It is clear from reading the Old Testament and the Gospels that Israel longed for their Messiah, their King, the Anointed One to come (Isa. 9:6-7; 33:17, 22; 40:3-11; Matt. 21:1-11; Mk. 11:1-11; Lk. 19:29-44; Jn. 12:12-19; etc.),. What they apparently did not realize was that He would come twice. 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 describes the events of His First Coming: "Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the scriptures." That is the Gospel message which is the power of God unto salvation (Rom. 1:16).
HE DIED ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES: At His First Advent, He was rejected and killed because He had come as the sacrificial Passover Lamb (Ps. 22:1-21; Isa. 53:1-12; Dan. 9:25-26; Matt. 27:35; Mk. 15:24; Lk. 23:33; Jn. 1:11, 29, 36;19:18; 1 Cor. 5:7; etc.).
HE WAS BURIED ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES: He was buried (Matt. 27:57-61; Mk. 15:42-47; Lk. 23:50-56; Jn. 19:38-42; etc.).
HE ROSE AGAIN ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES: He was resurrected from the grave (Matt. 28:1-10; Mk. 16:1-11; Lk. 23:56 - 24:12; Jn. 20:1-18). And, He ascended to heaven and remains there until it is time for His Second Coming (Mk. 16:19-20; Lk. 24:50-53; Acts 1:9-11; etc.).
The obvious question is, what Scriptures? Jesus answered that for us after His Resurrection while speaking with the two travelers on the road to Emmaus. Luke 24:27, says, "And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself." In other words, He explained what Israel had totally missed; He would come as a Lamb the first time, and He will come as "the Lion of the tribe of Juda" the second time (Rev. 5:5). To the Jew, Jesus coming to die and to establish His Church before He would come as their King, was a mystery (Mk. 4:11; Rom. 11:25; 16:25; 1 Cor. 2:7; Eph. 3:4, 9; 5:32; 6:19; Col. 1:26-27; etc.).
All of the Old Testament prophecies concerning Christ's First Coming were fulfilled literally. But there are many prophecies concerning His Second Coming that have yet to be fulfilled. They will also be fulfilled literally in the future. The error the people of Israel made was that they failed to divide the prophecies concerning the Suffering Servant from those addressing Christ's coming as King of kings, and Lord of lords. They failed to "rightly divide the Word of God."
Tomorrow, Lord willing, I will try to show how prophecies concerning Christ's Second Coming also need to be divided in order to understand future events.
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