Wednesday, November 19, 2025

CHRIST IN THE PROPHETS

 


The Redeemer is Christ.  Jesus is the Kinsman Redeemer typified by Boaz in the book of Ruth. He is the one of whom Job declared, “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that at the last he will stand upon the earth.” (Job 19:25). He is the Rock, the LORD/Yahweh (Ps 19:14; 78:35). Solomon speaks of him in Proverbs 23:11 as the strong Redeemer who plead their cause. Christ is the Friend who loves at all times and sticks closer than a brother (17:17).  Isaiah has a lot to say of the Redeemer, the holy one of Israel (Is 41:14; 43:14); the Redeemer who is the Lord of hosts (Is 47:4; 48:17). He unveils him as the Redeemer who will come to Zion (Is 60:20). He is the Servant of the Lord (see all the Servant Songs - Isaiah 42,43, 50, 51 & 53. Who can this be but Jesus Christ? He is the ‘angel of his presence’ regarded as the one who “redeemed them” and “lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.” (Isa 63:9). Clearly, the Lord Jesus came to the earth to help his people in and perhaps out of their distress and their need for guidance. That Christ is the only Redeemer of God’s elect is clear from the NT for he paid the ransom by his own blood. He gave his life as ransom (Mark 10:45) to redeem or purchase us. See Zechariah’s song celebrating the birth of Jesus in Luke 1:68 – “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people, and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David.” There was no doubt in his mind that the OT passages of a deliverer have been fulfilled in Christ. Paul in 1 Timothy 2:5-6 and Titus 2:13-14 makes it abundantly clear that the One Mediator is none other than Jesus Christ who gave himself as a ransom for all. He is the great God and Saviour Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness. Peter simply tell us that, “… knowing that we were ransomed from futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.” (1 Pet 1:18-19) (Cf. Gal. 3:13; Rev. 14:3, 4).

The Anointed one, that is, the Messiah/Christ is none other than Jesus Christ. He is seen as the “Anointed” one in 1 Samuel 2:1-10 and the “faithful Priest” in 1 Samuel 2:35-36. But the most outstanding text is the Davidic Covenant text found in 2 Samuel 7, which is repeated in 1 Chronicles 17 and is further expounded in Psalm 132, which pointed to the dynasty/house of David as the place where God would establish his throne and kingdom forever. The promise given to David was so astounding that David cried out in 2 Samuel 7:19c that “This is the instruction (law/charter) for mankind.” This is the same as saying that God had just now conferred on David an amplification of the promise he had originally made with Abraham. The Lord confirmed that he is the Anointed one at the beginning of his ministry when he read from the scroll in Isaiah 61:1,2 as Luke records it in 4:18-19.

The Promised Messiah is Christ. There are at least thirty nine direct/express predictions of the Messiah in the Old Testament prophets. It was predicted that the Messiah would be born of a virgin (Isa 7:14; cf. Matt 1:33). His birthplace would be Bethlehem (Mic 5:2; cf. Mt 2:1, 6), and John the Baptist would be his forerunner (Isa 40:3-5; Mal 3:1; cf. Mt 3:3, Mk 1:3; Lk 3:4-6). The Messiah would return to the earth a second time (Daniel 7:13; cf Mk 13:26; Lk 21:27).

The Humble King is none other than Christ. He is the Anointed King who rules from Zion as stated in the second Psalm. His rule is greater than David’s reign, since he was both David’s son, yet David’s Lord (Ps 110). He would one day rule in the city of Jerusalem as the King of kings, as the nations would go up to the mountain of the Lord to be taught his ways, never more to “learn war any more” (Isa 2:3-4). It was further announced by Zechariah that Messiah would triumphantly enter Jerusalem as the crowd shouted “Hosanna” (Zech 9:9-10; Ps 118:25-26; cf. Mt 21:9; Mk 11:9; Lk 19:38; Jn 12:13).

The suffering servant is Jesus. There is an astounding accuracy of the fact that Jesus would be killed with the “wicked” ones, being numbered with them (Isa 53:9a, note the plural noun in Hebrew) [as he hung between two thieves], yet he would be buried with the rich one (Isa 53:9b, note its singular form in the Hebrew). Then he would be betrayed by one of his own (Ps 69:25; cf. Acts 1:20). His side would be pierced (Zech 12:10; cf. Jn 19:37), and he would suffer vicariously for the sins of the world (Isa 53:6, 9, 12; cf. I Pt 2:21-25; Rom 4:25).

Commenting on the correspondence of the person and work of Christ in the prophets and specifically in the book of Isaiah, O Palmer Robertson rightly concludes this subject for when he writes,

Without even considering other predictions f the documents of the old covenant to which the life and ministry of Jesus correspond, the relationship of his person and work to the predictions about the individual servant in the book of Isaiah is remarkable enough for the world to take note.[1]


[1] Robertson, O Palmer, Christ of the Prophets (Philipsburg: Presbyterian & Reformed, 2004), 482.

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CHRIST IN THE PROPHETS

  The Redeemer is Christ.  Jesus is the Kinsman Redeemer typified by Boaz in the book of Ruth . He is the one of whom Job declared, “I kno...