A selection of verses showing that God promised that a special person will be at the centre of his master plan.
Because he obeys God, Abraham the father of the Jews is told that all nations will benefit through his offspring:
18 All the nations of the earth will be blessed by your offspring, because you have obeyed my voice.’ ”
Abraham’s grandson Jacob is also promised a special offspring who will benefit all nations:
14 Your offspring will be as the dust of the earth, and you will spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south. In you and in your offspring, all the families of the earth will be blessed.
God promises Moses that he will send a special person who will speak on God's behalf:
18 I will raise them up a prophet from amongst their brothers, like you. I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I shall command him.
The prophet Isaiah speaks of a special descendant of Jesse, the father of king David:
1 A shoot will come out of the stock of Jesse,
and a branch out of his roots will bear fruit.
2 The LORD’s Spirit will rest on him:
the spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the spirit of counsel and might,
the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD.
The prophet Jeremiah speaks of a special descendant of king David who will be king:
5 “Behold, the days come,” says the LORD,
“that I will raise to David a righteous Branch,
and he will reign as king and deal wisely,
and will execute justice and righteousness in the land.
Jesus Christ explains to his disciples that he is this special person spoken of in the Old Testament:
27 Beginning from Moses and from all the prophets, he explained to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.
He repeats the same message to them a little later:
44 He said to them, “This is what I told you, while I was still with you, that all things which are written in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms, concerning me must be fulfilled.”
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