3. Fulfilled Prophecies (7)

Fulfilled Messianic Prophecies

Old Testament Scripture contains hundreds of prophecies and allusions to the future Messiah.[14] The Hebrew “Messiah” is translated into Greek as “Christ” and means “the Anointed One.”  Thus Christ was first a title, and later a name for Jesus of Nazareth. Some prophecies were not immediately recognized as such, are a bit vague, and seem to make sense only in hindsight. Many others were recognized by the Jews (Pharisees, Sadducees and “Teachers of the Law”) before the birth of Jesus as foretelling about the Messiah.  These prophecies were so intrinsically obvious that the contemporaries of Jesus were expecting the Messiah at any moment. Their downfall was interpreting the prophecies to fit their worldly desire for a mighty leader to end the Roman occupation whereas Jesus focused on a spiritual kingdom and a heavenly reign.

Earlier[15] we extensively discussed a number of prophecies in detail, identifying Jesus as the promised Messiah. In this section we will probe, what many claim is the most explicit and remarkable prophecy about the Christ: Daniel 9:24-27, also known as Daniel’s “Seventy Sevens.” Written towards the end of the Babylonian exile, it foretells the year (even the day) that the Messiah will be presented to the people of Israel.