Old Testament Prophecies about Jesus
And Prophecies Fulfilled (Happened)
By Joyce Webb 2010
There are many—90—or more—prophecies about Jesus in the Old Testament.
I will not give all of the prophecies. I will give some of the main ones.
Jesus’ Birth
God promises to destroy Satan by a child of a woman. This prophecy was given 1200 before Jesus’ birth.
He will be born of a woman and will bruise (hurt) the serpent’s (snake’s) head. This is talking about the Satan when he used the snake to talk through when he tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden.
Genesis 3:14, 15 God said to the serpent: “…I will make you an enemy of the woman, between her seed and your seed. (Seed means children) Her seed (child) will crush (break) your head, and you will bruise (put a mark on) her seed.”
Fulfilled:
Hebrews 2: 14 “Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity (being human), so that by his death he might destroy him (Satan) who holds the power of death.”
I John 3: 8 “ ……the reason the Son of God appeared (came) was to destroy the devil’s work.”
He will be of the tribe of Judah. He will be of the House of David.
In the Old Testament Jacob had 12 sons. These sons became leaders of the Hebrew people. These became the 12 family groups. One of the sons was Judah. Jesus was to be born into this family group.
This prophecy was given 1200 years before Jesus’ birth.
Genesis 49:8-10 “Judah, your brothers will praise you…The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from his family, until the coming of the one to whom it belongs, the one whom all nations will obey.”
Verse 9 Judah is a lion’s whelp (cub-baby) (Men or leaders were often said that they were like a certain animal. The lion is the king of the jungle. And so the idea is that Judah will be like a lion—-powerful, a ruler over others.)
These prophecies were given 500 years before Jesus’ birth.
Isaiah 11: 1-12
Verse 1 “And there shall come a rod (scepter that a king has) out of the family branch of Jesse (David’s father.–He was of the tribe of Judah) This Branch will grow out of the root of Jesse.
Verses 2-12 talk about God’s spirit on this person and what all he will do.
It talks about his wisdom and judgment. It talks about the time of the millennium when Jesus rules on earth after his second coming.
Isaiah 9:7 “…He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom….”
See also II Samuel 7:12, 13 These words were told to King David by the prophet Nathan.
Jeremiah 23:5, 6 This is a prophecy about the end times “a righteous branch” and “he shall be called The Lord Our Righteousness”
Jeremiah 30:9 This is a prophecy about the end times.
Zechariah 6:12 speaks of the Branch (A branch grows out of a tree trunk. Jesus would be a branch growing out of the trunk of Judah.)
Fulfilled:
Matthew 1: 1-3 (This list of ancestors says that Jacob was the father of Judah.) as the list goes on it tells of David and Jesus’ earthly father, Joseph.
Luke 1: 27 This verse tells of a virgin (Mary) being promised in marriage to Joseph who belongs to the “house” or tribe of David. We know David was of the tribe of Judah.
Hebrews 7: 14 “For it is clear that our Lord came from Judah….”
Revelation 5: 5 speaks of the Lion of the tribe of Judah, and the root of David. Jesus was the Lion.
Jesus will be born in Bethlehem.
This prophecy was given 500 years before Jesus’ birth.
Micah 5:2 “You Bethlehem, though you are little town, among thousands in Judah, —-yet out of you will come a ruler in Israel; his goings have been from old, and from everlasting.” (He is from everlasting—from old—eternal. Only Jesus could be an eternal ruler.)
Fulfilled:
(Jesus’ parents lived in Nazareth. So you would think that Jesus was born there. But at the time of Jesus’ birth, the Roman ruler over Israel made a rule that every man had to return to the town of his father and grandfather’s birth. They had to pay a tax. Joseph’s family had come from Bethlehem. Joseph’s family was part of Judah’s tribe.)
Matthew 2:1 “Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king…..”
See also Luke 2: 4-6
Jesus will be born of a virgin.
This prophecy was given 500 years before Jesus’ birth.
Isaiah 7: 13, 14 “Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of men? Will you try the patience of my God also? Therefore the Lord will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.) (Immanuel means God With Us )
A virgin is a man or woman who has never had sex. If a woman has never had sex, how can she be pregnant? This is a miracle. It has only happened one time in history—Jesus.
The promise in Genesis when God said He would send someone to crush Satan’s head—-said it would be the seed (child) of the woman. It did not say it would be the seed (child) of the man, Adam.
Usually, in the Bible the family list was of the men and their sons—-not of the women.
Joseph was not Jesus’ real father. God was Jesus father. Joseph took care of Jesus as an earthly father would do, but Joseph did not give part of his body to make Jesus.
God the Father, by the Holy Spirit, made Mary pregnant. God used Mary’s body and egg in her womb and by His Spirit He made it become a baby.
Jesus was both human and God.
Fulfilled:
Matthew 1: 18-23 “His mother Mary was promised to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.”
