He is my light, my strength, my song This cornerstone This solid ground through the pierces When fears are still when sliding seas This is the last class in the series. We got a lot to cover this class. There are so many prophecies that are in the Scriptures and I'm seeing more and more all the time. I've learned a lot from the early Christians and I look forward to sharing with you some of my very favorite unusual and little-known prophecies in the lesson tonight.
The last three lessons, we talked about Jesus as the Christ, the king over God's kingdom. In fulfillment of the prophecies, we showed how the Christ had to suffer and die and be crucified on the cross and fulfillment of the prophecies. And then the last class was that he was buried and that he would raise from the dead in fulfillment of the Scriptures as well. So what's left to talk about? Well, there's actually there's quite a bit. I want to focus on a few things in this lesson.
We talked about Jesus as the king over the kingdom of God. I want to talk about Jesus as the greatest of the prophets and also Jesus as the high priest. So prophet, priest, and king. I want to round that out. Also, I want to share some things about Joseph from the end of the book of Genesis, and then wrap it up and see what we've come up with. At the beginning of the series, I set the bar. The bar in this class was to prove beyond any reasonable doubt from the Old Testament prophecies that Jesus was the Son of God.
So I'd like to see have we been able to do that or not. So that's where we are. We're on the last leg of the journey on the road to Emmaus. In weddings, they use the illustration of the cord of three strands. Well, I'll borrow from that to talk about Jesus. Jesus is the king over the kingdom of God. He's also priests and prophets. See, these were the three major offices in the Old Testament prophet, priest, and king. And Jesus fulfilled all three. So the king is the ruler who rules on behalf of God.
He rules the people on behalf of God. The priests in the Old Testament would offer up prayer and sacrifices from the people to God. And then the prophet, of course, would speak the Word of God to the people. So the prophet, the priest, and the king, three very different roles. But I want you to appreciate how Jesus fulfills and combines all three together. Now, in the Old Testament, you had people who were prophets, people who were priests, people who were kings, or even some people who filled two of those roles.
Think about David. He was a prophet and a king, where Samuel was a prophet and a priest. But it's only in Jesus that we find all three coming together. And Jesus, the great high priest, what book in the New Testament talks the most about this? It's almost half the book. Hebrews. Book of Hebrews. Absolutely. So I want to take a look at Psalm 110 to start off. Psalm 110, I'm going to read verses 1 through 4. I'm reading out of the NIV tonight.
" The Lord says to my Lord, ' Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. The Lord will extend your mighty scepter from Zion, saying, ' Rule in the midst of your enemies. Your troops will be willing on your day of battle, arrayed in holy splendor. Your young men will come to you like dew from the morning's womb. The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind. You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.
Now, this passage, the first part of the last part that I just read, reported several places in the New Testament. Actually, in Matthew chapter 22, Jesus quotes the first part when he's challenging the Pharisees. And he says, essentially, he says, " This is a prophecy about the Messiah, about the Christ. Whose son is he? " David's writing this and he says, " The Lord says to my Lord. " So how can he be the son of David if he's the Lord of David and he confounds the Pharisees?
So the Pharisees didn't dispute that this was a prophecy about the Messiah. It says he is the Lord even of David. It says that he is called to sit at the right hand of God. Peter applies this to Jesus in Acts chapter 2, a passage we're familiar with, also Hebrews chapter 1. But it says, " The one who will sit at the right hand of God, the ruler, will also be a priest. " He says he will be a priest forever. He will be an eternal priest similar to Melchizedek. Well, who's Melchizedek?
Melchizedek shows up in two verses in the book of Genesis and he ends up getting about three chapters in the book of Hebrews. That's pretty unusual. Genesis chapter 14 is only two verses. We might as well read it. This is after Abraham wins a battle to get his nephew lot back. Verse 18, it says, " Then Melchizedek, King of Salem, brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, and he blessed Abram, saying, ' Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth.
