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We have seen that before Christ was incarnated, the Old Testament prophets prophesied that the incarnated Christ is God and also man. In this lesson and in the next we will see what the Old Testament prophets prophesied concerning Christ’s first coming.
When the Lord Jesus appeared to the disciples after His resurrection, He said, “All the things written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and Psalms concerning Me must be fulfilled” (Luke 24:44). The Lord’s speaking here unveils that there are prophecies concerning Him in the Old Testament and that He is the fulfillment of these prophecies. God revealed the first coming of Christ to all His children through the prophecies in the Old Testament. Psalm 40:6-8 is referred to in Hebrews 10:5-7, which speaks of Christ coming into the world, saying, “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You have prepared for Me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You did not delight. Then I said, Behold, I have come (in the roll of the book it is written concerning Me) to do Your will, O God.” This shows that the Old Testament clearly prophesied the first coming of Christ and that the incarnation of Christ was His coming to do the will of God.
The Old Testament prophets not only prophesied concerning the first coming of Christ; they also prophesied concerning many aspects of His person and work in His first coming. These aspects include Christ as Shiloh; a Star; a Prophet; the One who does God’s will; a great light and a light of the nations; a child, a Son (Emmanuel); the King; the One coming forth from Bethlehem; the Desire of the nations; a Messenger of God and the Angel of the covenant; and the glory and consolation of Israel. In this lesson we will first see Christ in His first coming as Shiloh, a Star, a Prophet, the One who does God’s will, a great light and a light of the nations.
Genesis 49:10 says, “The scepter will not depart from Judah, / Nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, / Until Shiloh comes, / And to Him shall be the obedience of the peoples.” The scepter denotes authority and signifies the royal, kingly authority. The word staff is a synonym of scepter, and refers to the staff of a ruler. Shiloh means “arbitrator, peace bringer.” This verse prophesies that Christ in His first coming is Shiloh, the Arbitrator and the Peace bringer. The proper kingdom and ruling that Christ brings in is a realm of peace. Ephesians 2 reveals that Christ has made the Jewish and the Gentile believers one and has broken down the middle wall of partition, the enmity, abolishing in His flesh the law of the commandments in ordinances, that He might create the two, the Jews and the Gentiles, in Himself into one new man, so making peace (vv. 14-15). By His cross the enmity between the Jews and Gentiles was slain so that the two were reconciled to God in one Body (v. 16). Thus, Ephesians 2:14-16 is the fulfillment of Genesis 49:10 regarding Christ being the coming Shiloh. Christ in His first coming as Shiloh not only created peace between men but also rectified the condition between God and man. Since we have Christ as Shiloh, we can enjoy true reconciliation and peace. This prophecy will be fully accomplished at the time of Christ’s second coming.
In Numbers 24:17 the Gentile prophet Balaam also prophesied concerning the first coming of Christ, saying, “I see Him, but not now; / I behold Him, but not near. / There shall come forth a Star out of Jacob.” This Star refers to Christ, who was manifested to the people as a star in His first coming. The fulfillment of Christ as a Star out of Jacob is found in Matthew 2:2, where the magi from the east said, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star at its rising and have come to worship Him.” The magi did not say, “We have seen a star,” or “We have seen the star,” but “We have seen His star.” The magi saw the living star of Christ and received a living vision concerning Him. Eventually, the star led them to the place where Christ was (v. 9). This is definitely the fulfillment of Numbers 24:17.
The Old Testament prophet Moses prophesied that Christ would come as a Prophet raised up by God (Deut. 18:15-19). In verse 15 Moses said to the children of Israel, “A Prophet will Jehovah your God raise up for you from your midst.” Moses indicated that God would give Him, the Prophet, the words that He ought to speak and that He would speak to God’s people all that God commanded Him. In Acts 3:22-23 Peter quotes Moses’ words to indicate that Christ is the Prophet promised by God through Moses to His people. Thus, the fulfillment of this prophecy was confirmed in Acts 3:22-23. Moses said that this Prophet would be raised up “from your midst.” This indicates that Christ as the coming Prophet would be human as well as divine. He is God incarnated to be a man, the God-man. If Christ were merely God, He could not have been raised up from among the Israelites. However, as the incarnated God, Christ put on human nature and became a Jew. Thus, He is the Prophet raised up “from your midst,” as prophesied by Moses. Christ in His first coming was the Prophet raised up by God. He spoke the word of God (John 1:14; 3:34; 7:16-17; Heb. 1:2) and prophesied many things concerning God’s economy, especially concerning the accomplishment of God’s economy. Christ was indeed a great Prophet in His first coming.
In Psalm 40:6-8 David prophesied that Christ in His first coming was to do the will of God: “You do not delight in sacrifice and offering; / You have prepared ears for Me; / You do not require burnt offering and sin offering. / Then I said, / Behold, I have come; / In the scroll of the book / It is written concerning Me. / I delight in doing Your will, O My God; / Indeed Your law is within My inward parts.” This prophecy is one of the greatest revelations concerning the commission of Christ in His incarnation. In Hebrews 10 Paul points out that in this portion of the Word Christ Himself prophesies that He would do God’s will to replace the Old Testament sacrifices and offerings (vv. 5-10).
