When I first became a Christian, one of the things that puzzled me around Christmas time every year was why people called Jesus “Messiah.” I didn’t know what the word meant, but the way people said it made it sound like something super special. I was also confused over why people said the Jews were waiting for this Messiah.
So in this post, I’ll answer three questions:
What does messiah mean?
Why were Jews waiting for a messiah?
What New Testament word is equivalent to messiah?
1. What Does “Messiah” Mean?
The Hebrew word translated “anointed” and “anointed one” is māshîaḥ,from which we derive our English word messiah. A priest or prophet (or both) used oil to anoint David and his descendants as kings, so they were called anointed ones, or messiahs. It’s one of several titles the kings held.
2. Why Were Jews Waiting for a Messiah?
The short answer is that when Jesus was born, the Jews were governed by foreign rulers, but the prophets had promised that one day they would have an anointed king (messiah) descended from David ruling over them again.
Here’s the longer answer.
The Davidic Covenant
The Lord made a covenant with King David that promised this:
The Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house. When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
2 Samuel 7:11–13
Although David had wanted to build God a house in the form of a temple, God promised to build David a house in the form of a dynasty—the house of David. Because David had shed so much blood in wars, he could not be the one to build a temple. Instead, an offspring would become king and build the house of the Lord. That offspring’s throne would last forever. These promises are called the Davidic Covenant.
After David died, his son Solomon built a temple. People thought that Solomon’s throne would last forever through a never-ending succession of sons. But that didn’t happen because eventually the kings and people forsook God for other gods.
The Bad News and the Good News
About 300 years after David, the prophet Isaiah prophesied that God would send the people into exile because of injustice and bloodshed (Isaiah 5:7). But Isaiah also prophesied good news. First, a remnant would return from exile. Second, after the return, God would send a new king who would differ considerably from the flawed kings the Israelites had known:
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and of peace
there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time forth and forevermore.
Isaiah 9:6–7
So this king would sit on the throne of David and would reign forevermore!
What Isaiah and the other prophets warned about came to pass. About 400 years after David reigned, God exiled the people and temporarily halted David’s dynasty. When the exiles returned about 70 years later, they had no anointed king—no messiah—of their own yet. That’s why the Jews were awaiting a messiah, an anointed king.
The Messiah Comes
“The Annunciation” by John William Waterhouse, 1914 (U.S. public domain)
A thousand years after King David’s reign, the angel Gabriel greeted a young virgin named Mary who was a descendant of David’s:
And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
Luke 1:30–33
When the angel told Mary that Jesus would reign forever, he meant her baby would be the promised Messiah. Later, the prophet John the Baptist witnessed the Holy Spirit anoint Jesus for ministry, making him an Anointed One. Jesus reigns now in the heavenly places. One day, God will create the new heavens and earth where Jesus will reign forevermore as the King of kings (Revelation 19:16; 21:1; 22:3).
3. What New Testament Word Is Equivalent to “Messiah”?
Although most of the Old Testament was written in Hebrew, most of the New Testament was written in Greek. The Greek word for “anointed one” is christos, from which we get our word Christ. So, Christ is the New Testament equivalent to Messiah.
Conclusion
People call Jesus “Messiah” (which means “Anointed One”) because that was one of the titles that the kings who were anointed to sit on David’s throne possessed. The people in Jesus’s day were waiting for a messiah because prophets prophesied that one day King David would have a descendant whose throne would last forever. The angel Gabriel said Jesus was that king. The New Testament calls him “Christ,” which is equivalent to Messiah.
https://i0.wp.com/www.jeanejones.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/John_William_Waterhouse_-_The_Annunciation.jpg?fit=1024%2C747&ssl=17471024Jean E. Joneshttps://www.jeanejones.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Logo-340x340-1.gifJean E. Jones2021-12-22 08:00:002021-12-22 08:39:18Why Do People Call Jesus “Messiah”?
Who doesn’t love feasts? God gave the people feasts they could enjoy before him. Indeed, God commanded the Israelites to gather together at seven sacred assemblies every year involving feasts. Leviticus 23 describes them:
Passover (verse 5)
Feast of Unleavened Bread (6-8)
Feast of First Fruits (9-14)
Feast of Weeks (15-22)
Feast of Trumpets (23-25)
Day of Atonement (26-32)
Feast of Booths (33-43)
The people gathered at the tabernacle (later, the temple). Not only did these festivals ensure that people remembered God’s mighty works, but they pointed to something significant about Jesus. In fact, Jesus fulfilled the first four on holy days!
What do I mean by “fulfilled”?
The apostle Paul wrote that the festivals “are a shadow of the things that were to come; thereality, however, is found in Christ” (Colossians 2:16-17). In other words, the feasts and what they commemorated foreshadowed some reality about Jesus. Thus, Jesus fulfilled the feasts when he completed that which they foreshadowed.
With that in mind, let’s look at the four holy days Jesus fulfilled and then consider the three he didn’t fulfill—and why.
The Four Feasts Jesus Fulfilled
The Jewish religious calendar begins in spring on Nisan 1, the month that the people escaped from Egypt (Exodus 12:1-2). That day is called Rosh Chadesh Nisan. Two weeks later come the year’s first three sacred assemblies, which overlap. In fact, they’re so closely related that they are often collectively referred to by the name of the first: Passover.
For Detail Lovers
The Jewish calendar is lunar, unlike the Gregorian calendar used by most of the world today. That causes Nisan 1 to fall on different dates in March or April each year. Most people think the Jewish new year is in the fall. That is because around the third century AD, many Jews started celebrating the new year in the fall (more on that later).
Passover celebrated God’s deliverance. For it, God commanded Israelite families to sacrifice alamb each year on Nisan 14, without breaking any of its bones. This was the Passover sacrifice. That night, they ate the lamb with bitter herbs. This was the Passover feast.
The annual sacrifice and feast commemorated how the Destroyer passed over homes protected by lamb’s blood so the inhabitants would not die and could instead begin the journey to the promised land.
For Detail Lovers
Here’s what happened. The Lord sent Moses to Pharaoh with a message: Let my people go! This was because the Egyptians had enslaved the Israelites. Nine times Pharaoh refused, and nine times the Lord brought plagues as a sign that he was more powerful than Pharaoh’s gods.
Then the Lord announced the tenth plague: The Destroyer would come that night and kill the Egyptian firstborn males. But he commanded the Hebrews to sacrifice a lamb and paint its blood on the top and sides of the doorframe. When the Destroyer came, he would pass over homes protected with lamb’s blood.
According to Rabbi Dovid Rosenfeld, since the temple’s destruction in AD 70, no Passover lambs have been sacrificed. He says that Jews today consider Nisan 14 a minor holiday and refer to Nisan 15 to 21 as Passover.
Jesus’s Feasts Fulfillment
On Thursday, Jesus ate the Passover Feast with his disciples. The Jewish leaders arrested him that night and Rome crucified him the next day. Soldiers did not break his legs when they broke the legs of those crucified with him so “that the Scripture” regarding the Passover lamb “might be fulfilled” (John 19:33,36).
The New Testament declares, “Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed” (1 Corinthians 5:7). Just as Passover commemorated God delivering his people from slavery to Egypt so they could journey to the earthly promised land, so Jesus’s sacrifice delivers God’s people from slavery to sin so that they can journey to the heavenly promised land. Just as the first Passover lambs’ blood protected from death, so Jesus’s blood protects from the second death (hell), granting eternal life.
“The Last Supper” by Giampietrino (public domain)
For Detail Lovers
Because Jewish days began at sunset, Jesus was crucified on the same religious calendar day as the feast, Nisan 15. Thus, when he gave his disciples bread and wine at the Passover feast and said, “This is my body” and “This is my blood of the covenant,” he linked the Passover feast to his sacrifice (Matthew 26:26,28).
2) The Feast of Unleavened Bread: Chag HaMatzot
Nisan 15-21 (sunset March 27 to sunset April 3 or 4, 2021)
The Feast of Unleavened Bread celebrated God’s continued deliverance with a week of feasts. Each year before the feasts began, Jewish families completely emptied their homes of leaven (Exodus 12:19). Then for seven days, they ate nothing with yeast. They also made daily food offerings. On the first and last days of the week, they held sacred assemblies at the temple and did no work.
The Feast of Unleavened Bread recalled that the Hebrews fled from Egypt quickly onNisan 15, without time to let bread rise. Leaven often symbolized corruption and could not be used on the altar.
