In the coming months, we sat in the tension between the promise of the upcoming trip and the angst of knowing it was still several LONG months away.
One dilemma I faced related to this time gap was whether or not to go ahead and show our daughters the many websites and pictures that capture the amazingness of Yellowstone or to hold off so that they would experience the wonders of Yellowstone firsthand with fresh eyes. I landed somewhere in between these two extremes.
Over those long months, when I sensed they were having a hard day, I would open my laptop, pull them in tight on the couch, and give them insight into what was ahead for us at Yellowstone. These occasional glimpses of what was to come would lift their minds and hearts off their difficulties and redirect them toward a place of delight, helping them see the promise of better days ahead.
Throughout the Old Testament, God acts similarly when giving prophetic promises of Good News to his chosen people of Israel.
Prophecy is understood to be the gift of communicating God’s revealed truth, with prophets being those human vessels appointed to both possess the gift and communicate the revealed truth to the people (Jeremiah 23:18-22).
For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
2 Peter 1:21
Theologian Matthew Henry (1662-1714) noted that God’s timing in prophetic instruction to his people always came during times of despair and loss, highlighting the reality that “divine comforts most delight the soul when under the pressure of perplexed thoughts.”
We see throughout Scripture that God desires to reveal his love to his people, and he often accomplished this aim through prophecy. There are more than 300 prophecies found in the Old Testament, each serving to communicate God-ordained good news to a people in desperate need of good news.
The prophecies that contained the best news were those concerning the promise of a coming Messiah. These prophecies acted as megaphones for God’s loving voice, revealing His plans and promises for their deliverance.
Not only did these Messianic prophecies foretell a coming Savior, but they also foretold that:
The Messiah would be in the ancestral line of Abraham and the tribe of Judah. (Genesis 12:3; 17:19; Numbers 24:17; Genesis 49:10; Matthew 1:1-16)
The place of his birth would be Bethlehem. (Micah 5:2; Luke 2:4-7)
He would be miraculously born of a virgin. (Isaiah 7:14; Luke 1:27)
His name would be Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23)
Every detail of these remarkable Messianic prophecies was fulfilled in the person of Jesus at his birth. We need to hear the Good News and God’s promises for our lives like the Israelites.
Almost everyone reading this article is likely navigating strife. Perhaps it’s a financial challenge, relationship struggle, battle with depression, anxiety, or sickness. Just like the Israelites, our daily experiences demonstrate the brokenness of this world and reveal our desperate need to hear the voice of God. Thanks be to God that he has given us his Holy Word full of prophetic promises of what’s to come that far surpass our temporary suffering.
One that I’m clinging to this Christmas season is God’s prophetic promise to one day wipe every tear from every eye and put to death, death. (Revelation 21:4) Another is God’s promise that, through his divine power and mystery, he will “work all things for the good of those who love him and who have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)
My prayer for you and me is that we will allow the prophetic promises of God to wash over our souls and redirect our minds and hearts this Christmas. Just as the hearts and minds of my daughters were shifted toward delight by those small glimpses of Yellowstone, let’s allow the prophetic promises of God to redirect our hearts to delight as we glimpse the majesty of Jesus.
Scripture References
18.But which of them has stood in the council of the Lordto see or to hear his word?Who has listened and heard his word?19.See, the storm of the Lordwill burst out in wrath,a whirlwind swirling downon the heads of the wicked.20.The anger of the Lord will not turn backuntil he fully accomplishesthe purposes of his heart.In days to comeyou will understand it clearly.21.I did not send these prophets,yet they have run with their message;I did not speak to them,yet they have prophesied.22.But if they had stood in my council,they would have proclaimed my words to my peopleand would have turned them from their evil waysand from their evil deeds.
21.For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
3.I will bless those who bless you,and whoever curses you I will curse;and all peoples on earthwill be blessed through you.”12:3 Or earth / will use your name in blessings (see 48:20)
19.Then God said, “Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac.17:19 Isaac means he laughs. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.
17.“I see him, but not now;I behold him, but not near.A star will come out of Jacob;a scepter will rise out of Israel.He will crush the foreheads of Moab,the skulls24:17 Samaritan Pentateuch (see also Jer. 48:45); the meaning of the word in the Masoretic Text is uncertain. of24:17 Or possibly Moab, / batter all the people of Sheth.24:17 Or all the noisy boasters
10.The scepter will not depart from Judah,nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,49:10 Or from his descendantsuntil he to whom it belongs49:10 Or to whom tribute belongs; the meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain. shall comeand the obedience of the nations shall be his.
1.This is the genealogy1:1 Or is an account of the origin of Jesus the Messiah1:1 Or Jesus Christ. Messiah (Hebrew) and Christ (Greek) both mean Anointed One; also in verse 18. the son of David, the son of Abraham:2.Abraham was the father of Isaac,Isaac the father of Jacob,Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,3.Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar,Perez the father of Hezron,Hezron the father of Ram,4.Ram the father of Amminadab,Amminadab the father of Nahshon,Nahshon the father of Salmon,5.Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab,Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth,Obed the father of Jesse,6.and Jesse the father of King David.David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife,7.Solomon the father of Rehoboam,Rehoboam the father of Abijah,Abijah the father of Asa,8.Asa the father of Jehoshaphat,Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram,Jehoram the father of Uzziah,9.Uzziah the father of Jotham,Jotham the father of Ahaz,Ahaz the father of Hezekiah,10.Hezekiah the father of Manasseh,Manasseh the father of Amon,Amon the father of Josiah,11.and Josiah the father of Jeconiah1:11 That is, Jehoiachin; also in verse 12 and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.12.After the exile to Babylon:Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel,Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,13.Zerubbabel the father of Abihud,Abihud the father of Eliakim,Eliakim the father of Azor,14.Azor the father of Zadok,Zadok the father of Akim,Akim the father of Elihud,15.Elihud the father of Eleazar,Eleazar the father of Matthan,Matthan the father of Jacob,16.and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah.
2.“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,though you are small among the clans5:2 Or rulers of Judah,out of you will come for meone who will be ruler over Israel,whose origins are from of old,from ancient times.”
4.So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5.He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6.While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7.and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
14.Therefore the Lord himself will give you7:14 The Hebrew is plural. a sign: The virgin7:14 Or young woman will conceive and give birth to a son, and7:14 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scrolls son, and he or son, and they will call him Immanuel.7:14 Immanuel means God with us.
27.to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.
14.Therefore the Lord himself will give you7:14 The Hebrew is plural. a sign: The virgin7:14 Or young woman will conceive and give birth to a son, and7:14 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scrolls son, and he or son, and they will call him Immanuel.7:14 Immanuel means God with us.
23.“The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”1:23 Isaiah 7:14 (which means “God with us”).
4.‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’21:4 Isaiah 25:8 or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
28.And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who8:28 Or that all things work together for good to those who love God, who; or that in all things God works together with those who love him to bring about what is good—with those who have been called according to his purpose.