And praise be to God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand. " Then Abraham gave him a tenth of everything. That's it. So how do you get three chapters out of that? And what does it mean in Psalm 110 where it says, " He will be a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek, " this guy who just shows up in two verses. Hebrews chapter 4 to Hebrews chapter 10, it develops and explains what this means. That like Melchizedek, that this future priest would be both a priest and a king like Melchizedek was.
That unlike all of the priests that they were familiar with, who were descended from Aaron, that he is from a more ancient priesthood. He was even the priest of Abraham, the ancestor of Aaron and the Levites. His priesthood was not based on his genealogy, but it was based on the power of his own indestructible life. And even the name, Melchizedek means king of righteousness. It says he was king of Salem, which means king of peace. So he's both the king of peace and the king of righteousness.
In Hebrews 8, it talks about there had to be a change in priesthood to usher in a new covenant under Jesus. The old priest would enter into the Most Holy Place every year with the blood of animals. But the greater priest Jesus enters heaven itself with his own blood, offering the perfect sacrifice on our behalf. He talks about that in Hebrews chapter 9. And since he offered the perfect sacrifice once for all time, it doesn't have to be going every year on the Day of Atonement like the Jewish high priest would be.
So it's explaining this is a prophecy that the future king would also be a priest, a more ancient type of priest, and that's how he could be both a priest and king. If you think about it, all the kings were descended from the time of David on from what tribe? From Judah. What was the tribe all the priests are descended from? The Levi. So you had two completely different tribes, two different sons of Jacob.
So it was impossible for somebody to be both a priest and a king at the same time, except Jesus was a different type of priest, a more ancient one. All right. Probably most of you are familiar with what I just talked about, but now we're going deep into the Scriptures. Let's turn to Zechariah chapter 3. I'm going to read a long passage. This is not the easiest passage in the world, but hang with me, please. We're going to read from Zechariah chapter 3 verses 1 to 9.
And perhaps you didn't read that anytime in the last week or two, so it may be a little unfamiliar. Start reading in verse 1, " Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him. The Lord said to Satan, ' The Lord rebuke you, Satan. The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you. Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire? Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel.
The angel said to those who were standing before him, " Take off his filthy clothes. " Then he said to Joshua, " See, I have taken away your sin and I'll put fine garments on you. " Then I said, " Put a clean turban on his head. " So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him while the angel of Lord stood by. The angel of the Lord gave this charge to Joshua. This is what the Lord Almighty says.
If you walk in obedience to me and keep my requirements, then you will govern my house and have charge in my courts, and I will give you a place among these standing here. Listen, High Priest Joshua, you and your associates seated before you who are men symbolic of things to come. I'm going to bring my servant the branch. See the stone I have set in front of Joshua. There are seven eyes on that stone, and I will engrave an inscription on it, says the Lord Almighty.
" And I will remove the sin of this land in a single day. " Now, that's an intense passage. First thing you need to understand to figure out what's going on here. The word Joshua and Jesus are one and the same. If you're reading it in the Greek, it says, " Jesus. " When the apostles were reading it, they're reading the Septuagint, it says, " Jesus. " Jesus, it's like, " My name is Chuck. If I go to Mexico, it's Carlos. " Okay? It's the same exact name in two different languages, Joshua and Jesus.
So the early Christians are reading this, and it says, " Then He showed me Jesus, the High Priest, standing before the angel of the Lord. " He says, " Listen, high priest, Jesus, you and your associates seated before you who are men symbolic of things to come. " And maybe you get a little different sense about that. I remember I was reading one of the early Christian writers, and he was talking about the story of Joshua in the Old Testament. And he said, " Jesus, son of Nun.
" I said, " Obviously, that's a mistake that he's making there. " And I went back and looked at it and he's absolutely right. If you're reading Hebrews chapter 4 in an interlinear Bible, it just happens to talk about Joshua's son of Nun, and it's talking about Jesus, the Son of God, and the Word is exactly the same in both cases. So the translators change it because we're used to one in the Old Testament and one in the New Testament. But the word is exactly the same. Joshua in the Old Testament was Jesus.