Jesus’s Feasts Fulfillment
Just as the festival’s bread was without yeast, so Jesus was without corruption. Just as Jewish families purged yeast from their houses, so today followers of Christ purge sin from their lives:
Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
1 Corinthians 5:8
3) Feast of Firstfruits
Sadducees: Sunday after Sabbath after Passover (April 4, 2021); Pharisees: Nisan 16 (March 29, 2021)
“The Angel and Women at the Empty Tomb” by Gustave Doré (public domain)
The Feast of Firstfruits celebrated the first of the grain harvest. This was because the first sheaf of barley was a sign that God was about to bless his people with more. So Jews brought a sheaf of barley to the temple to wave before the Lord and give thanks for the harvest to come. They could not eat any barley until they performed this ritual.
The Hebrews began celebrating this holy day after they arrived in the promised land. Thus, it reminded families that their harvests were God’s gift and there was more to come.
Jesus’s Feasts Fulfillment
Jesus rose from the dead on the Feast of Firstfruits. His resurrection promises that he will resurrect those belonging to him when it is time to enter the new promised land. Just as the first sheaf of barley anticipated a greater harvest of barley, so Jesus’s resurrection anticipates a greater harvest of souls.
But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep… For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.
1 Corinthians 15:20–23
For Detail Lovers
The Sadducees celebrated the Feast of Firstfruits on the day that followed the Sabbath that followed Passover (always a Sunday). The Pharisees celebrated Firstfruits on the second day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Nisan 16). According to Harold W. Hoehner in Chronological Aspects of the Life of Christ, Nisan 16 fell on the Sunday following the Sabbath that followed Passover in both AD 30 and AD 33. These are the two years most scholars place the crucifixion.
Loaves of bread, courtesy of Adobe Stock
4) Feast of Weeks (Pentecost): Shavuot
7 weeks after Firstfruits (Sadducees, May 23, 2021; Pharisees, May 17, 2021)
The Feast of Weeks celebrated the end of the wheat harvest. It was also called Pentecost because it came 50 days after the Sabbath of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Then on this day, worshipers presented two loaves of wheat bread made with leaven to the Lord.
For Detail Lovers
In preparation for the festival, people made provision for the poor. In time, the celebration also commemorated the giving of the law at Sinai not long after the Israelites escaped Egypt. If Jesus was crucified in AD 30 or 33 as most scholars think, the Sadducees and Pharisees celebrated Pentecost on the same day the year of the crucifixion.
Jesus’s Feasts Fulfillment
On this sacred day, Jesus baptized his followers with the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-4). Just as the wheat harvest had produced loaves of bread, so the resurrection produced the church. Just as the loaves contained leaven, so the church contains imperfect people.
“The Holiday Series: Rosh Hashana” by Arthur Szyk, courtesy of The Arthur Szyk Society (www.szyk.org)
The Three Feasts Jesus Has Not Fulfilled
The seventh month of the year held three more celebrations, and their final fulfillments are yet to come. For Jesus said, “I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also” (John 14:3).
5) Feast of Trumpets: Rosh HaShanah
Tishri 1 (sunset September 6 to sunset September 7, 2021)
The Feast of Trumpets celebrates God’s providence. Trumpets call people to gather before God in rest from all harvests, including grapes and citrus. Priests blew trumpets from morning to night. This feast began a time of spiritual renewal.
For Detail Lovers
Today, the celebration extends over two days and includes a celebration of the civil new year. This change may have happened around the third century AD. Exodus 12:1-2 commands that the Jewish year begin on Nisan 1, so that remains the new year on the Hebrew religious calendar.
Jesus’s Future Feasts Fulfillment
Just as the trumpet sounded to call people to the temple after all harvests were complete, so when the earthly harvest of souls is complete, another trumpet will sound to call for the ingathering of souls:
For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.
The Feast of Trumpets was followed by the Hebrews’ holiest day of the year, the Day of Atonement. This was not a feast, but prepared the people spiritually for the feasts to come.
On this day, the people prepared themselves by ceasing all work, fasting, denying themselves comforts, and confessing and repenting from sins. Meanwhile, the high priest presented sacrifices to cleanse the people and all the holy things from the year’s accumulated defilement of sin. He also took two goats and sacrificed one to make atonement for sin. Then he laid his hands on the head of the other, confessed the people’s sins, and sent the goat into the wilderness as a sign that their sins had been carried away.
Jesus’s Future Feasts Fulfillment
In Jesus’s first coming, he atoned for sin on the cross, completing the work of the first goat. But the Judgment follows his second coming, after which he will remove all sin and causes of sin, fulfilling what the second goat pointed to (Matthew 13:41; Revelation 20:10-15). What the Day of Atonement pointed to will be fully and finally complete.
7) Feast of Booths: Sukkot
Tishri 15-22 (September 21-28, 2021)
The Feast of Booths celebrates the journey to and arrival in the promised land. It was the final festival of the year and provided another week of feasts. The people brought fruit and tree branches to rejoice before the Lord. For seven days, they dwelt in temporary booths constructed from branches. This commemorated the Lord’s good care as the Hebrews journeyed through the desert. Then on the eighth day, they entered homes, commemorating arrival in the promised land.
“Examining the Lulav” by Leopold Pilichowski (public domain) shows tree branches and citron fruit used in the Feast of Booths
For Detail Lovers
By Jesus’s day, water and light ceremonies took place during the Feast of Booths (John 7-8). People bound together a palm frond, myrtle, and willow (called a lulav) to carry with citron fruit in a procession during the water ceremony.
Jesus’s Future Feasts Fulfillment
Just as the Hebrews lived in temporary booths until they reached the earthly promised land, so our souls dwell in temporary shelters—our earthly bodies—while we journey to the new promised land. When Jesus returns, he will raise our bodies into glorious, imperishable bodies. We will bring to him the fruit his Holy Spirit has grown in our lives.
For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.
1 Corinthians 15:52–53
Another feast awaits: the wedding feast of the Lamb (Revelation 19:7-9). The Lord God will bring us to the new heavens and earth. There he and Christ, our Passover Lamb, will dwell in our midst forever (Revelation 21:1-3). There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain. Our journey ends. We will arrive.
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Years ago, I wanted to know more about Jesus in the Old Testament. So I bought a burgundy leather Thompson Chain-Reference Bible. It had all kinds of study helps, including cross-references—the verses listed in the margins that point you to related passages. I looked forward to finally looking up all those places in the New Testament where it said Jesus fulfilled something in the Old Testament.
But I quickly found out I didn’t have enough background to understand many of the connections. Indeed, one of the things that confused me was that not all the underlying passages were prophecies. It turns out that the New Testament finds Jesus in the Old Testament in multiple ways, not just prophecies.
Diving into the many Old Testament passages that reveal God’s plan of salvation through Jesus will strengthen your faith. So here, I’ll show three ways we find Jesus in the Old Testament. To demonstrate how the three ways work, I’ll use the most well-known fact that people know about Jesus in the Old Testament; namely, that the Old Testament predicted a messiah, and the New Testament says that Jesus is that Messiah.
What Does “Messiah” Mean?
First, let’s define messiah.Our English word messiah comes from the Hebrew word for “anointed one.” All the kings that ruled from Jerusalem in Israel were called anointed ones—messiahs. That’s because the kings were anointed for service to God when they were crowned.
In Old Testament times, it wasn’t only kings who were anointed for God’s service. Priests were as well, and so were some prophets. But by the time of Jesus’s birth, when people talked about their expectation that God would send a messiah—an anointed one—they were looking mainly for a king. They wanted a mighty warrior like David who could free them from Roman rule and sit upon David’s throne.
Messiah = Christ
The Old Testament was written mostly in Hebrew, while the New Testament was written mostly in Greek. Our English word christ comes from the Greek word for “anointed one.”Christ and messiah are therefore interchangeable. So when John records that he wrote his Gospel “so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ” (John 20:31), he means that Jesus is the Messiah that the Old Testament talks about. That is also why the New Testament equates “Christ” with “King of Israel” (Mark 15:32).
Promises
The first way that the Old Testament reveals Jesus is through promises, and in particular, covenants. A covenant is a special kind of promise. It’s like a contract that governs relationships, such as marriage vows. The Pentateuch (first five books of the Old Testament) and the histories (Joshua to Esther) contain a number of covenants between God and people which point to Jesus in some way.
For example, God made a promise to King David that’s known as the Davidic covenant. In the Davidic covenant, God promised David an offspring who would build God a temple and who would have a throne that lasted forever.
