25 Advent Prophecies

Leading up to Christmas I am leading my family through the famous prophecies about Christ and what they mean. I thought it would be good to keep a record of them here.

Day 1 - Genesis 3:15 - "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel."  From this we learn the Messiah will come from the sperm of a woman, but not of a man. He will hate evil, and crush Satan underfoot, but it will cost Him dearly.

Day 2 - Job 19:25 - "For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will stand upon the earth." The messiah would be a fellow man, a brother, come to save us from misery and bondage. He lives even now, eternally, and will one day come down to earth to deliver us.

Day 3 - Genesis 12:3,7 - "I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed...Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, "To your offspring I will give this land." This prophecy shows that the messiah would own the land of Judah, come from Abraham, and bless all the nations of the Earth.

Day 4 - Numbers 24:17 - "I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near: a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel; it shall crush the forehead of Moab and break down all the sons of Sheth" The Messiah will be a king from Israel. He will utterly crush His enemies and those who oppose Him.

Day 5 - Deuteronomy 18:18-19 - "I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him." The messiah will be a prophet, who sees God face to face like Moses did, and will pass on His words to us. He will have the full and complete authority of God, such that anyone who questions Him questions God.

Day 6 - 2 Samuel 7:12-14 - "I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, but my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.'" From this we learn a great deal about the Messiah. He will be a son to God, come from the line of David, sit on the throne as a King of a kingdom that will never end (for it will never be taken away, as He will not die). He will be punished by God for sins, by flogging, but God will never take His steadfast love from Him.

Day 7 - Psalm 2:7-8,12 - "I will tell of the decree: The LORD said to me, "You are my Son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession...Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him." The messiah will be one who is not merely a Son of God, but begotten by Him, sharing His essence, nature, and traits.  He will own all that God owns, with the very might and strength of God, and demand worship and obedience of all the nations of the world as is fitting for God. Yet just as the Lord is a shelter to those who trust in Him so will the messiah be to His people.

Day 8 - Psalm 16:10 - "For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption." The messiah will not be abandoned by God to the place of the dead, He would be raised up from the grave before His body would decay.

Day 9 - Psalm 22:7-8,14-16,18 - "All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads; He trusts in the LORD; let him deliver him; let him rescue him, for he delights in him!... I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast; my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death. For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet...they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots" The messiah would be mocked by many, and delivered to death by them. His limbs would be pulled out of joint, His strength will run out, and He would thirst. They would pierce His hands and feet, and use gambling to decide who gets His clothes upon His death.

Day 10 - Psalm 41:9 - "Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me." The messiah would be betrayed by a close friend.

Day 11 - Psalm 68:18 - "You ascended on high, leading a host of captives in your train and receiving gifts among men, even among the rebellious, that the LORD God may dwell there." When the Messiah would ascend He would release the captives He loves and take them to God, so that He would dwell among them.

Day 12 - Psalm 110:4 - "The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind, "You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek."The Messiah would be a priest, but a priest like Melchizedek, that is, righteous, just, a king of peace. He would have an unending priesthood that continues forever because He Himself will never die.

Day 13 - Psalm 118:22 - "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone." Although the messiah would be rejected by those of His own people who ought to receive Him (priests, scribes, holy men), He would nonetheless become the foundation of salvation.

Day 14 - Isaiah 7:14 - "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." The messiah would be born of a mother who was a virgin, and He would be 'God with us.'

Day 15 - Isaiah 9:1-2,6-7 - "But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined...For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this." From this passage we know the Messiah would minister and be from the land of Galilee, where there was darkness of understanding. He would be a light, the son of God given to mankind, and not only so, but a King, an ever lasting help (an advocate with the Father) God Himself, establishing peace. He would be of the line of David to assume his throne, and He will hold it forever. This is a certainty, and God will do it.

Day 16 - Isaiah 25:8 - "He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the LORD has spoken." By His work and rule the Messiah would forever put an end to the sting and sorrow of death. To His people He will give eternal life.


Day 17 - Isaiah 35:4-6 - "Say to those who have an anxious heart, "Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you." Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert" The Messiah would perform miracles, opening the blind eyes of those who cannot see God, unstopping deaf ears of those who could not hear Him, making strong the legs of those who were incapable of coming to Him. He would make them alive again, bringing them new life.

Day 18 - Isaiah 42:1-3 - "Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations. He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; a bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice" The Messiah would continually delight God, and would not seek His own or demand justice, but He would continually submit to God in all things. He would be gentile and loving, faithful to show them the mercies of God.

Day 19 - Isaiah 50:6 - "I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting." The messiah would submit to torture and would neither dispute nor resist it.

Day 20 - Isaiah 53:3-7,9-11 - "He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned--every one--to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.... And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities" Perhaps the longest and most comprehensive account of the messiahs work in the Scriptures. Although innocent and sinless, God would place upon Him all our sins. Just as the lamb is sacrificed to atone for sins so would the Messiah be. He would be counted among the wicked disobedient and there killed, buried in a rich mans tomb. Yet although He would be cut off from the living He shall have children, by adoption, those men and women He brings to God, and God will count them as righteous, by justification.

Day 21 - Ezekiel 37:24 - "My servant David shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd. They shall walk in my rules and be careful to obey my statutes" The messiah will be a good shepherd to God's people, and will cause the people to obey God by changing their inner disposition.

Day 22 - Hosea 11:1 - "When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son." The messiah, the Son of God, would come out of Egypt while He was still a baby.

Day 23 - Zech 9:9 - "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey." The messiah would be righteous, having salvation, and He would come to Jerusalem riding on a donkey in humility.

Day 24 - Micah 5:2 - "But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days." Although He would exist long before Bethlehem existed He would be born in Bethlehem of Judah.

Day 25 - Luke 1:31-35,50-51,54-55, 2:4,7 - And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a Son, (2 Sam 7:14, Ps2:7) and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High (Is 9:6) And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, (2 Sam 7:12)and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end." And Mary said to the angel, "How will this be, since I am a virgin?" (Is 7:14) And the angel answered her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy--the Son of God...His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever (Gen 12:3).... And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, (Micah 5:2) because he was of the house and lineage of David...And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.