I’m going into a proverbial lions’ den this weekend, so I thought I’d put down some thoughts to prepare for the event. Okay, it’s a baby shower, but I know who will be there. When man sinned and fell away from relationship with God, God knew that would happen and He had a plan to restore the relationship with Him. The Old Testament is all about how he planned to do it and the New Testament tells how He did it.
There are over 300 prophecies and even Jesus shows up in the Old Testament many times. Even the camp layout for the Israelites was a cross. Anytime you see angel of the Lord, it’s referring to Jesus. Some translations like NKJ even capitalizes the word angel to differentiate it from other angels.
A Christophany is an appearance of Christ physically before Jesus was born. How is that even possible? He’s God. He’s all powerful and can do what He wants. Here are some of His physical appearances.
- Genesis 16:7–14 When the angel of the Lord appeared to Hagar. He knew she was pregnant and that’s omniscience (although angels can be told future things by God they don’t know them inherently). In verse 13 she even calls Him God. Even verse 14 is a hint at it the name of the well means “the well of him that lives and sees me.” Who sees a lady out in the desert except for God?
- Genesis 22:11 The angel of the Lord showed up and prevented Abraham from sacrificing Isaac. Back in those days child sacrifice was very common. We’ve advanced past that right? (Abortion, child trafficking, etc).
- Daniel 3:25 The fourth man in the fire protected Shadrach, Mischach and Abednego from the furnace and he looked “a son of the gods.” They didn’t say angel. It was something more than that.
- 2 Kings 19:35 The Angel of the Lord killed 185,000 Asssyrians all by Himself overnight. That’s supernatural and angels are certainly capable of the supernatural, but this was miraculous in proportion.
Then there’s the prophecies:
- Micah 5:2 says the name of the city where He would be born even though his parents didn’t live there.
- Hosea 11:1 God says He called his son out of Egypt. That’s a clear reference to Jesus growing up in Egypt.
- Isaiah 53 You have to read the whole chapter. It clearly predicts how He would die in detail.
If you look, you will find many more instances I just wanted to put a few down to prepare me mentally for this weekend.
Of course the New Testament is all about Jesus, but really the whole Bible is. He’s the main character and the hero. If you don’t know Him today, reach out to Him. He’s died to meet you.
Following Jesus 