There's a widespread misconception that people did not believe in Jesus Christ until after He came. However, the Old Testament is rife with the testimonies, prophecies and witnesses of prophets who saw the birth of their Savior before His time. No doubt, those teachings and prophecies were cause for great joy among believers for millennia before He was born.
Balaam, approx 1420 B.C.
Balaam forsees the appearance of a new star at the birth of the King of Israel:
"And he took up his parable, and said, Balaam the son of Beor hath said, and the man whose eyes are open hath said: ...I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel..." (Numbers 24:15-17)
Jacob (Israel), approx. 1875 B.C.
The prophet Jacob blessed his son Joseph, saying that even though Joseph had suffered greatly at the hands of his brothers and in prison, he would inherit all the blessings promised to Jacob. The greatest of those blessings was that the Messiah, whom Jacob called "Shiloh", meaning "the one whose right it is", would be one of his descendants:
"The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be... Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall: The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him: But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel:) Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb: The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren." ( Genesis 49:10,22-26)
King David, approx. 900 B.C.
This Day Have I Begotten Thee
King David prophesied that the Father would announce the birth of His son into the world:
"Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee." (Psalms 2:6-7)
Of the Fruit of Thy Body
The Lord promised David that He, the Messiah, would be born as a descendant of David and would become the rightful heir to his throne in Israel. At His birth, there would be great joy and rumors of miraculous events at the small town of Bethlehem-Ephratah:
"Lord, remember David, and all his afflictions: How he sware unto the Lord, and vowed unto the mighty God of Jacob; Surely I will not come into the tabernacle of my house, nor go up into my bed; I will not give sleep to mine eyes, or slumber to mine eyelids, Until I find out a place for the Lord, an habitation for the mighty God of Jacob. Lo, we heard of it at Ephratah... Let thy priests be clothed with righteousness; and let thy saints shout for joy... The Lord hath sworn in truth unto David; he will not turn from it; Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne." (Psalms 132:1-11)
Micah, 750-700 B.C.
Michah prophesied that the tiny little town of Bethlehem would someday become the birthplace of the Great I Am. His words would go on to inspire three wise men to follow a star to Bethlehem, in search of a heavenly King.
"But thou, Beth-lehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting... And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God; and they shall abide: for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth." (Micah 5:2,4)
Isaiah, 720 B.C.
Isaiah gave us more prophecy concerning the birth and life of Christ than probably any other prophet in the Old Testament.
Butter and Honey, A Virgin Shall Conceive
In a war-torn land where crops have been destroyed and local game has been hunted to the brink of extinction, there are two sources of food left: bee hives and cows. "Butter and honey" are indicative of the poverty that results from war, such as the taking of Jerusalem and subjecting it to Roman rule.
Isaiah made use of this idea in fortelling that the young Jesus would be raised in humble circumstances, taught to value spiritual things:
"Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and shall bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil and to choose the good." (Isaiah 7:14-15)
The "Branch" or "Nazarene" Will Come
Isaiah also prophesied that the Lord would come and have great power and wisdom. He would be called a "Branch".
"...And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord..." (Isaiah 11:1)
The Hebrew word for "branch" is "netzer" - a root word for both "Nazareth" and "Nazarene".
For Unto Us A Child Is Born - Wonderful Counsellor!
To me, the words of Isaiah reveal love and anticipation for the coming of his Savior. He took joy in testifying of the Lord's birth into mortality:
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever...." (2 Nephi 19:6-7, compare Isaiah 9:6-7)
What joy it must have brought to the people of his time to know of the coming of the mighty God, everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace!
Isaiah also prophesied that the Messiah would be heir to the throne of David. (Isaiah 16:5)
Prepare Ye The Way - The Glory of the Lord Shall Be Revealed
Through Isaiah, God told the people of Jerusalem of the coming of John the Baptist to prepare the way before the Lord, that the glory of the Lord would be revealed to them. The following doubles as prophecy concerning both His birth and His Second Coming:
"Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it." (Isaiah 40:1-5)
Zechariah, 520 B.C.
