A little over two years ago, on March 26, 2000, Seattle’s famed Kingdome was demolished. It was the home of the Seattle Seahawks, Mariners, and at times, the SuperSonics. But a Maryland-based company called Controlled Demolition Incorporated (CDI) was hired to do the job of imploding the 25,000 ton structure that had marked Seattle’s skyline for two dozen years. What is remarkable about the event was the olympian efforts that were exerted to make sure no one was injured by the impending blast. CDI had completed over 7,000 demolitions prior to taking down the Kingdome, and was experienced in knowing how to protect people. Engineers checked and rechecked the structure, the wiring and the explosive charges. Several blocks around the Kingdome were evacuated. An elaborate plan was in place to allow the countdown to stop at any time if there was any concern about safety. Every person working at the site was individually accounted for by radio prior the detonation, and a powerful speaker system was used to make people aware of what was about to happen and announce the final countdown. Every precaution was taken to warn people of the imminent danger. There was no excuse for someone not knowing what was about to happen, because those in charge made everyone aware of what they were about to do.
The Bible teaches us that God always warns and informs his people of what he is about to do. He has warned us about the second coming of Christ. And the people of Jesus’ day were given more than ample information about the first coming of Christ the Messiah. The more important something is, the more God informs his people of what he is up to. The ancient prophets were aware that this is how God works, for as one of them said, “Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets. The lion has roared — who will not fear? The Sovereign Lord has spoken — who can but prophesy?” (Amos 3:7-8).
The Old Testament is full of prophesies about God sending his Messiah into the world. In fact, when I began to go through the Bible trying to look at all of them I was overwhelmed by the sheer volume. Why did God give these messages to the prophets? Why is the Old Testament so loaded with prophesies concerning the coming of a Savior into the world? Because what God was about to do was so important he could not keep it to himself.
The presence of these Old Testament prophesies are telling us something. The first thing they tell us is: God has a plan. God knew what he was doing. Our sin did not catch God by surprise so that he was forced to figure out a new plan. He knew that we would fail and need a Savior even before he created the world. The Bible says, “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake” (1 Peter 1:18-20).
Before time began, God had a plan. That plan was to bring his Son into the world to redeem the world and bring it back to himself. You will remember that when Joseph and Mary brought Jesus to the temple in Jerusalem to present the infant to the Lord, there was in the temple two people who seemed to understand God’s Gift without anyone telling them that this was the Christ child. The first was an old man named Simeon. The Bible says about him, “Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: ‘Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel’” (Luke 2:25-32).
The second person was Anna, a prophetess. When she saw the child, the Bible says, “She gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem” (Luke 2:38).
So we see that God not only had a plan, he had revealed that plan to his servants the prophets, who in turn told the world. Through the Old Testament prophets it was revealed that Christ would be born to the nation of Israel (Genesis 12:1-3); of the tribe of Judah (Genesis 49:9-10; to the family of David (Isaiah 11:10); that his mother would be a virgin (Isaiah 7:14); that he would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2) and that he would have to flee to Egypt (Hosea 11:1, Matthew 2:15). Zechariah the prophet described Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem (Zechariah 9:9); predicted Judas’ betrayal, and the exact amount of money he would receive to betray Jesus (Zechariah 11:12); All of this and much, much more. The Old Testament revealed what much of Jesus’ life would be like. Even the specifics of his crucifixion were given in astonishing detail in Psalm 22. All along God had a plan.
The second thing that the existence of these prophesies show is that: God has a hopeful plan. When Jesus began his ministry he used the words of the prophet Isaiah to describe his life and work: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4:18-19). God’s plan is good news; it is freedom, healing, release and a proclamation of God’s favor. These prophesies are not about gloom and destruction, they are about hope for the human race. God looked on us with mercy and favor. He sent his Son in love to the world with the intention of saving the world. The prophesies are not about condemnation, they are about redemption.
The one thing I began to realize as I studied these Old Testament prophesies is that they could only apply to one person in all of history. The Scriptures were very clear in what the Messiah would be and do. You could not possibly force Mohammed to fit these prophesies, nor any of the other religious leaders of the world. They apply to only one person — Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Imagine the hope and joy of those who had waited so long, and then began to realize that this Jesus, who was living among them, was the One promised by the prophets so long ago. When Philip met Jesus, he ran to tell his brother and said to him: “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote — Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph” (John 1:45).
Jesus came to bring us eternal life. But this was exactly what the religious leaders of the day refused to believe. Jesus therefore said to them, “You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life. . . . If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me” (John 5:39-47).