Verses 20-23 (The angel of the Lord quotes the Old Testament prophecy about Jesus being born of a virgin and being called Immanuel.)
Luke 1: 26-35 “…God sent the angel….to a virgin promised to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary….”
Kings shall bring Him gifts and fall down before him.
This prophecy was given 800 years before Jesus’ birth.
Psalm 72: 10,11 “The kings of Tarshish and of distant shores will bring tribute (gifts, money) to him; the kings of Sheba and Seba will give to him gifts. All kings will bow down to him and all nations will serve him.”
This Psalm 72 is a psalm of Solomon. Prophecies in the Old Testament often have two meanings. One is a prophecy for an earlier time and it is also for a future time.
This prophecy could have two meanings. One could be about Solomon and the many kings that came to him to honor him. And it can mean a king of the future.
Fulfilled:
Matthew 2:1-11 “After Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, during the time of King Herod, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem……they bowed down and worshipped him….gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.”
Many children will be killed near the time of his birth.
Jeremiah 31:15 “A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, a bitter weeping; Rachel weeping for her children, because they were gone.”
Fulfilled:
Matthew 2:16-18 This tells of Herod killing all the children in Bethlehem that were 2 years old and under. He was hoping to kill the young child Jesus. He did not because God warned Joseph to take Jesus and Mary and go into Egypt to hide and live there until God told them to come home.
Jesus will be called out of Egypt.
This prophecy was given 500 years before Jesus’ birth.
Hosea 11:1 “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I have called my son…”
Fulfilled:
Matthew 2: 13-15, verses 19-21 “….So he….took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt.”
Jesus will come into Jerusalem riding on a donkey.
This prophecy was given 500 years before Jesus’ birth.
Zechariah 9:9 “…See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey on a colt (male young one), the foal (young one) of a donkey.”
Fulfilled:
Mark 11: 1-10 “When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their coats over it, he sat on it…” See also, Matthew 21:1-5, Luke 19:28-38,
John 12:14,15
Jesus will make a new covenant with Israel.
This prophecy was given 500 years before Jesus’ birth.
Jeremiah 31:31-34 “… I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers….I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts…” See also: Jeremiah 32:37-40 , Jeremiah 50:5
Fulfilled:
Luke 22:15-20 “This cup is the new covenant in my blood….” See also: Matthew 26:27-29 Mark 14:22-24 Luke 22:15-20
The Spirit of the Lord will be upon Jesus.
This prophecy was given 500 years before Jesus’ birth.
Isaiah 11:29 (Verse one say of this Branch out of Jesse) “And the Spirit of the Lord will rest on him…..”
Isaiah 42:1 “Behold (Look at) my servant, whom I hold up, my chosen one, my soul is happy with him; I have put my spirit on him….”
Isaiah 61: 1, 2 “The spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because he has anointed me to preach good news to the humble; he has sent me to comfort the broken hearted, to tell of freedom for those who are held captive, and to open the prison to them go free.”
Fulfilled:
Jesus was in Nazareth in the Jewish church when he read the verses from Isaiah 61:1,2. After Jesus read the verses, he said to the people “This day this scripture is fulfilled in your ears (in front of you).” Luke 4:16-21
See also: Matthew 3:16 Mark 1:10 Luke 3:22 John 1:32 John 3:34 Acts 10:38
Jesus would heal the deaf, blind and crippled.
This prophecy was given 500 years before Jesus’ birth.
Isaiah 35: 5, 6 “The eyes of the blind will be opened, the ears of the deaf will be opened. The crippled will jump and run as a deer, and those who can not speak will sing …..” See also: Isaiah 29:18
Fulfilled:
Matthew 11:4,5 “Jesus said, ‘Go tell John….the blind are made to see, the crippled are made to walk, those with leprosy are made well, and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up….’ ” See also: Matthew 9:30
Matthew 12:22 Matthew 20:34 Matthew 21;14 Mark 7:32-35 John 9:1-7 John 11:47
Jesus as the Lamb of God would not have a bone broken when he died on the cross.
In the Old Testament laws about the lamb for Passover—they were not to break the bones of the animal when they killed it to cook it.
Exodus 12: 46 “It must be eaten inside one house; do not take any of it outside the house. Do not break any of the bones.” See also Numbers 9:12
This prophecy was given 800 years before Jesus’ birth.
Psalms 34:20 “He keeps all his bones: not one of them is broken.”
Fulfilled:
John 19:33, 36 “they saw he was already dead, they did not break his bones……“ verse 36 “These things were done to full prophecy about him, ‘A bone of him shall not be broken.’ ”
Jesus will be hanged on a cross of wood—”a tree”.
Deuteronomy 21:23 “If someone does something that is so bad he must be put to death and he is hanged on a tree, be sure to take down the body and bury it the same day. Any one who is hanged on a tree is cursed by God. Do not leave the body hanging on the tree.”
