Scriptural Reference:
“’The days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. In His days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which He will be called: The Lord Our Righteous Saviour’”
Jeremiah 23:5-6

“A star will come out of Jacob; a sceptre will rise out of Israel.”
Numbers 24:17

“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

“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.”
Isaiah 7:14

Reflection:
Within the pages of the Old Testament are 39 books. These books are comprised of Law, History, Wisdom and prophesy. It is within the prophetic writings that we can read of the promised messiah. The Son of God that would be sent by God as the one and only way in which we humans can be reconciled with God our Creator and Father. If we read the New Testament by itself we will never learn or see the whole picture. For we need the Old and New Testaments to see the full prophetic picture. Where the Old testament tells of the promise and the New Testament show us the revelation of the prophesy coming true.

Within the prophesies that foretold the birth of our Lord and Saviour we find the promise that God had made many generations before we were even conceived. Beginning with Jeremiah 23:5-6 we learn the holy plan is to raise up a righteous saviour from the lineage of King David. Both Joseph and Mary could trace their family lineage back to David. Thus affirming and fulfilling the message that Jeremiah received and wrote of.

While the very star that the Wise Men followed was predicted. In Numbers 24:17 it records the star that they followed. The Bible doesn't tell us who they were or how many there were. Through a range of cultural story telling and urban myths we have been given the number three. Especially as the number reflects the three gifts that were presented to Jesus. Another interesting fact is that the wise men didn't visit Jesus when he was in the manger. The Bible clearly tells us that they visited the house he was living in. As for who the wise men may have been? This is only conjecture, but it has been suggested that they came from several places. Some believe Melchior hailed from Persia, while Gaspar (also called "Caspar" or "Jaspar") from India, and than Balthazar from Arabia. I believe the names and places of origin may also be attributed to a range of urban myths. But it does create a nice story.

The place where Jesus is born was foretold in Micah 5:2. Where he tells us that Bethlehem may be considered a small and somewhat insignificant place, it will be the birth place of our salvation. It tells us of the heritage and lineage of the families of both Joseph and Mary. Later when questioned about the place of birth of Jesus the question would be asked if anything good ever comes from the region. We have a firm promise of a saviour as well as where He would be born.

One of the corner stones of our faith is the acceptance that our lord and Saviour was born of a virgin. In Isaiah 7:14 we are told that He would be born of virgin. Mary was indeed a virgin when the Holy Spirit and gave birth to Jesus the Christ. Who was to be called Emmanuel our Lord and Saviour. Sadly there are some in the ministry who have started undermining the Bible by declaiming the virgin birth of Jesus. This is just a small attack that is all a part of an over all attack on our faith. Jesus is unique as He was born of a virgin and lived a perfect life as prophesied.

We have the recorded prophesies of the Old Testament that foretold of Gods' perfect solution for our salvation. We can now read the words that were to be confirmed by the events recorded in the New Testament Words that would confirm and encourage us as we seek to draw closer to our Father God. In the Old Testament we have the vision of the future. As in the New Testament we have the realisation of those visions.

Prayer:
Heavenly Father,
You who created the heavens,
The earth and all that is;
I praise your Holy Name.

Through the prophets,
You foretold and promised me,
A Saviour and my redemption,
Who was too come and did arrive.

I will praise your name,
I accept Jesus the Christ,
Your only begotten Son,
In His name I am saved,
Amen