My Servant the Branch
The prophet Zechariah foretold of the Father bringing forth His servant to save Israel:
"Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, and thy fellows that sit before thee: for they are men wondered at: for, behold, I will bring forth my servant the Branch." (Zechariah 3:8)
Again, Zechariah prophesies of the coming of The Branch, saying he would "grow up out of his place", that He would establish the temple in the latter days:
"...Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The Branch; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord: Even he shall build the temple of the Lord; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both." (Zechariah 6:12-13)
All these things were foretold, and yet, Isaiah foretold that when these things began to be fulfilled, there would be those who would not believe it:
"Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him." (Isaiah 53:1-2)
The Testimony of the Prophets of the Old Testament
Who among us has believed the report of the prophets of the Old Testament? Who has believed their report concerning the coming of a Messiah in the flesh, to minister first to the Jews and then to the Gentiles? Who has believed that one who appears to be an ordinary man could turn out to be the Only Begotten Son of the Father in the flesh?
It is evident that Matthew believed it, for he provided fourteen generations of the Savior's lineage back to king David - a way of formally attesting to the royalty and divine identity of Him "whose right it is" to rule and reign in Israel forever. (see Matthew 1:1-17)
It is evident that the prophets of the Book of Mormon believed it, for Nephi talked about a Messiah being "raised up" among the Jews.
To this day, the Jews await their Messiah, descending out of heaven and setting His foot upon the mount of Olives to save them from their enemies. While that event will certainly come, as Zechariah foretold, it seems a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, "growing up out of his place", "growing up as a tender plant" and "as a root out of dry ground", being "raised up among the Jews" to inherit the throne of king David had to come first. The Jews have long revered Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Moses as their greatest prophets. But these men testified of the coming of a greater Prophet than they, even Jesus Christ, the anointed One, the long-awaited Messiah!
Also of Interest
www.christmas.mormon.org - Purpose of a Savior
Moses, approx. 1460 B.C.
The Only Begotten Son
Moses taught his people to "...believe on his Only Begotten Son, even him whom he declared should come in the meridian of time, who was prepared from before the foundation of the world." (Moses 5:57)
A Prophet from the Midst of Thee
Through Moses, God promised the Hebrews that a great prophet would be raised up to teach them:
"The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken... And the Lord said unto me... I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him." (Deuteronomy 18:15-18)
The Only Begotten Son
Moses taught his people to "...believe on his Only Begotten Son, even him whom he declared should come in the meridian of time, who was prepared from before the foundation of the world." (Moses 5:57)
A Prophet from the Midst of Thee
Through Moses, God promised the Hebrews that a great prophet would be raised up to teach them:
"The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken... And the Lord said unto me... I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him." (Deuteronomy 18:15-18)
Balaam, approx 1420 B.C.
Balaam forsees the appearance of a new star at the birth of the King of Israel:
"And he took up his parable, and said, Balaam the son of Beor hath said, and the man whose eyes are open hath said: ...I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel..." (Numbers 24:15-17)
Jacob (Israel), approx. 1875 B.C.
The prophet Jacob blessed his son Joseph, saying that even though Joseph had suffered greatly at the hands of his brothers and in prison, he would inherit all the blessings promised to Jacob. The greatest of those blessings was that the Messiah, whom Jacob called "Shiloh", meaning "the one whose right it is", would be one of his descendants:
"The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be... Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall: The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him: But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel:) Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb: The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren." ( Genesis 49:10,22-26)
This Day Have I Begotten Thee
King David prophesied that the Father would announce the birth of His son into the world:
"Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee." (Psalms 2:6-7)
Of the Fruit of Thy Body
The Lord promised David that He, the Messiah, would be born as a descendant of David and would become the rightful heir to his throne in Israel. At His birth, there would be great joy and rumors of miraculous events at the small town of Bethlehem-Ephratah:
"Lord, remember David, and all his afflictions: How he sware unto the Lord, and vowed unto the mighty God of Jacob; Surely I will not come into the tabernacle of my house, nor go up into my bed; I will not give sleep to mine eyes, or slumber to mine eyelids, Until I find out a place for the Lord, an habitation for the mighty God of Jacob. Lo, we heard of it at Ephratah... Let thy priests be clothed with righteousness; and let thy saints shout for joy... The Lord hath sworn in truth unto David; he will not turn from it; Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne." (Psalms 132:1-11)
Micah, 750-700 B.C.
