Promises in the Old Testament

God promised the Jews that they would experience salvation in its fullness sometime in the future.

it is clear now that some of these promises came true when Jesus arrived, and other promises will come true after the end of the world.

God told the Jews that the full experience of salvation will be connected to the appearance of a powerful king. In the Hebrew language, this king is called "The Messiah".* The same word in the Greek language is "Christ". When Jesus came, some people recognized that He was "the Christ". That means, "He was the great king people were waiting for, the one that God promised in the Old Testament. He is the one who will make our salvation complete.  He is the "Messiah” we are waiting for.”

The Old Testament contains many details about the Messiah.

The Messiah will come from the family of king David, but the Messiah will be greater than David, because the Messiah will be king forever.

The Messiah will be called "God's Son". In Hebrew' thinking, "God's Son" means "the same as God."  In Psalm 2, the last word in verse 2 brings up the Messiah, by calling him “the anointed.”  Verse 7 refers to him as the “Son of God.”  Verse 12 states how important it is to be in good relationship with him.

God also made other promises about someone who will come in the future. It is clear now that these promises were also fulfilled by Jesus.

One promise was about a man who would suffer to take care of sins, just like the lambs and other animals in the Old Testament were killed to take care of sins. When Jesus came, someonepointed him out and said "Look! There is the lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world."¹  When Jesus died on the cross, he paid for the sins of every person.

Another promise was about someone who looked like a man, but was a representative of God. This person had.the right to judge the world. In the Old Testament, this person was called "the Son of Man." When Jesus came, He often called Himself "the Son of. Man". By this, Jesus meant, "I am the supernatural figure which you read about in the Old Testament. I come as God's representative. I have the authority to judge the world."²

Another promise was that a great prophet would come. God promised that this prophet would tell God's truths very clearly. The Bible makes clear that this prophet is Jesus, by saying "No one has seen God at any time, but the only Son, who is in intimate relationship with the Father, has made Him known." ³

As the years went by, the Jewish people expectantly looked forward to the coming of the Messiah. When Jesus came, some Jewish people recognized that Jesus was the Messiah (in Greek, Christ), and they put their faith into Jesus and received salvation. These people were criticized by other Jews, who called them "Christians" (that is, "those who belong to Christ").⁴ As time went by, most of the people in that area believed in Jesus, but even up to today, the Jews who did not accept Jesus are still waiting for Messiah to come.

Other prophecies about Jesus have not yet come true. The Bible says that in the last days Jesus will come for the second time, to judge the world, and to bring his children to live with Him forever in an eternal relationship with God, as God had promised to Abraham.

*The word Messiah is from Hebrew language and means “anointed.”   Anointed means to pour oil on someone’s head in a ceremony.  For example, they would pour oil on someone’s head to show that he has become a king. More Bible background

¹ John 1:29       ² Matthew 25:31       ³ John I:1       ⁴  Acts 11:26

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