“King David” (Rembrandt, [public domain] via Wikimedia Commons)
When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
2 Samuel 7:12-13
How the Davidic Covenant Portrays Jesus in the Old Testament
This promise about a temple-building messiah was initially fulfilled by Solomon. But the New Testament tells us that Solomon’s temple was only a copy of the holy places in heaven (Hebrews 9:24). Jesus is now fulfilling that portion of the Davidic covenant, but in the true holy places in heaven. In fact, he is building a temple made up of those who belong to him:
You are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.
Ephesians 2:19–21
Moreover, Jesus said, “The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God” (Revelation 3:12).
Prophecies
The second way that the Old Testament reveals Jesus is through direct prophecy. Most are found in the prophetic books (Isaiah to Malachi), though some are in the Pentateuch and histories. Since a prophet delivered the Davidic covenant to David, it is both a promise and a prophecy. Indeed, many of the promises in the Old Testament are also prophecies.
Many Jews thought David’s son Solomon was the only fulfillment of God’s promise to David of a temple-building offspring. After all, he built the first temple, so why wouldn’t he also be the one whose throne would last forever through a line of never-ending descendants? But here’s what the Lord God told David about Solomon:
I will establish his kingdom forever if he continues strong in keeping my commandments and my rules, as he is today.
1 Chronicles 28:7
David warned Solomon, “If you seek him [God], he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever” (1 Chronicles 28:9). Sadly, when he was old, Solomon worshiped other gods. That was a clue that Solomon might not be the only fulfillment of the Davidic covenant’s promise of a temple builder.
About 500 years after David, a king ascended the throne who abandoned God entirely. In fact, he shoved the altar to the Lord aside and put idols in the temple so he could worship them there.
How Isaiah Portrays Jesus in the Old Testament
During this time of apostasy, God sent the prophet Isaiah with messages of both judgment and hope. The message of judgment was that God would exile the people and end David’s dynasty.
But there was also a message of hope. Isaiah said that the exile would not be permanent. And eventually God would send another anointed ruler; that is, another messiah. Here is one of Isaiah’s prophecies about the future king.
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.
Isaiah 9:6-7
Notice this descendant of David will rule forevermore. He would not have an unending line of descendants but would rule forever himself. This cast new light on the Davidic covenant.
Just as Isaiah prophesied, the people entered exile and David’s dynasty ended.
How Ezekiel Portrays Jesus in the Old Testament
But God gave more messages of hope through three prophets serving him during the monarchy’s fall. Here is one about a future shepherd, which is what God called the kings.
And I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd. And I, the LORD, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them. I am the LORD; I have spoken.
Ezekiel 34:23-24 (emphasis mine)
Now, David was dead. So why did God say that this future ruler would be “my servant David”? There are two reasons. The first reason was to show that the shepherd would be a descendant of David. The second reason was to show that David was a type of this future King. In fact, this leads us to the third way that we find Jesus in the Old Testament.
Portents
The Crucifixion (Rembrandt [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons)
A portent is something that foreshadows something in the future. Many Old Testament people, events, and institutions foreshadowed something significant about Jesus. For example, the earthly temple that Solomon built foreshadowed the living temple Jesus is building. English Bible translations use a number of different words to describe portents, including portents, shadows, copies, patterns, and types. The New Testament describes many portents in the Pentateuch and the Psalms.
By calling the future shepherd David, God revealed that King David was a type of the future messiah who would rule forever. That is why the New Testament claims that Jesus fulfills Scripture that describes events in David’s life.
How Psalm 22 Portrays Jesus in the Old Testament
For example, in Psalm 22 David describes enemies who pierce his hands and feet (probably with a sword) and cast lots for his clothing:
For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet—I can count all my bones—they stare and gloat over me; they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.
Psalm 22:16–18
Jesus quoted Psalm 22:1 on the cross, bringing attention to it: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46). John 19 records Jesus’s crucifixion, which involved soldiers piercing with nails Jesus’s hands and feet:
When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier; also his tunic. But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom, so they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.” This was to fulfill the Scripture which says, “They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.”
John 19:23–24
Remarkably, just as enemies gambled for David’s clothing 1000 years earlier, so soldiers gambled for Jesus’s clothing. Psalm 22 is not direct prophecy, but rather John’s Gospel depicts David’s sufferings as portending Jesus’s sufferings. That is because King David is a type of King Jesus.
Conclusion
In summary, three ways we find Jesus in the Old Testament are in
Promises, such as the covenants found in the Pentateuch and histories
Prophecies found in the prophetic books and elsewhere
Portents found in the Pentateuch and the Psalms
This is a fabulous subject to pursue that can greatly grow your faith.
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For many years, the prophecy that confused me most was Isaiah 7:14: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” Every Christmas I heard pastors quote this, but none had ever explained its context. What confused me was that the next three verses say that the prophecy will be fulfilled within 14 years. If it was supposed to be fulfilled in the eighth century BC, how could it apply to Jesus?
Let’s go ahead and clear that up.
What Triggered “The Virgin Shall Conceive” Prophecy
First, here’s what brought on this prophecy.
King Ahaz’s dad had died, leaving him the sole king of Judah at age 20. Judah was a small kingdom south of Israel and Syria. Farther north and east, the kingdom of Assyria was growing rapidly by conquering one kingdom state after another. The kings of Israel and Syria knew they couldn’t stop the powerful Assyria alone, so they wanted to form a coalition along with Judah. But Ahaz refused to join them.
Ahaz’s refusal angered the kings of Israel and Syria, so they attacked. Unfortunately, Ahaz was not a godly king, and so the Lord allowed the two kings some victories. When Ahaz still wouldn’t join, the two kings decided to depose Ahaz and replace him with a puppet king who would do their bidding.
Assyrian relief depicting conquests from the British Museum, photograph by Jean E. Jones
The Lord’s Offer
The Lord God sent Isaiah with a message for this young, frightened king. He told Ahaz not to fear the two kings because they would not take the throne from him (Isaiah 7:3-7). Instead, Israel would cease to exist within 65 years (verse 8). He cautions Ahaz, “If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all” (verse 9). Then he makes this incredible offer:
Ask a sign of the LORD your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.
Isaiah 7:11
In other words, God tells the scared ruler to ask any sign he wants as proof that the Lord will be with him and will not allow his two enemies to remove him from the throne. He can request a miraculous sign that is as deep as hell or as high as heaven.
What did Ahaz do? He refused God’s offer! He told Isaiah, “I will not ask, and I will not put the LORD to the test” (Isaiah 7:12). Why? Because he had already decided what he wanted to do and it didn’t involve submitting to or trusting the King of kings.
The Promise That the Virgin Shall Conceive
Isaiah was not fooled by Ahaz’s fake piety. If Ahaz would not request a sign, God would give him a sign nonetheless. Isaiah replied,
Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. He shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be deserted.
Isaiah 7:13-16
Isaiah no longer calls God “your God,” but rather “my God,” for Ahaz has rejected God as his King of kings.
“Virgin,” “Immanuel,” Curds, and the Child’s Age
According to John N. Oswalt in The Book of Isaiah: Chapters 1–9, the Hebrew word translated virgin means “young woman of marriageable age.” Jews would assume she was a virgin, of course, so the Hebrew word can be translated either “maiden” or “virgin.” There’s another Hebrew word that can only be translated “virgin,” but that’s not what Isaiah uses here. We’ll come back to why later. For now, note that the prophecy in its immediate context refers to a young woman who is a virgin at the time of the prophecy. She’ll marry, conceive, and bear a child. The woman is not named, but it is not the mother of the crown prince Hezekiah, for he was born before Ahaz rose to sole king.
The name Immanuel means “God with us.” Therefore, the child would be a sign that God was with Judah even though the king was abandoning God. God’s presence is a comfort for the godly, but terror for the ungodly.
Curds (a milk product like ricotta cheese) and honey were wealthy fare. Yet, when the child knows right and wrong (age 12-13), he will eat curds and honey and both Israel and Syria will be deserted.
Ahaz Openly Rejects God
Ahaz sent messengers to the king of Assyria, saying “I am your servant and your son” (2 Kings 16:7). These are titles that show Ahaz has rejected his covenant duty to serve under God alone and has put Assyria’s fearsome king in God’s place.
Here’s what this means. A king who rules over other kings is called a suzerain, and the kings serving him are called vassals. In those days, the suzerain protected his vassals in exchange for money, soldiers, and submission. The suzerain called his vassals “sons,” and the vassals called their suzerain “father.” So when Ahaz said to Assyria’s king, “I am your servant and your son,” he was offering to be his vassal.
