God’s Plan of Salvation

the journey so far

In the beginning God created man to share in His life of love

The first man and woman rejected that love

God does not give up on His loving plan for man

God makes covenants of love with man

Each covenant reveals His love according to man’s development

Each covenant builds on the previous to advance God’s plan

Cycle of God’s faithfulness and man’s infidelity

GOD WILL WIN MAN’S HEART

But how?

The Journey Continues

God’s Plan of Salvation

Prophecies of

The Messiah

I II

Types & Symbolsforeshadow redemption in the fullness of time

“The New Testament lies concealed in the Old, the Old lies revealed in the New.”

(St. Augustine)

God Makes Known His Planthrough the prophets

1050-432 B.C.

Samuel: Priest, Prophet, JudgeLeads the transition from tribes to kingdom

(1 Samuel 1-8)

Prophesies against worldly kings versus the sovereignty of God (1 Samuel 8:8-18)

Left the Kingdom of Israel in the hands of King David (1 Samuel 25:1)

The Kingdom of Israel Under David & Solomon

King David builds the Kingdom and expands its borders (2 Samuel 19-21)

King Solomon builds the temple and brings Israel to the peak of its earthly glory

(1 Kings 4:20-28)

King SolomonA great and wise king that was led astray

(1 Kings 11:1-13)

The golden age ends in idolatry, greed, polygamy and military build-up

God promises to strip Israel of its kingdom and leave his promise in the hands of a single tribe

The Kingdom Divides

Israel to the north with its capital Samaria under King Jeroboam

Judah to the south with its capital Jerusalem under Solomon’s son King Rehoboam

1 Kings 12 2 Chronicles 10

Israel

IDOLATRY • EVIL KINGS • DOOM

Elijah 1 Kings 17 – 2 Kings 2

• During the reign of King Ahab and wife Jezebel who worshipped Baal, erecting an altar in the capital.

• Proclaimed God’s faithfulness in spite of the King’s wickedness.

Elisha 2 Kings 2-13

• Disciple of Elijah

• Performed miracles in the name of God to bring the people back.

• Same message of mercy and faithfulness of God.

Amos (755 B.C.)

• Condemned unjust social practices

• Prophesied against extravagant but empty worship of God

• Prophesied coming righteous judgment and a just and eternal king

• “Prepare to meet your God”

Hosea (750-725 B.C.)

• Prophesied the mercy of God with the image of a faithful husband and a harlot wife.

• God will still take back Israel after her spiritual adultery, if she repents and returns.

Israel does not repentAND FALLS TO ASSYRIA IN 722 B.C.

(2 KINGS 17)

Meanwhile, in Judah

• Descendants of David and Solomon rule as Kings

• Fairer mix of good and bad kings than in Israel

• The good kings try to stamp out idolatry and restore true worship of God as commanded

Hezekiah 13th King of JudahA noble and righteous king

Purified and repaired the Temple and purged Judah of its idolsFortified the walls of the city

His righteousness drew strength from God to ward off the Assyrian invasion that defeated Israel

(2 Kings 19:35-37)

Joel (c.830 B.C.)

• Prophesied during a time of a plague of locusts

• Warned of a “Day of the Lord” of even greater calamity, when judgment would be meted

Isaiah (740-690 B.C.)

• Before, during, and after the Assyrian invasion.

• Prophesied against vices in Judah, warning of God’s judgment.

• Prophesied a coming time of peace and future glory.

• Prophecies rich in hope for the promised Messiah.

Micah (735-700 B.C.)

• A contemporary of Isaiah

• Warned against laxities, injustices, and evils that creep in during times of prosperity (Micah 6:8)

Zephaniah (630-625 B.C.)

• Great, great grandson of the good King Hezekiah

• Prophesied against the misuse of holy places, heeded by King Josiah

• Prophesied the growing threat of the Chaldeans (Babylonians) to Judah (Zeph. 1:14-16; 2:3)

Jeremiah (625-586 B.C.)

• A period of bad kings after Josiah and the return of Idolatry

• Prophesied in the period before the Babylonian captivity, to avert it

• Warned of 70 years’ of captivity if Judah refused to repent and return to the Lord(Jer. 25:1-14)

Habakkuk (612-606 B.C.)

• Cried to God for the wickedness of Judah

• God responded with a promise of justice(Hab. 1)

• His vision of God is one of everlasting faithfulness, perhaps too slow to anger in his eyes

Judah defeated by BabylonEXILE BEGINS IN 606 B.C.

JERUSALEM CAPTURED IN 597 B.C. THE TEMPLE DESTROYED IN 586 B.C.

Book of Lamentations (586 B.C.)

• Written by the Prophet Jeremiah

• A poem lamenting the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple

• Recounts the people’s suffering in exile

Daniel (612-606 B.C.)

• Prophesies the demise of Judah’s enemies and the restoration of the kingdom by interpreting the dreams of the king Nebuchadnezzar

• Dramatic prophecy of the coming of the Messianic Age (Daniel 9:20-27)

Ezekiel (593-573 B.C.)

