The Messiah
by Bobby Bruno

In the Old Testament poetical books we find the foreshadowing of Jesus Christ within their pages. It has been agreed by many theologians that Jesus, according to the fact that Jesus is God in the flesh, was there when God created the heavens and everything in it. This being so, some it is not too hard to imagine that Jesus Christ is referenced in some way or another in the Old Testament as well as the New. The poetical books of the Old Testament give us examples of the Messiah to come, long before Jesus ever walked the earth on His own two feet.

The poetic books tell us that the uniqueness in Christ can be found in the types of foreshadowing we find in other people and events described in the Bible before Christ came to earth. For example: Joseph and King David. Joseph suffered unjustly and was thrown in jail an innocent man because of Potapher's wife accusing Him of rape; and Joseph forgave His angry brothers for throwing him into a pit and them selling him to slave-traders. We see this same attitude in Jesus when He was crucified as an innocent man and forgave all His enemies while hanging on the cross. With King David we see an innocent man being hunted by a ruined King Saul just because God named David the new king before Saul's time was up. This speaks of the time to come when Jesus was despised, hunted and crucified by those he came to save.

The Old Testament told the Israelites what to look for in the long-awaited, future Messiah who would save Israel from her enemies and set up an ever-lasting kingdom. Though these unique references and prophecies are many only a few can be discussed here. To begin with, He was to be crucified with no bones broken (Psalm 34:20). He was to be accused by false witnesses (Psalm 35:11). Jesus was to be resurrected from the dead (Psalm 49:15). He was to be given vinegar and gall to drink (Psalm 69:21). During His crucifixion, His clothes were to be gambled off by the soldiers who guarded Him (Psalm 11:18). Many of these foreshadows were given by
those who may not have known that they were speaking prophetically. All of these foreshadows from the book of Psalms are considered to be purely prophetic in nature because they speak about Christ without referencing any other character or event in the Bible.

In the other poetical books we find more foreshadowed attributes of the coming Messiah. In the Book of Job, Job acknowledges a Redeemer (19: 25-27) and prays for someone to be a moderator between him and God (9:33; 33:23). In the book of Proverbs, wisdom is given a personal attribute and is attributed to as being divine (8: 22-31). In the Book of Ecclesiastes, we find that without God (Christ later on) life has no meaning unless it is guided by one who knows all things. Then in the Book of Song of Solomon, we find an indirectly messianic attribute of Christ's love for the church. Most of the fore-shadows of these books also tend to be considered purely messianic in nature because they speak of the future Messiah alone and can be attributed to no other character or event in the Bible

There are many more foreshadows and types of the Messiah found in the Old Testament. It is worth the time and research to study them all for a well-rounded look at how Jesus is foreshadowed and prophesized thousands of years before He ever walked the earth to save humanity.

References

http://bible.org/seriespage/poetical-books

http://www.servantofjesuschrist.com/archives/108

Scripture quotations are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION . Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved."

Bobby Bruno was saved 15 years ago in a way that left him no doubt that Jesus wanted him to reach others with His great and abounding love.  He started writing at the age of 12 and hasn't stopped since. He achieved Associates Degree in Biblical Studies from Ohio Christian University in early 2014.

Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com







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