In other words, Assyria didn’t have wait to conquer Judah—Ahaz sought him and surrendered before Assyria came near. Ahaz did this so that this king of kings would rescue him from Israel and Syria.
The trouble was that in Judah, the kings were supposed to have the Lord God as Suzerain. Ahaz had switched teams. And he used the temple treasures which belonged to the Lord God as tribute to his new lord.
But Isaiah isn’t done with prophecies about a child. He recorded more in the next two chapters.
Prophecies about Isaiah’s Child
Here’s what introduces the next set of child prophecies:
And I went to the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son.
Isaiah 8:3
The Hebrew translated “went to” is a euphemism in the Old Testament that usually means the first time that a husband and wife come together for marital relationships. Because of this, some scholars think that Isaiah’s first wife may have passed away and he married a prophetess who bore him another child. Thus, Isaiah 7:14 might refer to this child.
Immanuel’s Land
Isaiah 8:4 prophesies that before Isaiah’s newborn reaches three, the two kings won’t threaten Ahaz anymore. Assyria would demolish Syria and subdue Israel. But Ahaz’s trust in Assyria instead of God would cost him dearly because Assyria wasn’t trustworthy. Assyria would sweep into Judah and wreak havoc in “your land, O Immanuel” (Isaiah 8:8).
By calling Judah “Immanuel’s land,” Isaiah links this prophecy about his son to the previous chapter’s prophecy about a child called Immanuel, God With Us. Now we have two prophecies about a child being born as a sign that God is with Judah. They’re also linked by the name Immanuel.
Isaiah then says this about his own children:
Behold, I and the children whom the LORD has given me are signs and portents in Israel from the LORD of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion.
Isaiah 8:18
Isaiah’s newborn is a sign of what’s to come within three years. But he and his children are not just signs; they portend (or foreshadow) future events. We’ll come back to this too.
For to Us a Child Is Born
Isaiah has another child prophecy in the ninth chapter:
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.
Isaiah 9:6-7
The Adoration of the Shepherds, by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo – Museo Nacional del Prado (Public Domain)
Unlike the prophecies in the previous chapters, this prophecy of a child is about no ordinary child. It was obviously a prophecy about a future child, not a child in Isaiah’s day. This child would bring the righteousness that Ahaz abandoned, and he would rule forever.
The Initial Fulfillment of “The Virgin Shall Conceive”
So what happened next? Assyria attacked both Syria and Israel, just as Ahaz had requested. Within three years of Isaiah’s son’s birth, the two kings that threatened Ahaz were dead. A decade after Ahaz refused God’s offer, Assyria demolished Israel.
But the king of Assyria was untrustworthy and swept into Judah too, killing many. So many died that the remnant left could not use all the milk. They turned the milk into curds, and everyone ate curds and honey. So the child prophecies of Isaiah 7 and 8 were fulfilled in Isaiah’s day, but not the child prophecy of Isaiah 9.
Now that we have seen Isaiah 7:14 in its original context, let’s look at how the Gospels use it.
The Later Fulfillment of “The Virgin Shall Conceive”
By the time of Christ, most Jews were using the Greek version of the Old Testament called the Septuagint. The Septuagint translated “virgin” in Isaiah 7:14 with a Greek word that meant virgin, not a young woman of marriageable age.
Matthew 1:18 records that Mary “was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.” An angel confirmed this to her fiancé Joseph (verse 20). Matthew explained all this and wrote,
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).
Matthew 1:23
Matthew knew that Isaiah 7:14 was fulfilled in Isaiah’s day, so why did he write this? Because he also understood how OT portents work. The Bible uses a number of words for portents, including type, shadow, foreshadow, figure, and picture.
Most people today are less familiar with portents, so I’ll explain with a story.
A Potato Portent
Adobe Stock, used by permission
Sometimes my husband calls me from the grocery store saying, “I found great looking salmon. Would you like some for dinner tonight?” I’ll reply, “Yes! Don’t forget to buy a potato.”
That night, I’ll sauté half the fish while Clay slices and boils the potato. I serve most of the fish and refrigerate the leftovers and the potato. The next night, I sauté the rest of the fish and refrigerate the leftovers.
Are you wondering about the cold, uneaten potato? Its presence foreshadows that something more will happen with the fish. And more will happen. On the third night, I’ll beat an egg, mash the potato into it, and stir in minced chives, salt, and pepper. Next, I’ll break up the leftover fish and fold it into the egg and potato mixture. Finally, I’ll form the mixture into fish cakes that I’ll sauté in butter and oil until they are browned and crispy and oh-so delicious.
Just as I made obvious links between the potato and fish before I told you how they were related, so Isaiah placed obvious links between the child prophecies in chapters 7, 8, and 9 without fully telling us how they were related. He linked the birth of a child, the name Immanuel, and the land of Judah. He also contrasted the current king’s wickedness with the future king’s righteousness, and Assyria’s king’s ruthlessness with Immanuel’s justice.
Just as the unused potato foreshadowed that something more was coming, so the unfulfilled chapter 9 prophecy foreshadowed that something more was coming as well.
Prophecies and Portents
As I noted above, Matthew knew that Isaiah 7:14 was fulfilled in Isaiah’s day. But he also knew that Isaiah 9:6-7 had not been fulfilled prior to Jesus’s coming. Jesus alone fulfilled it. And he was familiar with Mary’s story of Jesus’s miraculous birth to her as a virgin.
As Matthew read the passages—especially in the Septuagint—he realized that Isaiah 7:14’s prophecy that the “virgin shall conceive” was no coincidence. There was more going on than what was fulfilled in Isaiah’s day.
He realized that Isaiah 7:14 is a direct prophecy that was fulfilled in Isaiah’s day, but its fulfillment portended a future event. In other words, the woman and child in Isaiah’s day foreshadowed Mary and her son Jesus. The woman in Isaiah’s day was a virgin at the time of the prophecy, but Mary was a virgin at the time of conception. The child in Isaiah’s day was called Immanuel, or God With Us, as a sign that God was still with Judah. But that child foreshadowed Jesus, who was literally God with us.
And that is why Isaiah used an ambiguous Hebrew word for virgin. The first meaning was meant for the initial fulfillment, but the second for the ultimate fulfillment.
Fulfilled Prophecy as Portents
Here’s another analogy for understanding prophecies that have fulfillments that foreshadow a significant future event.
I live in sunny Southern California where it doesn’t snow. Most of the year, we see what looks like one brown mountain range to the north. But sometimes in the winter, we’ll see a massive, snow-covered mountain range in the distance and a smaller brown mountain range closer to us (see the photo).
Photo by Virginia Thompson
The nearer mountain range leads our eyes up to the mountain range that is farther off and obviously much bigger. In the same way, some prophecies have a nearer fulfillment that points to and leads our eyes to a greater, future fulfillment. The nearer fulfillment foreshadows the coming fulfillment.
Deep as Sheol or High as Heaven
Let’s look back at the Lord God’s generous offer to King Ahaz:
Ask a sign of the LORD your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.
Isaiah 7:11
Consider that the immediate fulfillment in Isaiah’s day wasn’t a sign that was as deep as Sheol (hell) or as high as heaven.
But the typological fulfillment in Jesus’s day certainly was.
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For years, Hebrew poetry mystified me. When I was about to read the Book of Psalms for the first time at age 17, I was excited. So many people had told me that Psalms was their favorite book of the Bible, and I couldn’t wait to experience what they had experienced.
But I was disappointed.
Why? Because I thought they were repetitive, and none followed the standard flow of an essay: Introduction, three to five points, conclusion. Instead, the middles and ends often repeated the beginning. As a result, I could not make sense of many of them.
That is, until years later when I finally learned how to interpret Hebrew poetry. Then the structure—which relied on repetition—made sense.
\Not only could I now interpret the psalms, but I also could finally pray them the way they were meant to be prayed. Here’s what I needed to know.
Psalm 1:1
Psalms Are Poems
One reason that psalms don’t follow an essay’s structure is that they aren’t essays. Indeed, they’re poems.
Hebrew poets penned the praises and prayers they worshiped God with as psalms. Psalms are poems meant to be sung, so the poets at times gave their psalms to the temple choirmasters. The choirmasters then gathered the psalms into collections. What we know today as the book of Psalms is a collection of those collections.
So how does Hebrew poetry work? Let’s take a look.
Hebrew Poetry Uses Parallelism in Poetic Lines
It’s much easier to understand psalms if we know a little about Hebrew poetry. A Hebrew poem’s basic unit is a poetic line. Most lines have two segments, although some have three or four and a few have only one. In some Bible translations, the first segment starts at the left margin and the rest of the segments are indented to show their relationships (see the pictures above and below of Psalm 1).
