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.
