Which Old Testament Book Contains the Most Prophecy about Jesus?
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The whole Bible is about Jesus.
Upon his birth, life, death, and resurrection, the whole world changed. The Romans innovated and reorganized their dates, making it an infinite timeline before and after one event. Jesus became the hinge of history. We literally mark dates by their distance from Jesus’ life. Modern academia has changed the terms from BC/AD to BCE/CE, to secularize it, but the revolutionary event remains the same.
The Bible does the same. The whole Old Testament, from Genesis to Malachi, speaks forward to the coming of a King and a Kingdom, from narrative to prophecy. The early church, before Rome, generally used two types of evidence to support the power of Christianity. First, how righteous and loving Christians would live. Second, all the Old Testament prophecies were fulfilled in Christ.
Which Old Testament book contains the most prophecy about Jesus? We easily point to what some call “The Fifth Gospel” – the book of Isaiah.
Who Was Isaiah?
Isaiah was born into a powerful family in Jerusalem. Some scholars think he came from royal descent due to his ease and familiarity with the kings, although the religious and government culture included the role of the prophet. From the days of Samuel and Saul, further established by David and Nathan, prophets were supposed to have access to the kings to share God’s Word, whether encouragement or correction. Isaiah did both, depending on the king.
The prophet Isaiah lived in a time of great crisis and ministered during the reigns of four kings of Judah: Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, close to 40 years. During Isaiah’s life, the Assyrian Empire threatened the entire area. A brutally violent and pagan empire, the Assyrians spread and conquered the peoples of the Middle East.
Old Testament prophets had different ministries. Many would call the people to repentance. Isaiah and others guided and consulted with the kings. During Uzziah’s reign, Judah won military victories and experienced economic prosperity. But the king’s pride led to God’s punishment: leprosy until his death. Uzziah’s son, Jotham, became king. At this time, Isaiah’s messages targeted the people’s corruption and called them back to God.
Jotham’s son, Ahaz, took the throne, and Isaiah faced a real challenge. Ahaz tried to find safety through an alliance with Assyria instead of trusting God to protect Judah. Isaiah warned him, but Ahaz ignored the prophet, and Judah went further into spiritual decline and lost more land to Assyria.
Isaiah had the closest relationship with the next king, Hezekiah. Hezekiah sought the Lord and tried to follow God, leading to major positive religious reforms, and he engaged with Isaiah for guidance and God’s voice. As a result, Hezekiah trusted God when he dealt with Assyria. In one event, Assyria besieged Jerusalem, and Isaiah shared God’s Word to the king, that the Lord would protect the city. Isaiah’s prophecy came true — an angel of the Lord killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers in one night. At the same time, Hezekiah acted with pride when Babylon’s visitors came to Jerusalem, and Isaiah foretold of Judah’s eventual downfall, that God would hand Judah and Jerusalem over to Babylon.
Since Isaiah dealt so regularly with Judah’s kings, it makes sense he would have the greatest revelation about the coming Messiah.
Why Did Isaiah Write His Book?
Isaiah wrote down God’s messages, since he spoke about the future and God’s plan. In the Old Testament, prophets were judged on whether their oracles came true. Writing God’s promises down would help validate Isaiah’s ministry.
First, Isaiah warned Judah about how the Lord would give consequences due to their spiritual rebellion. Their rejection of God resulted in idolatry, oppression of the poor, and general injustice, all against God’s Law. God chose his people and delivered them so they would be an example to the world of the benefits of following and worshipping the only true God; Judah rejected that calling. Isaiah clearly promised these sins would bring their destruction. He could easily point to how the northern kingdom of Israel recently suffered the same fate with Assyria. At the same time, Isaiah promised God wouldn’t completely destroy them, but would leave a remnant.
Second, Isaiah reminded Judah’s kings to trust in God and not other kingdoms like Egypt or Assyria. Part of true worship includes such singular reliance. To trust in a pagan nation symbolized pride and the confidence in worldly principles instead of the Lord. Relying upon God and seeing his deliverance would give the Lord glory.
Isaiah often referred to God as “the Holy One of Israel,” and this theme runs throughout his messages. The mighty God deserves all glory and worship, from kings to the poor. He constantly corrected back to that reality, showing God as a judge and deliverer, one who would keep his covenant even when Israel didn’t.
Isaiah wrote for both the people of his day and future generations. With the promise of a coming exile, Isaiah spoke to those exiled Israelites who would long for restoration. That restoration would come through a Messiah, a king from David’s line. No one spoke about Jesus more than Isaiah.
What Are the Main Messianic Prophecies in Isaiah?
One of the most famous prophecies appears in Isaiah 7:14: “The Lord himself will give you a sign; the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” This promise points to Jesus’ birth detailed in Matthew and Luke, including the name “Immanuel” which means “God with us.” The Lord would accomplish this miracle to come in human form to dwell with people.