Unfortunately, verse numbers and text note references often obscure the indentions, and there isn’t room to show more than one level of indention (what looks like a third level is actually the prior segment wrapping to the next line because of lack of space). That’s why in these pictures of Psalm 1 in this post, I’ve omitted the verse numbers.
Most line segments in Hebrew poetry use parallelism. They say something similar in multiple ways, giving us different ways to grasp the poet’s meaning. The best part about parallelism is that it translates well, so we don’t have to know Hebrew to enjoy it. God was planning ahead when he helped the Hebrews develop their poetry!
Here are the parallel elements of Psalm 1:1 aligned in columns:
Unit A
Unit B
Unit C
Unit D
Line Segment 1
Blessed is the man
Line Segment 2
who walks not
in the counsel
of the wicked
Line Segment 3
nor stands
in the way
of sinners
Line Segment 4
nor sits
in the seat
of scoffers
Psalm 1:1
When you find parallelism, compare the parallel elements to see how they relate. In this case, they intensify.
Illustrating the Relationships Between Poetic Lines
We can symbolize parallelism by using capital letters to represent units and a prime mark (‘) to show how many times a unit repeats. Here’s a diagram of verse 1 with a slash(/) representing a new line segment:
Psalm 1:2-3
A / B C D / B’ C’ D’ / B” C” D”
This structure is called incomplete parallelism because unit A doesn’t repeat.
Psalm 1:5 has normal parallelism. Here, I’ve underlined the first unit of each segment and italicized the second:
Therefore the wicked will not standin the judgment nor sinnersin the congregation of the righteous
Here’s a diagram of verse 5:
A B / A’ B’
Another common parallel structure is found in verse 2. I’ve underlined one pair of matching segments and italicized the other pair.
But his delight isin the law of the LORD and on his lawhe meditates day and night.
If you were to draw lines between the matching segments, they would form an X. Like verses 1 and 5, verse 2 uses parallelism, but this time the parallel elements are placed in a pattern called chiasm (KEY-asm; chi is the Greek name for the letter X). We illustrate verse 2’s chiastic parallelism like this:
A B / B’ A’
By comparing the parallel elements, we see that delight in God’s instructions is shown through meditating on those instructions. In the Bible, the word meditate means thinking about and saying softly.
Hebrew Poetry Uses Parallelism in Stanzas
In poetry, a stanza is a group of related poetic lines. It’s similar to a paragraph, which in prose is a group of related sentences. Some modern Bible translations break the psalms into stanzas to make them easier to read. In fact, the Bible in which I first read Psalms grouped poetic lines in stanzas. But that only made me wonder why they didn’t flow like an essay’s paragraphs:
Introduction, Point I, Point II, Point III, Conclusion
Psalm 1:4-5
And that’s not what they did.
For example, look at Psalm 1. Psalm 1’s first stanza (verses 1-3) describes the righteous, the second (verses 4-5) describes the wicked, and the last (verse 6) draws a conclusion. So far, so good.
But here’s where Hebrew poetry differs. The psalmists often linked the first and last stanzas, the first and middle stanzas, and/or the middle and last stanzas. For instance, Psalm 1 links the first and last stanza with a description of the way of the wicked, inviting us to compare the two. Here is its diagram, using letters to represent stanzas:
A B A’
This is another chiasm, this time using stanzas instead of line segments. In fact, psalmists often arranged stanzas in a chiasm.
Another Example: Psalm 71
Psalm 71 has seven stanzas. The psalm’s theme is in the middle stanza (verse 14). All the stanzas equal distance from the middle link. Here’s the structure, again using letters to represent stanzas:
A B C D C B’ A’
This structure invites us to compare the linked stanzas. When we do, we see that the troubles identified in the first half of the psalm are resolved in the linked stanzas in the second half.
This is a beautifully structured poem! No, it doesn’t follow the rules of Western essays. Instead, it does something better, providing us multiple connections and layers of meaning.
But that’s not all.
Hebrew Poetry Uses Parallelism in Psalm Collections
The Psalter contains five major collections called books. Each of the books contains multiple collections. These collections have links too.
For instance, Psalms 1 and 2 are the Psalter’s introduction. Psalm 1 portrays the ideal man and Psalm 2 the ideal king. The first line of Psalm 1 links to the last line of Psalm 2:
Psalm 1:6
Psalm 1:1
Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers
Psalm 2:12d
Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
Him here is the King God has set on Zion, the Son of God.
Conclusion
Understanding Hebrew Poetry enables us to immerse ourselves in the psalms so they can enliven our prayers and transform us.
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Fall Bible studies would normally start this month, but many areas are still under quarantine. So I asked readers what they’re doing to safely meet, and received back some innovative ideas! Thankfully, some report that quarantines have lifted in their areas and they are back to meeting, though with adjustments. That’s good news since God created us for fellowship.
But that’s not the case for all, so I’m making changes to how I post the videos—see the announcements at the end.
As you consider your upcoming Bible studies, here are ideas to safely meet, beginning with tips for meeting online.
Safely Meet Online
Barbara Brittain Elliott’s group
Many groups turned to online meetings using tools such as Zoom. In fact, several readers reported that Zoom meetings allowed out-of-town relatives and friends to join their local studies.
Lori C. began leading her group via Zoom in March. She writes, “We all repeatedly commented on the absolute perfect timing of that study [Discovering Joy in Philippians]. Great reminders that we don’t have it so bad as Paul, even though we may feel like we’re in a prison of sorts!” The photo is of Barbara Brittain Elliott’s Zoom meeting; she writes, “Here’s our group from New Braunfels, TX, meeting on Zoom and showing off our coloring!”
Marie T. also turned to Zoom, taking advantage of that platform to invite me to join with her group one week and answer questions. What a blessing for me!
Here are some tips I’ve learned about Zoom in the last few months.
Zoom Tips
Pam Farrel teaches online
Take time to practice one-on-one with those who are less technically savvy
To limit audio feedback, ask everyone to wear headphones or earbuds
Never post the Zoom link on social media lest people who want to disrupt join
In your weekly reminder email, include the Zoom link (and the link to the video if you’re using it)
Email the Zoom and video links again fifteen minutes before the meeting so no one is late because they’re searching for a lost email
If you’re using the videos, either (a) ask everyone to watch the video ahead of time; or (b after your Zoom meeting starts, ask everyone to switch over to the video and return to Zoom when they’ve finished
If you’re using the free version of Zoom, your meeting will be limited to 40 minutes, but everyone can rejoin for a second meeting, apparently using the same link
Safely Meet Outside in Socially Distanced Groups of 10
Whether it’s meeting in the church parking lot, a community park, or a large yard, some readers have found innovative ways to keep six feet apart so they can safely meet.
Lynne A. meets in a neighborhood park near her church, safely distanced. Lynne says they hope to draw attention to Jesus in the neighborhood.
Melissa T. has everyone bring their own beach chair and drinks to meet on her large driveway. Moshelle C.’s group enters a backyard through a side gate. They use the chairs the hostess sets out.
Inge S. limits her study to ten women, which is what her state allows. She says, “I felt since many would not be traveling as usual, and I am one of those that do best with regular meetings and accountability, it would be helpful to have something.” Her group meets in the church parking lot when the weather’s good. She kindly offered these tips.
Inge’s Tips
In her weekly email, Inge reminds everyone to wear a mask and to speak more loudly than they would indoors
Inge brings extra masks, a box of tissues, gloves, measuring tape, and disinfecting wipes
They place the chairs in a circle six feet apart
The women wear masks until everyone is seated; then most remove them
They lift their heads in prayer so everyone can hear and agree in prayer
After the meeting, they wipe down the chairs, door handles, and surfaces anyone has touched
Safely Meet Indoor in Socially Distanced Groups
2019 meetings were different. We skipped my annual lunch with Biola women in 2020.
No, the photograph is not from this year. I had to forego my annual luncheon with women in the Biola apologetics program this year because Biola canceled onsite classes. But here are ways others made meetings work.
Both Catherine K. and Marie T. have found rooms large enough for their groups to meet sitting six feet apart. Marie has continued a Zoom group for those who aren’t ready to meet in person yet. My own church is hoping to switch from Zoom to setting up circles of groups in the sanctuary.
Brenda M. teaches math and Bible to a homeschool group of high school boys and girls. She uses our studies for the Bible portion! She’s able to meet in a place where desks can be six feet apart.
