Wait, Jesus is in the Old Testament? Yes, He’s there, and not just in prophecies about the coming Messiah. He wasn’t a last-minute thought or a divine Plan B. God foreshadowed Jesus’ coming from Genesis until the time of His birth in symbols, stories, images, prophetic predictions, and more. The entire biblical story points toward Jesus.

Many people are surprised to learn that Jesus Christ was actually present in the Old Testament. He was there in the Garden of Eden, He was the “Angel of the Lord” who led Israel through the wilderness, and He was the “Word” who spoke creation into existence. In fact, the Old Testament is full of references to Christ.

Jesus fulfilled over 300 specific Old Testament prophecies. In terms of proof that Jesus is who He said He is, this is overwhelming. Isaiah is probably first on many people’s lists of Old Testament prophets who prophesied about Jesus. He wrote of Jesus’ birth in Isaiah 7:14 and 9:6-7, and Matthew 1:23 corroborates this prophecy.