In the Old Testament economy God commanded His people to offer to Him sacrifices (for sin and sins) and offerings (for fellowship). But when Jesus came, God no longer delighted in the Old Testament sacrifices and offerings. Instead, God’s will was to replace the sacrifices and offerings with Christ. Christ is the real sacrifice and offering; He is the reality of all the sacrifices and offerings. Psalm 40:6 says, “You have prepared ears for Me.” Prepared ears for Me is literally “bored My ears.” The boring of the slave’s ears indicates that the master required the slave’s obedience (cf. Exo. 21:6). The obedience of Christ was for Him to be “obedient even unto death, and that the death of a cross” (Phil. 2:8). The obedience that God required of Christ was for Him to do the will of God by being the sacrifice and offering in His crucifixion in the body of His flesh (Col. 1:22). Hence, in Hebrews 10 Paul quotes the psalm according to the Septuagint: “a body You have prepared for Me” (v. 5). To bore the ears was for Christ’s obedience to die on the cross, and to prepare a body was also for His dying on the cross. Thus, according to this prophecy, in His first coming through incarnation, Christ was to be the sacrifice and offering established by God on the cross. He knew that God’s delight was no longer in the sacrifices and offerings of the old covenant and that He would be their replacement. Therefore, He said to God, “Behold, I have come / ...I delight in doing Your will” (Psa. 40:7-8). As the One who does God’s will, Christ fulfills and replaces all the sacrifices and offerings of the Old Testament. This is to terminate God’s Old Testament economy and to initiate and enact God’s New Testament economy (Matt. 26:26-28).
Isaiah 9:1-2 says, “Gloom does not remain in the place where there was anguish: formerly He treated the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali contemptibly, but afterward He treats the way of the sea, across the Jordan, with glory, Galilee of the nations. The people who walked in the darkness / Have seen a great light; / Upon those who dwell in the land of the shadow of death / Light has shined.” This is a prophecy concerning Christ in His first coming as a great light. Matthew 4 speaks of the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy. When Christ left Jerusalem and came to Galilee, the people sitting in darkness saw a great light (v. 16). John the Baptist was a lamp that was burning and shining (John 5:35), but Christ was a great light. Even though at His birth Christ was a star, in His ministry He was a great light. He said, “I have come as a light into the world, that everyone who believes into Me would not remain in darkness” (12:46). This light is the light of life that shines in the darkness (8:12b), manifesting God as light (12:46; Heb. 1:3a) so that by believing into the light, men can become sons of light (John 12:36).
In Isaiah 9:1-2 the prophet Isaiah unveils Christ as the great light in a very beautiful and poetic way. Gloom, anguish, and contempt were in the land of Zebulun and of Naphtali—Galilee of the nations—because darkness was there. However, when the people who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death and walked in darkness met Christ, they saw the great light. This light shines upon those sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death to guide their feet into the way of peace (Luke 1:78-79). Furthermore, Christ in His first coming as the great light was also for the release of people from their bondage. Isaiah 9:3 says, “You have multiplied the nation; / You have increased their gladness; / They are glad before You as with the gladness of harvest, / As men rejoice when they divide the spoil.” This prophecy refers to the increase, spread, and growth of Christ on earth. It was fulfilled in the early apostles, such as Peter, John, and James, and it is also related to us. We are the farmers in the harvest and the fighters dividing the spoil. Verse 4 says, “For You break the yoke of their burden / And the staff on their shoulder, / The rod of their oppressor.” This indicates that Christ as the great light breaks the yoke of the burden of the people of God so that they are released and their joy is increased.
Besides these points, in Isaiah 49:6 the prophet prophesied that God would send His servant, Christ, to be a light of the nations: “I will also set You as a light of the nations / That You may be My salvation unto the ends of the earth” (cf. 42:6). This prophecy was fulfilled in Luke 2 when Joseph and Mary entered into the temple with the little child Jesus, and Simeon received Him into his arms and blessed God, saying, “My eyes have seen Your salvation, which You have prepared before the face of all the peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of Your people Israel” (vv. 30-32). Christ is the light of life, the true light, to shine over the world and enlighten every man (John 1:4, 9; 8:12; 9:5). He is the divine, marvelous light to deliver the believers out of the darkness of death, the death-realm, into God’s life-realm of light (1 Pet. 2:9b; Acts 26:18a).
When the Lord appeared to the disciples after His resurrection, He said, “All the things written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and Psalms concerning Me must be fulfilled” (Luke 24:44). This word unveils that God prophesied in the Old Testament concerning the first coming of Christ. Furthermore, the Old Testament prophesies concerning many aspects of Christ’s person and work in His first coming.
Christ in His first coming is Shiloh; He is the Arbitrator and Peace bringer. He not only created peace between men but also rectified the condition between God and us. Since we have Christ as Shiloh, we can enjoy true reconciliation and peace. Numbers 24:17 is a prophecy concerning Christ as a Star. In His first coming Christ was manifested as a star. The Old Testament prophet Moses prophesied that Christ would come as a Prophet raised up by God from among the Israelites. This indicates that Christ as the coming Prophet would be human as well as divine. He is God incarnated to be a man, the God-man. He is the Prophet raised up by God to speak the word of God and prophesy many things concerning God’s economy. Psalm 40:6-8 prophesies that in His first coming, Christ came to do the will of God. This prophecy is one of the greatest revelations concerning the commission of Christ in His incarnation. As the One who does God’s will, Christ fulfills and replaces all the sacrifices and offerings of the Old Testament. This is to terminate God’s Old Testament economy and to initiate and enact God’s New Testament economy. Isaiah 9:1-2 prophesies that Christ in His first coming is a great light. He shines upon those sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death to guide their feet into the way of peace. Christ as a great light also breaks the yoke of the burden of God’s people so that they are released and their joy is increased. He is also the light of the nations; He is the light of life, the true light, to deliver the believers out of the darkness of death, the death-realm, into God’s life-realm of light.
