THE MESSIANIC PROPHECIES
The historical record of the Old Testament provides context for the writings of the Prophets. There are four major prophets (longer writings and messages): Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel who were sent to teach Israel and Judah the ways of the LORD and warn them of his pending judgments if they did not obey! Often these men were contemporary and providing God’s message to different areas of the kingdom. Isaiah wrote at the same time as the prophet Micah, and their combined message was to warn those in the north, (Israel) of the pending consequences for their departure from the LORD.
About 120 years later, Judah too, received the prophets Jeremiah, Daniel and Ezekiel who all wrote during the Babylonian overthrow of Judah. Jeremiah presented his warning message to those still in Judah during the Babylonian deportations. His message warned them time and again to ‘return to the LORD’. Daniel was among those first deported to Babylon and his message was to those in captivity in Babylon. Ezekiel also, was among the first captives who were taken to Babylon and primarily reminded the Jews in Babylon of why they were in captivity, but he also provided insights for a restored nation and visions of a future temple.
Many of the prophetic messages in the Old Testament are predictions of the coming anointed one, the ‘Messiah’! In fact, there are prophetic passages concerning the Messiah referenced in nearly every ‘book’ of the Old Testament. This supports the Theme of God’s revelation of His plan, and really explains the purpose of the overall history message of the Old Testament. This is really quite an expansive list of cross referencing that will not be presented in this lesson, but can be reviewed in part in this LINK: The Messianic Prophecies.