Now let's think about this. Moses could only take them so far. It took Jesus to get them into the Promised Land. Joshua's name was Hoshea. They changed his name to Jesus. Hello. He's the one that's going to finish the job. He's the one who's going to be taking over so the people are not like sheep without a shepherd, as it says in numbers. He's the one who will lead us into the Promised Land. So God's dropping some pretty major hints for us in the Scriptures. Let's notice a few other things.
Jesus is directly opposed to Satan, the adversary. It says quite plainly that Jesus and those with him in the story are symbolic of things to come. And the sin of the land will be removed in a single day. We know what that's referring to on Calvary. Lactantius talks about this passage and explains it. Lactantius was a Roman Christian teacher who lived in the late 200s, early 300s. And here's what he said.
He said, " The Christ, the prophesied Son of David, would build the everlasting temple, just like it says in 2 Samuel. Therefore, he would also have an everlasting priesthood in it. " David in the 110th Psalm says the same thing. The Lord has sworn and will not repent. You're a priest forever according to Melchizedek. We just read that. Also in 1 Samuel 2, " And I will raise up a faithful priest who will do all the things that are in my heart. I will build him a sure house. He shall walk in my sight all these days.
" But Lactantius goes on. But who was this about to be? Zechariah most plainly teaches, even mentioning his name. And he quotes from the passage we just read, " And the Lord God showed me Jesus, the great priest standing before the face of the angel of the Lord. " And the adversary was standing at his right hand to resist him. And he goes on quotes on the rest of the passage. And then he explains the significance of what we just said. He said, " The filthy clothes represent the first coming of Christ in the flesh.
" Of course, we know that there will be a second glorious return of Christ's second advent. The scorched in the fire refers to he suffered torture from men and was then extinguished. He stands in the presence of God. And after he has done the will of God, as it says here, he will receive dominion and become judge over the house of God. So it's a prophecy about Jesus, the high priest, the one symbolic of what will happen in the future. Just a few words about the high priest. I want to move on and talk about Jesus.
We've covered Jesus as the great king. Jesus says the greatest high priest. And now the third element is Jesus as the ultimate prophet. John chapter 1 verses 19 to 21. This is a passage I think we're quite familiar with. John the Baptist is asked three questions. The first one, are you the Christ or the Messiah? And his answer is no. The second one, he says, " Are you Elijah? " He says, " No, he's not literally Elijah. Jesus explains later he is figuratively Elijah. " So you can answer that question either way.
But then the third question is intriguing. He says, " Are you the prophet? " He doesn't say a prophet. He says, " Are you the prophet? " What is he talking about? I'll tell you why this is significant. Got about a billion people in the world who are Muslims. And I've studied the Bible with Muslims in the past, and they'll say, " Well, there you go. There's Muhammad right in the Scripture. Elijah, the Christ, the prophet. " Okay? Who is the prophet who was to come that was prophesied about?
Well, this is clearly a reference to Deuteronomy chapter 18. Very important passage. Let's go there. It's important to understand this if you're reaching out to someone from a Muslim background. This is a wonderful and complex, beautiful prophecy. Deuteronomy chapter 18, starting in verse 15. " The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. " I think the New King James says from your brethren, same thing. " You must listen to him.
For this is what you asked of the Lord your God at Horeb in the day of the assembly, when you said, ' Let's not hear the voice of the Lord our God, nor see this great fire anymore, or we'll die. " Remember that? At the time of the Ten Commandments, people are scared to then say, " Moses, you go up and you come down and we don't want to hear directly from God. We want an intermediary. Could you just please go up and come down and be a mediator and tell us what he says? We'll do whatever he says.
" Verse 17, " The Lord said to me, what they say is good. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words in his mouth. He will tell them everything I command him. I myself will call to account anyone who does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name. " Okay, let's think about that. The expression, " God says, I will call to account anyone who disregards the words of this prophet.
