In The Footsteps Of The Master: The Life and Times of Jesus Christ

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In The Footsteps Of The MasterThe Life and
Times of Jesus Christ

• Prophecies Concerning the Messiah
• September 28, 2008

www.FootstepsOfTheMaster.info
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A Question

• Do you really believe that the things you believe
  are really true?
• There are things we believe and probably have
  believed for our entire lives
• Are we absolutely convinced that those things are
  true?
• Why?

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These Things Were Written

• John 2031
• Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed
  in the presence of the disciples, which are not
  written in this book but these have been written
  so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ,
  the Son of God and that believing you may have
  life in His name. (NASB - emphasis added)

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Prophecy About Messiah

• The Old Testament was also written that we might
  believe
• Depending on how you slice it, there are 300-400
  Messianic prophecies and ramifications in the Old
  Testament
• The earliest dates several thousand years before
  His coming
• The latest dates 400 years prior
• Can we believe those prophecies?
• Can we believe that they point to Jesus?

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Werent They Just Made Up?

• Couldnt all of those prophecies have been made
  up after Jesus of Nazareth died, to make it look
  like he was Messiah?
• After all, all we have is faith that the OT is
  what it claimed to be
• The Septuagint, the Greek translation of the OT,
  was completed 300-200 BC and contains all of
  those prophecies
• There is strong evidence that the Septuagint is a
  reliable source

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The First Prophecy

• Genesis 315
• And I will put enmity between you and the woman,
  and between your seed and her seed He shall
  bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him
  on the heel.
• From the moment of the Fall, God was preparing a
  plan to rescue His children
• Note that Jesus is referred to as the seed of
  woman and not of man

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The Promise to Abraham

• Genesis 121-3
• Now the LORD said to Abram, Go forth from your
  country, and from your relatives and from your
  fathers house, to the land which I will show
  you and I will make you a great nation, and I
  will bless you, and make your name great and so
  you shall be a blessing and I will bless those
  who bless you, and the one who curses you I will
  curse. And in you all the families of the earth
  will be blessed.

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The Promise Reconfirmed

• In Isaac - Genesis 1719
• But God said, No, but Sarah your wife will bear
  you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac and
  I will establish My covenant with him for an
  everlasting covenant for his descendants after
  him.
• To Jacob - Genesis 2814
• Your descendants will also be like the dust of
  the earth, and you will spread out to the west
  and to the east and to the north and to the
  south and in you and in your descendants shall
  all the families of the earth be blessed.

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Continuation of the Promise

• Of Judah - Genesis 4910
• The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the
  rulers staff from between his feet, until Shiloh
  comes, and to him shall be the obedience of the
  peoples.
• Of Jesse Isaiah 1110
• Then in that day the nations will resort to the
  root of Jesse, who will stand as a signal for the
  peoples and His resting place will be glorious.

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Of David

• Jeremiah 235-6
• Behold, the days are coming, declares the
  LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous
  Branch and He will reign as king and act wisely
  and do justice and righteousness in the land. In
  His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will
  dwell securely and this is His name by which He
  will be called, The LORD our righteousness.

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His Birth

• Virgin birth - Isaiah 714
• Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign
  Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a
  son, and she will call His name Immanuel.
• Place of birth - Micah 52
• But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little
  to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will
  go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings
  forth are from long ago, from the days of
  eternity.

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The Mighty God

• Isaiah 96-7
• For a child will be born to us, a son will be
  given to us and the government will rest on His
  shoulders and His name will be called Wonderful
  Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of
  Peace. There will be no end to the increase
  of His government or of peace, on the throne of
  David and over his kingdom, to establish it and
  to uphold it with justice and righteousness from
  then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of
  hosts will accomplish this.

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The Davidic Kingdom

• Jeremiah 3314-17
• Behold, days are coming, declares the LORD,
  when I will fulfill the good word which I have
  spoken concerning the house of Israel and the
  house of Judah. In those days and at that time I
  will cause a righteous Branch of David to spring
  forth and He shall execute justice and
  righteousness on the earth. In those days Judah
  will be saved and Jerusalem will dwell in safety
  and this is the name by which she will be called
  the LORD is our righteousness. For thus says the
  LORD, David shall never lack a man to sit on the
  throne of the house of Israel and the Levitical
  priests shall never lack a man before Me to offer
  burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings and to
  prepare sacrifices continually.

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The Suffering Servant

• Read Isaiah 53
• Has no stately form
• Despised and forsaken
• Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief
• Pierced through for our transgressions
• Crushed for our iniquities
• Our iniquity all fell on Him
• Like a lamb that is led to slaughter
• Poured out Himself to death
• Numbered with the transgressors

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The Forsaken Messiah

• Read Psalm 22
• My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?
• Commit yourself to the LORD let Him deliver
  him Let Him rescue him, because He delights in
  him.
• A band of evildoers has encompassed me
• They pierced my hands and my feet
• For my clothing they cast lots

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Wait A Minute!!!

• Whats this about a Suffering Messiah?
• What happened to
• The Lion of Judah?
• The Mighty God?
• The One on whose shoulders the government would
  rest?
• The One who would sit on Davids throne?
• What about these Romans?
• Whos going to get rid of them?
• This Jesus person is not the Messiah were
  looking for!

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The Davidic Promise

• Psalm 13211
• The LORD has sworn to David a truth from which
  He will not turn back Of the fruit of your body
  I will set upon your throne. If your sons will
  keep My covenant and My testimony which I will
  teach them, their sons also shall sit upon your
  throne forever.
• IF the sons keep My covenant
• However, Israel failed to keep the Commandments
  of the Lord
• And they faced the consequences

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The Jewish Nation

• Desperately wanted to be restored to the splendor
  of the days of David and Solomon
• They were hanging onto the perceived promise of
  someone physically sitting on Davids throne
  the Warrior Messiah
• So when Messiah came and didnt meet their
  expectations, they either didnt recognize Him or
  refused to accept Him

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Could Jesus Have Acted It Out?

• Couldnt Jesus just have played the part of the
  Messiah and convinced people that He was the One?
• Many of the prophecies are things that were
  completely beyond his control
• Manner of conception
• Lineage
• Place of birth
• Events surrounding the birth
• It would be an extremely long leap to accept that
  argument

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What Are The Odds?

• Over the ages, how many children were
• Of Abrahams lineage (the promise)
• Of Isaacs lineage (son of the promise)
• Of Jacobs lineage (promised confirmed)
• Of Judahs lineage (Lion of Judah)
• Of Jesses lineage (root of Jesse)
• Of Davids lineage (son of David)
• Seed of woman
• Born in Bethlehem
• Worshipped by shepherds
• Honored by kings
• Fled to Egypt
• Raised in Nazareth

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What Are The Odds? (cont.)

• What if it is just a coincidence that Jesus
  happened to fulfill those prophecies?
• Some have calculated the probability of one man
  fulfilling 48 of the major prophecies as 1 in
  10157
• Thats a 1 followed by 157 zeroes
• Probability works like this
• P1 P2 P3 P4 .
• (12 sons of Abraham) (12 sons of Isaac)
  (112 sons of Jacob) (18 sons of Jesse)
• 1/2 1/2 1/12 1/8

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In Summary

• By the time you factor in the probabilities for
  all of the prophecies, the probability value gets
  very, very, very small for any one person to
  fulfill them all
• In other words, it was not coincidence
• There has only been one person in all of history
  in whom all the prophesies were fulfilled
• Jesus Christ, Son of Yahweh

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Next Week

• The Birth of Jesus
• Donoho Hamilton

Questions?