Daring Devotion: What is Prophecy?

Welcome to Daring Devotion #1

I am so happy that you are joining us today! Today we are going to learn about prophecy.

Do you know what purpose Matthew had when he wrote the book of Matthew in the Bible?

Matthew was writing his book to the Jewish people. The Jewish people knew all about the promise of a coming saviour. Matthew shows how Jesus fulfilled all the prophecies of the Old Testament.

When you first start reading the book of Matthew, you might wonder why it's so important to know the ancestors of Jesus. BUT, this line that Jesus came from is very important. This line shows us that Jesus came from royalty.

Before we start today's devotion, take a minute to prepare your heart to receive God's words for you.

Prophecy

This is the way that Webster's Dictionary defines prophecy.

Main Entry: proph·e·cy
Variant(s): also proph·e·sy /'prä-f&-sE/
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural proph·e·cies also proph·e·sies
Etymology: Middle English prophecie, from Old French, from Late Latin prophetia, from Greek prophEteia, from prophEtEs prophet
Date: 13th century
1 : an inspired utterance of a prophet
2 : the function or vocation of a prophet; specifically : the inspired declaration of divine will and purpose
3 : a prediction of something to come

How would you like to be able to predict the future? Do you think it would be fun to write the headlines for tomorrow's newspaper today? A person who God speaks to and tells them about future events is called a prophet. There were many prophets in the Old Testament. These prophets predicted many things about the coming Messiah.

The prophet Isaiah wrote hundreds of years before Jesus was born that "The virgin shall bear a Son and they shall call His name Immanuel, meaning "God with us." Jesus Christ was born of a virgin and an angel told Joseph that "You shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins." This is prophecy. Isaiah predicted something about the coming Saviour and Jesus fulfilled the prophecy.

Another prophecy from the Old Testament predicted that the coming Saviour would be born in Bethlehem! Now do you think it was just a coincidence that Jesus happened to be born in a manger in Bethlehem? No. It was prophecy being fulfilled again!

Have you heard the Bible story where King Herod becomes very jealous when he hears about the new King (Jesus) being born? Well, King Herod goes into a jealous rage when he hears about the new king. He orders that all boy babies under the age of 2 be killed. There was great mourning and weeping in the land following this horrible event. This terrible event was predicted in the Old Testament. That's pretty amazing isn't it!

Joseph was warned in a dream about Herod's plans. Joseph took his family and they went to Egypt. When Jospeh took his family out of Egypt, this also fulfilled an Old Testament prophecy.

Joseph took his family to Nazareth and this also fulfilled an Old Testament prophecy. "He shall be called a Nazarene!"

In Jesus lifetime more than 300 prophecies were fulfilled by Him. Why do you think that God revealed the future to select prophets? God wanted everyone to be able to identify the Saviour when he came. The prophecies in the Old Testament concerning the Messiah were there to prove to anyone who would study the Bible that Jesus Christ is the only person who could possible be the Saviour of the world!

Read Luke 22: 67-71 and think about what Jesus is saying here. Jesus is making a prediction about himself.

Do you believe what he says?

Isn't it cool to know that God planned a long time ago to send a Saviour to our world. He loved us even from the very beginning of the world. He loved us so much that he sent us His only son! God wanted to make sure that we could identify our Saviour when he came. Thank the Lord for giving us so much evidence to identify Jesus Christ as the promised Saviour. Thank the Lord for sending us Jesus!

Something Cool To Do!
Start a prayer journal. Simply write down your specific prayer request daily and then you will have a written record when the Lord answers your prayers!