" When Peter is quoting this passage in Acts chapter 3, he says, " I will completely cut off from their people. " Or in the New King James, it says, " I will utterly destroy them from among the people. " God's getting the point across, " I'm going to send a prophet in the future just like Moses. You better listen to him or you will be cut off. " So who is the prophet that was promised? Well, one thing we learn right off the bat is it says, " He must be one of your brothers. He must be a fellow Israelite.
" Just like in Deuteronomy chapter 17, it says, " When you pick a king, you can't pick a foreigner. He's got to be one of your own people. A fellow Israelite. The nation of Israel had just come out of Egypt. You can't tell me that the prophet came from Arabia. He had to be a Jew according to the prophecy, according to Moses himself. The parallel between Moses and Jesus is highlighted especially in the Gospel of John, in the first half of the Gospel of John. Think about this.
The opening words in the beginning is the same as the opening words of Moses. John 1:17, it creates a parallel. It says, " The law was given through Moses. Grace and truth come through Jesus Christ. He is the fulfillment. He's the second Moses. " Philip tells Nathaniel in chapter 1, " We have found the one Moses wrote about in the law. " That's what it's referring to. John chapter 2, what is the first miracle that Jesus performed? He turned the water into wine. What did Moses do?
He turned the water, the first plague, into blood. John chapter 3. Jesus Himself says, " Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up. " John chapter 4, " The Samaritan Woman, " Jesus offers her living water, reminiscent of Moses who called water out of a rock in the desert to quench the thirst of the people. John 5:46, Jesus, referring to the scripture, he says, " If you believed Moses, challenging the Jews, you'd believe me because he wrote about me.
" John chapter 6, " Jesus feeds the thousands with bread. " And what does that make the people think of? Manna. Surely this was the prophet who's come into the world. He's going to be a prophet just like Moses. He's feeding the people with bread miraculously. But there are even more parallels when you stop and think about it. Both stories begin with the birth and infancy, both Jesus and Moses. How many people in the Bible is that can you say that about? He was zealous for God's holiness.
Moses smashed the Ten Commandments when he came down. He saw the people involved in idolatry. When Jesus saw the money changers in the temple, he made a whip of cords and overturned the tables. So they were passionate for God's holiness and righteousness. Both brought in a new covenant with blood. Both met with God on the mountain. Both had radiant faces after meeting with God. Both saved their people by the death of the blood of an unblemished male lamb sacrificed at the Passover.
Both instituted a special meal to commemorate that event, which their followers have faithfully observed ever since. Both brought their followers out of slavery by bringing them through the water. Both held up their hands all day long on the wood to bring about victory through the cross. An evil king tried to put him to death as an infant. He escapes, but many other innocent children are killed anyway. He lived in Egypt as a child. His fellow Jews initially were opposed to becoming their judge or ruler.
Stephen talks about that in Acts 7. As it says in Philippians, he gave up his royal position and privilege to be a savior to his people. Both could be exemplified as the good shepherd who led their people. Both stood out as the most humble men on the face of the earth. And I want to encourage you to go back and read Exodus, Numbers, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy, and you will find even more parallels. We've mentioned about 20 connections. So here's the question. Who was the prophet that Moses spoke of?
Was it Jesus or was it Muhammad? Moses said a prophet like me. We've just talked about over 20 very specific similarities between the two. Who matches up as a prophet just like Moses that the people we cut off, they don't follow him. Consider the details of the life of Moses. Peter said in Acts chapter 3, unquestionably, that prophecy in Deuteronomy 18 is fulfilled in Jesus. Stephen said the same thing in Acts chapter 7. Speaking of Acts chapter 7, that's a good transition. The next thing I want to talk about.
The speech in Acts chapter 7 gets Stephen killed. And if you understand what he's saying here, you understand why the people got so upset and why they killed him. One of the best places to learn how to share the Old Testament to prove the faith is by looking at how it was done. Hopefully, you won't meet the same fate that Stephen did. But you can try this out sometime and see how it works. Stephen sweeps through the history of the Jewish nation. But buried in the story, he has three complaints.
