History of the prophecy about Christ’s birth.

Prophecy About Christ’s Birth

Remarkably, long before his birth, the Bible gave several details about Christ. There are over 300 prophecies written about him in the Hebrew Scriptures (the Old Testament of the Bible); all of them were written at least 400 years before his birth. Here are just five of these prophecies and how they were specifically fulfilled by Jesus:
Prophecy About Christ's Birth
(1) Christ would come at a specific time in history.

“Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven ‘sevens’ and sixty-two ‘sevens’. . . .” (Daniel 9:25, written in approximately 530 BC).

The word seven is translated from the Hebrew word shavua. It can refer to days (meaning 7 days) or years (meaning a 7-year period). If we are to understand Daniel’s prophecy in terms of years, then from Artaxerxes’ decree in 445 B.C. to rebuild Jerusalem (as recorded in Nehemiah 2:1-20) to the time of the Anointed One, there should be a total of 483 years [(7×7)+(62×7)]. When factoring the Hebrew lunar year (sometimes called the “prophetic year”) of 360 days, this prophecy points to the very generation in which Jesus lived. Some argue that it falls on the exact day of Jesus’ triumphal entry (when Jesus entered Jerusalem and was greeted by the people as the King of Israel, John 12:12-19).

(2) Christ would come from the line of Judah.

“The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs and the obedience of the nations is his” (Genesis 49:10, written between 1446 BC and 1406 BC).

This was the blessing that Jacob (also called Israel) gave to his son Judah. It is an interesting blessing to give to the fourth son. Yet history has revealed that the “scepter” did in fact pass to one of Judah’s descendants. After 10 generations, the beloved David was made king over Israel. And Psalm 89 tells of God’s plan for the line of David; verse 29 says, “I will establish his line forever, his throne as long as the heavens endure.”

Up until at least the first century, the Jewish people expected the Messiah to come from the royal line of David. Interestingly, both Mary and Joseph were descendants of David. See our “Genealogy of Jesus” page for an intriguing discussion on the genealogies of Jesus as given by Matthew and Luke..

(3) Christ would be born of a virgin.

“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14, written in approximately 700 BC).

Immanuel means “God with us”. In Jesus, God became a man.

(4) There would be a forerunner to Christ to prepare the way for him.

“A voice of one calling: ‘In the desert prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God’” (Isaiah 40:3, written in approximately 681 BC).

When John the Baptist began teaching in the desert, he drew great crowds. Priests came from Jerusalem to see if John claimed to be the Christ. When the priests asked John who he was, John said, “I am the voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord’” (John 1:23).

(5) Christ would come from Bethlehem.

“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times” (Micah 5:2, written in approximately 700 BC).

The gospel of Matthew tells us that Jesus was born in Bethlehem during the time of King Herod. In fact, Herod asks his chief priests where the Christ was to be born. They replied without hesitation, “In Bethlehem in Judea” (Matthew 2:1-5). Clearly, this was common knowledge among Jewish scholars.

Additionally, it is interesting to note that Mary and Joseph were not residing in Bethlehem. They traveled there in response to a decree by Caesar Augustus; Joseph had to return to his place of ancestry for a census. While in Bethlehem, Jesus was born in divine fulfillment of prophecy.

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