Isaiah is called the Messianic prophet because his prophetic references that speak of the life of Christ far outnumber any of the other Old Testament prophets. There are twenty-two direct references to the prophet Isaiah that are quoted in the New Testament and many other quotes, perhaps at least one hundred that also speak of the life and ministry of Jesus, the Christ. This next series will delve into the New Testament verses that are directly linked to Isaiah.
The first time the word garden appears in the Bible occurs in Genesis 2:8. Vegetation had already been brought forth in creation as reported in Genesis 1:11-12. Genesis 2:8 introduces a different thought and imagery by stating that, “God planted a garden.” Again the impression is given that God personally was involved in “planting” this garden.
A common metaphor of a vineyard or garden recurs often throughout the Bible. In fact, the word vineyard occurs 104 times in all: 84 times in the Old Testament and 22 times in the New Testament. The closely related word, garden, occurs 63 times bringing the total of these two words to 145 uses in both the Old and New Testaments.
Next to Passover, Pentecost is the most important feast in the Old Testament that had a literal fulfillment in the New Testament. In the Jewish tradition, Pentecost represents the time, fifty days after the Jewish nation came out of Egypt and God met them at Mount Sinai where He gave the law to Moses and the people.
The end of the year, 2016, has just passed, and during December both Christmas and Hanukkah were celebrated during the same time frame. Christmas Eve and the first day of the Hanukkah celebration fell on the same day: two significant celebrations linking Judaism and Christianity. The two are linked together in one perfect Jewish man: Jesus Christ. In both of these celebrations, lights shine all over the world. Jesus proclaimed, “I am the light of the world. He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” (John 8:12).
When Jesus came, it was for the purpose of fulfilling a “three-day” journey too. In Matthew 12:40, Jesus said, “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” When Jesus went in to the temple in Jerusalem at the beginning of His public ministry, He said, “Destroy this temple, (speaking of the temple of his body) and in three days I will raise it up.” He did exactly that when He was resurrected on the third day after His crucifixion.