Conclusion
There you have it: Tips to safely meet. Please tell us how you’re safely meeting in the comments!
Announcements
Since many groups cannot yet meet in person, I’m in the process of making all my videos available on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRyshinDpD3kIv5y_tdxUtg. No passwords are needed. Feel free to forward this link those in your studies.
I plan to re-record some of the Discovering Joy in Philippians videos now that I know a little more about how to do it. (I thank God for all the people who have given me much needed advice!) And I plan to start recording videos for Discovering Hope in the Psalms in just a few weeks, posting them every two weeks. I’ll let you know when they’re ready.
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When times are crazy, it helps to remember God’s faithfulness to fulfill his promises about Jesus’s first coming. That’s because it assures us he’ll fulfill his promises about Jesus’s second coming. Join me in a new online Bible study of Discovering Jesus in the Old Testament! Your faith will soar as you discover how the Old Testament unfolds God’s incredible plan. And your hope will rise as you grasp his promises for you when Jesus returns.
This 13-session study begins June 22. Subscribers can watch my weekly teaching videos for free. All you need is a copy of the Bible study book to follow along with the discussion and the subscriber password from my last newsletter. (Not subscribing yet? Get the password when you register).
Learn what Moses said about Jesus
Benefits
These are the benefits you can expect from this OT online Bible study:
Grow in faith as you see God’s eternal plan unfold.
Know God’s incredible, unchanging love for you.
Understand your place in the Bible’s big story.
Increase your joy as you learn and rejoice in the future awaiting you.
Here’s what one reader said of Discovering Jesus in the Old Testament:
Amazing and mind-blowing and helped us all grow in our faith and our relationship with God.
Reader DeAnn Dinelli
How This Online Bible Study Will Work
Starting Monday, June 22, I’ll post weekly videos and discussion questions so you can interact with me and others learning from the study. When the video is up, I’ll email a link to it to those who have registered.
Each week:
Watch the video.
Answer the online questions.
Complete a chapter in the study book.
That’s it!
FAQS
What if that’s not a good date?
No worries! Begin any time from June 22 on. I’ll check in regularly.
What if I can’t complete a chapter in a week?
Go at your own pace!
Is there a fee?
The videos are free to my newsletter subscribers—you just need your subscriber specials password.
How do I get the password?
Newsletter subscribers: The password is in my latest newsletter. Not a subscriber? When you register, you’ll subscribe automatically and receive a confirmation email with the password.
Does the password unlock anything else?
Yes! There are timelines to go with the study and other materials here: Free Resources
I’ll email registrants a link to the videos when I post them.
For bulk purchases and other buying options, go to the registration page: Discovering Jesus in the Old Testament Online. The Amazon link above is an affiliate link for which I receive a small commission.
More Details
Discover what the prophets said about Jesus
Your faith will grow as you journey in discovering all God has planned since before the foundation of the earth. You’ll see how God enfolded his plan, what Jesus fulfilled in his first coming, and what he has for you in his second coming.
You’ll never tire of studying Scripture with this fresh and engaging Bible study encounter. Through persuasive instruction and inspiring devotions, it reveals God’s redemptive plan from the beginning of creation. Explore…
timeline icons to help you track God’s plan through the Old Testament
key questions at the beginning of each section to guide your focus
opportunities for creative expression, including full-page graphics and bookmarks to color
sidebars that offer fascinating historical insights
practical application questions to guide and deepen your walk with Christ
online opportunities for connection and interactive community
As you discover new ways to engage with God’s Word through this in-depth approach to studying Scripture, you will gain wisdom and understanding about his incredible, unchanging love for you.
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“We will not fear,” the Psalms tell us. Yet these are difficult times. My girlfriend just texted me for prayer—her sister has surgery today for breast cancer, but their widowed mother can’t visit because she’s at high risk for coronavirus. My brother-in-law has an inoperable brain tumor, and out-of-state family can no longer visit. At the same time, his ability to use technology is fading. Additionally, my husband is losing his job for reasons unrelated to COVID-19, but so are millions of others due to shelter-in-place mandates.
So what is our hope during a worldwide crisis? How do we not fear?
Psalm 46 tells us.
We Will Not Fear
God is our refuge and strength
an ever-present help in trouble
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging.
(Psalm 46:1-3)
Nestled in the first three verses are reasons to reject fear even when the earth gives way to a virus’s ravages.
We Will Not Fear Because God Is Our Refuge
We can go to our heavenly Father whenever danger nears. The psalms often describe God as a rock of refuge—a mountainous rock covered in caves and clefts that conceal us from risk. While we take refuge in homes from COVID-19, let us also take refuge in our God.
The apostle Paul says God’s “power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). For when we’re weak but rely on God, then we are strong. He knows our days and he’s counted the hairs on our heads.
We Will Not Fear Because God Is an Ever-Present Help in Trouble
His presence is with us. His Holy Spirit is in us. He will never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5).
Because God is our refuge, our strength, and our ever-present help, we can choose to not fear.
We Will Not Fear Because the City of God Awaits
There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy habitation of the Most High.
God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved;
God will help her when morning dawns.
The nations rage, the kingdoms totter;
he utters his voice, the earth melts.
(Psalm 46:4-6)
Earth’s Jerusalem is often called the city of God. But that Jerusalem has no river. What city of God does this speak of then?
This holy habitation is the heavenly Jerusalem of which the earthly city was but a type: “You have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem… and to Jesus” (Hebrews 12:22,24). In the new heavens and earth, the river of life flows from the throne of God through the city’s center (Revelation 22:1-2). And the tree of life grows on its banks.
We Will Not Fear Because God Appoints Our Time
Humans lost access to the tree of life at the fall, leaving death to reign. But Jesus died and rose again to open the way to eternal life for all who believe in him.
Each of us has an appointed time to die (Hebrews 9:27). Indeed, doctors have told some of us that our day is near. The rest of us await such notice with eyes averted in the hope that it’s still far off. But the new virus’s spread reminds us that our time comes, perhaps even soon.
But coronavirus can’t change our assigned time to die. Either it’s our moment or it’s not. Does that mean we should act foolishly? Of course not! Rather, reckless behavior merely suggests that our preset time may be close.
Yet death is not our end. It is our new beginning.
We Will Not Fear Because We Know Our Future
Here on earth, nations rage and kingdoms totter. The cursed earth spews pestilence and plague. The sea roars in devastating power. But a day comes when God “utters his voice” and “the earth melts” (Psalm 46:6). “The heavens will be set on fire and dissolved” (2 Peter 3:12).
But that is not cause for despair, for “we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells” (2 Peter 3:13). We are coming to the holy city of God that “shall not be moved” within which flows “a river whose streams make glad the city of God” (Psalm 46:4,5). There those who belong to the Lamb will see God’s face and dwell with him forever more.
That is why we must heed these words: “set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth” (Colossians 3:2). Yes, we have an appointed time to die—but death for the Christian merely means moving into the presence of God.
We Will Not Fear Because the Lord Is with Us
The LORD of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
(Psalm 46:7,11)
Psalm 46’s refrain says the One who commands angelic armies is with us. Not only that, but he is our fortress. Picture tall towers and walls too high to scale. Hosts of angels and an impenetrable fortress convey this message: We are safe. And indeed we are, for “According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you” (1 Peter 1:3-4).
Imperishable, undefiled, and unfading. Selah. Pause and ponder.
We Will Be Still and Know that God Is God
Come, behold the works of the LORD,
how he has brought desolations on the earth.
He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
he breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
he burns the chariots with fire.
“Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!”
(Psalm 46:8-10)
Remembering that the LORD of hosts is with us and that he is our fortress encourages us to turn our eyes to grander things. Yes, God cursed the earth bringing desolation. But he is also ushering us into this age’s finish when he will end all wars and judge all people. Then he will bring those who belong to him to the new heavens and earth where death is no more.
God himself says, “Be still, and know that I am God.” When fear assails us, this is what we do. We turn to him, still ourselves, and repeat these words from him. We can do it because God has told us the end of our story. We will be with him, and he will be exalted. He is God.
We Will Remember the Lord Is with Us
The LORD of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
(Psalm 46:7,11)
Again, he is with us even now, and he is our fortress. Selah. Pause, ponder, and pray. Hear his words: “Be still, and know that I am God.”
A Prayer
A prayer based on Psalm 46.
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though pandemic fills the earth, though world economies plunge into the heart of the sea, though media roar and foam, and people tremble at the news.
There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns. The nations rage, the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice, the earth melts.