To me, this is the sermon of the three complaints. He has three complaints against the Jewish nation. The first complaint, when he's going through their history, he says, " The patriarchs, our own forefathers, were jealous of Joseph. They sold him into slavery, but God raised him up to be ruler over Egypt. " So that was the first mistake of the Israelites. They rejected the leadership of Joseph, but God raised him up to save his family.
The second complaint in Acts chapter 7, starting in verse 20, lengthy discussion about Moses. And he says, " Our forefathers rejected Moses because they didn't want him to be the ruler or judge over them. " At the beginning of the book of Exodus, that's what happens. When the Egyptian is killed, one of the Jews says, " Hey, who were you? Who raised you up to be ruler or judge over us? " They questioned him. They didn't realize that God was using him.
And then later on, with the golden calf, they rejected him once again. So complaint number one is they rejected Joseph, who God brought there and sold him into slavery. Point number two is the Jewish nation rejected Moses. Point number three, you're just like your forefathers. You've rejected and killed the Messiah. That was it. That's why he got killed. A very simple lesson. Speaking of the Jewish nation, you rejected Joseph. You rejected Moses. You rejected the prophets who prophesied the coming of the Messiah.
And ultimately, you rejected and killed the Messiah. They stoned him for that. So what is it about Joseph? There's a parallel here. Moses, Joseph, Jesus. All three raised up by God to rule. All three rejected by the Jews. All three ended up ruling anyway. For years, I wondered, as I was reading through the book of Genesis, the story of Joseph starts in Genesis chapter 37. It goes pretty more or less the end of the book. So you got 10 chapters or so talking about Joseph.
You have two verses talking about Melchizedek, and he gets three chapters in the New Testament. Why so much about Joseph? The Messiah is not descended from Joseph. The priests aren't descended from Joseph. Why so much text about Joseph and why so many details in the story? Why did the Holy Spirit do that? I wondered about this for years. I taught classes on Genesis. Never could figure it out. One day I opened my Bible and all of a sudden it started to come together.
A couple of early Christian writers touch on this and don't really develop it. Irenaeus, who was a bishop in France around the year 180, he said, " By these things, Christ was typified and acknowledged and brought into the world, for he was prefigured in Joseph. " Just like Moses, Irenaeus is saying that Joseph was foreshadowing Christ. Tertullian said pretty much the same thing. He said, " Joseph again was also made a figure of Christ. He suffered persecution at the hands of his brothers and was sold into Egypt.
" The story of Joseph, I'm going to give a little two-minute summary because every detail is important. And then we'll look at in what ways this foreshadows the life and death and resurrection of Christ in great detail. Joseph is one of the 12 sons of Jacob or Israel. He's the favorite of his father who gives him a multi-colored robe. If you follow the King James, I think it's a robe of many colors. He tells his brothers of a dream in which his brothers, father, and mother are all bowing down to him.
His brother's plot to kill and they stripped the robe from him, put animal blood on it, and let their father believe that Joseph was killed by a wild animal. Joseph's brothers put him in a dry cistern and then sell him into slavery to spice dealers headed to Egypt. When the older brother comes back to the cistern, there's nobody in there and he's puzzled and doesn't know what to do. Joseph goes off to Egypt. There he faces temptation, but he does nothing wrong.
However, even though he's done nothing wrong, he ends up in prison anyway. While he's in prison, he becomes in charge of the prison. He interprets the dream of the butler and Baker and tells them what's going to happen in the future about their own fates. Years later, the butler remembers Joseph, who was released to interpret a troubling dream of Pharaoh. Joseph then is made ruler of Egypt under Pharaoh in charge of the granary that will feed the world during a famine.
During the famine, 10 of his brothers come to see him. Then all 11 come. He reveals himself to them and is willing to forgive them. Then his father and the entire family move to Egypt, and Joseph forgives his brothers. Now, thinking about the life of Jesus, maybe you're able to make some connections as I mentioned the story. Let's flesh this out a little bit. Joseph and Jesus were hated by their envious brothers for three reasons.
