God on the Spot – Part 9: Fulfilling the Prophecies
March 29, 2019 by Dianne Butts
Filed under Faith, Faith Articles
By Dianne Butts –
There has been silence from God for four hundred years.
As we have seen through the first eight parts of this “God on the Spot” series, God has made many promises, including to bring the Messiah through Abraham’s bloodline, then narrowing down that branch of the family tree to King David’s line.
God made other promises as well: that Messiah would be born of a virgin, in Bethlehem, with a mysterious star, be called “God with us,” and more.
Centuries have passed. When will God honor His promises? And perhaps more importantly, how will people know who His promised Messiah is? How can they (and we) recognize Him?
The answer: The Messiah is the one who fulfills all of God’s promises. That’s why God gave all those promises (prophecies) in the first place: so we could recognize Him when He came.
Every last one of God’s promises, predictions and prophecies must be fulfilled. If they aren’t, what would that mean? God was wrong? God lied? God couldn’t pull it off? If God is all-knowing (meaning He can’t be wrong), and if there is no shadow of darkness in Him (meaning He can’t lie), and if He is all-powerful (meaning He can pull off anything He wants), then every single statement God has made about Messiah must come true. Without exception. 100%. Or else either God is not God, or the one we’re looking at isn’t the Messiah. So, let’s recap God’s promises and see if they are fulfilled:
Messiah would come from the bloodline of Abraham and then David:
Do you ever get bored reading all those “so-and-so was the father of so-and-so” passages in the Bible? When you read the Christmas story, do you skip over Matthew 1:1-17? In Luke, do your eyes glaze over when you hit 3:23-38? Well wake up! This is the very reason genealogies are recorded in the Bible! If God promised Messiah would come through the bloodline of Abraham and then David, then bloodlines had to be traced in order to know who qualified! Or if someone claimed to be the promised Messiah, then the first order of business would be to check his ancestry to see if he fulfilled this prophecy. Matthew and Luke trace Jesus’ genealogy to verify that He qualifies.
Having established His bloodline, the other prophecies given in the Old Testament (at least four hundred years prior to His birth) must be checked as well. There are so many, we don’t have enough room to cover them all here, but here are some:
He would be born of a virgin: Prophesized: Isaiah 7:14. Fulfilled: Luke 1:31-35.
He would be called “God with us”: Prophesized: Isaiah 7:14. Fulfilled: Matthew 1:21-23.
He would be born in Bethlehem: Prophesized: Micah 5:2. Fulfilled: Luke 2:4-7.
There would be a mysterious star: Prophesized: Numbers 24:17. Fulfilled: Matthew 2:1-2, 9-10.
When Herod tried to kill this newborn king, it was God on the spot to protect the life of the infant Jesus, which He did by two dreams: one sent the Magi home without returning to Herod (Matthew 2:12) and the other warned Joseph to flee (Matthew 2:13-17).
When God made promises about the Messiah He would send, He was putting Himself on the spot to fulfill every one of them—and He did.
October: “God on the Spot – Part 10: Providing the Sacrifice.” When Satan connived to have Messiah killed, it was God on the spot to preserve life through His death—Messiah’s life as well as the eternal lives of all who would be redeemed by it.
Dianne has written for over 50 Christian print magazines and seventeen books, including the recently released For God So Loved the World He Created Chocolate (Group, 2010). Her work has appeared in Great Britain, Bulgaria, Poland, Canada, and Korea. When she’s not writing, she enjoys riding her motorcycle with her husband, Hal, and gardening with her cat, P.C. in Colorado. www.DianneEButts.com www.DeliverMeBook.blogspot.com