Isaiah continues to describe the child and his eternal nature. “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6-7). This verse goes into both the human and divine natures; the human child is born, but he is also the divine, eternal Son since he had no beginning. And the Messiah would be a righteous, perfect, forever king.
Isaiah 11:1-10 describes the Messiah as coming from David’s line, a descendant of Jesse. The Messiah would be filled with God’s Spirit and bring wisdom, justice, and peace, restoring creation.
In one of the most famous passages, Isaiah foretells the suffering of Jesus. “He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5). The prophet’s writing aligns with Christ as the “Suffering Servant” in his crucifixion and bearing the sins of humanity, also healing humanity through his sacrifice.
And like every king, Jesus rules a Kingdom.
What Are the Kingdom Prophecies in Isaiah?
As the Messiah, Jesus spoke a great deal about the Kingdom of God. His Gospel was, “Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand.” Along with the promises regarding Christ and future restoration, Isaiah writes a great deal about this kingdom in various ways.
Isaiah 2:2-4 declares that “in the last days the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established as the highest of the mountains,” and people from all nations would travel there and say, “Come let us go up to the mountain of the Lord” to be taught by God. God’s Kingdom will endure, and people from every background will be included. In this New Jerusalem, God settles conflicts and war will end.
The prophet also shows a future great feast prepared by God on his mountain. This great dinner won’t be for Jews only but all people (Isaiah 25:6-9). God will “destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples” and “swallow up death forever.” The Lord promises to wipe away tears, all connected with similar expressions in Revelation about the new heavens and earth.
An amazing vision of the New Jerusalem appears in Isaiah 60, a city filled with light where “nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.” A transformed people bring their worth and worship to God alone to his welcoming, celestial city. Isaiah even promises the resurrection of the saints in Isaiah 26:19. “But your dead will live, Lord; their bodies will rise — let those who dwell in the dust wake up and shout for joy. Your dew is like the dew of the morning; the earth will give birth to their dead.” Jesus called himself the resurrection and taught of such a future resurrection of believers to life forever.
Finally, in Isaiah 65:17-25, Isaiah shares God’s promise to create a “new heavens and a new earth.” The future kingdom in the New Jerusalem will be a place of joy, free from sorrow and death with every people group represented.
What Can We Learn from Isaiah?
Reading through Isaiah, we find a striking example of the synergy between the Old and New Testaments. Some Christians and people of other religions comment on what they perceive to be the difference between the God of the different testaments. They point to God in the Old as mean, harsh, violent. They espouse Jesus in the New as loving, kind, and full of grace.
While the covenants are distinct from each other, God remains the same from Genesis through Revelation. The New Testament describes God using Old Testament language, and Jesus continually affirmed the Old Testament prophets and narratives.
The Old and New Testament tell one complete story. If we only stop at Malachi, then we don’t see God bring his promised solution to the problem of sin and death — his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Father promises the Son in the first chapters of Genesis, directly after the infamous Fall through Adam and Eve.
This thread of redemption continues through Scripture’s pages, becoming more clear regarding the Messiah, the Kingdom, and the new covenant. The New Testament makes more sense as a conclusion and culmination of the Old, as promises and prophecies are fulfilled in far greater ways than expected in Jesus. And the New Testament finishes the story, speaking again of the future new heavens and earth upon Christ’s return.
As John the apostle writes, God created the world through Christ (John 1), so Jesus existed as the spoken Word like “let there be light” in Genesis 1. And Jesus’ return brings renewal and restoration of all creation at the end of Revelation. Jesus the Son of God unifies the whole narrative.
Isaiah’s book celebrates this unifying figure as Messiah and King of God’s Kingdom, the New Jerusalem. The New Testament further explores these ideas introduced in the prophet’s writings.
Beyond the fulfilled prophecies, Isaiah’s book encourages us that God will also complete the promises still to come. Studying Isaiah reinforces God’s faithfulness. He fulfilled the words of Isaiah, in detail and with precision, and we can be confident he will bring to pass the others from Isaiah, repeated in Revelation. God’s plan has been consistent the whole time, from the beginning to the end of the age.
We also see how salvation (Jesus) was always intended for all nations, not just the Jews. Isaiah 56:6-8 declares how God’s house will be “a house of prayer for all nations,” which Jesus quotes as he removes the oppressors and greedy from the outer court of the Temple. Acts and the New Testament letters reveal how salvation for all people was enacted then. And God still works his Gospel to completion today.
Through Isaiah, we glimpse God’s perfect design, his mind-blowing redemptive plan, proving he keeps every promise through Jesus, past, present, and future.
Peace.
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