Amazing Prophecies from the Bible

A Monthly Feature to Build Our Faith

One of the ways the Church is seen or referred to in the Bible is, “The Body of Christ.” This imagery is a wonderful way for people to see the majesty of our Lord Jesus Christ. It takes the entire Church to reflect Him. What a thought: billions of people are needed to reflect our Lord!

Now in the Old Testament, we have the exact same concept of the “Body of Christ” but it is revealed in a different way. In the Old Testament, people expressed the same concept through the corporate nation of Israel. Israel reflected the totality of God’s people. However, this close relationship with Israel led to the nation not only being called “His Wife” but also “His Son”. The fact that Israel could be both a “Wife” (Jeremiah 2:2) and a “Son” (Hosea 11:1) at the same time was a mysterious thing. This dual relationship of Israel being both a “Wife” and a “Son” was helping to set the stage for the coming of God’s “Son” to take a “Wife” who would reflect the Lord as His Body. Hence, the whole story of our Lord and His people is a wonderful mystery revealed through the amazing prophecies of the Bible.

We see this wonderful connection between Israel and our Lord in an amazing prophecy found in Matthew 2:14-15 that covers the birth of our Lord and His flight to Egypt to escape the persecution of King Herod. The text states,

“So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: ‘Out of Egypt I called my son’.”

In this amazing prophecy, Matthew is telling us that Jesus is not only the “Son of God”, but he is also telling us that there is a relationship between this “Son” and Israel. Matthew is quoting from Hosea 11:1 and is using this passage to tell us that Jesus’ coming and going to Egypt as an infant is connected to what happened to Israel during Her Exodus journey as an infant nation. Both Israel and Jesus were “sons”. The two were meant to be connected together. The Bible’s connection of these two “sons” is the Lord’s way of showing us that Christ and His Church or people are connected and would belong together.

Therefore, the prophet Hosea, written about 700 years before the birth of our Lord, had given a great prophecy about Israel (God’s son) coming out of Egypt as a child . . . just like baby/infant Jesus during the birth narrative in Matthew. Hosea’s amazing prophecy reads,

“When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.”

This amazing relationship between Israel as God’s son, spoken of in Hosea, was really a prophecy of another Son that would also follow in their footsteps. By connecting Jesus as God’s Son with Israel as God’s son (note small “s”) the Lord connected the two together through over 700 years of history from Hosea’s day and even longer if you go back to the original Exodus story. All of this simply magnifies that Jesus and His people are one and are connected. It would take the entire nation of Israel to become a “son” that one day would reflect on the true “Son” that one day would be born to redeem them.

What an amazing thing it is to connect the entire Exodus story and God’s relationship to them with the birth narrative of our Lord. We should stand back and be in awe of how the Lord did all of this to magnify His name and purposes in this world. To God be the glory great things He has done!