kings which were waging war against Judah would be forsaken. This has led some to believe that the child being spoken of would have to be born in Isaiah’s life time and hence couldn’t be Jesus. Yet, near and far fulfillment is fairly common in prophecy. God often mixes up both near fulfilment to verify the ultimate future fulfillment of a prophecy. The near fulfillment is for those who first hear the prophecy and the far fulfillment is the ultimate and final fulfillment. In Isa. 8:3, Isaiah approaches his wife, referred to as “the prophetess” and she gives birth to a son whose name is Maher-shalal-hash-baz which means, “swift is the booty, speedy is the prey” and symbolized the defeat of Ahaz’s enemies.

Isaiah’s son is not called Emmanuel, nor was Isaiah’s son born of a virgin. In fact, there was nothing miraculous at all about the birth of Isaiah’s son. It was a standard ordinary birth and could hardly be described as a sign “as deep as sheol or as high as heaven.” Ahaz received the near future sign of the birth of Isaiah’s son, but the house of David received the sign of the virgin birth of Jesus by Mary. Mary was literally a virgin, not just a maiden or young married woman. She gave birth to Jesus never having known a man. Jesus was literally the Son of God (Lk. 1:32, 35). Matthew confirms that the birth of Jesus fulfilled Isaiah’s prophecy in Mt. 1:23.

A Divine King to Rule the Nations – Isa. 9:6-7

In the near following context of Isa. 7:14, we have another text which speaks of the birth of Jesus. Isaiah says the people living in darkness, in the area of Galilee, will see a great light (Isa. 9:2; Mt. 4:17; Lk. 1:79). That great light is described in Isa. 9:6 with these words, “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.” This is some name!

Isaiah tells us that the child to be born will be a “son,” who is given to “us” and He will be a king for “the government will rest on His shoulders.” His name is very unique for He will be referred to as, “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.” There is only one person who rightfully bears these titles – God. Then in vs. 7 Isaiah describes the child’s reign with these words, “There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this.” The Messiah will be born for us, will be God in human flesh, and will rule on David’s throne and over David’s kingdom forever. Jesus is that Son!

The Ancient of Days is Born – Mic. 5:2

Another significant prophecy concerning the birth of Christ is found in Mic. 5:2. Micah preached judgment to both the northern and southern tribes of Israel and Judah. In Mic. 5:2 the Lord gives hope to His people and promises that after they are judged a deliverer will be born. Micah predicts, “But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Too little to be among the clans of Judah, From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, From the days of eternity.”

This prophecy is significant because it tells us 1) the place of Messiah’s birth – “Bethlehem,” 2) the function of the Messiah – “to be ruler in Israel,” 3) and the identity of the Messiah – “His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity.” This last phrase means that the Messiah would be none other than eternal God, the Ancient of Days (Dan. 7:9, 13)! The Jews understood that this verse was speaking of the Messiah because when Herod asked the chief priests and scribes where the Messiah was to be born (Mt. 2:6), they quoted Mic. 5:2. Jesus was born in Bethlehem. He was born a king and He was born the Ancient of Days.

A Forever King and Kingdom – I Sam. 7:12-16 & I Chron. 17:11-14

The fifth and final prophecy which speaks of the birth of Jesus is found in both II Sam. 7:12-16 and I Chron. 17:11-14. Both of these texts record the Davidic Covenant, a promise God made to David concerning the future of his royal line. In II Sam. 7:1-7 Nathan the prophet lets David know that God does not want him to build a temple because he is a man of war and bloodshed. Then the Lord encourages David and says to him, “When your days are complete and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be a father to him and he will be a son to Me; when he commits iniquity, I will correct him with the rod of men and the strokes of the sons of men, but My lovingkindness shall not depart from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. 'Your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever.’” This text, like Isa. 7:14, has both a near and far fulfillment.

Solomon was the near fulfillment as he was 1) David’s descendant, 2) built a house for God, 3) was King of Judah, 4) was figuratively a son to God, 5) was literally corrected by God through the sons of men, and 6) never had God’s lovingkindness taken from Him. Yet the ultimate future fulfillment is realized in Jesus Christ who 1) was David’s descendant, 2) was literally the Son of God and God was literally His Father, and 3) God’s lovingkindness never departed from Him. Still to be fulfilled in the future after the Second Coming of Christ is the rest of the prophecy 4) the Messiah’s kingdom will be established, 5) the Messiah’s kingdom will last forever, and 6) the Messiah will rule forever on the throne of David.

Ezra, who wrote after the death of Solomon, includes the prophecy in I Chron. 17:11-14 but leaves out the parts of the prophecy which only refer to Solomon. He leaves out, “when he commits iniquity, I will correct him with the rod of men and the strokes of the sons of men” because it was already fulfilled in Solomon and Jesus will be sinless. The angel Gabriel, who appeared to Mary, alluded to the Davidic covenant in Lk. 1:32-33, when he said of Jesus, “the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.”

Consider all five of these prophecies, all their parts, and the mathematical probability of one person fulfilling them all! How many people have been 1) born of a virgin, 2) are called “God with us,” 3) are born to rule the nations, 4) have the name Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace, 5) are born in Bethlehem, 6) are born the Ancient of Days, 7) are of the royal line of David, 8) are literally the Son of God, 9) literally have God as their Father, 10) are destined to have a kingdom that will never end, and 11) are destined to rule on the throne of David over the house of Jacob forever and ever? There is only one. His name is Jesus!

Jesus, the Son of David, came to earth to live a perfect life, die on the cross for the sins of the world, was buried and rose from the dead on the third day. If you don’t know him as your personal Lord and Savior, you need to repent and believe. You need to turn from your sins and receive Jesus Christ as the predicted Messiah and Savior. If you do, He will forgive you, save you from the consequences of your sin, and transform you into His image from one glory to the next. This is what Christmas is all about – “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (Jn. 3:16). Merry Christmas!