If you go back and look in Genesis 37, Joseph was hated because he exposed the sin of his brothers like Jesus did. Because he was the favorite son like Jesus was because his brothers didn't want him to rule over them as was prophesied, just like Jesus said in Luke chapter 9. Each of them wore a special multi-colored robe. What are you talking about there? The robe that Jesus wore when he was being mocked by the soldiers. What color was it? Well, there's more than one right answer.
Luke says it's a brighter, gorgeous robe in Luke 23. Mark 15 and John 19, it says it was a purple robe. But Matthew says it was a scarlet robe. What was the robe, the special robe that Joseph wore that was stripped from him before he went into the cistern? A robe of many colors, a robe of colors. The body of each was deposited in an earthen pit, Joseph and his cistern and Jesus in the tomb. Each one was sold for coins.
The first of the twelve, Reuben, the brother of Joseph, the oldest brother, and Peter, the first of the apostles, later comes back to the pit to find the body's gone. He's puzzled doesn't know what to do. Both Jesus and Joseph departed from the pit to go on a journey, in a sense, accompanied by myrrh and spices. Remember in John, the spices are packed around Jesus ' body, John 19. Now, this is where it gets really wild. Both of them end up in prison. 1 Peter chapter 3. He preached to the spirits in prison.
What is that talking about? It's talking about Hades. Jesus descended into Hades as it says in Acts chapter 2. 1 Peter 3 says he preached to the spirits in prison. Prison is a euphemism for Hades. Joseph departs from the pit and ends up even though he's done nothing wrong in a prison for a period of time where he's preaching to the butler and the baker telling what's going to happen in the future. It's a foreshadowing of Christ's descent into Hades.
After being released from the prison, each of them is elevated to a royal position in charge over the whole kingdom. And if anyone wants bread, they have to go to him. And they're required to give up everything they have to get the bread. And when he appears to his brothers, first he appears to 10, then he appears to all 11, just like Jesus. He appeared to ten, and then he finally appeared to Thomas in the Gospel of John. What are the odds this is a coincidence? I don't think so. See, that's what Stephen is saying.
He's saying, " Moses, Joseph, Jesus. " It's all in the same pattern. It's all the same story. Moses and Joseph were foreshadowing the life, the ministry, the death and resurrection of Jesus. Here's the closing question. The beginning of these five classes, I said, " I'm going to prove beyond any reasonable doubt from the prophecies that Jesus is the Son of God. " The question is, did I prove it? Okay? I have a question back to you. You want to ask me the question.
My question to you is, how much evidence would it take? I only had five classes to go through, and I covered quite a bit. How much evidence would it take? What do you want? Do you want God to be writing Jesus ' name up in the sky? Would that prove it to you? Okay? Would you expect God to provide his name and address? Is that the kind of evidence that you're looking for? Would you like to have DNA or fingerprints, maybe a detailed portrait, a death certificate or coroner's report?
What kind of evidence are you looking for? Well, I have it all. His name, first of all, Jesus is revealed in the book of Numbers in Numbers chapter 13. Hoshea's name is changed to Jesus or Joshua. He is the one who would complete the job started by Moses. He is the only one, Jesus, who could lead the people into the Promised Land. The name Jesus is repeated in Zechariah that he is the great high priest.
That's the name of the great high priest that would come, that's symbolic of things to come, is said in Zechariah 3. " He's the one who would directly oppose Satan, and the sin of the land will be removed in a single day. " Okay, we have his name. Holy Spirit gives us his name. What about his address? I'll give you all his addresses. Let's start from the beginning. In Micah chapter 5, it says his origins were in eternity. He was born in Bethlehem. Moses said to be a prophet just like him.
He lived in Egypt as a child. In Isaiah chapter 9, it says he lived in Galilee of the Gentiles. After that, he died in Jerusalem outside the camp. As it says in Daniel chapter 9, it explains in Hebrews chapter 13, which is showing that the animals being sacrificed outside the camp was foreshadowing the death of Jesus. After he was killed outside Jerusalem, three days in Hades, then raised from the dead. We covered that the last class in Psalm 16 and Jonah chapter 1 and 2.