The LORD of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Come, behold the works of the LORD, the heavens and earth are stored up for fire. He will make war cease to the end of the earth; he will break all weapons of war; he will destroy the subs, silos, and tanks. He will bring us to his holy habitation.
“Be still, and know that I am God, I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”
The LORD of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
These books are especially good for difficult times. The links are affiliate links, meaning I receive a tiny commission if you use them to buy a book at no extra cost to you.
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Christians often wonder why so many Jews didn’t recognize
that Jesus was the Messiah. As one gal put it, “How could they miss it when it’s
so obvious?”
There are a number of reasons, but one was that Jesus wasn’t what the Jews of his day expected. In fact, Jesus surprised even godly Jews like John the Baptist. Here are four ways Jesus differed from expectations, and why these differences are so much better.
1. Jesus’s kingdom was not of this world.
“Messiah” comes from the Hebrew for “anointed one.” It’s one
of the titles of the kings descended from David. “Christ” comes from the Greek
for “anointed one. “Christ” and “messiah” are synonymous.
God interrupted David’s dynasty when the kings stopped submitting
to God as the King of kings. But the prophets who announced the exile that
ended their reign also announced that God would bring the exiles back and would
send a new king descended from David. This king would rule forever:
Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore.
Isaiah 9:7
The Jews expected an immediate reign on earth.
By Jesus’s day, the exiles had long ago returned, but the promised messiah hadn’t appeared. Instead, Rome ruled them. Because of this, most Jews expected a messiah to lead a revolt against Rome and establish an earthly kingdom at once. In fact, others had already declared themselves messiahs and had revolted in vain.
Jesus fulfilled some prophecies about the messiah in his first coming.
“Christ Preaching” (La Petite Tombe), by Rembrandt (public domain)
Jesus identified himself as the messiah (John 4:25-26). He
was descended from David and was born in Bethlehem. He also performed signs
that were expected in the age of the messiah’s rule, such as giving sight to
the blind and healing the lame, and he sent word to John the Baptist that this
was evidence he was the messiah (Isaiah 35:5-6; Matthew 11:4-5; Luke 5:24;
18:42). He rode into Jerusalem on a donkey colt as the people welcomed him as messiah
in fulfillment of prophecy (Zechariah 9:9; Matthew 21:4-9).
Because of this, Jesus’s disciples expected him to establish
an earthly kingdom immediately. That’s why they asked him, “Lord, will you at
this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6). It’s also why John the
Baptist was confused when Jesus didn’t rescue him from prison (Matthew 11:2-3).
Jesus did not fulfill all prophecies about the messiah in his first coming.
Jesus did not establish a kingdom on earth at his first
coming. Instead, he said, “My kingdom is not of this
world” (John 18:36). He also withdrew when people tried to force him to
be king. In addition, he explained that the kingdom of God was going to be a
different type of kingdom:
Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”
Luke 17:20-21
Jesus will fulfill remaining prophecies in the future.
So then, how will Jesus fulfill the prophecies about ruling forever? First, Jesus rules at the Father’s right hand now (Ephesians 1:20-21). But there’s more to come. Jesus said he will return “on the clouds of heaven” and will gather his servants “from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other” (Daniel 7:13-14; Matthew 24:30-31). God will make a new heaven and earth, and the new Jerusalem will descend on it (Revelation 21:1-2). The “throne of God and of the Lamb” will be there and Jesus’s servants will reign with him “forever and ever” (Revelation 22:3-5).
2. Jesus was both messiah and the prophet like Moses.
“The Feeding of the Five Thousand” by Jacobo Bassano (public domain)
In the first century AD, Jews desired the fulfillment of
prophecies about both a messiah and a prophet like Moses. That is why when
Jesus began teaching and performing miraculous signs, “some of the people said,
‘This really is the Prophet.’ Others said, ‘This is the Christ’” (John
7:40-41).
The expectation of a prophet like Moses comes from this
prophecy:
The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen… And the LORD said to me, “… I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him.”
Deuteronomy 18:15,17-19
Jesus gave many signs that he was the prophet like Moses.
For example, Moses turned water to blood and Jesus turned water to wine. Like
Moses, Jesus commanded the sea and it obeyed. With Moses, the people ate manna that
miraculously appeared in the wilderness; with Jesus, the people ate bread and
fish that miraculously multiplied in the wilderness.
Some Jewish leaders desired neither a messiah nor a prophet.
“Christ Driving the Money Changers from the Temple” by Rembrandt (public domain)
The Jewish leadership consisted of members from two competing Jewish sects: the Sadducees and the Pharisees. The Sadducees were aristocratic and wealthy priests who wanted good relations with Rome so they could stay in power. They hoped for neither a messiah nor a resurrection, partly because they held the five books of Moses in higher regard than other OT books, such as the writings of the prophets.
Jesus presented problems for priests. First, Moses had had authority over even the high priest. Therefore, if a prophet like Moses appeared, the Sadducees would have to give up their authority and status. This was apparent when Jesus drove money changers and sellers out of the temple, thus challenging the priests’ authority to run the temple as they they saw fit (Mark 11:15-18).
Second, they wanted to prevent anyone claiming to be a messiah (king) from gaining followers lest Rome quell not only the rebellion but also the Sadducees’ power.
Many Jewish leaders expected a messiah submissive to them in spiritual
matters.
The rest of the Jewish leaders were Pharisees. They wanted
a warrior king who would lead a revolt against Rome, but who also would be
submissive to them in spiritual matters. They taught that the messiah and
prophet were two different people.
Why was it important to Pharisees that the messiah and prophet be different?
The Pharisees had a set of rules that they used to interpret
how the law of Moses should be applied. For example, their rules described what
could and couldn’t be done on the Sabbath. The problem for them was that Moses
had been the ultimate authority for how to apply the law, so a prophet like
Moses might threaten their authority. Indeed, that’s what happened.
Jesus rejected the Pharisees’ authority to interpret the law of Moses.
False witnesses accuse Jesus before the ruling council (José Madrazo, 1803, public domain)
When Jesus healed people, the Pharisees told him to stop doing
so on the Sabbath. Jesus told them their reasoning was bad, and he continued
healing. He also pointed out that they rejected God’s commands in favor of
their rules, which he disparaged as mere “tradition of men” (Mark 7:8-13). That
Jesus rejected their traditions about how to apply the law incensed the Pharisees
and convinced most of them that he couldn’t be the messiah.
The crowds embraced Jesus as both messiah and prophet.
Unlike the Jewish leaders, the crowds were fine with the
messiah also being the prophet like Moses. That’s why they declared him “the Prophet
who is to come into the world” and then attempted to make him king (John
6:13-14). But ruling on earth wasn’t part of Jesus’s immediate plan.
Still, when large crowds started following Jesus because of
his miracles, the Jewish leaders feared they would lose their power:
So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.”
John 11:47-48
The Sadducees didn’t care that Jesus rejected the Pharisees’
traditions—they did too. But they cared a lot about losing their waning
political power.
3. The messiah was the suffering servant.
Isaiah prophesied about a righteous, suffering servant. But no one thought the messiah and the suffering servant could be the same person. Why? Because the messiah was supposed to rule forever, while the suffering servant had to die:
And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.
Isaiah 53:9
“The Crucifixion” by Rembrandt (public domain)
See the problem? The Jews didn’t see how the messiah whom they thought would save Israel from Rome and establish an everlasting kingdom could also be the suffering servant who dies. That is why when Jesus told his disciples that he would suffer, be killed, and on the third day be raised, Peter rebuked him and said this would never happen (Matthew 16:21-22).
That also is why when Jesus told the crowd he would be lifted up from the earth, they surmised that he was speaking of death and replied, “We have heard from the Law that the Christ remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up?” (John 12:34).
Isaiah gave clues that the suffering servant was the messiah.
Four Servant Songs proclaim the coming of a righteous,
suffering servant: Isaiah 42:1-9; 49:1-12; 50:4-9; and 52:13-53:12. They hint
of similarities between the suffering servant and the messiah, for both would
be anointed by God’s Spirit (Isaiah 11:2; 42:1);
bring justice (Isaiah 9:7; 42:1; Jeremiah 23:5);
be righteous (Isaiah 42:6; 53:11; Jeremiah 23:5);
make others righteous (Isaiah 53:11; 61:3;
Jeremiah 33:15-16);
participate in bringing Israel back to God
(Isaiah 49:5; Jeremiah 23:3-5); and
be part of a new covenant (Isaiah 42:6; Ezekiel
34:24-25).
Jesus fulfilled prophecies about the suffering servant.