Michah prophesied that the tiny little town of Bethlehem would someday become the birthplace of the Great I Am. His words would go on to inspire three wise men to follow a star to Bethlehem, in search of a heavenly King.
"But thou, Beth-lehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting... And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God; and they shall abide: for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth." (Micah 5:2,4)
Isaiah, 720 B.C.
Isaiah gave us more prophecy concerning the birth and life of Christ than probably any other prophet in the Old Testament.
Butter and Honey, A Virgin Shall Conceive
In a war-torn land where crops have been destroyed and local game has been hunted to the brink of extinction, there are two sources of food left: bee hives and cows. "Butter and honey" are indicative of the poverty that results from war, such as the taking of Jerusalem and subjecting it to Roman rule.
Isaiah made use of this idea in fortelling that the young Jesus would be raised in humble circumstances, taught to value spiritual things:
"Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and shall bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil and to choose the good." (Isaiah 7:14-15)
The "Branch" or "Nazarene" Will Come
Isaiah also prophesied that the Lord would come and have great power and wisdom. He would be called a "Branch".
"...And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord..." (Isaiah 11:1)
The Hebrew word for "branch" is "netzer" - a root word for both "Nazareth" and "Nazarene".
For Unto Us A Child Is Born - Wonderful Counsellor!
To me, the words of Isaiah reveal love and anticipation for the coming of his Savior. He took joy in testifying of the Lord's birth into mortality:
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever...." (2 Nephi 19:6-7, compare Isaiah 9:6-7)
What joy it must have brought to the people of his time to know of the coming of the mighty God, everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace!
Isaiah also prophesied that the Messiah would be heir to the throne of David. (Isaiah 16:5)
Prepare Ye The Way - The Glory of the Lord Shall Be Revealed
Through Isaiah, God told the people of Jerusalem of the coming of John the Baptist to prepare the way before the Lord, that the glory of the Lord would be revealed to them. The following doubles as prophecy concerning both His birth and His Second Coming:
"Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it." (Isaiah 40:1-5)
Zechariah, 520 B.C.
My Servant the Branch
The prophet Zechariah foretold of the Father bringing forth His servant to save Israel:
"Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, and thy fellows that sit before thee: for they are men wondered at: for, behold, I will bring forth my servant the Branch." (Zechariah 3:8)
Again, Zechariah prophesies of the coming of The Branch, saying he would "grow up out of his place", that He would establish the temple in the latter days:
"...Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The Branch; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord: Even he shall build the temple of the Lord; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both." (Zechariah 6:12-13)
All these things were foretold, and yet, Isaiah foretold that when these things began to be fulfilled, there would be those who would not believe it:
"Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him." (Isaiah 53:1-2)
The Testimony of the Prophets of the Old Testament
Who among us has believed the report of the prophets of the Old Testament? Who has believed their report concerning the coming of a Messiah in the flesh, to minister first to the Jews and then to the Gentiles? Who has believed that one who appears to be an ordinary man could turn out to be the Only Begotten Son of the Father in the flesh?
It is evident that Matthew believed it, for he provided fourteen generations of the Savior's lineage back to king David - a way of formally attesting to the royalty and divine identity of Him "whose right it is" to rule and reign in Israel forever. (see Matthew 1:1-17)
It is evident that the prophets of the Book of Mormon believed it, for Nephi talked about a Messiah being "raised up" among the Jews.
To this day, the Jews await their Messiah, descending out of heaven and setting His foot upon the mount of Olives to save them from their enemies. While that event will certainly come, as Zechariah foretold, it seems a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, "growing up out of his place", "growing up as a tender plant" and "as a root out of dry ground", being "raised up among the Jews" to inherit the throne of king David had to come first. The Jews have long revered Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Moses as their greatest prophets. But these men testified of the coming of a greater Prophet than they, even Jesus Christ, the anointed One, the long-awaited Messiah!
Also of Interest
www.christmas.mormon.org - Purpose of a Savior
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