• Gave hope to the shattered nation for the restoration of the sovereign rule of God using the image of a body being restored from its bones and life being breathed into it (Ez. 37:1-14) – a powerful image of a new creation in the fullness of time with the coming of Christ.

The Jews Return from Exile536 B.C. FIRST WAVE: JOSHUA/ZERUBBABEL

458 B.C. SECOND WAVE: EZRA 444 B.C. THIRD WAVE: NEHEMIAH

Haggai & Zechariah (c.520 B.C.)

• Haggai carried the simple message “build the Temple” as the sign of God’s presence.

• Zechariah prophesied beyond the physical Temple to the restoration of a Golden Age under a Messianic King.

Malachi (432 B.C.)

• Less than a decade after the return of the last remnant

• Prophesied against the moral and spiritual decay that had already set in

• Prophesied the return of Elijah before the great and terrible day of the Lord.

• Last prophetic book

Prophecies Fulfilled God’s Promise

FulfilledThe Fullness of Time Arrives

Messiah • King • Redeemer

The ‘Gospel’ of IsaiahIsaiah 52:13 – 53:12

The Messiah will be a descendant of David

Jeremiah 23:5-6, 33:15-16

Fulfilled: Luke 1:32-33

The Messiah will be born of a virgin

Isaiah 7:14

Fulfilled: Matthew 1:18-25

Luke 1:26-35

The Messiah will be a born in Bethlehem

Micah 5:2

Fulfilled: Matthew 2:1, 4-8

Luke 2:4-7

The timing of His coming is preordained by God

Daniel 9:25-26

Fulfilled: Galatians 4:4; Ephesians 1:10

The Messiah will be preceded by a messenger

Isaiah 40:3, Malachi 3:1

Fulfilled: Matthew 3:1-3; 11:10

Luke 1:17 John 1:23

The Spirit of God will rest on the Messiah

Isaiah 11:2

Fulfilled: Matthew 3:16-17

The Messiah will make Galilee renowned

Isaiah 9:1

Fulfilled: Matthew 4:12-17

The Messiah will make the blind see, the deaf hear, the

dumb speak, and the lame walkIsaiah 35:5-6

Fulfilled: Matthew 9

The Messiah will be rejected by His people

Isaiah 53:3

Fulfilled: John 1:11; 7:5

The Messiah will be the ‘Cornerstone’

Isaiah 28:16

Fulfilled: Matthew 21:42-43, Acts 4:11,  Ephesians 2:20, I Peter 2:6-8

The Messiah will enter Jerusalem riding on a

donkeyZechariah 9:9

Fulfilled: Matthew 21:1-11

The Messiah will enter the Temple with authority

Malachi 3:1-3

Fulfilled: Matthew 21:12

Luke 19:45

The time from betrayal to resurrection

Jonah 1:17

Fulfilled: All of the Passion Narratives

The Messiah will be betrayed for 30 pieces of

silverZechariah 11:12-13

Fulfilled: Matthew 26:15

The Messiah’s hands and feet will be pierced

Zechariah 12:10; (Psalm 22:16)

Fulfilled: John 19:18

The Messiah will be numbered among criminals

Isaiah 53:12

Fulfilled: Matthew 27:38; Mark 15:27

Luke 23:32; John 19:18

The Messiah’s cheek will be struck

Isaiah 50:6; Micah 5:1

Fulfilled: Matthew 26:67

Luke 22:63 John 18:22

The Messiah will be bruised and scourged

Isaiah 53:5; Micah 5:1

Fulfilled: Matthew 27:26

Mark 15:15 John 19:1

The Messiah will remain silent before His accusers

Isaiah 53:7

Fulfilled: Matthew 27:12,14 Mark 14:61;15:5

Luke 23:9; John 19:9

The Messiah will dieIsaiah 53:8-10; Daniel 9:26

Fulfilled: Matthew 27:50; Mark 15:37

Luke 23:46; John 19:30

The Messiah will die for the forgiveness of sins

Isaiah 53:12

Fulfilled: Luke 23:34,43 Romans 4:25

God will darken the earth at noon

Amos 8:9

Fulfilled: Matthew 27:45

Mark 15:33 Luke 23:44-45

The Messiah will be forsaken by His disciples,

who will scatterZechariah 13:7

Fulfilled: Matthew 26:31

Mark 14:50

The Messiah will be buried in a rich man’s tomb

Isaiah 53:9

Fulfilled: Matthew 27:57-60; Mark 15:42-46

Luke 23:50-53; John 19:38-42

Psalm 22Prophesying the Crucifixion

ReflectionThe Jewish people received so many prophecies of the coming of Messiah and yet they did not recognise Him when He came.

Reflect on times in your past, write about one experience when God was at work in your life but you didn’t recognise Him at the time.

Preparation

Read chapters 1 and 2 of the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, to familiarise yourself with the birth of the Saviour in the fullness of time.