Jesus said, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so will the Son of Man be lifted up.” See Numbers 21:9
Galatians 3:13 “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.’ “
Jesus’ hands and feet and side will be pierced (hole cut in).
This prophecy was given 500 years before Jesus’ birth.
Zechariah 12:10 “…They will look on my, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn (be sorry) for him as….the firstborn son.”
This prophecy was given 800 years before Jesus’ birth.
Psalms 22:16 “……a group of evil men have come around me, they have pierced my hands and my feet.”
Fulfilled:
John 20:25-29 “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands….and put my hand into his side, ….”
See also: Matthew 27:35 John 19:18, and verses 34-37
Soldiers will gamble (cast lots, throw dice) for Jesus’ coat.
This prophecy was given 800 years before Jesus’ birth.
Psalms 22:18 They divide my clothes among them, and they throw dice to see who get my coat.”
Fulfilled:
John 19:23,24 “…This coat had no seams….so they said, ‘ Let us not tear it. We will throw dice to see who gets it.’ ”
See also: Matthew 27:35 Mark 15:24 Luke 23:34
Jesus would be given sour wine when he was on the cross.
This prophecy was given 800 years before Jesus’ birth.
Psalms 69:20-22 “They put gall (sour wine) in my food and gave me vinegar for my thirst.”
Fulfilled:
Matthew 27:34 “They gave Jesus wine to drink mixed with gall; but after tasting it, we would not take any more.” See also: Matthew 27:48,
Mark 15:23 Mark 15:36 Luke 23:36 John 19:29
Jesus would be beaten and spit on.
This prophecy was given 800 years before Jesus’ birth.
Isaiah 50:6 “I gave my back to those who beat me, I gave my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from the mocking and the spitting.”
Fulfilled:
Matthew 26: 67 “Then they spit in his face and hit him with their hands (fists). Others slapped him.
Matthew 27:26-30 “….They spit on him, and took a rod and hit him on the head again and again.” See also: Mark 14:65 Mark 15: 15-19 Luke 22:63-65 John 19:1
Jesus would be betrayed by a friend.
This prophecy was given 800 years before Jesus’ birth.
Psalms 41:9 “Even my close friend, whom I trusted, he who shared my bread, has lifted up his heel against me.”
Fulfilled:
Matthew 26:23 “Jesus said, ‘ The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me.” See also: Matthew 26:14-16
Matthew 26:47-50 Luke 22:19-23 and verse 48 John 13:18-30
John 18:2-5
Jesus would be blamed but he will not open his mouth.
This prophecy was given 500 years before Jesus’ birth.
Isaiah 53:7 “He was treated badly, yet he did not open his mouth. He was led to his death like a lamb to be killed. Just like a sheep stands to have its wool cut off—it stands silent without making noise—so he did not open his mouth.”
Fulfilled:
Matthew 27:12 “When he was blamed by the chief (high rank) priests and the other Jewish church leaders, he did not give them an answer.”
Luke 23:9 “He asked him many questions, but Jesus did not answer him.”
See also: Matthew 26:62,63 Matthew 27:14 Mark 14:61 Mark 15:5 John 19:9
Jesus would be buried with the rich.
This prophecy was given 500 years before Jesus’ birth.
Isaiah 53:9 “He was given a grave with the wicked (evil) and with the rich in his death, though he had done nothing violent, nor was there any thing evil from his mouth.”
Fulfilled:
Matthew 27: 57-60 “….there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had become a disciple of Jesus….. He asked for Jesus’ body…and put it in his own new tomb…”
Jesus would be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver. And that silver would be used to buy a potters field.
Zechariah 11:12 “….so they weighed for my price 30 pieces of silver.”
Zechariah 11: 13 “….I took the 30 pieces of silver and threw them to the potter (a person who makes things with clay)..”
Fulfilled:
Matthew 26: 14,15 “Judas….went to the chief priests and said ‘What will you give me, and I will bring Jesus to you.?’ And they agreed with him for 30 pieces of silver.”
Matthew 27:3, and 6-10 “Judas …..returned the 30 pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders…..they used the money to buy the potter’s field.”
Since this field was bought with “blood money”—the Jews would not use it for anything. It was used to bury foreign people (non-Jews) in.
Jesus would rise up from the dead.
Psalm 16: 10 “You will not leave my soul in hell or let my Holy One to rot in the grave.”
Fulfilled:
Luke 24: 6 “He is not here, He is risen.” See also: Matthew 28:6,
Mark 16:6 John 20:9
Jesus would go up into heaven.
Psalm 68:18 “ You have gone up on high, you have led a group of those who were held captive.”
Fulfilled:
Luke 24:51 “…while he blessed them, he was lifted up from them and rose up into heaven.”
See also: Acts 1:9