Ravi Zacharius tells of meeting a family in Lebanon several years ago. They had lost everything and were living in the hopelessness of a country devastated by war. Sami and his wife were Lebanese Christians in the middle of a hostile Muslim world. One day they saw a suitcase by the side of the road. Sami’s wife pleaded with him to leave it alone. It could be booby-trapped. But he picked it up, and when he got home he opened it and found every inch crammed with money. But also inside was a name, address and phone number. Sami made several attempts to contact the person, but no one seemed to be home. Finally, someone answered in a doleful voice. Sami said, “Sir, have you lost something?” The man on the other end of the phone was shocked and said, “Have you found it?” He had lost the suitcase in route to a boat he was to catch in an attempt to leave the country. Ravi Zacharias was in Sami’s home when the owner of the suitcase brought his family to meet this man who still had a soul in the midst of a disintegrating society. Lebanon, which had been the pearl of the Middle East with majestic buildings and historic artifacts, was now desolate and full of all kinds of evil. When the man and his family sat down, Sami said, “You think you have recovered your treasure. Let me tell you how passing a treasure this is. With the fragile state of our country, this could become completely worthless overnight.” Sami continued, “Let me give you the greatest and most enduring treasure you can ever have.” And then he handed them a copy of the Bible. Zacharias says, “I will never forget the moment as they held it in their hands. As one who sought eternal things amid the ruins of human evil, Sami gave his greatest treasure — indeed, the definitive reality of life’s purpose, from God’s mind to ours.”
What made the Bible so precious was that it revealed God’s plan for the world, and every individual in it. The message of the prophets of the Bible is about God’s intention to save the world through his Son. That message is more valuable than a suitcase full of money. God’s plan is a plan of hope.
The third thing that these prophesies show us is that: God has a complete plan. Not only is the birth of Christ prophesied, but also his life, and especially his atoning death, his resurrection and his return to earth. All of this is the promise of God’s Word found in the writings of the ancient prophets. At one point Jesus took his disciples aside and said to them, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled” (Luke 18:31). After his resurrection Jesus explained to his disciples again how all of this was a part of God’s plan from the beginning, and how it was foretold by the prophets. The Bible says, “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself” (Luke 24:27). I have often thought as I have read that verse how wonderful it would have been to have heard what Jesus said after that — which of the prophesies did he speak about, and how did he unfold them to his disciples. We are not told what he said, but how awesome it would have been to actually have been there and heard the explanation straight from his lips.
None of what happened to Jesus was a surprise to him. It was all carefully spelled out in the Scriptures. The apostle Paul was one of the most learned men of his day. He knew the Old Testament as well, if not better, than anyone. He studied the prophets and understood what they were saying about Christ. The Bible says, “As his custom was, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures (i.e. the Old Testament), explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead. ‘This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ,’ he said” (Acts 17:2-3). In another place, it says about Paul, “For he vigorously refuted the Jews in public debate, proving from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ” (Acts 18:28).
God’s plan is a complete plan. The Messiah would be born. He would grow to be a man who would teach, heal and demonstrate the heart and character of God. He would die for the sins of the people, be resurrected, ascend into heaven, sit in victory at the right hand of God to intercede for us, and one day return in power to rule the world as his own. God’s plan started before the world began, and it will be completed when this world is over and God establishes his righteous kingdom. It is a complete plan. God has not forgotten anything or left anything out.
The Bible says, “Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.” (1 Peter 1:10-12).
A man wrote to a mail-order hobby company asking them to send him plans for building a birdhouse. He wasn’t real mechanically minded, so he didn’t realize it wasn’t the plans for a birdhouse. But instead of sending him the plans for a birdhouse, they sent him plans for a model sailboat. He tried to put all the pieces together, but he just couldn’t get it to work. He couldn’t figure what kind of bird was going to live in such a strange birdhouse. So he wrote a letter explaining his problem and sent the plans back to the company. A few weeks later he received a standard form letter of apology, but on the bottom someone had written: “If you think it was difficult for you, you should have seen the man who got your plans trying to sail a birdhouse.”
When God has a plan, it is not the wrong plan. It is not a bad plan. It is a hopeful plan, a complete plan, a perfect plan. And he has planned it all just for you. His plan is called Christmas.
Rodney J. Buchanan
December 8, 2002
Mulberry St. UMC
Mt. Vernon, OH
www.MulberryUMC.org
Rod.Buchanan@MulberryUMC.org