That Jesus was crucified with the wicked and buried in a
rich man’s tomb clearly fulfills prophecy about the suffering servant (Isaiah
53:8-9 cf. Luke 23:32-33,50-53). But the next two verses reveal something remarkable.
Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.
Isaiah 53:10-11
This passage says that though the servant died, he shall
prolong his days! in other words, the suffering servant will come back to life.
Moreover, because Jesus conquered death as the suffering servant, he reigns as
Messiah forever.
4. The prophet was also the suffering servant.
“The Ascension of Christ” by Rembrandt (public domain)
Moses was a type of Jesus. Jesus was not merely a prophet speaking God’s words, he was the Word who was God (John 1:1).
Isaiah’s prophecies about the suffering servant show the servant had similarities to but was far superior to Moses. The Lord God gave the first covenant through Moses, but he gave the suffering servant as the new covenant (Isaiah 42:6-7). The suffering servant fulfilled everything the sacrificial system put in place by Moses could not fully do (Isaiah 53:5-6). He was the light for the nations that Israel failed to become under the law of Moses (Isaiah 49:6). And as suffering servant, Jesus died, arose, and atoned for people’s sin as Moses wanted to do but could not (Exodus 32:30; Isaiah 53:12).
Conclusion
The Jews expected the promised messiah to lead a revolt on earth, but Jesus said his kingdom was not of this world. They thought that the messiah, the prophet like Moses, and the suffering servant were three different people, but Jesus demonstrated he is all three. Because he is the suffering servant who died and rose again, he is Messiah King who will reign forever in the new heaven and earth. As the suffering servant, Jesus fulfilled all to which Moses and the sacrificial system pointed. And because the suffering servant bore our iniquities, we can become God’s children and live in his kingdom with him eternally.
These affiliate links lead to books you might like.
Discovering Jesus in the Old Testamentby me, Pam Farrel, and Karla Dornacher: This Bible study shows how God revealed his plan of redemption in the OT. It combines Q&A, short devotionals, and gorgeous art.
Christ from Beginning to Endby Trent Hunter and Stephen Wellum: An interesting, easy-to-read book that divides biblical history by God’s covenants.
NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible edited by D.A. Carson: If you want a study Bible that traces God’s redemptive plan, this is for you! I’m currently reading this one and it’s my favorite study Bible yet.
Typos by Leonhard Goppelt, translated by Donald H. Madvig: For those who enjoy scholarly depth, this look at how the NT interprets the OT typologically is fantastic (the Greek title is pronounced “TWO-poss”).
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Need peace? Here are 14 verses to help. Adapted from Discovering Joy in Philippians.
Assurance of Salvation
It’s common for new Christians to doubt their salvation, but these verses can bring peace.
But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.
John 1:12
John 1:12 gives peace by assuring us of salvation
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
John 3:16-17
Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.
John 5:24
Assurance of Forgiveness
Here are verses to repeat after going to our heavenly Father to confess sin.
Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.
Isaiah 1:18
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 1:9
Doubt
When we face doubts, these verses can help bring peace.
We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,
2 Corinthians 10:5
Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.
Proverbs 3:5
Temptation
These peace-giving verses help when we face temptation.
No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.
1 Corinthians 10:13
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
Matthew 5:6
Discouragement
We all face discouraging times. These verses can bring peace to discouraged hearts.
Philippians 1:6 is a verse that gives peace when we’re discouraged
And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
Philippians 1:6
For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
Philippians 2:13
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:37-39
Fear
Here are verses that calm us when fears disturb our peace.
Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.
1 Peter 5:7
Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
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Are you looking for good, clean fiction to read next year? I read a stack of novels every year, so let me recommend a few of my favorites from last year, from classical literature to science fiction to mysteries to thrillers.
Last year I gave Kindle Unlimited a try since I was reading a series that was free on there. I liked it! Most of the books below are (or were) free on Kindle Unlimited.
Loved this stirring tale of courage, leadership, exile, and survival. The story follows a band of rabbits who must flee the down (grassy hill) in which they live when men destroy it. They encounter perils and hardship as they search for a promised land in which to make their home. This was hands down my favorite book of the year. (I found it in Kindle Unlimited–watch for it to return.)
Science Fiction
Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra, and That Hideous Strength (The Space Trilogy) by C.S. Lewis
I think this was my third time to read this remarkable
series. In the first, Dr. Ransom is abducted and taken by spaceship to
Malacandra (Mars) where he encounters the planet’s unfallen inhabitants as he
flees his kidnappers. In the second, heavenly creatures take him to Perelandra
(Venus) where he attempts to prevent evil’s encroachment. In the third, he
battles rising evil forces on Earth. The series is both fun and filled with
spiritual insights. (Tolkien fans: Watch for LOTR elements!)
A scientist discovers how to extract a single memory from a person’s mind and place it in a Mem—a creature that looks like the human donor but is doomed to relive the single memory until finally expiring. But Delores Extract #1 can create her own memories. Is she a person in her own right, or is she owned by the human from whom she was extracted? Morrow explores identity, personhood, slavery, and memory. (This was either Prime Free Reading or Kindle Unlimited–I couldn’t find a free link.)
Cozy Mysteries
Cozy mysteries contain no graphic violence or sex, despite
being built around solving a murder.
These hilarious and delightful mysteries are narrated by a private investigator’s dog Chet. Ingenious! They were my second favorite fiction of the year. They’re pricey, but when Quinn’s latest addition to The Chet and Bernie Mystery Series came out, he put the previous ones on Kindle Unlimited for a short time—watch for that possibly happening again this summer. (Note: The bad guys sometimes use bad language.)
Maple Syrup Mysteries by Emily James
I read books 10 to 12 in this series last year (Slay Bells Ringing, Rooted in Murder, Guilty or Knot), but I’ll tell you about the first one, A Sticky Inheritance. In book 1, criminal defense attorney Nicole inherits a maple syrup farm from her late uncle. After she moves into her new home, she suspects he was murdered. The series is sweet, has romance, and follows Nicole’s exploration of Christianity. It’s included in Kindle Unlimited and its one of the reasons I gave KU a try.
A Lady Hardcastle Mystery Book series by T.E. Kinsey
I read the entire six-book series plus the related single this year. The best part about these books is the witty repartee between the widow Lady Hardcastle and her diminutive maid Flo as they go about solving murders in early 20th century England. Lady Hardcastle is a former British spy and Flo was raised in the circus, so they bring special skillsets to their problem solving. These are fun and are all in Kindle Unlimited. The first in the series is A Quiet Life in the Country.
Teen & Young Adult Mystery
Blur, Fury, and Curse (The Blur Trilogy) by Steven James
Sixteen-year-old Daniel has a terrifying vision at the funeral of a classmate that suggests her death was not accidental. He grapples with what’s real and what isn’t in this three-book series of who-dun-its for young adults. He and his friends try to understand how the Bible should guide them as their town is rocked by murders. There’s a bit of crossover into the science fiction and paranormal genres. The entire trilogy is on Kindle Unlimited.
Psychological Thrillers
The Pawn (The Bowers Files Book 1) by Steven James
Not for late night reading! Special Agent Patrick Bowers searches for a cunning serial killer who leaves clues as to who his next victim will be. This is a can’t-put-it-down thriller that also addresses theodicy as Bowers seeks answers as to whether a good God exists. I liked the examination of a serial killer’s psychological makeup as well as the dispensing of trite spiritual answers in favor of more thoughtful responses. The Pawn is on Kindle Unlimited and is the first of a seven-book series.
Conclusion
There you have it: my favorite fiction from last year! What were your favorite novels last year? Have you tried Kindle Unlimited? If so, what do you think of it?
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Merry Christmas! I’ve written a Christmas poem below to celebrate when the Word of God became flesh and was born among us. You can read it below or you candownload a printable copy here. The Christmas poem is based on the Gospel narratives. John 1 starts with creation and explains how the Word–Jesus–became flesh:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.
John 1:1,14
Matthew 1:18-2:12; Luke 1:26-56; and Luke 2:1-21 begin much later in time. They start with the angel Gabriel’s visit to Mary and go on to explain the circumstances surrounding Jesus’s birth.
While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
Luke 2:6-7
Without further ado, here is the poem.
A Christmas Poem
By Jean E. Jones
Word in beginning, all things through him made; Word was with God and was God, yet he weighed Cost of redeeming lost man from the grave: Word became flesh, so that man he could save.
God sent his angel called Gabriel down To the young Mary in Nazareth town. “Greetings,” said he, “highly favored you are!” Mary then wondered at message from far.
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