And now, the Scripture we started off with today, Psalm 110, he is now seated at the right hand of God. So you want his address I've given you everywhere he's ever been. What about his lineage? You're looking for DNA. Well, it says from Genesis 17 and 22, he'd be descended from Abraham. Genesis 49, he'd be descended from the tribe of Judah. 2 Samuel chapter 7, " He's both the Son of David and the Son of God.
" And Isaiah chapter 7, which we didn't talk about, but it's a very well-known prophecy that he would be born of a virgin. So we have his lineage here. How about a portrait? I've got a portrait for you. 2 Samuel 7 and Isaiah chapter 9. He'd be king over the eternal kingdom. Zechariah 3 and Psalm 110, we hid today. The greatest high priest, a prophet just like Moses, Deuteronomy 18. He would be the one shepherd over God's flock as Ezekiel spoke about in Ezekiel 34 and 37.
He'd be the builder of the temple as it talks about in 2 Samuel 7 and 1 Chronicles 17. The Prince of Peace, Isaiah chapter 9, the righteous judge, Isaiah chapter 11. You have a complete portrait of all the aspects of Jesus the Christ. Death certificates. Year of his death. It had to happen before AD 70 when Jerusalem was destroyed. In fulfillment of Daniel chapter 9, the Messiah would be cut off before the destruction of Jerusalem in the temple. Date and time of his death, twilight at Passover.
Because he was the fulfillment of the Passover lamb. So we have the time, the date, the time of day that he died. Cause of death, crucifixion. Numbers 21, Exodus 17, and many other scriptures go into detail about how Jesus died, and then buried in a rich man's tomb in Isaiah chapter 53. Coroner's report, his hands were stretched out all day long, Isaiah chapter 65 and Exodus 17. None of his bones were broken. That's what it said about the Lamb in Exodus chapter 12. His body was pierced.
His hands and his feet were pierced. As mentioned in Isaiah 53, Psalm 22, and Zechariah 12. You need more evidence. I think the evidence is overwhelming. When you take everything together, it's not just the eyewitness accounts of the New Testament. Numerous prophecies, 600, 800, over 1,000 years before the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. These prophecies are contained in the Jewish Scriptures. There is no possible way the Christians could have doctored them. It's absolutely impossible.
Those scriptures are in the hands of the Jews, most of whom rejected Jesus. So what do we do with all this? What do we do with all this? Well, I have three challenges. To those who are unbelievers, either in this room or listening to this on audio, or I hear that there are going to be YouTube videos being made out of this as well. So you can send it to your friends and challenge them. To unbelievers, be a truth seeker. Buy the truth and do not sell it. Demonstrate the noble character of the Bereans in Acts 17.
Don't just believe what I tell you or believe what somebody else told you. It says the Bereans had a noble character. They went back and checked it out for themselves in the Scriptures and the Hebrew prophecies to see if what Paul said about the prophecies was true. Go back and study these things out. I've got detailed notes that covers more than what I'm able to say in the short time that we have that goes through all these things. So for those who are seekers, go back and study these things out.
Get your own convictions. Second challenge to all the Christians. Have the same intensity that Apollos had in Acts chapter 18. Study the scriptures. Devote yourself to knowing the Scriptures, the Old Testament, inside and out, so that you too can prove from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Messiah and prove it to a lost world.
The third challenge is to future church leaders, preachers, and teachers reject the humanistic, watered-down version of the gospel that so many churches are marketing today, which is focused primarily on personal happiness and fulfillment in this life. Let's go back to the same gospel message that Paul and Peter preached and Apollos preached, the same message that was preached in the book of Acts. Build on the solid rock.
Preach the gospel of the kingdom with Jesus Christ as king over the eternal kingdom who died, buried, and rose from the dead on the third day in fulfillment of all the ancient prophecies. Amen, and thank you very much. He is my light, my strength, my song, This cornerstone, this solid ground,