SAMSUNG“Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God which He promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures, concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 1:1-3

God has made many promises to people through the centuries, most of them through His spokespeople (prophets). God’s promises were often in the form of future blessings. He promised blessings to Noah and his descendants – “So God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them: ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.” (Genesis 9:1) He promised blessings to Abraham and his descendants – “I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Genesis 12:2-3)

So, what does this have to do with Jesus? Everything! All spiritual blessings flow through Jesus. That’s what the prophets foretold.

“But those things which God foretold by the mouth of all His prophets, that the Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began. For Moses truly said to the fathers, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear in all things, whatever He says to you. And it shall be that every soul who will not hear that Prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.’ Yes, and all the prophets, from Samuel and those who follow, as many as have spoken, have also foretold these days. You are sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ To you first, God, having raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your iniquities.” Acts 3:18-26

Notice that Peter said the same thing as Paul about the prophets preaching the Gospel. “… that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.” Peter bore hard into the hearts and minds of the Israelites in Jerusalem on that day long ago when he told them, “Yes, and all the prophets, from Samuel and those who follow, as many as have spoken, have also foretold these days. You are sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ To you first, God, having raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your iniquities.”

Samuel was one of Israel’s greatest prophets. He was a prophet, priest, judge, and kingmaker – an unusual combination. In fact, Samuel is in a class of his own in Israel’s long history. In speaking to the prophet Jeremiah about Israel centuries after Samuel, God said, “Even if Moses and Samuel stood before Me, My mind would not be favorable toward this people. Cast them out of My sight, and let them go forth.” (Jeremiah 15:1) That’s how special Samuel was to God that He would include Samuel in the same breath with Moses.

The prophecies concerning Samuel and Jesus began with Hanna, Samuel’s mother. This is part of her prayer when she brought Samuel to the Tabernacle to serve God with Eli, Israel’s chief priest.

“The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken in pieces; From heaven He will thunder against them. The Lord will judge the ends of the earth. ‘He will give strength to His king, And exalt the horn of His anointed.” 1 Samuel 2:10

This prayer/prophecy is interesting on several levels – one being that Israel did not have a king at that time, and, in fact, had never had a king. Israel had been ruled by judges, but not by a human king. Another is the fact that Israel at that time was certainly not one of the great nations of the earth. So, for the mother of Samuel to say that God would thunder from Heaven against His adversaries, break them in pieces, judge the ends of the earth, give strength to His king, and exalt the horn of His “anointed” (masiyah – messiah), was certainly a very big thing for a little Jewish mother to pray in front of Israel’s chief priest at the Lord’s Tabernacle.

Jews today, and for the last 20 centuries, have denied that Jesus is the Messiah because they say He did not fulfill all the Messianic prophecies. What Jews have missed is what Peter preached in Acts 3: “But those things which God foretold by the mouth of all His prophets, that the Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled.”

Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit and speaking in his prophetic office, said that Jesus fulfilled what God had foretold by the mouth of all His prophets, that the Christ (Messiah) would suffer. Did Jesus fulfill all of the prophecies about the Messiah’s sufferings? Let’s take a look.

[Keep in mind that many prophets spoke these prophecies over a period of hundreds of years. The first Scripture listed below is Old Testament prophecy about Messiah. The Scripture next to it is New Testament fulfillment of that prophecy.]

  • Messiah betrayed by friend … Psalm 55:12-14 – Matthew 26:59-50
  • Messiah sold for 30 pieces of silver … Zechariah 11:12 — Matthew 26:14-15
  • Silver cast to the potter … Zechariah 11:13 — Matthew 27:5-7
  • Messiah’s followers scattered … Zechariah 13:7 — Matthew 26:56
  • Messiah accused by false witnesses … Psalm 35:11 — Matthew 26:59-60
  • Messiah beaten and spit upon … Isaiah 50:6 — Matthew 27:30
  • Messiah did not answer His accusers … Isaiah 53:7 — Matthew 27:12-14
  • Messiah pierced, chastened, scourged … Isaiah 53:5 — Matthew 27:26-29
  • Messiah was weak and His knees gave out … Psalm 109:24 — John 19:17
  • Messiah’s hands and feet are pierced … Psalm 22:16 — Luke 23:33
  • Messiah was numbered with transgressors … Isaiah 53:12 — Mark 15:27-28
  • Messiah prayed for those who persecuted Him … Isaiah 53:12 — Luke 23:34
  • Messiah saw onlookers wag their heads at Him … Psalm 109:25 — Matthew 27:39
  • Messiah was ridiculed by onlookers and persecutors … Psalm 22:8 — Matthew 27:41-43
  • Messiah was stared at by onlookers and persecutors … Psalm 22:17 — Luke 23:35
  • Messiah’s family and friends stood at a distance … Psalm 38:11 — Luke 23:49
  • Messiah’s garments were divided and lots were cast for clothing … Psalm 22:18 — John 19:23-24
  • Darkness blotted out the sun during the Messiah’s crucifixion … Amos 8:9 — Matthew 27:45
  • Messiah cried out about God forsaking Him … Psalm 22:1 — Matthew 27:46
  • Messiah was given gall and vinegar … Psalm 69:21 — John 19:28-29
  • Messiah committed His spirit to God … Psalm 31:5 — Luke 23:46
  • Messiah’s bones were out of joint, his heart was broken, and his side was pierced … Psalm 22:14; Zechariah 12:10 — John 19:34-37
  • Messiah’s bones were not broken … Psalm 34:20 — John 19:33-36
  • Messiah was buried in the tomb of a rich man … Isaiah 53:9 — Matthew 27:57-60

Peter was right! Jesus did fulfill all of the prophecies about Messiah’s suffering. However, Peter did not say that Jesus fulfilled all of the prophecies concerning Israel’s Messiah – just those that pertained to His suffering. What Peter said next is important for Jews to see and understand.

“Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.”

Jesus fulfilling the Messianic prophecies about establishing Israel as the greatest nation on earth was based on the people of Israel repenting and being converted, that their sins would be blotted out, “so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.” That did not happen. Instead of repenting and being converted, Israel persecuted and killed those who believed in Messiah. Israel’s rejection then and for the last 2,000 years has kept God from sending Jesus back to Israel, but the day is coming (most likely very soon) when Jesus will return and then all of Israel and the world will know He is Messiah!

In Christ’s Love and Grace,

Mark McGee

GraceLife Ministries

“Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.”