Looking At Christmas Through Old Testament Eyes

Looking At Christmas Through Dr. Elmer Towns

Old Testament Eyes December 18, 2011

A. CHRISTMAS IN ETERNITY PAST

1. The birth of Jesus did not catch God by surprise. Not wrong time, wrong place, or wrong circumstances. “When the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son” (Gal. 4:4).

2. The coming of Jesus was planned before the beginning. “He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times” (1 Peter 1:20).

3. Jesus the begotten Son. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

WHAT: The Son just like the Father.

HOW: “Thou art My Son” (Ps. 2:7).

WHEN: “This day have I begotten You” (Ps. 2:7). God’s eternal day.

PROMISE: “The Lord (Father) said to Me (the Son)” (Ps. 2:7).

B. HISTORICAL ANCHOR THAT PROVES NEW TESTAMENT PREDICTIONS

1. The Septuagint. The Jews teach 70 men translated the Hebrew Old Testament into Greek in 70 days in 287 BC. The written record proves the supernatural nature of its fulfillment.

2. The Dead Sea Scrolls. The Scrolls contain all the Old Testament books, written over 300 years before Jesus was born.

3. An accurate fulfillment of the following predictions demonstrates God knew what events would happen as Jesus was born.

C. CHRISTMAS PREDICTED

1. The virgin birth, predicted at the beginning. “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed” (Gen. 3:15).

a. A woman doesn’t have a seed/sperm. It comes from a man.

b. The Man-child will come only from the woman, not from a man.

c. The Man-child will destroy Satan. God said to Satan, “He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel” (Gen. 3:15).

d. Jesus got his DNA from Mary, not Joseph.

2. The virgin birth was predicted over 700 years before it happened. “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel” (Is. 7:14).

a. God gives a miraculous sign.

b. There was a conception, i.e., the incarnation.

c. The gender is predicted.

d. The Child’s purpose. “Call His name Immanuel, God with Us” (Matt. 1:23).

3. The place of birth. “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting” (Micah 5:2).

a. The place would be little in location. “Little among the thousands” (Micah 5:2).

b. The place would be unobserved in time.

c. The place would be unimportant in stature.

d. The ruler would have stability, recognition and importance.

4. A star will predict His birth. “I see Him, but not now; I behold Him, but not near; a Star shall come out of Jacob; a Scepter shall rise out of Israel” (Num. 24:17).

a. A cultural event. “Herod . . . was troubled and all Jerusalem with him” (Matt. 2:3).

b. A supernatural event. “We have seen His star in the East” (Matt. 4:2). “The star . . . went before them till it came and stood where the young Child was” (Matt. 2:9).

c. A guiding event. “The star . . . went before them” (Matt. 2:9).

D. 10 OBSERVATIONS OF JESUS’ BIRTH

1. God controlled the details of the birth of His Son.

2. God controlled the time of His Son’s birth.

3. There was a perfect place for the birth of His Son.

a. The city of Kings.

b. The city of David.

c. Near the Temple in Jerusalem.

d. There are places God delights to reveal Himself.

4. There was a perfect mother. “Highly favored . . . blessed art thou among women” (Luke 1:28).

5. A spiritual mother. “Thou hast found favor with God” (Luke 1:30).

6. A converted mother. “Mary prayed, ‘God my Savior’” (Luke 1:47).

7. A worshipping audience. “The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen” (Luke 2:20).

8. Adoration by angels. “A multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men’” (Luke 2:14).

9. Recognized by a devout individual. “And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ” (Luke 2:25-26).

a. Blessed the child (Luke 2:28, 34).

b. Prayer to die. “Now You are letting Your servant depart in peace” (Luke 2:29).